Olson Family Matters

Basking in the Sunshine: 2012 Weekly Recaps (19 and 20 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Sat, 19 May 2012 14:04:00 +0000

The last two weekends, we have been blessed with sunshine and warm weather. We were able to play in the park,

do some yardwork,

(which can be fun with one’s own shovel until one realizes that there is actual “work” involved)

played baseball,

and discovered all sorts of fun with leftover drainage pipe.

One of our neighbors (age 18 months) invited Madelyn to play with her water table, prompting Madelyn to come home and convert her sand table into a water table for the summer.

We also did some celebrating during the last few weeks with a graduation party for Uncle Timmy,

and the two-year anniversary of Madelyn’s Gotcha Day for which she requested chocolate frozen yogurt with M&Ms (and a gummy worm, which she had to try after Uncle Timmy introduced her to the wonderful yumminess of gummy bears...)

During our week days together, Madelyn and I got to play outside, have a Gotcha Day tea party,

make a trip to Old Navy, where Madelyn requested that I take her picture with “all the people”

and work a little on our letters. We tried Montessori sandpaper letters,

sand writing,

and writing on our Water Wizard.

(The top M is mine, Madelyn did the one closest to her hand!)

I cannot begin to explain the sheer joy and excitement on Madelyn’s face when she knows she has correctly matched a letter with its sound in a word. For example, she saw a plastic ring shaped like an “O” and told me that it looked like an O, then added “O for Owen!” She has also recently become fascinated with rhyming sounds. It is honestly a beautiful experience to see her mind blossoming as it soaks in new concepts.

In other news, Troy and I are headed out for a week in Maui to celebrate our 10-year anniversary while Madelyn spends some extra special time on the Oregon coast with her Grandpa and Grandma. Should be a fantastic start to our summer! We are also going to give Jessie’s Roundup a hiatus for the rest of the summer so that we can just “be” and enjoy the summer months rather than planning ahead for what we think we should be doing. We are excited for what will be!

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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He Said/She Said: Two Year Anniversary of Gotcha Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:04:00 +0000

Today is the two-year anniversary of Madelyn's "Gotcha Day!" We wanted to share a few of our reflections with Madelyn.

He Said

Madelyn - There's obviously something monumental about that first year you were home -- us meeting each other for the first time, two cleft surgeries, and everything that goes with me learning to be a first-time parent and you learning how to deal with me being a first-time parent. I realize that your second year home may be lacking in as many unique type of events, but it certainly has been just as memorable and exciting as the first.

As it is my way of doing things, I’ve come up with a brief list of the everyday moments that have marked the fun, happiness, and closeness I’ve been able to share with you over the past 12 months:

Your excitement at getting to go to Trader Joes or Lowes with me and being able to ride in a car cart.
Jumping together on the couch and hiding from monsters.
Being able to carry you on my shoulders everywhere we go.
Carrying on a conversation with you -- who knew a 3-year old had so much to talk about.
Having you joyfully shovel, rake, weed, and pick up rocks in the backyard along with me.
Always wanting to get out your stool when I'm about to bake a dessert so you can help stir, mix, and pour.
Your willingness to listen to "Daddy's music" and allow me to sing out loud.
Your insistence that we have "music directions" playing on my phone while we drive in my car (Pandora + Google Maps on my dash-mounted cellphone)
The fun of hearing you name off every car we see that is a Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, or Ford (which pretty much covers the makes of the cars of everyone in the family).
Our ongoing bet as we drive home from somewhere on whether or not Mama is going to be at home when we open the garage (So far I think we are tied on this).
Being amazed that you have already pretty much figured out how to operate my phone.
Realizing that you've already learned how to cheat at Candyland (by stacking the deck!)
Having you lay on my back as we read books together.
Practicing our wrestling moves as we jump on the bed (Madelyn has a killer punch).
Anytime I hear you say "Daddy come play with me" or "Chase me, Daddy"-- no matter how busy I am, I can't help but give in.

…and that only begins to scratch the surface.

What this all encapsulates is the overwhelming joy I have just being around you, interacting with you, and talking with you. Whether you are hyper, sick, happy, sad, mad, cuddly, or prickly, I love seeing your adventurous spirit, curiosity, neverending energy, independent attitude, and quiet contemplation all shining through.

You simply can't help but bring joy to those around you and I’m so glad I get to experience that. I always knew that you would bring so much joy and happiness to me, but I am excited at how the boundaries of that seem to be constantly expanding. I can't wait to see what adventures lie ahead for us in the next year.

She Said

Wow - I thought the first year went fast. The second was even faster! Madelyn, I now know why people with grown kids keep telling me to treasure these days. You are so full of life and fun! You are constantly learning and you are keeping me on my toes to learn with you. You are capable of finding beauty, humor and joy in the simplest of things - hang on to that ability!

Madelyn - I love you so much. I love how you still like to sit in my lap when I read to you. I love how you make up spontaneous dances whenever the mood strikes you, and that you don't mind when I dance poorly along with you. I love that you always ask me to play "volleyball" with you, which is any game involving a ball. I love that you have started to sing with me when we play the piano together. And I love hearing you practice singing the songs you have learned while you lay in bed at night. I love your ability to spot one lone bird in the sky and point it out to me when we are driving or walking. I love how you like to cuddle after you have had a bad dream and how you shout "I love you!" and "Sweet Dreams!" through the door when we close it at night. I love that you never forget a name. And your ability to question things and make connections about things never ceases to amaze me!

I think a lot about our first day together. I think about how scared you were and yet how brave you were. I think about how my heart was instantly overflowing with love for you. I also think about your days in China before we came to adopt you. And I think about your birth family - a lot. I’m sure that their hearts are overflowing with love for you too. I know you are going to ask about them soon, and I wish I had more to tell you. Not too many days ago, you and I had a start of a conversation. You were eating your snack at the dining room table and I was doing dishes in the kitchen. Suddenly, you were ready to talk:

Madelyn: “When I a baby, I not cry.”
Mama: “You didn’t cry when you were a baby?” (This was totally out of the blue - there had been no previous talk about crying or babies.)
Madelyn: “No, I not cry.”
Mama: “Why didn’t you cry, Madelyn?”
Madelyn: “Because I knew Mommy and Daddy coming to adopt me.”
Mama: “Madelyn, are you talking about when Mommy and Daddy came to China to adopt you?”
Madelyn: “Yeah.”
Mama: “Do you think about China a lot?”
Madelyn: “Yeah.”
Mama: “I think about China a lot too.”
Madelyn (pondering this for a few seconds): “Mama? YOU a baby in China too?”
Mama: “No, I was not a baby in China.”
Madelyn: “Oh, okay!” (Finishes snack and runs off to play.)

It ended abruptly, and I was sorry that I accidentally diverted your attention. But I don’t even think I can begin to explain how thankful I am that you want to talk about China and adoption with me. It renewed my prayers for wisdom in my words and responses as you have questions, and for extra sensitivity to your emotions. You don’t always wear your emotions on your sleeve, Madelyn. I know that the amount of processing that you do with me verbally pales in comparison to the processing that you do in your own mind. I am here for you, precious Madelyn. I will always be here for you and will always love you with an overflowing heart.

- Troy and Tricia Olson, 2012

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Dimes, Pig Stickers, Tomatoes, and Report Cards: 2012 Weekly Recaps (18 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:51:00 +0000

Last weekend was absolutely full of fun events. First up was the March of Dimes with Team Ainsley. Daddy thought the event was a 5k rather than a 10k, so he didn’t bring the stroller and ended up carrying Madelyn on his shoulders most of the 10k! How did Madelyn thank him? She ate the potato chips he received at the finish line, of course.

Next up was Uncle Timmy’s College Graduation! We are very proud of Uncle Timmy. We were also incredibly proud of Madelyn. She sat through almost the entire graduation ceremony in the crowded bleachers. Of course it helped that six of her favorite adults were on hand to entertain her, plus Auntie Ning Ning’s ipad, Daddy’s smart phone, a cowbell to ring when Uncle Timmy got his diploma, and lots and lots of stickers.

We finished the weekend by getting our tomatoes planted, and getting the yard prepped for the trees !

P.S. The power to the wires of the sprinkler system were turned off before we let Madelyn play in the draining water. Just in case you were worried. (I made Troy test it first.)

After the weekend, we had our last week of Madelyn’s swimming lessons. We were much better recipients of Madelyn’s second report card than we were of her first report card. This time, we just wanted Madelyn to continue to make progress with her comfort in the water and willingness to try swimming skills and, in our opinion, she did just that! Technically, Madelyn still didn’t pass to the next level, but the instructor got to know Madelyn a little better and figured out that she knew how to do more than she was demonstrating during class time. She wrote that we could certainly let Madelyn try the next class if we have seen her blow bubbles with her face entirely in the water (which we have). We will see how summer swimming goes before we decide which class to enroll her in for the fall session. To prepare for some of the summer swimming, we let Madelyn pick out a pool noodle like the ones she used in class. Have you ever tried shopping with a pool noodle and a bright blue shopping cart? You should!

