the oldest county fair

yesterday we took our double stroller for its first outing - the county fair! apparently, this is the oldest county fair in the state at 167 years. we had never been before and thought that it might be more manageable than the state fair next month. as an extra incentive to check it out, one of our neighbors called in the morning to say that they had tickets and a parking pass that they weren't going to be able to use and offered them up to us. how can you say no to a free trip to the fair?!

we decided to wait and go after nap time so that we wouldn't have to rush. madelyn was pretty excited to be going to fair. not that she knew what a fair was, but the idea of somewhere new was exciting enough. once she saw the tents she thought that it was the circus and got even more excited.

i would say that we had a nice time. it wasn't hot (in fact the high for the day was only 70 and i don't think that the sun ever got to shine through all the clouds) and madelyn really enjoyed it. mason slept through the entire trip.

madelyn got to see lots of farm animals - cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, roosters, ducks, goats - and sharks. sharks were sort of a random addition to the fair, but madelyn liked seeing all four of them in their trailer tank. we went through all of the animal areas twice at madelyn's request. i think that she liked hearing them all make their noises.

we did take in a juggling show taking place in the children's tent. madelyn has been pretty interested in juggling and even tells me that she is juggling sometimes so we thought that she might enjoy it. she paid attention to the whole show - about one hour. she was really excited when one of the volunteers from the audience offered her their balloon animal (a koala) on the way back to their seat. amazingly she still hasn't popped it. not that she hasn't tested it by twisting, squeezing, and hugging.

(and, yes, we started in short sleeves - it is summer after all - but it was just too cold with the wind and we put on our jackets and fleece. in july!) love.

so much to share

as i am sure you can imagine, we have a lot of entertainment here. i just haven't had the time (or energy) at the end of the day to post it all. here are some updates from the past few days:

- madelyn likes to snuggle up and read books more often lately. usually reading only happens at bedtimes, but she wants just as many stories read throughout the day now. this picture is not from a bed time. madelyn requested to read and instead of sitting on the couch she wanted to read in her bed so mason and i joined her. i called matt to take a picture because mason was looking at the book too, but he moved his head once daddy got there with the camera.

- madelyn has a renewed interest in her mr. potatohead set and play dr. kit. she plays with both of them at least once a day. one thing that she likes to do with the mr. potatohead set is to put the pieces in her mouth so that she can wear the smiles, noses, etc. i was trying to get a picture of madelyn and me because we both had in the toothy smile, but she wouldn't look up at the camera when i leaned in to be in the picture with her - sorry for the disappointment.

- speaking of the play dr. kit, madelyn decided to give mason a physical exam on thursday morning. she used the stethoscope to listen to his entire body. i liked this picture of her listening to his feet. every body part got the "thump, thump" sound effect.

after the stethoscope came the otoscope, but this one makes me a little nervous near mason (or when she does my exam for that matter). madelyn's pediatrician says that there is a "birdie in there" when she does a exam of madelyn's ears and makes a bird-like whistle sound. madelyn had declared that "there are no birdies in there" while examining daddy's ears on monday evening. then she looked in the play otoscope and pointed that there were no birdies in there either. we were surprised that she still remembered that about her doctor's visits because we had not been in about 7 months.

- i was changing mason's diaper on friday and madelyn came in to help. before her nap she had requested that he wear an elmo diaper. she had been trying to find one in the diaper hanger but i was already done changing him by the time she found one with elmo on it. while she was napping i set aside an elmo diaper to put on mason after she woke up to make up for not doing so before naptime. when i told her that we were going to put an elmo diaper on mason she started screaming, "no! i don't want it!" and then she started to take out all of the elmo diapers from the diaper hanger and took them to her room. later in the day i went into her room and found them all lined up in a row on her bookshelf. she loves to line things up...

- mason has sucked his thumb a few times that i have seen, but during his bath on thursday night he was really going to town so i had to get some video to share.

- we got our replacement stroller on friday and madelyn could not wait to try out her new seat. she is almost too tall for it! her head hits the sunshade, but it almost does that in all of the strollers now. i am sure people see her and think, "i can't believe that they are pushing around that 5 year old!" just like i think when i have seen a child clearly too big for a stroller. she still doesn't ride the whole time, but it is easier for us to have it as an option.

