The Concept of Time

Understanding time is one of the hardest things for children to grasp. When the kids ask how long until we leave and I say 30 minutes, they ask, "How long is 30 minutes?" So instead of using minutes, hours, etc., sometimes I give them examples like "the time it takes you to eat your breakfast" or "the time it takes you to take a bath and get your jammies on".

Search has a patience problem. Especially when we're driving in the car. A few days ago, Search, Blake and I hopped in the car to go to the library. In his impatience (which I'm sure is very normal for a 4-year-old), he asks,

"Mom, what page are we on?"

Me - ?

S - "Mom, what page in the book are we on?"

Me - ?

S - "Which book are we on?"

Me - "Uh, we're not reading a book. We're riding in the car."

S - "I know but how many books do we read until we get there?"

Me - realization finally setting in, "Oh!!! Um, we have about 3 books to read until we get there."

S - "So which book are we on?"

Me - "Book number 2."

S - "What page are we on?"

Me - "13."

And on and on until we get to the library. He's a funny kid :)

PS Isn't that a cool pic? Even cooler because 5-year-old brother took it!

The First Born - day three of bragging about my kids

Destroy is definitely our most challenging child. Between his eating habits, his strong-willed personality and the emotional roller-coasters that we frequently ride with him, he keeps us busy and tired. But he's very entertaining and adds some interesting dynamics to our family. So we'll keep him :)

1. He likes to make books. A lot of books. Popular topics include: Afrucu anumls, vehucls (vehicles), holudas (holidays), school, foods, frogs, and inseks. He will spend hours making books and when he's finished with all the pages he carefully aligns the pages and staples them. Yes, I let my children use a stapler. I figure that they'll learn the dangers once they staple their thumb. Just like I did. Except I was a junior in high school.

2. Destroy is the pickiest eater I have ever met. I think I could name the foods he eats in less than 10 words. But I won't. He won't touch vegetables and the only fruit he likes is apple (hopefully this is temporary). Which is why he's s STICK.

3. When it comes to socializing this kid takes the cake. He knows all of our neighbors by name and often is the one to introduce us. He knows their relatives' names who come on the 3rd sunday of the month for dinner. He is not afraid to talk to anyone and will not stop talking until someone tells him to. Despite numerous "stranger danger" talks we've had with him, it doesn't seem to make an impact.

4. He watches movies just to get more ideas of who he can dress up like. After we watched the Night at the Museum he was suddenly a security guard. After we watched the Princess Bride he was suddenly a black ninja guy. After we watched Pirates of the Caribbean he was suddenly Jack Sparrow. Not only does he dress up, but he gets into character and talks and acts like them. I love it.

5. He shows pre-law skills. Nana calls Destroy The Lawyer, and for good reason. He loves to argue and is freakishly good at it. The other day Destroy asked me to make pancakes for dinner. While making dinner, Destroy decides it a good time to have a monumental tantrum. I explain to him that when he acts like this he doesn't get things that he wants. He stops, looks at me and says, "Well, what are you doing right now?" with that snotty little tone and points to my pancakes. So I stopped making them. When we start arguing I have to remind myself that he's only 6 and that I'm arguing with a 6-year old.

6. He loves to cuddle. When he's sad or tired he always asks someone to cuddle with him. It surprises me a little that he still likes to cuddle as he's gotten older, but I hope he doesn't decide that it's not cool too soon :)

7. He ties his shoes. And his friend's shoes.

8. He's a smarty pants. He reads really well, and if he doesn't know a word he just makes it up. That way he still sounds smart and confident. That is the key after all, isn't it? He picks things up quickly and comprehends a lot. It's also problematic at times because his cleverness gets him into trouble at school (and at home).

9. Even though he's a STICK, he somehow has a pudgy tummy. I don't get it.

10. Destroy only does things on his terms. It was this way with potty training (holy nightmare!), with kindergarten and countless others. He had a really hard time with kindergarten for the first month. Then he decided that it would be in his best interest to listen and follow directions. After that, he's been a great student.

We love Wes and all of his talents and quirks. He's a great kid, a great brother and (most the time) a great friend. We love the spice he adds to our lives and wouldn't trade him for anything!

Halloween and Birthday

The October festivities were a little subdued for us this year. The flu hit us all pretty hard (except for the only vaccinated family member - the "healthcare professional") so we were all still groggy and recovering the week of Destroy's birthday and Halloween. Batman and cowboy were able to get out and do some trick-or-treating to obtain candy to help us further recover.

And we were able to squeeze in a photo-shoot with a giraffe.

I had to include this picture because it's so fitting of Search's behavior towards Dodge.

The cutest giraffe on the block.

Look at me sitting up all by myself!

