Remember the Cuteness, Part III

So, it's been a bit since Remember the Cuteness, Parts I and II, but Miss Maddie has been changing so much and so quickly lately, that I felt it was time to capture some of her current quirks and idiosyncrasies for posterity. Here goes:

1. A-Okay: Lately, the Madster's response to everything you ask her is "O-kay!" It's really that enthusiastic, too. Want to go upstairs? O-kay! We need to go change your diaper. O-kay! It's time to brush your teeth and get your eye drops. O-kay! (No seriously, that just happened tonight.) Now, if only she actually were okay with half the things she so easily acquiesces to, well, life would be a lot easier, let's just leave it at that.

2. Baby-stalking: There's no way to sugar-coat this one--the girl is obsessed with babies. She loves them. She loves to talk about them. She loves to point at them and squeal. She loves to touch them, and kiss them, and kiss them, and kiss them, and kiss them, and kiss them, and sorry, got stuck in a bit of a loop there. Most of the time, it's adorable, but sometimes, it can be a bit of a nuisance. For instance, there were three or four families in our Kindermusik class that had new infants, and the parents just brought them to class with them. Maddie was so interested in all the babies, that the poor moms and dads had to leave their newborns in their car seats behind a little barrier in the class room, just to keep her from running over and touching them every five seconds. (Sidebar: The "You'll really have to get her one of those comments" got a little annoying by the end of the semester. While we probably will "get her one of those" at some point, I have no intention of creating another human being simply because my almost-two-year-old wants one. On the other hand, this strand of logic would explain a lot of the crazy and ridiculous choices some people make. It's obvious; they were listening to two-year-olds.)

3. Swimfan: Our little Monkey-face loves her some chlorinated water (See Meltdown). As soon as the first warm day in June rolled around, we took her to one of the pools in our sub-division, and while she had to be coaxed into the water the first time, once in, it was love at first splash. She loves the kiddie pool that she can get in and out of by herself, she loves the big pool with its steps, and she really loves going back and forth between them, making whichever adult is the current "designated parent" chase after her, in and out, in and out. She alternates between calling pools "poooo" and "a baf wif kids," this last usually being shouted at Jon from across the pool: "Daddy, I takin' a baf! Daddy I takin' a baf wif kids!" The only downside to this aquatic fixation is her lack of understanding when it comes to timing and the pool (Well, that and the fact that our sunscreen bill is through the roof). She does not understand, for example, that one cannot simply just go to the pool first thing in the morning (especially when one's parents have to go to work), in the rain, right before bed, or on the way home from daycare (And lucky us, we pass three of the damn things going to and from this last one. Ugh.). Still, on hot summer days, it's a good way to kill an hour or so.

4. Kiss, Kiss, Hug, Hug: Finally, the baby who couldn't be bothered to cuddle with you, who didn't need to be held, has turned into a little girl who loves to give hugs and kisses. Yay! Yay! (Sorry, that was me doing a song and dance in my head. I'm pretty pumped about this.) She asks for kisses; she bestows unsolicited kisses; she gives "big hugs" in which she wraps her chunky, little arms as far around you as they can go and says "Ahmmmm." And last but most definitely, certainly, without a doubt not least, sometimes, sometimes, she will say, all on her own, "I wuv ooo, Mommy. I wuv ooo, Daddy." It's usually followed by a hug or a kiss on the leg (It's all she can reach if we're standing). Heart.melting.now.for.real. She did offer all the people in Home Depot a kiss the other day, after bestowing one on both Jon and myself, but we're trying not to read too much into that...

And now, since I know you're only reading this to placate me, here's the picture you popped over to our blog for anyway:

Maddie, enjoying a cookie while hanging out with Nana and Pa in Abilene, KS.

Remember the Cuteness, Part II

Continuing in my effort to remember the little and random, but completely adorable, things Maddie does, I submit a whole new list of "cuteness":

I Heart Price Chopper: Maddie's home-away-from-home may be daycare, but given the choice, I really believe she'd choose to live at the grocery store, currently. See, Maddie's new favorite obsession (seriously, it may even rival books, at the moment) is the ball. Anything round (although, footballs are also included in her orb-love) is immediately fascinating and covetable, and the grocery store in the fall is packed to the rafters, quite literally, with all manner of "round." First, even before you walk through the magical doors to consumer-heaven, there are the pumpkins. The first time Maddie saw them, she went nuts, "Ba! Ba, ba, ba! BA! BAAA!" It took me several seconds to realize what she was talking about. She's finally consented to call them "Ba-ba", which is her way of letting us know she does hear us when we say over and over "Those are pumpkins, honey, not balls." Once inside of Mecca, there are even more pumpkins, but there are also balloons--not just the usual assortment of seasonal mylar, but balloons everywhere promoting tailgate-appropriate food stuffs. They adorn almost every aisle, and being round and shiny, they have also been dubbed "Ba!" Finally, though not balls, there are cardboard Jayhawk cut-outs that hang from the ceiling (also for tailgating). Being a Webster-Stoppel, Maddie loves the bird, so seeing the Jayhawk alongside so many beautiful balls of all shapes and sizes? Paradise.

The Answer Is No: About a month ago, Maddie picked up the word "No." At first she said it like Laura, her daycare provider says it to her: "Na-Na" (No-no), but now she just says "No" or "No!" Sometimes it's very off-hand, very casual. No, not now. I'm good. Sometimes it's quite emphatic. The thing is, she doesn't quite get it. She understands that no can be used to decline or deny something, but, well, maybe I should just give an example:

Mommy: Maddie, would you like a snack? Would you like some food?

Maddie: NO! NO! (Runs over to her highchair and proceeds to jump up and down until Mommy gets her in the chair and puts food in front of her.)

Yeah...she thinks "no" is an appropriate answer to every question. In fact, the more she really wants something, the louder and more demanding the no will be. She also shouts no when being offered the chance to go play in her playroom in the basement, read a book, drinks some juice, or go to daycare, all things she does, in fact, fully intend to do. We've tried following her no by saying "Yes. Yes you would like a snack. Yes, you would like to go downstairs. Yes, you would like to dance to the Mickey Mouse song" but to no avail. Whatever, we'll get there, someday.

Monkey See, Monkey Do: Most of you probably know I call my daughter Monkey or Monkey Face a lot (not that I really think she looks like a monkey), but as she gets older and starts to mimic other people, the nickname is becoming more apt. Currently, my two favorite imitations are as follows:

1) The sneeze: This started at daycare, where it being cold and flu season, there is a lot of sneezing. Whenever one of the kids sneezed, the other kids would all giggle and shout "A-choooo!" Maddie, not wanting to be left out, is now also shouting achoo, but because it gets such a big reaction, she'll now do it on command or just on her own. No one has to be sneezing, but you'll hear this little voice go "Ah-Deeeooo." (I used to think she was announcing her own impending sneeze, but that turned out to be a fluke.) The inflection is complete and total adorability, but she also scrunches up her nose and tilts her chin in the air while she says it. Love it!

2) How does a kitty drink?: The other night while I was giving Maddie her bath, one of the cats wandered in and began drinking the left-over water that was in a lid I use to wet and rinse Maddie's hair. I pointed this out to Maddie and being the teaching-moment minded parent that I am, started explaining how kitties drink. I move my tongue in and out and made slurping noises--the whole bit. (When it comes to learning moments, I commit.) Pretty soon, there's Maddie moving her tongue in and out, and now, when you ask her how a kitty drinks, she demonstrates nicely.

And then there's this:

And this:

Yeah, eat your heart out, Gerber Baby.