A Day Out With Thomas!

Jack has had a very busy August so far! A couple birthday parties, Boys' day with his cousins to Santa's Village and the water park, and yesterday we kept the fun going with a trip to the Illinois Railway Museum for a Day Out with Thomas!

Jack had a great time! He especially loved walking up and down the aisles of all the old trains, walking through the cars, and climbing on everything they allowed him to! When it came time for the Thomas ride, I think he may have been expecting more of Thomas and his friends, but he had a great time on the train and especially loved when Thomas would blow his whistle. He also go a big kick out of hearing Thomas talk and thank him for coming out to see him. A couple funnies from the day, not necessarily related to Thomas, but just b/c he's a riot:

- We did not take Madelyn with us. Instead she spent the day with Gma P and Gpa Jim. While dropping her off and explaining to Jack that she wasn't coming with us, I asked "are you going to miss her?" He replied "Mmm hmm...but, I'll be fine."

- When walking around we heard an announcer come on in the background and say that there was a train approaching and not to walk on the tracks. This was for the tracks behind us, announcer was barely audible, we didn't pay any attention to it. That is, Andrew and I didn't pay any attention to it. When we approached another set of tracks a minute later Jack said "we are not supposed to walk on the tracks." Further proof this kid does not miss anything.

- Last night he was on my lap watching a bit of Frozen before bed. I smelled what I thought was Andrew changing the diaper genie and commented on how awful it smelled. Jack said "I tooted." Me: "you tooted just now?" Jack: "I did! I tooted big." I thanked him for his honesty :)

On our way on Thomas video

All aboard! 

Thomas blew his whistle!

4 Months!

Baby girl is 4 months old (closer to 5 months old now, ooops)!

- At her 4 month check up, she clocked in at 14lb 14oz and 25inches. Doc plotted her at 62% for weight (though I think he repeated her weight at 14lb 4oz, so I'm not sure I believe that stat) and 79% for height. Both nurses and Dr. Paul commented on how happy and talkative she is, until she got her shots :( I must work on my reaction to her shots - I found myself chuckling a little at how Miss Mads went from chatting away in la la land, to instant hysteria once the shot went in. Not going to win Mother of the Year for that one, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't up for nomination any way :)
- She continues to be about the sweetest little thing out there. Is ALWAYS smiling, and never cries unless she is fighting a nap. Even when she wakes up in the middle of the night, she chatters away and never cries out. She is very easy going. Loves to watch what is going on around her (TV, Jack, big people eating) and loves to relax on her boppy. She loves singing, especially the ABCs and Mares Eat Oats (thanks to Gma P). I can't say I sing to her that much, as the most logical times would be during feedings or at bedtime, and she is very easily distracted these days that she'll stop whatever she's doing to focus intently on the singing instead.
- She has her hands in her mouth constantly. We are starting to try and deswaddle her, and it's proving to be difficult since her hands are ALWAYS moving and always playing with her pacifier. Still no signs of a tooth yet, but I'm afraid we'll literally never get her hands out of her mouth once teething really starts.
- Naps are still the same, and unfortunately night time sleep has hit a rough patch. I believe the famed "4 month sleep regression" is mostly to blame for this, and the other part is her working hard at night to get her hands out of the swaddle. On a good night she is up once and I can put her pac in, re swaddle and she'll put herself back to sleep. On a bad night, she's up twice, sometimes taking an hour to fall back asleep. I am realllllly hoping this is just a phase and she'll be rocking the 12 hour sleep in no time :)
- She can roll both ways now! She started to roll back to tummy a couple weeks before hitting 4 months, though hasn't done it since, and yesterday she rolled several times tummy to back. She loves playing in the piano entertainer, and I think she's probably ready for the exersaucer soon too. She loves reaching for toys, faces, blankets and anything she can get her hands on, and also likes to kick her playmate toys with her piggies too.
- She gets a kick out of tummy zerberts, and is very ticklish especially on her chubby little thighs. She is really starting to "get" little games and become more interactive.
- 3 month clothes are getting too tight, and she's still fine in size 2 diapers. Her hair is definitely starting to thin, which is sad b/c it's the prettiest strawberryish brown. But, the roots are really light, so perhaps it will come back in blonde :) She is taking 3 5oz bottles during the day and nursing with me twice.

Madelyn Lou, you get cuter and sweeter every day and we love you more and more with every day too!

Hooting

cartoons with my brother while Mommy gets ready for work when Daddy was away

5:45am on.the.dot.

distracted by singing

Bedtime Stories

...at the breakfast table. This morning while having my cereal and Jack a piece of bread, he asked for a bedtime story. I told about a little boy who was eating bread and didn't listen to his mommy when she said not to get off the chair, and as a result, he turned into a frog. He then said he would tell me a story. It went like this:

Once upon a time, there was a Mommy :) She was hungry and she got more hungry and more hungry. Then, she got a cold. The end.

This kid is hysterical. Every day Andrew and I have a list of things to recount to each other about the wacky and hilarious things he says. Though I hate how big he is getting and how he's clearly not a baby anymore, this is an awesome age.