Now that she is four, I can see a real difference in her confidence. I used to worry about her shyness around strangers, but lately Maddy has grown a lot in this area. Just today, I had to go to pick up some tickets from a pub. I needed to talk with the owner about a few details so I turned my attention away for less than a minute. By the time I look to the kids to go, Maddy had already talked with a man about her name and Ethan's, their ages and why her apple was smaller than Ethan's (She's eaten more of hers than Ethan). As we left, the man and a table full of about 8 older ladies were waving bye and wishing us well. We were in the pub for less than 3 mins.
Ever since we were preparing for Ethan's arrival, we talked with Maddy about where babies come from. Since we were planning for a home birth and were not 100% sure where Maddy would be in all of it, we also talked about what it's like during the birthing process. Ever since then, Maddy has enjoyed playing 'birth'. Sometimes she likes to be the pregnant mama and gives birth to her stuffed bunny or sometimes I have to pretend to give birth to her all over again. Yes, lots of fun. Anyway, lately she's asked me several questions about the topic again and it's almost as though she is mentally preparing herself for the task. These question were each asked on different occasions and usually just come up out of the blue.
1. "Mama, is it a lot of work to push a baby out?"
2. "When I'm a mama and have a baby, will you come to my house and take care of it when I have to go out."
3. "When you have a baby in your tummy, what is it like to sleep in your bed?" "Do you squish it to the side?"
4."Ethan, soon you'll have to play by yourself because I'm going to have a baby, be a 'mama' and find a 'papa', and I won't be able to live with you anymore."
Too funny, I just wonder what she'll ask next?
For her birthday, Maddy received a lot of lego. I. LOVE. THE. LEGO. Actually, I love how long she'll sit and build things with the lego. She's really taken a liking to it. (Ethan loves it too, except he mostly likes to just climb in the bucket of lego and stomp around like "I Love Lucy" did in the wine making episode.) Maddy also got her big girl bed for her birthday and now that she's slept a good 2 weeks in it without falling out, I think that we can breathe a sigh of relief. She loves her new quilt set (she picked it out herself) and I love that I can climb right in bed with her to read stories at night. Finally, Maddy's love of crafts continues to grow. Every time we talk about preschool she'll ask "I wonder what they will have for art?" She comes from a a long line of crafty people so it's no wonder.
I know she's JUST turned four, but I'm already going to miss her next year when she goes to school full days. I'm savouring each and every day until then.