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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Taking Time To Smell The Flowers, And Trees: 2012 Weekly Recaps (17 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:10:00 +0000

This week, Madelyn and I had the opportunity to go to the Tulip Festival with Auntie Ning Ning! The weather was not much different than last year, so there were plenty of mud puddles for Madelyn to jump into. She took full advantage of that fact.

She also enjoyed “smelling” the flowers.

Trying to beat the rain, I told Madelyn we were going to walk the tulip rows before we checked out the playground area. Obviously, this was all wrong and Madelyn made sure that she showed her displeasure. Literally.

Notice the big smile with Auntie Ning Ning?

Two seconds later with Mama and Madelyn refused to give me a smile.

Big smile with Auntie Ning Ning. . .

Purposefully sad look with Mama.

Oh well - she forgot she was upset at me once she got to the playground.

I also scored a few points when I changed Madelyn’s sheets that evening. When she saw what I was doing, she jumped into bed and wriggled around with a huge smile on her face, “Oh THANK YOU Mama for the clean sheets - I love clean sheets!” (Troy’s Editor Note: Madelyn is becoming very OCD with her bedding between this and how she has to have her blanket perfectly spread out before she’ll climb under it). You can bet I will be changing her sheets a lot more often now!

After the Tulip Festival, Madelyn waited the whole rest of the week for the arrival of the weekend and her long-awaited birthday present from Mommy, Daddy, Nana, Papa, Grandma and Grandpa: a swingset! The plan is to build our own swingset. We ordered swing seats and components on Amazon and Madelyn headed to Lowes with Daddy, Papa, and Grandpa to pick out the wood.

The swingset did not actually go up in the backyard yet - we detoured at Troy’s uncle’s tree farm looking at trees to add to the backyard along with the swingset. Madelyn discovered a perfectly-sized clover patch, and the joys of sunny weather on a farm.

Should be a fun summer in our backyard!

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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Montessori and Reggio Emilia

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 17:39:00 +0000

Why yes, we always build with legos in our Star Wars costumes. Don’t you???

I thought it might be helpful to post a little more about the Montessori and Reggio Emilia approaches to preschool education that I mentioned in my earlier post.

The core principle of the Montessori method for preschool is opportunity to develop sensory and motor skills. The preschool age range is a sensitive period for development of such skills. Moreover, through the use of controlled materials, the Montessori student learns practical skills and gains some of the self discipline necessary to become a lifelong learner. An example of a Montessori preschool practical skill activity is spooning, in which the child builds small muscle skills by using a spoon to transfer objects from one bowl to the next. Seems overly simple to adults, but it is an important muscle skill that kids may need to work on. And it can be made fun!

(See a full list of typical preschool practical skills activities here.) Letters and numbers are also introduced to the Montessori student in a sensory manner through use of materials such as sandpaper letters and number rods. The sandpaper letters are already a big hit with Madelyn as she has loved learning her letters and letter sounds for quite some time. We have not tried number rods yet.

(Madelyn is watching her beloved Leapfrog Letter Factory DVD here while playing with her sandpaper letters. She liked finding each letter as they were featured on the video. This is a GREAT DVD, by the way, that teaches the sound of each letter in the alphabet.)

There are abundant resources that discuss how to employ Montessori methods at home. For anyone interested, I recommend the following books:

Teaching Monterssori In the Home: The Pre-School Years by Elizabeth G. Hainstock
How To Raise An Amazing Child The Montessori Way by Tim Seldin

The blog Living Montessori NOW also does a great job of rounding up resources around the Internet related to Montessori activities in the home.

Although not specifically Montessori, the blog Not Just Cute has a lot of great discussions about child development. It recently featured great summaries of the book, Mind In The Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs (disclaimer: I have not read the full book, just the chapter reviews on the blog). I posted links to some of the chapter summaries on our Olson Family Matters Parenting/Teaching Pinterest Board.

I have not found as many resources related to using the Reggio method at home. The main principle of Reggio is offering plenty of opportunity for children to express themselves and learn through art mediums. This one worried me at first - remember my almost-B grade in high school pottery that I had to use my negotiating skills to work up to an A grade (and hence became a lawyer rather than an artist)? But art is not limited to clay, glue, and paint. Art includes dramatic play, music, dance, etc. Looking back at my life as a student, I realize that it was these very mediums (drama and music in particular) that allowed me to feel like I was truly expressing myself. They also helped me to grow and develop confidence. Moreover, Reggio is not just about the art (good discussion here). It is more focused on what the students are thinking and learning as they express themselves.

My favorite component of both the Montessori and Reggio methods is that the role of the teacher is to be an observer more than an instructor. My first impulse when I see Madelyn doing something incorrectly is to interrupt and show her how to do it the right way. This takes away the opportunity for Madelyn to learn from her mistakes - which is key in learning how to learn! Moreover, by observing a student’s interactions with materials or experiences, the teacher can learn about the student’s needs and interests and offer more learning opportunities tailored to things that interest the student and skills that she needs develop. I really hope that I can reign in my desire to interfere/correct and just sit back and watch more often. I think of this as an opportunity to become a student of Madelyn - to learn what truly piques her interest, how she learns, how she communicates best, etc. I hope this will pave the road for me to better help her not only in her future education, but in life in general!

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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Drama Queen Goes To the Beach: 2012 Weekly Recaps (16 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Madelyn started the week out with a throat so sore that she cried with every swallow at nighttime and with every bite of food, or drink. After a few days of hardly any eating and sleepless nights, we found ourselves back in the pediatrician's office again. Fortunately, there was no strep – just a virus causing a very inflamed throat and some drama.

And by drama, I mean DRAMA. Being sick obviously makes anyone grouchy and prone to being overly dramatic. Here are a few examples of Madelyn's version:

Madelyn: "Mama, HOW could you do this to me?"
Mama: [Confused silence --I was hanging up clothes in her closet. Obviously I had done something wrong...]
Madelyn: "Where are my BUTTERFLY PANTS!!???" [Sobs. Throws herself on the floor.]
Mama: [Recalling that Madelyn had been wearing her butterfly pants about two hours earlier.] “Didn't you leave them in Mama's room?”

Madelyn: [More sobs.] “How could you DO this to me?”

Madelyn: [Unintelligible whining, sobs, and foot stomps.]

Daddy: “Madelyn, can you please use words so that I can help figure out what you need?”

Madelyn: “I CAN'T! Help me use words!”

Daddy: “You just used six words.”

Madelyn: [Sobs.] “No I can't!”

Madelyn: [Flopping down on the floor en route to going to the kitchen to get her orange juice.]

Daddy: “Madelyn, your orange juice is ready. Please come get your cup.”

Madelyn: “I can't.”

Daddy: “Did your legs stop working?

Madelyn: [Flopping around on the floor for a few minutes to demonstrate that her legs do not work. Then getting up to come claim her orange juice.]

Daddy: “It's a miracle! Your legs are working!”

Madelyn: [Stomping around and rolling her eyes.]

Fortunately, we finally found a cure for both the sore throat and theatrics: A sunny weekend at the beach with Nana, Papa, Auntie Ning Ning, and Uncle Dew!

There were lots of chocolate donuts and ice cream cones. (Need to get that weight back up again!) And Auntie Ning Ning and Papa taught Madelyn how to play Farkle on Auntie Ning Ning's ipad. Madelyn called it “Sparkle” at first, and was surprisingly good at randomly picking dice without fully understanding the rules of the game. (I still swear that she is the luckiest person ever when it comes to games. I still haven't won a game of Candyland.)

Then there was the beach. Getting a sunshiny weekend at the Oregon Coast is a pure gamble no matter what time of year you go. So two sunny days in April were a true blessing. Madelyn took off her shoes, squished her toes in the sand, and had a fantastic time!

And when we got home, Madelyn proudly exclaimed, “I not sick anymore. I can eat now!” And life went back to normal. Ahhhh.

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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Learning About Preschool

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:24:00 +0000

Not so may months ago, someone asked me if I planned to homeschool Madelyn. I laughed in response, replying that I would be a terrible teacher. Our family is full of gifted educators and I know that I won’t ever be able to compare - I just have a different skill set and, honestly, less patience. But then, after Madelyn turned three, we started talking about preschool. We found one that we absolutely love in terms of the education it offers, but it requires a minimum of two full days of attendance each week (they may even change that requirement to three days). That made us pause and question our assumption that Madelyn HAS to attend preschool. We love the fact that Madelyn gets to spend my three work days with her grandmas.

So we have been thinking and praying a lot about our preschool decision. We realize there are a lot of other preschools that offer much shorter school days. But, for the moment, we feel checked about putting Madelyn into school early at all when it is not a necessity. Of course things could always change for one reason or another but, I have a feeling that Madelyn will treasure her time with her grandmas more than she ever would with fellow preschoolers.

