Dancin' Queen

Well. Color us surprised!

After Maggie's lackluster participation in her school's nativity play the day before, we were not expecting much cooperation from her at the Christmas dance recital this morning. Hubby and I anticipated being the parents with the child that stood still (and possibly cried) during the routine.

What we weren't prepared for was awesomeness!

Just when I think I've got her figured out, Maggie surprises me. Again. You'd think I'd learn :)

              Maggie, 
                      Mommy and Daddy are so very proud of you! Even though you were 
              a little scared, you stood up in front of the audience and danced with your class.
             You were an amazing dancer! Good job, Bug.
                                                                                 Love,
                                                                                  Mommy & Daddy

Little Lambs Preschool Nativity Play

Maggie's preschool had their Nativity Play this morning. Let's just say we didn't have the most cooperative little lamb participating.

 We are learning that, although our Doodlebug loves to sing, she is not a fan of being up in front of people.

(She thinks when people smile and laugh and clap, they are laughing at her. She actually said this to me. I've been working on changing her understanding of that, but I'm not sure she's convinced.)

So today, she sat on stage, sang two of the 8 or so songs in the program, and generally lolled around, layning back on her elbows and looking at all the other kids in their costumes.

When she came down from the stage after the show, she hugged my legs and fakey-cried. After asking her what was wrong, Maggie said "I don't yike da stage."

*sigh*

What do I say to that? We praised her for just being up there, and reminded her she wasn't alone but rather, was with all her school friends, and that her teacher was right in front of her, helping them sing, just like in class. She was less than impressed with our praise which isn't good because she will have to do it all over again this coming Thursday.

My Mother-in-law tells me Hubby had the same issue as a child (severe stage fright) so I am in hopes that Maggie, too, will learn to overcome.

As I was leaving, Maggie's teacher shared with me that she didn't know that Maggie could sing because she never sings at school. Then, just this past week, Maggie started singing one of their songs in class, on pitch and with all the words, shocking and delighting her teacher. If I've learned one thing about my girl, it's this: Maggie does things in her own time and way, and it is not necessarily when you want or need her to.

Apparently, I'm raising the girl-version of my husband :)

Maggie and Grace

On their way to Nana's after the program, Hubby asked Maggie why she only sang 2 songs at the program. Her reply: I don't yike does udder songs. So, there ya go.

Maggie Says

As Hubby refilled Maggie's milk and handed it to her, he said to her, "Here you are, my dear."
Maggie replied, I not a de'ah! I a widdle gu'ul!

Another Halloween, Another Princess

What can I say? My girls loves her princesses.

This year she chose Rapunzel (Wapunzul in Maggie speak). She told me I had to be Cinderella. (Thankfully, no good photographic evidence of that survived.)

This year, Maggie got Halloween. My normally shy-ish girl was running up to front doors and saying "twick or tweat!" without much prompting at all. Of course, it's the candy. She can never had too much.

About 45 minutes into the evening, she told us she was full and wanted to go home - no fussing or anything. As my girl likes to say, easy peasy lemon squeezy! I can't ask for better :)

Maggie Says

Mommy, is it time for bed-night? This is her mash-up of 'bedtime' and 'night-night'. I know I should correct her, but it sounds so stinkin' cute that I let it go.

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When going upstairs to get something from her room, Maggie will stop on the bottom step and look at me, hold up one finger and say, Mommy, I wool be wight back, okay? Okay? You stay dare. I wool be wight back. Once at the top, she proceeds to YELL down Mooom, I made it uuup! and when on her way back down I'll hear I comin' down now! She loves to yell at us from upstairs. I'm sure our wall-sharing neighbors love that.

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I got ta get my face out'a my hay'ya! Maggie intended to say she needed to get her hair out of her face, but she is always saying it backwards.

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I jus' yickin' my teef! She meant 'licking my lips' not 'licking my teeth'. This said in anticipation of the promised post-lunch cupcake.

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Mommy, yeap me! This one took a second to figure out, but once I did, all I could do was laugh. She asked me to 'leap' her - to hold her under her arms, suspended in air, while she did a ballet jump pose (one leg straight forward, one leg bent, no pointed toes). She's happy for you to just stand there holding her indefinitely which at least gives my arms a small workout :) The girl is obsessed with ballet.
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One of the songs Grandma sings to Maggie when she rocks her to sleep is 'Blessed Assurance'. Maggie knows all the words and likes to sing along but one morning she put a new twist on the second line. She had just arrived for her day with Grandma and grabbed up Puppy Brown Ears to play with (one of Aunt Erin's stuffed animals). They were walking back to get their swim suits on when Maggie said, "Puppy Bwown Ears wants a tas'e of glowy divine!" So Grandma cupped her hands and gave him a pretend taste. He was a greedly little guy though and needed about five handfuls!

