Dear Madison & Alyssa:
Today you turned three years old and at some point during the past 365 days you both changed into beautiful little girls, seemingly overnight really. Mommy and daddy didn't realize that it had happened until we picked up the prints from your third year portrait session, we opened the package and found pictures of two beautiful little girls smiling back at us.
This has been a big year of accomplishments and changes for you both. We started the year out a bit shaky with talking, but after a full summer of speech therapy sessions, Madison you have fully graduated from the speech programs and Alyssa, well, you will be following very close behind your sister. You both have gone from speaking very few words to now talking so much that our heads spin sometimes listening to all of the chatter, but we wouldn't trade finally hearing those wonderful voices of yours for even a minute ... unless mommy is alone with you both in the grocery store and is trying desperately to remember why we are walking down the same isle for the third time.
You both also surprised us in March when you decided to start using the potty chairs instead of diapers. You were both fully trained days and at naps in 1 1/2 weeks and fully trained for nights by the time you moved out of your cribs and into "big girl" beds in the middle of April. Mommy and daddy couldn't have been more surprised at how easy you both accomplished this big goal. Mommy thinks perhaps you both felt remorseful for the first nine months of your lives when mommy got literally no sleep whatsoever and decided to make this milestone easier on us ... thank you by the way.
Alyssa (or Lissa as Maddie Moo calls you), you are still, as always, very thoughtful and purposeful in most all things that you do. You have found your own voice and opinion, which we hear very frequently throughout the day. Somewhere along the line, you went from being a picky eater to being an extremely picky eater. Right now you would likely starve to death before even touching a piece of meat or vegetable, other than the very rare baby carrot. You love starches and will allow us to serve you (yes, I did say allow us) waffles, pancakes, cold cereal, oatmeal, pasta (but only mac & cheese, spaghetti with butter and cheese or orzo with butter and cheese ... any other shape pasta you will refuse without trying it). You love watermelon but orzo remains at the top of your list currently and you always thank mommy and daddy over and over again when we serve it. You will occasionally eat grilled cheese, peanut butter sandwiches, bananas, apples and pears. Unfortunately, that is about it. You love milk and water though and anything that is "snack food" is a-okay with you. Also, much like daddy, you have never met an ice cream that you didn't love, but far and away your favorite food is french fries and ketchup. Your favorite possessions are still your beloved bunny blanket and Pablo (the blue and yellow penguin from The Backyardigans) beanie baby. Your favorite toys include a tea set, costume jewelry (which you tend to hide in special places all over the house), the Backyardigans beanie baby set and you are starting to play with barbies more. You love making everything into princesses. You also love your little ponies. You like to hoard or hide lots of "treasures" in special places and it is often hard for mommy and daddy to keep up with your hiding places to help you relocate your hidden treasures. Your favorite color is pink, although you still like yellow too. You love your sister and we often hear you calling for her, "Maddie Moo" when you can't find her. You are still more of a perfectionist than your sister and you are also more of a follower at this point than a leader. You often decide that your favorite things are the same as Madison's. Although you both fight and tease each other over toys, you seem to remind us at just the right times that you really do love your sister. You continue to love music and since your speech has advanced so much this year we are treated to spontaneous rounds of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or we sometimes catch you busting a move to whatever is playing on the radio or TV. Your favorite TV show is Dora The Explorer and The Backyardigans. You really like the movie Cars and anything about princesses. The Little Mermaid has been permanently placed in our DVD player for some time now. You are three inches taller than Maddie and we often are asked how much older than your sister you are ... we have fun answering people with "two minutes!!" Although you have a demanding personality, you have a smile and a thoughtfulness at times that would melt any one's heart.
Madison (or Maddie Moo as your sister and yourself often refer to you as), you continue to dance to the beat of your own music. You are leader and often an instigator. You are so independent at times that it is scary, but you never let your sister get too far away from you without seeking her out. You are a great eater, trying everything and tending to like most of it. If there is something different on mommy's or daddy's plates, you always ask for a taste. You love daddy's flat bread sandwiches and Swedish Farmer's cheese and cheeseburgers or "cheese burbers" are requested frequently by you. You also love "salad" and often steal from mommy's plate at restaurants. Your favorite possession is most definitely still your bunny blanket which is never too far from your reach and your Pablo penguin from The Backyardigans. You love The Little Mermaid and often dress everything up to be mermaids. You also really love dragons, dinosaurs and ponies. You love books and mommy and daddy often find you sitting quietly by yourself in a sea of books "reading" them. Your favorite color was pink (until Alyssa decided it was her favorite too) and now although you still like pink, you lean more towards blue. You still tend to give into your sisters wants and demands, but you have also found your voice and use it very frequently to express yourself when you choose not to indulge her. Your favorite TV shows include Little Einsteins or "Rocket" as you call it and The Backyardigans. You love the movie Cars, Sleeping Beauty (because of the princess but mostly because of the dragon) and the Little Einstein movie Firebird Rescue. You are a charmer Miss Madison, this was never more clearly demonstrated than a week ago when you charmed a stranger (a grandma) into climbing the two story inflatable slide with you to ride it at Pump it Up ... mommy could only shake her head and smile. You still continue to take after your daddy in the area of clumsiness. People are amazed at the spills that you take and how you get up like nothing happened, now if daddy could just take after you in that regards that would be something!! You love to draw and color. You often sit in the driveway making rainbows with the chalk. You always ask to paint when you are at school and are disappointed if they do not have the paints out for the day. You can definitely be a little devil at times, but that smile of yours always makes up for it.
Although you both are blissfully unaware that you are "twins", there is no denying that you share a special bond with each other. Your interactions with one another when playing and socializing are way beyond those of your friends at school. You both have your moments when you fight over a toy, tease one another by running away and laughing that evil laugh that you somehow picked up somewhere or even fighting over the color that the ladybug nightlight should be for the night ... but more often then not you love to play with each other, you look out for one another and you even call each other "best friends forever" ... which mommy and daddy hope will never change.
This year has been challenging and amazing. You both remain as different as night and day and we love you each all the more for those differences. It remains to be seen what this fourth year of your lives will hold in store for us, but we can't wait to see you both continue to become these amazing girls right in front of our eyes ...
We love you both with all our hearts -
Mommy & Daddy
Yesterday was the girls' third birthday and we actually got to have their big party on their special day!! The morning started out with a rousing round of Happy Birthday sung upon awakening by mommy and daddy, followed immediately by a traditional Swedish birthday breakfast (at least according to daddy) of birthday cake, in our case a special ordered Scandinavian Strawberry Torte. The girls thought this was pretty fantastic!!
After breakfast, daddy left for a few hours to help move Granny M into her apartment building. The move went very smoothly and was done with lots of time to spare before the 3:00 p.m. start of the birthday party. The girls took this break in the action to share a few books together and mommy couldn't pass on the photo opportunity:
Madison, Alyssa & Christian Sliding (in that order):
