Three Years Old

How do I have a three year old? There are times when I feel like time stands still but really time passes by so quickly. I know all Moms say that, but it is so true. I hardly know where to begin when talking about our precious 3 year old, Madeline Grace.
Madeline Grace is 100% girly girl with her jewels, painted toenails, lip gloss, bows, doll babies, purses, opinions about her clothing & shoe options each morning, monthly haircut, and the list of all girl things goes on and on. I LOVE that about Madeline because I am a girly girl, and I understand her need to have everything just so. I also dislike this trait because it brings on the D-R-A-M-A especially in times of "temper tantrum prone" behavior. However, I get it ~ the need to have just the right shoes, the right bow, the right undies, the right outfit, the right jewels, the right everything! I get it 100%, but it still makes me crazy. My mom tells me all the time, "You always said you wanted a girly girl, and you got her 210%." Yes, I did, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Madeline has endured quite a "half year" ~ new baby sister; a new baby sister that has had many health issues taking up lots of Mommy's energy; potty training; new playroom (meaning no more toys in the den & having to spend more time on her own playing in another room); more strict rules regarding snacks, meals, table manners, and desserts; no more paci; and Daddy's crazy busy work/travel schedule. Looking back, it's no wonder we had (and still have) some serious "rough patches" and "growing pains", and I think there were moments that I forgot my sweet girl was only 2 1/2 dealing with a variety of major life changes. However, we manage to muscle through them, and Madeline came out of it all smelling like a rose. She is really turning into a lovely, well spoken, mannerly little girl when she's not touching the boundaries with her toes. We are so proud of her with regard to her social skills & manners.
Madeline loves school, books, coloring, painting, reading, and all things related to school activities. She thrives in a structured atmosphere, and she very much enjoys all things learning. Madeline questions, absorbs, and loves to "know stuff". Eric and I think she just might be our little bookworm, and we love that about her.
Madeline loves her little sister to pieces, and it's such a sweet relationship. Madeline dotes on Amelia while gently "enforcing" the rules. "No, Amelia, you are not allowed to touch the remote control." or "No, Amelia, no pulling hair!" While there have been sharing issues and a few invasions of personal space, for the most part, Madeline adores her little sister, watches out for her, and plays ever so sweetly with her. Heaven forbid, any other child come near Amelia in a group setting ~ Madeline's "mama bear" comes out quickly! She points her little finger at the offender, and usually says something along the lines of, "This is my baby, and you need to leave her alone!" I suppose I won't worry when Amelia is a kindergartner, and Madeline is a third grader on the school bus. However, I have seen some of Madeline's "big-sister-I-get-to-do-this-and-you-don't" behavior come out, and she's had to learn the hard lesson of not taunting the baby.
Speaking of things that Madeline loves, she LOVES the TV. Oh my goodness, it's ridiculous how much TV Madeline would watch if I allowed her to do so. She's really gotten into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins on the Disney channel. I have to admit, it's a nice change. I was pretty much over Dora and Ni-hao, Kailan on Nick Jr. While on the topic of bad habits, Madeline also loves anything in the chip aisle and chocolate. We've had to lay down some pretty serious mealtime rules: "You can have some chips if you eat your sandwich first." & "You can have some chocolate if you eat your entire dinner." For the most part, Madeline accepts these rules and follows them. She knows we don't waiver on them, so she accepts the consequences of not eating her sandwich or dinner.
Madeline is a shopper! I am pretty sure that she's the only 3 year old I know that enthusiastically shouts, "YAY!" when I announce that we are going to Target or the grocery or even better, BOTH!, after the gym. It's really funny how much she enjoys these two places especially considering the fact that this Mama doesn't fall for the "I want that!" plea on just about every aisle. I guess she just enjoys window shopping!

Not only does Madeline never stop talking (NEVER!), her imagination also never stops. She is constantly strumming up all kinds of little scenarios and using random things to portray whatever "prop" she needs for her scenario. Madeline is really good at improvising with whatever she can find to make her imaginary play come alive. Of course, "going to the market", taking care of doll babies, and hosting tea parties are the top three scenarios. Most of the time, she's prancing around in some ridiculous get up while she's doing all this. I love to spy on her to catch a glimpse of her imagination at work. My favorite line I've overheard so far is, "Come on Stella (her bitty baby). We're going to the market to get salad for Mommy and brewskies for Daddy!" If that doesn't represent Eric and I to a tee, I don't know what does! :)
Of course, I'd be leaving out a major part of Madeline's personality if I failed to mention her anger and bullheadedness. When she snaps, it's on. This girl can throw a temper tantrum like nothing I've ever seen, and it's UGLY! She can flail, kick, screech, and holler with some serious stamina. These tantrums definitely infuriate me, and I've had to learn to walk away from her during these heated moments. It takes both of us many minutes and many deep breaths to calm down from these episodes, but the irrational, angry Madeline is not a pretty sight. Her strong will, her stubbornness, and her willingness to stand up for herself will all serve her well in her future, but right now, we are having to work through when to be angry and stubborn and when to obey her Mommy & Daddy. I must say, she comes by these qualities 110% honestly. Both her Mommy and Daddy are pretty bullheaded. Our latest behavior issue with Madeline is talking back. It's making us crazy! When we ask Madeline to do something, she will answer with some sort of, "But I was just..." or "But I want..." Usually repeating ourselves with a much more stern tone does the trick, but we want her to respond the first time.
Madeline makes us so proud, and we love her more than she could ever know. She's silly, girly, sweet natured, smart, and adorable. We are so happy to call her ours, and we look forward to what this third year brings us!