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Maggie was at Nana’s house in her new “big girl” bed preparing to nap. Nana was at hand in the rocking chair just to be sure all would be okay in the new bed. As usual at nap time, Maggie was talking and singing to her menagerie of stuffed animals. Nana walked over and said, “It’s time to go to sleep now, Maggie. Close your eyes and stop talking or I’ll have to put the animals in your toy box.” Silence. Then a little whisper: “Dumbo, you haf ta be quiet or Nana will put you in da toy box.”

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As Grandma and Maggie were pulling into the driveway after preschool one day this week, Maggie announced, "Gwandma, we gotta spit!" A slightly startled Grandma replied, "What?" Maggie then explained that Daddy always spits when he gets out of the car, so they needed to spit, too. Isn't that just awesome?

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Maggie has begun making up her own verbal expressions (for example, Grandma says "good gravy" and I often say "good grief"). Maggie's favorite is that's hot like a pickle. She also likes to say chickenfeet!

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Maggie loves to come in the bathroom with me on Sunday mornings and 'put on makeup'. She has an old empty compact case and some brushes that are just hers, and she will sit on the potty lid, look in the compact mirror and meticulously apply her war paint. I say 'war paint' because, if colors were actually involved, the girl would look like someone out of 'Braveheart'. She's very serious about it though, and will walk in and tell me it's time to put my makeups.

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Recently while at Grandma's house, Maggie and the Grands had donuts. When she was telling me about it later she said Gwanpa had a owed one *big sigh* because he's owed. Poor Grandpa and his 'old' (fashioned) donut :)

A Day with Royalty

Maggie had a special outing earlier today. After Mass, Nana and Papaw treated Maggie and me to a youth theatre production of Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella. You know me, I love anything theatre oriented, so we were both excited.

The best part? You could show up an hour before the show and meet all the Disney princesses.

Maggie was entralled, but instead of bouncey fun, she took the whole thing very serious. She believes the girls are real princesses, and it was a BIG OLE DEAL for Doodlebug.

The girls who played the princesses were super sweet, and got down on the kids' level to talk to them and take pictures. They even signed autographs!

Maggie kept wanting to find Rapunzel - I think we chatted with her 3 separate times. The last time she spoke to her, Maggie asked her, Where is Eugene? Thankfully, Rapunzel brought her A-game, because she had her answer ready: he was back at the castle waiting for her. Maggie's next question was Where is all you hair? Rapunzel told her it was all there but looks shorter when it's braided. Maggie just stared at Rapunzel and seemed a bit skeptical, but she accepted the answer :)

The musical was very cute, put on by a summer youth theatre program with ages from 4 to 18. Maggie seemed to enjoy herself, though she kept trying to leave her seat. When I finally asked where she was going, she told me I jus' wanna tawk to Cindawel'wa. Cinderella was not available for the pre-show meet-and-greet because she was preparing to go on stage, but there was to be a post-show version with Cinderella and Charmin' (that's what Maggie call Prince Charming ... just Charmin'), and once I explained that to Maggie, she did quit trying to walk down the aisle to the stage, though she would occassionally call out her name, trying to call her over :)

All of this was occurring during what is normally the Doodle's nap time. She did really well, but fell asleep literally as the curtain calls were happening, so she never saw Cinderella in her wedding dress. I couldn't wake her up - the girl was OUT, she even slept through all the applause - and as the lights came up and people were passing us as I sat with her in my arms, we got quite a few "aw, couldn't make it til midnight" remarks. I felt bad for the girl because Cinderella is her default favorite princess, but all in all, she had an overwhelmingly fun time :)

Mommy Loves Theatre ... Pass It On

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love the theatre. Love love love love love love theatre. To date, the best Christmas gift I have ever gotten were season tickets to ASF, back when I was in college. (It's the place I miss most back home.)