- madelyn bit her tongue while eating her dinner and came over to get a kiss (to make it all better) and i thought that she just wanted a kiss on her mouth, but just as i was about to kiss her she stuck out her tongue! at least matt had a good laugh.

- madelyn can say her last name now - and it is obviously a mouth full for her to say. i have yet been able to get her to say it for the camera. while trying to get her to say her full name and birthday, she has combined the two. she now says that her name is "maddie june". full name video to come...

- these are just some sweet pictures of maddie and mason having some tummy time together and then mason asleep afterwards (it was the first time he had fallen asleep on his belly).

- big pop made his famous ribs for us while he was visiting. we all went to madelyn's swimming class before dinner and matt was telling madelyn that we were going to have ribs and potatoes - his favorite - when we got home. madelyn kept saying that ribs and potatoes was her favorite too. and she must have convinced herself that they were too because she ate quite a bit of her ribs! madelyn eats almost no meat and she couldn't get enough ribs. i guess there is a reason big pop is famous for them!

- when madelyn counts to twenty she skips the numbers 5 and 15. it is not that she can't say the numbers or that we don't correct her every time. she just counts "4, 6, 7". it is just funny to me that she also skips 15. i wonder what the number 5 did to get left out...

- and last we have madelyn singing "ring around the rosie" while dancing with friend. finally, she will do it without mommy or daddy spinning in circles with her! love.

3 week check-up

mason had his 3 week check-up today. madelyn was excited to take her brother to the doctor. she had given him a full physical herself earlier in the week (a post to come).

mason is doing great! our doctor even said that she thinks that he will smile early (he was giving her super big smiles while we were there) which validated my thought that he had given me intentional smiles three times yesterday. he was awake all three times and gave me a pretty good grin when i said, "hi, mason". it wasn't his full smile, so i thought that maybe i was reading more into it than was really there - i knew that it was pretty early for a real smile.

here are his stats from today:

height - 23-1/2 inches (97th percentile)
weight - 10 lbs. 8 oz. (73rd percentile)
head - 37.8 cm

obviously weight gain is not a problem here! i thought that his face has filled out a little, but i did not think that he had put on that much weight! even the doctor was pretty impressed and told me to keep doing what i am doing.

thankfully, there were no shots today because madelyn has her appointment (with shots) on monday. love.

big pop and grandma go to the zoo

what trip to milwaukee would be complete without joining madelyn at the zoo? and big pop and grandma wouldn't have it any other way! madelyn is always finding new things to explore and she got to do two very special things with big pop and grandma.

(she is finally tall enough to get her eye up to the eye piece and i thought that it was cute to see her on such extreme tippy-toes.)

we had to return the double stroller we ordered (it arrived damaged) so madelyn was expected to walk the entire time. she asked for the stroller when we first pulled in to the parking lot, but then she never mentioned it again. she did get a few rides from big pop and grandma though.

first on our new zoo activities was a trip to the seal and sea lion show. we just happen to be walking by three minutes before the next show started so we got our tickets and headed in to find seats. i think that madelyn was more interested in her snack than in the show, but she did seem to enjoy the parts she watched. the show was nice and short but still entertaining. i think that was the first time i had ever seen a seal jump up in the air like a dolphin.

next we went to a temporary exhibit that i knew would be right up grandma's alley. it is called "wings down under" and it is where you get some seeds glued to a stick and then go into a big cage with parakeets, cockatiels, and small parrots (i think that is what they were - they were red, blue, and green). madelyn was a little taken back when she tried to pet a parakeet and got bit, but before long she wanted to get the birds herself, without big pop's help. we were lucky to have big pop with us because the birds were up so high almost no one could reach them. big pop was getting them down for other kids too because he was the tallest in the room. i felt bad for the shorter parents who couldn't reach the birds to touch their sticks to the bird's chest (making it step onto the stick). they were just walking around with their sticks in the air hoping that a bird would show mercy and come land on it.

grandma and madelyn looking for more birds while grandma holds the small parrot on her popsicle stick.

big pop giving madelyn a parakeet to hold.

madelyn showing me the bird she is holding all by herself. you can tell that she isn't 100% about this. i wasn't really sure how this exhibit was going to go. it was a little overwhelming to be in a cage with so many birds - even for me. and, yes, mason came in too.

