o christmas tree

madelyn added "bite" to her vocabulary this morning - as in "could i have a bite of your cereal, mom?". since madelyn was in the mood for sharing this morning, i decided that we should discuss her sharing in the church nursery so that she isn't the room "bully" any more. she told me that "yes" she would "share" at church today. and she repeated to say "share" as she played with her toys before we had to leave.

and there were lots of new things once we got to church too. it started as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. instead of crying when we pulled into the parking lot, madelyn called out "church" excitedly! and she repeated "church" a few more times as we parked. she did cry for a little bit when we got to her room and were taking off her coat. by the time we got off her outer layers she was happy and ready to go. but we got a surprise, madelyn was moving up to the toddler room today! the nursery folks bring her over to the toddler room halfway through the service so that she can get used to it and be ready when we drop her off there next week. everyone expressed that she was ready to be with the rest of the toddlers. at least some of them are her size - or almost that tall.

after church we went to run a few errands before the snow started since maddie and i would be indoors for a few days. between this afternoon and tomorrow morning we are expected to get anywhere from 6-8 inches of snow. and tomorrow it is forecasted to be really windy and really cold so we won't get to play in it until later in the week.

so since we were inside for the day by noon, matt went down to the basement for our christmas tree. (we have used a fake tree for years - we miss the smell but it is very convenient.) madelyn didn't quite know what to think about the tree parts. but once it was together and lit up she was pretty amazed and checked it out from every angle. we didn't get the reaction we were expecting. when she saw the exterior lights she was really excited and "wow" was said over and over, louder and louder. it might not have been her immediate reaction, but once she woke up from her nap and saw it all decorated then she was excited! i missed her reaction, but here she is giving a tour of the christmas tree's ornaments. bear is along because she just woke up.



she also went from a few flurries before she went down to a few inches of snow when she woke up. she was pretty excited about that too, but thankfully she didn't ask to go outside. madelyn has the start of a little bit of a cold. one of those where the congestion isn't really bad, but things are draining into her lungs. i am praying that it will be short-lived since i am heading out of town for a business trip next week and she will be spending the days with one of the neighbors and her son.

matt called me into the bathroom for bath time because madelyn had put on some new 'shoes'. this was the most modest of her poses to show me her 'shoes' and the only one that could possibly be posted. she would put them on her feet and then stick her legs straight up in the air, sliding backwards into the bath water.

i also managed to overhear her asking to have her hair "rinse". i asked matt if i had heard correctly and he said that she was saying "rinse" while trying to hand him the bucket we use to rinse her hair. and one rinse was not enough. he had repeated requests until bath time was finally over.

one last note for the day, in addition to saying "color" (to request to color and to demand that you color) and "i color" (while coloring) madelyn says "sitting" to let you know that she is indeed sitting. sometimes she uses it as a request for us to get her stool so that she can sit while coloring.

i am sure that there will be more snow posts for you all to look forward to this week. love.

thanksgiving visit

papa, nana, and uncle derek flew home yesterday and we were glad to have gotten to spend some time with them. unfortunately, i didn't get a lot of pictures (at least with everyone dressed and cleaned up - most were early morning pics). but we did do more than just eat thanksgiving dinner. what trip to visit maddie would be complete without a personal tour of the milwaukee zoo? it was a beautiful day to be outside and not terribly cold. i didn't even wear a coat - although i probably should have...

madelyn had a lot of fun holding every one's hands as we walked around checking out all the exhibits. we paused to take pictures at the photo-op outside the giraffe house. madelyn was really excited about putting her head through the whole after watching daddy and uncle derek do it first. but she was so excited that she just kept looking at the giraffe to see what she looked like - at least nana smiled in this picture.

as always, madelyn fell asleep by the time we got back to the house and stayed asleep for almost 4 hours! we had to wake her up so that we could head out for some cheese shopping and dinner.

cheese shopping is a popular activity for all of our out of town guests. not only is cheese here delicious, but the store we take them to offers samples of their cheese and produce. madelyn has learned that this is a tasty stop as well.

after stocking up on cheese, we took papa, nana, and uncle derek out for sushi (one of matt's favorites). papa and nana had never had sushi before and i don't think that they were very excited about trying it, but they were good sports about it. all in all, i don't think it was their favorite, but it wasn't too bad. madelyn had a lot of fun eating with chopsticks. we eat with chopsticks from time to time at home (because i love it) and madelyn was so happy to finally get a try at using them. she liked how she could dip them in the tempura sauce and that the rice would stick to them long enough to make it to her mouth. she also insisted that i use my set to feed her rice. it was difficult to get my chopsticks into her mouth with her sitting on my lap - i couldn't see her mouth.

we spent saturday like most other families - watching college football. unfortunately, uncle derek had to head to the airport before getting to see his GT alma mater win. but it was really good that they left saturday because they might have had delays today.

love.

happy thanksgiving!

we were planning on eating dinner at dinner time (around 5pm) so that left the morning open for testing out madelyn's new sled in the little bit of snow remaining in our yard. madelyn was all too ready to get outside and play in the snow. she was very cooperative as i went through the process of layering her up. she really wanted to sit in the sled and i pulled her around the yard for a little bit. after we got down to the sidewalk i had her get out so that i could carry the sled back up to a snowier part of the yard. and then she pushed the sled around by herself. listen closely to here her laugh.


