Month 26: February 14 - March 13

SICK
This month’s biggest news was Madeleine’s first real sickness. She’s had colds, but this was the first thing to affect her stomach and to really make her feed bad. And what was worse, Matt and I both got the stomach flu too!

It started on a Sunday morning. Madeleine woke up around 5am and was sick. It was scary because we’d eaten spaghetti the night before, so in the dark, it looked a bit like blood. BUT it was not, thankfully. Anyway, we kept her home from church, and she seemed normal. We thought it was something she’d eaten.

That night, after sleeping about 2 hours, she woke up sick again, the first of three times within the space of an hour. It was so awful, knowing she had no clue what was happening. Fortunately, she was drinking almost non-step between being sick. After the third episode, we got her clean and dry and I held her while Matt tried to get some sleep.

But she was HOT. Her feet were hot, everything was hot. So I got Matt up and he went to get a new thermometer (the one we had wasn’t working!). When he returned, he checked her temp and discovered that it was 103.4! YIKES! He jumped on the computer to see what to do. We gave her some ibuprofen (all we had), and I called the on-call people at Madeleine’s pediatrician. This was around 1:30am Monday morning.

Madeleine’s temp came down, to 101, then 99, over the course of an hour and a half (or so). The nurse on the phone wanted me to wake Madeleine at 2:30 and see if I could get her to interact with me. I was to try and make her smile or laugh. I’m going, lady, really? She’s miserable! But I tried, with no success. This slightly concerned the nurse, and she told me to take Madeleine to the doctor in the morning.

Madeleine spent a lot of time that night with daddy, until he put her in bed around 5am. There were no more throw-up episodes, but we did have some of the other.

Anyway, when I took her to the doc, she was lethargic but nothing else. Doc said to keep her hydrated, watch her temp. Gave us a prescription for some vomiting medicine, but we did not need it.

She slept off and on all morning, then went down for a nap around her normal time. I held her and rocked for a while after she was asleep, but decided to put her in her bed so I could eat. I walked into the living room around 1:30pm and Matt said, “I don’t feel so good.”

Uh-oh.

Sure enough, he was sick too.

I was concerned about getting sick because I’m pregnant, and I knew dehydration was a potentially big deal with a baby. I went out to get some things we’d need before it hit me while Matt and Madeleine slept. Then she woke up, feeling quite bad, and laid on dada for a long while in the room. I snapped three pictures before she protested greatly.


That's Matt asking for more gatorade!

I called Mimi around 3 to tell her what was up and see if she could possibly come. With all of us sick, it would be HARD to take care of Madeleine the way she needed. I told her I thought I would get sick too. After working it out, she left around 5pm, right around the time I finally showed my first symptom.

There were some nice things that happened that day. I loved holding Madeleine so much; she isn’t too snuggly or cuddly, so I did enjoy that close time. The three of us also spent a lot of that afternoon in our bed together, and I got to watch Madeleine fall asleep in broad daylight. Madeleine also spent some time sleeping in our bed with me. I don’t know when during the sick period that was, but it was a treat.

Anyway, Matt recovered the quickest and was able to get up and be productive. Madeleine remained lethargic through Tuesday morning and lunch. By that afternoon, she was starting to show signs of life. But she still slept a whole bunch, ate and drank very little, and had other symptoms of still being under the influence of the bug.

I took the longest to recover, I don’t know why. Maybe being pregnant? It was over a week before I felt somewhat normal again, maybe another half a week before I felt fully better.

HUGE thanks to Mimi for coming to our rescue! And thankfully, she did not catch the bug we all had.

LITTLE-BIG THINGS
~ Madeleine spent a LOT of time with daddy while she was sick and after, as I recovered. For a long while, probably until SuSu’s visit, daddy was her favorite. She wanted him to do many things for her that I used to do, including put her down for some naps. It’s one of those things that is nice and frustrating at the same time. LOL.

~ Sleep has been really strange this month. LONG naps, 2.5-3.5 hours, so Madeleine has been staying up later. And sleeping in later. Until 7:30 one morning! Matt and I don’t quite know what to make of it. We were fine with it for a few weeks until we decided that her quality of sleep wasn’t as good with longer naps and shorter nights. We thought maybe we should wake her from naps, but the one or two times we did, it was awful, so we just went with “let her sleep.”

