Our Little Gymnast...

At the beginning of September Madi started her first ever gymnastics class (and first ever organized ANYTHING, other than kid's church).  I tried taking pictures during class a few weeks ago and I got a whole bunch of dark, shadowy, unfocused snapshots of Madi standing on her head and balancing across a beam.  It was pretty much an utter failure with regard to documenting the moment.  So... after putting on the leotard and leggings this morning I forced her out the front door for a moment to snap a few pictures in the all-natural light.  

I can't get over how big she's getting.  She's almost always so fun to be around and is constantly chattering on about life.  Her favorite saying of mine {currently} is "Four is gonna happen, mom," which became her response randomly one day when I told her that I wanted her to stay three forever.  I often tell her this and she quickly responds with "Four's gonna happen, mom. And five and and six and..." Usually she starts skipping numbers and just throwing random ages at me, at which point I start to fake cry and she begins to giggle.  

Aw, I just love this girl.  

But how'd she get so big?

It's been fun to watch her interact in new situations.  She's a funny mix of being shy and completely bold all at the same time.  For example, she'll often start out class with her fingers in her mouth and her head tilted down in a timid fashion, but within five minutes she's generally leading the rest of the kids in some silly copy-cat gesture or behavior. (BIG *sigh*) Last week she had a new teacher (a boy) and I walked over about ten minutes into class to get a closer view and overheard her telling him just about every detail of life that had happened over the last 24 hours.  No joke.  "And then my dad and me, we went to the grocery store and then Emmitt and my mom..." I felt bad for the poor kid. every. little detail...

It made me really glad we've been careful to inform her that once we leave the house, NO ONE needs to know that she's going commando.  

Alright, here's to another picture overload.  I just couldn't decide which ones I liked the most. ;)

(This was my favorite, but of course Emmitt had to ruin it by sticking his head right in the way. =)

I'll hang onto three as long as I possibly can.  And even though I know she's right, I'll keep pretending that four's not gonna happen...

I love you, Madi Ann.  Thanks for being our daily ray of sunshine!