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Thu, Feb 21, 2008 11:03 PM
Happy 6th Birthday Madeline! It's hard to believe how many changes Madeline has gone through over the past six years, yet at the same time, she has maintained a lot of the same qualities we experienced those first few days in the hospital. One of the nurses in the hospital looked into her eyes and said she is an 'old soul.' That still holds true for her as she is one of the most mature, perceptive, and aware six year olds you'll ever meet. This has allowed her to blossom into this amazing little adult who excels in most things she tries. To our surprise, she has even turned out to be a decent athlete ... we used to worry about her as she never crawled and didn't seem to be the most agile toddler. I think her ambition has helped her become better at sports as she never likes to be behind the curve! Her favorite sport these days is equestrian. She's been taking lessons for a few months and according to her teacher, she's a natural. She's off the lunge line for a good part of her lesson now and she just can't get enough of it!

She started kindergarten last September and has been doing great. At the first parent teacher conference, her teacher told us she's a joy to have in the classroom because she's always stays on task and she is she is so excited about learning, all the kids around her become excited about learning as well. She's reading very well now, writing sentences, doing math (hard math)! She was fortunate to get into a local charter school which focuses on the environment, global awareness, community building and technology. There are a ton of cool classes (sustainable cooking, ecology, engineering, languages, literature classes, etc). All kids are required to take Mandarin so that's been a bonus too.

She has a great set of friends at her new school ...we had her bday party the other day with 16 little girls. There were no skirmishes or arguments at all ... they get along really well and are a fun group of kids. The other day Madeline came home and told me who all the kids' parents were voting for in the presidential primary...I thought that was pretty funny and was glad to hear it isn't just Hannah Montana that they're talking about on the playground!

Adrienne has benefited a lot from having an older sister like Madeline. She is also quite mature, has strong opinions and is very aware. Apparently she and Madeline have political discussion too because when Adrienne saw our friend's tshirt with Obama's face on it, she said "OH, WAIT! I've got to show that to Madeline!" Toooo funny. As I've said in previous posts, Adrienne is our free spirit. Unlike her sister who always dots her Is and crosses her Ts, Adrienne definitely beats to her own drum. She's quite philosophical for a 3 1/2 year old too. Recently she asked me "mommy, when will the world stop?" She definitely soaks up life in a way that Madeline doesn't ... she is very sensory oriented and is great at absorbing the world around her. A few months ago she and I were in the car heading up 101 to SF. It was a crisp, clear, beautiful morning and as we came within site of the bay bridge/SF sky line Adrienne said "mommy, mommy! i like what i see!" I didn't even know she was looking out the window, I assumed she was watching the dvd ... but as I looked back at her, my heart melted ... seeing the pure, unadulterated, curious eyes staring out at the amazingly beautiful view. It's those moments that make me want to bottle her up and keep her that way forever!

Okay, that's it for now ... I wasn't able to upload photos, but I'll try to do that sometime soon.

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Tue, Mar 6, 2007 4:55 PM
I can't believe it has been almost a year since I last wrote.

A lot has happened ... we moved to Los Altos and love it. We feel more at home here than our previous homes; we connect with the people who are very friendly, there's a great sense of community, we can walk to ballet, soccer, Starbucks and our neighborhood is very flat so the girls can ride their bikes everywhere. We're still getting settled (landscaping starts tomorrow!), but we couldn't be happier.

Maddie just turned 5 and is literally a small adult. She's matured a lot (she has better control over her emotions, we'll see how long this lasts!). She can read simple sentences and even some not so simple ones. She's doing math and has an amazing love for learning. I love teaching her about the world because she soaks everything up...her latest interests include art (both her own and famous artists), gymnastics (she can do backwards somersaults, flips on the bars), reading (on her own and being read to), and socializing (she has many friends!).

Adrienne is our little spit-fire. If she's awake...she's moving. She's extremely independent, creative, funny, and easy-going. She is going through a bit of the terrible twos, but we're never too worried because her tantrums never last more than 10 minutes (unlike her sister's which would last 2 hours!). It's been fun to see her personality develop. In many ways she's the opposite of Maddie. Adrienne definitely beats to her own drum and always has an interesting answer for any question you ask her. She also experiments a lot more than Maddie ... she's always figuring out how things work and testing things. Adrienne is extremely verbal, strangers often do double-takes when they hear her talking (she's a little peanut but has the vocabulary of a 4 year old). She's a charismatic little bundle of energy who always makes those around her happy!

