Madeleine Art and More

Madeleine went on a binge-drawing rampage yesterday, churning out illustration after illustration for her own book she was making.  Some of the pages have text; after tiring of having me spell for her, letter by letter, the text she wanted, Madeleine eventually asked me to simply write the words she dictated to me.  In any case, these are some of Madeleine's most detailed - and random - drawings to date.

Here they are, complete with background story and explanations:

MADELEINE: That's Cecilia, and she was playing a game called "Chick Chick Cheddars."

Whatever "Chick Chick Cheddars" may be is left for us to imagine, or interpret, based on what we see in the picture.  I guess the green and orange circles in the air are the chick chick cheddars??


The next pictures tell a story, presented in a set of three illustrations:

MADELEINE: Okay, so she's on the DIVING BOARD, and she's getting ready to JUMP into the water.

MADELEINE: So, she's saying 'Ahhh!' because she's falling and then her teacher ZOOMED in.

MADELEINE: So Mom, now they're in the water and they're just all SOBBING wet.  She and her teacher are SOBBING wet.



Whew!  I'm so glad that teacher ZOOMED in and saved the day, and now they're just both happily swimming in the pool and getting all sobbing wet.



Madeleine's next drawing veered off towards the fantasy movie zone:

MADELEINE: So, that's Ginny, and that's her CAPE that she got from the movie "Frozen."

Ohh.  I would have thought it was her cape from Hogwarts.  I didn't know we could mix-and-match elements from various movies we've seen.  This is going to make EVERYTHING so much more interesting!  Now, if only Lego Batman from "Lego Movie" could make an appearance in Ginny's picture, it would just be a hodgepodge of fun!


The next drawing had a lot of little details that Madeleine was keen to point out:

MADELEINE: So.  This is ELIZABETH, and her mom is saying, "Honey, dinner's ready!" and Elizabeth's mouth is all red because she was eating some RED candy.  And...she's saying GOOD-BYE to the doorknob.
ME: Why is she saying good-bye to the doorknob??
MADELEINE: Uh, because...I guess she thought it was her TEACHER.  Isn't that silly?  She doesn't know it's a doorknob.  She thinks it's her TEACHER! 
ME: That IS silly.
MADELEINE: And Mom, look, it's sunny outside but only a LITTLE bit because the sun is PEEKING OUT from behind the gray clouds."

I definitely think Madeleine made sure not to leave a single detail un-noticed in this picture.  I'm loving the protruding doorknob.  No wonder Elizabeth thought it was her teacher.


Next, we move on to the following picture:

MADELEINE: So.  Her daughter is HELPING her mom take off her glove, because her mom put on her SILLY GLOVE and she needs to get it off.

I'm loving those directional arrows, Madeleine.  Even without the daughter in the picture, we can see which way the glove needs to go.   I'm not sure what the pink swirls coming from the mom's head like supsersonic brain waves are supposed to be, however.

Finally, Madeleine has a nice, jolly, seasonal picture, about which she apparently had a change of heart since first asking me to write the text for her:

MADELEINE: Um, this is Ally, and she's decorating her Christmas tree.
ME: I thought it was Stacey.
MADELEINE: Um, no, it's ALLY.

Oh.  Good thing she had me write "Stacey was putting ornaments on the tree."  Oh well.



Now, in more Madeleine news, we had a little discussion at bedtime about the various characteristics she enjoys in both of her parents.

MADELEINE: Daddy is the SILLIEST one in our family!
ME: Do you just think that Daddy is so hilarious?
MADELEINE: Daddy is TOO hilarious!  I'm gonna give him the name "TOO hilarious."
ME: And what is Mommy like?
MADELEINE: She's so SWEET, and LOVING...maybe a little TOO loving.
ME: Too loving?  How am I too loving?
MADELEINE: Well, you're always coming over and ATTACKING me and Julia when we're doing something.
ME: Attacking you?  How do I attack you?
MADELEINE : Like, you're always just PICKING us up when we're DOING something, and then we sit there and we siiiiit there because you want us to give you SNUGGLES.

What, that's not super fun for you, Madeleine?  You don't like having to interrupt your game just because I'm feeling the love and need some big squeezy hugs and kisses?  Sure, when you want Mommy, it's all hang all over Mommy, drape your body over her, wrap your arms around one of her legs so she can barely take a step, but NOOOO, when Mommy wants hugs in return, you...uh...graciously comply even though you secretly want to get back to your game.  Okay, I guess I'll take it!

And finally, speaking of being too loving, Madeleine once again didn't want to let me go after I sang her a lullaby last night.  She kept begging me to stay and snuggle her, but when she proved to be too wired to actually fall asleep with my presence, I decided it was time to cut the cord.

ME: Okay, I'm gonna go now, honey.
MADELEINE: (grabbing my arm tightly) Please stay.
ME: Why do you want Mommy to stay?
MADELEINE: (holding up her cow lovie) Uh...COWIE wants you.  Because...I have to keep look-out, because if you leave, Cowie will be up to no GOODNESS.

That crazy Cowie.  Always up to no goodness, making Madeleine stay awake as look-out.  I guess Madeleine is kind of a failure as look-out, however, because literally two minutes after I made my leave, Madeleine was out like a light, Cowie be darned!

Okay, I'm off to spend the rest of my day being sweet and maybe a little TOO loving.  'Til next time!