Have Books. Let's Read!

Found this cute idea on Pinterest and had to have it for Maddie's room.  It helps because instead of just grabbing a book she has to ask me for it.  It helps with her speech and it looks so cute!

Her favorite current books are: A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni, It's OK to be Different by Todd Parr (a gift from her cousin, Tillie), Pete the Cat and his four Groovy Buttons by James Dean & Eric Litwin Olivia save the Circus by Ian Falconer, Llama Llama Night Nighty by Anna Dewdney & Night Night book by Marianne Richmond

We went to our first Speech evaluation last week.  Maddie scored above average for her language skills but we really need to work on our articulation.   She is talking so much more now, singing all the time and to make things more difficult she is incorporating Vietnamese into her speech too.  As her mama, I of course understand everything that she says but for others not so much.  We will be starting speech therapy in a few weeks but until then we have some homework for Maddie.  She has to start to learn to blow from her mouth and not her nose.  So, that means practicing blowing bubbles, blowing water from a straw or in the pool.  And our two main letters to practice are B and P.  

Tweet Tweet Birdie

Since December we have subscribed to Kiwi Crates Kit Club.  I love the fact the the green box contains two craft ideas for the kids and they are educational too.  Yesterday when I came home Maddie was sitting at the table and pointing to the green box that came in the mail.  She knows it is for her (it's addressed to her - but she doesn't know that yet) and she knows it means something fun.  So, being excited myself as to what was in the box I sat down and begin to explore with her.  This month she got to make her own bird costume and a bird nest filled with two eggs to decorate.

After making her mask and wings we went outside to explore! 

* if you are interested in trying out Kiwi Crate email me for a $10 off your first kit!

IPad Invasion

I've lost my IPAD ..... to my 2 year old!  Yes, it's no longer mama's IPad it's Maddie's IPad.  As soon as I sit down to check email, FB or do some online shopping, Maddie runs up and says "Mr Potato Head?"  And it ends up in her lap.

Her favorite apps are Mrs. Potato, Ginger, Endless ABCs and Toca Tailor. It makes me smile because she doesn't realize how educational some of these apps are.

Got a Cookie, Let's go for a Walk!

Yesterday we went for our daily afternoon stroll around the neighborhood, where Maddie said HI to everyone that pass by us.  Before leaving the house she had to ask Daddy for a cookie for the road.  She loves picking up sticks and picking flowers.  Literally stopping to smell the flowers and asking mama to smell them too. 

Milestone: Last night after bath time and while playing with her new train set (YES, her train set) she came up to me and said she had to go pee pee and we ran to the bathroom and she went pee pee in the potty! WAHOO!  I was in shock and so happy.  We did a happy dance and she said "go downstairs to tell daddy, Maddie went pee pee in potty" Yes, let's go tell daddy and get some Rapunzel stickers to celebrate this moment.  I know this does not mean she is potty trained but it's a BIG step towards it!

Mother's Day

Maddie has been talking so much more since we returned from Vietnam. She is like a parrot who repeats what you say and listens to your every word.  That's not to say that she follows through on what you are asking of her.  Lucy is no longer Lulu but Lucy, every time you ask her something she responds with a "ok, that's fine"  We are slowly trying to potty train her and have to come to the conclusion she will go when she's ready.  A conversation between her and Grandma went as follows:  Maddie "Ba Ngoai apples please" Ba Ngoai "you can have a slice of apple when you use the potty" Maddie turning to me and says "It's not Ngoai's apples, it's Maddie's apples".  LOL

Today we took Ba Ngoai, Ba Ngoai Hai and Ba Ngoai Nam out for brunch for Mother's day.  (of course the men tagged along too)

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!

Spring Days

The weather has been gorgeous and that means it time to go outside.  Maddie usually loves to ride her bike, push around her dolly "Molly" in the baby carriage or get a ride in the "pink" wagon on the way to the pool.

Christmas 2012

Maddie was up bright and early at 6:30am this morning.  I don't know if she knows it was Christmas but she knew something was up.  She ran down the stairs and saw her new friend, Max (rocking horse) and baby dolly Molly.  She opens her presents slowly, so slowly we didn't finish opening presents until Christmas night.  Every present got her undivided attention.  She was a lucky girl to received so much love from family near and far.  I couldn't tell you which was her favorite gift, OK maybe Max but besides that she loved it all!

Busch Gardens

We took Maddie to Busch Gardens for the first time last weekend and we went back again to this weekend.  The place is perfect for her because it has animals and rides. 

Oh Christmas Tree

We put up the Christmas Tree after Thanksgiving and Maddie is in awe of the tree, bells and lights.

