Backyardigans

We just got home from seeing the live performance of “The Backyardigans – The Tale of the Mighty Knight”. We kept it a surprise until we got there. We told you we had to go into the city for a surprise. On the way home we stopped at the Dairy Queen, then you said, “I liked The Backyardigans in the city, it was lovely.”

iPod

Does Madison have an iPod?  Well not exactly, but she is using papa’s iPod at night.  Lately she is having some difficulty letting me leave her room after rocking, and then falling asleep.  I read an article about playing soft bedtime music and found an iTunes playlist of 10 bedtime songs, which I then downloaded.  So we listen to the 10 songs on my iPod connected to speakers in her room.  Does she fall asleep any quicker, NO.  But she is now asking the names of the songs and then will say, “is Imagine next” or “is man on the moon next”, or tonight she said, “after man on the moon is good night my angel, then moon shadow then blackbird then man on the moon and then the speaker stops playing.”

Mother Cat

This morning while we were playing downstairs Barney was trying to swat the blinds open and you wanted him to get down off the ledge.  When he would not get down you picked up the phone and it went like this.  “Hello…. Mother Cat, Barney is not a good listener… ah… ok… good bye.”

Hair doo

You have become a little bit more concerned with how your hair looks.  But other times you could care less.  Today you pulled your wooden step stool over to the bathroom sink, asked for a bowl of water, and then spent the next 10 minutes, combing, brushing, dipping the comb in water and combing more.  Then you asked for about 10 barrettes in your hair.

Swimming Lessons

Last night you have a very good session of swimming lessons.  The prior 3 weeks were difficult with you not wanting to put your face in the water or go under.  You have the fear that you will go under and Sue won’t be there to save you and that you will die.

Later while rocking we both fell asleep.  I woke up an hour later and went straight to bed.

9:04

Lately you have been paying a lot of attention to the clock, the one in the bathroom had hands and the one in your room is digital.  In your room you will say the numbers and then ask what they mean.  The bathroom clock is more confusing.  You have also been making the distinction between who is a boy and who is a girl and to be honest some of the cartoon characters it is hard to tell.  You mentioned that you do not want your hair cut short because then you would be a boy.  While rocking tonight you said “nine, zero, four, 9 is a boy and 4 is a girl.”

Easter Eggs & Ears

Today was a busy day for a snowy Saturday.  It is the second day of spring and it is still snowing.  This morning you said your ear hurts and just yesterday you said I can’t hear, turn it up.  This unfortunately is a tell tale sign of an ear infection.  So we got dressed and headed off to the doctors office and sure enough you had an infection in both ears.   Then a trip to the pharmacy and home just in time for an afternoon nap.

After your nap we had dinner and then it was time to decorate easter eggs for your first time.  You had fun plopping the eggs into the dye and then afterwards putting on stickers and using magic markers to add even more artistic elements.

Swimming Lessons

This morning on the way to school we talked about starting the next session of swimming lessons.  You are moving up to Little 2.  You said, “I don’t like to float on my back, I don’t want to go under and die.  Dying would hurt my feelings.”

Pentagon

It was a busy weekend. Saturday morning was your last session of Little 1 at swim school and in a few days you start Little 2. We came home and then you helped daddy bake a yellow cake by helping measure ingredients and then pour them in to the mixer bowl. When you woke up from your nap grandpa and grandma were here. Grandma brought you a necklace and 2 bracelets that she made.  The last time they were here you wore her nice necklace around all weekend, calling it your pink diamond.  You now have your own pink diamond.

You helped grandma frost your cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. Later in the day you were running a slight temp. Sunday morning you played several games of hide and seek with grandpa and grandma. In the afternoon they headed home and you took a long nap. When you woke up we played with a new little bead craft item called perler beads. You have one in the shape of a hexagon, but you said “No papa, it is a pentagon”.

Just check it out, OK buddy

You learned some new slogans this weekend.  Several times today you said, “Just check it out”.  This morning you sang for me a beautiful version of You are my Sunshine.  You started out by saying, “make a sad face”, and then would sing the song for me.

Tonight while rocking you surprised me by saying “papa I am ready to lay in my bed”, then once situated under 3 layers of blankets you said “now lay your head by me for eleven minutes, OK buddy”.

