Maddy continues to be a very inquisitive girl. She is eager to learn about new topics and is beginning to take on more and more responsibility for her school work. This year Maddy decided to try a new activity instead of choir. She has decided to give gymnastics a try and is loving it so far. She is in the the Homelearners group at Arenex, so it is a mixed abilities group. I was proud of how she kept on trying during those first few lessons when she couldn't do, or felt awkward doing many of the things the other girls could do.
Maddy is still very much into crafts and is now adding cross-stitch and sewing doll clothes to her list of things she likes to do. She often has a whole bunch of different projects on the go and will spend quite a bit of time on each one, leaving it for a long time and then revisiting it again later on.
One sign that she is not a little girl anymore is she is beginning to choose her own clothes and has even opted to get a new stylish shirt instead of a toy or other kind of fun gift. Is it really starting already? Most of her clothes are hand-me-downs and she LOVES going through the bags at the beginning of each season. Perhaps because the fact that she doesn't have much choice over most of her clothes, it was a novel idea to choose something completely on her own? I'm going to continue to comfort myself with this idea instead of the fact that she is just growing up. (At least for a little while longer).
At times, the attitude is beginning to show and we have many conversations about finding a better way to voice her displeasure at something. It's definitely a work in progress, and I have to say that Mama is also working really hard to hold her tongue at the appropriate moments and concentrate on the big picture. Fun times are just around the corner!
When Maddy was a young as 6 months old, she always used her 'Binkie' as a comfort item. I suppose she just loves the feel of it. She still has her Binkie for sleep and her cousins have even introduced her to the Binkie Hoodie but for the longest time she has dreamed of a Binkie Blanket! She spotted the material at a fabric store while on an errand with me, and always talked about how she'd save her money to buy enough material for a whole blanket. This birthday Po Po and Gong Gong gave her some money and her Binkie Blanket dream has come true. Seeing how happy and thrilled she was the very first time she wrapped it around herself was like being transported into the past about 7.5 years.
Are the 'Tweens' just around the corner? Or do we still have some time left before all that? It's hard to say. We'll just have to take each step as it comes. If all else fails and we find ourselves in the middle of a huge Tween drama, I guess we do have a massive Binkie Blanket that could be used as a swaddle. Heh, heh just kidding of course.
