Playtime

After everyone left this morning, I tried to do a bit of tidying up. This is how I found Madelyn's playroom.

She had all her Little People animals all lined up, looks like they were gettin' ready to board Noah's Ark.

And then, once everyone was home again, Roo was overheard making an announcement to her friends by stating in a very loud and commanding tone, "Ladies aaaaaand Jellybeans!"

Yep, she CAN stop talking!

Watercolor

During last night's "splish splash", Roo re-discovered her bath crayons.

The only thing that sucks about her love of bath crayons is trying to figure out how to hang her bathtub art on the fridge. I think I need stronger magnets.

Roo: "Can I have some gum, Mommy?"

Me: "No, I don't think so."

Roo: "Mommy, can I please have some gum?"

Me: "No, sweetheart."

Roo, after picking up whichever inanimate object was closest to her: "Madelyn's Mommy, this is Madelyn's friend, the pen. Can you say yes, can Madelyn have some gum now?"

Hey Bono, Madelyn loves you, too!

Mommy's FAVOURITE band is in town for a show tomorrow night.

It promises to be the biggest rock 'n roll show this city has ever hosted.

I have been a fan of U2 for more than 20yrs, and anyone who knows me can attest to this.

In fact, the mutual love of their music was one of the reasons Dono and I hooked up in the first place (see: http://yaciuk.blogspot.com/2011/05/bono-kissed-my-wife.html).

So when I heard they were going to be in town a couple of days BEFORE their concert, shooting a documentary, and I knew WHERE this doc would be shot, I made sure I was there, in the wind and sleet (yep, crappy weather at the end of May - welcome to Winnipeg!) to meet them.

Surreal.

That was last night.

Tonight - well, tonight was about sharing the experience with my family.

Late in the afternoon, after receiving a tip from a fan friend we had met in line the day before (oddly enough we were both at the Bomber Store purchasing U2 merch with Madelyn in tow!), we decided to swing by the house and pick up the camera and do a drive-by. Y'know, just in case.

Well, the drive-by turned into a full-on waiting game, with rumours it would be "any time now" that we would see them, and Donovan and I weren't gonna pass up a chance to have Madelyn meet "the man"!

We were equipped with a lawn chair, snacks for Roo, water, food, an umbrella, the camera - it was quite the haul. Madelyn did SO WELL, keeping busy by throwing rocks into puddles through the mini barricade that was set up between the fans and the Burton Cummings theatre (the site of the documentary filming where the band was inside, doing their thing).

My friend from work Christina showed up (she's as big a fan of the band as I am), and begged to take over and keep Madelyn entertained (she's surrounded by boys - only has sons and LOVES Madelyn!) while Daddy took a much needed break during our 4hr stint waitin' for the band!

They had so much fun playing Ring Around the Rosie, and high 5's on repeat!, that Madelyn really developed a love for Auntie Christina!

At around 9 or so, the cars started to move into position on the other side of the barricade. We got ready to take our pics and have our merch autographed! Roo was up on Daddy's shoulders, and had prime line of sight when the band finally came out and started greeting their fans!

By the time Bono was about 2 people away from us, signing autographs and taking pics, Madelyn said in her normal speaking voice (after a quick prompt from Mommy!), "I love you Bono," and after I told her he didn't hear, she yelled as he posed for a picture with a fan, "I LOVE YOU, BONO!" He smiled and looked up at her in a moment of distraction!

And then came our turn!

As he approached me and smiled and said hello, and gave me ANOTHER hug (he embraced AND kissed me the day before!), and as I passed him the tour book to sign, I said, "Bono, if I could just take a minute here to introduce you - this is my daughter Madelyn..." Donovan had at this point took her off his shoulders and was holding her in his arms, right beside me.

Bono said, "Well hello, Madelyn!"

I continued: "...and Madelyn was conceived to the Achtung Baby album!" Bono started laughing, as did the fans around us.

"I was wondering if she could get her picture taken with you!"

Bono: "Haha, she truly is an Achtung Baby!" Cue picture.

Donovan: "Madelyn, can you give Bono a kiss?"

Bono and Madelyn leaned in towards each other (right in front of my face!), and she kissed his cheek - not sure if he kissed her back, as his face was on the other side of hers. "Well thank you Madelyn, you made my day!"

Bono continued, as he was being ushered along the line, "Which song was it?"