it only took about 30 minutes for matt to get restless being inside this morning and he set out to put up the christmas lights. he an derek were out at work when i came out with maddie. matt hates putting the lights up because of how steep the roof line is, but he loves me so much that he does it anyway. it was nice that uncle derek was around to help him. madelyn was pretty interested in what was going on, but hid behind me like she was scared seeing daddy up so high. madelyn has never seen our house all decorated for christmas and i am so excited to see what she thinks of it all!

once daddy was done with the lights he showed madelyn what 'real' sledding is like. here was the first attempt...

and the roughest part of sledding is climbing back up the hill. (when seeing the video remember that matt has to mow this steep hill! when the grass is wet it is very easy to slip all the way down - matt and i both have done this.) madelyn is getting really good at walking up and down the hill without help and without falling. in warmer weather she likes to walk down so that she can swing on our porch swing hanging under the deck. she asked to "swing" today, but with the melting snow it was just too wet.

back to sledding. here is her third trip down in the sled. she almost ends up tipping over, but it is a much better push from daddy.


after eating our huge dinner we took madelyn out to see the christmas lights on our house for the first time. after a little delay there were several excited, and loud, "wow!" exclamations. i missed getting video, but here is a picture of her and daddy checking things out. i can't wait to take her out to look at lights closer to christmas. it is so much fun to see her experience things for the first time. love.

happy 30th birthday, daddy (yesterday)

poor daddy had to work on his birthday, so madelyn and i entertained papa, nana, and uncle derek. we went to get some lunch at a mexican restaurant (their favorite type of food) in a converted train station. madelyn really liked her lunch and the decor of the restaurant.

then we went to target to get madelyn some christmas presents so that papa and nana wouldn't have to ship them later. one of the items we picked up is sort of a present for daddy too. madelyn got a red toddler sled (more on that in the next post). after trying it out in the store, she was very upset to have to get out so that we could buy it and take it home. it didn't help that it was very much nap time either. she was passed out before we could get home.

at daddy's request, we took him out for a bar-b-que dinner to celebrate his birthday. and madelyn ate her first cheeseburger (see picture). well, she took a few bites before eating just the bun and picking off the cheese to eat. she also ate daddy and my corn on the cops.

lastly, here is some video of her walking around in my snow shoes because she wanted to go out and play in the snow. it is so funny how she walks with one of them on backwards.

madelyn and i love daddy very much and feel very lucky to have helped to celebrate his big 3-0 birthday! love.

too, too much to remember

okay, so here is a quick post to catch a few things that i forgot to mention yesterday.

- madelyn now remembers the activities of the day. we can ask her questions about the day and she will answer "yes" or "no" correctly. sometimes she even adds extra details from her rapidly expanding vocabulary. dinner conversations now include three. it is a lot of fun for us to 'quiz' her about the day's activities and it is a really nice way to let daddy hear about it straight from madelyn.

- "read it" is another common request for anything containing printed words - books, magazines, coloring books, etc.

all of our thanksgiving house guests arrived safely this evening. and tomorrow the eating begins! love.

few more notes

every time i post i think of something i forgot, so here are a few odds and ends...

- madelyn can definitely open door knobs now. she cannot be contained without baby locks any more. oh boy!

- "i color" is how madelyn talks about coloring. she says "color" to ask to color, but once crayons are in hand she tells me over and over that "i color". she is so proud. she is getting much better at actually coloring on the paper more than just lines/strokes.

- if something drops or gets away from her, when she picks it up she says "got it". tonight it was in reference to the bubbles in her bath. every time she would catch one with her hand she would say "got it".

- "fish" and "beach" are new words. she loves fish (to see and eat) so it was just a matter of time before she called them/it by name. "beach" was a little more of a surprise because we were looking at pictures of lorelai at the beach. i was telling madelyn about lorelai's bathing suit and sunglasses, but madelyn said "beach". it took me a minute to realize that the picture's background was indeed the beach. such a smartie!

- madelyn now likes to let me know when something is "stuck". this has really helped with her frustration in the car. she can tell me that the toy she wants is "stuck" instead of just getting more and more frustrated that i am not helping her when i can't see why she is upset; now she can tell me.

- one of the ladies from the church nursery was telling me how much she loves madelyn. that she is so happy, energetic, and a bully! she said that madelyn will go up to other kids and take their toy saying "no" to their stunned faces. she will then come back all friendly and say "hi" happily like nothing had happened. i was surprised to hear this since she is often offering toys up to share with friends and doesn't get upset when i tell her that something isn't hers and she can't have it. at least it doesn't appear to be a problem (this lady meant it as a compliment - i think). madelyn will be moving up to the older toddlers room in december anyway so she will have a harder time being a bully with the older kids.

love.

snow day

i know that yesterday i said posting would be sporadic, but how could i not post about the first real snow of the year?! we got a little over 2 inches last night and woke up to a blanket of white - i love that. plus, madelyn doesn't remember snow from last year so today was sort of like her first snow. when she woke up i told her to hurry and look outside with me. i don't think that she was quite as excited as i was, but she did go and get matt's hat to put on her head.

while eating her breakfast she looked at the deck and the backyard where the dogs had already had fun in the snow and said "uh-oh" over and over. i am not sure if it was because the snow was all tracked through or that it was all over the patio furniture and grill; either way she was distressed.

