The McFadden Family Blog: September 2009

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Rachel just sent me these pictures, and they have got to be the funniest, most adorable pictures I have seen in a long time. I mean, I know I'm his mother and all, but common people! The tie is from his Great Aunt Pam. I love that she slicked his hair back, CEO style. Look out Wall Street!

Monday, September 14, 2009

At the Science Museum with her friend Mitchell

Friday, September 11, 2009

Twinkle twinkle; upgraded version

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Big girl bed, and WORDS!

Frankie has moved to a big girl bed! We took the side off her crib, so she can climb in and out. This transition has gone fairly well so far. She stays in her room and plays with Dex in the morning, and at night there has actually been less crying and cajoling than the past. The other night she did get up and leave the room 2 times, and Chris was right there to sternly direct her back to bed. She has a "new" pillow (as in, I let her chose from one of the 2 that were on the bed in the playroom at the time), and she will soon have a new quilt. I have been working on one for her since she was born, and I'm finally done piecing it! I still need to actually quilt it, but the basting is done.

The one problem we're having is that she keeps falling out of bed - she fell out last night 2 times, and I heard her crying in her room, so went to soothe her. She's not really awake when this happens, and I think it scares her more than anything. I've put a duvet on the floor to soften her landing after last night's falls (we have hard wood floors), but does anyone else have suggestions? I know we could put a low rail up, but I'd like for her to learn to stay in her bed. Is this not the best way to do this?

We've finally decided that Dexter has 4 consistent (discernible? at least by me and maybe Chris?) words.

Da-dee (Daddy)
Dug-ee (doggy)
Dee-Dee (Frankie)
Ma-mee (Mommy)

What's tough is that the first three sound almost the exact same, and that he often uses "Da-dee" as his generic word. He does a lot of pointing, jabbing and nodding to also get his point across, which is adorable. I love that his first 4 words are words for each of his family members. I'm still listening for "Rachel", which I'm sure is in there, or coming very soon!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

kids love kamping

Labor Day Camping trip to the Berkshires

we all actually slept much of the night! we're counting it as a success!

We went to Savoy Mountain Campground, in the Berkshires. It was fun! We left after church on Sunday, and the kids napped on the way there. We got there around 4, set up camp, and took a hike around the pond that was near the campsite. I finally broke down and bought an Ergo before this trip, and I am so happy I did! Dex just loves it, and it makes it possible for us to go for longer hikes with both of them. Frankie still likes to ride in the big backpack that Daddy carries.

We roasted hot dogs, marshmallows, and cooked soup, and then got cleaned up for the night. We brought the pack 'n play, which fit in our 4-man tent, and put the kids to bed. We left the tent and hung out by the fire. It took Frankie about 90 minutes to fall asleep, but she finally did. Unfortunately, when we got back inside the tent, we found that she'd fallen asleep in the exact middle of the head-space where Chris and I were supposed to sleep, so Chris and I scrunch up around her and made do. She woke several times crying in the early morning, but I was able to soothe her and get her back to sleep before she woke up Dex. It didn't help that Maisy (who was also with us in the text) barked 2 times in the middle of the night. But we made it!

After a nice breakfast of hot oatmeal, we packed up the tent and set out to find a hike to do. On our way, an urgent potty request from Frankie prompted us to stop at an Indian Souvenir shop, where we bought her a drum and Indian headdress that she couldn't part with. I justified it by calling it her Halloween costume too. Dex enjoyed pulling as much as he could off the merchandise-heavy shelves, and we eventually wore out our welcome. On the way out though, we found out about the 3 county fair, and decided it would be a shame to miss it.

So instead of a hike we headed to the 3 county fair at Northampton, MA fair grounds. We saw llamas, bunnies, ducks, pigs, and chickens galore. There was a plastic swimming pool filled with corn and diggers. The works.

Of course, the big draw was the fair rides. Frankie wanted to ride the carousel, which Chris rode with her. For her second ride she chose the Worm, which she had to ride all by herself. She loved it! I really wish I had a video of her on this ride*, because her precious face will remain in my memory, and I wish y'all could see it to. She was so proud and excited to be riding this little worm-train that went up and down, around and around. I made sure to wave and get really excited every time she passed, even if she didn't look at me or wave back (most of the time she did) because I didn't want her to have the experience of looking for me, and waving, and having me not paying attention. I'm sure that will happen in the future; I just didn't want it to happen to her on the first time.

It made me a little sad to see her riding by herself, but she was so happy and brave! I just kept reminding myself that soon, next summer, Dex will be able to ride with her. As hard as it's been at time in this past year to have them as close together as we did, I'm so glad they will have each other.

* ps. the reason we don't have better pictures of this event is that we are currently camera-less, and are having to rely on our camera phones. This will be resolved soon!