Everyone has a cold

We've been battling colds around here since Christmas. Mine came on slowly with a slightly itchy throat early in the week and gradually progressed to severe congestion. At least the throat pain is pretty much gone. The congestion came on yesterday afternoon. Almost suddenly my nose was blocked up and I couldn't smell or taste anything. Which was unfortunate because Jason and I went out for a wonderful dinner last night for our anniversary. The rib eye I ordered had a wonderful crust on the outside and was perfectly cooked to medium and I'm sure it tasted great too. I saved over half of it to have in the coming days when my smell and taste return.

I woke up this morning with one partially unobstructed nostril and a very dry mouth. Fortunately the kids slept wonderfully and I wasn't too groggy from my Benadryl-assisted sleep. How the kids slept wonderfully I don't know as almost every time I look at them there are rivers of buggies running from their noses. Not surprising since we probably have the same cold and I blow my nose about every five minutes. Sam is starting to learn to blow his nose and occasionally gets a kleenex to wipe his own nose which usually ends up smeared all over the place. It's a start though. Matthew is in the phase where he hates having his nose wiped. Which means more smears all over his face. Yucky. Poor kids. Winter and colds are a hard, nasty time for children it seems. 

We ventured out to the Y yesterday when Matthew didn't have a runny nose at all and Sam's seemed to be getting better. I guess it improves as the day goes on. I always hesitate to take the kids to the Y or any public setting when they're sick as that's how things get spread around. But I felt our sick status was really not bad, so we went. As I waited in line to drop the kids off I could see a few other kids playing with buggies running down their noses. Ugh. What to do? Keeping kids at home all winter would be insanity. I dropped the kids off and went to ride the bike. I almost killed myself on the bike as I hadn't worked out in a week and was somewhat under the weather. As I was finishing up my workout I briefly thought I might pass out and wondered what the Y would do with the kids if that event should occur. It didn't and I shakily made my way to the locker room and then retrieved the kids.

Back to the colds, the poor kids, there are hardly any options for relieving their symptoms. Saline drops in the nose, a humidifier to help with breathing, and that's about it. I guess Sam could try some other medicines now that he's over age 2. I may have to try to find something for his cough. We probably won't make it to the Y today with both kids having bad runny noses this morning. We'll see how things go as the day goes on. Have a Happy New Year!

Two things I learned

1. Matthew doesn't digest paper. I will not provide further explanation for that.
2. Cars don't make you happy. Sam and Jason were looking at old cars for sale on the laptop. Jason was scrolling on some car websites and Sam would point out a car and then Jason would click on it to see more details and pictures of the car Sam selected. Jason asked Sam, "Will buying this car make you happy?" Sam thought a few seconds then said, "Nope."

Merry Christmas!

We are swimming in a sea of new toys and Christmas cheer! The kids are delighted and much occupied with all their wonderful gifts, which is very nice since we didn't go anywhere today and probably tomorrow too due to runny noses and Matthew's fever (which is pretty mild, fortunately). Except for Target. I've experienced a sudden urge for more totes. The sea of toys has me itching for organization. Jason purchased a few totes yesterday when he made a trip to Menards, but I've been on an organizing frenzy and believe I need a few more to become properly organized. This morning during Matthew's much longer than normal morning nap I organized the pantry and some more toys. But there is more to be done. Everything must have a place. And I will spend the rest of my years trying to teach Jason and the boys where the proper places are or re-putting away things. Maybe one of the kids will take after me, but you never know. For Jason, something is put away if it's out of sight. Whether that means it's under the couch or ottoman or in whatever drawer happens to be closest, you never know, but it's put away. In marriage and parenting, you must choose your battles.

Sam has a number of new favorite toys and bounced from toy to toy today. Although he managed to find some time to help me clean the counter, dining room table and bathroom. I just can't stop him from helping me. He got his own washcloth, dipped it in my cleaning bucket and went away wiping down dirty surfaces.When Jason got home this evening he asked me what Sam's favorites seemed to be and I just couldn't say. He really played with almost everything he got for Christmas.

Matthew's favorites seem to be a barn book he received (I'm not sure if he prefers reading or chewing it more), or some of the car toys he got. He also really likes some little animals he got with his John Deere riding toy. Again, anything that is good for chewing (or has tags) seems to be a winner.

We really enjoyed Christmas. I have reached the point in my life where I enjoy Christmas more because of the opportunity to see the kids' unabashed joy upon opening their presents than anticipation for my own presents. They haven't reached the point in their lives where they temper their excitement about Christmas as that is the Midwestern-male thing to do. They also haven't reached the point in their lives where they beg for certain toys and are disappointed when they don't receive those toys. They simply are overjoyed to receive anything (except for maybe clothing...that doesn't get much attention, although I sure appreciate it). What a fun Christmas we had. Jason was asking for days ahead of Christmas if we could let Sam open some of his gifts early. I had to repeatedly tell him no, that we had to wait for Christmas. I had to repeatedly tell myself no, that Matthew couldn't open his John Deere riding tractor early. Growing up, I never knew life would come to this, but it sure is an ironic and enjoyable change of perspective.

The wrapping paper mystery

A few weeks ago I was in Target admiring the nice wrapping paper. However, the practical side of me said that we didn't need any more, we already had a few rolls at home that would certainly get us through this Christmas season.

But then one of the rolls ran out. Then another roll. Then I lost a roll of wrapping paper. So we were out. How, you might be wondering, does one lose a roll of wrapping paper? It's not something small and easily tucked into a pocket or drawer like stamps or keys or a hot wheels car. It's about 3.5 feet long. I looked under the couches, not there. The closets, not there. The laundry room, which for the smallest room in the house, houses a lot of stuff like extra batteries, cleaning supplies, mailing supplies, diapers, in addition to the usual laundry room items, a washing machine, dryer, sink, detergent, drying rack, dirty and clean clothes. Not there.

I'm trying to put things out of Sam's reach these days to avert mess and chaos, but I often put it somewhere out of sight and it's done so quickly that I don't remember where I hid it. Shortly after Matthew was born we were looking for our security box to put his birth certificate into. I had absolutely no recollection of hiding it anywhere when we moved a year ago and was certain I had nothing to do with it. We looked in Ken and Cheri's garage and basement where we had stored stuff before we moved and could not find it. Jason vaguely remembered hiding it somewhere and fortunately we found it, along with our important security-box items.

Back to the wrapping paper. I'm sure I hid it somewhere, yes, it was me and not Jason, but I have no recollection of where I put it. Another sign of age and sleep deprivation. Well, maybe it was Jason. So we ran out of wrapping paper, and right before Christmas we have to venture out to a store to buy some more along with the throngs of last-minute Christmas shoppers. So yesterday morning we went to Target to buy some wrapping paper and toothbrush heads. I was admiring the pretty wrapping paper again when Sam got excited about Mickey Mouse paper. I was not planning on Mickey Mouse. How about the gold paper with Merry Christmas written in calligraphy all over it? Beautiful. Sam was insistent upon Mickey Mouse. I thought about the joy I'd experience with the gold wrapping paper and Sam's joy with having Mickey Mouse. It was obvious that he was much more joyful about the Mickey paper. We purchased it and now Sam wants to play with the roll of Mickey Mouse paper. So I must hide it somewhere...

Playing outside

Today it was a balmy 30 degrees so I decided to spend some time outdoors. I bundled the kids up in their winter gear. Matthew was wearing a borrowed snowsuit as he outgrew the other one we had. Unfortunately, this one doesn't cover the feet as the old one did, so we had to find something else to cover his feet. The natural thing would be boots or some kind of shoes, but since Matthew isn't walking yet I don't have any for him. I tried on Sam's boots from last year but they were much too big. So we resorted to mittens on his feet. Mismatched mittens as I couldn't even find a matching pair. You can't see them in the picture, but Sam claimed that Matthew looked like a monkey.

