​Oh, how time is flying too fast with Madeline. She is already 3 ½ years old, weighs 28.7 lbs., and is 39 ¼ inches tall (@3ft 3 inch). Madeline’s personality is coming out more and more these days. She definitely lets us know what she wants and when she doesn’t get something, she lets us know about that too. Still, she is really sweet. She responds well to calm explanations and will usually be pretty agreeable if she understands. Most mornings when I am getting ready for the day, she asks to have either a ring, bracelet or necklace. She loves to wear my jewelry and so I have a few things that I will let her wear just for fun. Madeline has become quite the storyteller. Whenever someone is recounting something that happened earlier in the day, Madeline pipes up with a story that is pretty similar to what was just said. She is becoming quite the conversationalist. She loves to be part of the conversation and so she makes up her own version of things to feel like she fits in. We just all nod and smile and at her because it's so cute that she wants to be part of the conversation.

Ever since the quarantine she often asks us if we can either go to the park or go to the zoo. It is so hard to explain to her what is happening so we usually just tell her that many people are sick so we can’t do those things yet. However, we have still found ways to get out and have fun. There are a few new things Madeline has done this month. When we read books before naptime or bedtime, Madeline usually likes to read back to me the story I just read her. Sometimes she is really good at remembering and sometimes she needs a little help. I think it is cute that she does that. After I sing her songs and rub her back before bed, she now asks me to go and get someone else because she “still needs someone.” It is her way of procrastinating being alone in her room. Usually Emma or Abby will go in and talk with her and rub her back for a few more minutes. Anytime Madeline is hungry she either asks for a popsicle or some gum. I would say she has developed a little sweet tooth but neither one of those in our house has sugar in it. Go figure. Madeline has finally learned how to ride her pushbike. She has really developed some great balance throughout this month. She is pretty fast on that little bike of hers. Here are some of Madeline’s favorite things:
 
Favorite color – Pink
Favorite books – Little Quack, Little Blue Truck Books 
Favorite movies – Toy Story 4 and Frozen 2
Favorite songs - I am a Child of God and The Primary Colors
Favorite musical artists - Queen and Billy Joel (asks Alexa to play Queen every morning)
Favorite food – Popsicles and Gum
Favorite animal – Cat
Favorite inside toy – Stuffed Animals
Favorite outside toy – Pink pushbike
Favorite thing to do outside – Go on walks around the neighborhood or jump on the trampoline
Favorite cereal – Rice Krispies (but she calls them Krisp Ricepies)
Favorite person – Mom
Favorite princess – Rapunzel
Favorite game – Hullabaloo
Favorite hairstyle – Curly and Wild
 

​There were lots of changes that happened in March for Madeline. She went from being the only one at home with me during the day to being home with everyone all day every day. She loved the attention and she loved doing her “homework” when the other kids were doing their schoolwork from home. We introduced Madeline to some new learning apps that she now does every day before she gets to watch a cartoon. Her favorite app is Kahn Academy Kids. She is learning so much every day. The older kids usually take breaks throughout the day to play with Madeline. They either play toys or do puzzles with her inside the house or they take her outside for some fun in the backyard. We have even introduced Madeline to some fun games that have been tucked away in the game closet for many years. She loved playing with the Lightbridge and the Hullabaloo game. Since we were all quarantined at home, I spent more time making bread and Madeline loved helping me grind the wheat and mix the dough. She even got to slap the loaf before the rising part. She thought that was fun. I love that I have many helpers to keep Madeline entertained and I know that she just loves having everyone at home.

​Spending everyday with Madeline never gets old. She is the light of all of our lives, and she keeps us thoroughly entertained. We learned some new hairstyles this month. She loves it when I do high pigtail buns with ribbons. We always do her hair that way when she goes to her ballet and tap class. We even do high ponytail braids and she loves that too. But it is not uncommon for her to just want her hair down and crazy. Every time she wakes up from a nap her hair is pretty wild. I try to put it up in a simple ponytail but most often she will pull it out. Her wild hair definitely fits her wild and fun personality. Even though she likes it wild, Madeline loves to pretend to do her hair with her own pretend hairdryer. She will often bring her make-up bag in my bathroom and do her make-up and hair when I am getting ready in the morning. 
 
