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.

Matthew's longest morning nap ever

Since Jason was home this morning, I decided I would go out without the kids and find Sam a costume for our church's costume party tonight. I've been trying to give Jason some more opportunities to develop his appreciation for life at home with the kids. I put Matthew down for a nap around 8:15 and headed out. After searching 4 stores, I ended up with a walrus costume for Sam. Not exactly what I was looking for (I wasn't really sure what I was looking for), but it will work and Sam sure looks cute in it although he doesn't like the tusks hanging over his forehead.

When I returned around 10AM, Matthew was still napping. So Matthew took (and is still taking as of 10:38AM) his longest unassisted morning nap ever, under Jason's watch. Matthew's longest unassisted afternoon nap was a few weeks ago when I met a friend on a Sunday afternoon and he slept for over 2 hours. He is clearly in cahoots with Jason in thwarting my plan to give Jason quality time with the kids.

Shortly after I returned, I went upstairs with a load of clean laundry and began folding it on the bed. As I was folding some sheets, Sam took a pair of thick, fuzzy white socks that I wear to bed sometimes, hugged them, and ran with them down the hall, yelling "My lovey! My lovey!" At least that's what it sounded like he was saying. I suspect they reminded him of his Beloved. He went into the guest room where Jason was working on the computer, then emerged back into the hallway. I commanded, "Bring the socks back here." I've been a little annoyed by the toddler drag-and-drop routine and am working on getting him to return his grabbed objects back to their proper place, which in case of the socks, is on the floor right beside my bed. Sam said, "No." I repeated my command. "Bring the socks back here." He then placed the socks in his right hand and reached far back and threw them about 5 feet down the hallway. I stifled a laugh and went into the bathroom so he wouldn't see me. Moments later he came into the bathroom with the socks.

It's 10:46. Matthew is still napping. Jason is leaving to meet his new boss for lunch in a few minutes and I'm sure Matthew will wake up right about then.

Kiss it mommy!

This afternoon I bought some Doritos at the grocery store. I bought the regular flavor for myself and Sam and a flavor called "third degree burn" for Jason. We sampled them for an afternoon snack, and Jason was surprised at the hotness of his chips. We then put them away into the pantry. Later on, when I was making dinner, Sam got into the pantry and pulled out a few of the "third degree burn" chips and quickly put one into his mouth and immediately started wimpering and crying. I hurriedly got him some milk. Still crying, he said, "Kiss it mommy! Kiss it mommy!" I looked at his drooly, dorito covered lips and wondered, where do I kiss? I kissed his cheek and told him to drink his milk. The episode calmed down and I tried the chips too and immediately needed a drink. They were put up higher in the pantry.

After dinner we were cleaning up and Sam was messing around and accidentally ran into the cabinet, leading with his mouth. So he injured his lips and started crying. He came to me and wanted to be picked up, so I held him, then he stuck out his lips and said "Kiss it mommy." Here we go again. I planted a light kiss on his little lips and he was healed.

Tonight is the big Vikings/Packers game so Jason asked Sam who he wanted to win the game. Sam said the Packers. He asked again and received the same response. Then Jason asked, "Sam, who do you want to win the Vikings/Packers game?" Sam replied, "Vikings," then changed his response to "Packers." Jason thought Sam's responses had something to do with the order the teams were mentioned. So Jason slowly said, "Sam, who do you want to win the Vikings Packers game?" Still Packers. I told him that Mommy wanted the Vikings to win and asked him if he wanted the Vikings or Packers to win. Still Packers. Hmmmm. Our pro football indoctrination is not going well.

Extended time with my three Kirchhoff men

Jason is home for 2 weeks as he is between jobs right now. This morning Matthew woke around 6:30, so I got up with him, played for awhile on the polar bear ramp thing, then got ready for the day, then packed Matthew into the van for a trip to the coffee shop. Jason and Sam were still sleeping. It was around 7:30 when we left. I got a seasonal fru-fru drink and Jason's tall dark roast. When I returned Jason was awake, Sam was still sleeping. Sam is quite the sleeper these days. To bed around 7:30PM, wakes up around 7:30 or 7:45AM, and I haven't had to check on him at night in probably a month or two.

Then after breakfast Jason was making the most of his extended family time and read some stories with the kids. Sam also has frequently been asking to play "Red guys, blue guys" (i.e. Halo) and Jason gives him a controller without batteries and the two of them play. Sam is mesmerized by the game and pushes the buttons on his controller occasionally. The men have also spent a fair amount of time playing on the John Deere (while it's off, of course).

While I was making dinner (at a normal dinner preparation hour!) Jason was playing with Matthew on the floor. He was making a small blanket with a bear head dance and sing. He was singing something like, "I'm a bear without a body, I don't have any legs, I'm a bear without a body." Apparently Matthew was smiling at Jason's efforts. Matthew smiles frequently, though his laughs are hard to come by. He really makes you work for it. Anyway, Jason isn't much of a baby person, so I'll give him credit for trying.

Sam and Matthew have also been playing together more. Jason plays this game with Sam called, "Hold on Sam!" It involves Sam riding on Jason's back while crawling on the floor. So today Matthew was lying on the floor and Sam came over to him and said, "Hold on Sam!" while leaning over Matthew's back. Matthew was smiling and loving the attention from his brother. Sorry about the low quality pic.