Madeline is four and a half!

My sweet princess muffin head is four and a half years old. Did you know that when they get their shots any time after 4 that they will not have to have any more shots until they are 11?!

On our way to the doctor's office she said, "I want you to tell them that I HATE SHOTS! Maybe then they won't make me have a shot. You could tell them you are Madeline and they could give you the shot and then we could split apart and tell them the truth after you have the shot." I love her so much. She had to have her shots but before she did she had a lot of time with her doctor and talked his ears off.

She has become so outgoing and precocious. I never said a word and she told him all of the things he needed to know to assess her and more. When asked, "What does a fish do?" her response was , "sucks in air in his mouth and swims in the water." I just sat back and smiled trying not to laugh. I love it when I can just let go and let her be Madeline. Just enjoy her as she is- with no rules, time constraints, or places to go. She is wonderful. She shines and she has become so much fun. Again. I feel like I am finally getting my Madeline back.

Here are her stats: She weighs 43 lbs and is 42.5" long. The doctor said he though she would probably be around 5'7" or so as an adult.

Here are her tricks:
She is a great little artist. I like for her to color in coloring books but as cliche as it sounds I want her to "color outside the lines." She does her best work on white paper with a lot of supplies at her fingertips. Gigi is in the hospital right now and I took her a real work of art that Madeline had created just for her. Wish I had taken a picture of it. Madeline said that it was "hearts and sparkles floating to the sky to make Gigi think of Disney World."

She is sooooo sensitive. We are working on empathetic- sometimes she doesn't understand the Golden Rule but she is very very sensitive and her little heart is so tender. If I give her time to explain herself during an argument she usually makes a lot of sense. I always think about that little genius kid on Oprah that said something about kids just being small humans that deserve to be listened to as well. Madeline uses that line a lot.

She's a hilarious dancer. We are working on coordination and rhythm. I think I will sign her up for dance again but mostly because she loves the costumes- I'm not betting on her becoming a professional dancer- but she wins the trophy for enthusiasm!

She can write her name, identify all of the letters in the alphabet and write most of them and she can count to 100.

She has a wonderful imagination and is very creative in her play. She still loves her "barbies"- the little figurines of all of the princes and princesses and can play with them for long periods of time. She loves to dress up her real barbies. I love to go into the play room after she has been in there for a while and try to figure out what scenario she has been playing out with them by where she has them positioned all around the room.

And, she has inherited my amazing ability to write a great song. Me and my girl can take any mundane daily activity and make one heck of a song up about it. The other day when Tucker had a fever she decided to sing him a lullaby that went something like this, "I hope that you feel better soon, I'm sorry that I am sometimes rough with you. I hope you grow up to be a big prince so that you can dance with me."

She loves to make us laugh. She says the funniest, wittiest things that make Tyler and I roll. Lately she has discovered potty humor and talks a lot about poop. The other day she said something about Daddy and Tucker- that "boys just scratch, and drool and pretend to go hunting." Pretty sure that one can be credited to Mamie.

I love my girl so very much. My greatest desire is to take care of her precious sensitive little heart. I know a big girl with a heart just about as fragile. Poor Tyler never saw it coming.