~ Because of these later mornings, we started staying for lunch at church. Usually, one of us would stay and the other take Madeleine home for her nap. It is super nice! The first two Sundays, particularly, were fun because Madeleine got to play with Emmeline, her friend 8 months younger. They were SO cute together, attracting the attention of all the adults in the vicinity, who were still eating. There’d be a chorus of “Aww”s every now and then.

~ One of my favorite Madeleine/Emmeline interactions was when Emmeline had Lesli’s makeup bag. It closed by a zipper. I said, “Better watch out, Madeleine knows how to open those now.” Emmeline still didn’t. After a minute or two, Emmeline appeared with something out of the bag. Sure enough, Madeleine had gone to investigate and opened the bag. Haha.

~ Other cute interactions: Emmeline putting her necklace on Madeleine; Madeleine saying Emmeline’s name (“emm’wine”); Madeleine wanting Emmeline to sit beside her on a chair.

~ After seeing Layla play with a stick in the back yard, Madeleine decided she wanted to do it too. And who could blame her? It looked so fun! She does it almost every time we go outside for a long time now. Sticks of all sizes, and mommy and daddy have to get into the action too, of course!



~ She’s started wanting me to take her picture. I’m working on an “ABC” book for her, with pictures of things she sees every day. So I’ve been taking a lot of pictures, and Madeleine has been “helping” by suggesting things for me to capture. That has started to include her! She doesn’t smile, and usually she is holding something, and she brings it up right under her chin. This makes it hard to get the object in the picture. And she also walks right up next to me, making it hard to get her in the frame. OH WELL, it is super fun.

~ When I was little, I was apparently known for my frown. When Madeleine was born, Mimi remarked that she’d inherited my frown. We hadn’t really seen much of it since then … until now. And BOY, does she have a good frown! The bad part is that it’s so funny, I usually can’t help but laugh, or at least want to laugh. And she usually frowns when I’ve told her something she didn’t want to hear. Oh well. I didn’t get any good pics of the frown, but I can work on that for next month.

~ SHE SAID “I LOVE YOU!!” for the first time! She has been saying “I love her,” “I love him,” for awhile, but never “I love YOU.” But she did! It’s awesome!

~ She also said, “I love you ... Lamby loves Madeleine,” while holding Lamby about an inch away from her face. Matt, who witnessed this sweetness, said it was very neat.

~ Another phrase she’s picked up is “I’m glad to see you,” usually reserved for when daddy gets home. :)

~ Other fun phrases: “Are you home, dada?” “Did you have a good day, mama?” (The latter said after I ask Matt the same question at dinner. Everyone gets asked the question.

~ I believe we’re seeing the transition from “dada, mama” to “daddy, mommy.” It’s funny, Matt and I both prefer dada and mama. Probably because it’s what she originally called us. We know it couldn’t last, so we just have to get used to daddy and mommy.

~ Milk--er, SILK--mustache!



~ After getting over the sickness, we noticed a shift in Madeleine’s book preferences. She started requesting longer, more involved stories, like “Goldilocks and the three bears.” The board books seem to have fallen from her favor. I think they just aren’t as interesting, don’t hold her attention anymore. It’s good that we have some longer stories on her shelves; need to get some more, I suppose. Or start taking her to the library on a regular basis. THAT sounds like a good idea.

~ I mentioned recently (maybe week 104?) that Madeleine counted to six. She certainly can, but more often than not, she counts, “one, three, four, five,” no matter how many objects she is counting. This is when she counts on her own, but I’ve noticed that if I prompt her to count and say “one,” she can count a little higher than six, 7 or 8, in the correct order. It’s interesting; I wonder what it means.

~ I mentioned last month about Madeleine saying “you’re welcome.” She’s gotten much better at it, and she now says “thank you” whenever someone does something for her. It’s not 100% of the time, but more often than not, if she makes a special request, she says thank you. She said, “Thank you, Dada,” when he brought her blankie. She also said thank you to Michaiah at church when she handed Madeleine a book that had fallen. I was proud. Haha. “Please” is still a work in progress. She doesn’t know how to phrase the question correctly (i.e., “may I have a fork?”) much less know where to put the please. Though, a few times, I’ve heard her say, “more yogurt, please.”

~ I do have a favorite word-of-the-month: “bewldy.” It means belly. IT IS SO ADORABLE. She says, “Look at my bewldy.” :)

~ Madeleine has been talking for quite a while, but she hasn’t really tried singing. Near the end of this month, though, she said, “I’m singing.” And her song consisted of “dada, dada, dada…” and “SuSu, SuSu, SuSu.” Enchanting!