Knees

I am not sure how it happened, but you have your first pair of jeans with a hole in the knee. They are a pair of jeans with a pretty pink cuff at the bottom and at supper tonight you discovered that you could see you knee through your pants.

Earlier today we had swimming lessons and then we dashed off to watch cousin Sarah at a dance competition, you also got to see Hannah, for the first time since she got out of the hospital. You also got to visit with Aunt Ginny and her sister Angie.

3 hours

Tonight you wanted to play downstairs, so we took nebby with to do in the basement.  Daddy brought nebby and the medicine to the top of the stairs and you said, “thanks for everything dad, we will be back up in 3 hours”.

Excuse me

You have been coughing the last few nights and despite going to yellow meds on nebby the cough continues.  So we decided to keep you home today and take you to the doctor.  While in the doctors office you acted pretty chipper, so she probably thought you weren’t sick at all, but you did have another ear infection.  During the visit while I was talking to the doctor you said timidly, “excuse me, are you the doctor?”

Delicious

You have been wanting little sips of water at bedtime.  We try to avoid in an attempt to keep your night time panties dry, but occasionally give in.  Tonight after your sip you said, “hmmm, that was delicious.”

Not so subtle hint

This morning when you woke up we walked out to the living room and you said, “papa, you need to put on a shirt, that tummy is very large.”

Grandpa & Grandma

Grandpa & Grandma came to visit this weekend.  You got to spend some quality time with Grandma while we worked with Grandpa on building some shelves downstairs.  Your play room is nearing completion, we just need to find some space for a few remaining items to get out of your play room.

Fun Abenture

Today was President’s day so school was closed. I took the day off to stay home with you, but we did not just stay home. We left early to go to see where daddy works. On the way we saw one accident and 2 cars in the ditch. We got to meet all of the people that work with dad. Next we left and went to papa’s old work, to see many people there. You did very well at both places and impressed with your knowledge of colors & numbers in both English and Spanish. On the way home you said, “papa, that was a fun abenture.”

Later when we were getting ready for bed I told you how proud I was of you for having such a good day and being a good listener.  You turned to me and said, “papa you were a good boy today too.”

Haircut Girl

This afternoon while playing in your bedroom you wanted to brush my hair.  You said “I am Madison the hair cut girl”.  Later you said “Papa is the doctor, daddy is the nurse and I am the hair cut girl.”

Not Listening

Tonight during our daily bedtime routine we were sitting on the potty and you like to stall sometimes.  I said, let’s get going your done going potty and you responded, “you’re not listening, I said I need to poop”.

Smell

While playing on the floor with daddy you said, “daddy you smell”, when he asked what do I smell like you said “poop”.  I suspect it was a bad case of coffee breath that you did not like.

Butter Work

At school you have different items to learn with each day and they are called your “work” or “works”.  The teachers often ask for food items that they use in class, whether it is apples or oranges or bananas.  This week they wanted someone to bring in carrots, butter and bread.  We brought in unsliced bread this morning and you carried the bag around to make sure everyone knew that you brought in bread.  Tonight while rocking to go to sleep you had your eyes closed and were breathing heavy, so I thought you were close to being asleep, when you opened your eyes and said.  “Papa, Nicholas said the bread was his.”  I said that we brought the bread in to share with all of your classmates.  I then asked if you sliced or buttered the bread in class and you said, “No I didn’t do the butter work today, but Nicholas did butter work and then he ate it”.

Toilet

There is sure a lot going on with the toilet lately, let’s see if I can remember it all. Over the weekend you finally decided it was time to try and flush something away. I thought maybe we lucked out and got past that stage without an incident, but no such luck. You dropped the solitaire game into the toilet, but fortunately it is too large to flush.

Our bedtime ritual is to read 2 or 3 stories with dad, brush teeth, one small glass of water, then I take you to the potty one last time, which can last as long as 40 minutes. I limit you to one story and I think for the last two months we have read the Clifford book 58 times and Ten Fat Turkeys twice. You would think I would have it memorized, but I don’t, but you certainly notice if I miss a word. You like to sit and talk and say “I still need to poopy”. Sometimes I can talk you off, only to later have you say you need to potty. We go back and sure enough you poop.

