Tree Decorating

When we got home from chopping down The Perfect Tree, Madelyn went immediately into the bathtub. She was wet, muddy, crusty, and sticky.

After her bath, Madelyn ran out to the living room to see what Daddy was doing: unfurling the Christmas Tree! She has the remote control in her hand because (I'm a bit ashamed to admit), she was requesting to watch a specific TV show. Sigh.

But she didn't get to, because it was time to get dressed and decorate the tree! Madelyn helped me put on a few ornaments, and also helped me take off several more ornaments. Her assistance ended up as a net loss in tree-decorating productivity, so we just had fun and took a few pictures.

Clap clap "Hooray!" she says after successfully hanging up the bunny-in-red-pajamas ornament.

Reaching up high for this one! There is the infamous stool in the background (also discussed here).

And our traditional Holiday Dog Torture: forcing Loki and Kezia to wear these silly headpieces when we discover them among the Christmas decorations. The tree even makes music! I bet they just love that. Good sports, though.

Christmas Tree Hunt

I had thought we started the family tradition of getting our Christmas Tree the day after Thanksgiving last year, but upon further investigation, it appears that we went the following weekend in 2007. Well, this year we embarked on the Hunt for the Perfect Christmas Tree the day after Thanksgiving. It was a lovely foggy day this time, instead of snowy.

We called up my brother Bryan and sister Diana's families, and we all went to McDonald's for lunch, cut down our Nobles, then made dinner and played games at Diana's house. It was a great day!

Madelyn helps Uncle Bryan hold up the measuring stick while Daddy slaves away with the sawzall.

Madelyn and Shelby

Sitting on our Perfect Tree, all bundled up now. Madelyn is eating a candy cane and saying "cheeeese."

She got SO dirty! The girl fell in the mud a plethora of times since the ground was uneven and covered in stumps and twigs. Her face was already pretty yucky from a drippy nose, but then she got ahold of that candy cane and it was all over. We put her in the back of the Yukon for a few minutes to slow the accumulation of filth. She loves playing back there.

Happy Thanksgiving

To read about Madelyn's Thanksgiving experience, please click here. Sorry, I didn't take any good pictures.

Reading Tube

Madelyn's tunnel also makes an excellent spot for reading, it would appear.

Beach Day

We spent a few hours of this lovely November Sunday at the beach in Oceanside. The weather was much like you would expect it to be on one of the better mid-summer days at the Oregon Coast: sunny, chilly, a little windy. It was a perfect way to spend the day as a family.

Some people would never understand the idea of wearing a fuzzy hat at the beach.

Madelyn stood here throwing sand for so long that her feet sank in!

She learned how to "draw" in the sand (she's not really drawing much yet, but poking around is a good start).

Then we went to Roseanna's Cafe, which might be the only restaurant in Oceanside. Madelyn had such good manners!

She used her napkin...

and drank out of a grown-up glass.

When we were in Oceanside last spring with Wiyaka and Lilly, we specifically skipped this cafe because after peeking inside I felt the tranquility would be ruined by two noisy toddlers. But this place was since recommended to me by a friend, so we took the chance. And Madelyn was SO well-behaved. She was quiet and happy and ate a ton of healthy food for lunch. We could not have been more pleased and proud of her, especially since it was smack in the middle of her usual naptime.

Of course, now the last couple of days she has been on a nap strike, perhaps because she got away without one this day. Or it could just be that she has an icky cold and doesn't feel her best. Usually that makes her sleep more, but you just never know with these things.

Lunch Out with Grandma B.

Grandma Bonnie took Madelyn and me out for a fun day at the mall. After lunch at the food court, Bonnie let us help her spend her gift card to Bath & Body Works. Then we shopped for some cute new clothes for Madelyn's upcoming birthday. My mother-in-law is so incredibly generous, and we had a great time spending the afternoon with her. Thanks Bonnie!

Family Birthday Party

At least once during most months we have a party to celebrate all of the birthdays in the Winkel family during that month. Tonight we went to Richard and Emma's house since Emma is pregnant with their fifth child, and her pregnancies are very difficult.

Madelyn and new baby cousin Tyce Winkel (2 months, Bryan and Laurel's)

I made Gary's favorite homemade carrot cake (I know, I used to think carrot was a waste of cake too, but this one is actually really delicious), and designed it into a basketball with the Trailblazer's insignia. Isn't that just so Martha Stewart of me? Madelyn wasn't smiling, but someone clapped and she joined in.

Madelyn blew out the candle, after a few tries. You can see how she blows by going "FFFFFFFFFF!"

Grandpa Winkel tickling a couple of special little girls! (the other one is Audrey: 2.5 years, Richard and Emma's) Madelyn loves playful Grandpa.

Tunnel Fun

Our favorite new toy from IKEA (we stole the idea from Demitri's house):

Daddy, what are you doing in there?

I can do it too!

We love to play together!

IKEA

Madelyn enjoyed her second-ever trip to IKEA to buy a new stepstool.

Gary was thrilled with their shopping carts, which boast four 360 degree-spinning wheels. It made navigation through the IKEA maze much easier, and Gary had fun spinning Madelyn in circles and pushing the cart sideways, as shown above.

Sitting inside her new tunnel toy outside the massive store.

