Maddie is like me in a lot of ways. She is extremely stubborn. When she reached about 14 mos. old, if I said the sky was blue, she said it was red. She has her own ideas about everything. For a few desperate months, I did not know what to do with her. I thank God for direction in the area of child training. She has made great strides in obeying and being more agreeable for which I am so thankful. I can not think of anything that I have put more effort into and wanted so desperately. That may sound dramatic but I think a parent of a strong willed child will understand what I mean. She still retains some contrary tendencies but I think some things will just be a part of her personality that I must accept. After all, I know exactly who (me!) she gets it from. You can be assured that if I pull out a new dress that she has never worn before, she will hate it and not want to wear it. After being forced a few times, she will begin to get that dress out herself, declaring how pretty it is. She just needs to warm up to every new idea or change of routine. It's only been in the last few months that she has not screamed like a banshee when Seth and I leave the girls with my mom for our date night. My mom baby sat for over a year before Maddie would not be devastated. I'm sure the neighbors thought a murder took place at our house every Tuesday night!
Another quality she has, which reminds me of myself, is her independent spirit. Brushing teeth, going potty, buckling her seat belt, getting dressed, putting on shoes, opening the door, the list goes on and on. "I can do it! I can do it!!" And you know what? I actually like this characteristic! It's great to be able to tell her go get herself dressed and ready to go while I do other things! She is surprisingly strong. She seems to have some her Seth's natural agility ('cause it most definitely did NOT come from me!). Since her most frequent play mates are her older cousins (mostly boys) it's a good thing that she's somewhat tough! At the same time, she very beautiful. Her dreamy blue-green eyes, thick dark lashes and vibrant smile makes me stop so often and think My goodness, child... you are gorgeous! Of course what you see in the photos I post is her cheesy fake smile... I don't know that I have every gotten her real genuine joyful smile in a photo. Such a shame!
She is a nervous creature. She is very uncomfortable in crowds and is quite unsocial at church. This we are, and have been, working on for a long time. It is rude not to answer an adult who speaks to you. Progress is slow.... Going to the pediatrician is a major ordeal. She gets anxious just walking into the building. The exam is something like trying to get a enraged bull to let you look in it's ears and listen to it breathe. She is downright distraught during the whole thing and will talk about it for days after. We discuss exactly what the doctor will do and how Dr. Taylor is our friend and all that for days before hand. She told me this past time that she would not get nervous but of course, she did. Now she is saying that next time she will not be scared. Maybe I need a pediatrician who does exams under sedation? A little baby Prozac? When we go to story time at the library, will cling to me while Eden pets the man dressed as Clifford. Encouraging her to be friendly or go do what the other kids are doing seems to only make it worse. I will just have to accept her as a shy person. All I ask is that she be respectful and not rude.
She loves to sing, and sing LOUDLY. The words end up being repetitious none sense. Going down the aisles in the super market, she'll be "singing" away, with the only phrases that one can discerned being "God hates our sin!!!" and other pleasant sentiments. How about the itsy bitsy spider, Maddie!?!!!!
Today she told me that soon she will be 5 and than she can go to college. While standing at the kitchen counter next to me as I was cooking, she asked if she could help. I often let her stir or pour, etc. but this time I was cutting raw chicken and said no, because she wasn't old enough. She accepted that and waited a few minutes before informing me that she was now older and ready to use the knife.
When she first heard the phrase "No way, Jose!" she started saying it "No way, Horsey!" and said it that way for about a year.
When Seth comes home, he would greet her with "Hey Maddie-licious!" so she started making up ridiculous nicknames for both of us all the time. Just whatever random thing popped into her mind: "Hey Candy Bar!" "Hey Meat Roll!" "Hey Chicken Boo!" Obviously, this weird stuff comes from her father. ;)
Today I told her, "I love you, Maddie" and she gave me a kiss and said, "Me, too!"
She calls helicopters "hel-planes".
She is at a great age. She is able to reason (most of the time), is making logical connections, learning new concepts everyday, is affectionate, is growing leaps and bounds in her gross motor skills, her sense of humor is keeping us entertained, she is beginning to show concern for other people's well being, and can remember that certain actions bring good results and certain actions bring poor results. She is also, unfortunately, realizing that mommy can not see her every move and she may possibly be able to get away with something if she's real sneaky. I'm going to start praying every day that she will caught when she does wrong.
I have truly enjoyed watching her imagination develop. What fun to watch her take some objects and pretend they are something completely different and be engrossed in that make believe world. She enjoys crafts and making things and helping me cook. She wants to do what adults do. And I like that! She has been helping me put away laundry and dishes since she could walk and is a genuine help now. She can fold her own clothes and knows just where they belong. If things are in disorder in her drawer, she either fixes it or if it's big jumble, will ask me to help her "or-gam-ize". She can pick up toys and sort them into the correct places as well as I can. Of-course somedays that doesn't happen. She likes to feel needed and appreciated. And I figure that with a few more girls, I will have an early retirement as keeper of this house! ; )
Seth is the youth pastor at our church, Harts Hill Baptist Church in 
He's a fantastic daddy. He plays with the girls almost every moment that he's with them. He's the diaper changing kind of daddy... although when we were expecting the first time, he insisted that he wasn't going to be changing any diapers. I incredulously said, "You're going to make me change every single diaper all of our children have?" "No," he assured me, "My mom will change some". Thankfully, he was only joking.