Madeline loves running errands with me. She always goes with me when I go to get my nails done. She is the most popular little kid at the salon. They all know her by name now and Lin and Kim love to give her hugs. Jimmy always tries to sneak in little treats for her. After I get my nails done, we sometimes venture over to Athleta. It is always a fun store for me to shop in and on one particular adventure, Madeline decided it would be fun to copy all of the manikins. She was pretty spot on with all the yoga poses that each manikin was doing. It made me chuckle. 
 
This month Madeline discovered the love of popping packing bubbles. Every time a new package would arrive, she would ask to pop all of the bubbles. She would start by popping them with her fingers and would eventually arrive at stomping on the rest. I love watching the world through Madeline’s eyes. She is just so happy all the time.  

​This was an exciting month with Madeline. It started out like any other month with errands, weekly ballet and tap lessons and plenty of imaginative play at home. I love how talkative Madeline is these days. She loves to talk so much that sometimes she makes up stories about what she has done or where she has been during the day. She will often use one of the kid’s friends in her made up stories. It is pretty darn hilarious. When Madeline isn’t wearing her favorite Frozen nightgown, she is usually seen wearing one of her play dresses. Her favorite is still the Elsa blue dress and cape, but she also loves the Cinderella dress. There really isn’t a day that goes by that she doesn’t ask me to help her put on one of her play dresses. She plays for a while and then she is onto the next thing. She loves all of her dress up things, especially her hello kitty rolling suitcase and her tap shoes. She wears the older and slightly too big tap shoes almost every day. Her good tap shoes stay in her class bag and she only gets to wear those on Thursdays when she goes to her ballet and tap class. She continues to love the ballet statue and there isn’t a time when she doesn’t kiss and hug that statue as we are leaving class. This month Madeline discovered Penny the Horse at the grocery store. I decided to finally give in and let her ride the pony after paying for our groceries. It was only a penny after all. She just loved riding the pony and so I made a deal with her that when she was good in the store, she would get to ride the pony afterwards. Let’s just say we had many good shopping days. Most of the month was spent with smiles and laughter and joy. However, there was a brief period where Madeline got really sick and was not herself for a few days in a row. She actually fell asleep on my bed mid-morning those days and just slept. Even being sick Madeline is still the cutest little curly haired girl I have ever seen.
 

​There is never a dull moment with Madeline. This month she had plenty of opportunities to play in the snow as we got a ton of snow during the month of October. She loved wearing her brand-new silver coat outside and drinking hot chocolate inside when she was done being in the cold. Watching Madeline play is always such a treat. She is so creative and imaginative. She loves playing with her Little Einstein toys, her Little People figures, the eraser animals, and her stuffed animals. We continued to work on potty training and Madeline had fun picking out a new pair of underwear every day.  She leaned towards her Frozen underwear or something with pink in it. She truly is a lover of the color pink.    

​Oh, how we just love everything that Madeline does. She has been working on potty training lately. She is not loving it, but she will sit on the toilet willingly even if she never ends up doing anything. Madeline just loves to play with her pretend kitchen and food, and she is always up for playing dress-up and putting on her pretend make-up. Madeline has been my buddy during the kid’s cross-country meets, and she loves it when she gets to play on the playground after the meets. Madeline was able to play with her friend Ella this month. Those two had a blast playing at the big playground together. She gets to see Ella every week before her ballet class since Ella also does ballet at the same place but in the 4 year old class. Madeline has loved going to her new ballet/tap class. She is such a good listener and has picked up some new skills rather quickly. She loves to give the ballerina statue a hug and kiss every time we leave ballet class. It is adorable.

When I told Madeline that her birthday was coming up and asked her if she was excited to get presents, she said, "Is Santa coming to bring me presents?" I just chuckled because last Christmas she was finally old enough to understand that Santa equals presents.  I had to tell her that presents this time would only be from mom and dad.  Either way, it was pretty darn cute.  