after breakfast i asked if she wanted to go outside and play in the snow. this was met with a strong "yes" and "side" as she headed to the door. i explained that we need to get all dressed for the snow and i got my first experience of layering up a toddler in snow gear. it wasn't really too cold today (mid-30s), but i should have bundled her a little heavier on top. oh well. she couldn't have cared less! we got her these bib overall snow pants and she didn't really like having them on at first because they were a little (a lot) big. but once i got her jacket on over it she settled down and ran to find her boots. once boots, gloves, and a hat were added to her outfit we were ready to go outside for a little bit.

madelyn didn't quite know what to make of the snow at first. you can see in the video that it took her a little bit (and my lead) to take a few steps out into the snowy yard. i like how she gave a little laugh after each of her first steps to squish the snow. this video is pretty long and not that eventful, but it is her first steps out into the snow. i was trying to capture it for matt since he was at work. i hate it when he has to miss a first.

she really started to understand the appeal when i showed her how to make snowballs. well, how i could make snowballs. she kept asking me for another and another wanting each one to be bigger than the last. she didn't really like how the snow stuck to her gloves - at first. after a while she stopped caring. this next video is shorter - i promise.

after playing around for a while we could hear some of the neighbor kids out having fun in the snow too. that was all madelyn needed. off she headed down the sidewalk to see who was out and about in the snow. i wasn't really planning on being out so long, but once madelyn saw michael and dylan in their yard she yelled an excited "hi"! and then michael came down to hold madelyn's hand up the hill to his house. madelyn was so excited to see that other kids played in the snow too. plus, michael and dylan know what they are doing and have lots of shovels and toys to play with in the snow.

we went out again in the afternoon because madelyn was carrying around her jacket saying "side" and trying to get me to come to the door with her. she was much more excited about the snow this time, but i left the camera downstairs and couldn't run in to get it. she was picking up the snow and throwing it up in the air over her head. i don't know where she got that idea from at all. i didn't show her and i don't think that she has really seen snow fall before. no matter where she got the idea, she had a great time doing it. she also liked trying to pick up the biggest pieces of snow she could from when matt shovelled the driveway this morning before work. after a while she was covered in snow head to toe and i had to carry her in kicking and screaming when it started to get dark - she was not done yet.

surprisingly, it snowed more after matt got home. i told him that he should take maddie out really quick to actually see the snow falling. matt threw on a coat and i wrapped maddie up in a blanket so that they could stand outside before it stopped. madelyn liked being wrapped in a blanket so much that she kept requesting it to be wrapped back around her shoulders every time it fell off. i wrapped it around her like a towel with the end tucked in so that it became a dress for her. she was so cute prancing around in the blanket dress. i took some cuter pictures, but this one shows one of her favorite pouting poses in the kitchen. i forget why she was pouting, but the back bend off the refrigerator always makes me laugh. love.

downtown christmas parade

tonight we went to the downtown Christmas parade. i wasn't really sure what to expect, but i wasn't expecting much. and it was really nice! it started at 4pm and sunset is around 4:30 here, so it was dark for the majority of the parade. while it wasn't a very cold day, it was not close to warm - it was 39 on the bank sign when we were leaving the parade at 5:20m. i had bundled maddie up pretty well, but matt and i definitely could have used some more warmth.

we went downtown a little before 3pm and walked around for a little bit before deciding that we had better grab a place to stand on the parade route. i don't know why i didn't give any thought to where we would sit or how we would keep warm. i guess i didn't think that it would be so crowded and that we would just stand or sit on a curb somewhere. we ended up finding an open place up front where we could stand and wait for the next 45+ minutes for the parade to start. again, this was poor planning on our part. madelyn wasn't really keen on waiting for the parade to start and it didn't really help that they hadn't closed the road to traffic yet and cars were steadily going by a few feet from where we were standing. i decided to walk maddie around for a while, but then we needed to go back and join matt to keep our spot because others were closing/crowding in. the picture captured perfectly madelyn's enthusiasm for waiting until it was time for the parade to start (minus the occasional crying).

we brought the stroller with us, but madelyn spent almost no time in it. she began the parade on daddy's shoulders, then switched back and forth between "daddy" and "mommy" (our more common names these days), before finally becoming willing to stand on her own and dance along with the parade music. when she was being held she was clapping, laughing, and calling "hi" to the parade members.

it was funny how quickly madelyn went from total impatience meltdown to happy, waving, "hi" calling girl once the first of the police cars started coming down the parade route. she didn't know what to think of the first marching band, but by the third she was excited to see it coming. she also enjoyed all the dance troupes. there were lots of other things that i have never seen in parades - a man riding and walking in a huge wheel, a flame throwing float (remax hot air balloon flame) which remarkably allowed for a little thawing of my face and fingers.

we were all ready to get inside and get warm by the time the parade was over. and madelyn was getting more than ready for dinner. luckily, daddy was able to pick up some cookies for madelyn to snack on and get through the parade wait. even though i can count on one hand the number of times madelyn has had cookies, this is one word she has mastered and said repeatedly while we waited for daddy to come back with them.

some other new words that are increasing with frequency (and cuteness) are "sleeping" and "stamp". we have been finishing up on our basement work (matt's work) and recently moved our guest bed down to the new guestroom and set up a twin mattress in the old guestroom. anyway madelyn goes into the old guestroom and lays down on the twin mattress before calling out "sleeping" so that i will come in and see her. when i come in she says "sleeping" again and starts making a "shh", "shh" noise that i make when i pretend sleep for her. the only thing she doesn't do is close her eyes yet.

