Lovely Maddie Turns THREE!!!!

Our Maddie Boo is three years old already! She's become pretty feisty in these last few months, quite determined to do things on her own and never, ever particularly willing to let me brush her tangled hair! She's also super duper chatty, sometimes stringing words together to create long, stream-of-consciousness sentences that seem to have no beginning, middle, or end -- she's just enjoying the journey. While we were in Florida a few weeks ago, Maddie FINISHED her potty training, and for the first time ever, she was able to wear her beloved Peppa Pig undies (a gift from her cousins in England). She amused everyone the whole week, dashing into the room to announce gleefully, "I had a poo!!!!" at which point we all cheered and shouted our congratulations. So much happiness.
On the morning of her birthday, Maddie came downstairs to lots of balloons and presents - from us, grandparents in Maine and England, and her cousins in England as well. We had a webcam with Grandma Carole during the festivities, who looked on cheerfully as Maddie tore into one present after another. When her last present came out - her first bicycle!! - she seemed pleased, though it wasn't the rousing excitement that mommy and daddy had been hoping for! :-) After breakfast, we got to work with cake decorating and getting ready for the party.
Maddie decided on a Hello Kitty theme for her party this year, though usually the theme doesn't extend far beyond the cake... but the cake is sooo important!! We did find some fabulous Hello Kitty balloons, plates, and napkins, and also gave each guest a cute little stuffed Hello Kitty as their party favor. In attendance were Ollie and Ryan and all of Maddie's best little buddies -- Madelyn, Addie, Addie (no, not a typo!), Logan, Emily, Campbell and Duncan. We all had loads of fun, and Maddie still talks about her Hello Kitty birthday, to anyone who will listen!