I decided to not do a full fondant cake this year and to simplify things a bit and just do cupcakes. I found the cutest examples of unicorn cupcakes and went in that direction for Madeline's 3rd birthday.  Since the week was kind of busy we somehow managed to pull of a little party for Madeline with very little preparation.  With some simple decorations and a few fun balloons and gifts, we had a very fun and exciting party for Madeline the day after her real birthday.  This year she wasn't quite as scared of the candles but still wanted Peter to sit with her while we lit her candles on the cupcakes.  She even piped in and sang Happy Birthday to herself while we were singing it to her.  The cupcakes turned out really cute and they were actually really yummy.  I tried a different fondant than I normally use and everyone gave it a thumbs up.  Even Madeline loved eating the cupcakes.  She also loved her chocolate dipped strawberries and lemonade.  

Madeline loved her balloons and all the gifts she received.  This year the kids gave her two new Little Blue Truck books.  She was so happy to see her new books.  Grandma and Grandpa Kelsch gave her the cutest castle card that lights up to go along with her fun gift.  They gave her a pretend wooden makeup kit with a mirror, comb, two shades of lipstick, two shades of nail polish, eyeshadow, an eyeliner pencil, and a perfume bottle.  She spent a good 10-20 minutes just playing with it on the couch before we gave her the last present to open.  We gave her a pretend cash register and she just loved that too.  We loved pushing the buttons, swiping her pretend credit card and playing with the pretend money in the cash drawer.  It was definitely a perfect little party for our sweet little 3 year old Madeline!
​

Madeline weighs 27 lbs and is 37 inches (3 ft 1 inch) tall.  Madeline is our spunky curly haired angel.  She talks non-stop and we just love it.  She definitely prefers to be outside playing and spent the remainder of the winter and most of the summer riding the moped with me or one of the girls. She LOVES going for rides on the moped or just taking walks around the neighborhood.  She especially loves it when the kids will jump with her on the trampoline.  She loves to draw with chalk on the sidewalk and play with the sparkly rocks out in front of our house.  

Madeline loves to play with her toys just as much as she likes to be outside.  Her favorite toys are her Little people, Little Einsteins, kitchen toys, and the Sylvania family animal people with the house and all the fun accessories.  She is constantly asking Emma and Abby if they can get the Sylvania family out for her to play with.  Since Abby still loves to play with those she is often seen playing with Madeline.  Madeline also loves to play dress up and will usually ask us to help her put on one of her pretty dress up dresses.

When we let her Madeline LOVES to watch cartoons on the iPad.  She loves being able to wear her pink wireless headphones when she listens to her movies.  It's amazing how well she can maneuver around the different apps on the iPad.  Her favorite movies are Mr. Incredibles 1 &2, Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Returns, Kung Fu Panda 3, and the Croods.

Madeline's favorite books are the Berenstain Bear books.  Her favorite one of those is the Spooky Tree book.  She also loves the Little Blue Truck books.  Her favorite one of those is Little Blue Truck Christmas.  She also likes Cat in the Hat, the Mother Goose book, and Go Dog Go.   

Madeline is super smart.  She can count all the way to 20 by herself and recognizes 95% of the letters in the alphabet.  There are only a few she gets stuck on.  She knows all of her colors and she can recognize most objects on our learning cards.  Madeline can also sing really well and knows the words to so many songs...both primary songs and popular songs.  The other day we were in the car driving to Denver and a song came on and she just started singing it. I couldn't believe she knew the words so well.  

Madeline says a lot of cute things.  She loves to copy the things we say to her.  When I say things like, "I love you sweetheart," she will say the same thing back. She also calls us honey when we call her honey.  Without a doubt she always tells me she loves me too after I have told her that I love her.  We love it when she calls the elevator the "alligator." It cracks us up every time. She usually calls Peter Pete and sometimes she has called him boy.  We laugh when she does that.  She also loves to say, "what the heck..." If she hears a bad word she will be quick to say, "Don't say that word." She is such a good example to her older siblings. 

When she wants to tell someone that it is hers she will say, "That is mines" or "Is that mines?" It is too cute so we don't try and correct her.  

