maddie diary       summer 1999

up to 2 1/4 years old

this quarter
     - big talker
      - negotiating
      - strong sense of self
      - day care

size
      - 35 inches tall
      - 27 pounds

activities
      - trip to ri 4th of july
      - trip to delaware beach
      - county fair

interests

     - train set
      - zoboomafoo (show)

Gabby (6/29)
Madeleine's much more talkative now.  She uses words primarily for singing and describing things.  She'll tend to lose focus, but she can tell entire stories with help.

Family Circus Quip of the Month
She wanted to set up the train set, but I said no, we don't have time.  She said "Just one".  One what?  "One train set."

Acting Up
She has a much stronger sense of self now.  She will do things that she knows to be naughty (say, hitting the dog).  When we tell her to stop, she'll get upset, say "Never!", squat down and bawl.  When we explain the reason, she'll paraphrase it back to us.

If she's tremendously acting up, we'll plop her on a chair and have "time out".  When she realizes what's happening, she cries very hard.  When it's over, we'll talk it over with her, but we have no clue whether it's working.

Last week, we put her in time out for throwing down the remote control.  We asked her if she understood why.  "I time out.  I in chair." Why? "I throw down.  I frustrated!"

Talking like Daddy
When teaching her something, I frequently start out with "Sometimes.."  She starts many of her sentences the same way.  Ditto with "How about..", which I (ill-advisedly) start out requests with.  She'll say "Downstairs!", I'll respond with "How about taking a bath first?"  She'll say "How about Downstairs!"

Walking the dog
Maddie insists on helping walk Augie.  To avoid a bloodbath, I let her use the extendable leash, and I use the short chain leash.  He looks like the Navy goat.

A new chapter
She started daycare last week.  I couldn't even talk about it beforehand-- visualizing my little angel realizing that she was alone with strangers.  Or nobody there to cave in and make her pastina for lunch.  Or a scheduled nap.  Or not falling to sleep in somebody's lap.

But two weeks ago, we had a trial run for an hour or two.  She was initially hesitant, but found lots of fun stuff to play with.  The kids are nice, and I played with them apart from her-- gave her some room.  She was mostly happy, if uncertain.  The next test run, Maddie didn't want to leave. 
The first actual days went fine.

A new chapter, part II (8/4)
Daycare continues to work out well.  She like the kids and loves the adults.  She's probably better at daycare than at home-- napping on time, eating what's provided.

Food
Dinner is fairly difficult.  She doesn't want to sit in her chair, she wants to climb on Mom, she may not want what's served to her.  Most dinners are spent trying to get her to sit still and eat.

The Bed
We got her a big girl bed.  Louise put it together, and put her to sleep in it while I was at a soccer game.  When I came home and was sitting downstairs, I heard a huge thud.  "Oh no," I thought, "she'll never want to sleep there ever again." I ran upstairs, and she was crying.  I picked her up and started to console her when she whipped around and yelled, "Daddy! My new bed!"  She was dying to get back in and showed it off to every visitor for a month.

Amusements
She loves the beach.  On a July 4 visit to RI, she was prissy about the sand, but had a good time.  By August, on a visit to Bethany Beach, she relaxed a good deal.

Also in Delaware, she showed no interest in amusement park rides.  But by the Arlington County Fair in late August, she started to enjoy carousel rides.

Sleeping
Of course, while she likes her new bed, she still gets up a lot.  Reasoning seems to have helped.  She was getting up every night for a week, until I told her that when it's dark outside, we roll over and go back to sleep.  Otherwise, it makes the pets cranky.  No problems for a while.