This is not to say that we don’t value a preschool education. First, we think it is good for kids to experience a classroom setting. Madelyn actually is getting some of this already as she is in Sunday School and gymnastics class, and has done swimming lessons as well as music lessons. All of these classes give her an opportunity to work on listening to and following instructions from a teacher. Second, we think that it is important for kids to learn how to learn. The particular preschool we liked employs a lot of Montessori and Reggio Emilia learning methods. I was honestly unaware that there were so many different preschool instructional “methods.” So I started reading and I have to admit that I am FASCINATED. I think I have now read through almost every book that our library offers on Montessori and Reggio!

As I read, I wondered if we could maybe incorporate the educational methods into our everyday home life. I have no grand illusions of myself as a teacher. I am not trained as an educator and I have the deepest respect for those who are. I am also quite aware of our limited time with my work schedule. So my intent is not to set up homeschool in the traditional sense. Rather, my goal is to more intentionally incorporate educational activities and learning opportunities into our everyday life so that we can help Madelyn learn how to learn (and hopefully give her a love of learning).

Not that this won’t be a huge challenge and place me WAY outside my comfort zone. But I love the concept of what I could learn throughout the process, in addition to what Madelyn might learn.
Education has always been extremely important to both Troy and I - both of our jobs required quite a bit of education to get into our respective fields of engineering and law, and both fields require constant updating and maintenance of our education. We are excited about being more purposeful about bringing our lifelong love and appreciation of learning into our home.

What will all of this look like? Well, for once in my life, I’m not entirely sure…but I do have some ideas. Stay tuned as those ideas unfold in future posts and don't hesitate to join in with comments or ideas. We are always interested to hear what other parents are doing or have done!

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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Eggstravaganza: 2012 Weekly Recaps (15 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 17:05:00 +0000

Easter weekend was filled to the brim with family, friends, and joyous celebrations. We started with a Good Friday dinner with Troy's family.

Grandpa hid Easter eggs, filled with carousel tokens and lots of chocolates, throughout the house for Madelyn to find. Madelyn also received an Easter basket that included a Hello Kitty University of Oregon shirt. It doesn't get any cooler than that for a preschool football fan! While Mommy and Daddy oohed and awed over Madelyn's new fan wear, Madelyn stuffed herself with chocolate.

Upon seeing all of the chocolate, Madelyn’s first question was an important verification, “These not my potty m&m’s?” (We have used m&m’s as an incentive to use the potty.) Between all of the potty and non-potty m&ms that day (and hershey kisses, etc.), a certain little someone had a spectacular sugar high and couldn't settle down until 11 pm.

The next day we were up early for breakfast with friends and some Easter Bunny grooving.

After breakfast, Madelyn took an impressive nap to make up for the short night. Then we enjoyed a few hours outside in the beautiful spring weather we were blessed with for the weekend. There was playing and a little yardwork.

We also discovered that Madelyn is officially tall enough to ride her balance bike now!!

In the evening, we brought Madelyn with us to "grown up" Church service. We chose the Saturday 6:30 pm service at our church because it is typically the least crowded, and sat with her in the balcony. Honestly, she did great. She LOVED the worship music, clapping and dancing while we sang. Sitting through “all the talking” was a little more on the challenging side.

Easter morning brought a few planned activities for us - all of which came together incredibly simply. First up was the Resurrection eggs.

We prepared eight eggs instead of the traditional 12 based on the items we had on hand during the 15 minutes before Madelyn woke up on Easter morning: (1) grass blades to represent palm leaves, (2) a perfume-soaked cotton ball to represent the perfume Mary Magdalene used on Jesus’ feet, (3) a cracker to represent the bread at the Last Supper, (4) three dimes to represent Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, (5) a cross, (6) cloves to represent the burial spices, (7) a rock to represent Jesus’ grave, and (8) an empty egg to represent the resurrection!

We loved telling the Easter story in this way and will certainly do it again. Next up was the Rolling Egg Art.

We all got our hands messy and had lots of fun.

As a bonus, the results were not half bad.

And they were the perfect material for Uncle Timmy and Madelyn to later try Egg Wars (which Madelyn referred to as Star Wars).

Although Uncle Timmy taught Madelyn the rules of the game, it was somehow Uncle Timmy who ended up with hard boiled egg all over him. Madelyn is the luckiest person I know when it comes to winning games!

After Star Wars, with eggs, there was of course more chocolate. Madelyn received a gorgeous gourmet chocolate cake with candy eggs on top from a friend at work. Thank you for the cupcake, Page. Madelyn loved it:

The creme de la creme of the weekend was the Carlisle Easter Egg Hunt - the one Madelyn has been talking about for weeks. It was a pretty extravagant affair again this year - there were cash prizes, stuffed animal prizes, and candy prizes. Madelyn ran full speed to gather as many eggs as she could. The huge smile on her face was absolutely priceless.

Madelyn's cash winnings were just enough for her to purchase this 50-piece alphabet block set from Walmart. She had played with the same set at Ainsley's house and loved it. It has lower and uppercase letters, pictures to match the letters, and numbers and plus/minus/equals signs for math work as well. At just $12.88, I would say it is a great deal.

Thank you, Grandpa and Grandma Carlisle for hosting such a fantastic tradition that only gets better each year!

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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Orange Juice In The Air: 2012 Weekly Recaps (14 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:45:00 +0000

Madelyn and I headed to the airport last Saturday morning for our first airplane ride together since the trip home from China. Time has certainly changed a few things! I hardly heard a peep out of Madelyn during the flight to Spokane. She plugged into the Leapfrog Letter Factory DVD we checked out from the library and sat still the entire time! I only recall her making two comments. The first was when we hit turbulence, “This is SO much fun!” (I think Daddy has a future rollercoaster riding partner…) The second was to question when her orange juice would arrive. The question was actually a loud one as she tried to talk over both the airplane noise AND the movie noise in her headphones.

The orange juice never did come because beverage service was suspended due to turbulence. Madelyn talked the entire weekend about the orange juice she never received and she was rather skeptical when she placed her order for another orange juice on the return flight home. The first thing she said to her Daddy when we got off the return flight? “I got my orange juice this time!”

Between orange juices, we managed to have lots of fun hanging out with my college friend, Jackie, and her three kids aged 18 months, 4-and-a-half, and 6-and-a-half. There were wrestling matches in the “jumping house.”

A Palm Sunday walk.

Dinner at Shoguns - where they cooked our dinner tableside complete with flaming onions and strobe lights. Madelyn ate more chicken and rice AND bean sprouts than I have ever seen her eat, and she still refers to that dinner as “a celebration!”

A trip to the park where Madelyn found the world’s largest, coolest swing ever.

And a few playground equipment items that were more her size.

P.S. Thank you, Caleb and Aaron, for introducing Madelyn to Trader Joes mini ice cream cones. She made sure we got some for our freezer too. Also, thank you for loaning Madelyn your light-up Buzz Light Year shoes for the park. She and I both think they were the coolest shoes ever - and that is saying something given how much we both love shoes. Dan and Jackie, thank you for hosting Madelyn and I for a beautiful weekend with friends in Spokane!

When we returned, Madelyn re-started her swimming lessons. Oh my, what a difference round two makes! Madelyn knew the drill and routine this time, and even listened a little more than the last week of round one! No luck on getting her to tell the teacher the rules of the pool though. Or on getting her to do a bob when the teacher is actually looking. Oh well - Troy and I will keep blowing pretend bubbles from the sidelines. Maybe it will actually help someday!

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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He Said/She Said: Movies & TV 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 17:32:00 +0000

We are quite aware that 2011 is SO last year. But we had this post in the works and just somehow never got around to actually putting it on the blog. We thought it would be interesting to document the movies and television shows we watch each year and see how our viewing habits change from year to year. Some of the movies/shows are not actually 2011 shows, they are just ones we watched in 2011. We never have time for live television shows anymore - we record and watch as we have time, which isn’t very often. For me, it is mostly weekend nights. Troy also seems to fit in a little extra time between the hours of 10 pm and midnight, when the girls of the house are getting their beauty rest. Needless to say, we are often a season behind on our favorite shows. So please don’t share what has happened on the current seasons - we aren’t big fans of spoilers.

He Said: Top Five Movies Watched in 2011

2011 easily had the least number of movies I’ve watched since I started focusing on movies on my other blog. By my count, I watched around 30 movies in 2011, whereas in 2009 and 2010 I watched close to 100 each year. I was still able to see plenty of great stuff this year, though.

