madelyn on daddy

i didn't want daddy to feel left out, so here are madelyn's thoughts on daddy - age 3-1/2. love.

1. what is something dad always says to you?  i don't know.  (after prodding her a little bit, i got an answer.)  i love you.

2. what makes dad happy?  um, not biting my nails.

3. what makes dad sad?  biting my nails.

4. how does your dad make you laugh?  tickling me.

5. what was your dad like as a child?  i don't know.(if you had to guess)  he was like me.

6. how old is your dad?  i don't know.  (just guess.)  i still don't know.

7. how tall is your dad?  this tall (hand raised over head and smiling).

8. what is his favorite thing to do?  do his work.

9. what does your dad do when you're not around?  he searches for me.

10. if your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? um, um, being like me.

11. what is your dad really good at?  eating with me and playing with me.

12. what is your dad not good at?  not playing with me and not eating with me.

13.what does your dad do for a job?  does some work.  (what kind of work?)  he works every, every, every, every day.

14.what is your dad's favorite food?  salad.

15.what makes you proud of your dad?  playing with me.

16. if your dad were a cartoon character, who would she be?  bob (the tomato)

17. what do you and your dad do together?  just play.

18. how are you and your dad the same?  daddy is the biggest too.

19. how are you and your dad different?  not having the same hair.  that makes us different.

20. how do you know your dad loves you? because he just does.

21. what does your dad like most about your mom?  tickling her.

22. where is your dad's favorite place to go?  mcdonalds.  (i think that this might actually be his least favorite place.)

madelyn on mommy

here are madelyn's thoughts on mommy - age 3-1/2.  i think that you might notice a theme even though she wasn't feeling very chatty...  love.

1. what is something mom always says to you?  um...no.

2. what makes mom happy?  not doing bad things.

3. what makes mom sad?  hurting you. (what do you mean?) when you get owies and get hurt really bad.

4. how does your mom make you laugh?  tickling (with a big smile and wiggling fingers)

5. what was your mom like as a child?  um, God.

6. how old is your mom?  i don't know. (how old will i be on my birthday?) 2 years old.

7. how tall is your mom?  (hand raised over head while standing with a big smile)

8. what is her favorite thing to do?  wash the dishes.

9. what does your mom do when you're not around?  um... search for me.

10. if your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?  i don't know.  (i explained what being famous means.)  ask them.

11. what is your mom really good at?  washing the clothes.

12. what is your mom not good at?  i don't know.

13.what does your mom do for a job?  working.  (what do i do when i work?)  skype.

14.what is your mom's favorite food?  salad.

15.what makes you proud of your mom?  putting mason's shoes on.

16. if your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?  a monkey. (i think she was referring to the monkey mask i wore from yesterday.)

17. what do you and your mom do together?  eat.  and play.

18. how are you and your mom the same?  being the biggest.  (she means that she and i are both the big sisters in our families.)

19. how are you and your mom different?  we have different hair - mine is white and yours is brown.  oh wait, i have some brown too.  but this side is white.

20. how do you know your mom loves you?  because you do. you wash the laundry and eat.

21. what does your mom like most about your dad?  kissing him.

22. where is your mom's favorite place to go?  mcdonalds.  (for the record, we have not been to mcdonalds in ohio.)

it's wild in here

i had a busy day with work today and i wanted to give the kids a little focused attention.  my spark of inspiration was to make animal masks.  mason said a giraffe (or his version of saying giraffe) and then madelyn wanted to have a giraffe too.  but when she started to use zig-zag scissors to cut the edges of her plate, i suggested a lion instead.  and with no real inspiration of my own (other than two wild kids), i made a monkey.

i had to send madelyn hunting for the zoo book from their room so that i could have some direction for cutting out the shapes.  i could not get either of them really interested in using crayons to decorate their masks, but they were more than willing to break out the glue sticks.

the masks were a hit and it helped pass the time until daddy came home for dinner.  here they are modeling their creations.  love.