"stamp" is the other word making at least a daily mention. madelyn gets a stamp on her hand after each tumbling class and for the past week has been grabbing the top of her hand and requesting a "stamp". she is always disappointed when i don't give her one, but understands since i have never given her one before. it cracks me up though because it is always at the most random time that this request comes up. nothing triggers her to have the idea (at least nothing i can figure out). she asks during meals, while riding in the car, while coloring, while reading, whenever.

this last picture is from thursday. i was making breadcrumbs for the recipe i was making for dinner and had cut off all the crusts. madelyn likes to get her stool and bring it over so that she can watch me "cook". after i cut of the crusts they must have looked really good because madelyn just started chowing down! she must have eaten at least two slices worth of crusts. it was cute because she got thirsty and went to the table, got her water cup, brought it over to the counter before climbing back up on her stool to keep eating.

she is getting really good at lifting and carrying around her little wooden stool. she just follows me around the kitchen with it so that she can always see what is going on. i let her help as much as possible - pouring, mixing, stirring, throwing away trash - but she gets curious about what everything feels like and that is where she gets herself into trouble. after one warning, the stool goes up on top of the refrigerator. she gets over it quickly because she knows the rules and has to live with the choice she made not to listen. which reminds me - we have been really noticing the benefits of constantly giving her choices. she knows that she has to choose or that we will choose for her. when she doesn't like the choice (hers or ours) i have noticed that there is little or no crying because she is starting to understand how things work. i am not saying this to pat us on the back for our parenting skills, but because i have really noticed a difference over the past few weeks in the ease of getting things done. she is much more willing to choose to hold our hand when we are out because the other choice is riding in the cart or something else that she doesn't want to do. it definitely makes life easier to not have that many battles of the wills.

sorry that the posts have been so sporadic, i have been prepping for thanksgiving dinner and starting Christmas planning since i have a four-day conference the second week of the month and it always puts me way behind on my Christmas cards and shopping. papa, nana, and uncle derek are arriving tuesday night for thanksgiving so we have been trying to get everything set up and complete for guests in the basement and getting all the dinner items purchased and staged for the big dinner! tomorrow i am cooking one turkey (for "left overs") and then tuesday i will be doing all the pre-prep side-dishes. at least i have a plan and that always makes me less stressed.

anyway - the posts will most likely continue to be sporadic over the next few months. madelyn continues to develop at lightning speed it seems. she also added "read" as on of her new words over the past week. that's it for now. love.

hat for breakfast

while enjoying her breakfast of waffle, avocado, and banana this morning, madelyn paused to request a "hat". i thought that i had misheard her since this was an unusual request, but she pointed at her head and said "hat". once the hat was place upon her head she requested "shoes" (another new "s" word). i explained that she couldn't wear her shoes yet, but i could get her some socks. she agreed to the substitution. but once her socks were on the next word was "go" as she headed for the garage. i had to explain that we couldn't leave in just her pjs because it was too cold out, but maybe we would head out later.

after breakfast and a diaper change, i stripped her down to get ready for the day but she wanted to play first. we must keep the house warm enough because madelyn loves to just run around and play in her diaper lately - in fact she insists on it. she was giving me a "ta-da" every time she made the credit card noise with her register toy (a difficult skill because you have to slide the plastic card with just the right touch) so i was taking some pictures. i was really trying to get a good picture of the scratch on her neck that i posted about yesterday but couldn't really get one. this is the best picture and if you enlarge it you can see a little the scratch on her neck; it is at least three times as long as the part you can see and just as wide.

since she was in good spirits and it was the warmest day of the week (high of 41) i decided we could both use some fresh air after more than a week of wet and cold keeping us indoors 24/7. the other reason i decided that we needed some fresh air is that yesterday my consistent 2 hour napper (sometimes 3-4 hours) only slept for 50 minutes - all day! she did fine too, which made me worry that she was starting to think about giving up napping. i knew that it was most likely all the indoor time, but it was enough to freak me out a little. as a reward for the outing today, madelyn slept for more than 3-1/2 hours! yea for mommy getting lots of work, work done! the outing was two hours of my day very, very well spent.

as you may have guessed, we went to the zoo again. madelyn gets so excited when we get to the parking lot and starts running through all the noises she has for the animals we will see. today we saw a new animal that we normally don't go near - mountain sheep. they have a real name, but i can't remember what it was; the point is that they hop all over the fake mountain in their exhibit, have the big, curly ram like horns, and were very active because of the cold. i think i noticed them because of their white coats as they were jumping all around. madelyn really enjoyed them so they might become part of our normal circuit through the zoo.

she has also taken an increased interest in the bird aviary. she will stand at each display listening to and looking for the birds. she points them out for me when she finds them too which is fun. the picture is from the shoreline birds and it just struck me as funny because the aviary is very warm in general (except for the penguin area) and this was a beach scene with madelyn bundled up in her heavy coat and gloves. today she wasn't that into the ducks that are loose so we didn't really spend any time there except for just passing through on our way out.