~ Last but not least in this section: Apparently we’ve reached the “terrific twos.” That’s what SuSu said, anyway. Here’s what I mean:

Me: Madeleine, do you want a drink?
Madeleine: Yes.
[I start fixing her a cup]
Madeleine: No. [frown]
[I stop fixing it]
Madeleine: Yes. [bigger frown, whine] No. Yes.

Substitute just about anything for my question, and you have an idea of life right now! And forget about offering her a choice (milk or water). It’s not too bad, really, can be frustrating when we have to make a quick decision or we’re in a hurry. But those times aren’t too often. Matt and I have kinda decided that her first response is what she really wants, but then she thinks about it too much. Or something. I do know that toddlers start exercising independence and push boundaries, so I’m sure that’s part of it! I just have to pray for extra patience.

SUSU’S VISIT
SuSu came for a visit this month, and she was an immediate hit with Madeleine. It started with a huge grin upon seeing SuSu for the first time, and it continues with Madeleine talking or asking about SuSu after her departure. They had a wonderful time together, and SuSu even got to put Madeleine down for a nap.

SuSu took Madeleine on a walk just about every day, Madeleine’s favorite being the day it had rained and there was a large puddle just down the street.

{video: puddle} We went swinging, shopping, and had all kinds of fun playing at home. SuSu brought a belated Christmas present from one of Madeleine’s second cousins (?). There was a package of play-dough and a set of stringing beads. Both were huge hits. Madeleine and SuSu made necklaces for everyone in the house (except Madeleine, oddly!), including big bear, little bear, lamby, and weasel ball. The play-dough was fun to make balls or use the lids of the colors (which had molds in them) to form animal shapes.

We had a blast with SuSu and hope she comes back soon!

SPECIAL PICS: PRECIOUS SMILES!




SLIDESHOW

Month 25: January 14 - February 13

BIRTHDAY
This month started out with Madeleine’s birthday! Mimi came up for the weekend to spend with her, and Madeleine had a great time. We didn’t have a party this year because I just couldn’t get things together. Hopefully, it won’t happen again.

But, Madeleine’s birthday did not go unheralded. On Sunday, we gave her a few wrapped gifts (some books and some puzzles) and then her big gift, a swing set! She totally loves swinging. Despite the cold temperature, we of course had to go swing. The swing set wasn’t QUITE finished; we only had her infant swing and not a toddler swing yet, but we heard no complaints from Madeleine.







After swinging for a while, we gave Madeleine her other big gift (too big for her now, really): a tricycle from her cousin Lola! Madeleine had played with it over Christmas and had a lot of fun. And Lola was sweet enough to send it with Mimi for Madeleine to use.



POTTY TRAINING
To summarize, we did not have a successful venture with potty training this time around.

Madeleine seemed to get it, she got to where she would go pee-pee in the potty with no problems, but never poo-poo. We ended up giving it 3 weeks, and by the end, she wasn’t even really trying to go pee-pee in the potty anymore. Plus, she was super anxious. Despite us never saying a negative word to her about mistakes, the fact that she messed her underwear eventually bothered her. She wasn’t her usual self, so we decided to stop and give it a break.

As soon as we put a diaper on her, she was back to normal. She could play by herself again, she was calmer …. It was definitely the right thing to do. No big deal, we’ll try again later! I do want to start potty training the next one sooner, though.

BIG GIRL BED!
Toward the end of potty training, we thought that maybe having a big girl bed would help her want to keep her sheets and underwear clean when she slept. This idea was solidified by a trip to Nathan and Teda’s. Madeleine saw Scarlet’s little bed, hopped right on, and said, “I love this bed.”

I found a toddler bed on craigslist and procured it one rainy morning. We ended up stopping potty training that same day, so the two never went together, but we went ahead with the new bed and putting the crib in the attic. First, though, I had to get some sheets and a blanket for the little bed. It’s the size of her crib mattress, so twin sheets would be too big. (I can’t wait for her to get her bed from SuSu, the one that SuSu slept in when she lived with Uncle Red. That’s her next bed, and I love it!)

I wanted a set of sheets that would match everything in her room, but I had no luck finding any. I tried finding fabric so I could make some, and no luck again. Then we went to Goodwill, inspired by someone else’s story on Pinterest, and I found a set of full-sized sheets that would go perfectly. So for a mere $10, I got enough fabric to make three top sheets (already have 3 bottom, fitted sheets), plus the two pillow cases and lots of leftover fabric for who-knows-what? I was happy. Oh, and Madeleine decided she wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles blanket for her bed, which thrilled Matt, so we got that too.

