Matthew

April 30, 2010

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April 2012

Happy Birthday, Matthew! (a day early...)

Matthew turns two tomorrow. Wow, what an amazing two years. Matthew is such a nice, enjoyable kid. He can be very independent and obstinate, but he also knows how to make people laugh and brings joy to our lives. Today we celebrated Matthew's 2nd birthday with the Kirchhoff family. The kids played some, then we opened gifts and enjoyed pizza and birthday cupcakes. 

 Matthew was quite a happy camper during dinner and when we got his cupcake out he was even more excited, as you can see from the picture below. However, when we lit the candle and started singing "Happy Birthday" he became very serious and wouldn't smile or look at the camera or try to blow out the candles as you can see from the other picture. What a funny kid. I don't think he really likes the limelight, it seems he'd rather be the sideshow than the main event. 

Abby even had a fairly good time and tolerated being held by people other than myself! She wasn't exactly chipper, but she wasn't crying so that's a major move forward. She just needs adequate warm up time. Jason was commenting later in the evening that Sam seemed a little shy when the party started and I said that he just needs to warm up a bit too. But once he warms up, watch out! That kid knows how to have a good time! As Matthew has a tendency to remove himself from large groups of people and play by himself so he certainly seems to be introverted. With Abby, I'm sure it's developmental at this point and time will tell if she too will be an introvert. Such is genetics at work. Anyway, Happy 2nd Birthday Matthew. We love you lots.

Pile of dirt

A few weeks ago, Jason made boxes for my raised garden beds and last Friday a large dump truck came and delivered a large pile of dirt to be used to fill those boxes. I hurt my back early last week, so when the dirt arrived and the kids happily wanted to play in it, I really didn't care too much as at least they were happily occupied and I could just sit and watch them make a mess of themselves.

And make a mess of themselves they certainly did. The boys loved the dirt! They gleefully climbed up the pile and slid down, feet first, head first, rolling, stumbling, etc. They would climb up and fill their hands with dirt then throw it as far as they could (fortunately not at each other!). They would grab our shovels and try to get some dirt then dump it in the nearest bed. Usually only a quarter or half cup of the dirt actually made it to the bed, but the kids tried so hard and really enjoyed it. Some of the dirt was in large clumps (maybe 6 inches or so?) and were rather heavy, so Sam would load those onto the seat of his scooter and push them over to the beds. He's such a hard worker.

We went through three clothing changes that day. I finally realized yesterday after days of playing in the dirt that I should have a set of "outdoor" clothes for the kids to wear when they wanted to play in the dirt. Anyway, whenever we went inside I would strip the kids, have them shake out their boots and clothes and they'd deposit their dirty clothes in the washing machine. Then we'd get a good scrub down of their hands and feet and go on with our day. Finally it was time to clean up for the day. It was 4:30 and I had to give all the kids a bath, feed Abby and shower and prep myself for a wedding which we had to leave for at 5:45 (the kids did not come with). So I stripped the kids on the deck. And I mean stripped. They were completely naked--no clothes, no diaper, no underwear. Although it appeared they were wearing socks as their feet were mostly white and their little legs were very dirty. Yuck. Then since there was so much dirt on the deck and it was supposed to rain on Saturday, I wanted to quickly sweep it off. I told the naked boys to wait inside while I took probably 3 minutes to sweep the deck off.

Then I picked up Abby who was waiting by the sliding door, and we ran upstairs. At the top of the stairs were the dirty little boys. While I was sweeping, the boys grabbed all the pillows and decorative pillows off of Jason and my bed, piled them at the top of the stairs and were sitting on the pile. My naked, dirty little boys, sitting on my bed pillows. I think there were some shrieks and screams coming from me by that time. Eventually, everything "calmed down" and I was able to get Abby, Matthew and Sam bathed as well as myself.

Jason filled the beds with the dirt on Saturday, but there was some left over as Jason wants to "top dress" the yard (which means spreading new dirt on top of our grass...yes, a muddy mess I suppose), so we still have a pile of dirt which is still getting a lot of playtime.

Abby's 6 mo.

Today we had Abby's 6 mo. appointment. I took all the kids with as Sam had to get a shot and I thought Matthew could provide some comic relief for the whole outing. Actually, Matthew cried more than any of the kids despite not getting any shots or even being examined by the doctor. The doctor simply tried to engage him in conversation which resulted in an outpouring of screams and tears. Sam braved his shot very well and barely teared up. He almost immediately removed the band-aid covering the puncture as he thinks that that causes the pain, not the poke. Abby braved her shots very well and simply held in a scream with a bright red face for about 5 seconds, then let it out for about 10 seconds, then she was done and was fine. What brave children!

