Madeline

I love Madeline, from the Bemelmans books. What's not to love? She's tough, brave, petite and has a scar on her belly from emergency surgery. Sound like anyone we know? As it turns out, Blaise also loves Madeline. "Madeline" was her first word, she cuddles with Madeline to fall asleep and she likes to listen to the Madeline books. Actually, she LOVES to listen to the Madeline books. Ben has been away at a conference since Thursday morning and I would estimate that we've read Madeline (the original) at least 10 times a day, with me sneaking Madeline's Rescue in occasionally to break things up. She came close to having a fit when I drew the line at reading it for the fifth time in a row yesterday. I know toddlers are into repetition. I even know many of the theories about why, but this is becoming ridiculous. We went to the library this morning for toddler story time. As the crowd was clearing, Blaise crawled over to the shelves, found Madeline (how did she do that? does she know that library shelves are in alphabetical order by author?) and handed me the book, saying "Mad'ine! Mad'ine!" Ideas for how to stage an intervention with a toddler are welcome.

Aside from this obsession, things are pretty quiet around here. The toddling is progressing well. We're still trying to figure out daycare options. And we're making great fundraising progress for our walk in June. If you can help out, even with just $10, we'd appreciate it. I can't think of a better way to honor Blaise, her progress and the care she received at Children's than to help other kids in similar situations. Thanks to everyone who has already donated!