Certified Copy. Abbas Kiarostami’s film was the best movie I saw this past year and one I need to write about at some point. It’s a perfect mix of Italian locations, beautiful cinematography, outstanding lead performances by Juliette Binoche and William Shimell, and a brilliantly layered and intellectual look at language, wordplay, and identity. Yes, it’s one of THOSE kind of films :)
I Saw The Devil. I wrote about this one already, one of the best revenge films I’ve seen, though certainly not for the weak of heart and NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY (as Tricia wanted me to point out). If you need a comparison, I wouldn’t call it a stretch to equate Jee-woon Kim as the Quentin Tarantino of South Korean filmmakers.
A Prophet. Yes, this marks three movies with subtitles at the top of my list. Pretentious, huh :P Jaques Audiard’s French prision/gangster drama is grimy, naturalistic, and intense. Though not as colorful as Scorsese or as dreamlike as Melville, the influence of those directors’ films is apparent, and fans of theirs would certainly appreciate this.
Sunset Blvd. Of the classic movies I watched for the first time in 2011, this would be my favorite. It’s perfect noir and perfect satire, with a performance by Gloria Swanson that stands the test of time despite how oft repeated it’s become 60 years later.
Birdemic: Shock and Terror. Okay, so this is likely the worst film I saw last year, but it’s of the “so bad it’s good” variety. Here, just watch this clip and this clip to understand why...FOR A BILLION DOLLARS!

She Said: Top Five Movies Watched in 2011

I am not sure that I even watched more than five movies in 2011 . . .

The Muppets. This is the only movie I saw in the theatre in 2011. I totally loved it and had a grin on my face for the entire two hours that I was at the theater – it made me feel like a little girl again!
Sherlock Holmes. This is the 2009 version that I finally watched. I thought it was fun and entertaining - I immediately went and downloaded a few Sherlock Holmes novels to read on my Nook. Someday, I will get around to watching the 2011 sequel: A Game of Shadows.
The Adjustment Bureau. A clever plot about the extent to which one controls his or her own destiny - and a fun watch. Of course, I am likely to see pretty much any movie that stars Matt Damon...
The Ides of March. I had an embarrassing moment in an MBA class several years ago when the professor asked who thought politics were boring. Without thinking, I raised my hand (I never do that)! I was also the only one out of approximately 50 students who raised a hand and therefore got singled out during the next 1.5 hour lecture. This was awkward because I was sitting in the back of the class where I always sat to try to avoid attention, and everyone had to keep turning around to look at me. For the record: (1) I do not think politics are boring and I will forever be more careful before giving a rash answer, (2) the lecture was possibly a little boring, and (3) this movie probably more accurately depicts some of my true notions about politics.
True Grit. A 2010 film, but I didn’t see it until 2011. I am a big fan of old western movies (moreso the ones with Jimmy Stewart than John Wayne though). This movie had the same feel of some of those old westerns.

He Said: Top Five Television Shows Watched in 2011

Breaking Bad, Season 4. It was between this and Game of Thrones for the top spot. Breaking Bad may have a less epic scale, but there a microscope-like focus on the characters here that makes each episode enthralling. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul lend two of the best performances on television and the writing and pacing kept a sustained tension and feeling of impending doom. The last shot evokes a tone as that of the end of Godfather II, making me very intrigued to see the inevitable fall-from-grace the final 16-episodes are pointing towards.
Game of Thrones, Season 1. An incredible undertaking by HBO here -- probably the best production values and sense of grandeur that TV has thus far produced. It’s fantasy TV for people who don’t really like the more generic good-versus-evil progression of something like Lord of the Rings, a perfect mix of soap opera, action, and epic, long-term storytelling with enough characters in it that you need a guide to keep track. I just hope it doesn’t go the route of Rome or Deadwood and manages to make it to its ending point…
Justified, Season 2. The second season improved upon the first, with better pacing and utilization of the supporting cast. Margo Martindale definitely earned her Emmy for the role of Mags, but it’s Timothy Olyphant and Walter Goggins portraying Marshall Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder who provide the catalyst for what make the show so entertaining week after week.
Friday Night Lights, Season 5. This is about as good as network dramas get and one I’ve expressed my love for before. Throughout five seasons the show had characters come and go, but it was always the relationship of Coach Taylor and Tami that was the glue that held the show together. The last image we see of them, showing both of them doing what they love to do (coaching/teaching) was a perfect ending to one of my all-time favorite shows (and maybe got me a little misty eyed). Clear eyes, full hearts…
Parks and Recreation, Seasons 3,4. Literally the best comedy on TV and season 3 stands as the funniest season of comedy I’ve seen since Arrested Development went off the air. The additions of Adam Scott and Rob Lowe were a brilliant bit of casting and for my money, Amy Poehler is the best actress in all of TV, drama or comedy.

She Said: Top Five Television Shows Watched in 2011

Friday Night Lights. My favorite television show ever. Y’all, I heart Mrs. Coach aka Tami Taylor. I once bought a dress because I thought it looked very “Tami Taylor.” Next I bought sunglasses for the same reason. Nuff said.
Cagney and Lacey. Yep – my favorite television viewing in 2011 includes a 1980s police procedural show. I’m a big fan of Tyne Daly as an actress and I love that the female detective she plays in this show is also a working mom. For working moms, not much has changed in 30 years (wardrobe and technology aside)!
Parenthood. Great parenting drama that has made me cry and laugh a lot. Especially poignant after becoming a mom myself. I think the character Julia is a slightly exaggerated version of me – I wouldn’t put it past myself to install crime scene tape around a “misdeed” of Madelyn’s and lecture her on the finer points of law (favorite scene ever!).
Parks & Recreation. I don’t know how long it has been since I last watched comedies (dramas are typically more my style). But the 30-minute length works with my limited television-watching time and this show consistently makes me laugh. It has actually been a long time since I could say that about a television show.
Chuck. I have had a lot of fun watching this show the last few years. I have yet to watch Season 5 that started this fall, but Season 4 ended particularly well in my opinion – especially since it was the third potential “ending” the writers had to plan for the show due to cancellation threats every season.

Madelyn’s Top Five in 2011

Madelyn’s screen time at home is limited at this point to an occasional PBS morning show and a handful of dvds for special occasions such as (a) long car trips, (b) times when Mommy or Daddy are behind on work, or (c) when Madelyn is sick - not that being sick is a “special occasion” but it warrants an attempt to get her to slow down her activity level.

Toy Story 2. Madelyn refers to this as the “Jessie” movie. It is definitely her favorite between the three Toy Story movies. She would probably pick this movie over Wall-E now, but Wall-E and Eve do hold the distinction of being her favorite stuffed animals who she takes to bed with her every. single. night.
Winnie the Pooh. The new 2011 version is sweet and cute. Madelyn likes to refer to the rumbles in her tummy just like Winnie the Pooh. She also loves to pretend-hide during the credits while she waits for the Bacson monster to appear, and constantly asks if we have an “issue” (from one of Owl’s lines in the movie).
Super Why. This is probably my favorite preschool show on PBS. It emphasizes letter recognition and reading. Madelyn has assigned a super character to each of us. She is Super Why, I am Princess Presto, and Troy is Wonder Red (a girl – hee hee). When the Super Readers raise their hands and jump into a book each episode, Madelyn makes sure that we have our hands raised too. It’s adorable.
Dora the Explorer. The least annoying of the Nickelodeon preschoolers, in my opinion. We don’t watch this one very often, but we have a few dvds that Madelyn enjoys.
Rio. The music is the star of this movie for Madelyn and it never fails to encourage some spontaneous dancing. Madelyn insists that Troy and I join her in dancing - it is quite a sight to behold.

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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2012 Weekly Recaps (13 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:29:00 +0000

Madelyn recently started drawing her own people into artwork, instead of asking us to add them to her pictures. We have lots of smiley faces around our house now and it puts a smile on my own face.

Last week was all about birthday parties. Over the weekend, we celebrated Grandpa's birthday, Uncle Kevin's birthday, and Aunt Tieryn's birthday. The celebrations included a trip to Wallery's Pizza, where Madelyn added her coin contributions to the plastic egg machine and we came home with all sorts of cheap little prizes that she deems treasures. She is particularly attached to a little glow-in-the-dark plastic ant from one of the eggs. If that ant is missing at bedtime, rest assured that Troy and I are turning the house upside down to find the darn thing.

Madelyn also got to attend a birthday party at the carousel during the week. Naturally, she chose to ride Razzle Dazzle first.

We were able to take advantage of the few brief sun breaks amidst the constant down pouring rain last week. For starters, over the weekend, Auntie Ning Ning and Uncle Dew took Madelyn to the park near their house. Madelyn told me that she likes to go to Auntie Ning Ning and Uncle Dew's house because "they have food." Puzzled, I asked Madelyn what food they have that she would like to have at her house. Her response was "orange juice and crackers," both of which we have at home.

Never mind that we made her fresh cornbread this week for which she could hardly wait to help take out of the oven.

Or that we got her chocolate milk and donut holes to eat while we watched the Muppet Movie together. . . Apparently, food at our house just isn't as cool as the food at Auntie Ning Ning and Uncle Dew’s house.

During the week, we also headed to visit Daddy at work and made a fun detour at the park to enjoy the sunshine, blooming cherry blossoms, and some swinging time.

Madelyn then practiced her bike riding on the paths around Daddy's office.

We also found a cool new use for Madelyn’s Do A Dot Markers - letters!!

I thought I would conclude the week with a brief video that sums up all of the energy and cuteness that is Madelyn right now. (Interpretation clue: It starts with “Hi my name is Madelyn and I’m three...” The song she is singing is her own creation.)