Madeline loves to do things by herself.  If she is really adamant about not wanting help she will say, "Let me do it."  She usually likes to try and take off her clothes by herself before her bath.  She has learned how to put on her own pull up diaper.  She can usually put on shorts or pants by herself but she still has trouble with shirts.  We still help her with her shoes but she loves to do the velcro straps by herself.  

Madeline loves all kinds of foods, especially chocolate chips which she has been known to sneak into in the pantry.  Occasionally we stumble upon something she just doesn't want to eat.  After taking one bite she will say, "No thank you," when I try and feed it to her.  She just keeps repeating that until I can convince her to eat just three more bites.  At least she is polite about it!

A month before she turned 3 we converted her crib into a toddler bed.  She didn't have any problems staying in bed at night but will occasionally wake up a little too early.  She has been known to go in and wake up the girls which they don't love.  

Madeline started a ballet/tap class right before she turned 3 years old.  She has only been to 2 classes but she already seems to love it.  She is really good at following directions and being friendly with the other two girls in the class.  

It's amazing how time flies so fast when the kids are little.  It was almost like I woke up one day and Madeline was a little girl and not really a toddler anymore.  Madeline had lots of FIRSTS this month.  At the beginning of the month she had her very first dentist appointment. She did really well sitting in the chair at first.  Then she wanted me to sit with her so I held her on my lap.  She let Dr. Patterson count all of her teeth and she let the tech brush her teeth.  

Right before the kids went back to school, we decided to transition Madeline from a crib to a toddler bed.  I knew that she could stay in bed all night since she slept in a toddler bed during our family reunion over the summer.  Mike and Andrew worked together to take the front railing off and replace it with a toddle rail.  Madeline was so excited.  She actually did really well transitioning to a bed with more freedom.  At night she never got out of her bed but during nap time she will still occasionally play in and around her bed before she finally falls asleep.  I feel like it's a win because she doesn't come out of her room when it's time to sleep.  

One of the things we are trying to focus on more is potty time.  Madeline really doesn't have any desire to potty train but that is not to say we aren't trying.  I bought her some pull up diapers so that she could learn how to take them on and off by herself.  That was step number one.  Step two was learning how to get on and off the potty by herself.  She can actually do it without using a stool.  I'm not sure how she swings her leg all the way around but she somehow manages to get on toilet by herself.  Finally, she learned how to wash her hands by herself.  The most important piece now was actually sitting on the potty long enough to actually go.  We tried reading books, singing songs, and eating snacks but none of those things really helped.  The only thing that got her to sit on the potty by herself was knowing that she had to go and not having her pull up or diaper on. I let her roam around naked and I went about my business in the kitchen.  I noticed that she walked back in the bathroom and got on the potty and was bracing herself against the wall.  Oh boy...she was doing something.  She did actually go in the potty but it kind of scared her and she started to cry.  I'm not sure if I will be able to convince her to do it again but at least she did it once.  

Since Madeline is almost 3 years old, we figured it was time to give her an activity that she could participate in.  Since I did ballet and tap with the other girls it seemed like the natural thing to do for Madeline.  I found out from a friend about a good ballet/tap program and we did a trial class to see how she would respond.  I was so surprised at how well she listened to her teacher and how well behaved she was in the class.  When the class was finished, she was so happy.

Even though Madeline had lots of FIRSTS this month, she also had lots of repeated cuteness from things she does all the time.  Some of my favorite moments this month from her was her love of playing in the grass, mopping the floor with me, talking on her pretend phone and actually pausing as if she were actually talking to someone, using her own resistant band when I was doing my PT exercises, playing with puzzles and telling me the numbers as she put them in the puzzle, and having a blast during bath time.  There is never a dull moment when Madeline is around.

