its the little things

last night madelyn came in with this beautiful pink gerber daisy on a stem almost as long as she is tall and told me, "this is for you, mommy. i love you very much." i think daddy coached her a little before she came in, but it made my whole week! she was so cute in her pink and while halter dress holding this huge flower out to me - i wish i had a picture of that moment. i think that it is one of those moments that you just remember your whole life.

speaking of things i want to remember, here are some noteworthy expressions and songs madelyn fills my life with:

- she sings a mean "old mcdonald" and will even let me suggest animals for additional verses although she comes up with many on her own

- she notices clothes and accessories on a regular basis and will complement you on them (i.e. "nice earrings. mommy, nice earrings."). i think that she got this from her teacher at pre-school who often complements the kids when they are dropped off.

- madelyn has started to get annoyed when i repeat back what she says. it is just habit from when i was always confirming that i heard her correctly, but madelyn is over it. she will say, "don't talk to me, mommy! stop it!" or she will add to that "talk to mason." it kind of makes me laugh because she means it. she also does it if we are singing along to the music in the car - "stop singing". it goes the other way too. she will ask us to sing along if we aren't.

- when she sings the "abc" song by herself she gets to "e" and starts over at "a". (her friend lorelai got hung up on "e" too so it might be a common thing.) she can sing the whole song straight though "next time won't you sing with me" and does if someone is singing with her or if she is singing along with a cd. the getting hung up on "e" is new and usually happens when she is just singing to herself.

- her window in the car was down yesterday and she was waving saying "hi, everyone out there!" over and over. it was very cute.

- the list of songs she can sing by herself is rapidly growing. i would say that there are at least 20 songs that she can sing in their entirety without help.

madelyn's summer session of pre-school ended today and she had two weeks off before the new school year begins. i haven't really posted very much about her school days or the crafts she brings home. so here she is posing with her noodle art project from today (noodle and company restaurant came to school yesterday). she was actually holding it up to pose so that i could take a picture. i was surprised at her willingness for the photo session, but she was so proud/happy that she kept moving her head when she smiled for me.

both days at school this week were accident free, so last thursday must have been a fluke. we are done, done with diapers. i even gave away all of the pull-ups. i still can't believe how easy it was and that she already makes it through the night ever night. i think i will try sooner with mason as a first intro to the potty. love.