Sam was bundled up in his snow pants, coat, hat, mittens and boots. We played in our driveway awhile, then ventured down the street for a block. Matthew was riding in the sled while Sam walked beside me. We didn't venture too much into the snow as it's really much too deep for Sam to enjoy. We just played in the banks on the side of the street and driveway. After our walk down the street I decided to shovel the driveway some and got out shovels for myself and Sam. Matthew was sitting in the sled still and since he wasn't crying I assumed he was okay with the arrangement. After a few minutes of shoveling Sam wandered into the garage and said he wanted to go inside. Since we hadn't been out for very long and I had spent a good deal of time getting the kids ready for playing outside I wanted to spend more time outside. However, Sam had other ideas. He went to the steps leading into our house and proceeded to undress himself. I shoveled some more, then noticed Sam was almost completely undressed, except that he couldn't get the snow pants off over his boots. I relented and we went inside.

You don't have to teach kids to misbehave

Our old pastor used to say that you didn't have to teach kids how to misbehave, but you had to teach them how to behave. His point was that we are born with a sin problem. Today there was some more evidence to support this statement. It was about 5:45PM. I was putting away dishes and getting dinner ready. Matthew was playing on the floor by the dishwasher (or where ever else he rolled or scooted to in the kitchen) and Sam was playing in the pantry. He likes to close the door to the pantry and search out interesting items on the shelves.

After a few minutes Sam abruptly left the pantry. Usually his evacuation of the pantry is a result of my cajoling, redirecting or distracting. He doesn't usually leave on his own without good reason. I didn't think too much of it as I hadn't heard any loud crashing or anything of that sort. I continued putting away the dishes. Moments later Sam rolled into the kitchen riding his digger/dozer. There was some crunching noise as he rolled by the pantry--well, he was probably 3 feet from the pantry. I wondered where some sand or rocks came from that he was apparently rolling over and worried about scratching the floor. I immediately had him stop and get off the dozer so I could examine it and the surrounding floor. I knelt down and looked closely at the floor to see it was sprinkled with green decorating sugar. I followed the trail to the pantry and saw, shall we say, a large pile of it in the pantry next to an almost empty bottle of decorating sugar which used to be almost full. I asked Sam what happened and he fessed up that he spilled the sugar. And apparently he knew it was not a good thing to do since he had ran away and not told me what happened. This was probably the first incident of spilling that I did not see him commit and how did he respond? He ran away. Typical human nature. Hope no one will notice. Hope the blame is pinned on someone else.

I told Sam to stand back so I could clean it up. I felt Sam knew what had happened was wrong, but I also knew it was the result of an accident, so I didn't engage in any disciplinary action. I just put the decorating sugars up higher in the pantry. Anyway, I swept up the sugar from the kitchen floor, then I went to get the hand vacuum and started vacuuming. Sam, bless his little heart, finished up with putting the dishes away (at least the ones he could reach). I didn't ask him to, he just did it.

The pictures are of what we got from Santa this year. Matthew rolled right up next to the trunk of the tree and started pulling on the string of lights, so I pulled him out and then took his picture. Safety first, Kodak moments second. What a great present!

First Christmas program

Yesterday we had our first church Christmas program. On Saturday we had practice. When we arrived the little kids were going to their Sunday school classes for some crafts while the older kids practiced their part of the program, then the little kids were going to practice. Sam ran into his Sunday school room, sat down at the table and was ready for his activities. He didn't even notice that I slipped out to the kitchen to help prepare food for Sunday's brunch after the program. The teacher said she would come and get me if he needed me, but he seemed to be doing fine. I wasn't sure how it would go as I've always stayed with him during Sunday school and other church activities.

Two hours went by and I was still in the kitchen and Sam was still practicing. I snuck into the church sanctuary at one point to see how Sam was doing and he was in the front, practicing the songs with all the rest of the kids. After awhile Jason called to say that I was needed at home, so I went in to get Sam (they were finishing up) and was greeted by some of the other parents telling me how good Sam was. I was surprised. He sure is growing up fast. He melted down at the end when the teacher tried to put Sam's sheep costume on him...he didn't want anything to do with it. Other than that he began his stage career in good form.

When we arrived at church the next morning, however, Sam had a death grip on me and would not let me leave without some serious crying and screaming. We went to his classroom to practice the songs before church and he would not leave my side. I tried guiding him toward the other children and would stand nearby, but that resulted in crying and screaming. Then we went to put on the costumes and Sam again would not let me put him down without extreme protestations and would not put on his sheep costume without extreme protestations. I managed to get on his furry sheep shirt, but the sheep hat was not going to happen.

When the children's portion of the program started, Sam and the other kids were supposed to go to the front of the church and sit in some chairs in the manger scene. Sam went up there without me, but cried very loudly and desperately for mommy. It was awful. The first picture is fuzzy, but I think you get the idea (we're still figuring out the new camera). My options were to either take him back to our pew or sit up front with him as some other parents were doing with their wee ones. I sat up front with him. That's the second picture. He was consoled in a few moments. So we both got to be a part of the program. Poor Sam. He did so well in practice, but wasn't ready for the big show without some assistance. I wasn't really all that surprised that Sam wasn't ready to participate in the program without me, I was more surprised that the practice went so well. Someday, when Sam is older, I will look up at him  in the Christmas program and reminisce about how I used to have to sit up there with him and he wouldn't leave my side. As it is, I am still needed.

Craft time

After an unsuccessful trip to the bookstore for Christmas shopping (unsuccessful because I forgot my wallet), we returned home for some craft time. Today's craft: coloring. Sam isn't too crafty, preferring instead to play with cars, but he actually got into the coloring for maybe 20 minutes or so. Matthew (after an unsuccessful attempt to nap) also got involved with the crafting, but he mostly played with other toys at the table. He did get his hands on one marker and proceeded to color his face and we are thankful for non-toxic, washable markers. I didn't get a picture of the colored-on face, just a close-up of his cuteness during table play.

At one point Sam decided he wanted to fingerpaint, so he got the fingerpaints out of the cabinet. He said something like, "Want to paint" and I said something like, "No, put them back" and the next picture is Sam's interpretation of "putting them back".  Notice the symmetric placement of the paints with the wine bottles. I don't think my dad ever imagined that the wine cabinet he made for us would be multi-purpose in this sense, but here it is. Usually the paints are stored in the cabinet on the left.

All about Matthew

I thought today I'd write some about Matthew as his posts are often limited to sleeping and other bodily functions. But he does other stuff too. Like yesterday and today it sure seems like he is waving. I got some video of it. You can determine for yourself what he's really doing. Maybe he's just flailing his arms around. That's entirely possible.

And he is eating like crazy these days. Two weeks ago he decided that he likes solids. For about a month prior to that I would mix up some cereal, he'd eat a bite or two and be done. He just wasn't interested. He would chew on the spoon for a long time, but didn't want any food on it. I wasn't too worried because he is obviously sturdy enough without the solids, but I was hoping he take to them pretty soon and give me a break from providing milk.

So now he's eating probably a few tablespoons of cereal and a few tablespoons of veggies or fruit once a day. His favorites seem to be peaches and sweet potatoes. The peas always get a funny face out of him and reluctance to try any more. We'll keep trying though. Matthew also likes to be involved in the solid feeding. So here's the strategy. I use two spoons. I scoop up a little bit of food and hold the spoon about 8 inches in front of Matthew. When he's ready, he reaches out and grabs the spoon. I push it toward him so he ends up grabbing the handle and not the scoop. Then Matthew and I direct it into his mouth. He holds onto the spoon for awhile, chewing and sucking while I load up the other spoon with some more food. Then I hold the new spoon in front of him. When's he ready he drops the old spoon (hopefully on the tray, but often on the floor which I why I cover it with newspapers) and grabs the new spoon. This process repeats until Matthew is done. It's really pretty easy to tell when he's done. He simply will not look at the spoon with more food on it again. He plays with his bib, makes fists and squishes around the food in his hand or looks around, but he very distinctly will not look at the spoon with food. It's amazing how kids can communicate at such a young age.

On a final note, I finally finished Jason's sweater. I started it two months ago and it's done. 

Stir crazy

The kids haven't left the house since last Thursday. Jason says they don't understand they've been in the same place for almost a week, but I think Sam may be going a little crazy. Or maybe he's just driving me crazy. Yesterday before his nap we started heading upstairs and he laid down on the stairs. He then started trying to go up the stairs while laying on the steps with his feet first. Hard to imagine, isn't it? Imagine sliding down the stairs on your belly, head first. Then imagine that in reverse. That's how Sam attempted to go up the stairs. He met with little success.

