Two!

Posted by Amy October 07, 2014

Two!

We made it to our sweet baby girl's second birthday! With another baby on the way, we've had to come to grips with the fact that little Madelyn isn't so little anymore. She is such a light in our home and family. Her personality is much, much larger than her petite 22-pound frame. Some things we love about our Madelyn include:

Her energetic curiosity and enthusiasm for life.
Her keen powers of observation (the other night when it was very dark outside and she was very sleepy, a black dog passed on the sidewalk in front of our car. I was impressed with myself - the driver! - for seeing it and far more impressed when I heard a sleepy "woof woof" from Madelyn's chair in the back. That girl sees everything).
Her love of cleaning. Seriously, her favorite thing to do is push the broom around, or put things in baskets, or wipe the floor, all while singing "clean up, clean up!"
Her attention to her own physical development. When she wanted to learn to jump, she practiced every single day until she could jump with both feet off the ground from anywhere. She practices her stair climbing, her ladder climbing, her stroller pushing, her running, her ball throwing...all with great determination and gusto. As a result, she can climb, run, push, and throw remarkably well for her age. I'm pretty sure she can throw a ball overhand straighter than I can!
Her love of people. She waves hello and goodbye to anyone she sees. We hope she never loses her desire and enthusiasm to communicate and interact with others, because we have seen how happy she makes both people who know her well and strangers she's never seen before.
Her joy in music. Madelyn loves to sing and dance, and she's sensitive enough to dance slowly and "beautifully" when there is a slow and beautiful song playing, and fast and excitedly when the music is upbeat. Our church congregation loves to watch Madelyn stand on our pew and "lead" the music and belt out her own tune during the hymns.

I was searching through pictures on our external hard drive the other night and found some pictures of Madelyn at 10-months-old. Dave and I have always felt that Madelyn looked and acted like Madelyn from the day she was born...that she really hasn't changed very much. But I was a bit shocked when I compared pictures of her last summer to pictures now. So fun to see these little beloveds growing before your eyes.

Newborn