Another Overdue Update: 3 Years Old!

I have been terrible at getting these updates done on time.  In my defense (albeit not a great one) our laptop was on the fritz for a long time, and then we were in midst of planning and executing Madelyn's Princess Party, Easter, the kids wedding debut, and then...well after that I run out of excuses.

On March 30 Madelyn turned 3!

Madelyn's 3 Year Stats:
Height: 37 5/8 inches (50th-75th percentile)
Weight: 32 lbs (50th-75th percentile)

Over the last year we have watched Madelyn make the transition from toddler to preschooler (even if she hasn't started preschool yet).  She is able to play by herself and she lets her imagination run wild.  She loves to play with her dolls, have tea parties with Grandma, build things with legos and duplos, and most importantly "pack" any bag, backpack, or box that she can get her hands on so that she can be prepared for a "trip" of some kind.

At the hospital

4 Weeks Old

8 weeks old

Madelyn's language now involves complex ideas and sentences, often stringing together 10-12 words or more.  She tells us stories with a beginning, a middle, and an end that make sense in the order that she tells them.  For instance, this past week at Sunday School they learned about the shipwreck that Paul was in and she wanted to show us the pictures on her paper.  She told us that the people were on a ship but then there was a big storm and the ship sank, and the people were swimming, but then they held on to pieces of the boat until they floated to shore.  Even without reading the back of the paper we were able to make a pretty good guess at what story she was telling (although that seemed like a pretty high level story for preschool Sunday School).

6 Months Old

9 Months Old

Tantrums, although becoming less frequent in general, are definitely more intense when she has them.  It seems that Madelyn's emotions run very near the surface and she hasn't gotten the hang of how to deal with them yet.

1 Year Old (1st annual Birthday zoo day)

13 Months Old

18 Months Old (first international trip!)

Madelyn LOVES her little brother and wants to be a part of everything that we do with him.  She likes to help during diaper changes and baths, she is always happy to get him his pacifier, and she wants him to play with her or at least be with her when she plays. In the future, when the last thing Madelyn wants is to have her little brother tagging along, we'll have to remind her of how much she wanted him to be playing with her!

2 Years Old - 2nd annual Birthday zoo day :)

Who can forget what happened last year at the zoo...

Madelyn is an adventurous eater, but has become much less adventurous in other things.  Perhaps because her imagination is more vivid now she worries more about things that she does.  It has been an amazing year of watching her grow and change, and it is hard to imagine how different she will be in another year.

Three...