I am hoping to instill a love of theatre in Maggie, so we're starting young! Hubby and I took Maggie to her first play this morning ~ Rapunzel at the Hale Theatre. I figured we couldn't go wrong taking the girl to see a princess :)

The story was based on the original story but Rapunzel was costumed to look like the Tangled version, so of course, all the little girls just loved her! Maggie sat very well, and watched and watched and watched. She kept standing up and calling out, "Papunzel! Papunzel!". When I would shush her, so would look at me and say, "But I just want to talk to Papunzel," like I was crazy for asking her to be quiet. She didn't care that there were actors on the stage (it was a small in-the-round presentation), or people in the audience trying to watch - she just wanted to talk to the princess! It was cute and funny, and took all my control not to laugh out loud at how serious she was about it.

Unfortunately, when the play was over and we all got in line to meet Rapunzel, the prince was there, too. Maggie loves her princesses, but the princes ... not so much. At least, not the live ones that are 6 feet tall :) So, no picture of my girl and Rapunzel but a fun morning for our little family, nonetheless.

She did so well, we may have to see Snow White when it opens next month. I makes me happy to share one of my favorite things with my girl. I hope it is a love we can share for years to come :)

PS: it just occurred to me that the reason Maggie didn't like the prince may have been because he looked nothing like Eugene from Tangled. My girl is a stickler for those details :)

Sweet Home, Alabama

I know, I know. The title's a bit cliche but what can I say? It fits!

Our little family has returned from our visit to the state of my birth, and I feel refreshed and rejuvenated ... and already a bit homesick. There's something about Alabama that's just in my blood - I feel more like 'me' when I'm there. Mmmm. I do love that state.

I will admit that the humidity nearly killed me! Well, that may be exaggerating a bit, but I was very melty while back home :)  Even so, check out the view from the back porch of our timeshare. It just makes me smile, it's so beautiful.

The reason for this road trip was the same as our Louisiana trip - the wedding of one of my best friends. The 3rd Musketeer was getting married, and I wouldn't have missed it for anything!

Isn't Mary beautiful? It was a lovely Mass and fun party after. I especially loved the food served at the reception - fried chicken, pulled pork, cheese grits and sweet tea - heaven on a plate!

Old friends who are family, and new friends who felt like old friends - it was a great time, and like all gatherings, seemed to last forever and end too soon at the same time.

Nina Mary and Uncle Kevin - congratulations! We love you guys so much!

One of my favorite pics of the day

Since we were making the long haul back down South anyway, we decided to stay the week after the wedding for vacation. I'm pretty sure I drank my weight in sweet tea while there, and had BBQ four times in seven days. Yep, it was awesome, and worth every pound I'm now trying to take back off :)

We spent one morning at Auburn, tooling around campus and generally looking like fans/tourists. (Ashli congratulated me on my return to the mother land - lol!) I wanted to be there, of course, but I also wanted to introduce Maggie to one of the universities she's allowed to attend :)

Lemonade at Toomer's was a must, and we got to see personally what the jerk-wad 'Bama fan (I use the term fan loosely) did to those beloved oaks. It made me want to cry to see the damage done by someone's hatred of a football team. So senseless. I admit we Southerners can get emotionally charged about our favorite team, but what that guy did was plain ol' meanness and nothing else. There was no team spirit involved in that act. Ugh. Mean people suck. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. Thanks for putting up with my little rant :)

Feel free to hum the Auburn Fight Song while scrolling through these next few photos:

A Side Note: When Hubby was taking pictures of Maggie and me at the AU sign, a couple of gentlemen went walking by and, in true Southern style, said good morning and spoke as they passed. At the end of our pleasantries, one of them said 'War Eagle!' I asked Maggie 'what do you say when you hear that?' and she answered him 'Waaw Eagle!' The gentleman, of course, thought that was the cutest thing ever. What can I say, I'm trying to raise my girl right :)

The highlight of our trip were the friends and family I got see and Maggie got to meet. My dad, a favorite aunt and uncle, cousins I grew up with like brothers - we had a wonderful evening together. Maggie met her 2nd cousin, Alyssa, and I didn't see her much after that :) Those two girls had so much fun together, it was a delight to watch.