​Every day we count our lucky stars that we have Madeline in our family. She is the cutest, silliest, happiest, and most fun little 2-year-old. She is always happy and so much fun to be around. This month she continued to shine with her radiant smile and curiosity. She constantly asks for bubble baths and at the end of a long summer day she is ready to play in the bath. She loves playing with her toys and rocking on her rocking horse. She loves to eat all kinds of foods but really took an interested in watermelon on those warm summer days. On one occasion she was eating a lollipop and then grabbed some bell peppers that I was cutting up. It was so funny to see the sweet in one hand and the healthy in the other. This month she got to visit both the doctor and eye doctor for checkups. She was insistent on bringing her doctor kit with her. While we were waiting in the room, she took the time to give Abby a checkup. It was the cutest thing ever. Her playful imagination never gets old. We just love our little Madeline.

Madeline has changed so much since she turned 2 years old back in September. She is now 25 lbs. and 36 inches tall at 2 1/2 years old. Her hair is still super curly and adorable.  She will still wear baby headbands and will usually want to pick them out herself. One of her favorite headbands is the hot pink flower. Sometimes when I try and fix her headband she will say, "No, I fix it." She is becoming very independent. We tried pigtails for the first time and she was able to sit still long enough for me to put them in. She just looks so cute in pigtails. She will sometimes ask specifically for pigtails now. Even though she is moving away from the baby stages, she still sucks her thumb when she is tired or nervous and loves to do so while holding one of her 
favorite pink blankets. She has two pink crocheted blankets that she loves because she can poke her fingers in the edge and wrap her fingers in and out of the tiny holes.  

Madeline talks so much now. Madeline is simply the smartest little 2-year-old ever. Her vocabulary is so extensive. She talks in simple sentences and she knows exactly how to communicate what she wants. Lately, she has been trying to talk to Alexa on our Amazon Echo Dot to tell her to play Madeline's playlist. Alexa doesn't quite understand Madeline just yet.  Madeline loves to tell us stories and sometimes it is just jibber jabber but most of the time we can understand what she is saying. Sometimes her stories consist of random thoughts one after another. I think it is her way of telling us about what she is experiencing. Madeline loves to talk on FaceTime with Grandma  Anne and Grandpa Franz. Every time Grandma picks up, she always asks for Grandpa too.  Her favorite time to talk to them is before she goes to bed.  She loves to go and cook in her little kitchen and then bring the food to the iPad so that they can pretend to eat it.  It's hilarious.  Madeline will often copy things we say and loves to call us "sweetie" or "sweetheart." She loves to say hi to people in the store and waves goodbye to people when we leave. When we change her diaper and it's a stinky one, she will often say, "I know, I know..." Back in December she had the worst diaper rash that lasted for 4 days. It was bad enough that for quite some time she would get nervous when we would change a dirty diaper. She would calm herself by saying, "No diaper rash." Poor girl.

Madeline is still a great eater.  She loves breakfast and lunch but is not the best eater at dinnertime.  Her favorite breakfast is cereal and fruit. She loves LIFE, Cheerios, and my homemade 
granola, which she calls, "grabola." She loves peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch. She loves the circle babybel cheese and fruit leathers most as snacks during the day. Madeline's 
favorite treats are lollipops and cookies. We just introduced her to lollipops but only give them to her as special treats. Madeline still prefers to drink milk over any other drink and will willingly drink water. Overall, she is a pretty good eater and will eat all fruits, peas, carrots, corn, broccoli, yellow peppers, some pastas, chicken, pork, and salmon but doesn't usually like beef or hot dogs. Madeline is great at using her spoon and fork and still uses her hands for some things. I'm not sure where she learned it but one day I saw her eating her blueberries by sucking them up with only her mouth like an elephant would with its trunk. It was kind of hilarious. Sometimes when we are eating together Madeline will knock my cup with her cup and say, "cheers." Emma taught her how to do that. It doesn't just stop with cups though. Sometimes she does cheers with her bowl or plate as well.  At dinnertime, which isn't really her favorite meal, she always tries to be done way before her food is actually gone. She loves to tell me..."All done. I want to take a bath, brush teeth, get jammies on, and go to bed." She is such a smart girl.

