Madeleine is Six!

Madeleine turns six today. In comparison to the dance party blow-out last year, she's celebrating relatively quietly this year. On Saturday evening, we took her and her nana out to a fancy dinner to celebrate their birthdays. Perhaps the biggest feature of this for Madeleine was that Josephine stayed home with a babysitter. Josephine is still not terribly restaurant-friendly, and we've just begun training our 13 y.o. next door neighbor as a babysitter. Both the dinner and the babysitting were great. Madeleine fell asleep on my lap in the restaurant, and Josephine fell asleep on Kenny's lap at home.

Tonight, we have plans to have pizza with Madeleine's friend Drew and his family. Drew lives across the street and he and Madeleine have been friends since Madeleine could walk. Drew's family also introduced us to the 'two for one' pizza deal which we eat together many Tuesday evenings. And, Josephine likes to pal around with Drew's younger siblings.

The girls had a good weekend and stayed pretty close to home resting up from their great visit with their California cousins. Both girls enjoyed a bit warmer weather on Sunday as a possibly last chance to play in the leaf pile. It doesn't take a very big leaf pile to cover Josephine and we nearly lost her in this one.

DC Visit Day 1

On day 1 of their visit from cousins Ty and Chance, Madeleine and Josephine showed them their house and then headed to the mall to see the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, duck pond (a popular pre-k field trip locale), the WWII Memorial, and the Washington monument.

The kids all had a great time together. Josephine and Chance in their highchairs at breakfast:

Uncle Brian forgetting everything his father ever taught him about geese:

Everyone (except Michael taking the picture) at the WWII memorial:

Pigtail Tyrant

One of Josephine's teachers, Ms. Toni, started to put some kids' hair into pigtails in the afternoons. It seems to provide entertainment for both the teachers and the kids and has become a favorite activity for Josephine. On Friday as I arrived to pick her up, Josephine was jostling and elbowing another little girl to get the next turn in front of Ms. Toni. All evening, Josephine would periodically pat her head to make sure that her two stubby pigtails were still in place. It always amazes me how such a small change can make such a big difference - with pigtails in Josephine looks both older as its more of a 'big kid' hairdo, and younger as it makes her chubby cheeks seem even chubbier.

Madeleine spent Saturday afternoon at the opera with her Nana. Nana is a big opera fan and had learned about a family performance where the regular performers would do selections from Don Giovanni and also provide background information on how an opera is staged. While Nana raved about hearing Placido Domingo conduct and explain the music, Madeleine like the sword play and getting to see some of the women's costumes from La Boheme. Afterward, they came back to our house for dinner set to La Boheme and shared a chocolate cake. Nana bought Madeleine a doll from the Kennedy Center gift shop with the promise that Madeleine would remember the name of the conductor. I tried to help by teaching her a rhyme but the evening ended with Madeleine raving about the conductor, Placido Flamingo.

Both girls enjoyed a visit from some preschool friends yesterday. While Michael and I enjoyed hanging out with Claire and Laurie, Madeleine and Aidan played as if they'd seen each other the day before instead of two and half months ago before kindergarten began. Josephine was thrilled to see Neve who is in her class. I realized that Josephine hasn't had many of HER friends over yet and was really thrilled to have another toddler on the scene. Well, thrilled until they both needed the same musical phone...and the same book...and to both sit in the same seat next to Claire.

Sailing

On Sunday morning while I showered, I could hear hysterical giggles coming from the hallway. Madeleine and Josephine had commandeered a plastic bin in which I usually store off-season clothes, and transformed it into a boat. Both girls were wedged inside and having a wonderful time, talking and sailing. The spirit of camaraderie kept up all day with Madeleine including Josephine in activities- creating a fort under the dining room table, playing Scooby Doo with Drew at the playground, and sipping tea at a tea party. While Madeleine has always adored showing off her baby sister and laughing at her cute baby ways, she has tended to sometimes treat her more as an accessory rather than as a person. Sunday was a wonderful glimpse of them interacting and playing with each other.

The day ended with a tea party for which Madeleine had created invitations in the morning. While she made invitations for several of her friends on our block, in the end only Drew received his. He came over for a tea party accompanied by his two year old brother and sister. Madeleine donned a fancy dress, and Drew and she set up the tea set at the dining room table while I made tea and cut up several slices of cinnamon toast. Drew quickly downed his cup of tea and returned to playing with toys and watching t.v. in the family room. However, Conner and Josephine were thrilled with the tea party. Both of them stayed at the table, drinking multiple cups of tea and watching Madeleine closely for how to 'play.' Madeleine enjoyed the tea party and was also a patient hostess. The younger kids' self-serve access to the cream pitcher meant the party required more regular use of a tea towel than usual, but Madeleine mopped up every spill.

Josephine is enjoying songs - her favorites seem to be Wheels on the Bus and 'EIEIO' though her farm is populated with primarily ducks and dogs . She's also branched out with books so that we're no longer obsessively reading the same few. And, while she's broadened her tastes to include books in addition to her favorites, she will clearly indicate when a book has lost interest for her by gently closing it and setting it aside. Josephine's favorite books for the week include Farmer Duck and a board book with pictures of babies.

Madeleine is getting excited about her birthday, as her father and I get nervous about her birthday party. Presently, she would like a slumber party, but we think she and her friends are a bit too young for this type of party so we're trying to work out a compromise. Madeleine is learning a lot in kindergarten and periodically surprises us by telling us how to spell something, or providing the odd bit of information (e.g. how to pick an apple without damaging next year's fruit). We're looking forward to our first parent-teacher conference later this week to get some more information on how she's doing in kindergarten.