Checking in with Madeleine

With Madeleine's second birthday coming up in a few weeks, we've been reflecting on how our little girl has grown in the last year, and especially in the past six months we've been out here.  She was such an early climber and runner that this year has felt remarkably stable by comparison.  

But in true Madeleine fashion, no day is ever calm.  

A recent obsession with hats.  She loves making anything a hat

(book, noodle, crayon, or a real hat, all are fair game)

She loves pulling a chair up to the sink to "help" with dishes (aka scoop dirty water from pot to pot and ask for bubbles constantly).  It is impossible to walk into the carport without her heading straight for any wheeled contraption (except for the car); she could probably happily spend all day at the park with her scooter or tricycle.  She is starting to show some interest in books, which is exciting.  Her current favorite is, "I'm a Big Sister."  She loves to point out the baby.  But no, she's not (a big sister, yet).  :)

The two biggest changes we've observed, other than getting hair long enough for pigtails, are an explosion in vocabulary and a totally unexpected baby-led move to underwear.  Hence the abundance of underwear shots...

I used to joke that for a while Madeleine's vocabulary consisted of greetings ("ello!"), sounds of destruction ("boom," "bonk"), and accident awareness ("uh oh," "ucky").  It's fun to see new words pop up now, although accident awareness remains a large part of her spoken day.   Some of her recent discoveries:

• Ohaiyo- Good morning in Japanese, she says "hi-yo!".  We had one funny encounter with a woman on the street who couldn't tell if Madeleine was saying 'hi' or 'ohaiyo,'  but at least they're both greetings.
• Hiya Mommmm-eee-  I think this was her first two-word combo (distinct from "HI-YAA!"  which is a new favorite action word, along with roaring at delightfully diverse moments)
• Hang up-  This stems from a frustrating obsession with pulling all the girls' dresses off their clothes rack, so she started to hear it often.  Now she pulls them down and then says "hannn Gup."  Baby steps, I guess... It's also used whenever she wants something put away high (a book on top of the dresser, etc.)
• Oh mannn... - Usually in response to something that just fell/spilled/broke
• Baby (bee-bee)- rhymes with "pee-pee" (also pronounced "bee-bee"), so contextual evidence is essential for an appropriate response
• Boo-boo -  Has developed a need for imaginary owies to be kissed immediately, boo-boos are found at any time of the day.  Sudden crash beforehand unnecessary.  Another homonym for "poo-poo," so again, there's usually a breath-taking moment where we can't tell which is being used.
• Help- she just discovered this one last week. She still says 'mommy" and points for 90% of her communication (meaning: that which I desire), but lately has been refreshingly asking for "elp" instead once in a while. Sometimes we even get a "elp peezh".

I think this captures Madeleine pretty well.  

Go go go until she crashes.  She's got a grip on her scooter even asleep.

As far as potty training goes, we're still in shock about this.  I'm sure she'll hit a stage at some point where she regresses, but we're enjoying it so far.  I had planned on writing a potty training post for Elena, but the whole thing was so traumatic I really had no desire to relive it at all.  So don't worry to the parents out there, we know there are a whole range of experiences.  I'll just pray you get one on this side of the spectrum.  :)  

Sometimes all you need is a pair of underwear and a cape...

The first night at the hotel in Japan was the first time she told us "poopoo" and went to over to the potty herself, and we've been slowly incorporating potty time since then.  Two weeks ago we decided to try underwear-only at home, and she's only had a few accidents.  I also haven't changed a poopy diaper in two weeks, because almost every morning she wakes up and heads over to the baby potty herself.  Hooray!!  (Adam was lucky enough to change a few during that time, but I'll still celebrate).  

In these moments of calm I get to pretend

she's still my little baby.  

And for a few silly videos, here are some Madeleine dance moves while she rocks out to Abba (recently discovered to be her favorite music).  If she's within hearing, she'll come hopping over.  :)

And this is Madeleine singing her own song.  As an added bonus, Madeleine is without shirt and there is laundry drying in the background for an authentic slice of life quality.