I think he's managed ok, though, since he's got to spend a good amount of time in the basement with Jason lately. Jason has been getting things prepared for drywall installation (which started yesterday). He's enjoying using a tape measure and screw drivers and basically he mimics everything that Jason does. Except for using the saw. He is terrified of the saw. Jason doesn't use it when Sam is in the basement, but he expresses some fear just hearing it below us. I think he's more scared of the saw than the vacuum.

Matthew seems to be doing fine being cooped up indoors. We're reading lots of stories and playing with cars. He enjoys trying to stand at the ottoman. We usually spend some time in the kitchen and I get out the measuring cups and bowls and the kids play with them. Matthew usually just chews on the items, but a few days ago Sam decided to mix up an imaginary birthday cake. It tasted good. We also set up a car wash...a tub half full of soapy water. Then Sam takes his cars and plays in it for awhile, saying the cars are getting a carwash. Such are the days of winter. 

Let it snow!

So I'm sure you heard we got an excessive amount of snow yesterday. Yes, the Metrodome collapsed. Yes, we got maybe 15 inches of snow since Friday night. I went to the grocery store Friday afternoon for a regular quick trip and was overwhelmed by the harried shoppers stocking up on essentials for the weekend's innundation. Come on, this is Minnesota, people! 15 inches of snow does not mean a being snowed in for a week!

The kids enjoyed watching the snow plows come by yesterday morning and again this morning. The first picture is of them looking out the window at the plows. I don't think Matthew could see very well, but he sure was excited to be standing next to his brother. He's still pretty precarious when standing on his own, so there's always a adult close by, but he is getting steadier each day. He also is getting up on his hands and knees a lot more and I'd put him at about 2 weeks from forward crawling.

Sam opted not to help Jason with shoveling and the snowblower, preferring instead to watch from inside the house. He did mention wanting to build a snowman and we will probably try that sometime when it warms up. It's supposed to be in the 20s by mid-week, so we will maybe venture out at that time. Otherwise, we're staying in as the single digits really aren't appealing.

The second picture is our deck. There is quite a lot of snow on it from the past few storms. I guess we won't be using the sliding door anytime soon. The other picture is out our front door. I tried to take a picture of the mailbox, but...you can't see it. It's not that it's a bad picture (well, it is kind of a bad picture, but I really didn't want to spend much time outside), I can't see it either. It's just to the left of the driveway, maybe you can make out a piece of it. 

The mystery kitchen smell

Have you ever had a smell coming from somewhere that seemed to be inexplicable? We have for about the past week. It was coming from the garbage/sink area. Our garbage is a slide out cabinet just to the left of our sink. I first thought it was the garbage and changed it daily for a few days. The stink remained. Then I suspected the garbage disposal. I thought I had perhaps gotten some grease or something down the disposal when I was cleaning up after the pot roast that we had earlier in the week. But I vaguely remember the smell starting before the pot roast. Regardless, I tried to clean the disposal. Did a round of bleach. No change. Tried baking soda and vinegar. Boiling water. No change. Yuck. Finally last night I stuck my head directly over the disposal and it smelled...fresh. It wasn't the disposal.

I had thought the smell was worse under the sink so my next thought was something with the plumbing. I briefly entertained taking apart some pipes, but Jason deterred me. And the garbage area still smelled, even when there was no garbage in it. Hmmmm....What could it be? I was fearing some plumbing in the walls or floor or something. Being a novice, I really had no idea.

Then today I removed the garbage can and looked deep into the cabinet behind it and saw...two diapers. Two old, smelly diapers. I experienced a strange blend of disgust and relief. I had found the culprit. On occasion Sam throws away the dirty diapers for me. He likes to help out and I can only assume that the diapers didn't quite make it into the garbage can and instead were placed behind it.

I sprinkled a generous amount of baking soda over the area and hope that takes care of any lingering odors. The mystery smell is no longer a mystery.

Just browsing

I've been trying to post this for about a week or so, but have been having problems. Hope this works. Anyway, it's very cute how Sam intently looks through the farm equipment catalog. Jason suggested that we post a video of it. So here it is. It doesn't totally capture the intensity of Sam's browsing as we recorded him after he had already been looking through the catalog for a few minutes. You can get the general idea, though.

Bedtime

Last night Matthew was starting to act fussy and otherwise tired around 5:30. I was hoping he would make it until Jason got home from work, but then at 5:33 he let out a huge yawn, so I decided it was time for bed. He will have to see Jason another day.

We went up to Matthew's room and I put PJs and a new diaper. I then started the bedtime routine by reading a story. Matthew wasn't much into the story, but that's not too out of the ordinary. We then said a bedtime prayer and I shut off the light. The next part of the routine is rocking and singing Jesus Loves Me a few times. I was cradling Matthew when I started singing and rocking, and he started kicking, arching his back, whimpering and basically thrashing about as best a 7 month old baby can thrash about. I wondered if my instincts and read of his tiredness were off and I was putting him to bed too early. Partway through the second Jesus Loves Me, though, he went completely still and was out. He sure puts up a fight, but when he's really tired he is quickly and surely overcome. I placed him in his crib and went downstairs.

Jason returned home shortly and then we had a big dinner of leftovers accumulated through the week and some ooey gooey cake. Sam ate some cucumber, a little pasta and lots of applesauce and ooey gooey cake. We then played a little bit, but I could tell Sam was tired too as he was being more obstinate than usual and had gotten up early and didn't take a good nap. Sam started his usual routine of trying to stand on the couch and ottoman. This is a constant battle for us. Every evening he tries to do this and we still haven't figured out a good way to deal with it.

So last night I told Sam that if he stood on the couch he was immediately going to bed. He slyly looked at me and got on his knees on the couch. He started lifting up his leg to put his foot on the couch and smiled at me. Then he stood. "Ok, bedtime," I said. It was around 6:30. I picked him up and there was much screaming and thrashing about, and believe me, a 2 year old can thrash about a lot more effectively than a 7 month old.

By the time we were mid-way up the stairs, though, the thrashing and screaming had ended. We had an uneventful bedtime routine and Sam went to bed around 6:45. I guess he really was tired.

Random acts of Sam

This morning Sam went over to the basement door, opened it, and yelled "Mickey Mouse!" then he ran away. I closed the door and asked him what was going on. He came back over to the basement door, opened it, and yelled, "Mickey Mouse!" and ran away.

After Sam's nap he was cuddling with BaaBaa in the crib for awhile. I said that it was time for BaaBaa to go to bed as we had to go visit our friend down the street. Sam gave BaaBaa a big hug, placed him in the corner of the crib, gave him a baboosh, covered him with a blanket, kissed him and said, "I love you BaaBaa."

Tonight I was telling Jason about our day and I mentioned that Sam was really good today. I said to Sam, "Right, sweetie, you were good today?" He said, "Thank you."

I forgot to mention this earlier, but Matthew has two teeth now. Both bottom middle teeth have popped through, as the second one came through over the weekend. He's handling it like a champ, but drooling a lot.

Church strategy

Our new church doesn't have a nursery for children to attend while their parents attend church. When Sam was littler, I always wanted to keep him with us for church, although our old church had a nursery. I just didn't want to part with the kid and he was so well behaved at that time. All it took to keep him occupied during church were snacks and something to drink. Life was simpler then. Fast forward 6 months or so, and Sam is an all-out toddler, with the short attention span and antsy-ness that goes with his age. Sitting still for 5 minutes is a challenge, let alone a church service that is an hour or more.

So we have tried a number of things to make church successful. Our definition of success involves 1) Jason and I can worship with some focus, 2) Sam is relatively quiet and 3) Sam is somewhat occupied. Matthew really isn't much of a problem, although he has started talking a lot more lately. He also just gets excited and smiles and laughs at the people behind him. It's quite cute, so we generally don't try to contain his excitement too much.

