ten minutes to myself

the 199th wonderful thing about madeline

Today was Madeline's final swimming lesson with Let's Asia. Her most-excellent instructor told the six little kids in the class to grab their kickboards and get ready to race, because if they beat him to the ladder a third of the way down the pool, they could spend the entire class playing games instead of practicing.

Well, Madeline is highly motivated by the concept of exchanging work for fun, so she took off from the edge of the pool in the most amazing way. She was nearly a full body-length ahead of her classmates, and reached the ladder with her coach at her heels. She was so proud of herself, and so was I.

the 174th wonderful thing about madeline

How she invented a soft and sweet little lullabye to sing to her very tired sister yesterday, as we zipped down one of BKK's expressways enroute to the airport to meet my parents.

the 159th wonderful thing about madeline

"Mama, they don't know how to make apple juice at school!" announced M one day last week at dinnertime.

"Oh?"

She nodded. "They forget to mix it with water!"

To think that I thought that my bluff was about to be called!

The 133rd wonderful thing about Madeline

Every Friday, Madeline picks out a new book from her preschool's small library. Every Friday, before we go back to our vehicle to head home for lunch, Madeline finds a good bench in the school yard for us to sit on. And every Friday, we sit together and read her new library book. She just can't wait.

the 119th wonderful thing about Madeline

Before I tuck Madeline into bed at night, after jammies and tooth-brushing, after all of the bedtime stories, and after a last-minute snack and a sip of milk, I ask Madeline what she's planning on dreaming about that night. Lately, she says that she's going to dream about her daddy, because she misses him. But sometimes, she figures that she'll dream about ice cream :)

The 108th Wonderful Thing about Madeline

Her chatter from the backseat of the car. She loves to play "I Spy" while driving around, and today she said that she was sleepy so she was cuddling with her carseat.  Amazing that a year ago, I was worried that she'd never have more than a 20-word vocabulary!

The 105th Wonderful Thing about Madeline

Madeline woke up from an otherwise sound sleep about an hour ago. She convinced Chris to take her downstairs, where she announced that she wanted to "cuddle with Mom" on the sofa. So, I stretched out and she snuggled into me. Then she said, " I want a blanket!"

Chris jumped up and grabbed a t-shirt that he had laying around, and went to cover Madeline with it.

But not so fast: "I want a nice blanket!" a tired little voice protested. I wonder if Madeline knows how much she cracks her dad and I up :)

The 102nd Wonderful Thing about Madeline

Yesterday afternoon, Madeline spent a good chunk of time giving us tattoos with her washable Crayola markers.  She was really quite thrilled with her artwork :)