ms. madeline's surgery last week went famously well (i'll post pictures soon). it was indeed a one night stay (a record for us) and the little chicky has never looked back. every once in awhile she puts her chin down and tries to make her signature 'farting' sound with her stoma (what can i say? all class...) but for the most part, she is even more excited to dump buckets of water in the tub over her own head. if you don't hear about our madeline swimming in the olympics someday i will eat my hat.
with the stoma closed (which may or may not have conveniently coincided with her finally getting some traction in the walking department) she has once again turned the corner developmentally. she's practically running around (still looking like she was aboard a ship in the bering sea for months but whatever... it's so darn cute), is singing and babbling (quite loudly i might add), saying her first words (first word: 'ball;' second word: 'row row;' (the girl is obsessed with 'row row row your boat') third word: 'buh-bye'), signing in some consecutive phrases (giving the sign for 'more' and 'go' repeatedly on the swing), and even eating more! mac and cheese, yes please! and i dare say... she had a bite of one of her nurse's ham and cheese sandwich. it was a banner day here!
in a way i feel a bit bad for our little molly, even though she has such a big personality she could never be outshone (listen not everyone can pull off wearing a tutu, purple sunglasses and crocs while helping mommy water the flowers). madeline is going through significant changes and gets quite a bit of fanfare around here. we can't help it. last year at this time she needed pillows around her to help her *sit up.* this year she can run to the swingset, sign 'help up please,' eat cheese doodles and laugh her head off.
i mention this because molly has been acting out quite a bit lately, i know it comes with the toddler package , but i've noticed she's willing to really test limits and she's not necessarily looking for good attention... just attention. it's frustrating, but trying to reason with a two year old is... well. ridiculous.
i went to the thrift store with my sister a couple of months ago just to check out the place and as i was perusing the books a book called 'parenting the strong-willed child' literally fell off the bookshelf and onto the floor. i bought it, thinking that it may have a good hint or to. after all those that know me know i may or may not tend to have a little bit of a strong-willed personality of my own... but could it have been a premonition? doooeeeooooeeeeoooo....
my solution for right now is to build in a little more one on one time with the girls. i'm taking ms. molly to another class just on her own. it's a mommy and me 'baby ballerina' class. i think she's going to love it.
currently reading:
also currently reading (more on *this* later.... told you i was going insane):
by jeannette walls is one of the latest i've read. it's a memoir/autobiography of sorts, but extremely catchy. it seems the crazier the family, the better the book.
by kathleen grisom. i'll let you know how i like it!
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