madelyn walks more and more of the time we are at the zoo. she really only rides when taking the time to eat a snack. today she was talking non-stop, running, and dancing as we made our way on the long outdoor portion from the fish and reptile building to the big cats. i would say that we are walking outside for at least 15 - 20 minutes - longer when madelyn stops to check out other animals on the way.

her main source on entertainment on today's walk were the "sticks". she was just ecstatic about the sticks she was finding on the ground! i kept wanting to get video, but was too cold to slow us down any more and i didn't think that i could walk and push the stroller while taking video. you can see in these stills from when we stopped to see the zebras, madelyn has a fist full of her beloved "sticks". she kept showing them to me and calling out "sticks" the whole time as well. it was very cute to see her so happy to be outside. like i said, the fresh air was really good for both of us.

as we were leaving the big cats building i was waiting for madelyn to push the handicapped button so that the doors would open automatically (a must when she is walking while i am trying to keep up with the stroller - it gives me a free hand). normally she runs right up to the button and pushes it. not today. she ran over the opposite side of the room towards the bathrooms and then started grabbing at her diaper. i asked her if she wanted her diaper changed and she said, "yes", as she turned and ran into the women's restroom. when i got in with the stroller she was standing next to the changing table waiting for me! i really was surprised that she knew where the bathroom was, would stop her zoo fun for a diaper change, and that her diaper was only wet. this girl is going to be ready to potty train before the winter is over i am afraid... i am really excited to have her potty train, but with all the winter layers, i was hoping that i could wait until summer. time will tell.

in addition for "shoes" as a new "s" word of the day, i remembered another recent "s" addition that i had forgotten in yesterday's post - "stop". i wonder what letter will be the favorite next... love.

in our shoes

madelyn used to have a lot of interest in my shoes when playing in our closet, but she has never tried to put them on her own feet before - until today... i was cleaning up in the kitchen after breakfast and i heard this "clop, clop" noise approaching. obviously she had something on her feet, but i wasn't really sure what it was going to be. once she came around to the kitchen she had a smile on her face from ear to ear and a pair of my shoes on her feet. the funniest, and most amazing part, was that she had the heals of the shoes at her toes - she was walking in them backwards! i don't know quite how she made that work all the way from the front door to the kitchen, but she did none the less. it must have been a theme for the day because later she put on matt's slippers and wore them around our bedroom for a while.

there has also been an explosion of "s" words today (and yesterday): sleep, sleeping, step, slow (see video), stamp (she gets a hand stamp after tumbling class). additionally she has started to say her name, but she uses a "b" instead of a "d" when she says "madelyn". however, when she says "maddie" she says it with "d"s.

she ran to the diaper box that we emptied the day before to hide from me this morning and somehow managed to put a really good scratch from her jaw to near her collarbone. i know that she scratched her neck on the corner of one of the flaps because it was crushed, but i don't know what she was doing. she had only left me 30 seconds before she started crying. i will try to get a picture tomorrow because it is pretty impressive.

madelyn enjoys her bath time - especially since we have added "bubbles" to the routine. one way that we keep the bubbles fresh at the end of bath time is to pour water for her. she really enjoys this 'game' too. matt has taken it one step further by varying the speed that he pours the water. madelyn now refers to this game as "slow". she was laughing much harder last night because it was new, but i didn't think to get the camera. here is some footage from tonight's bath.

sorry that there aren't any pictures today, i left the camera downstairs this morning and didn't get it until tonight. i will try to do better tomorrow. love.

if you're happy and you know it

tonight while i was preparing dinner, madelyn was busy rediscovering the different contents of the kitchen cabinets. she was assisting me with the meal by handing me different containers and tools to use in the meal's preparation (i.e. pots, strainer, bowls, etc.). when she found a particularly large metal bowl, she climbed right in and sat cross-legged in it. it was so cute that i ran for the camera calling out for her not to move so that i could take her picture. the likelihood of her actually waiting for me to get back was basically zero, but i figured it couldn't hurt to ask. since she was standing next to the bowl when i got back, i asked her to sit in it again. while she had no trouble getting in the first time (i didn't even hear her do it), recreating it took several tries. she never did get her feet all the way in again for the still shot, but the effort was entertaining so i switched to video and caught this complete version of "if you're happy and you know it" for your enjoyment!

this is only one of the songs that she can do complete motions with and requests repetitively. i will try to catch more in the future. in the mean time, here are some more little tidbits of things that have happened over the past few days.

- friday evening madelyn was running around playing and her socks kept sliding down so that there was a lot of extra fabric flapping around at her toes. i fixed it for her a few times by pulling her socks back up, but we were playing with her blocks and i guess that she had had enough because she pulled them both off. now this in itself isn't odd. what was new was that she got up and went to her room with both of them; they did not come back with her when she returned. remembering the she knows how to put her clean socks and clothes away in her dresser that is where i expected them to be, but low and behold - they were in the dirty clothes hamper! and ever since she has helped with putting all her dirty clothes away in the hamper for us. such a good helper.

