Fun with Russian

Meredith has a 30 minute Russian lesson 4 days a week. Madeline has a friend in her class whose mother is from Russia, and they learned about Russia in class this week. The girls were full of Russia, so we made a movie.

Christmas, 7 and 3

It snowed during our Christmas eve dinner and there should be lots more by tomorrow afternoon. I'm from Texas.  A white Christmas is a very big deal.

Chris and I have commented that ages 7 and 3 (and, of course, cousin Evan at 18 months) may be among the finest ages for Christmas celebrations. My favorite moment of Christmas may have already happened.  Watching them tonight as they passed out the gifts they picked for everyone (at the Dollar Tree) and jump and shout with glee as those gifts were opened was pretty spectacular. But of course, there may be a few fun moments tomorrow...

I'm going to sleep, so Santa can get here...

Meredith's First Nutcracker

Mer danced in the Children's Ballet of Memphis production of the Nutcracker this year. There were two long dress rehearsals and 3 performances, and she handled it all like a pro. I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a stage mom. I definitely didn't bring enough hair gel. I'm sure you find that shocking. 

But this girl? She's kind of a rock star. 

She

Just got Madeline on my mind this morning. As the second child, the blogging on her life has been less. But not the adoration. So let's catch up.

• She says "basically," at the beginning of as many sentences as possible. "Basically, I need a bandaid, because this booboo is kind of better, but not all the way better, and I know it needs air, but first it needs a bandaid."
• She says "infusing," instead of confusing.
• She's intense. Where Meredith rationalizes and can listen to reason, Madi is driven by emotion and can't easily turn that off. Did I tell you about the Grizzlies game where she was going to get to see her pre-K assistant be a Grizzly Girl? We didn't realize that this meant that Madi thought Natasia would be playing basketball. When this did not prove to be the case, Madeline wept as if we had stomped on her heart. And did not stop. 
• She can count to 30 and write her name (and usually hits all 8 letters.)
• She's funny. Still. Last night she got out of bed and ran into our room to throw a wadded up tissue at me. Bounced it off my face. It was funny. She knew it was funny. She also knew it was kind of gross, and that made it funnier. It was also a bit like, "Hey there, David Sugg." 
• She loves Doritos. Not so much the healthy stuff. 
• When she smiles, it's real. She doesn't really have a fake smile. And that just really says it all. 

And now, here to wrap it up with a bit more sentimentality, Mr. Elvis Costello. 

Halloween

This may well have been the happiest night of Madeline's life. She was giddy--not hyper--just joyful. She kept exclaiming about the fact that people were giving her candy. She was amazed. And at most houses she wrapped up (after receiving candy) by saying "thank you and trick or treat and happy Halloween!" Meredith is praying a looooong prayer of thanks for her candy right now. Sweet and happy girls.



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Homework

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Madeline Learns to Swim, Olympic Style

Madeline recently asked to take her water wings off. She held my hands and bounced off the bottom of the pool, letting herself sink down and stay under water for several seconds. By day two of water wing-less bouncing, she was ready to swim. She taught herself how to swim in under ten minutes, with just a little coaching. This video is day two of her swimming, with Meredith filming and announcing it. You'll notice that A) another little girl named Louise gets in on the "swim to Chris" action and B) the Olympics just ended. Go Madi!