I started laughing - I wasn't prepared for him to ask ME a question - although I think I ended up saying something like, "Who knows!"

Donovan told me after he was dying to blurt out "Even Better Than the Real Thing", but thought that would be awkward, since that's only the 2nd track on the album!

At any rate, even though SHE has no clue what just happened, we will definitely be printing out the pic and framing it, along with the autographs we snagged.

I'm sure she'll learn to appreciate it as she grows older!

Ariel said WHAT?

A few days ago, while I was making supper, my iPod had just finished playing (what Madelyn calls) The Skittle Song (or what I called The Fiddle Song, which is really John Denver's Thank God I'm a Country Boy) and, in its Shuffle state, played Salt-N-Pepa's Push It.

My hands were covered in chicken juice, so I couldn't race over to the iPod to change it back to The Skittle Song, which has become a Roo-favourite, so I just hoped she wouldn't put up too much of a fuss having to listen to that tune while I quickly tried to finish up with the raw meat and wash my hands.

To my surprise, she was DIGGING IT.

In fact, she loves it! She even mimics the breathing effects!

Tonight as I was reading The Little Mermaid storybook to her, she was listening and enjoying the funny voices I was throwin' in there every now and then, and suddenly, out of the blue, Madelyn pointed to a picture of Ariel and said, "Mommy, look, Ariel says (insert breathing sounds) Push It!"

HAHA! Whoops...

Roo: "Mommy, is that an owie on your hand?"

Me: "Yes it is. How shall we fix it?"

Roo: "Well first we will take a screwdriver and stick it in there and then we can put a band-aid on it."

Tool time!

Uncle Robin gave Madelyn this Handy Manny tool kit for her 3rd birthday. It comes complete with hammer, screwdriver, pliers, tape measure, wrench, and some other thingamajig. ;) Any chance she gets to pull out her trusty tool box to fix something, she's on it!

Her playhouse needs repairs? The wall could use a good hammering? Here comes Madelyn with her "Handy Mandy" tool box to save the day!

This evening was no exception!

The particleboard under Madelyn's mattress is broken, and Didi suggested we get some slats to support it. Daddy went to the store (while Madelyn and Mommy made finger paintings for everyone in the kitchen) and came back with wood, ready to go!

He pulled out his power drill and got things set up, and by now, Madelyn was bathed and dressed in her PJs - so, perfectly ready to pitch in and lend a helping hand!

Hold on, Daddy, don't start anything yet, here comes Handy Mandy to assist you!

She loves getting right in there and fixin' things up! Here she is, examining how Daddy does it, then she goes to town herself. Daddy had to supply "the little things" (otherwise known to the rest of us as "screws"), and she was happy as could be just hammering away, or measuring random parts of the bed or "wrenching" things....note in the last picture, she's decided to

saw the bed - she gets that level of comprehension for the carpentry craft from her Mommy!).

:)

Ta-daa!

On her way out the door this morning for daycare at Auntie Fran's!

With a tummy full of G-pa Cereal, and after having listened to a few of her fave tunes on repeat during brekkie (The Purple People Eater and "The Skittle Song", which is really John Denver's Thank God I'm a Country Boy, but for her memory's sake, I just called it "The Fiddle Song", and she gave it her own title anyway!), she was in a very "performy" kinda mood!

Here she is, on her way out the door - TA-DAA!!!!

Grandpa Cereal

When G-pa left to head back home last week, he (purposely, I think!) left behind his box of Fruit Harvest cereal.

Option 1 was to ship it back to him (in exchange for the ballet slippers he accidentally took home with him in his coat pocket!), but of course knowing how much Roo LOVES her ballet class (not really!), we decided to go with Option 2 - feeding it to our daughter!

So Roo has been enjoying multiple bowls of "Grandpa Cereal" for breakfast these past few days!

Madelyn picked Mommy a flower...

...just a couple of days ago, and although I recognize that it's probably not gonna come back to life!, I'm having a hard time getting rid of it!

3 yrs old and already reading labels

It would seem these days that we are beginning a modern Saturday morning tradition that consists of a breakfast of champions.

Even before Roo's early morning Musical Theatre class begun (about a month ago now, and she's REALLY enjoying herself!), Madelyn would come to expect a seemingly once-in-a-while treat of a pancake breakfast on a regular weekly basis! And both Daddy and I love her enthusiasm when she wakes up and realizes it's Saturday - Pancake Day!