Destroy really wanted to be Jedediah Smith for Halloween after watching Owen Wilson in The Night at the Museum a few weeks ago. After a while the idea just turned into "a cowboy". His costume was complete with guns, holsters, handcuffs, belt buckle and cowboy boots. A vest was in the works but the seamstress got too tired.

And, as always, Destroy was completely into the part using the language, the drawl and actions.

This is my favorite because I caught him shooting the ghosts. Pretty good form, huh?

I didn't get any pictures of Search dressed up because he's in the don't-take-my-picture-or-I'll-kick-you stage. And I don't want any bruises on my shins. The only thing he wanted to complete his Batman costume (because he already had wings and mask and clothes) was a Batman tool belt. So I made him one with a couple of hooks to hang gadgets off of and a little pouch for bullets, or candy :) I guess we don't have any pictures of it, but it's pretty sweet if I do say so.

We were also able to make it to Indy's Zoo Boo for about an hour and a half. Then Search developed another fever and we had to leave. I think that was the day that he went to bed at 3 pm and never woke up until the next morning.


The perfect little giraffe was pushed around in the stroller.
Until he got tired and decided to take a nap.

Destroy turned 6 last week so we "celebrated" his birthday.

To avoid more germ spreading and sickness, we crowded all 6 of his candles onto his piece of cake so that he wouldn't blow his flu-breath all over the entire cake.

Search was the only kid feeling normal at the time.

Dodge pretty much sums up the way the rest of us felt. No, he's not crying, he was just sick. Poor little guy. A picture of me would have been out of the question.

Destroy had just woken up from a long nap to eat pizza (which he hardly touched) and cake (ate one bite). This was definitely the worst kid birthday we've experienced yet! Aaron pulled his weight around here and took care of purchasing all birthday presents, ordering the cake (because I wasn't about to make one) and picking up pizza. Lucky guy, he finally has time off and he gets to take care of his sick family :)

Let's hope that Destroy's birthday is not an omen of the year to come! Happy Birthday, buddy :)

The Baby - day 2 of bragging about my kids

We are all in love with Baby Dodge. He is such a happy, smiley, sweet, easy-going baby. This easy-going-baby thing is a new experience for me. Search and Destroy were nothing like this kid and I didn't know that babies like this existed. At least not for me :) I feel SO blessed to have him and I love him to death. Here are some of the things he's been doing and learning:

1. He has a major tongue obsession. I think it's the age, but you rarely see him with his tongue actually inside his mouth. He got his Dad's tongue for sure, long and pointy. He loves to give wet kisses which I adore.

2. He's a good little hugger! But that doesn't mean you just get a hug, he leave a little love mark in the form of scratches on the back of your neck. But I'll take them if it means a tight squeeze from Baby D.

3. We're all a bit slow here in the Madsen house. Baby Dodge just turned 7 months and he has just mastered sitting up. But I still hesitate to leave him, so maybe he hasn't quite mastered it yet. He's slowly but surely learning to move around a get to where he wants to go. Let's be honest, I'm in no hurry for him to be on the go! That means baby proofing which I haven't even thought of yet!

4. He's huge! He's always been big, but seriously. The kid wears 12-18 month clothes already. He's a big boy.

5. He likes to suck on his toes. Note: please don't try this at home. It's only cute when you're a baby.

6. He's a good sleeper. He goes to bed at 7, wakes up around 5 to eat, then goes back to sleep until 7:30-8. He still isn't consistent with his naps, but I can count on a good 2-3 hours every couple of days. Other than that it's 40 minutes.

7. He endlessly adores his brothers despite their poking, sqeezing, dragging and licking (see previous post). They are not the hands-off type of kids so it amazes me that he doesn't complain more. He just seems to eat up whatever attention he can get. They drag him, roll with him around the room, try to pick him up, try to sit him up, leave him to fall over, the list goes on. These three were a match (matches?) made in heaven.

8. He LOVES to jump. He has a doorway jumper and a play-jumper and he'll sit for an hour in them at a time.

He loves it so much that it puts him to sleep...

9. He still has an odd-shaped head. When he was a newborn he favored turning his head in one direction and developed a severe flat spot on one side of his head in the back. And now, even though he sleeps on his tummy and side, it still hasn't gone away. I refuse to invesigate the correct-baby's-head-through-helmet though, so his head will just have to round out on it's own.

10. He does The Wiggle:

The Middle Child - day 1 of bragging about my kids

We love our middle child. He's sweet, handsome, energetic and smart.

And he has been doing all kinds of stuff:

1. It is not uncommon to find Search pretending he is a cat and giving his baby brother a bath by licking. Whether or not he thinks he is a cat is unsure, but the baby is often covered in lick marks of saliva.

