Madeleine girl is almost two and she is a ton of fun these days!  She talks non stop and commentates our life out loud in her sweet voice. She loves to be outside playing cotch (chalk), pushing her babies for walks, watering the plants, and driving our cars.  Inside she likes to play with play dough, color, and dress up.  She is still such a helper with dishes, sweeping, laundry, mowing, etc. and is my shadow with activities throughout the day. Madeleine requests the park and chick fil a on a daily basis and loves to push carts and color on the list when we shop.  We are also really into dance parties and the ‘shake song” by Taylor Swift.

M has a great memory and still tells stories to us.  The latest story is about fireworks and how they “pop, pop, pop” and are “all the colors.” She loves to sing songs with us and can fill in the blanks as we go.  Her fave songs are God bless America, If all the Rain Drops, and the Yellow Air plane song (which Joe made up).  We say prayers every night and before meals and she has learned to fill in the blanks with these too.  We love the way she says “Father Son and Holy Birit’ and she blesses herself by tapping her finger to her heart.

Madeleine has adjusted well to life as a big sister and has embraced the fact that Joseph is here to stay. She is great at including him in our fun and you can hear her say “come on Joe Joe” or “Joe Joe say that,” when she wants him to talk to her.  Whenever we give her a hug and kiss she always makes sure Joseph gets one too.  When she wakes up in the morning and from naps she always asks to see Joseph…along with fruit snacks or milk. She will only hold him for a few seconds and prefers to “look at him” instead. Watching them together is one of the greatest things.

It’s hard to put into words just how much joy this little girl brings into our life, but by remembering her in this moment, at this age, I hope I will remember the way she makes my heart full.