Yesterday, as Madelyn and Daddy were enjoying Mommy's vanilla chocolate chip concoction (of which she helped with the mixing and addition of chips!), Roo noticed an opportunity to put her astounding development of recognizing letters and spelling out words she sees with the syrup jug on the table.

The label simply states "syrup". And although she KNOWS which letters she's reading, sometimes she reads a different message than the rest of the general population.

Here is her interpretation of the label, verbatim!:

Tradition in the making!

Face painting!

Saturday afternoon!

I picked up a kit from Michael's a few weeks ago, and Madelyn has been nothing short of ecstatic to have her little face painted up in the style of her choosing.

Today was our 4th run at this crazy fun pastime!

For her first go, she wanted to be a tiger; next, it was a clown; then it was a bunny (on Mother's Day, while Gpa and Baba, Didi and Uncle Chris were over - I was lucky to find bunny ears just

SITTING in her closet waiting for her!); and today, it was a black kitty cat.

When Daddy came home from the store to see what we were doing, he was so excited to see his hyper little kitty, and Madelyn fed on that excitement - being the nurturing and sharing little girl she is, she wanted to give Daddy that experience too, so she offered to paint his face up as Spider-Man (which evolved into a kitty cat at some point as well!). She picked the colours, and my job was simply to load up her paint brush, and she went to town!

Here are the results:

So much fun! I have no clue what she'll want to be next - good thing is, she doesn't care that Mommy isn't an artist, as long as her face is painted, she's having a ball! :)

Sleep talking! :)

Daddy told me Madelyn was stirring last night, so he went into her room to make sure she was ok, and as he covered her up with her blanket, she rolled over and, in her sleep, said, "No, Daddy, I don't want to go to the car!"

Then faaaast asleep again!

I wonder where she thought she'd be going at 4am?!

Snuggle bug!

After Madelyn was left to fall asleep in her room, she began to get a bit restless, so Mommy went in for a quick little cuddle to help her calm down (and because I wanted another excuse to snuggle!).

We were both lying on her bed, her little bum pushed into my ribs, and I was stroking her hair. After quite a number of songs on her Disney lullaby disc, her breathing was getting deeper, and I realized I'd managed to put her to sleep, so I stopped stroking her hair and began to move my hand away. Unbeknownst to me, she was still awake, and instead of letting my hand go, she grabbed onto my thumb, pulled my hand back and cuddled with it against her cheek!

My heart melted - she'd never done that before!

I would've stayed all night if I could have, I was loving every single moment, but I couldn't stay in her little bed - so after another great number of songs passed, and she hadn't moved, I thought for sure I had my chance to slip out of her room silently and undetected.

Only I was, again, mistaken.

As I slowly began to prop myself, she seemed automatically jolted from her sleep and reached around to grab the strings of my hoodie and pull me back down, telling me, "No, Mommy, you stay here and close your eyes with me and go to sleep."

So I did.

Sweetest moment of my life :)

A Day at the Zoo - May 5, 2011

Grandpa came up from Utah to visit with the whole fam damily, and Madelyn had no clue (we like to really surprise her!). He showed up at the door bright and early just as the Roo and I were comin' down the stairs, and his voice through the screen calling to her didn't phase her initially - but once she stopped, listened, and turned to look, the look of pure joy and the oozing excitement was amazing!

And so the adventure began!

We were lucky to have some great weather that day, so after running a couple of quick errands and getting Gpa, Madelyn and Daddy to the McDonald's Playland for a quick lunch, it was time to head out to the zoo!

We had SO much fun checkin' out the scene, and Gpa was lovin' pushing the Roo around in the dinosaur rider she had selected as her ride of choice! After a few brief exhibits, we hit up the play area, and she was off, testing out the monkey bars for the very first time!

This zebra bus with the monkey bar middle had a little side window at the front that she loved to poke her head out of and give us a little royal wave before heading out for another attempt at those bars!

I managed to catch her in her adorable little gesture:

After much fun was had in the play area, it was o

ff to see the snow leopards and the monkeys and the tiger, and of course, the lion, whom she appropriately dubs The Lion King.

(The lioness in the exhibit with him is affectionately known as The Lion King's Mommy.)