Maggie saw lightning bugs for the first time that evening, and she and Alyssa ran around the yard catching them and putting them in bug catchers they'd strung around their necks. Maggie needed much more help catching them than Alyssa did but it was a new experience for Maggie while Alyssa was an old pro. (In AZ, we do NOT catch bugs!) I felt bad for those lighting bugs at the end when we opened the lids to let them out - they had been so jarred around and banged up while the girls were running, I don't think they knew which end was up! They just milled around the sides of the jar, and Hubby had to dump them to get them out. Bet they learned to fly faster after that :)

GrandPop also joined us for a trip to ArtWorks, a favorite place for me in Montgomery and a place I really wanted to share with Maggie. It's in the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, and is made for kids, so everything is touchable and fun. Heck, even at my age, I still enjoy it!

 

It was such a blessing to have Maggie meet my Grandma. She still talks about G.G. (great-grandma) and sleeps with the two little stuffed animal puppy dogs my Grandma gave her. I have so many wonderful childhood memories with this lady, and am so happy she got to see Maggie. A very special moment, indeed.

The one snafu we had was a bit of debit card fraud on our way through Texas. We didn't know until days later, but someone stole Hubby's number and had some fun on us for a couple of days. We got it all sorted out but it sure put a damper in my spirits (and pocketbook) for a few days. Other than that, we couldn't have dreamed of a more perfect road trip, and Maggie did so well, Hubby and I are already semi-planning one for next summer (be on the lookout, Bino!)

So, to recap: Amazing Wedding. Great Party. Wonderful Friends. Family Love. Sweet Tea. Humidity. Lightning Bugs. Fraud Suckiness. BBQ Overload. Travelling Fun. Sweet Home, Alabama :)

Maggie Says

Hubby tans like nobody I know. He walks outside and the sun smiles upon him so it's not surprising that he is already a dark golden shade in early April. When he went in to get Maggie one recent morning, she noticed his darkened skin.

Her room is shaded so things look darker even with the sunlight filtering through the blinds and curtains, and apparently Hubby changing appearance puzzled Maggie. She asked him, Daddy, what wong wit'choo hands? Are you b'yack?

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Maggie has been very interested in golf the past few months and Hubby loves it. About a week ago, he took Maggie to the golf store and let her pick out a grip (hot pink), cut down an old putter, and made a Maggie-sized golf club for her. She was thrilled!

Hubby showed her how to hold the club and she is really good at that. Last night he was showing her how to not just swing forward, but to swing back, then forward (he called it 'swinging through', Maggie called it 'back n forth').

She was getting the hang of it when one of our kitties, Chloe, laid down right in front of her, rolling around on her back and begging for some lovin'. Maggie was indignant, and sweeping her foot toward Chloe, said Hey, move! I twyin ta gowlf!

Incidentally, her favorite target is our other kitty, Cosmo. He loves to play with the golf balls, so I suppose as long as her putts lack strength and speed, him being a target suits them both well :)

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Maggie learned a new children's church song:

Da B-I-B-I-B, dats a book fuh me
A 'tand ayone, a word a God, a B-I-B-I-B

Another favorite is Jesus Loves the Little Children, but her version ends with Jesus loves the little children of the Lord, not world. It's really cute. When Hubby or I have corrected her, or have sung it correctly, she then corrects us, No, Daddy, yike dis: 'Jesus loves the yittle childwen of the Looord'.

Not to brag too much about my lovely child, but I have to tell y'all: she is CRAZY good at remembering words and melodies. Hubby is hoping she becomes a singing drummer :)

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My girl has begun practicing the art of persuasive conversation. Her favorite word when trying to talk me or Hubby into something? Just.

Mommy, I can haf a snack? I wan' da yogu't waisins.
Not right now, honey, dinner is almost ready.
But, I can, I can, I wan'da have jus one, Mommy, jus one (using her sweetest voice and holding up her finger so I understand 'just one').

She employs this same wheedling technique when told it's time for bed or time to leave a grandparent's house by saying, Can i pway for jus' one more minute? Jus' ONE minute ... pwease?

Or like this:

Daddy, I wan'da go to da paw'eek.

Sorry girl, not today, it's too hot outside.

But I jus wan'da go fuh a yittle bit (using her thumb and index finger to indicate 'yittle bit')

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Mommy, I sweepy. I nee' da go da bed, and when I waked up in da mowrnin, I jus wan'da go to Nowah's house. (She always wants to go to Norah's!)

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Lately, when the answer continues to be 'no' or 'later', she throws either (1) what she is holding, or (2) herself onto the floor and pouts, which begins a whole other conversation about feelings and how to express them. Good times :)