Maddie turns 3!!!

Well, I can hardly believe that another year has gone by and that Maddie is 3 years old now. No longer a toddler, she is on her way to becoming a little girl. We had her party at a pizza place in Ozark, MO. We had our own party room and there was a game room for the kids to play in. The theme for her party was Dora..her current obsession. She had a great time with all her friends and liked eating the cake and pulling the strings on the pinata and of course, getting the candy. She received many nice gifts with most of it being Dora or Barbie related.
This year has been truly a year of major milestones for Maddie and she has grown and changed so much over the past year. This past year she:
1. has moved into a big girl bed
2. potty trained herself
3. has developed the most astounding vocabulary for a little kid. Seriously..is scrutinize a normal part of a 2 year old's vocabulary?
4. draws pictures with much more detail than before. She can draw stick people, suns, and various other pictures.
5. learned how to pedal a tricycle and now has a big girl bike with training wheels
6. has really developed an impressive imagination and really creates some involved scenarios when she plays
7. has continued to be an all-around good mannered kid. She has her moments but so far no age of hers has been "terrible". I hope this continues because we sure have gotten lucky with her.

This year will prove to be a year of change too as she will be starting preschool at the college where I teach. I am sure she will learn even more this year!

County Fair

We went to the Christian County fair a couple of weeks ago. It is very small, but just right for a now 3 year old. Maddie went on her first fair ride (a kiddie motorcycle ride) and a pony all by herself. We were so proud of her! She is growing up too fast!

Silly girl

Maddie decided to walk around with one of my baskets the other day. She reminded me of Oscar the Grouch walking around with his trash can..with just his feet sticking out!

Fourth of July

We are so fortunate to live in a great neighborhood with great neighbors and lots of kids for Maddie to play with. Our little street is on a cul-de-sac (which is perfect for little kids who don't listen to stay of the street!) and with only about 8 houses..there are 5 kids 3 years and younger. Maddie (and us) have made a lot of good friends on our street, which makes living away from family a little bit easier. Our neighbors had some people over for a fourth of july cookout. The kids had a blast playing on the slip and slide and watching the dads shoot off fireworks. Maddie was up WAY past her usual bedtime, but she did great and she had an awesome time.

Zoo

Just a cute pic of Maddie with Daddy at our recent zoo trip

Big girl room

About a month or so ago, we finally got Maddie into a big girl bed. We saw no rush to do it earlier because we didn't need the crib and she still fit fine in it, but now was the time for her to get into a real bed. We completed her room with a new table and chairs and a new bookshelf. She loves her bed and is very happy to have a "big girl" bed.

Maddie meets Barbie

Recently a Babies R Us opened up inside our current Toys R Us. To celebrate they had a bunch of characters come to the store to meet the kids. We went there based on the rumor that Dora was going to be there, but alas, it was just a rumor. Maddie was a little scared still of anything that was wearing a mask, but she happily stood next to "Barbie" for a picture.