- saturday morning i heard madelyn wake up and start her normal knocking on her door, but it was short lived and i dosed back off. the next time i heard knocking, it wasn't over the monitor. it was madelyn knocking at our bedroom door! (she was also calling for "daddy" even though i am the one to respond to her early morning wake-ups.) this was a first. i am guessing (hoping) that i just didn't pull her door all the way closed when i checked on her the night before.

- "cock-a-doodle-doo", "neigh", and "oink" are newly added animal noises (at least the ones i can think of right now)

- when we sit down for dinner (or any time we are all sitting at the table together) madelyn holds out both her hands for us to pray. we all hold hands around the table and pray. sometimes she holds our hands the whole time and sometimes she has to let go to take a bite or two, but she always manages to grab our hands again by the time we say "amen". once we say "amen" madelyn breaks out in clapping and sometimes requests "again" ('g-in').

- miracles of miracles madelyn has started to occasionally ask for a diaper change! and not only that, but she will stop playing to got to the changing table of her own freewill when i say that it is time for a diaper change - sometimes. this is the first that madelyn has ever shown any indication of even noticing that her diaper (or underwear when i tried potty training) was dirty.

- she has also asked to have her hands wiped off when they are dirty. again a sign that she is starting to prefer being clean. sometimes she wants her hands wiped off in the middle of a meal because she has gotten a little messier than she wants to be.

- i had to have some blood drawn for an annual exam and madelyn was remembering back to her two blood samples. i know that she remembered because she started looking scared and crying in her stroller when they tied off my arm. and when they started filling the viles she started to hold her own elbow/arm where she had given blood, crying and saying "no". i kept reassuring her that it was only for mommy and that she wouldn't have to give any blood herself. for being so brave, she got two stickers.

well, i think that is everything. love.

new day, new color

today's color of the day was "purple". i discovered this one by accident. she wanted to play with this moose head clip on my desk (a co-worker holiday gift) and i just asked her what color it was - and she said it! i didn't even say "purple" today at all. this i was able to catch on video. enjoy! love.

colors, colors everywhere

madelyn has added colors to her vocabulary. she has been able to hand us colored items as requested for a few months now, but today she said blue ("boo"), green ("geen"), and identified yellow without prompting.

the interior cover of most children's books are made of a solid color and we always identify it before reading each book. and as you can imagine with madelyn's love of books, we have a lot of opportunities to review colors. today, when we had a blue book madelyn responded "boo" while pointing at the book. as will everything 'new', i was really excited.

when we went to play with her blocks later i would hold up a blue block and ask her what color it was - "boo". then when i held up a green block and asked her the color she responded "geen".

the yellow came during curious george. she was watching while drinking her after nap milk and in the intro she calls out all the items she has a word/noise for (i.e. "duck", "ball", "ah-ah" (monkey)). the intro ends with george going through a yellow circle which i identify. today when i said yellow circle, she looked around and pointed at the yellow section of the blanket we were snuggling under. that is how she often expresses her comprehension of her cartoons. she will point to something on the t.v. and then find it, or something like it, in the room with us.

another new word for the day "burger", as in hamburger/cheeseburger. she has never eaten one herself (other than a veggieburger patty), but has some play food where she can build a cheeseburger that has become a recent favorite. love.

bye, grandma

we took grandma to the zoo again this morning before making our way to the airport for her afternoon flight. it was colder out (27 when we left the house), but without the wind and a little sunshine it felt a lot warmer than our trip on sunday. madelyn was in a really great mood and ran around crunching leaves, laughing, squealing, and taking in all the animals with grandma. by the time we left madelyn was getting tired (she had a melt down as soon as we got into the parking lot) and we were all hungry and cold.

off we went to get some lunch before saying our final good-byes. madelyn was all sunshine, smiles, hugs, and chatter throughout lunch. i think that her little cat nap on the way over may have had something to do with that change in temperament. she was fine the entire time that we were in the zoo, but the second we got to the parking lot she slid out of her stroller and threw herself down on the pavement. she repeatedly laid herself face down and was crying. i haven't seen her ever behave like this so i was very thankful that it didn't last into our lunch since we had some time to kill before dropping grandma off.

somehow madelyn managed to stay awake long enough to say good-bye to grandma at the airport. in her normal fashion, she was a little delayed in saying her "bye" until we were driving away. she just kept looking up at the sky and waving while saying "bye" softly to herself. she must be getting the hang of the airport/airplane correlation from all of her own travel experiences. she then requested for "bob" to "sing" "please" and fell asleep before the first song was over. she must have really been worn out because she slept for a little over 3 hours!

after she woke up she had a happy snack and dinner before heading to tumbling class with daddy. then straight to bath and bed for our little sweety.

it was very nice to have grandma visit and we were even more grateful that we had no excuse not to go out for our anniversary. we went to grab a quick dinner where we were able to sit at a table next to the fireplace, then went to see fireproof (a wonderful date night flim) where we were one of three couples in the theater on a monday night, and were still home by 9 so we got a decent night's sleep too. we were both very grateful that we took the time to celebrate the marriage that we are both very grateful to have - reflecting on our past and looking forward to our future. love.

grandma z. visit

we have been busy entertaining grandma z. since she arrived on friday morning. she would say that mainly we have been eating. a lot. and maybe we have, but no more than the normal three meals a day. madelyn hadn't been eating very much over the past few weeks, but right before grandma got here her appetite returned with a vengeance! this has meant lots and lots of snacks are brought on all outings and that meals can take a while because she never seems to actually be full.

