Detecting Mousedown and Mouseup

Hi, so heres what I want to do. I want to let the user control an object, in this case a cartoon character blowing a bubble. I want the user to be able to control the bubble by rapidly clicking their mouse. The faster they click the bigger it gets and when they dont click or click slowly the bubble gets smaller in size.

The only tutorial Ive found that is similar is this http://www.kirupa.com/developer/mx/gamecontrols.htm

Anyone point me in the right direction of a tutorial closer to what im trying to do? Or can anyone suggest some action scripting to use?

Thanks!