animals

looking like the only nice day for the week, i made a lunch and the kids and i hit the road.  our first stop was barnes and noble for story time.  today was "pigs!" and it was funny because madelyn also had a pig theme at school on monday.  here are their crafts from b&n hanging on our wall.  can you tell who did which one?  i only helped with cutting out the ears.


and then we headed to the zoo.  it was a beautiful sunny day (climbing to a high of 40) and i was really glad that we could be outside.  mason called out "zoo" and pointed to the entrance once i got him loaded into the stroller (another new/first word).  maddux was awake almost the whole time we were there, so it was kind of like his first trip to the zoo.  i think he enjoyed seeing all the trees roll by overhead.

madelyn and mason were having a really sweet day together holding hands and talking to each other.  i overheard madelyn asking mason if he "wanted to play chargers when we go home".  i had to ask her about this one.  she said it was playing football - like the chargers.  mason would call out to madelyn and hold out his hand if she walked too far ahead of him.  and then she would come back to hold his hand again.

coming back from checking out the penguins in her super outfit for the day.

madelyn proudly climbing the rock wall by herself.  mason even gave it a try - with some help from mommy.

quality time between a sister and brother.

and one last thing that i wanted to mention about madelyn is that she is always telling matt and i "don't forget" for something obvious.  and she says it over and over until we do the requested task.  it could be annoying, but it is actually very cute and we have fun with it.  love.

getting closer

mason is getting closer and closer to 'talking' in a way that someone other than me might be able to understand him.  the funniest thing is that he picks some of the most random words ("nest", "giraffe", "bubble", etc.) and not some of the most everyday (hi, bye, cup, mason, madelyn, etc.).  here is mason saying "bubble":

he has even thrown out a few sentences - "look a lion" (said "ook uh ion") and "hi, big pop".  the "hi, big pop" was so exciting because we were skype-ing with big pop when he said it.  the bummer was that mason pushed the button to disconnect the call before he said it.  oh well.  at least matt heard it too so i know i wasn't just hearing things.  i also think that he was calling grandma "nona".  she wasn't on the call and he was looking for her while signing "more" and saying something like "nona" over and over.  it just goes to his random words because madelyn was able to say "nana" (from "banana") and "papa" right away and had to work for "grandma" and last "big pop". 

it is a little like he is just skipping to the 'advanced' words instead of mastering the easy ones first.  :)  i am just trying to be patient and wait for him to tell us all his thoughts - i can't wait!

upright

based on maddux' recent sleeping habits (or lack thereof), i am feeling very certain that he is going to follow in the footsteps of his older siblings and start solids at four months.  both madelyn and mason stopped sleeping through the night at 4 months and suddenly started getting up twice a night so we started solids and it took about a month to get them sleeping through the night again.  maddux went from sleeping 12 hours a night to getting up three times each night to feed.  this is not going over so well with me.  i am tired.  very tired.

i am going to try and wait until after his 4-month check-up next week to see what this pediatrician says about it, but i am planning on starting solids next week with him.

one of the ways i am preparing is getting him upright more of the day.  i had to prop mason up with blankets in the highchair so that i could feed him 2-3 meals a day when i first started him on solids (the kid couldn't get enough to eat - and couldn't sit up on his own).  maddux is way better at sitting upright than madelyn or mason were at this age; he doesn't get tired and flop his head like they would.

we borrowed a neighbor's exersauser for the other two, but that wasn't really going to work out this time.  so we bought one. odd, i know, to buy such a major baby product on a third child.  and he is already using it at it's highest setting - meaning that he can't get any taller or he won't fit. but it will serve it's purpose of keeping him upright before he can sit on his own.  and madelyn and mason love that he is in it!

here is some video of madelyn showing him everything he can do in it.  thankfully, he is used to the excitement now and doesn't get too overstimulated any more.  i kept missing him bouncing excitedly in the exersauser, but he really does like it too.  love.



and the award goes to...

today was pajamas and teddy bear day at madelyn's school and 'friend' took home a prize (i guess all the teddy bears did).  love.