i have been working with maddie all week on saying "grandma" so that grandma can have a maddie assigned name, but all see says back is "buddy". this would work except that she wanders around and says it to herself and it seems to have no real meaning to her even though it is a real word. if you ask her to say "grandma", she will reply "buddy". it has been very funny to us all.

madelyn has enjoyed eating out because it is not something she does on a regular basis and even when we do it is just somewhere quick not where there is a waiter and utensils on the table. she has enjoyed having her own full-sized fork. here she is enjoying her macaroni and cheese on friday night while the rest of us ate some yummy bar-b-que. she was so silly with excitement over her meal and the special cup that was just for her.

besides eating (and eating) we have played, read books, gone shopping, gone to the zoo, and gone to stonefire pizza company for "mommy and me" breakfast.

we went to the zoo yesterday and it was about 33 degrees out, overcast, and sleeting/snowing off and on. needless to say, we were almost the only people there besides employees. luckily, our zoo is open 365 days a year and is therefore set up for not the most ideal outdoor weather. a lot of the exhibits are indoors year round, but now that it is cold out we got to see some indoor exhibits that we have never gone in before.

one of these exhibits was where they keep the giraffes when the temperature gets below 40. we did learn that the giraffes are given the option to go outside at least once a day because the indoor space is only a fraction of their outdoor exhibit. the neatest part was how much closer you could get to them! i don't think that i have ever seen a giraffe so closely before. it was neat and maddie enjoyed watching them eat. not to mention that it was very warm in that building which was nice too since the temperature felt like it was dropping outside.

grandma is on babysitting duty tonight so that matt and i can go out to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary! we are both exhausted and thought about just going to bed early, but we are going to drag ourselves out for dinner and a movie instead. i couldn't even tell you the last movie i saw in the theater - it has been well over a year (or two) - and i am looking forward to some popcorn. it is going to be so nice to have some uninterrupted time with matt. we haven't had time to ourselves in at least two months. he spends his evenings working on his computer, or most recently working in the basement until after midnight. and i work on the computer after maddie goes down, clean-up, and make preparations for the next day before collapsing in bed. needless to say, i am glad that we are pushing ourselves to take this night out.

more on grandma's visit tomorrow. love.

up after dark

something about the time change (maybe its the getting dark at 4) has just made madelyn into the funniest, most energetic little girl! she is just so silly! matt and i are enjoying it very much. it is so nice to end our day with a lot (and i mean a lot) of laughter after dinner. she just runs around the house, laughing, hugging, kissing, pretending, hiding, and of course talking up a very enthusiastic storm.

with the extra energy has come another burst of vocabulary. the most noteworthy from today "ready, set, go", potty, color, and piglet. she is also really, really close to saying a clear "good night"; right now it is "goo, nigh" but two separate words.

the "ready, set, go" took me a minute to catch because i was only hearing the "go" that she says often. once i figured out what she was saying i was trying to figure out where in the world she learned that phrase and it occurred to me that at the end of a lot of songs in music class we have a "ready, set, go" as a cue to shake our instruments really fast. she was just saying it to herself quietly playing with her toys while i was working this morning. and then again in the car this afternoon on our way to make a drop-off at goodwill. she often says "go" when we stop at a red light, but today it was "set, go" over and over.

her silly game after lunch was to dump all her toys out of their containers and try to wear each one as a "hat". the one in the picture worked the best because it was the deepest, the smallest, and clear for the best visibility. she was just walking around with it on her head saying "hat" over and over. of course she was giggling and peeking at me the whole time too. she also insisted that i take a turn wearing the "hat", but that wasn't as funny i guess because my turn ended pretty quickly.

her ability to pretend has really developed, she can invent a game out of just about anything, and she recognizes things out of context. she can now pretend that a box is a car with a "broom, broom", peek-a-boo with a straw, and recognize bubbles from balls in picture books. these are just some of her development subtleties that i enjoy discovering.

grandma z. is coming tomorrow for a long weekend visit so hopefully i will have better stories to post. although the weather is not looking so great for any outdoor activities... love.

election day

fearing the worst, i got together several hours worth of snacks and water, books and toys, and headed out to vote a little after 9am this morning. when i got there i was able to park up close to the entrance (at a local high school), register without a line, and vote with only one other person in front of me. all in all we were done in about 10-15 minutes. but since i had gone through all the effort and planning to be out all morning, we went to the zoo. even though we had also gone to the zoo yesterday afternoon; because i thought that we would be trapped all morning today. i hope all of you voted too and didn't have to wait long!

the weather has been unseasonably warm - low 70s - so i have felt the need to be outside with maddie as much as possible. yesterday, madelyn insisted on wearing her sun glasses almost the entire time we were at the zoo - even inside the exhibits! but today, she got over the novelty on the car ride over and we didn't even bring them in.

since we had just been to the zoo yesterday, we went to the bird sanctuary/aviary today because that is an exhibit we don't normally hit. it is not on the main loop through the zoo and madelyn hasn't really been that in to it when we have gone over there in the past. which has always surprised me since she really likes birds otherwise and is always pointing them out. for some reason she really got into the exhibit today! she was pointing out all the birds flying around and trying to pet the ducks. she would get really close, but when she reached out to one it opened its bill and made a noise that got her to take a few steps back. it wasn't enough to keep her from getting close again, but she didn't reach out her hand. (she carried that yellow leaf we picked up outside through the entire exhibit).

