"run, jesus!"

on thursday we had some friends from the neighborhood over to play for a little while. (we were originally going to someone else's house, but two sick kids made for a cancellation. i was really looking forward to some social time for maddie and i that i invited everyone over to our house instead.) madelyn was really, really excited to have people come to her house. she had been asking for "kayla", the babysitter, all week so this wasn't a huge surprise. the funny thing was that she kept telling the kids to "come" from one room to the next so that she could show them all of her toys. she would run up to them, yell "come" and then run for them to follow. when they didn't come immediately, she would do it all over again. i had to tell her that they were having fun where they were and she should stay and play with them in there.

she also demanded that they "sit" at the table when she had her snack. i was laughing at her being so bossy (i wonder where she could have gotten that from...).

later that night some other neighbors and their son, jason, came over to see our basement (they are looking at using the same company). madelyn was once more very excited to have company. i had to leave shortly after they got here, but i did get to see her tell the dad to put jason down so that he could play with the ball madelyn had gotten for him to play with. she said "come" and "down" while patting the floor. and i guess after i left she started telling jason to "run" so that she could chase him. after a while "jason" turned into "jesus" so she was yelling "run, jesus, run!" (or so matt tells me). here is some video of her calling him "jesus".

this morning after breakfast we were all cleaning up around the house. madelyn likes to get out the swiffer and another floor cleaner of a similar style and "clean" the floors for us as her contribution to the effort. when i was picking up our winter clothes from our walk around the block yesterday madelyn put on her boots, hat, and attempted gloves all by herself. she was saying that she was ready to "go outside". i took some video, but she had stopped her discussion about what she was wearing and where she wanted to go (gloves take serious concentration).

madelyn is such a ham. during snack time (and sometimes normal meal times) she likes to make what i call "squinty face" and smile a silly smile. i tried to get some pictures but they came out awful! she looks way deformed and not at all cute like it looks in real life. you will just have to take my word for it.

this morning when we got in the car after the grocery store madelyn kept saying "cheese". since we had just bought cheese and she had asked for some at breakfast, i assumed that she wanted some to eat. but that wasn't it. when i looked at her saying it she was making "squinty face" so i asked if she wanted me to take her picture and she said "yes"! i explained that i would take her picture when we got home since i didn't have the camera with me but she fell asleep in the car. it was just funny to me that something in that moment made her want to have her picture taken...

madelyn has gotten very skilled at having a phone conversation. she can answer your questions, tell you what she is doing, and what she did earlier in the day. she just walks around (even went up the stairs) while visiting on the phone. if you call, and have some time, i am sure that she would be happy to tell you all about her day. sometimes i call out translations when she is pointing at something in the room - that can be difficult to follow. dad has really enjoyed hearing about her day first hand. love.