Much ado about Three!

We had a great time celebrating Madeline’s third birthday.



We held a preschooler party on Sunday that included some small animals from a local pet shop, and italian ices,

3 friends and their families. Plus her cousin Dimitri who will be 5 next week. But when you ask Madeline what she did for her birthday, her recurring answer is:”I got BALLOONS!!”. good thing we made the midnight run to party city the night before her birthday!  Its a tradition now, I suppose, for her to wake up to a bouquet of balloons in her room.

i want one!

 

and they ran around and played in the yard together. it was so much fun to watch. Three is a great age for learning to play with friends…

 

Baby brothers and sisters had a blast too, or some just kind of enjoyed

watching… …bopping …napping

 

Also- last weekend we had some neighbors and friends over for a barbecue. Madeline has friends of all ages and we wanted to make sure that everyone got a chance to sing and celebrate, and mom and dad got to hang out with some friends who dont happen to have preschoolers too!

It was a great opportunity to eat cupcakes as it was the day after my birthday and a week before Madeline’s. The kids and adults were raving about how good an all natural vegan cupcake could be. I must admit, i think i ate 4! Sticky Fingers is awesome!

eating sushi, pre-bbq   and eating strawberry shortcake

cupcakes after the birthday song and candles!

Everyone kicked back and had a blast.

They adjourned to the basement where madeline impressed everyone with her Air Guitar skills and daddy sang and played with all the kids!

Finally, they did a little celebration at school so she had a third rendition of the birthday song and got to wear a crown. It was certainly the highlight of the day for her.  

 

She received many generous gifts and enjoyed opening them over the course of the week. Gifts seemed to just arrive

every day and culminated at her party- a “please no gifts party” but how can you tell a preschooler that they may not bring their friend a gift!  One sweet boy, Isaac told his mom that his favorite thing to do was give gifts- how could she resist?!

Thank you to all of our friends, family and classmates who made madeline’s birthday such a special time for all of us. The cards and presents which began weeks and weeks ago in Pennsylvania and weeks before that when folks started shipping and Amazoning to us from California, Massachusets, New York, Indianna, Florida…the streamers and balloons which mark the week of fun, the calls from loved ones singing the birthday song, the treats from cupcakes to guacamole, the webcamming, the heartfelt birthday wishes. It was a time she will remember. Thank you especially for the visit from Nana all the way from san mateo. we would not have survived this week without you. we so miss you already!

XOXO

memory day

it has been about two and a half years since this picture was taken. so much has changed...

she has become such a little person of her own. Able to express herself, and take care of her own needs, has her own sense of humor, opinions and wishes and such a truly kind heart. we are awed at the person she is and so excited to see what is to come.
Madeline Rosemary Mann, three years old on September 26 2009.
woah. Happy Birthday our big girl. You will always be our little bundle of joy. xoox





In celebration of another year, here are our top 10 Madeline phrases of her second year of life.


1. 'that feel me better'.- as in 'i need a cookie to feel me better'
2. When asking for us to blow on her food "Can you cool on it for me?"
3. "what i can do daddy?" Or any sort of flip-flop of the pronoun or subject.
4. When we explain that she should not do that again she looks us straight in the eye and says: "I will not do that"
5. In her most sweet, high-pitched voice "would you do me a favorite?"
6. She has a few imaginary friends and lots of made up scenarios, this month its
"I'm Penelope, you are sonja and madeline's my sister" or "here is my buddy and my grandmother and my cousin"
7. Past tense...'i beed very cooperate...can i have my reward now?"i: maked, dood, buyed or any such phrase..." especially 'i sayed...' Also a variation of the tense thing is the pluralize thing ie: The use of the word They- as in "i cant hold they".
8. If she would like something for later (ie: here water bottle in the car or something of that nature)[
"Need i case it..."
9. When we are traveling "Where's our going?"
10. When she has excused herself from her bed (usually around 9pm after 90 min of back and forth she marches in our room and ruminates:
"Probably i need..." or "I need something" but has no idea, of course, what it is...

And a quick story:
You know the old "got your nose" gig we do with thumbs...? Well, we did it to madeline. In fact it was me- and i thought i was so clever. I said "Gotcha nose madeline"
And she cracks a smile, looks at me dead in the face and says "Thats not your (of course she meant my) nose mommy, you got yourself!" and preceded to crack up.
Thanks for keeping it real kiddo. At least let us think we pulled one over on you every once in a while.

slideshow

trying to get a simple smile from a goofy girl!

My big girl

Here she is getting ready for her first day of school. She is taking another 2's class this year bc her bday is just after the cutoff. She was thrilled to get her penguin backpack all packed (esp bc we bring her a special snack in case the one served has milk).

Then later today...

Mom: What did you draw madeline?

Madeline: A skyscraper.

Mom: And what are those? Are those people on that page?

Madeline: Yes, they are pictures of our family for my blog.

Mom: (well i suppose so- here they are)



>

mmm mmm

Bennett forced me to give him some food this week
literally he grabbed the spoon out of my hand when i was serving avocado for madeline.
Still learning how to swallow but seemingly he was satisfied to finally have something to eat- he had been angry watching us eat and having nothing but a teething toy!

happy birthday

Hey dad. Happy birthday! here is a pic of madeline writing your card out
XOXO

Pics from cool aid

We were invited to this amazing event outside of baltimore, in farm country

----
24 years ago a couple: Steve and Cindy, got married in the woods with their friends on a tent camping trip in MD. They made a weekend of fun out of it and returned the following year for an anniversary celebration.
24 years later, they are still celebrating. Sadly, Cindy, passed away from cancer a few years ago but Steve decided to continue the tradition in her honor and this year, Kate, his secodn wife was there to help.
Each year the party grows to include friends of friends. Our friends started attending 12 years ago and this year we were "Nubes"- affectionate nicknames for the rookies to cool aid. This year, More bands, more fun, more tribes with more themes. (We are the glow tribe.) At one point they had to change venues because there were now hundreds of people attending.
This year there were 400 of us. Decked out with glow sticks, tie die, bikinis, silly hats or glasses, bicycles, tricycles, frisbees, sunblock and bugspray :)- whatever works.

A huge farm, with a large pond for swimming,
canoeing and beach play, alongside a river for tubing and canoeing, bandshell, beer truck with unlimited supply, a huge cookout, and a few hundred tents filled with families, singles, couples, hippes, yuppies, yippies and every combination of person, style and demographic...
all there for the same purpose: to celebrate life, have fun and be cool.
Everyone chips in, everyone volunteers some time: some picking up trash on the farm with the "leave no trace" motto, some lifeguarding at the pond, others towing tubers to the river on pickups
, some cooking, some creating the bonfire, creating the stage and bandshell, ice runner, empanada chef, building sandcastles with kids, sharing craft supplies, playing music, dancing, all the jobs were done with a smile. Everyone had a hand in it. it was amazing. no complaints!

We had the best time in our small family's history and are already counting down... 362 days till next year.
Grateful to the Phillips for the invitation and excited to share our pics with you.


even the catterpillars were so cool

Andrea being a kid at heart in madeline's wagon when we ran out of camp chairs

cool aid xxiv

the best ever family trip.
just got back
more pics to come eventually
xoxo



B was by far the most popular person there- 400 campers and i'd say at least 200 knew who Bennett was.

glow tribe

home

daddy and madeline pre-kayaking together.
bliss for a sleepy mommy this morning. time to go sit by the pond in solitude for 5 minutes. ok- so it was 6am, but still...