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Fri, Apr 21, 2006 3:17 PM
Yesterday I was sewing the straps on Maddie's ballet slippers and it hit me that I'm really a mother. I know that sounds silly because we've had kids for 4 years now, but Maddie is finally at an age where I'm doing things with/for her that I remember my mother doing for me. It really is such a great time. I was so emotional watching Maddie in her ballet class...focusing on the teacher's every movement, trying to get her releve and first position just right. It was so adorable. Maddie finally gave up her pacifier 100%in exchange for two little guinea pigs. She is in heaven having her own pets.

Adrienne is a crack-up. She always has us laughing. Yesterday her babysitter was trying to put on her shoes while talking to Maddie and Adrienne said "Karen...Focus!!!" Adrienne loves telling the story of how she hit a baby at Gymboree. I know, not very nice but because adults always laugh when she says that, she keeps telling the story. I took her to her first art class yesterday and the second we walked in the door, she went running to one of the stations. She is so independent and adventurous. Maddie was (and still is!) always by my side in new situations. Not our Adrienne. She is a little firecracker. Never a second of hesitation with that girl.

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Thu, Mar 23, 2006 5:58 PM
Maddie had a fun 4th birthday partying it up with 35 other kids at a gymnastics place. Birthday parties used to be a drag but lately we've had a lot of fun because the kids are older, there's usually an activity, and the kids have so much fun! Maddie had definite opinions this year on who to invite, where to have it, what kind of cake to have. She also helped assemble all the favor boxes and gave one to each child as they were leaving. It was very cute. She got a lot of board games and we've really enjoyed playing with her every night. I used to think I would like the baby stage the most but I'm really enjoying the 4 year old stage. Board games, real conversations, and a certain level of maturity. Maddie's biggest milestones lately are that she can write all the letters in the alphabet and she's learning to read some 3 letter words. Fun!

Of course we are enjoying the toddler stage with Adrienne too. She's still so innocent and just seems to appreciate the smallest things. Adrienne has such a zest for life, I hope she holds on to that great characteristic. She speaks in full sentences, sings the whole alphabet, can count to ten in English and Spanish, and figured out how to go pee-pee in the potty (although she sometimes pees next to the potty too!). She has definite opinions on what she wears, eats, where we should go, etc. Today I was shopping and she browsed through some clothes, picked a shirt, brought it over to me and said "This is cute mommy, buy it please." It was so cute! She always says "bless you," "sorry", "please," and "thank you very much!" I don't know where she learned to be so polite :)

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Wed, Feb 15, 2006 7:38 PM
Maddie's 4th birthday is coming up next week. I can't believe it has already been 4 years. I also can't believe how much she can do now. She loves 'reading' so we enrolled her in a reading program. In a couple short weeks she has learned most of her letter sounds and is able to read some words. When she was first born, I would see 4 year olds and think they were so old but here we are 4 short years later and our little girl has really become a big girl.

Maddie has turned out to be a very social kid. I'm happy about this because she use to be so shy and timid. Hopefully she'll enjoy studying as much as she likes socializing!

Adrienne is saying sentences now. In a few short months she has gone from saying single words to saying "Mommy, where daddy go?" "Mommy, sit here next to Adrienne." Just yesterday she used the word work/working in several different contexts. She said "Mommy, sippy cup not working!" "Mommy phone not working." "Mommy, where daddy go? Work?" I will never cease to be amazed at how quickly children's brains develop.

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Sun, Dec 11, 2005 11:13 PM
the holidays have been great this year. i never realized how much more special they would be with children. we have so much to be thankful for and all of the holiday activies are so much more fun with the kids!

maddie and i went to a mommy/daughter tea last week. it was so nice! maddie got to have hot chocolate instead of tea and all sorts of yummy kid-friendly sandwiches and sweets. there was an elf providing entertainment and helping the kids sing christmas carols, which maddie just loved. i think we'll have to make it an annual event for the park girls!

adrienne is so verbal now. she is putting multiple words together and her vocabulary has grown immensely. i have lost count of how many words she knows, but it's probably close to 300. this morning she was standing on a stool brushing her teeth in our bathroom and she started yelling "brian...brian!" because she needed help reaching the water. it was so cute! maddie didn't start calling us by our first names til she was much older. it seems like adrienne is growing up so quickly.

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Wed, Nov 2, 2005 10:58 AM
the past month has been really fun. maddie was a flower girl for the 2nd time and she did a wonderful job. she even stood up at the altar through the whole ceremony! i was so worried she would start yelling for me during the ceremony but she stood there very patiently and did a great job. her 4th birthday is coming up in a few months but i feel like she's a lot older. the other morning brian and i were arguing about something and maddie finally said "will you two please stop talking about this!" the way she said it sounded just like an adult. then that night when brian got home we started talking about the same issue again and she made a loud groaning noise. heehee. it made us laugh so much.

we are so happy with maddie's school. maddie has made some friends (her first friends completely independent of mommy!) and her teachers are so warm and loving. best of all, she is really learning. she comes home every day and tells me what she's learned (sign language, letter sounds, songs, different science experiments, etc).

adrienne is 16 months now and also seems older than she is. she says at least 75 words spontaneously and in the right context, she's learning to color, do somersaults, and she even wants to learn how to cut with maddie's scissors! oh, she's also interested in potty training. she tells me when she is going poo-poo and she always asks to go pee-pee on the toilet (nothing comes out when she's on the toilet yet but she's interested!)

we are definitely in a fun stage with both girls right now. life is good.