Then, finally came the time to make the transition. Madeleine loved the bed, the sheets, the blanket. We wanted the first sleep in the bed to be night time, and she was completely happy and thrilled. However, she was a little extra tired that night. When we went to put her in the bed, she protested with tears and asked for her sleep sack. We obliged: removed the sheets and blanket and put the sack on her. She went right to sleep! We’ll have to work on weaning her from the sack eventually.

The following day at nap time wasn’t so smooth. Madeleine got off her bed and was excited to explore her new freedom. I calmly went in, put her back in bed. Well, she didn’t nap that day. Or the next. Finally on the third, we put up the pack-n-play and put her in that so she would hopefully sleep. After an hour, she was upset and crying for her big girl bed. I went in, rocked her, and she was asleep in no time. I put her in the bed and she slept fine.

The next day we brought out the PNP again, and she fell asleep in it. I went in and moved her to the bed because I’d read that it’s important for them to wake up in their new bed. That was the last day we had to use the PNP. The next day, I told her that if she got out of bed too many times, she’d have to sleep in the PNP. She did not like that idea, so she stayed in bed.

Occasionally, we’d see her get up so she could get Lamby or Blankie or Puppy, but really, that was it for getting out of bed. Big girl! We theorized that she liked having the power to get Lamby if she fell out of the bed, because in the crib, once Lamby was out, she was out. So she just had to remind herself (repeatedly) that she could retrieve her lovies whenever she needed it.

There were just a few instances of falling out of bed. Once she fell while awake and just got back in bed. The second time, she was asleep, but it didn’t really phase her. The third (and final) time, she fell out in the middle of the night and landed very hard on the floor. She cried big time, so we went in to soothe her and then I rocked her. However, she was a bit over tired, and ended up being awake for almost 3 hours. We eventually just had to put her down and let her cry herself to sleep, which only took a few minutes. That was the last time she fell out of bed!

I’d been worried, because she was SO active in her crib, moving all over the place in the course of a night. But now she pretty much stays at the head of her bed. It’s neat how we learn to sense those edges even in our sleep.



OWIES and WOWIES
We scheduled Madeleine for some Valentine’s pictures, so naturally she had to fall and get a black eye the week before! (This happened before our family pictures back in October as well.) She was on the bench, and I had my back turned so I don’t know exactly what happened, but she fell somehow and hit her cheek on the wheel of her blue stroller.

I heard her fall, then cry really hard, but I didn’t see anything. I held her for a moment, but she was in pain and was squirmy. When I saw her face again, maybe 30-45 seconds after I first looked, I could see a huge bruise forming under her left eye and just a tiny bit of blood where the impact had broken the skin (very slightly). Poor little girl! She recovered quickly and went on to play, but that bruise was still there at the end of the month.

Our favorite photographer, Joanna Penny, did the Valentine pictures, and worked her magic so that the boo-boo wasn’t visible.

However, we were still doing potty training at this point, and we went to the photo shoot in underwear. Ha! I’d thought that two extra outfits would suffice, but no. She was in a fun, new place (with swings!) and so there was no thought given to potty. And we went through all of those pants and underwear in a very short amount of time.

Still, Joanna managed to get some great pictures!




2-YEAR CHECK-UP
January 18th I took Madeleine to the doctor for her 2-year appointment. She did fabulously, with the usual crying when the doctor came in the room.

She finally got out of the 4th percentile for weight and soared into the 25th! She weighed 26 pounds 4 ounces. And apparently, Madeleine had gone through a growth spurt, because her height was now 34.5 inches—though it is hard for them to get a super accurate measurement when she is crying and fighting the whole time. Still, we’d been noticing that her clothes were getting snug, and even some of the things she’d just received for Christmas were tight. Pants started to be too short. It was clear she’d been doing some growing!

We also asked them to repeat the milk allergy test, as awful as that is for Madeleine. She did great again for this. When they first stuck the needle in her arm, she cried and said, “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,” which is what she’s been saying lately when something isn’t okay and she wants it to be. Or because it’s what I say when she gets a bump or falls or something and she was trying to comfort herself.

