Madeline is 2 years old!

It is that time again folks! It's time for a big old update post!*

*I've done update posts before. If you are interested you can click on the links to see where Madeline was at six months, one year, and 18 months old.


I waited until today instead of posting on her actual birthday because today we visited the doctor so I have her official stats as well! (See how smart I am?!)

Stats:
height: 35 5/8th inches (80th percentile)
weight: 28 1/2 pounds (70th percentile)
Her doctor didn't have any questions or concerns about her
growth and development and said she can ditch the vitamin D
milk and drink skim like the rest of us! Other than that she
is 100% percent healthy and 110% adorable!
(Medically speaking of course!)


Gross Motor:
Madeline is moving a mile a minute. She is climbing anything she can reach and skips all over the house. Today at the doctor he asked if she could jump, and she looked at him and said, very matter of factly, "like a kangaroo!" She was more than happy to demonstrate for him as well! She is working on balancing on one foot. She likes to stand on one foot while holding on to something and say she is practicing ballet. She is quite the little dancer too.

Uncle Bryan and Aunt Beth got Madeline a t-ball set for her birthday and she L.O.V.E.S. playing baseball. She is really pretty accurate in hitting the ball and has really walloped it a couple of times.


Fine motor:
Madeline loves to color with crayons or anything else she can get her hands on. This is problematic when moving because there are sharpies all over the house... but we did safely avoid damage! She is using a fork and a spoon and loves to stab watermelon and spoon up her "go-gert." (Not that icky flavored kid yogurt... that's just how she says it.)

She is working on lacing with the two lacing cards we have and she strings big beads onto an old shoelace. She spent almost 20 minutes working with puzzles this morning too. She loves her puzzles! (Thank you Scott and Becky, Bruce and Sue and Kathy and Elliot! The purchasers of said puzzles!)

Kevin and I got her this cutting food for her birthday. She loves using the cutter to slice the pieces of food apart. Some of the pieces are difficult to cut because the Velcro is still new, but she works through it.

Next is to work with her on cutting with scissors. For some reason this scares the junk out of me... do I really want to share the key to cutting with a 2 year old? I know you give them safety scissors but do I really want her to know what they are for? I mean that doesn't sound like a good idea to me AT ALL!


Language Development:
The last few times I've done this I've listed all the words Madeline has. If I were to try to do that I would be here for a very, very long time. Let's just say her language development is going along swimmingly! She is speaking in very meaningful and clear sentences. Some of them even have 8 or 9 words in them! The other day she used the word "is" in a sentence. (i.e. 'Where is Daddy?) This is significant because until then she would leave that out and just ask the question 'Where Daddy?' See how smart she is?

She seems to know more words every day and sometimes she surprises us with words she knows. Like shovel and elevator... didn't know she knew those words until she used them!


Social Development:
Madeline loves spending time with other kids. She is always asking how her friends are. ('Where is Madeline today?', 'Leo and Max come to park with me?') She is a social butterfly to say the least and loves being with her friends.

As for adults, she loves them too. She is very friendly with just about everyone friends, family and strangers. Every time she meets someone new she will say hi and then introduce Kevin and I as "This my Mommy and Daddy." Just in case someone didn't know.

She is begining to show compasion or simpathy for others. She will pretend that her baby doll Maggie has a boo boo and will then comfort her until she is better. Today Madeline got a shot at the doctor, so of course Maggie had a shot too... but she is all better after hugs and kisses by mommy Madeline. She is also totally obsessed with Olive the cat. Poor Olive.

__________

Ok, I think that wraps it up. I am not going to address toilet training because since the move happened all efforts at toilet training were officially haulted. We have yet to resume. Soon, however, we will begin again. Once I have my mental energy back!

We can't believe our little baby is 2 years old. She is so much fun and it is so wonderful to see her grow. I miss my little baby sometimes, but it is amazing to see the kid she is becoming. She has the best personality and I love seeing her develop into an incredible little girl. We can always have more babies? Right?

mg