So how do we negotiate a successful church outing? Well, we bring some books and a drink for Sam. We brought cars once, but that was a mistake. They are much too noisy on the wooden pews. I also tried to bring little animal toys, but Sam wasn't really interested in them. I tried loading up my bag with novel items (floss, chap stick, random junk from Jason's junk drawer, etc.) but he wasn't really interested in that either. We tried crayons and paper but that worked for about 1 minute, then he was on to the next thing. So we stick to books. Books with lots to look at. Books that Sam likes and have a lot of pages.

Jason does a really good job of listening to the sermon but keeping Sam occupied with the books. He turns pages slowly and points to various items on the page. Today was an especially effective. Sam didn't have to be taken to the lobby and he was pretty quiet. He didn't even say, "All done now" until an hour into the service. A few weeks ago, Sam said "All done now and started walking to the aisle 10 minutes into the church service. That was not a good day. However, today he waited until after communion. He really did show a lot of patience for a two-year old in waiting until an hour into church. Other than a short attention span, Sam loves Sunday school, so he is very excited for church to end so he can go to Sunday school. He loves Sunday school. He runs to Sunday school after worship is done. At least he enjoys part of the experience at church, and the worship for adults part is developing his self-denial and patience. Good virtues for a growing little man.

Need date night

During breakfast today I was telling Jason that I wanted to go on a date. We haven't had a date together since the middle of October. Not only do I want to spend quality time with Jason that doesn't involve sitting in front of the tv when we are both too tired to do anything else, but I'd like to have a conversation or just peace and quiet that doens't involve a discussion like the following:

Sam: Duck-orse! Duck-orse!
Me: Dinosaur? You want a dinosaur vitamin?
Jason: No, he means Duck-horse.
Sam: Duck-orse, duck-orse!

I'm usually right when it comes to translating Sam's talking, however in this case, I think Jason was correct. You may be wondering why Sam is saying Duck-horse. We have this barn toy that is magnetized so it sticks to the fridge and there are a bunch of farm animals, each in two pieces, with a separate piece for their front and back. The kids are supposed to try to match up the animals in the barn (one at a time), then the toy sings, "You made a match, look what you've done, you made a match, make a horse sound!" (or fill in whatever animal the child matched up). But if the child matches up a front of a duck with the back of the horse, the toy says, "A duck-horse, that's silly!" Sam was playing with the farm toy while our muffins for breakfast were baking.

It's not that I don't like such topics of discussion, I would just like some one-on-one adult conversation with Jason that doesn't involve such discussions. That's all. Some variety.

Addendum: (1:13 PM) This is a sampling of our lunch conversation:

Sam: cracker!
Me: cracker, please?
Sam: cracker, please
Sam: (takes cracker and smashes it on his head, in his hair. pieces of it crumble down his shirt and onto the counter)
Me: Sam, No! Don't smash the cracker!

Matthew has a tooth!

Today Matthew required a clothing change early in the morning (must have been around 8:30) as he couldn't limit himself to his diaper. I had done some laundry yesterday so I had some clean and freshly folded clothes in the laundry room and grabbed a change of clothes.

I cleaned up breakfast dishes, then the kids played for awhile in the living room. When I went over near the kids I smelled something yucky. Since it was around the time of day for Sam's morning BM, I asked Sam if he had a dirty diaper and he told me that Matthew pooped. Ok. Back to the laundry room. Another dirty diaper and another change of clothes.

After Matthew's nap we went to the Y. Things were fine until about 15 minutes into my workout I got paged. I figured it was for Sam since he had yet to dirty a diaper for the morning, but not Matthew as you already know what our morning was like.

However, when I got to the kid's center the staff member informed me that Matthew was very dirty. I looked over at my little guy who was sitting on the floor happily playing with something. His back was facing me and I could see a 4 inch stain on his shirt, above his diaper. Yuck. He soaked through his undershirt and his outershirt and was a mess. Unfortunately, I hadn't brought a change of clothes since I figured Matthew was done with dirty deeds for the day. I was wrong and Matthew was cleaned up and strapped into the carseat wearing only a diaper. I surrounded him with a cozy blanket and his carseat cover, so he was still warm, but the naked little guy was quite a sight all packed up in his carseat. I took Matthew's picture when we got home in memory of our eventful morning.

The staff member also asked if Matthew was teething because she said that frequent blowouts are sometimes associated with teething. I was so flustered by the whole ordeal that I forgot about what she had said, but later in the day I was playing with Matthew and he grabbed my finger to chew on it and, ouch, a tooth had broken through! So Matthew is 7 months, 3 days, and he has his first tooth.

The other picture is from Thanksgiving when Matthew tried on the new hat I knitted for Sam. Fits him pretty well too. I forgot to post it earlier, so here it is.

Hodge podge

I couldn't think of a cohesive topic to write about today, but there have been a number of things I've been wanting to write about so here is a hodge podge of recent happenings.

Matthew has taken quite strongly to playing at the ottoman. While he still can't stand completely on his own (he stands next to the ottoman, balances himself with his hands while my hands hover within a cm of him), he exhibits such joy at being able to play at The Ottoman. The squeals and laughs are continuous when he is standing next to his brother playing with cars.

Matthew's favorite time of day seems to be when Jason returns home. He saves his most expressive squeals for when he sees Jason's face upon returning from work. However, half the time, Matthew is already in bed when Jason comes home. Poor kid, he misses the highlight of his day.

Sam started playing today with a little RC bulldozer that he received for his birthday. He previously has been scared of it and it's sat on the shelf for over two months now. It has ridged plastic tires and spins around when it's not being directed with the RC and is probably one of the noisiest toys we have (thank you very much, David and Alicia). Today, though, he rediscovered the joy of his RC bulldozer and he played with it frequently. Toward the end of the day I was about to go crazy, but fortunately Sam stopped playing with it and after awhile something brought on the worst tantrum we've seen for awhile. By that time I was too tired to go crazy about the tantrum.

Speaking of crazy, today when I was getting Sam ready for nap, he picked up a small plastic basket, put BaaBaa in it and said that BaaBaa was going to nap in the crib (basket). I looked down at BaaBaa and thought, completely seriously, BaaBaa is going to outgrow his crib soon. I don't know what has happened to my reality.

Worth fighting for

Every time I issue a command or say "No", I should think about whether this is something worth fighting for. Because there will be a fight. There will be no swords or guns, just a war of the wills. Mine versus Sam's (fortunately Matthew is not at this point yet, he is in the charming "older baby" phase. Additionally, Matthew is the family CEO for the time being and Sam only thinks he is). The fight goes something like this. I issue a command such as "Get down" or just say "No." Now I'm not talking about unrealistic commands or expectations, but toddler-appropriate ones. Things that toddlers need to start learning to be productive in the world. After my command Sam either 1) disobeys and continues or 2) starts screaming and crying or 3) complies and life goes on. If he disobeys, I issue the command again or immediately remove him from the situation, which then results in screaming and crying. It's then a war of the wills to stick to it and not let the crying/screaming cause me to change my mind. I usually try to distract myself by doing something that needs to be done like putting away dishes and let Sam cry/scream without a direct audience. Matthew usually just stares.

So this afternoon I made popcorn for our snack. I have a rule, "snacks stay at the table or counter". Does that mean that Sam must be sitting at the table or counter? I haven't drawn that line in the sand. I require that the food stays at the table. So today Sam brought his bowl of popcorn over to the ottoman. I reminded him that snack stays at the table. He pulled out a few kernels of popcorn and sets them on the ottoman, then returned his bowl to the table. Hmmm...Smart move. My turn to countermove. I have not faced this issue before. What do I do? Sam returns and quickly consumes his popcorn. I do nothing. I remember times like this when I was teaching. I would face a totally novel situation, not know how to react and react poorly, then mull over my miss-move later. So Sam partially obeyed, but not quite. I guess I'm not sure he was trying to disobey, just being a toddler and not understanding that the command meant all the popcorn and the associated bowl. These dilemmas are a daily, maybe even hourly occurrence. I never knew parenting would require such endurance.

Is it worth fighting for? Is saying please and thank you worth fighting for? Is picking up toys worth fighting for? Is being quiet in church worth fighting for? Is not standing on the couch worth fighting for? Mostly the tactic of distraction works, but there are occasional crossroads that require a more parental posture. And they're becoming more common as Sam develops more of a mind of his own and also becomes more mobile and able to get into almost everything. Like 90% of our stuff is within his climbing ability. We are going through occasional skirmishes in the war, but I try to remember 1) it could be much worse and 2) I am raising children who will someday be adults and toddler behavior just isn't going to cut it for them in the real world.

