What's your favourite colour?: pink and purple and red
What's your favourite program?: Little Einsteins
What's your favourite book to read?: Your books - fun to stack!
What's your favourite thing to eat?: Broccoli
What's your favourite thing to play with?: You!
Madeline, what's your favourite colour?: Black and yellow, just like bees!
What is your favourite film program?: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
What is your favourite book?: A bee book!
What is your favourite thing to eat?: Ice cream!
What is your favourite thing to play with?: You! (I hope that she was just being funny)
Madeline, what's your favourite colour?: Pink! And purple!
What is your favourite film?: Backyardigans. The mermaid one.
What is your favourite book?: Gruffalo!
What is your favourite thing to eat?: Broccoli! (editorial note: Is she serious???)
What is your favourite thing to play with?: My big and little turtles!
What is your favourite thing about preschool?: Going outside to play with the slide and treehouse!
Well, we're getting on a plane tomorrow for our very first Christmas vacation, so I don't have much to say today other than I hope hope hope that all of Madeline's jeans still fit. She hasn't worn a single pair here in Bangkok.
Instead, take a peek at the cool Christmas art stuff she's been working on in preschool. I adore the gold antiqued frame. Why wasn't I doing any faux antiquing when I was three?
Notice the brown bear on the card. Still everything bears ...
The ornaments are prominently displayed on our tree. The reindeer one is my favourite. The circle one is really cool - her class wrapped painted cardboard rounds with gold and silver cord. And yeah, there's a polar bear ...
Madeline, what's your favourite movie? "Nemo! And Cars!"
What's your favourite colour? "Pink and purple!"
What's your favourite thing to play with? "My princess game!" Note: we don't have a princess game ...
What's your favourite thing to eat? "Pocky!"
Last Monday, Madeline came down with some viral infection that is still doing a number on her tummy, although she's been fever-free since Friday night. The longevity of this bug has blown me away. I can't believe that she's been sick for nearly eight days. She's missed five days of school - about one-third of the school year so far. It's quite a good thing that I'm retired whilst in Bangkok, because I don't think that it would have been easy for Chris and I take this much time off of work to care for her. I have no idea when Madeline can return to school. It already seems like she's away forever. I've stuck her back in diapers, too (she didn't have the energy to run for the potty last week), which has probably sabotaged her potty-going efforts significantly. Ugh.
I took Madeline to see a pediatrician twice last week. It was surreal - I could actually make her appointments for the same day. In Calgary, the soonest that M's doc has ever been able to see her is five days in the future. So, we'd end up going to the icky walk-in clinic, and waiting there for a couple of excruciating hours to see a doctor who's goal is to get his/her patients out of the office in two minutes or less. Of course, here I had to pay for 100% of the appointment before we left the building, but the availability of medical care more than makes up for that when my kiddo is sick ...
Today is Madeline's first day of preschool, and the three of us arrived at eight o'clock. Madeline was a little shy with the director and her teacher, but she was excited to see the other kids, and even more excited to admire their respective backpacks (Nemo! A turtle! A ladybug!). Her teacher gave her a quick tour of their classroom space, and showed Madeline her cubby. She has a great spot, right on the end, waist-high (Madeline's waist, that is). Her teacher started the day with circle time on a carpet, and Chris and I ducked out when we heard Madeline's little voice answering a few questions. I don't have to pick her up until noon, and hopefully she's having fun ...
Madeline, as
nearly always, is being a trouper. She was pretty terrific on the flight over
to Bangkok, and it was a long one, too. We flew from Edmonton to Denver to LA
to Singapore to Bangkok. I lost track of how many hours it was. I gave her an
exemption from the “you must sit in your carseat” rule for the flight from LA
to Singapore, as we were flying in the business class cabin (courtesy of
Chris’s company) and she’d need to use her tray to enjoy the yummy stuff that
Singapore Airlines feeds it’s youngest passengers, let alone recline her seat
into a bed for sleeping. Madeline did really well without the carseat, staying
seated and belted in. She was pretty mesmerized by the in-flight entertainment
system and watched “Meet the Robinsons” at least three times. Kicking myself though – I brought the
portable DVD player with me, but neglected to bring the power cord that also
charges the battery. Ugh.
Now that we’re here, she’s adjusting. It took her three days to sleep in to a decent hour (and by that, I mean until after 6 am). Behaviourally, she’s quite a bit more whiney and needy than usual, but I know that it’s unfair if I get frustrated with her.
I was kind of (unfairly) grumpy this morning, Madeline's third birthday, when she decided to start ripping open her gifts that I'd wrapped for her while I was outside, getting her grandmother's garbage to the curb on time. But the day did get better, and I think that Madeline had a special day, even with her dad half a world away.
She enjoyed the movie, complete with strawberry fruitopia to drink and a bag of gummy bears. Loved that she could wear her pink-and-purple nylon-and-tulle princess dress (gift from her Auntie Marian) all day. I decided that since it was her birthday, she was entitled :) Everyone kept telling her how beautiful she looked in it, and I hope that she understands that she's beautiful everyday, and that what she wears doesn't change that.
Auntie Julie decorated the vanilla cake that I baked from scratch last weekend, and I think it was very cute! Madeline appeared to understand the "blowing out candles" concept, and ate all of the ice cream in her dish, leaving most of the cake. I should have predicted that!
Before bedtime, I shared the birthday message from Chris that he emailed for her, and then we read our usual stories and had our bedtime usual chat. A normal ending to the day, except when Madeline told me that she was going to dream about birthday cake :)
