The big five-o

Madeleine enjoyed opening an early present the other day, though was surprised to see it was just her little sister Josephine. Of course, since Maddie regularly dresses Josie up and drags her around like a rag-doll, it seems appropriate that her biggest toy present would be her sister.

The party plans are in full swing for a full-on dance gala next week. But before we stage THE event of the season, we're looking at hosting an intimate family dinner tonight for both Madeleine and her Nana (who's birthday is a day before Madeleine's, though she is NOT turning five). The plan is to have an Italian feast at a supposedly fancy restaurant called DeCarlo's. A full review of the culinary delights will be in a separate post -- most likely someone else's blog entirely.

Anyway, presents have started to roll in from around the world. On Thanksgiving, Aunt Amy called from Jamaica and Madeleine asked very politely if she could talk to her. At first I thought, "How sweet, my daughter misses her loving aunt and wishes to hear her voice once again." But then I recalled that she is, in fact, my daughter and would therefore never willingly leave her food to talk on the phone to anyone unless there was some alterior motive. Sure enough, the first thing Madeleine said when handed the receiver was, "Did you get me any presents." I was at once aghast and extremely proud.

We've also recorded on video a new hit single by Maddie titled, "I'm Almost Five." We'll now leave you with a snippet of the lyrics:

"I'm almost five
I'm almost five
Right now I'm four
But I'm almost five."