And we have our victories. For example, the past three times we went to the grocery store I told Sam before we went in the store that he was to remain in the car cart at the store. I've read about this tactic (communicate expectations before entering the store), but wasn't sure that Sam was old enough to understand it. But the past three times he has remained in the cart. I really haven't had to warn him either. He just sits in the car cart, honking the horn and pointing out different kinds of foods. He hardly grabs anything. I point out some things and have him grab items that are at his level and he complies brilliantly. I can't believe it. It's like magic. During times when the war is less pleasant, I remember the small victories like the grocery store.

Thanksgiving road trip

This weekend we went down to IA to see the Reese family. Car trips are becoming more and more interesting these days. Matthew isn't much of a car sleeper, which is very different from Sam. Sam slept the entire way to IA and back until he was a little over a year old. Matthew, however, is good to sleep for maybe 45 minutes (even if we're driving during his nap time), then he's awake. Keeping a baby occupied while confined in a car seat poses some unique challenges of which we are still trying to figure out but we really didn't have much of a problem, as long as Matthew had plenty to eat.

Sam was well behaved on the trip down. He looked at his books and played some cars as best he could and otherwise enjoyed the view facing forward. Jason and I explained the state line to Sam and when we crossed into IA we told Sam that we were now in IA. Frantically, he said, "Where is it? Where is it?" I think he equates IA=the Reese farm. Then we saw a bunch of wind turbines which Sam called "stars" until Jason informed him that they were called "boondoggles." From then on, Sam pointed at them and said "Boondoggles! Boondoggles!"

On the ride home, Sam looked intently through his farm equipment catalog for the first 10 minutes. I mean intently. He would open to a page, then scan back and forth across the pictures of tractors, combines,skid loaders, fork lifts and other equipment. The catalog is one from Grandpa Don and Grandma Sue's and it has been looked at frequently. Sam took a liking to the catalog on our last visit in October and Grandma Sue said he could have the catalog. We forgot to pack it up with us, but Grandma sent it in the mail. Shortly after it arrived we looked at it all the time. I offered to read Sam some stories once during Matthew's nap and he instead wanted to look through the catalog. And we looked through it for 20 minutes. I was so tired and it wasn't the most stimulating for me, but Sam loved it.

Anyway, back to the car ride. The catalog kept Sam occupied until about Fertile (10 minutes into the trip). Then Sam asked for books. So I handed him his books one at a time, which he looked at each one for less than 10 seconds. 15 minutes into the return trip, Sam had exhausted his supply of reading material. I gave him the one toy we brought with, which was a backhoe digger. That occupied him for a short while too. Fortunately we passed bunch more boondoggles and Sam enjoyed watching them.

After 45 minutes we stopped for gas and snacks. Sam and I went into the convenience store which was a new experience for Sam. We went to the area with bags of cookies, crackers and other snacks. I decided to let Sam pick out his snack. He chose some Teddy grahams and took them off the shelf. He then saw the ritz sandwich crackers which he had at our playgroup last week, so he replaced the teddy grahams and grabbed the ritz. I then scanned the other side to see what I wanted for a snack. I did that for maybe 5 seconds and when I had made my selection (I went with a banana) we started walking to the checkout counter. I looked down and noticed that Sam now had goldfish crackers. I looked back to the snacks and Sam had replaced the ritz and apparently grabbed the goldfish.

We made it back to the van and were on the road. I had forgotten to bring a covered cup for Sam so we had to try to drink the chocolate milk we had purchased in the bottle it came in. That went well for maybe 5 minutes. I would hand Sam his bottle and he would take a drink and hand it back. Then he dumped half of it on his lap. Fortunately he was wearing athletic pants so he didn't get soaked. Most of it was absorbed by the car seat. Fortunately, the cover is machine washable.

Matthew slept for, of course, 45 minutes. Then he was awake but didn't make any fuss. Sam was perturbed for the last 20 minutes or so as he wanted to get to "Arden Hills". He would occasionally whine frantically, "Arden Hills! Arden Hills!" Then when we got about 2 minutes from our house, Sam said, "No! Grandpa Dons!" Apparently he wanted to return to the farm.

The cure for insomnia

Play hard. That seems to be Sam's prescription for good sleep. For example, this morning he was throwing a little rubber football around. It would maybe travel 5-7 feet, then he'd run after it and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat. Yesterday evening while we were at Ken and Cheri's after a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, Sam was pushing a metal Tonka dump truck around the loveseat and couch. And he wasn't just pushing it, he was running and pushing it. And he went around and around and around and around and around. The adults were sitting or laying on the couch and loveseat in exhaustion and here was Sam going and going and going. When we returned home we had some leftovers then Jason and I were sitting on the couch and loveseat. Sam was climbing from the ottoman to the couch and/or loveseat using our legs as tightropes. He would squeal in delight when he reached his destination and roll around and/or kick his legs. And he did this over and over and over. A few nights ago Sam figured out he could use my legs as a slide. So he would sit on my lap, then slide down my legs as I was sitting on the couch. And he did this over and over and over. Additionally, Sam's pace in life seems to be "running". When we go from the van to buildings such as the Y or the grocery store, Sam runs. Fortunately, his running pace is close to my walking pace, so it's not too much of a problem. But he runs. That's just what he does.

And then he sleeps hard. Sam goes to bed around 7:30PM and usually wakes around 7AM or so. I've only had to go in to his room once in the past two months and that was two nights ago to give him some water because he was coughing hard. He really sleeps hard. I think it's a combination of being super tired from his super-activity level, but also he likes spending quality time with BaaBaa which only occurs in his crib. He naps every afternoon and you can usually bet on at least 2 hours of nap. Sometimes more, sometime less.

Sam's motto: play hard, sleep hard.

I am a minivan

Today Sam was reading one of his many truck/car books and he pointed out a pickup truck and said, "Daddy's truck! Daddy's truck!" Then he pointed at a minivan and said "Mommy's minivan!" I said, "Where?" as I wasn't aware that there was a minivan in his book. There was, and he clearly associated the minivan with me. I relayed this story to Jason when he returned from work and he said, "You are a minivan" over and over.

I am a minivan. When people see the black minivan driving down our street they think one of two things: 1) there goes Ally (if they know me) or 2) There goes the lady down the street in the new house (if they don't know me). Either way, I am identified with my minivan. There comes a point in life when you realize that you're getting older. It creeps upon you slowly and insidiously, but it's there, showing it's face occasionally in moments like the one I just described. Like when you realize that you're older than most pro sports athletes. Or older than most of the students walking around the U of MN (when I occasionally return). Or much older than the former students I used to teach.

I thought only middle-aged moms, my parents and in-laws and old people had minivans. (No offense is intended to any of those groups of minivan drivers). But I have one. My view of myself just doesn't jive with my view of minivan drivers. We've had the minivan for over a year now and somehow I have managed to disassociate myself from the reality that I drive a minivan. It simply is. I know I have a minivan and drive it almost exclusively, but I manage not to think about what that means about me. Maybe it just means that I have two kids and a minivan makes life with kids much easier. Plus it's comfortable on my back.

Increased mobility

Matthew is now putting together scooting, rolling and pushing himself backward (in an unsuccessful attempt to crawl forward) to move himself around maybe 4 feet or so. This results in him not being in the same place where I left him, he often moves out of my sight, gets into Sam's toys and sometimes gets stuck under the couch, as seen in the picture. I knew it would come to this eventually, but I am not mentally prepared for this change. When I'm getting ready in the bathroom I can no longer confine him to the bouncy seat, so I have him sit on the floor outside the bathroom as it's carpeted there, and he plays with a box of treasures. Matthew's Box of Treasures is a wicker basket filled with treasures like a gift bow, some balls, a highlighter, a metal candle container, a small empty paperboard box, a random toy car or bath toy, a ribbon and a large piece of felt. They are diverse materials designed to stimulate Matthew's senses. Actually, it's filled with basically what I found in the hallway when I was scrambling to find something to keep Matthew occupied while I got ready in the morning. They were items that Sam had dragged out of their places and left wherever he felt like leaving them.