madelyn we a bit of a grump over the weekend, but by monday afternoon she seemed to have it out of her system and we have had so much fun the past two days. she has been so silly and hyper after dinner and it has been a great way to end the day. somehow it helps me not feel quite so worn out when she ends her day happy.

now hopefully i will resist the urge to stay up all night and see how all the states turn out (not like all the networks won't call the whole election within the next few hours anyway). momma needs her sleep or nothing that should get done does. love.

side note: i have the video monitor on while i blog so that i know when it is time for

me to break for goodnight kisses. poor matt is reading the book madelyn has picked for tonight - a lift the flap book on states that we got at the dollar store. she loves these books and i bought one on states and presidents for future use (she also has shapes, colors, and first words). right now he is reading state capitals, state birds, and state flowers as a bedtime story! maybe all the election coverage inspired the choice...

halloween week

we are not really in to halloween or anything, but this year we had several halloween activities. i have already posted about her costume play date last saturday, then we had pumpkin carving on sunday, "trunk-or-treat" thursday night at the church, costume outing on friday morning, finished off by trick-or-treating in the neighborhood friday night. we made sure to get our money's worth out of that costume! (not that i spent much when i bought it at goodwill.)

i was pretty proud of our pumpkins. i really like to carve out something elaborate, but not scary. this year was the first time i did something without a pattern that wasn't just a generic jack-o-lantern face. this year we did bob and larry - of course. madelyn knew what i was carving as soon as i drew on the eyes and mouth and began to call out "bob" while pointing at the smaller, rounder of the two pumpkins. i even went so far as to paint them red and green and add "floating" pupils to the eye cutouts. here is a picture of them all lit up. they didn't quite look this good on friday night (larry's tooth had dried up and curled under and both of their pupils had shrived up), but i had to carve them before i flew out monday night because there wouldn't be time when I got back from kansas.

while i was gone, matt had to keep up with madelyn's social schedule and i was proud of how well he did. we had friends watch madelyn for us during the day (thanks again christina, kate, and aeron!) and matt would pick her up to go to that evening's activity. monday they went to the hardware store, tuesday night was tumbling class, and thursday was the church's "trunk-or-treat".

for those of you not familiar with a "trunk-or-treat" it is where cars are parked in the parking lot with the trunks open and decorated so that kids can go from one to the next trick or treat style. you can see from the picture which one was madelyn's favorite. if you look closely, you can see that she helped herself to one of the bob toys. matt said that she just stood there staring for the longest time. i was really disappointed that i had to miss it. i had wanted to decorate our trunk, but matt didn't think that he could handle giving out candy and watching madelyn without me so i will have to try again next year. matt said that it was a lot of fun and after a few cars madelyn stopped needing his encouragement to get her treat.

matt and madelyn picked me up at the airport at midnight on thurday (friday), so the 9:30am neighborhood playgroup outing planned for friday morning was not looking like such a great idea... but miraculously madelyn slept until 8am and we were both able to get dressed and fed in time to arrive a little after 9:30. we were meeting some neighborhood friends at a new indoor play place called "the big backyard" - it was their grand opening on thursdy and they were planning to have halloween treats on friday so we thought that we would check it out. madelyn had a really great time! she did trip on the play set pad and skin her lip shortly after we arrived, but i cleaned her up and she wanted to keep playing. she didn't even ask for a snack the whole time we were there (very unusual for her), so i knew that she was really enjoying herself. they basically have everything you might find in a really fun backyard - two play sets (the one for older kids was massive), a playhouse (the picture is from the playhouse), balls, tricycles and other ride on toys, and a selection of stationary baby/toddler toys. i am not sure that it will be a frequent stop this winter, but it is always nice to have another option. and then back home to take off her costume for a bit before trick-or-treating that night.

matt took her out trick-or-treating while i stayed home to give out candy. we had thought that she would only last a few houses, but they did most of the neighborhood. trick-or-treating has set time and date here based on where you live. ours was on halloween (some were the previous weekend) from 5 - 7:30. and the trick-or-treaters started coming at 5 on the dot. we were trying to finish dinner and then get maddie dressed up again. in my rush to get her and matt out the door i forgot to put her face paint on (a nose and whiskers) so we never got to use it in any of the times she got dressed up this year. oh well. here she is trick-or-treating. (she is knocking with a stick.)

matt rang our doorbell when they came back and instead of picking some candy from our bucket when i held it out, she pulled some out of her pumpkin and added to the bowl! reverse trick-or-treating. apparently she did the same thing at one of the neighbors, but with a lollipop matt was letting her enjoy.

not all related to halloween, here are some of madelyn's latest words: trick or treat (said "tea-t tea"), avocado, slide, daddy, and maddie.

i learned the truth about who was taking care of who while i was gone too. madelyn was eating a snack of cereal and raisins after trick-or-treating and she would take one for herself, eat it, and then bring matt one, putting it in his mouth, and then repeat. after a few trips she drank some water and must have thought that matt must be thirsty too because she came over to give him some. i am glad to know that matt has someone to make sure he eats while i am away... love.