Madeline has really taken an interest in coloring. She loves to color with crayons, pencils, markers and colorful pens. She is often found stealing the girl's erasable pens from their desk drawer. Sometimes she will draw in a coloring book but her favorite thing to do is to draw on a blank piece of paper. She mostly draws scribbles and repeating circles. Madeline loves all kind of toys. She loves stuffed animals and usually has quite a few in bed with her when she sleeps. She also loves playing with the Little People and the Lego Duplos. Her favorite Little People characters are the princess ones. She carries them around everywhere she goes. Her latest favorite toys are the mini princess clip dolls. She usually asks to sleep with one when she goes to bed. Of course, she still loves her Little Einstein dolls and was so excited when we found Quincy who had been lost for over a month.

Madeline loves to play. She begs us to either pull her across the floor on the blanket or play duck duck goose with her. She also loves it when we chase her around the house. She will say, "chase me." It is surprising how fast she is. Madeline loves to play in the nursery at church but went through a month where she hated it and cried when we took her. Once I started being more consistent with church nursery and the club daycare she quickly became ok playing with the other kids until I returned.  

Of all the things Madeline knows how to do, she amazes me with how well she can sing the songs I have sung to her since she was a baby. She doesn't just know some of the words...she knows all the words. She can sing so many songs all the way through. Now when we are getting ready for bed sometimes I will start to sing to her and she will put her finger up to my mouth and say, "Shhh..." because she wants to sing to me. It is cute and kind of funny. 

Madeline still loves books. Her favorite books are: Bear Hunt, Little Blue Truck books, Mr. Gumpy, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Pig a Party, Eric Carle's Head to Toe book, Pinkalicious, Goldalicious, Curious George and the Chocolate Factory, Curious George Feeds the Animals, Curious George and the Dinosaur Museum, and the Mother Goose book.

Living in a house full of technology, Madeline falls right in line with the other kids and not only knows how to work the iPad but she loves it all too much. She loves to watch movies on her iPad and on the big TV in the basement. Her favorite movies are: The Heffalump Movie, Mary Poppins, Boss Baby, and Incredibles 2. When she is in the basement she will take all the pillows off the couch and make a big pile on the floor and jump from the couch to the floor.  She reminds me of how fun life can be from the eyes of a 2 year old.

Ever since the older kids have been swimming with the Rapids Swim Club back in the fall, Madeline has been obsessed with being just like the big kids.  We found an old pair of pink swim goggles and gave them to her to play with so that she would stop getting into the kids swim bags and stealing their goggles.  She loves to wear them ALL THE TIME.  What's even more hilarious is when she gets down on the floor and pretends to swim.  She somehow manages to scoot herself around on the wood floor while telling us that she is swimming.  She even does it in the bath.  I love how much she wants to be like her siblings.  I see a swimmer in her future!

Madeline knows her animals and the sounds that they make so well for a 2 year old.  After seeing her excitement at the Atlanta Aquarium earlier this month I knew that she would get such a kick out of visiting the animals at the zoo.  After doing a quick 2 year old photo shoot at Monument Valley Park we headed over to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  The first thing we did was go straight to the Giraffe exhibit so we could feed them.  There were a few other people there as well feeding the giraffes.  This sweet lady lifted Madeline up and gave her some of their lettuce so she could feed the giraffe.  Madeline was all on board until the giraffe came too close to her.  She wasn't having it after that.  Still, I bought some lettuce just in case.  I ended up feeding the giraffes but Madeline loved looking at them as long as they didn't get too close.  

After the giraffes we walked past the zebras and lions.  The lion was sleeping in the lion house so we didn't spend too long there and instead headed to the Elephant area.  She LOVED seeing the elephants.  The elephants are probably one of Madeline's favorite animals.  She loved watching them get the hay from the barrels and put it in their mouth with their trunks.  After that we saw the alligators, snakes, and kangaroos and eventually we made it to the see the tiger and bear.  She LOVED both of those big animals.  They were both very active which made it fun to watch them.  As we were making our way back to the entrance of the zoo we passed by a turkey and heard it gobble gobble.  For some crazy reason Madeline just loved that turkey and wanted to go back up the hill to see it.  It was so funny that of all the animals, she seemed to be the most excited by the turkey.  Go figure.