after a nap at home it was time for madelyn to head to swimming class with daddy so we all piled in the cars to watch. madelyn is very comfortable in the water and likes going under and jumping to daddy from the side of the pool. she often comes home from class to tell me that she jumped to daddy and its okay because he caught her. tonight is their last class for the summer and i think that madelyn will be a little sad. although daddy will appreciate not having to rush home from work everyday to make it to the 5:30pm classes. i think he will miss swimming with madelyn though. love.

the great circus parade

after church we piled in the cars and went to downtown milwaukee to stake out a spot to watch the great circus parade. madelyn had learned about the circus this past week in pre-school so she was super excited to see a circus and a parade in one. we were very early for the parade and it was going to be a two hour parade. i think that we were there a little over 5 hours in all and madelyn missed her nap so that we could be there. none of us had ever been to a circus parade and i think that i was as excited as madelyn was to see it (well maybe she was a little more excited).

this post is going to be mainly pictures and comments in an effort to make posting it as quick as possible - i am worn out.

daddy and big pop took madelyn to go and look for lunch while grandma, mason, and i stayed to watch our chairs and spot on the sidewalk. they found a hot dog place that was open and we were all just happy for something to eat. madelyn wasn't crazy about her corndog though.

madelyn got a bubble gun from big pop and grandma to help pass the time we had to wait for the parade to start. madelyn loved it. i am not so sure about everyone sitting around us having bubbles pop on them...

and mason was sleeping.

once the parade got going (it started a block over from where we were) madelyn kept saying "i heard something. listen." she could cup her hand over her cheek/mouth instead of her ear to 'listen'. it was pretty cute. i wanted to get video, but it was just too loud and you can't hear her in it.

once they closed off the street to traffic all sorts of people, not just kids, went out into the street and started drawing circles with sidewalk chalk. after grandma talked to some people sitting next to us we learned that it is a circus parade tradition. you are trying to draw a circle where you think that a horse will drop some poo. whatever makes it interesting for you.

there were all kinds of animal wagons. i really liked this one with the giraffe because of the little sun shade.

there were some amazing wagons in the parade. some of them are a century old and have been refurbished just for the parade. there were organ wagons too.

and mason kept sleeping.

and towards the end were the elephants walking in groups of three with their tails held by the elephant behind it. i thought that it was neat to be that close to them. i think madelyn liked them too.

we were all exhausted by the time the parade ended and madelyn fell asleep shortly after getting into the car. she even stayed asleep while i held her in the restaurant we stopped at on the way home for an early dinner. i think that we will all sleep well tonight! love.

a few notes...

here are a few things that i wanted to note for later...

- madelyn is very interested in the callouses on my feet. gross - i know. she will even take off my shoes and lift up my feet so that she can feel them and tell me that my feet are scratchy. or she will tell me that they hurt her. i am so glad that i have her here to point out my flaws.

- i had to wrestle madelyn down to brush her teeth last night. not fun. but on the plus side, i did get to see that madelyn's top to molars have come in. i am not sure when exactly they came in, but at least i know that we are done with teething! woo-hoo! at least i think that i am done until wisdom teeth, right?

- big pop and daddy saw mason flip himself over today. again it was his belly to his back. they said that he picks up his head and pushes up with his right arm like a push up. there might be a little leg kicking that helps him too, but either way he rolls himself over. i know that he is too young for it to be intentional. i am just glad that i have witnesses so that you all don't think that i am exaggerating his strength.

love.

watercolors

as her prize for walking around target without crying about not riding in the cart, madelyn got a little set of watercolors. (she was so good. after a few tears at the beginning of our trip she chose to pull it together instead of leaving.) she asks to paint at least once a week and since she had the easel already, i decided that some washable watercolors would be manageable.

she was speaking so softly in the video that i was able to get that i tried to repeat everything she said. she isn't really interested in talking while trying something new and was asking me not to use the camera on her so i am lucky to have gotten the responses that i did. i think that she liked the dipping more than the actual painting.

she is so good about managing her crying. we will often give her the choice to stop crying (really its just a form of whining, not pain or real crying) or to go to her bed because we don't want to hear her cry. she will tell us that "maddie/i stopped crying" when she does turn it off or she will be whining/crying and tell us that she is going to her bed/room or that she is tired and going to sleep. i have to suppress laughter sometimes because she really makes a choice about how she wants to handle each situation. love.