Right after the lion exhibit, Madelyn knows the camels are coming up. I had just caught on enough to know that when the Roo begins getting excited to see Alice the Camel, it's not that she's looking forward to actually seeing the CAMELS, but rather, the little camel PLAY AREA located AT the camel exhibit! This has a camel slide that she is more than familiar with!

So when I was gettin' her pumped up to see the camels and the Alice the Camel slide, I knew it would be a home run.

Of course, this little girl is full of surprises.

Once we got to the play area, she checked out the slide, but not with the same vigour as per usual - no, this seemed more obligatory. THIS time, she was all about the sand box, and making "a castle for The Lion King".

This "castle" was a pile of sand.

A pile of sand that she became VERY protective over, and even snapped at a little girl who accidentally kicked a bit of it down as she walked by. (That's my girl!)

A pile of sand that she could NOT be pulled away from, not even with the lure of ice cream!

Check out the intensity of this 3yr old in a sand box, dedicated to completing her mission:

Unfortunately, we didn't take many snap shots of Gpa's visit with the Roo, and not even when Grandma showed up a day later for the weekend! We did get a lot of video though, but this little girl was in heaven just by being around 2 of her favourite people!

We went out for dinner at The Keg, and Madelyn enjoyed "Grandma's steak" (the name she gives to all steak now in general, ever since Gma let the Roo sample some of her steak quite a while ago!). Gma and Gpa played with the Roo in the g

arden, and tuckered that little girl out! It was so incredible, and sad to have Gma leave us so soon after arriving, but Gpa made sure to step up his game by going golfing with her for her very first time!

A rainy Monday had us indoors at a black light glow-in-the-dark mini golf facility with dinosaurs and underwater creatures (she L.O.V.E.D. it! - two of her fave things at the moment!). Luckily it wasn't busy there at all, so we had the run of the place, which was great, b/c Madelyn wasn't exactly working on perfecting her technique! She had more fun standing b

ehind the ball and whacking at it with the club between her legs (and then she just resorted to picking the ball up and placing it directly into the hole - y'know, to avoid all that annoying "trying" stuff!) HA!

Gpa got to see Madelyn in action at her Kinder Ballet class that night. Everyone in attendance witnessed Madelyn pay attention to the teacher's words for a few fractions of a second, the rest of the time was spent running over to us and not wanting to participate (I think Gpa still enjoyed the show!). Then that evening, he spoiled her with an incredibly fun game of "Name that Person", where he showed her pics of ppl and she had to guess who they were correctly to get a present!

A couple pics of Mommy, Daddy, Gma and Gpa (not recognizing Gma from the pic though? Gpa was sure to enjoy THAT, he's all about competition!), and the kicker - a picture of Baby Madelyn, which she got right off the bat! Gpa did NOT expect that one!

He spoiled her with pop-up dinosaur books, a glow-in-the-dark Ladybug book, a ladybug piggy bank, a big collection of Dr Seuss stories, a Fantasia dvd, a spinning light-up bunny, and he created the most amazing memory for her: Puff the Magic Dragon - a song he sang to her earlier that day, multiple times in the car as we drove around. She grew to love that tune, and wouldn't you know it, the final surprises consisted of a Puff storybook and a music box that plays the tune!

The evening was topped off with a snuggle session on the couch watching her new Fantasia movie. Thanks for the great visit, Gma and Gpa!!! Madelyn loved every moment, and I know she'll remember it for years to come!

Kinder Ballet!

On April 9, Madelyn started her first Kinder Ballet class!

The program runs until early June, and each onday the small kidlets learn how to point their toes and feet positions and the like.

Of course, Roo seems to have her own agenda!

She loves getting all dolled up for ballet, but doesn't enjoy the "listening" aspect of it too much! She'd much rather get up and run over to

Mommy and Daddy watching from the sidelines to tell us to "Hushhhhhh! Be quiet!" and then scurry back to her group, OR she'll run up to us and ask us for a snack (she ate a whole sandwich during her class tonight!). The only time she's actually doing what the teacher tells her to do is when the teacher instructs everyone to just dance around, and that's when she's at her peak!

Nonetheless, it's something to learn, and it

keeps her busy, and she DOES enjoy getting dressed up and

twirling around. Of course, if she'd be kicking and screaming and not wanting to go, we wouldn't do it, but she's always excited to go and be a funny little disturbance for the rest of the class, and a full-on entertainer for those of us lucky enough to be there watching!