Anyway, the test result came back that she does still have the milk allergy, though it’s a stage 1 (out of 6). Last year, she tested at stage 2. So, maybe when she’s 3, it will be gone! The doctor recommended that we go ahead and test her with some dairy, which we were happy to do. But I think it still caused a looser poop consistency, and one time we saw the familiar splotches on her face.

Crazy! Just go away, milk allergy!

LITTLE THINGS
Just a couple little-big things to report. I suppose these are kind of big things, since I’m not writing down every new word or phrase she says or every new thing she does. These are worth remembering, specifically, to me. Not that the other things aren’t, but I can’t catch them all!

Matt and I have been modeling polite interaction since Madeleine could talk. “Please,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome.” We haven’t really made a huge deal of it with Madeleine, since she’s still just learning how the English language works and she has no clue about being polite and what it really means.

But I guess our example is enough in some respects, because Madeleine started saying “you’re welcome,” when one of us tells her “thank you.” It’s not every time, but I’m still thrilled! Whenever she says it, I’m sure to praise her for talking nicely.

Since this has proved effective, we’ve started asking her to say please when she wants something. It did not sink in at first. She’d ask for a drink, and I’d say, “Say please,” and she would respond, “Okay.” After a little time, however, and working on it more, she’s to the point where she says, “say please” if we ask her to ask nicely.

Here’s an example:
Madeleine: “More yogurt.”
Me: “What’s the nice way to ask?” or “Can you ask nicely?”
Madeleine: “Say please.”

It’s very cute, because she doesn’t pronounce it quite right, and it comes out “say pweese.”

The other little-big thing is the reappearance of Weasel Ball in Madeleine’s high favor. She played with weasel ball a lot after we first got him (after Layla decided she was done with him), but then a long time passed where he got no attention. She rediscovered him, and it’s been ALL WEASEL BALL ever since. She can open him up, take out the battery, and close him back now. Matt is going to get some special rechargeable batteries so we don’t have to keep buying them. She goes through a battery in about 1.5 days!

And when he isn’t working, she knows why: “He needs a new battery.” Which she reminds us of as often as necessary. :)

Madeleine loves playing "Where's Madeleine?" in her kitchen!



CURLS!!!



BIRTHDAY PARTY
We were invited to Madeleine’s friend Liberty’s third birthday party this year. We had a blast, especially Madeleine. When we walked into their house, there were balloons on the floor, and Madeleine about lost her mind with excitement. She talked about those balloons for weeks afterwards!



There were a TON of kids there, 13 including Madeleine, most of them older than her. She doesn’t really play WITH anyone right now, they just kind of play near each other. So while the bigger kids interacted (mostly on the trampoline), Madeleine was content with the little play house in the back yard. She went through the yard and house, collecting things to go in the house. Like chairs, a vacuum, and balls. No house in complete without balls, of course.

After the presents were opened, Madeleine did sort of play with Scarlet, the little girl 2.5 months younger. But only for a minute or two here and there. I can’t wait until she is older and really PLAYS.




Oh, and Madeleine selected her shirt for the day!

TRAIN MUSEUM
Joanna, my photographer friend, told us about a caboose in downtown Kennesaw that you could actually go inside. It sat next to a museum on trains and the Civil War. Since Madeleine is currently train—and especially “the Little Red Caboose”—crazy, we decided to take her one lovely Sunday afternoon.



There was the caboose, red, just as it should be. She loved it! We played outside for awhile, then went into the museum. While I paid, a train went by, so Matt took Madeleine outside to watch it. Madeleine knows about the different cars (boxcars, flat cars, oil cars, coal cars), so we try to point them out whenever they go by.



The museum was deserted but for us, so we let Madeleine walk around. She actually seemed to enjoy going from exhibit to exhibit, seeing what she could see and what she knew. Naturally, anything train-related was a big hit.

Then we got to the area designed for kids and it was all over. Mimi joined us at the museum just in time for this area. The hit of the day was the table with the tracks and trains on it. We sat there for at least 15 minutes until it was time to go.





There was a playground across from the museum, and we let Madeleine spend a little time there before heading home for dinner. No swings, though. She enjoyed climbing and walking through the equipment, but she did not brave a slide.

NANA
With mom on this trip came Nana, who spent the week at Susan’s house. One day, she came down to visit Madeleine, and the two hit it off instantly. Nana was her favorite for the day, who read books with her, played Legos—all sorts of Madeleine’s favorite things.



