Chatty Maddi

So the saying goes "everyday is a new day...", and to Maddi you finish that saying with "full of new words and phrases to shock my parents with." LOL
She went from a grunting girl that pointed at things with "cave woman" words, to full on sentences in what seems like a blink!

I have made a conscious effort to ween out the "baby words" and have been helping her with correct pronunciation. She loves to celebrate when she says her "big girl words" with me! (any reason to celebrate is our motto)
Mike and I have been really working on Maddison's conversation skills. We ask open ended questions and give her our undivided attention when she answers, which sometimes means us being patient as she tries to put her thoughts into sentences. She has become so chatty now, and feels very special when we ask her opinion or ask her to explain something to us because "we forgot"! LOL
I notice she REALLY loves the attention she gets and it has encouraged her talk not only more, but more proficiently.


She is most talkative with ME in the mornings, and I love having conversations with her at the breakfast table. She is so alert and so excited for the day that she is SO CHATTY. This is when some of her funniest responses are said. She is actually funny... and yet so serious at the same time when she is talking. LOL I really cherish our talks, and the giggles she gives me first thing in the morning.

She is really into imitating people and characters she sees.
She really likes to pretend she is her teacher from school, and
Daddy and I are her students. She will read books to us and sing songs to us in the same manner her teacher would to her. She tells us the rules, and uses phrases her teachers use, and explains things to us in a very nurturing way (like her teachers). I love that she likes to use her imagination and be the  leader. She also loves to play that she is Daddy, and Daddy is Maddi. I can tell she loves and admires him, because the way she pretends she is him is SO ADORABLE!!! 

The other night she was pretending she was "Daddy", and Daddy was "Maddi". 

["Maddi" (Daddy)did something on accident]

(Maddi): "You say you're sorry Maddi?"

(Daddy): "Yes, I'm sorry Daddy."

(Maddi): [takes his left hand with her left hand, cups his right cheek with her right hand and tilts her head to the side] "It's okay Maddi. It just accident and we try not to do that next time, okay?"

(Daddy): "Okay. Thank you Daddy."

LOL

I notice she mimics some most of my facial expressions , as well as most A LOT of my phrases, as well as some A LOT of my body language. It makes my heart smile! Sometimes I have to remember she's watching my every move!! It is soooo hard not to giggle, but I do my best so she doesn't feel like she said the wrong thing, or feel embarrassed by what she is saying because I laughed. It is also so hard to catch her on video, because she clams up when she sees I'm recording... little stinker!! :)

I was really touched when I picked up Maddi from school a couple of weeks ago(which usually Mike picks her up so I don't see the evening "teachers" at her daycare) and one of the teachers pulled me to the side to tell me how AWESOME Maddi has been doing. She also said that we have been doing such a great job developing her at home too! :) She said that all she does is talk about Mike and I, her dogs, her home, her camper, etc...  :)
***Which is funny, because when she is home all she talks about is her teachers, her friends, her school park, her songs at school, her games at school, etc...

Here is just a little age progression from December (when she was placed with us) to June:

December 2013

April 2014

JUNE 2014

(My Computer wouldn't load in my blog) (I'll try to get it to attach here tomorrow)
So I posted on my profile feed and the link is below:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/115314560675485190837/albums/6021291204970070497/6021291203650186770