(Beautiful photos courtesy of Jennifer St. John)

Madeline's Day (Picture Overload!)

August 17, 2011 was Madeline's 3rd birthday, and for those of you who know me, well, you probably aren't surprised that I didn't do anything terribly out of the ordinary to celebrate my 3 year old's big day. But, be rest assured that Madeline had a SPECTACULAR day, and SHE felt really special.

Her day started off with a oh-so-yum breakfast of Honey Combs with a frosted mini-wheat mix in after dressing and sporting the gigantic birthday bow! We practiced our "3 fingers"!

We ran a few errands --- dry cleaners & the drugstore to pick up Amelia's meds. Madeline was allowed to pick out a treat to share with her friends at the gym. Out of all the delicious choices in the snack aisle, she chose CVS brand cheese puffs and frosted animal cookies! YUM!

When we arrived at the gym, she bolted through the door with her goodies in hand and announced as loudly as humanly possible, "HEY EVERYONE! TODAY IS MY BIRFDAY!" (as if people couldn't see the ginormous birthday bow on her head) We got there as a class was letting out, so the check-in area was really crowded, and Madeline's super cute entrance received many chuckles from the other Mamas. Ms. Kathy was especially excited to give Madeline a birthday hug! She ate her way through that 2 hour timeframe, but she still managed to wolf down her "chocolate sammich" (Nutella on wheat bread) at lunch time. Madeline was allowed to watch 3 shows before her nap!

After a nap, Madeline and Mommy iced and sprinkled her birthday cake. She loved picking our the icing, sprinkles, and candles at the grocery store! What fun for both of us! Madeline especially enjoyed dropping the sprinkles on the cake & licking her spatula when she was done.












Once Daddy got home, we bathed and put Amelia to bed, had dinner, sang "Happy Birthday!", did some candle blowing, and of course opened a few presents. Madeline enjoyed reading her cards just as much as she enjoyed her gifts.











A very simple birthday for a very special little girl! We love you, Madeline Grace! Your Daddy and I have no doubt that wonderful things are in store for you this year!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

This is probably TMI for the blog, but I am going to share anyway because kids say the funniest things, and I want to remember some of Madeline's funnies.

Madeline had to take care of #2 potty business the other day. When I went in to check on her and help with toilet paper duty, the following conversation took place:

Madeline: "Mommy! I stinkied on the potty like a big girl!"
Me: "Yep. That's awesome. Your Daddy and I expect you to do that."
Madeline: "My belly and my bum was crackling when I made my stinky."
Me, laughing: "Thank you for sharing that fine detail."

When it was time to flush, I decided two things:
1) Indeed, her belly was probably crackling.
2) Had this taken place in a diaper, I would've used an entire box of wipes to clean her, & I would've thrown up in my mouth a little.

Deserving a Blog Post of Its Own

A few posts ago, I shared the frustrations of our summer and how our summer 2011 just wasn't what we had hoped it would be. I also mentioned a few blessings that reminded me just how lucky we are regardless of our frustrating day-to-day circumstances. One of those blessings that deserves its own post is our relationship with our neighbors.

One of the unknowns when moving into a new house is who your neighbors will be. In our old house, we had a fun couple next door, but other than that, everyone did their own thing. One of our hopes when moving into this house and neighborhood was to forge some real friendships with our neighbors. We have been very fortunate to have done that over the course of this summer. Yet another blessing to our rocky summer.

Throughout the summer, we have become good friends with three different families on our street. In two of the families, the husbands are hunting buddies of Eric's, and we've been able to get our families together. It's fun to pack up the kiddos and walk down the street to grill out. Their kids are older than ours, but all of these kids are really sweet to our girls. It's rare that you find a couple in which both husband and wife genuinely enjoy the other husband and wife. We have that with these two families, and Madeline really likes being around these older kids.

And, of course, these two porches have it goin' on with impromptu summer porch parties!!

