Madi: 19 Months

Miss Madi - this month sure has flown by! But not without tons of fun of course. It's been a bit rough with me not feeling well and you not understanding why I can't always pick you up and snuggle you for bedtime. :-( However, I think you've loved the increase in Peppa Pig that you got to watch during Mommy's first trimester.

You were so full of "Madi moments" that Daddy and Mommy want to capture and remember for years to come. :-) You make us laugh baby girl and amaze us every day with how smart you are!

• Daddy was taking his clothes off to get into the shower and laid them on the floor. You immediately walked over to them, picked them up, and said "dirty". Then we watched in amazement as you carried them straight over to the laundry chute, opened it, and put them inside! We had no idea you had ever seen us do that before, but we sure don't say "dirty" everytime we do, haha.
• You constantly want to be picked up, which is adorable, but getting hard for Mommy sometimes. You also like to pull on our pants and say "come Mommy" or "come Daddy". You've fallen a couple times when I am in stretchy lounge pants so we are trying to teach you to take our hands instead.
• You love to laugh and be tickled. You say "more" whenever we stop and let me tell you, that laugh is beautiful and contagious! :-)
• You have got a bit of a sweet tooth, which unfortunately I'm pretty sure came from Mommy. :-/ You ate the top half of an iced cinnamon roll and then asked for "more" from Daddy. Also, we gave you a bowl of lucky charms one morning while we were getting ready and when I came out to see you a few minutes later you were asking for "more". I thought, "wow, I can't believe she ate her whole bowl!". And then I looked at the bowl. Full of cereal. Void of marshmallows. And I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing because I know I did the same thing as a kid!!
• We are seeing a bit of bossiness this month... along with telling us to come, you also like to tell us "eat Mommy" or "drink Daddy" or "sitta Mommy". You also like to push us out of chairs, but at least say "coo meez" (excuse me) while you are doing so. 
• We guess that this is because you are learning both English and Norwegian, but you frequently add the sound "a" at the end of your English words. Like for "sit" you say "sitta". 
• Apparently we scold Zoey a lot because "no Zoey" has become a frequent phrase you say daily. If there's a sound from somewhere in the house - "no Zoey", if Zoey jumps on the sofa and climbs on Mommy's lap - "no Zoey", and the list goes on. We are trying to correct you when Zoey isn't doing something wrong (just something you don't like!)
• You have gotten very good at saying "thank you" when we give you something and have started to pick up on "you're welcome" a little bit as well.
• Our current struggle is your independence... you like to do things on your own, which is usually fine, but you get frustrated and won't let us help you. You screamed during bathtime when Daddy tried to wash your hair because you wanted to do it (which meant rubbing the wash cloth over and over again in just one place on the side of your head!). The next morning you asked for a "figa newt" (fig newton) and got upset when Daddy gave you one and tried to grab the package. I called out that I thought you wanted to get it out yourself so Daddy gave you the package and sure enough you just wanted to open it and get your own cookie. It will be great for you to be so independent when your siblings arrive, but you need to let us help yu sometimes baby girl! :-)
• Mommy and Daddy can't sing. We've never claimed to be able to either. But we loved singing praise and worship songs to you during bedtime snuggles. Well that's ended abruptly. Both of us realized independently (we've been taking turns putting you to bed) that you start crying when we sing. Talk about a confidence booster.... sheesh! So there's no more singing before bedtime in the Stingerie household. Instead we hold you for a few minutes, then you point to the bed, and we lay you down. Easy peasy, but Mommy sure does miss our old book, singing, and a tiny bit more snuggling! 
• Dice have become your favorite toy this month. You are pretty good at keeping them on the table since we ask you to roll only there. We've also noticed you counting the dice. You will pick them up one at a time and put them into the container counting "one, two, three, four". Then you kind of stop, don't really say "five", and then say "six". You've definitely got an early concept of numbers.
• Your other favorite activity this month has been drawing. You love to draw in the evening and at school. They told us you have amazing concentration when you are drawing. We've started scanning your pictures so that I can make an album of your artwork (and auction the originals to grandparents for your college fund!). 

• The last moment I want to share is the first time I made you cry (unintentionally of course). We are working on obedience right now with you and there's been some ups and downs. We respect you enough to know that you understand us the first time we tell you to do something and we shouldn't have to repeat ourselves. I asked you twice to come to me for a diaper change and as you walked away from me, I said "Madison now". Well however I said that last word, "now", you stopped dead in your tracks, turned around to look at me with a distraught face, burst into tears and ran to hug me. I had this moment of horror at the realization that my tone of voice made you cry, but was also grateful that you understood it meant business and I didn't have to ask you again. If I utter the word "now" anymore (in a much more reserved tone), you immediately obey. 

Sweet and precious girl - you are so loved and special to Daddy and Mommy. We love that you are so energetic and joyful! You make us laugh and smile. You are getting so big and independent! We know you are going to be an amazing big sister and great helper. You are patient and kind and love to climb anything you can. ;-) Happy 19 months!

Love,
Daddy and Mommy