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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Jessie’s April Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:25:00 +0000

April will probably bring a lot of showers around here, but it will also bring some fun-filled weekends for our family. Events for the upcoming month include (in chronological order): a girls-only trip to see one of my college friends (Madelyn’s first airplane ride since coming home from China!), Easter, a family trip to the beach, the Salem March of Dimes Walk (for Team Ainsley Marie - see their post about it here or make donations to their team here), and Uncle Timmy’s College Graduation.

The most-talked about of these events so far is the airplane trip, but that is mostly my doing because I want to make sure Madelyn is prepared for the event. I have snacks, movies, toys, books, and changes of clothes packed already - which is probably overkill since it is only an hour-long flight. Memories of the long flight home from China are still raw and fresh, however, so I feel that I cannot be too prepared.

Easter is apparently all about the egg hunt for Madelyn. She spotted some plastic easter eggs at the Dollar Store recently and we purchased them to save for Easter. She has been asking every day when we can open them, and I keep replying that we will open them on Easter. Her response, every time, is “Is that when everybody at Grandpa and Grandma Carlisle’s house and we run around and find eggs with treats in them?” Obviously we need to have a few more discussions about the reason we celebrate Easter, but you have to commend a memory that has stuck since she was just 2 years old!

For Jessie’s April Roundup, we decided to open the package of plastic eggs a little early.

Jessie also gave Madelyn a little start on our spring flowers. Despite the snow last week, the spring flowers are starting to bloom and it never fails to warm my heart.

The eggs were numbered to spell out “Spring Flowers.”

I found a few more easter egg ideas online that we may try, including:

(1) Mailing an egg (Troy pointed out that we can simply put the egg in the mailbox and Madelyn won’t know any better at this point. Killjoy.)

(2) Rolling Egg Art

(3) Egg Wars

I would love to try the last two ideas if we have sufficient time in our Easter week. (Darn Pinterest gives me too many fun ideas I want to try out.) If there isn’t time, we might just decorate Madelyn’s plastic eggs with the egg sticker stencils I found online.

Impress Your Kids, one of the blogs that I follow, has some excellent ideas for activities that help kids to learn and experience the true reason for celebrating Easter. The blog recently featured a series called “A Sense of the Resurrection,” with daily activities that each focus on a scriptural aspect of Christ’s resurrection. I am thinking this may be an activity that works better with Madelyn next year, so I am saving the ideas on my Pinterest Easter Board for future reference. In addition to the daily activities, I think that Impress Your Kid’s Resurrection Garden is the coolest Easter idea I’ve seen on Pinterest.

This year, I think I will keep it simple and try the Resurrection Eggs recommended in our Church’s Sunday School newsletter.

In other Pinterest news, I have not been pinning much to my Toddler Fashion board lately, but I did add these adorable TOMS shoes that Madelyn received for her birthday from Grandpa and Grandma Carlisle.

Madelyn spotted them at Nordstrom a while back and said she would love to have them (she inspects the shoe display every time we go through), so we added them to her birthday list. She is, without a doubt, a little fashionista! Just a few days ago, I found her quietly perusing through some of my fashion magazines. I imagine it is only a matter of months before she starts critiquing my style.

(Above picture taken last year.)

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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He Said/She Said: Our First Report Card

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:00:00 +0000

We received our first of many report cards for Madelyn - it was for her first session of solo swimming lessons. Madelyn was the youngest, smallest one in the class and she had a blast. She has exhibited no notable fear of the water and does her best (most of the time) to follow instructions. What more could we ask? Nothing! But apparently, I had some personal issues to work through before remembering that.

The report card notes that Madelyn needs to repeat the class session she just completed. Troy and I decided to document our responses because they give good insight into our individual personalities. We also thought we would document it as a lesson for us me to learn from.

He Said:

Let me start out by making it clear that I think Madelyn is a genius child. I try not to tell her this too often such that she will get a big head or begin to realize that she can easily outthink me, but I really have no doubt she is capable of doing just about anything she puts her mind to at this point in her life. Of course, there comes the time where she just decides she doesn’t want to do something even when fully capable, or worse yet, she refuses to concentrate and pay attention when needed. This rings all too familiar to a person like me who has spent much of his life spending the minimal amount of effort in an attempt to get merely sufficient results, often because I’d just rather do things the easy way. After all, why spend the effort it takes to get an A when you can get a B- and still have plenty of time left over to play Starcraft and watch wrestling? Furthermore, as Tricia will readily attest to, I’ve had more than my fair share of times where by not listening to what has been said, I completely forget what it is I’m supposed to be doing.

So of course the first thing I thought when I saw Madelyn’s swimming report card was that we had a similar case on our hands. Can’t blow bubbles? I know that’s not true as Madelyn is more than happy to blow bubbles every time I’m in the pool with her or even in the bathtub. Doesn’t know the rules of the pool? Well, I’ve heard her rattle those off several times, so I know that’s not true either. She’s simply not repeating the rules when asked by her teacher. In my mind, Madelyn is being too much like her Daddy here, either coasting, or more likely not paying full attention to her teacher.

So my way of thinking about this is that Madelyn could probably have passed to the next class easily if she had paid attention and done what her teachers had asked. She’s proven that she’s quite capable of doing everything that was asked of her - now we just have to figure out a way to help her learn how to follow through on something like that.

She Said:

I’m not going to lie - I didn’t even notice the “Good Job” at the bottom of the page. My initial reaction was as though this was my own report card featuring a bunch of the dreaded “Needs Improvements” or “Satisfactory” checkmarks. Yes - there is something wrong with me. Yes- I KNOW she is only three. But you have to understand that I did not view this as Madelyn's report card but, rather, my own. You see, back in the day, I used to pin my entire self-worth on the results of a report card. One missing “Excellent” or “Exceeds Expectations” would have launched me into full-scale depression - at the age of 5. It’s a learned habit that I sadly have a hard time shaking.

I immediately started thinking of my own swimming lessons in the very same pool. Forgetting that Madelyn is a few years younger than the period I am remembering, I recalled moving up through the ranks of the classes at the close of each session. (Okay. That is not ENTIRELY true. True confession: When they passed me to the class that meant I had to leave the small warm pool and enter the big cold pool, I had all sorts of counter-arguments ready for my instructor as to why he should not pass me to the next class. I think I was about 7 years old. We negotiated at the start of each class until he appealed to my sense of achievement and I marched into the big cold pool and jumped in.)

Speaking of negotiating, I also immediately formed counter comments/arguments to the teacher’s remarks on Madelyn’s card. You missed our safety day. Of course she missed safety day! She was strapped to a breathing machine and had a fever of 102. Give her a break already! And a refund please? Blow those bubbles! Madelyn KNOWS how to blow bubbles. I see her do it in the bath all the time. That should count for something even if she doesn’t like to blow bubbles in the pool. I demand a reconsideration.

I have always said I would never be "one of those Moms" - meaning one that emphasized grades or scheduled conferences with the teacher to demand a recount on the grades. But my initial reaction was just that!

Important disclaimer on behalf of my Mom: My Mom NEVER emphasized grades and in fact, in my case, tried everything she could to de-emphasize them. And she was never the one talking with teachers about grades - I was the one talking with them and having meltdowns if I thought my grade was less than a 90%. I was born with a desire for straight As. My advice to someone with such a child? Make the teacher give them a B IN GRADESCHOOL so that the perfect record is no more. It seems downright mean, but I think it would do a world of good. My first B did not come until law school. Let's not talk about that day. But when I found out that all of the other former straight-A students around me in law school also got a few Bs, I relaxed. A little.

Team Conclusion:

Troy got it right on this one. Madelyn has learned some important skills in the pool and she is having fun with them. The next step is for us to help her to learn how to demonstrate those skills in a class setting. This step will take some time for a three-year old and we were naive first-time parents to think any differently. We also need to consider why she isn’t responding in class - there could me a multitude of reasons including inability to hear well in the crowded pool, being distracted by other classes and not paying attention to her own, or being a bit of a perfectionist like her Mama and not wanting to do something for her teacher unless she can do it absolutely perfectly.

I give myself a B- on this one. My initial reaction was extremely out of proportion but it was also short lived - I calmed down after writing this post and thinking rationally for 2.5 seconds. I plan to shoot for an A when the next report card rolls around though…

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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2012 Weekly Recaps (12 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:11:00 +0000

Why is it that I can never win a game of Candyland? Seriously - I have the worst luck with that game. And thank you, Troy, for teaching Madelyn to do a victory dance when she wins Candyland. It’s getting hard not to feel competitive when she fake eats the candy from the castle at the finish line.

This week was all about getting back to some normal routine. We spent lots of time reading our library books and catching up around the house. Madelyn found a fun new way to participate during reading time by using her stuffed animals to act out the stories in her books.

Her Thanksgiving Turkey starred as Rosie the Hen, and her Pink Puppy starred as Gracie the runaway dog and also Rosie the Hen’s nemesis, the Fox.