We are still struggling with your use of the word S-T-U-P-I-D. Notice I spelled it and did not say it, but you still like to say it. For instance “Stupid is a bad word, we don’t say stupid, babies don’t say stupid, we don’t say stupid”. So four times in the matter of seconds.

We have also played hide and seek while on the toilet. You will say “I will count, you go hide in the corner”, pointing to the corner of the bathroom. You count to ten, say “Ready or not, here I come, now where is that stupid papa?” That does not sit too well. Anyway you will then say “is he in the bath tub, is he in the corner?” Sometimes while facing away from you I will slowly slide closer to you until you say, “boo, I found you”. Bet you did not know you are probably the first to play hide & seek while staying seated on your throne.

Ayudeme

“Papa help me, ayudeme ayudeme” you said as you were rolling around under your play tunnel. Ayudeme is Spanish for help me, another phrase you have picked up from watching Dora the Explorer.

Kitchen Helper

You like to do things your self, like taking your shirt off, or putting your shoes on, although sometimes you will say, “Help me, I can’t do it.”  Tonight while getting dinner ready you wanted to help so we got out your step stool and put it next to the counter.  You then helped put lettuce in the salad bowls.  After wards you helped by wiping down the counters.

Stupid

“We don’t say Stupid” you tell me, but you said it at least 30 times today.  We even sat at the end of the hall for saying it.  Sometimes you said it with a grin on your face.

Good Bye Everybody

Last night while doing our business in the bathroom, when you finished you stood up, looked in to the toilet bowl and said, “Good Bye Everybody”.

Nebby

We have gone to the doctor to see about your asthma and nebby medicine. The current medicine makes you rather crabby, so the doctor gave us samples of another medicine to try on your next episode. Well that time has come. A few days ago you started coughing at night again.  We tried the new medicine and it seems to work fine, in fact you have been in quite a jolly mood.  The only disadvantage is that the medicine only lasts about 6 hours, so only part way through the night or school day.

Christmas

My what a weekend. It was Christmas weekend and Grandma, Grandpa, Sarah & Hannah came to visit for 3 days. There was a lot going on, Sunday afternoon Lisa, Brody & Haleigh stopped by for a few hours and we opened a few gifts with them. Monday (Christmas Eve) we opened a few more presents. Sarah & Hannah got a computer from Grandpa & Grandma so they spent a good share of the afternoon playing and experimenting with it. You were watching them intently as they did pretty good taking turns on the computer. At one time Hannah went upstairs and then a little later when Sarah walked away from the computer you quickly and quietly got off the couch and walked over to the computer and climbed on the chair and started to type away.

You got a Dora tent house that was a bit bigger then we anticipated, but you really had a good time playing in it for the afternoon. That evening we went to church and then came home to soup and more gifts. After the gifts you and the girls wrote letters to Santa and left out cookies & milk. In the morning Santa had left you a note, a stocking full of treats and more gifts under the tree. A few weeks ago, when you saw Santa, you asked for a pink kitty, which was in the last gift you opened. In the afternoon we put together the easel you got and you had a good time drawing on it. Tonight you did not want to go to bed, you just wanted to draw.

After your bath you finally went to your bedroom, but then it still took time to fall asleep. At one time you said, “Papa thanks for bringing me my pink kitty”. I did not remind you that Santa brought the kitty. Then a little later you asked, “Is Smee a pirate?” I said, I think he is, what do you think? You responded “Captain Hook is a pirate, I think Smee is just Smee, and I am Madison”.

Next we got obsessed with the bow on pink kitty. At least 30 times you said, “It is not right” or “It is not perfect, fix it papa, please papa fix it”. This went on for about 25 minutes until you finally fell asleep. Certainly a Christmas to remember.

Birthday

This afternoon when daddy picked you up from school you saw some balloons in front of one of the stores and said, “I like balloons.  It’s my birthday”.  When daddy told you it wasn’t your birthday you said, “It is baby Jesus birthday”.  Daddy asked who baby Jesus mother was and you said, “Mary”.  When he asked about his father you paused for a bit and then yelled, “Bob”.

Disgusting

Tonight while rocking you looked up at the stars on your wall and said, “look at those weird stars, are they disgusting?”  Then you asked “is disgusting a bad word?”