Sam is becoming more mobile too. He has tried to scale the shelves in the pantry to get to snacks and other untouchables. I move them higher and higher, but he seems to find a way around my defense tactics. He also takes chairs, stools and other objects like boxes or the potty chair to wherever he pleases and uses them to boost himself higher. Almost no place in the kitchen is safe anymore. I have no where to put my cell phone which is out of his reach, but easily within mine. I put a few items in the cupboard above the fridge, but that isn't exactly an easy place to retrieve them from when needed. Every morning he takes the stool from the guest bath (which I sit on during bath time) and brings it into Jason and my bedroom and turns on the ceiling fan. Or he takes it into his bedroom and tries to get into his crib to retrieve BaaBaa. I make him return it, but it is seriously annoying.

PS Matthew is doing much better now. He still has a cold, but we had an uneventful night last night and day so far.

An early morning for Matthew

Matthew's had a little bit of a cold lately as we all have. He was a little snuffly when he went to bed and was hoarse and coughing when he woke up at 10:30. We got bundled up and spent some time outside which seemed to calm him down and he went back to sleep. At 12:30AM he woke up and was coughing very badly and having trouble breathing so we decided it was time for a trip to the ER. We've been down this road before with Sam and I didn't want another ride in an ambulance for little Matthew.

At the ER Matthew was immediately seen, much to the annoyance of the other people in the waiting room, although I overheard someone say something like since it was a baby skipping to the front of the "line" it was ok. Apparently the waits were rather long. Apparently, a number of people had slipped on the ice and fell. Matthew had croup and was barking and wheezing accordingly. Poor guy. He responded to some medicine pretty well, and fortunately didn't have a fever or other symptoms and by the time we went home at 4:30 he was almost back to his normal self. We were there for over 3 hours in the middle of the night and Matthew only slept 10 minutes. It's not that we were being examined all the time, he just looked around him and kept himself busy with his new environment. He slept this morning until 9 and is napping again now (10AM). Sam is now watching the wheels on the bus video and it might be a day of many videos for Sam. Hopefully we can all get some good naps in this afternoon.

It's Winter

We have snow here. Over the weekend we got maybe 8-10 inches of snow. It was 67 last Wednesday, and now it fully looks and feels like winter (though the temps aren't bad, in the 30s). This means we must find a new routine as going out for our daily walks probably won't occur anymore, nor will we be playing in the sandbox. Just when you think a new routine is figured out, something changes, like naps or the weather. Either way, it's out of my control.

Yesterday I bundled everyone up and we went out to play in the snow for a bit. Sam loved the snow, but he hated his mittens (which I had purchased at Target the night before). I just can't seem to get his thumb into the thumb holes. There must be a better way. And his snowpants from last year just are too small. They barely tuck into his boots and he got some snow into his boots while we played. So I will be making another trip to find new snowpants. Fortunately Matthew's snowsuit and hat fit him perfectly. Matthew was pulled/pushed around a lot in the baby sled which he seemed to enjoy. Sam would push and I would pull the rope attached to the sled or vice versa. The baby sled really works best in about 2 inches of snow, so we were limited to areas where the snow had mostly melted. And the handle/rope is about 2 feet long, so it really worked better to have Sam pull and me push. Either way, I was awkwardly bending over and my back was telling me my age (or adding a few extra years). After awhile Matthew and I sat on the front steps and Sam pushed around the empty sled.

It was pretty fun, except that it got dark so early, so we couldn't play outside too long. On nicer days this winter I think we will spend some time outside, but definitely not as much time as we did before, so we are again going to have to figure out a new routine. I think we will go to the Y more often as Sam seems to enjoy playing there and I get in a workout as well as a needed break from the sometime crazy life with two little Kirchhoff boys. 

Playtime

This morning we went to church for our Tuesday playgroup, which was great fun. Matthew again got a lot of attention from the girls and Sam enjoyed playing with the trucks, balls and other children who were there. The "playing together" aspect of the playgroup involved chasing around and screaming, much like get-togethers with Sam's cousins on my side of the family.When the kids weren't "playing together", they we taking each other's toys and screaming at one another because a toy was taken and mom's were trying to intervene in the toddler problem of selfishness.

Then we returned home and Sam played with his trucks and cars as he always does. He gets out every single vehicle he can find and puts them on the ottoman and makes up various events for the cars/trucks, or just lines them up in a long row. Matthew plays with whatever toys I put around him as he sits on the floor, or he hangs out on my hip while I engage in cleaning, making lunch, laundry or just putting stuff away. A few days ago I put the Digger/Dozer toy near Matthew and he loved it. If Sam is distracted enough by another toy he doesn't have a problem with Matthew playing with the Digger/Dozer, but if's often a problem for him.

After Sam played for awhile he decided to strip. He took off his pants, socks and diaper and then said he had to go potty. I got out the potty chair and he sat on it for a few minutes, but nothing happened. I then asked if he wanted a diaper and he said, "No, Lightening McQueen" which is a pair of underwear. So we put that on, then Matthew needed attention as his BM had produced the need for a complete clothing change. As I was cleaning up Matthew and changing his clothes and diaper, Sam came to me, naked, and was whining, "Diaper, diaper." Ok. I finished up with matthew and put a diaper on Sam. I then took Matthew into the kitchen and started lunch and Sam stripped again. I'm just not having any luck today in the diapering and potty department. Maybe the afternoon will be better.

No Cookie Monster

This morning Matthew woke a little after 6 and then Sam a little before 7. I got Sam out of bed and returned to Jason and my bedroom to check on Matthew whom I had been playing with before Sam awoke. Sam followed me into the bedroom, then he turned around and said, "I get BaaBaa, no Cookie Monster." Okay. I'm not sure where he got the "No cookie monster" from and what he meant by that, but anyways, it brought a puzzled smile to my face.

Matthew has been laughing a lot lately. After months of few laughs, he now laughs frequently throughout the day and will laugh at almost anything (including Sam's dramatic cries on occasion). He laughs to himself as he's playing and laughs in conversation with myself, Sam or anyone else. It's like he's listening in on our conversations and copying our laughing whenever we laugh. And then we laugh in return and he laughs again. We're quite a happy house these days. He's quite good at keeping himself entertained, playing with toys on his own, talking to himself and laughing to himself and I still believe he has the gifting to be a radio talk show host. I don't know how people can talk to themselves for 3 hours and not get bored, but Matthew is showing potential in that realm. The Little Scooter, (fortunately he is no longer the Reluctant Napper) is not scooting too much on his bottom, but is combining scooting and rolling to move about 2 feet these days. He's still trying to get himself on hands and knees, but is not advancing too quickly in the crawling form of locomotion.

Pumper truck and Sam's imagination

Today during lunch Sam created a small tower of his cup, his empty bowl which had contained pears and the cap for the milk jug. Then he took another glass, put a straw in it and came over to his tower claiming he was a "pumper truck" and proceeded to fill up his tower with imaginary milk.

Another example of Sam's imagination is that he like to put his animals on the toy John Deere tractor mower or his dump truck or train and let them do the driving. He also takes his cars on various trips during the day, mostly mimicking what we do throughout the day. There are no secrets anymore and Sam bares all to Jason through his playing. For example, Sam was playing with his cars and I asked him, "Where are your cars going?" Sam said, "Drive thru for caramel cooler." Or he also has said "Drive thru for french fries." Now, these are not frequent occurrences. I maybe get drive through coffee once every other week or so and our trips to McDonalds are about every other week or so too. But Sam remembers everything and as he greatly loves french fries and caramel coolers they must make an impact on him. So Jason has learned about our little vices through Sam's play. I guess I'm busted.

