Signs of Autumn

Fall is in the air!  The girls are out of their minds over signs of autumn everywhere we turn, from the nearby "pumpkin patch" (which is really a church lawn full of pumpkins for sale up the street from our house) to the changing leaves and the chill in the air.  Madeleine continues reciting her "Apple Tree" poem from school:



And both girls have already broken out the Halloween-themed outfits and pajamas:

Madeleine was insistent upon locating her pumpkin trick-or-treat bucket this morning, hence its appearance in the above picture.

MADELEINE: Mommy?  Where's my PUMPKIN?
ME: What pumpkin?
MADELEINE: Um...my BIG PUMPKIN.
ME: (pointing at our pumpkin figurine up on the windowsill) That one?
MADELEINE: Um...no...my big pumpkin with the TOP with the BLACK TOP that I can hold on to so I can go TRICK-OR-TREATING.

While the girls have had their Halloween costumes picked out since summer, Madeleine took a moment this morning to contemplate what her parents should dress up as.  Since I was planning on wearing my usual orange top and black pants on Halloween, I tried to pass that idea off as a pumpkin costume.  Madeleine would hear none of it.


MADELEINE: Mommy, what should Daddy be for Halloween and what should YOU be for Halloween?
ME: Um...maybe I'll be an orange pumpkin, and I'll wear an orange shirt.
MADELEINE: Um, no... because... you wouldn't have any FEET if you were locked in a ROUND PUMPKIN costume.

Ah.  Wise point, my young witch.

And while she was decked out in her Halloween pajamas for bed last night, before changing out of her clothes, Madeleine was sporting a tee-shirt covered with sparkly ice cream cones.  As I directed her towards the bathroom to brush her teeth last night, I took a moment to sneak some snuggles in:

ME: Okay, Madeleine, it's time to brush your teeth, but first I have to eat this ICE CREAM HERE!!! (grabbing her and pretend chomping on the ice cream on her shirt)
MADELEINE: Um...I'm not ice cream!
ME: But what's on your shirt?
MADELEINE: Um...Ice cream!
ME: It's delicia-rotten.

(Side note for those not in the know: Madeleine refers to ice cream as "delicia-rotten" due to the paradox of enjoying the taste while wincing over the resulting brain-freeze.)
MADELEINE: But...big kids don't say delicia-rotten!
ME: Am I a big kid?
MADELEINE: Um...um...(squealing) You're not a KID!
ME: What am I?
MADELEINE: Um...you're a...um...you're a...um...you're a...um...you can get REAL medicine that's in your BEDROOM.

Aha.  So that's what separates the kids from the adults.  The ability to get REAL medicine from our bedrooms.  All this time I thought it was puberty and aging.  Good thing I have Madeleine to set me straight.