Maddie's Show and Tell Day

Maddie had a show and tell day last year and she brought in her two stuffed horses - they were actually unicorns, but don't tell her that! It was early in the school year and she really didn't have a lot to say about them.

When we found out that today was her first show and tell day this year, we talked about what she wanted to bring in and share with the class. A stuffed animal? no.... A favorite book? no.... She thought of bringing in her own golf club all by herself!

I didn't even have to "give" her the words as she just started rambling on and on and on and on. Daddy bought me this hat in a store - in America. He said I had to wear it if he bought it. It's my golf hat. Daddy bought me my golf club. Don't swing it high or someone will get a bonk. Hold it like this and hit the ball soft - not hard. (As I re-read this, I can hear a "Rainman" type voice in my head. She really doesn't sound like Dustin Hoffman that much!!)

Now that's pretty darn good! I love it for two reasons: a) she has the words to say what she really wants to say. b) she really does listen to us sometimes even though she acts like she's not listening! :) She loves that she and daddy can go into the garage in the evenings and hit golf balls together.. she seems really interested! Who knows if she'll be interested down the road, but it's kind of cool that she's interested now.

Maddie's First Day of School!! Take 2

I have a daughter....
I have a daughter who is in her second year of school....
Maddie has grown up and she's an official member of Ms. Preeti's Pre-K 4 class.

It was slight torture for her because school actually started on Thursday but the school was "evaluating" all of the new kids in order to find the right placement for them. So much to Maddie's chagrin, she had to extend her summer vacation and extra few days... she hated that!!

She was ready to show off her new backpack from her birthday and her new Dora the Explorer watch from the knock-off market. There was just enough change for her too as she had a different classroom and a different aide, but she still has the same teacher. This is a good thing because Preeti knows Maddie. She's knows how Maddie thinks, how she works, what to do if, and if, and if...

The girl is in school again and I can tell it's going to be a really good year for her. There is a new library at the school which is almost as good as Christmas in her eyes. Her vocab allows her to express herself and she sees herself as a helper to the new kids. Life is good and Maddie knows it!!!!

Happy 4th Birthday Madeline!!

We've been back a week and found that both blogger AND youtube are blocked in China so it takes TIME to get the posts up and running. This post is worth it though as it's all about Maddie's 4th birthday!

She woke up just a bit cranky but came around a bit and surprisingly did not want others to know that it was her birthday. We went swimming with Cooper in the morning, but she didn't want to tell him it was her birthday. She only wanted mom and dad to know. Things that make you go, hmmmmmm......

We went to the Links' store and Maddie decided to buy a chocolate cake with chocolate icing! Between the three of us, I'm pretty sure we got chocolate in every nook and cranny in the kitchen! Maddie thoroughly enjoyed licking the bowl and I think she's coming around to the camp of believers in batter being better than the actual cake. As Maddie decorated the cake, she would put one spoonful on the cake and one spoonful in her mouth... she explained the pattern to me through her chocolate teeth!

We got the sprinkles out and she decorated away... again with sprinkles rolling in every nook and cranny in the kitchen but she was so happy! I had brought back things from our "American home" and Maddie put those on the cake... 4 candles, 3 pinwheels, and 4 toothpick clowns.
I think Maddie was more interested in the decorating of the cake rather than the eating of the cake because after blowing out the candles and taking a single bite, she declared that she was ready for her presents!

She loved her new chapstick and put it in her make-up bag after trying it out on daddy - she said he needed a little color! She loved the finger paints... she loved the new Hello Kitty backpack for school... she loved the new Mac game that she played with this summer in the Mac Store... but she is a girl so most of all, I think she loved her Barbie!

She getting quicker at opening her presents! At Christmas time it took 3 hours to open 3 presents. This time it only took 1.5 hours to open her presents! The please and thank you's were flowing freely and she was one happy little four year old girl!!