She

She is a girly girl.

Not in the "I have to wear a hair bow every day and I won't touch dirt" kind of way, but her girly-ness is shining through.  It's in her DNA, she is a girl after all. But, I didn't push the girly things on her. I detest giant hair bows (not my thing, but it is great if it's yours! And, if one day she wants to wear them, I will happily oblige her freedom to express herself as a bow head).

 She has one baby doll, and it's most certainly not her favorite.  She's never seen a full-feature animated Disney princess movie.  She doesn't own a Barbie and she doesn't like to play dress up - and putting a dress on her isn't worth the hassle.

She does love pink and purple and she's over the moon for "fairies."  This could be a phase, but I'm thinking it's just the beginning.  She sees the Disney princesses and calls them fairies and Tinkerbell?  Well, she's her favorite.  My mom made the cutest pillow cases for Madeline and the fabric could not have been more perfect.  Madeline loves to sleep on her fairies.  And when she saw the Disney beach towels at Costco this past weekend, both Craig and I caved to her cuteness and she came home with a Tinkerbell beach towel. She is also now the proud owner of two Tinkerbell movies Craig purchased for her.  I didn't even know there were Tinkerbell movies!

She's pointing to the camera because there are "fairies in there!" (A genius technique our photographer a few weeks back told Madeline to get her to look at the camera...but now she wants to free the fairies in MY camera!).

She's a little mom. Burp cloths are her favorite item of the moment and subsequently are never where I've left them to "be within reach" should I need them for the ever-erupting baby boy. Her bears are delicately placed in the bassinet and she shushes me when they are sleeping.  At any given moment her slew of animals are carefully placed -- and buckled -- in Gabe's infant toys, playmats, etc. (And yes, there's also a cat toy with Brown Bear (he's the one swaddled), not to be confused with Pop's Bear (a bear given to her by my dad) who is wearing a diaper).

She is opinionated and expresses her opinions. She also expresses her emotions and what she's feeling.  I'm impressed with her ability to articulate those emotions and encourage it.

 

She thrives off words of affirmation. Ever since I created this sticker chart, I've noticed a surge of pride and respect coming from our little girl, just confirming that her love language (right now), is in fact, words of affirmation.  

She also sleeps with more animals than I ever thought possible.

She doesn't particularly like coloring or drawing unless someone gives her undivided attention and colors with her.  She is timid in new situations and becomes the sweetest cuddle-bug. She won't play on the playground when other kids are running around.  But get her alone on the playground and she tears the place up.

She is my Madeline. And I love everything about her.