SLIDESHOW

Week 104: January 6 - 13

The biggest thing we did this week was go to Roswell and walk in the woods. I checked the weather and the temperature was supposed to be “warm,” meaning the upper 60s. So we made plans to spend Saturday morning out.

First up, we went to Douceur de France, a fabulous little place that serves French food, most notably pastries. You may recall that Matt, especially, has something of a weakness for pastries. Our “second breakfast” was eaten here. I had a croissant and a beignet, Matt a chocolate croissant, and I shared my croissant with Madeleine. Which means that she ate most of it and I got the rest! I also had a yummy hot chocolate.

Then we went to the Roswell Mill area, where we went twice before. It was one of my favorite times, sitting with Madeleine out in the middle of the river. And it did not disappoint this time! Instead of walking by the river, we chose to go up to the top, as we did on our first trip.

Madeleine LOVED walking through the leaves, over fallen trees, wherever she could go. LOVED.

After walking the upper trail, we headed back to the covered bridge which leads to the car. But Madeleine wanted to go down by the water, so Matt obliged, and I snapped some pics from above.

The weather wasn’t as nice as I’d thought it might be, but it was still the warmest day in a while, and we had a great time.

My great idea …
Since I’m pregnant, with a baby due in July, there are a few things I’d like to have done before the baby comes. Two big things are potty training (don’t want two in diapers!) and a toddler bed for Madeleine, since we’ll need the crib for baby.

I did some research on potty training on the web, specifically a “3 day training method” after hearing about it from one of SuSu’s friends. She said it worked like a charm, so I went there first. It looked good, but it said the best time for potty training is 22 months. Another place I read said that every day after the child turns 2 it gets harder to train.

So the week before Madeleine turned 2, I decided it was time to train her. I bought the e-book, read it, we prepared. As of the night before her birthday, she hasn’t totally grasped the concept, or at least isn’t too interested in it. It was supposed to take 3 days, and day 4 starts on her birthday. We will see what the future brings!

I can say that I have really and truly enjoyed the 3 days of training. It requires someone (usually the mom) to be super focused on the child, and we’ve spent every waking second together. I have loved all of that time to just concentrate on her, as I usually do other things around the house. Who knew potty training could be so wonderful? Now, if we can just get her trained, I’d be thrilled!

SLIDESHOW

Week 103: December 30 - January 5

Matt finished the kitchen this week! We both absolutely love it. Matt said, "What does it say about us that the kitchen adds to our house?" I'm not sure, but I don't care! It's so pretty, so nicely done. Madeleine... likes the doors. LOL. That's about all she got out of the kitchen this week, opening all the doors, then shutting all the doors. But, hey, it's a start! She also likes her little grocery bag that I got at Harry's.



Madeleine had something of a small trauma this week. We were invited to the Ray's house on Monday for hanging out and for dinner. Well, when Madeleine woke from her nap, Matt went to get her. He brought her out of the room still in her sack (which is unusual). Then he told Madeleine to show me something. She had a very serious expression on her face, and finally she held up Blankie--who had a huge trip down almost the entire length! The border wasn't ripped, but there was a huge hole.

She said, "MMmm broke." MMmm was still her word for her blankie. She was very matter-of-fact, very stoic. She didn't cry or get upset, though clearly, it bothered her that blankie was broken. We didn't have time to worry about blankie right then, since we had to rush to get out the door to they Ray's.

Madeleine had a GREAT time with Chase and Molly and Miss Liz and Mr. Chuck. And Lelu, of course! Dinner was DELICIOUS, and Madeleine got to sit in a big person chair (on some books or a pillow or something) and eat with us! She's such a big girl.

When we got home, Madeleine had to go to sleep without Blankie. I texted a friend that night, asking if she had time the next day for a "quick sewing session." I told her Madeleine's blankie got ripped and I didn't want to mess it up. She said yes (phew!). On Tuesday morning, Madeleine asked to see Blankie, and she gave it a kiss. She even started calling it "Blankie" (pronounced bwankie). Miss Ronna came over during Madeleine's nap and did an amazing job fixing blankie.

When Madeleine woke from her nap, I told her Blankie was fixed. She didn't want to see blankie yet, though, so I waited until I got her up and changed. We went into the living room, where Blankie was. I pulled out blankie and showed it to her. She inspected it very closely, and finally gave it a big hug. Now she says, "Miss Ronna fix Blankie." :)

THANK YOU, MISS RONNA!


SLIDESHOW