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Wed, Aug 31, 2005 12:00 AM
maddie seems like an adult sometimes. right now i'm listening to her and brian ...

brian: maddie can you scratch my back?
maddie: sure, daddy. all over? ... is that good?
brian: a little more to the left maddie...
maddie: do you want some benadryl or something?

maddie has become a pro at using the computer. she knows how to navigate through all her favorite games (hmm, i wonder who she learned that from!) and she even types her own name! i really can't believe our little baby has matured so much.

our other little baby adrienne has matured a lot too. she is talking so much now. she mimics a lot of what we say and is getting really good at trying to communicate with us. she asks for things now and even said 'please' today. she was trying to get in her high chair and she was saying 'up' 'up' 'up' as she tried to climb up. we were too busy to attend to her right away and finally she yelled 'pleaaase!!!' it was so adorable. then later, maddie and her friend charlotte were running down the hallway and adrienne yelled 'maddie! maddie!' i think she is communicating more than maddie was at this age. a babysitter we had today said adrienne acts a lot older than she is and that she thinks it's because she has an older sister.

speaking of babysitters, we used our first 'stranger' babysitter today and i was pleasantly suprised to hear that the kids did just fine. brian and i played an amazing round of golf today. we are in maui and i just couldn't get over how much more enjoyable golf is in maui. i guess i'm a fair weather golfer; the amazing weather, impeccable course conditions, and great service on the course make it so much more enjoyable.

maui has been so fun. i don't know if it's just because we haven't been on vacation for a while, but it has been truly amazing. we have so much fun with the kids playing at the pool, walking on the beach, golfing, eating decadent meals, and just having quality family time together. there are so many memories i will never forget like watching adrienne as she gazed out at the ocean for the first time and as she ran straight out into the waves. there's something so amazing about watching a little baby kneel down and just stare at the sand and waves in awe. these are the days to remember.

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Mon, Jul 11, 2005 9:43 PM
sorry it has been a while since our last entry. the past month has been very busy.

we celebrated adrienne's first birthday last month. the year went so fast i couldn't believe it. i will never cease to be amazed at how quickly babies develop in one year. adrienne is comprehending so much now. she can understands a lot of the simple sentences i say to her like "where is your bottle, can you throw this in the garbage (she distinguishes between diaper genie and trash can), do you want water (she'll point at the water dispenser), do you want to play outside (she'll look outside), where is the doggy? (she'll point at the dog), let's go take a nap (she'll head for her bedroom). it's soo cute! this morning i left her in the family room and went to do laundry. after a couple minutes, i heard her crawling down the hallway yelling "mama! mama!" as she was looking for me. it made my heart melt.

adrienne is a tiny thing but is so determined and knows exactly what she wants. if she's holding onto something she wants, don't expect to get it away from her without a fight! her tiny little hands are so strong.

the not so cute part of growing up is that she has been expressing her will a lot. she's doing it much earlier than maddie ever did. the good thing is we've been through this once so we know how to handle it (i think!).

maddie is doing great. i feel like we have a great relationship now because we can discuss things, i can reason with her, and she can be rational (most of the time). quite a diffence from 6 months ago! she is showing her sweet side a lot lately...just really enjoying learning about the world and having fun. her latest 'achievement' is that she can add numbers! she must have gotten her math abilities from her dad. she uses her fingers to add and can add any two numbers that add up to 10 or less.

maddie has been asking what a lot of figures of speech mean. we are realizing they are very hard to explain to a three year old who takes everything so literally. it's fun that she's paying attention to words so carefully!

maddie does still cry herself to sleep. we're wondering if she'll ever outgrow that!

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Wed, Jun 8, 2005 2:00 PM
more maddie-isms:

"that's so funny mommy. they're giving us a bag to hold our bags." (as a checkout lady put the gift bags we were buying into a shopping bag).

"are these the same AAA batteries we bought for our otoscope?"

maddie: "mommy let's do some boy activities today"
mommy: "what are 'boy' activies maddie"
maddie: "you know, maybe we could work?"
mommy: "i do work all the time!"
maddie: "no, i mean boy work. like...checking emails and doing work on the computer."
(we're going to have to work on the stereotypes already forming in her head!)

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