But Jason's busted too. I have a women's Bible study every other week that I attend and play volleyball once a week. So Jason and Sam have some quality time together when I'm out of the house on those evenings. Matthew is always asleep by the time I leave, so he doesn't get any quality time with his dad yet. So I told Sam that I was leaving for volleyball the other night and started getting on my coat and shoes. And Sam turns to Jason excitedly and says, "Red guys, blue guys?" (red guys, blue guys = Halo, a video game that Jason plays). So apparently that's how they spend their quality time together. Jason gives Sam a controller without batteries and Sam "plays" along while Jason actually plays the game. Sam doesn't really push any buttons (unless prompted), but he holds the controller and intently watches the TV screen.

On a different note, I think Matthew may be a thrill-seeker. I get the most giggles out of him when I gently, of course, throw him up and catch him. He giggles and giggles and giggles. Much more so than any of the other antics I try on him. We must look silly trying to get that kid to laugh. Anyway, Jason and I certainly are not thrill-seekers and I don't believe Sam is showing those inclinations, so I don't know who Matthew will ride on roller coasters with down the road.

The wheels on the bus

When I was in 8th or 9th grade my family went to Disney World. We went on the It's a Small World ride and the ride broke down. So we were stuck on the ride for a seemingly endless amount of time listening to It's a Small World. Fast-forward to present day. Now I'm not stuck on a ride or anything, I'm a prisoner in my own house and have to listen to the Wheels on the Bus over and over and over.

It all began when a friend of mine suggested getting this Wheels on the Bus DVD to pacify Sam while I was putting Matthew down for nap or bedtime. She said her two-year-old LOVED it. So I purchased the 3-DVD set of "Wheels on the Bus with Mango and Papaya" (Mango and Papaya are a monkey and toucan) and it came with a CD of all the songs in the DVDs. Now the music is not just your typical Wheels on the Bus, it is actually many different versions of the song as well as other songs about the bus getting gas or getting tuned up or about sharing and taking turns, things like that. One of the DVDs has the bus going "all through the town" and visiting a zoo, aquarium, farm and circus, therefore, there are many different animals riding the bus and making their animal noises like a monkeys, mice, dogs and cats.

We've watched the DVD maybe two times over the last month, but we listen to the CD every day. Multiple times a day. Over and over and over during Sam's waking hours. At first, I would turn on the CD player every time Sam would ask for the music, but I finally decided to show him how to do it on his own. Whether this was wise or not, I'm not sure. He's been interested in the CD player for a long time and has been trying to figure it out on his own which hasn't been working out so well (for example, he pushes some mysterious button which renders the player inoperable and only Jason can fix it or he turns up the music so loud that everyone, including myself, cry and shake because of the shocking loudness), so I guess now he's appropriately using it at least, but he's using it all the time. 

In the morning, we all go downstairs and Sam shouts, "Bus video!" (video = CD). He runs to the CD player, turns on the tuner, pushes "3" for the Bus CD and it starts playing. Sometimes Sam stands by the CD player and lines up the three Bus DVDs side by side and looks at that and otherwise stands fairly still listening to the music. It's unbelievable how he stands for such a long time just listening to the music. Other times, like tonight, he goes crazy. He runs, jumps, jumps, jumps, jumps, jumps, flails his arms around in his typical dancing manner, occasionally sings along and does motions associated with the song like waves his arms back and forth for the "wipers on the bus" or claps his hands for "doors on the bus open and shut". He listens to the first five songs or so, then returns to the player and presses "3" again to start the CD over again as he doesn't like some of the songs at the end. After his nap the same routine occurs. A few days ago, Sam came down from his nap and said, "Prager show off. Bus video on." I was getting my daily dose of talk radio and Sam clearly had had enough of my boring auditory stimulus and wanted his own. fortunately he can't reach my radio with my talk radio so I remained in the kitchen listening to talk radio while he fed his appetite for the Wheels on the Bus across the room. If Jason was home the TV would have been on too, so that would have been interesting.

For days now, those songs have been going through my head constantly. They're with me in the car, when I shower, when I wake and when I go to sleep at night. What's funny about the whole thing is that I too really like the songs. I highly recommend the CD to any parent as it's music that when your toddler falls in love with it, it's actually fun and not annoying. I really like it. I dance occasionally to the music throughout the day (only to entertain the children, of course) and it's rather uplifting when dealing with toddler mishaps (I'm calling them mishaps and avoiding the terribleness of some toddler incidents) and crying Matthew who is not adjusting well to the time change. I have heard horror stories from other parents who never wanted to hear or sing the Wheels on the Bus for the remainder of their lives, but I certainly do not fall into that category.

Daylight savings time

On Saturday night we went to bed knowing full well that "fall back" for daylight savings time would not mean an extra hour of sleep for us. For some reason babies and toddlers don't bother with changing their schedules according to the rest of the US (except for Arizona, am I missing any other states that don't change time?) and do basically what they want to.

We all went to bed at our normal times and Matthew woke Sunday morning at 6AM (new time), Sam woke at 7AM (new time). We were all up and had breakfast by 8AM (new time) and actually made it to church about 1 minute early instead of late, which is normal for us.. Matthew got an early nap in before church, but still managed to yawn his way through the church service. Sam still managed to be a pill and get taken out by Jason mid-way through the service. Some things haven't changed.

Sunday night, Matthew went to bed at 5:15 (new time) and Sam at 7:10 (new time) and Jason and I managed to get to 9:20 or so (new time). This whole time change thing is not a lot of fun. The kids still want to eat at the same time, and get up and go to bed at the same time. Matthew was so fussy yesterday afternoon and I couldn't figure out what was the problem. For the past few months, he's had an afternoon snack around 3PM. And yesterday, at 2PM he became very irritated. I couldn't figure out what his problem was until I realized that to Matthew, it was still 3PM, not 2PM.

Today went pretty well, though, and the kids are adjusting. Matthew woke up at 6:30, which is pretty normal for him and Sam woke up just before 7, which clearly indicates that he is on old time still as he's been sleeping in until around 8. Matthew managed to stay up until 5:45 and he wasn't really fussy. I don't know if I'll make it up until 10 tonight as my cold has taken a bite out of my energy lately.

Matthew's 6 months!

This week Matthew had his 6 month appointment and I took some "formal" pictures of him too. He is still a big boy, although his weight is no longer in the 90s. Here are his 6 mo. stats:

Weight: 19.5 lbs (80th percentile)
Height: 28.5 in (95+ percentile)

Sam's 6 mo. stats were:
Weight: 17.5 lbs (50th percentile)
Height: 28 in (95th percentile)

The two kids are fairly close in height although Matthew packs two more pounds onto his 28 inch frame.

Here are some of Matthew's pictures. I included two smiley ones and two quintessential Matthew pics. The last pic is Sam at 6 mo. so you can compare the two kids.

No more diapers

For Sam, at least. In fact, he doesn't want to wear much of anything below the waist these days. I was wondering when this stage would begin. The stripping-and-running-around-naked stage. It started a few days ago when Sam kept on taking off his pants. I thought they were maybe too big and long and so he was stepping on them and wanted to take them off. But the past two days, everything has been stripped off, even pants that clearly fit him. And the diaper. And his socks.He goes into the stairway, strips, then starts screaming.

I asked him this morning if he wanted to wear a diaper or underwear. He chose Mater underwear (Mater is from the Cars movie). So we put on Mater. Then we went downstairs and Mater quickly came off. Sam had an accident so I asked him if he wanted to wear a diaper. He shouted, "No diaper! No diaper!" and ran around screaming. He's been doing a lot of screaming these days.

Then later in the morning Sam said he had to pee, so I asked him if he wanted to pee in a cup. I don't remember if I've mentioned this or not, but we've made a habit of peeing into a cup at the beginning of bathtime to salvage the bath water. He said yes and I quickly found a disposable cup and we averted another accident. In the afternoon I asked Sam if he wanted to wear a diaper for his nap. He said yes. An hour later he was awake and I went into his room and he was naked from the waist down. His diaper was a little wad on his mattress. I've decided to take advantage of his desire for nakedness to work more on potty training, so I just let him go naked.

After awhile in the afternoon, I saw Sam eyeing the potty chair and slowly walking by it as if he was considering it. Then he bee-lined up the stairs, which is not unusual as he generally goes upstairs after his nap and attempts to get BaaBaa out of the crib. A few minutes later he came down the stairs and said, "Mommy, big one upstairs." Matthew was eating at the time, so we finished up then I went upstairs knowing what awaited me. There were two big ones next to Sam's crib. He was quite proud of his accomplishment, and we cleaned it up and flushed the evidence down the toilet. I told Sam to try using the potty next time and he nodded.