Here are their stats:

Abby's 6 mo. stats:
Weight: 15.5 lbs. (50th percentile)
Height: 27 in (90th percentile)

Matthew's 6 mo. stats were:
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)

Gardening

So this weekend we worked on putting together some raised beds for our garden. Yesterday was a beautiful day for working and although today wasn't as nice, we still had a good time working outside. After running in puddles for awhile, Sam and Matthew helped us with our project. Sam spent most of the time shoveling excavated dirt from our recent fence project from where it was piled up to the inside of the raised beds. One small scoop at a time. He worked very hard and did a great job. Matthew mostly spent his time climbing in and out of the beds or wandering around. I'm not exactly sure what he was up to, but he wasn't getting into trouble so that's all that matters. He also spent some time poking a stick into the dirt that Sam was shoveling into the beds. Abby spent her time either napping or hanging out, looking cute in the bonnet I sewed for her. After some hard work the boys took a break and peeked through the fence into our neighbor's yard.

Happy Easter

A couple of days late, but we had a good Easter with our family in Iowa. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera so I don't have any pictures of the festivities. We arrived in Iowa on Saturday, had a relatively quiet afternoon (at least when the kids were napping), celebrated Matthew's birthday with my side of the family and had an Easter egg hunt. The boys had a lot of fun finding Easter eggs and when I got one bag to put their treats into after the hunt, Sam decided that wouldn't do and stuffed his candy and coins into his pockets.

After a pretty uneventful night (Abby slept in the closet and had a hard time going to bed, but only woke briefly twice until almost 7AM. Matthew slept soundly in the laundry room and Sam slept on an air mattress in the bedroom while Jason and I slept in the bed.), we enjoyed a pancake breakfast, went to church to celebrate the Lord's resurrection, and had a wonderful Easter dinner. I hardly saw Sam at all, he was off with his cousins most of the time. Matthew spent his time bouncing between his cousins and finding his own things to do by himself. They enjoyed seeing the tractors and Matthew hardly at a bite all weekend as he was so distracted by watching all the birds, cats and the dog outside.

Abby had a decent weekend as she slept well, but I think she was bothered by all the commotion and unfamiliar faces as she was pretty fussy. She definitely wanted to be held by Mommy most of the time, and I remember that Matthew was often like that when he was a baby too. Abby laughed more than she ever has while watch Blaze play basketball and peek-a-boo so it was nice to see her happy side.

Here's a picture of Matthew wearing some of his new John Deere attire which he received for his birthday.

I got the two boys together for a picture and this is the only one where both of them are looking at the camera. Matthew is assuming a karate pose and Sam is enjoying BaaBaa's feet.

In a paragraph...

The other day I was writing up a short description of my consulting work and I started thinking about how I would describe the kids in a paragraph or so. So I started off thinking about three words that would describe each child, but when I came to Abby I just couldn't describe her in three words. So I moved on to a paragraph. And here they are.

Samuel Justus Kirchhoff. Also known as "Little Buddy" and "Sam". Sam is an easy going kid. He adapts well to almost any situation, and is quite joyful in whatever situation he finds himself once he warms up to it. He is very focused and has the ability to spend an hour or so in one activity, such as putting together a puzzle, reading books or playing with cars and trains. He is also very clever and Jason and I have to work hard to stay a step ahead of him. Lastly, Sam is gentle. Jason would say that he's sensitive, but I think gentle is a better description. He takes minor injuries and impediments harder than some, but is usually easily comforted with a mother's touch.

Matthew Coolidge Kirchhoff. Also known as "Frank" and "Matty Cool". Matthew is an independent and persistent little man. He likes to do things on his own (as I mentioned before) and doesn't give up easily. He is also quite funny, trying different things to make people laugh such as putting various items over his head and making sounds. He is loving and affectionate toward those he knows. Those he doesn't know get glares or stare-downs. He has diverse interests such as playing with cars, reading books, playing with stuffed animals and putting together puzzles and playing sports. Matthew is also probably one of the most polite toddlers you'll ever meet.

Abigail Reagan Kirchhoff. Also known as "Peanut", "Baby buddy", "Abby-cakes", "Abs", and "Abby". Abby is fairly mellow IF she is fed, diapered, and well rested. Without any of those conditions met she may be in varying states of distress ranging from fussing to piercing-5-month-old-baby screams and cries. Abby does well with a routine and familiar surroundings and she really likes to be able to look around, move around and touch everything around her. She needs lots of variety and interaction, but she also needs her peace and quiet to get well rested. She is an active baby, only staying still when she is sucking her thumb and sleeping. Otherwise some part of her body is in active movement mode.