Her hair is getting so long!

One Year Ago Today

Today marks our one year "Gotcha Day" anniversary.  Last year we met our precious Maddie and life has never been the same again.  Maddie is still all smiles, fearless, independent and full of love.  She has taught us so much about ourselves as parents and as people.  She is a little girl full of so much strength and determination.  We don't have any more surgeries schedule until she is around 5 or 6.  She is talking about a storm but her articulation is not that great yet.  She loves to give hugs, watch movies, sing and dance.  Loves to be read to and loves to get her hands dirty during art class. 

We are truly blessed to have this sweet angel in our lives. 

Snow Angel

Thanksgiving was a wonderful feast and gathering with our family.  We had the family over to our house and had a pot luck style dinner.  They next day we took off on a road trip to Stone Mountain, GA.  This was the first time Maddie actually got to experience the changing of the leaves ( so gorgeous in GA) and playing in the snow.  The temperature was just perfect and our little girl showed us the meaning of "no fear".

This weekend we took Maddie back to Glazer Children's Museum.  It is a great place for her because she is able to roam free, climb, dance and just be Maddie.  They have this area where the kids can select what kind of music they want to dance to and Maddie kept picking Latin music. 

There was a chili cook-off right outside the museum, so we decided to check it out.  And we ran into Cau Luan and his friends who were participating in the cook-off. 

A New Hiding Place

This morning Maddie woke up to a new surprise, Daddy had made her a fort to play & hide in. 

Maddie can now count to ten and slowly learning her ABC's.  Tomorrow we have a speech specialist coming over for a evaluation and then we will be starting speech therapy.  

Daddy & Maddie

Maddie has her Daddy tied around her cute little fingers. We bought a big girl bed for her back in August, thinking that now we would get a good night sleep in our own bed.  But it seems like I get our bed to myself.  Daddy puts Maddie to sleep every night and recently the time has gotten later and later.  She gives Mama kisses and hugs and says "night night" while grabbing Daddy's hand.  They turn off the lights and turn on the stars.  I can hear them singing and laughing in her room.  The other night I decided to join them and slept in between them.  Maddie woke up in the middle of the night and climbed over me to snuggle next to her Daddy. 

In the morning when she wakes Daddy is already downstairs working.  She gets out of bed and goes to the stairs and yell "Daddy... Milk"

Oh, Lucy sneaks into Maddie's room to sleep at night too! LOL

Happy Halloween!

This was Maddie's first Halloween and she had fun giving out candy and also strolling around the neighborhood.  She would come up to people's door and say HI and take just 1 piece of candy.  She saw some kids on the sidewalk and proceeded to give them her candy.  You can't say she doesn't share!  This year we dressed both Maddie & Lucy as cows and Maddie LOVED her costume, Lucy on the other hand wasn't very pleased.

Getting Ready for Halloween

Today daddy went out and got some pumpkins for Maddie to paint.  She spent an hour having fun painting away.  She is learning more about her colors now and has started to say red, green and blue.

Her art teacher told me that Maddie has a real talent for art.  She is very focused when it comes to painting ... but I also think she loves the fact that she can get her hands dirty lol!

Hyde Park Trick or Treat

We've been trying to find things to do that Maddie can get good wear out of her Halloween costume.  And this past weekend we went to the "Trick or Treat" party at Hyde Park Village.  It was her first time participating and the "trick or treat" process and by the end of the night she knew what she was doing.

Have you ever seen a cow saying "Meow"? 

Pumpkin Patch Fun

This will be Maddie's first Halloween and she's excited that she will be a cow.  As soon as she saw the costume she wanted it on.  We took her and Bela to  a pumpkin patch and let them roam around to pick out their pumpkins.

A Day at the Farm

This is definitely my favorite season, from the change in the weather to pumpkin everything and I can't wait to show it all to Maddie.  Today we went to an Autumn Festival at Horsepower for Kids.  It's about 15 minutes from the house but felt like we were back in Faribault again.  I found out that there would be pony rides and knew Maddie would be up to that.  While we waited in line the other kids (who were older than Maddie) cried and wanted to get off the pony, while Maddie was trying to wiggle out of daddy's arms to get the ponies.

I love the wave back to us.

Next it was on to a "moo" ride.  We were so proud of Maddie because she sat in cart (with no seat belts) and rode around with the others without else.

After a morning of pony rides, feeding the animals and "moo" rides we headed home and had a 2 1/2 hour nap.  After our little nap we decided to make chocolate chip vanilla cookies.  This was the first time Maddie helped me in the kitchen and it won't be the last time.

Are they done yet Mama?

yes baby they are done! Enjoy!