I still decided to let Sam go naked to see how he progressed in his potty training. Later in the evening when Jason returned home, Sam went over to his potty chair, grabbed the disposable cup and peed right into it, the flushed it down the toilet. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

A house full of sickies

Well, I just gargled some of Jason's whiskey as my throat is rather sore and nose rather runny and head rather foggy these days. I poured myself about 1/4 of a shot, got it to the back of my throat and gargled for maybe 10 seconds. As I spit the whiskey out, I couldn't get it over my lips without touching them so now they are numb. But so is my throat, so that's a positive. Ugh. Sam has been a nose-running fool these days too. And rather crabby. Whenever I tell him I need to wipe his nose he runs away from me and then proceeds to bury his nose in whatever happens to be near him at the time. Yesterday it was a blanket and Matthew's winter coat (bunting???) and today he got my jeans and the couch. Yuck. Matthew has just a little runny nose and runny eyes. He started showing symptoms today, whereas Sam started Saturday and Jason and I started feeling yucky Sunday. Maybe he's just a little behind the rest of us, but I hope he holds strong and doesn't get too sick as a sick baby is no fun for anyone.

We've finally entered the stage of toddlerhood where Sam runs away from my summons and yells, "No!" I was wondering when we were going to arrive at that point (as I've heard about it extensively from other mom friends) and hoping that we maybe wouldn't, but alas, here we are. I'm not sure what it is about nearly every request and summon that results in running and yelling, "No!" I think it's just a phase of toddlerhood that all must go through and reflect upon God's sense of humor in the whole deal. I've had to reach deep into my repertoire of manipulation, err, parenting skills to motivate Sam to acquiesce. Otherwise I just chase him and force compliance.

Matthew has started copying some behaviors and reaching out to be held. It is cute to see him grow in these ways as it's just neat to see him communicate in ways other than crying or smiling. I was clicking my tongue this morning to Matthew and he started bobbing his jaw up and down, mimicking my mouth. Then Matthew was playing on the floor (sitting) for awhile this evening and when I walked over to him he reached out his arms. I don't know why I get so surprised to see him gaining more and more control of his muscles, as it's how babies grow and development, but it's fun to see how he grows and changes everyday. It really seems like every few days or so he's gained or refined some skill.

Later today I showed Sam tongue-clicking and he was mesmerized too. He just stared at my mouth for like 15 seconds of clicking. Then he wanted to put his hands in my mouth to see how the tongue was working. That didn't happen.

Happy Halloween

This was supposed to be posted on Sunday, but I messed something up, so here is a belated Halloween post.

Last night Jason, Sam and I carved pumpkins. Matthew was already in bed, as he went to bed at 5:15. Sam actually put his hands in the pumpkin and pulled out seeds and other innards without so much of a cringe, but he still preferred to unsuccessfully use a spoon. Jason preferred to do his carving with power tools and it's not to hard to tell which two pumpkins he was responsible for.

We're going trick-or-treating to a few houses around the neighborhood with our friend Emily and her mom, Heidi tonight. If I can get some good pictures I will post them later.

Trip to IA

Last weekend the kids and I went to IA for a few days to visit our IA kin and enjoy some time on the farm. It was interesting traveling with two little ones. On the trip down, Matthew became quite unhappy with just under an hour to go and we had to take a break. On the way back to MN, Sam became unhappy and we drove right through it. Sleeping in the same room went pretty well. Sam actually slept in a walk-in closet, where he was quite happy and of course, slept like a rock as always. Matthew had two mediocre nights and one night which was his best sleep in maybe three months. He was sleeping so well that I really welcomed his early morning cry at a little after 5. 

We arrived on Thursday and it wasn't until Saturday that Sam warmed up enough to get into the cab of the new tractor. Or maybe it was that he was more interested in playing with the cats instead of the tractor. When Grandma Sue finally got him up the ladder into the cab, he had a great time and enjoyed playing in the tractor with his cousins, Blakely and Blaze. This week we've been hearing chants of "Shut the door! Shut the door!" from Sam as that was what the kids chanted at one point when they wanted privacy in the tractor cab. When they emerged from the tractor cab Grandpa Don drove up in his four-wheeler, which incited extreme shaking, but no crying from Sam. He clearly did not want to ride the four-wheeler. In Sam's world, tractors, construction trucks and the like are good in miniature and when they don't work, but the real deal is quite scary and overwhelming. 

For the most part, Matthew kept to his early bedtime of 6, but stretched it out to 6:45 on one evening. The evenings were filled with commotion as when the cousins under age 3 (Sam, Blakely and Sophia) get together it is a squeal and chase fest. They run from one end of the house to the other, in and out of rooms, squealing and laughing. I think the parents enjoy the activities, but it might be a little noisy and annoying to other family members who are used to more subdued evenings. Matthew slept through it all for the most part, preferring to do his waking up in the late evening/early morning hours.

Mobile Matthew

Well, Matthew has started to move around using the rock-n-scoot method. This involves rocking his upper body forward and backward and slowly shuffling forward by putting more emphasis on the forward motion. He usually is pretty successful for a few rocks, then gets over-excited and rocks himself too far backward, at which point he topples over. Sam did not use this method of locomotion. He was pretty immobile, except for rolling, for eight months (and couldn't even really sit up until then), and then put it all together (sitting, crawling and pulling up) over a two week period. But Matthew is already scooting about one foot. And that's his progress over the past two days. It's ingenious how babies come up with these things. My desktop wallpaper is a picture of the two kids from when Matthew was around one month old. And now he is doing the rock-n-scoot.

To celebrate Jason's last day of his two week vacation from work we went to the Children's Museum today. I was mentioning to Jason that it's strange that it's called a museum because it is really four stories of imaginative play area. There's a kid-sized town with a metro bus, grocery store, doctor's office and things like that, a water works plant, electric plant, nature area, and a special toddler/baby play area. Maybe museums stimulate the intellect and that's what the connection is? In the past I've spent around 2-3 hours there with Sam and some other mom and kid friends. However, I think Jason was ready to head out after maybe 45 minutes. He found studying the parenting culture very interesting, but I think that was all. Well, maybe he also enjoyed Sam's dancing exhibitions in front of the blue screen with music. Matthew was fairly entertained in the baby area with all the mirrors and some other stuff that seems to be interesting to babies. We stayed for about 1.5 hours (my shortest trip ever) and Jason complained about the crowd. He doesn't know what a crowded Children's Museum looks like. It's like the Mall of America on Black Friday, except for everyone is under 8 and has parents hovering nearby. The museum was so quiet this afternoon it was practically a library. Not once did we have to crowd in the larger-than-average elevator with four other strollers and associated parents and walking toddlers. Not once did I worry about Sam getting run over by unaware and reckless older kids. I'm sure Jason will have many more Children's Museum trips to look forward too as it is right next to where his new job is at, even sharing a parking ramp. I'm planning plenty of late afternoon excursions for our family's enjoyment.

Costumes and hugs

Last night's costume party at church was a lot of fun. Sam got 2nd place in the costume contest for his age group, behind a cute little mermaid. Jason stayed home with Matthew, who, of course, was already asleep. Unfortunately, our electricity went out at 5:30 or so and Jason was in the dark, literally, for once. The first picture is at the church, I was dressed as Gilligan. After unsuccessfully finding something for myself yesterday morning, I came home and told Jason I had nothing to dress up as and he surprised me his old Gilligan costume (red shirt and white hat). It was easy enough. Maybe in future years we will get more creative. If we decide to go out with the kids over the weekend, Matthew is going to be a pumpkin as some friends handed down their pumpkin costume. It's a little snug on the big guy, but will work for the short term.

Yesterday afternoon, Sam wanted to hold Matthew so I had Sam sit down on the couch and placed Matthew on his lap. They quickly toppled into the pillow next to them, neither was perturbed, and both appeared to be having fun. Then Sam wanted to give Matthew a bear hug as that is his "thing" these days. Matthew wasn't so pleased with that show of affection.