Madelyn returned to swimming lessons after missing half of her five-week session because of being sick. (Breathing sort of seemed like a prerequisite for getting in the pool.) We decided to repeat the 5-week session starting next week so that Madelyn can hopefully get the full experience next time.

We also celebrated the first day of Spring, with snow of all things.

Snow is rare in Willamette Valley winters, and just plain weird in the Spring.

But Madelyn still managed her first bike ride of the season.

One other important discovery this week is that Madelyn is still doing a lot of emotional processing about Lucy. After a week of her not bringing the subject up, she out-of-the blue told her Nana that Baby Cousin was now an angel. None of us has used that term or explained things to her in that way. It is a connection that she somehow made on her own or just intuited. I am left pondering the depth of her emotions and also the extent of the emotions that she does not relay to us. A little girl who can make such connections has surely started to make connections about other losses in her life despite all of the positive terms we have used in explaining her story to her to date. I constantly pray for wisdom that I can either be or help find the support Madelyn needs as she processes her story and makes her way along her life journey.

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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2012 Weekly Recaps (11 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 04:20:00 +0000

This was a hard week. We planned and prepared for the memorial service for my niece, Lucy Mae Carter. (Please continue to keep Auntie Ning Ning and Uncle Dew in your prayers.) We also had to tell Madelyn about Baby Cousin. Madelyn had been SO excited about tea parties and slumber parties together. We used simple terms and did not talk about death or heaven with Madelyn because she is not ready to understand those concepts yet. After we told her, she laid down across Troy and I’s lap and stayed still for several minutes. She came with me later that morning to see Auntie Ning Ning and give her hugs, but within a few hours of that spiked a fever of about 101. Things got rougher from there.

The fever didn’t stop and Madelyn kept asking to go to sleep early at the end of each day. My intuition is that the emotional stress, on top of the cold that she already had, was too much for her little body to handle. By Friday, when we took her to the doctor, she had an ear infection and bronchitis. They did a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia, but it was thankfully clear. (Troy was a super daddy and handled the x-ray part with Madelyn all by himself!)

By Saturday’s check-in with the doctor, Madelyn was even worse. She was not eating and hardly drinking and wanted to do absolutely nothing but sleep. The doctor noted that Madelyn was having asthmatic symptoms and sent us home with a nebulizer (a machine with a mask so that Madelyn breathes in albuterol as she would with an inhaler) and oral steroids.

By this point, we were fairly panicked. This is the first time Madelyn has been so sick and it is scary to feel helpless when your child can’t fully breathe. Madelyn was NOT a big fan of the nebulizer at first, but we soon got into a routine with it every 4-6 hours. Still, she mostly wanted to do nothing but sleep. FINALLY, on Monday morning, I propped her up on the couch and turned on Sesame Street. A few minutes later, I heard a laugh and turned around to see this:

A smile! It had been missing for days! It was SO good to see it return.

Next up was trying to get Madelyn to start eating again. Through all of her days of sleeping, we were hardly able to get Madelyn to eat or drink anything other than a little orange juice and jello. Our weigh-ins at doctor visits showed that her weight was down almost 2 pounds from her 3-year-old well visit. Desperate to get more calories in her, we tried just about everything. Ice cream.

French fries.

These are treats that Madelyn would have polished off in the past, but she took about ten bites of the ice cream cone and stopped. The french fries fared even worse - I think she only ate two. Thankfully, we finally had a turn-around toward the end of the week when she spent the day with Grandma and Uncle Andrew. Apparently the secret was not in WHAT we were trying to serve her, but WHO was serving it! I think we are finally on the road to recovery.

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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2012 Weekly Recaps (10 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:52:00 +0000

Still catching up on weekly recaps . . .

This weekend started with a breakfast with friends. Good food, fellowship, coffee, and green juice from Trader Joes (thanks Denessa!) Madelyn wore the new Star Wars shirt that she received for her birthday from Auntie Ning Ning and Uncle Dew. Madelyn likes to refer to her clothes according to important events in her life, so she now calls the shirt the one that she wears “to have breakfast with Ainsley!” (My other favorite descriptor for her outfits is “the one where I had a cookie and cried.” It’s a long story.)
Madelyn and Ainsley got to practice their sharing skills. Madelyn wanted Ainsley’s hairband. Ainsley wanted Madelyn’s shoes. It all turned out okay in the end.

They did happily take a break from sharing toys to share some story time.

After breakfast, we did ~~a few~~ a lot of errands. Madelyn managed to accessorize herself everywhere we went. First was the glittery cat mask.

Alas, it was a bit pricey for a glitter cat mask, so it didn’t come home. The next item, however, definitely came home. At Old Navy, they had a bin of children’s sunglasses out at child level. (Smart, Old Navy. Smart.) Madelyn HAD to try all of them on.

She has been rocking them ever since.

Madelyn also got to have a cleft check-up at Doernbecher. Unfortunately, both speech therapists were out sick, so we had to re-schedule that component. The surgeon was pleased, however, with the development of Madelyn’s speech. Although the surgeon will ultimately defer to the evaluation of the speech therapist, she does not feel that it is likely that Madelyn will need a speech-related repair at age 4 to 5. The next surgical repair, therefore, will probably be the gumline around age 8 (orthodontic work will begin around age 7).

Unlike our last few visits, Madelyn actually sat through the entire hearing check. For the first test, they gave her a set of headphones and a plastic cookie jar with plastic cookies. They explained that they were going to play a game and asked her to drop a cookie in the jar every time she heard a sound in the headphones. The audiologist noted that Madelyn did not hear some of the low sounds and described her as having “slight hearing loss.” Follow-up tests revealed that Madelyn’s nerves are functioning and that the hearing loss is due to fluid build-up. This is very common with cleft - even after a palate repair. Madelyn did have tubes put in at the time of her lip repair, but they have since fallen out. It is very possible that we will need to re-insert tubes, but Doernbecher wants to wait a few months and re-test because Madelyn had a cold, which could also be the cause of the fluid build-up.

Madelyn was an excellent patient for the day. What a difference six months makes in a little one’s ability to sit still and follow instructions from a doctor (open your mouth please, turn your head please, etc.) Of course it helps that Doernbecher provides lots of entertainment for its little patients. There was a visit from the U of O Duck.

There were bubbles.

Lots of bubbles.

And, of course, Mommy and Daddy treated Madelyn to ice cream after all of the appointments. We were very proud of our little patient!

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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2012 Weekly Recaps (9 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 02:41:00 +0000

The second week of Madelyn’s swimming lessons went well - they got her name right this time! (Madelyn is the one on the far left in the above picture.) Madelyn practiced her floating and flutter kicks.

She even ALMOST put her face entirely in the water to blow some bubbles. Her favorite time, though, is the last five minutes of class when she gets to grab a noodle and jump into the pool all by herself.

At home, the slowly deflating balloons from Madelyn’s birthday party were her favorite source of entertainment for the week. She had wrestling matches with them, sat with them in her play tent, and continuously recounted her joys from her birthday party. It was adorable. Before we said goodbye to our balloons, we tried one last game with them (inspiration here).

We numbered her balloons, gave her a push pin, and called out numbers for her to find and pop.

We had enough balloons that she got to pop more than a dozen for two nights in a row. It was a pretty fun game and might warrant a trip to the dollar store for more balloons soon!

We also tried out two new art mediums this week: water color paints and dot markers.

Given Madelyn’s past aversion to art projects that got her fingers messy, I haven’t tried many painting projects with her. But the water colors and dot markers (plus a tablecloth and smock) kept her generally mess-free and she seemed to love doing both! She helped me put her work on the refrigerator and, when her grandma and nana came over, she proudly showed them each masterpiece.

Perhaps we will get the hang of doing “arts ‘n crafts” after all!

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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Lucy Mae Carter

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 04:38:00 +0000

My precious niece, Lucy Mae, due on July 2, made an early entrance and exit from this world on Sunday, March 4, at 4:15 pm. I had the incredible privilege and honor of being there when she was born and got to hold her and love on her. My heart is broken into a million pieces, but also filled with awe at the powerful light and love that someone so tiny brought into my life. Please, please keep Auntie Ning Ning and Uncle Dew in your prayers.

For those who know Tiffany and Drew, there will be a memorial service for Lucy this Saturday, March 10 at 4:00 pm at First Christian Church in Salem.

- Tricia

2012 Weekly Recaps (8 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:54:00 +0000

It was a “Father of the Bride” moment. The 1991 Steve Martin movie version, specifically the scene of the night before the wedding where Dad dreams about his favorite moments of his daughter’s growing up (first day of school, riding her bike, playing basketball, etc.) Troy steered clear of this movie in 1991, while I watched it and rewatched it probably 20 times. So I had to explain exactly what a “Father of the Bride” moment was. But when I did, Troy wholeheartedly agreed that the moment captured above (sorry for the blurry cell phone photo – it’s all I had) was indeed such a moment and will forever be etched in our memories of Madelyn’s growing up years.