2. He can successfully pee the bed every night.

3. He loves to spell three letter words. You give him a short word and he'll happily sound it out and write it down for you. He does not enjoy learning to read so much but can be coerced with a cookie. We're all about bribery 'round here.

4. He is proficient at changing his attire at least 6 times a day. He single-handedly keeps Mom's laundry business successful.

5. Drawing and creating are among his favorite activities. All people he draws have large hands with 5 long fingers. He loves using the stapler and the tape dispenser. Lots of tape.

6. He is ridiculously good at MarioKart. This does not reflect well on his mother because it simply means that I am too tired to find other forms of entertainment for him when he can so contently play video games. Because...

7. Other than playing MarioKart, watching a movie, playing games on the computer and licking his baby brother, he has a seriously difficult time entertaining himself.

8. When he does something that he deems brilliant, he triumphantly says, "genius!"

9. He does a wicked flip on the trampoline.

10. The child has yet to develop a sense of patience. For lunch. To get there. To get here. For Mom or Dad to jump on the trampoline. For a snack. For Mom or Dad to push him in the big swing. You get the idea. We will be forever grateful when he overcomes this.

11. His daily fulfillment of interaction is no longer limited to his family. We hear, "Can a friend come over today?" everyday. And most days the answer is NO!

12. He loves to eat. He'll eat practically anything (which is such a breath of fresh air compared to his older brother). One day I sent him to school with a sandwich, some apples, some broccoli and two little cookies. What came home? The cookies because he "didn't have time to eat them". What kid does that?

13. Search is the only kid I know who can discern pillowcases by their thread count. If you give him a pillowcase with a low thread count, he'll strip it and toss it on the floor. And as cute as he looks in jeans, he refuses to wear them. He clearly has a sensitivity issue.

14. He loves preschool and is a great listener. He loves being part of the group and following directions.

15. Search tells us everyday that he loves us - unprompted. It doesn't get much sweeter than that!

A Funny/Sad Story

My children have always had, um, soft dookie. This makes going #2 a not-so-clean experience. So, until kindergarten, I've always been there to help Destroy "take care of business" by doing the wiping. It helps to eliminate unnecessary messes. BUT it does not teach the child to take care of his own business which poses a problem for when the little bird has to leave the nest.

So, rewind to wednesday. Destroy comes home, tells me about his day.

D: "Travis got a bruise this long on his leg today", showing me with his hands down on his shin where this alleged bruise was.

M: "How did he get it?"

D: "Oh, he got it in the bathroom."

M: "In the bathroom? What was he doing?"

D: "Well, he slipped and fell."

M: "Was he running or something?"

D: "No, he was just walking into a stall to go to the bathroom."

M: "And he fell and got a huge bruise just from walking into the stall?"

D: "Yeah. Well, and there was water on the floor."
M: "Water? Why was there water on the floor?"

D: "Well, it was from me."

M: "Did you pee on the floor again?"

D: "No, the toilet overflowed."

M: "What? Did you put something in the toilet that you weren't supposed to?"

D: "No, I had to go poo. Then after I was done I wiped myself but then the thing ran out of toilet paper. So I had to go out and get some paper towels."

M: envisioning Destroy waddling out to get some paper towels with his pants half-way down (he has yet to develop a sense of modesty)"So you used paper towels to wipe yourself after you used up all the toilet paper? How much toilet paper did you use?"

D: "I think about 12 wipes. But it (the poo) was still there so I needed some paper towels."

M: "So then you flushed the paper towels after you used them?"

D: "Yeah, and then the water started coming up and then it overflowed onto the floor. And then Travis walked in a slipped on it and got a bruise this long on his leg." Showing me once again how long it was.

M: writhing in disgust thinking of the poor kid who had a run-in with sewer water. "Well, did you tell your teacher?"

D: "Yes. She just said that next time I should tell her that I need toilet paper and she told me not to use paper towels ever again. Oh, and she also said that I don't need 12 wipes either."

Moral of the story: Always teach your children how to wipe themselves before they head off to kindergarten. If you don't, you might be liable for other children's injuries.

Kindergarten and Who's Who?

Here's our big kindergartener! They started Aug 12 (I know, crazy) but he's still adjusting. He's learning the ropes: listening, following directions, sneaking toys to school and getting as many girlfriends as possible. His favorite teacher? The bus driver. Not even a teacher.

School is from 8-2:30. No half days here! Early mornings, with lots of coaxing, and short afternoons at home.

We all make the trek out to the bus stop twice a day. Sometimes some of us are sleeping, but it's usually a family event :) Search was probably goofing off in the street or something.

The youngest and oldest look a lot alike! Who's who???

Our youngest and our oldest look a lot alike! Who's who? They look a little different, but the smile is the same.