Tag

Tonight before bed, we went out on the front lawn to look at the beautiful sunset. Madison noticed the purples and oranges of the sky and simply had to go outside to look. Daddy joined her, but suddenly there were plenty of other guests: lightning bugs.

Finally, we were catching them left and right. We'd let them go, of course. But the front yard was filled with blinking lights hovering all around us. Then, right on time, there was our neighborhood bat flying overhead, wishing us a goodnight. It was a nice little moment outside on the front lawn.

Here's Madison with one of her birthday presents from Mommy and Daddy. It is a big part of her life this week: a Tag system. It's essentially a pen that says particular words when you put them on the writing on each page. It also speaks when you apply it to pictures. She's seen here using it with her "Tangled" book, but we've also gotten her some other Disney books: "Tinkerbell" and "The Princess and the Frog." This is a great learning tool for recognizing certain words, although the word "Mother" might have negative implications down the road: everytime it is used, there's Mother Gothel, the villain from "Tangled." Fortunately, Mommy's name is quite a bit different and there's no confusion there!

Another item that Ye-Ye and Nana got for Madison's birthday was a map that this pen works with. It's a map of the country which says certain things when you put the pen to it. Daddy is secretly very pleased with this one, as he's a huge geography buff. He's visited pretty much all of the states, which at one point was a big deal early in life: I just wanted to touch every state! I've still got Alaska, North Dakota and Washington to go.

Madison, on the other hand, has quite a few states to go. But, for the record, here's the list: She's touched an airport in Michigan. She's been to Florida quite a few times. She's been to Tennessee and North Carolina. And she lives in Georgia. So that makes five states. Only forty-five to go!