Backing up a little bit, Madelyn started swim lessons last week – without Mommy and Daddy in the pool! I think it is safe to say that she is the littlest and youngest one in the class because the minimum age is three. But she has been asking to take this class for months now, so we knew she was ready. She spent most of the first class on the edge of the pool because she was too distracted watching the bigger kids on the other end and failed to hear her instructors say that she had to specifically ask them to get into the pool. She also got quite a bit of attention from the lifeguard as she leaned over into the pool as far as humanly possible to play with the pool toys without leaving the edge.

In the second class, we were a little confused at her lack of exuberance. She hardly reacted to her instructors other than when she got her one-on-one kick and paddle time. After listening closely, we finally figured out that they were calling Madelyn “Aubrey” (I think it was the name of a little girl who was not there) and Madelyn did not correct them – nor did she respond to them whenever they called to her. After a few minutes of debating back and forth between ourselves on whether it was appropriate to step in, I finally walked over and told the instructor Madelyn’s name. THEN things turned around, with about five minutes left in class. The little girl who had remained silent through almost two entire classes asked if she could get in the pool with her foam pool noodle (green to match her swimsuit of course). And then Madelyn asked “I do it all by myself?” The instructor was shocked, but acquiesced. And THAT is what you see above. The most exuberant glee we have ever seen on Madelyn’s face as she paddled herself around her corner of the pool. I think she drank about a gallon of the pool water, but she did it! And she was SO proud of herself – and we were even more proud of her.

The rest of our week was pretty quiet as we all three recovered from colds at the same time. We did make a little time for cleaning and organizing, however, as this is how future Mei Mei’s room recently looked (the site of to-do projects and all other things that I generally try to keep out of sight and out of mind):

I’m happy to report that the room is now much more likely to pass a homestudy visit.

We also made time for a Madelyn and Mommy tea party so that we could work on our grown up conversation skills. The cutest outcome of this is that Madelyn now asks me how my day was every time we sit down to eat. Love it! I know I can't keep Madelyn from growing up too quickly, but I certainly will treasure these moments forever.

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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2012 Weekly Recaps (7 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:20:00 +0000

(Proof that Cookie Monster is still in the big leagues)

The major event of last week, for us, was obviously Madelyn's Third Birthday. There was a lot of other things going on, though. Here are a few highlights:

Madelyn got to go on a much-anticipated trip to the swimming pool with Uncle Dew and Auntie Ning Ning. She did lots of "bobs" (aka jumping into the pool while holding onto Drew's hands) and swimming with a green foam noodle ("because it match my swimsuit"). While Madelyn was swimming, Troy and I got to enjoy a meal out for Valentine's Day weekend. There was chocolate. All was good.

On Monday, Madelyn and I had the chance to do some shopping in Portland with Nana.

Madelyn entertained several salespersons with her Eeyore impersonation (a new one for her!) She also seriously impressed a few salespersons with her opinions about fashion. Mom and I were trying to get a few ideas of things Madelyn might like for future presents. As we showed various options to Madelyn, she gave us not only a "yay" or "nay" but a REASON why the yay or nay. Our favorite salesperson of the evening, by far, was Uncle Timmy.

While shopping, we had our first encounter with someone who assumed that Madelyn would be able to speak Chinese. I had Madelyn's "Ni Hao Kai Lan" backpack on the stroller and a little girl (probably about 5 or 6) spotted it and pointed it out to her mom (neither the mom nor little girl were Chinese). The mom took a look at Madelyn and told her little girl to go over and practice her Chinese words with Madelyn. Silence - from both me and Madelyn - until I gathered my wits and started a conversation in English between the two girls. While it renewed my commitment to find Madelyn some Chinese language lessons (if she wants them), it does leave me incredulous about the grand assumptions people make based on race, ethnicity, etc.

As a side note, I'm pretty sure Madelyn would do great learning a second language (or learning more of her first language) in the near future. She learned "jie jie" and "mei mei" (big sister and little sister) simply from a book we recently read together. She has recently started calling Troy "Baba" (Chinese for Dad) based on the same book. (Mama in Chinese is Mama - so no change-up there.) It is pretty cute when she chooses to call Troy "Baba." She does it VERY affectionately.

Madelyn made a handmade Valentine for her Baba on Valentine's Day - mostly decked out in her current favorite crayon color, brown. To add a little color to the presentation, I suggested that she and I go get Daddy some strawberries at the grocery store. Madelyn was pretty excited about that idea.

Little did I know how much work the simple task would take. We parked and entered the grocery store on the produce side, only to discover that the special "shopper in training" carts were parked on the opposite side of the store. Madelyn HAD to have the special cart (duh), so we retrieved one and headed back to produce. She picked out two gorgeous boxes of strawberries and then suddenly grimaced and announced that she needed to go potty right away. We headed out to take care of business (nearest facility was the potty chair in the back of our car) and returned 5 minutes later only to discover that our strawberries and cart had already been put away (super efficiency in that store!). So we headed BACK to the other side of the store for another special cart, BACK to the strawberries, you get the picture . . .

At least the strawberries were worth the effort! Madelyn helped me wash and cut them and they were a pretty tasty accompaniment to the Macaroni and Cheese that I allowed Madelyn to have even though she was having it on her birthday too.

(The stove was off in this picture - Madelyn just wanted to try to stir like I did.)

Daddy loved his Valentine treats - and he brought one home for Madelyn too - a balloon :)

Daddy was also more than happy to help Madelyn play with some of the fun games she received as birthday gifts:

The week ended on a very sweet note - we finally got to Skype with Travis and his family. Travis has been home with his family for about 7 months and is doing great. (Check out their blog here.) This was Madelyn and Travis' first encounter since Madelyn's departure from the orphanage in China. It was a success on both ends, I think, and we are going to try to set up regular times to Skype in the future - hopefully on a monthly basis. On the recommendation of Travis' mom, I reserved a particular sign language DVD from our library so that we can teach Madelyn a few communication words for our next Skype. We are all pretty excited to learn!

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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It Was the Rootinest Tootinest Party in The Wild Wild West!

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:48:00 +0000

Oh my! That was the most fun I have had celebrating a birthday in a long time! (Yes, I know that the sign says “Happy 3th Birthday” – we didn’t have the heart to change it after the employees at the carousel put it up.)

Madelyn’s birthday morning (Thursday) started with balloons on her bedroom door. She was too drowsy to look at the camera, but Mommy & Daddy wanted to make sure that they got at least a little acknowledgement for blowing up all the balloons before they headed off to work! Madelyn perked up pretty quickly, however, when she remembered that she was going out to a pancake breakfast with Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Andrew & Nana! The waitress surprised Madelyn and put a candle in a peach, with blueberries for eyes and strawberries for a mouth and ears. Top that with presents, and she was one incredibly excited little girl.

Birthday dinner consisted of Madelyn’s favorites: macaroni & cheese + chocolate cake. I had grand plans to make the chocolate cake into a heart according to one of my fave Pinterest finds, but the results in my hands were not very aesthetic. It sort of looked like a mud pie that vaguely resembled a heart with a wobbly “3” on it. No pictures – I’m too embarrassed. It tasted great though (used the 2 ingredient method of Duncan Hines + canned pumpkin and nothing else)!

Madelyn’s favorite gift of the evening seemed to be a little wooden fruit & veggie set that I got on clearance at Toys R Us. Each piece has velcro so that she can “cut” it in half. She has been serving Troy and I a lot of fruits and veggies . . .

(note Mini Boden tee from Great Grandma Carlisle!!!!)

The BIG EVENT occurred on Saturday morning when we met up with friends and family for a party at the carousel. The guest of honor was, of course, Razzle Dazzle the carousel horse.

Madelyn was literally showered in love by all of the family and friends in attendance. Our hearts were full with gratefulness.

(Pictured with Great Grandpa and Grandma Carlisle above – Hi Grandpa and Grandma! Thanks for reading our blog!!)

In the party room, we stuck with a Cowgirl Jessie theme, complete with cowboy/girl hats. Troy initially protested when I wanted to buy the hats (it was not the price – they were only a dollar each – he just thought it was overkill). He has since learned all about little girl parties the Tricia way. He was also introduced to descriptions of the 1981 awesomeness of my third birthday party that included an appearance by my uncle and aunt as “Cowboy Kelly” and “Cowboy Shelley.” When I offered to forego the hats if Troy would show up as Toy Story Sheriff Woody, he let me buy the hats :) And the hats were all sorts of fun:

I would like to briefly point out, that despite my inability to ever make a cool cake, I can at least add decorations to a Costco cake AND I managed to make special labels for the crayons.

Anyway . . .

We asked Madelyn what her favorite part of the party was and she told us it was the balloons. Duly noted!

We love you Baby Girl!

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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Happy 3rd Birthday, Madelyn!

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:48:00 +0000

We love you -- love Mommy and Daddy.