The trip wore her out; she needed some personal time on the way home.

Autumn Morning Walk

Gary discovered that in a corner of our neighborhood there is a walkway that leads behind all the homes into a beautiful wooded, paved path. So we all went to explore it today on our walk.

It was so pleasant! We'll definitely incorporate this into the regular route.

Reading with Hat

Before heading out for a walk (in her jammies), Madelyn put on her fuzzy hat and read a few pages of Dr. Suess.

Love that laugh!

Can I Take a Message?

Do you think Madelyn ever notices Mommy talking on the phone?

Dad's Birthday

To celebrate Daddy's birthday, I took a day off of work so we could have a family outing. We tried a new restaurant called "Me Too! Cafe for Grown-ups, Playtime for Kids." It was okay.

Madelyn and Daddy being CUTE:

This looks so sweet! But in actuality, Gary was wriggling away from her milky mustache. :-}

We also took a nice hike through a huge local park/wetland preserve. Madelyn was very well-behaved in her backpack the whole time. I picked up many interesting and beautiful fallen leaves for her to examine up there.

Dad's Birthday Eve

Grandma Bonnie brought cupcakes over to celebrate Daddy's birthday early. Madelyn blew out the candle all by herself! Great practice for next month!

Words and Signs

For archival purposes, updated (although probably incomplete) lists from the sidebar to save.

Words Madelyn can SIGN in approximate order learned, from December 2007 through October 2008

dog
eat
drink
more
please
thank you
all finished
dad
mom
baby
brush teeth
milk
book
shoes
wash hands
banana
cracker
hat
blanket
cat
fish
juice
cereal
sleep
car
boat
bear
flower
cookie
grandpa/ma
ball
airplane
bath
hurt
help
hot
coat
cheese
train
bus
bird
butterfly
horse
frog
doll
mouse
rain
happy
(48)

Words Madelyn can SAY in approximate order learned, from December 2007 through October 2008

doggie (doddy)
daddy
mommy
uh oh
hi
no
thank you (dee doo)
baby
bye
up (bup)
cup (bup)
hat
more (mo’)
fishie (she)
duck
off
food (foo)
blankie
grandpa/ma (poppy)
eye
bike (bi)
berry (bee)
hot (ot)
nose (no)
bottle (as in water bottle) (bahbo)
ball (bah)
bath (ba)
binkie (dee dee)
go (doh)
mouth (owm)
boat
book (booh)
bee
pee pee
cow (bo’)
draw (dah, which is the same for dog-kind of confusing)
shoe
knee
nut
grape (bay)
pea
seat
color (yuwo)
stool (stoo)
yeah!
swimsuit (sheeshoo)
rain (way)
pig (bay)
coat
truck (duck)
milk (nook)
sheep (beep)
Jack
potty
kitty
please (peas)
poop
door
grandma (mamma)
bean (bee)
back (as in put it back)
away (way)
on
bowl (bo)
toe
egg (ay)
block
hot dog (dah dah)
stuck
step
splash (faff)
stack
hot tub (dah duh)
bag
excuse me (see see)
monkey
kick
oh no!
happy (appy!)
(79)

Some of the sounds Madelyn makes

chicken: bock bock
monkey: ooh ooh ah ah
airplane: shoooooo
cow: boo
horse: nay nay nay
any kind of bug: dzzzzzzz
zipper: dzzzzzzzz
siren: woooooooo
elephant: bbbbbrrrrrrr
lion/tiger/bear: rawr
dog: ff ff
cat: now
slide: wheee
ring around the rosie: offie offie (ashes ashes)

Cupcakes with Jack

We went to the Fairhursts' home to celebrate Jack's 2nd birthday!

"Hmm, his looks better than mine..."

This means Madelyn will turn TWO in only 6 weeks! Aaaah!

Portland Sightseeing

We had one full day to show Sayaka some cool things about the Portland area. I showed her a few photos online, and the thing she wanted to do the most was visit Saturday Market.

Then we drove out to Multnomah Falls.

Trying to pose the three "kids"

A hug for Loki

Even though it was overcast, the fall colors were very beautiful surrounding the waterfall.

We walked up to the famous bridge. On the way up, Madelyn kept wanting to wander off the trail, so I was looking forward to reaching the bridge where she could just run back and forth and not bother anything or get dirty. But I hadn't considered that the bridge was built in 1914, long before any federal safety standards would have been in effect.

So not only could Madelyn not run across the bridge, I was not even comfortable being on there holding her hand. If you're not familiar with Multnoman Falls, directly under the bridge is where the lower part of the waterfall plummets, so it is a total of 105 feet off the ground. The photo above is scary. I'm just holding on to her belt loop.

Gary took this one from beside the bridge, when I have a much better grasp on Madelyn. She could literally walk right through the pillars to a very rocky descent.

Ready to walk back down safely with Daddy

Traditional Multnomah Falls soft-serve ice cream cone afterward

Sayaka taught Madelyn how to lick it with her tongue

She thinks that is pretty funny!

One of Madelyn's favorite activities of late is JUMPING. It's also a great redirection technique: if she isn't listening to me or a meltdown seems imminent, I can excitedly say, "Madelyn...show me your jumping!" and she forgets about the issue at hand to gleefully jump.