Above: Our porch

That porch (above) belongs to our immediate next door neighbors, Ty & Sasha. [Yes, we have basically the same house! Great minds think alike! :)] Over the course of the last eight months or so, we have become good friends with this family. Their children, again, are older than ours, but they are very sweet to our girls. We click with them, and again, it goes back to Eric and I both really liking Ty and Sasha as individuals as well as a couple. It's refreshing to hang out with another family without having to worry, "Is my house clean enough?" or "Is my cooking okay?" or "Can I discipline my child in front of them without making anyone uncomfortable?" While we have planned cook-outs with them, we've also had some impromptu get togethers on one of our porches after all the kids are in the bed just to chat, vent, complain, laugh, joke around, and be adults with adult conversation. Eric and I feel very blessed that we ended up having Ty and Sasha as our neighbors because we have become more than the friendly hello while getting the mail or "can I borrow a cup of sugar?" kind of neighbor. Sasha and I have shared some late afternoon "what a day!" cocktails on one of our porches, and I really appreciate that since I am holding down the fort solo many days out of the week. It's comforting to Eric and I to know that when he is out of town I do have people right next door to help me if, God forbid, something major happens. Eric and I look forward to continuing our relationship with Ty & Sasha and their children over the years.

Eric and I don't try to "keep up with the Jones'", and we are fortunate that we've found friendships in neighbors that are just normal people raising kids just like us this summer of 2011. So, as I said before, as I pray for patience, I should also say a prayer of thanks for having the best neighbors ever. Because truly, The Stewart Family is blessed.

Eight Months
Check out those wrist rolls and thighs! :)
Amelia's seventh month blew by us like a late afternoon summer thunderstorm. First, I have to report that her health is a little better and will hopefully continue to improve. The last antibiotic seemed to knock out her ear infections, and her reflux is somewhat better. The reflux becomes aggravated when she has any type of drainage down the back of her throat. Since she seems to be going through that runny-nose-teething-thing right now, her reflux is bothering her. She has this cough that makes her sound like she has smoked 2 packs a day for her entire life. The doctor has changed her reflux medicine completely, prescribed breathing treatments to help the wheezing cough, and kept her on the Zyrtec to help "dry her up". Hopefully, we are close to clearing up this vicious cycle. Still no teeth.


Amelia's little personality is certainly spunky and despite feeling crummy 85% of her waketime, she's pretty happy. She's extremely aggressive when it comes to reaching out and grabbing for things whether she's being held, sitting on the floor, playing in her bed (time to lower the mattress a notch before she crashes the mobile on her head!), or laying on her playmat. Once she figures out how to get her caboose moving with her front end, she will never look back, I'm afraid. This girl wants to crawl, but just hasn't figured it out yet. She also really wants to sit up on her own, and she's almost there. Her obliques should be super toned under her chub because she lives in this pose:
Amelia loves to eat and it shows! At a recent doctor's appointment, she weighed 20 pounds 3 ounces. My girl has rolls on her rolls! This girl can mow down some food, and she's not super picky. I've been buying many of the combinations now that she's been exposed to any and everything. She seems to really like them all. A few of her favorites recently are: any sweet potato combination; anything with corn or blueberries; banana/brown rice; broccoli/mango/pear; purple carrot/blueberry/pear; and banana/pumpkin. Something I've done differently with Amelia is purchasing some of the organic baby foods because a) I like the convenient pouch packages since we are on the go a lot, and b) they taste like I made them in my blender myself (yes, I sample them before I feed them to her for my own curiosity). I'm not super earthy and organic-like, but I do think the baby food tastes better and has more variety especially since green beans and peas literally make her gag. I just don't have my act together to make my own baby food, so this is a good option for me. I do wonder if it will make Amelia's palate different than Madeline's as she starts to eat table food.

Amelia's sleep is still pretty good -- about 11-12 hours at night and a long afternoon nap. She will take a pretty decent nap in the morning depending on our schedule. Usually she catnaps in the car to and from our errands and gym. She's beginning to recognize the ladies at the gym, and when they say her name, she is all smiles for them. I'm so lucky that my girls love the gym nursery as much as I love the gym. Ms. Kathy fondly calls Amelia "Millie Claire!" Amelia and Ms. Kathy are pretty tight already. It's very sweet. I'm thankful that the ladies understand Amelia's health issues that make her cranky, and they do their best to give me my gym time!

Amelia's first year is whizzing by, and we love her more and more each day.

Whoops!

Amelia and I were doing our thing in the kitchen one morning, and I turned around for literally 5 seconds to get something out of the pantry. She went from an upright, seated position on the blankets with toys around her to this flat on her back, bouncy chair on top of her, scattered blankets (so much for the cushiony fall in case she fell over), and foot looped in the afghan:
How she managed to pull the bouncy chair down with her is beyond me. I laughed so hard when I turned around and saw her like this. She didn't even whimper. I think when she becomes mobile, she's going to be into everything. She's a busy little thing and into everything already, and she doesn't even go anywhere yet!
Silly girl!

Bathtime Fun

Over the weekend, we put the girls in the big bathtub for the first time. Amelia sits up very stable now, so we decided that bathing them at the same time is the way to go! Madeline likes having a playmate!

Big Sister is super funny!

Kisses for Little Sister.

Amelia is all about gnawing on the foam letters!

Look Who is Enjoying "Solids"!

Recently, Amelia dabbled in her first "pick it up, get it to my mouth, and chew" food ~ a Mum Mum. She loves them! After the first couple of gags, she figured out not to cram the entire thing into her mouth. Once she mastered that concept, she really enjoyed her little snack.