(more to come on Madelyn’s birthday and upcoming party next week)

2012 Weekly Recaps (6 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:58:00 +0000

The big event of last weekend was the Super Bowl party which we hosted. Madelyn attempted to split her time amongst the many people and events that were going on. One minute, she was climbing on my back and watching football, then the next she was doing football crafts and activities with Tricia (pom pom helmets and letter matching, as seen in the pictures below). Suddenly she would be outside playing in her playhouse with Grandma, before climbing on the couch with uncles Kevin and Andrew. She also had fun showing Ainsley all of the fun stuff that our downstairs had to offer, such as her slide or my arcade machine (Madelyn really loves mashing on the buttons, reminiscent of how I play Street Fighter II, and Ainsley joined right in with her in the excitement).

On Monday, Madelyn took her second trip to the dentist, but it was the first time she actually had her teeth cleaned. She got to wear sunglasses while she laid in the chair and was able to contain her wiggles long enough to sit through the procedure. I have to admit, I find these pictures incredibly adorable...

Her prize for all of this? A Winnie The Pooh toothbrush and a balloon!

After this, Madelyn procured another balloon on a trip to Nordstrom where we found out her shoe size has increased from a 6 to an 8 in one month - thank goodness for Nordstrom’s generous exchange policy!

Speaking of feet, we also realized this week that Madelyn apparently knows her left from her right, which kind of surprised us as we haven’t explicitly worked on that concept much beyond reading her “The Foot Book.” After a series of “grueling” quizzing from us, she managed to correctly show us her left or right hand/foot each time we asked, so unless she is extremely lucky, she’s somehow managed to get this concept figured out already.

This weeks project with Tricia had a Valentine's theme to it, as Madelyn made her own book called "Red Heart, Red Heart, What Do You See" (which Tricia created, using the theme from the Eric Carle/Bill Martin Jr books). She carefully placed the heart stickers on each page and then stapled them all together into a book. You can tell by the sticker placement that her concentration and attention to detail are certainly getting better (it used to be that all of the stickers would be placed on top of one another in an extremely random and haphazard manner).

Finally, an important update on stuffed animal pecking order. Tricia and I are in the process of reorganizing Madelyn's play area (more to come on this in a later post) and in the process we have decided to place all of her stuffed animals back in her room. Madelyn typically has some combination of Wall-E, Eve, Matilda the Monkey, Duck, Winnie The Pooh, and Bambi in her bed with her when she goes to sleep (with Max the Rabbit often being hidden somewhere in the room as well). So, when she found out that all of her stuffed animals were going to be in her room, she immediately wanted her giant Cookie Monster to be in there as well, and proceeded to talk to him (I'd like to think she was introducing him to the rest of the crew) throughout the night. So congratulations to Cookie Monster on his promotion to the big leagues! We anxiously await to see who is next to make the cut.

- Troy Olson, 2012

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Mei Mei

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:14:00 +0000

Madelyn learned a few new characters this week. In case you can’t read Chinese, please allow Madelyn to translate for you:

If you did not watch the video, spoiler alert regarding the rest of the post . . .

…

Madelyn is going to be a Jie Jie (Big Sister) because we have officially submitted our second adoption application for a Mei Mei (Little Sister)!

To answer a few obvious questions: (1) We will adopt a child younger than Madelyn; (2) We have applied to adopt a girl; and (3) We have applied to adopt a girl with cleft lip and/or palate. The journey will likely look a lot like our journey to Madelyn – it is already giving us some excellent opportunities to talk with Madelyn about the adoption process. Also, the most frequently viewed posts on our blog are the ones about adopting a child from China with cleft. We are hoping to share more relevant details about our process and preparation this time around and are certainly open to contacting people personally if they want to talk about our experience in that regard.

It seems a little surreal to make the adoption announcement at this point because the timeline isn’t short. When we talked about a second adoption with our social worker before Christmas, she told us that our adoption agency is currently estimating a 12-18 month process from application to “Gotcha Day.” The process doesn’t change much for a second adoption – we just have the advantage of knowing a little better what to expect. Until our file actually gets matched with a precious little one, the process at this point is mostly paperwork, paperwork, and some more paperwork. Our application to “Gotcha Day” timeframe with Madelyn was actually 20 months and looked something like this:

9/10/08	Submitted our application to adoption agency
9/08-12/08	Gathered personal records and referrals, filled out detail information forms, got medical exams
10/23/08-10/24/08	First required parenting class
1/16/09	First home study visit (at adoption agency)
1/22/09	Final home study visit (at our house)
2/08/09	Submitted our Form I-800A (form used by the United States government to “determine our suitability to adopt a child from another country”)
2/10/09	Home study approved
2/13/09	Finished checklist of medical conditions we were open to considering (note that this was done with our initial application this time)
3/11/09	Appointment at Portland office of United States Citizenship & Immigration Services for fingerprinting
3/16/09	Received approval of our I-800A!
5/18/09	Dossier completed and sent to consulate for authentication
6/12/09	Dossier sent to China Centre For Adoption Affairs
6/22/09	Dossier logged with CCAA (Log-In Date)
8/11/09	Social worker calls with possible match and we see Yi Hong (Madelyn) for the first time!
8/17/09	Submitted Letter of Intent to adopt Madelyn
8/20/09	Home study update visit (at our new house)
8/26/09	Letter of Intent is accepted!
11/7/09	Last required parenting class
12/7/09	Letter of Acceptance received, submitted Form I-800 to adopt Madelyn as our daughter
12/22/09	I-800 Provisional Approval received
1/8/10	Hague documents sent to China
1/12/10	Received National Visa Center letter
1/19/10	Visa applications sent to consulate
2/2/10	Received our visas for entry into China
2/26/10	Received Article 5 approval (necessary to get travel approval)
3/16/10	Received Travel Approval
5/5/10-5/21/10	Travel Dates
5/9/10	Madelyn's Gotcha Day

I’m realizing that I am a little fuzzy about what was involved with each of these forms. Fortunately, our agency (Holt International) was fantastic about walking us through each step and I anticipate that this time will be no different (plus I kept copies of all of the forms from last time!). We will try to post more detailed information about the paperwork process once we receive it from our agency. For now, please join us in celebrating that our family will soon (albeit sometime in 2013) grow by one more!

- Tricia Olson, 2012

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2012 Weekly Recaps (5 of 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Olson) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:50:00 +0000

It goes without saying that the major event of the past week in the Olson house was our Chinese New Year party. We had the immediate family over to celebrate the Year of the Dragon. After feasting on a dinner of dumplings, fried rice, lo mein, and orange chicken, Madelyn absolutely couldn't wait to devour her dragon donuts (which Tricia quite cleverly reappropriated from these elaborate dragon cakes):

Madelyn also received a card from Tiffany's classroom -- one of the students in Tiffany’s class is Chinese and she wrote the characters on the card (which reads “Happy Year of the Dragon”) and all the students in the class signed it for Madelyn!

After this, Madelyn opened up her red envelopes, tearing in to find carousel tokens, chocolate, Nordstrom gift cards, and cash! One downside to opening gifts so close to her birthday is that Madelyn did get a bit mixed-up on just what we were celebrating and proceeded to tell us that she was now three (we had to break the news that she will still be two for a few more weeks). We followed red envelopes with a slideshow of photos of our family from the past year. Madelyn implored us to play it multiple times - she laughs at the same pictures every single time :) Since it's set to copyrighted songs, Tricia gave me unsolicited legal advice that I should not post it on YouTube. If you would like to come over to our house for dinner, however, I’m sure Madelyn would be glad to rewatch it with you!

While Chinese New Year was the big news, there was still time for some quiet moments of fun throughout the week. Over the weekend, Madelyn and I had the opportunity for lots of playtime together. It began with a morning session of coffee and playdoh where we worked to perfect her playdoh cutting skills (and where I realized I should probably learn to be okay with the playdoh colors mixing together -- after all, that's part of the fun, isn't' it).

After some adventures inside her tent where she told me some crazy stories about Brandon, Heather, and Ainsley being in the sky(?), we made our way to finally ride her new tricycle which she received thanks to Atticus and Becket (and she even thanked them in the following video!)

After we were done with the bikes, she headed to the backyard to play in her playhouse while I finished something up in the garage. A mere minute later, when I got back there, I saw a sheepish little girl holding a door in her hands, as it had come completely off of the playhouse. I asked if she was hanging on it and she replied "I was. I was hanging on it." So all 6 screws that held it on have been stripped out and I need to figure out how to keep it on there as it sits in the garage (though today she didn't really seem to care that it was gone as she played in the playhouse).

In addition to their weekly trip to gymnastics and toddler tunes, Madelyn and Tricia also had some fun learning time as they went through this set of winter learning lessons. Madelyn did great with her shapes, matching, colors, and counting.

I especially loved that she pointed out an error in the print-out where there were actually 10 hats on the number "9" card. Her struggles came with the concept of ordering things from largest to smallest. Madelyn was able to understand which was the biggest and which was the smallest, but the sequencing of multiple items in this way was something new to her. I'm confident that with the impressive job Tricia continues to do committing time to teaching these things to Madelyn and with the way Madelyn quickly picks things up, they'll have that down in no time -- both of them amaze me :)

- Troy Olson, 2012