Mainly Madeleine

Can't you just see how pretty she feels? No, those are not black-eyes; Abigail has a makeup box. I think Avery did the job. Madeleine is so full of fun. Last week as she leaned out the window, she said, "I'm don't falling!" and was so proud. Another time, the children were playing together outside when Madeleine came in alone and matter-of-factly reported to Andy: "I hit Avery." "Oh," he replied, "Do you think you should have some uh-oh time?" She yelled out, in perfect imitation of some older sisters, "I'm going!" and stomped off to her room. A few days later, Madeleine hurried past me in the hall into her bedroom, explaining she was going to time-out and just seconds later, Avery began crying at the table, "Madeleine bit me!" Maybe she will begin to exercise the self-control before she hits or bites next time.

Madeleine loves music, and she sings very well. If we are driving without music on, she calls out, "Music, momma." She often starts singing songs I didn't know she picked up, but I was still surprised when she sang in Spanish last week, "El gallo se murio ayer. Ya no cantarra, 'cucuri, cucura.'" When I ask the other kids to identify a solfeggio pattern I hum, more often than not, Madeleine eagerly responds first--with the right answer.
This is Madeleine's best friend. I put this picture in not just for archival purposes, but because it reminded me of something. Madeleine gets her binky at night, naps and sacrament meeting. She loves it dearly. So sometimes when she sees another child not using a binky that he/she is attached to, Madeleine can't understand why they would pass on the opportunity and tries repeatedly to stuff it into their mouth.

Beside all the other times we pass the Westwood football field, we also pass it every Sunday on the drive home from Tutu's. Our kids usually call out, "Go Westwood!" This soon evolved into the same script every Sunday evening:
Child 1: Go Westwood!
Child 2: They don't play on Sunday!
Child 1: It's not Sunday! (though sometimes it is)
Well, recently Madeleine and I drove by the field without any other children in the car. Madeleine carried out the whole "conversation" herself. "Go Westwood! They don't play on Sunday! It not Sunday!" She even varied the inflection in her voice.

She loves her gold, sparkly shoes and putting on her shoes by herself. Now that I am improving at doing the older 2 girls hair each morning, she comes in the bathroom right after, climbs on the step stood and says, "My turn, mommy." She often dresses herself in the morning before I am even out of bed; the only complication is the only drawers she can open are Abigail and Avery's, so the outfits she puts together are usually too big, as in the picture below. Last Saturday the girls decided to give up their own "special drawers" so Madeleine could have 2 drawers she could reach in the room they all share together. It was Avery's idea. Abigail, especially, got a kick out of teaching her which drawer was "tops" and which was "bottoms." I was so proud of them.