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.