Imaginary Mommy

I am listening to Michael in his room as he is winding down trying to fall asleep.

Usually I hear him singing Beatles songs to himself, but this time, I hear him having this conversation with his imaginary Mommy..the Mommy who apparently always says yes to everything:

"Movie?" "Yes?" "Ok...."
"Hot Chocolate?" "Yes?" "Ok...."
"Mangos?" "Yes?" "Ok...."

This happens several times a day. I think he is trying to persuade Real Mommy to be as nice as Imaginary Mommy. "Well," Real Mommy thinks to herself, "Imaginary Mommy is giving in to his requests, and I don't want him to like her more than me...so Ok...."

Scary thing, is that he carries this conversation on so sweetly and earnestly, I think it works sometimes!

The Taste of Summer

Mamoo want a cracker?

Matthew is eating solid foods



Michael loves having Matthew at the table



It seems like Michael likes Matthew eating solid food so much that he his stashing crackers in places where Matthew can reach him.


Sound crazy?

Then why would we find Matthew laying on his back eating a CRACKER?!



Michael Sr saw it and asked me urgently: "Is Matthew supposed to have a cracker?"

If it wasn't so dangerous to see him lying on his back sucking on the corner of the thing, it would have been funny!

I mean, I am not the best housekeeper in the world, but if I saw whole crackers lying around,I certainly wouldn't have left it there!

So what other option is there except Michael stashed it for him?

I am glad Michael found it before Matthew got more than a little corner! What a nut!

May Update Part III: The Big Boy

Michael, Michael, Michael.

What can I say about this kid?

Michael amazes me with the things that fly out of his mouth, from the talking...


....to the singing....

and funny things that fly out of his mouth like:


"Where'd Mommy go?" If I leave the room...he'll ask Matthew.



"What're you doing Mary?" Looking at the picture of the Virgin Mary on our wall.



"What happened?"

"I'm sorry water" when his water gets confiscated because he was rolling it around the table and now he wants it back.

and

"Hola!" as I walk into the room.



Michael loves to sing. His favorite songs are:



"Hello, Goodbye" by The Beatles

"Obla-dee, Obla-dah" by The Beatles

"ABCs"

"ABCs" in Spanish, which sound like the English ABCs, except he sticks his tongue out really far when he says it....where he got that idea, I honestly do not know.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star" (which comes out "tinkle tinkle witt-ah stah!!!)

"Baa, baa black sheep" (I guess the last three songs are the same tune, so I guess it's easier for him)



We set up a little sandbox in the porch. Best $15 ever spent!

He plays outside for long periods of time distributing sand all over the porch...

...and other places.

He really does have some sort of plan as he sets about his work moving sound all around

I just don't know what that plan is.

All i know is that it started out as a 50lb bag of sand, and it's probably down to about 15lbs...so somewhere around our porch

and the entryway of our apartment

is a whole lotta sand.

Michael is really doing well learning to control his feelings. Sometimes he gets worked up (like anyone does!)

but he is pretty good if we work to talk him down.

We're really proud of him! He still gets set off at things, but keeps it together fairly well.



He is really a sweetheart. He'll spontaneously say "I love you" to people/things he's thinking about.



Most typically, it's "I love Daddy" (sometimes it comes out "I Daddy!" but we know what he means.





But I'll get an "I love you" too and so will Matthew.



Of course, Snoopy gets one.

Michael makes requests for breakfasts and lunches. Most often it's mangos with something; like waffles ("toffles"), bagels or "O'meal." He knows what he wants.

It's amazing how much he understands. We speak to him in pretty complete and grown-up sentences, and he seems to follow along and keep up. We give him directions, or explain things to him, and he seems to understand.

I also notice the little things, like how he knows to add an "s" at the end of words when there are more than one. I mean, it's a really sublte thing to pick up on, but he did! My favorite is when he says "light on" and then if I turn on another light, he'll say "two ons!"



We love to play "hide Ele-fountain." His stuffed animal, the elephant, has a pull-string that plays a song. It's so much fun to pull the cord, hide it and watch Michael find it. He loves that game and I love the expression on his face when he finds it.



So, that's our little Michael!

May Update Part II: 6 Months

So this week our little Matthew turned 6 months old.

As a result, the biggest development is that he is eating solid foods!



As with most things, he is easily accepting of the change and seems very content eating pears and sweet potatoes (not together...yuck!)


He is continuing to charm us and continues to grow bigger and, if you can imagine, happier.

One thing that makes his happiness a little trying is that he is content with whatever he is doing and doesn't really seem motivated to go chase down toys just out of his reach or strive to roll around to move. He can roll easily from tummy to back, but we can't seem to get him to go the other way.

He can wiggle and twist a bit, but I'm looking forward to seeing him more mobile and a little more sturdy and practicing sitting and eventually standing.

However, Matthew would be so roly-poly!

Matthew seems to be growing fast! He is in the same size diaper as Michael, and is only one clothing size behind him (12 months to Michael's 18!).

Matthew is gentle, patient and very sensitive. So when things are a little out of norm, he really is very tolerant, but he can be pushed a little too far....and that's where his sensitivity comes in. He is so trusting, if he feels like his trust is violated (like he gets his shots, or he is having a hard time sleeping, or he is uncomfortable for some reason)...it's devastating to him! He'll cry not with a cry of anger or frustration, but almost like, "Mom! I trusted you...fix this!"

So little Matthew is just a ball of sunshine and joy. What a blessing he is for our family!
He continues to love his brother to pieces, and of course his Daddy!

May Update Part 1: Sleeping

I'm sorry I've been a terrible blogger. I have STACKS of pictures, but, hardly any computer space left, so uploading them is a probably these days until I clean out my hard drive...anyways, here's a little something that is long overdue. I'm going to publish in pieces so each entry doesn't get too long!

Sleeping:
The kids are continuing to do well sleeping in the same room (although tonight was a little rougher than it had previously been)...but all-in-all, we are satisfied with the transition.

They seem to like being together, and maybe it is my imagination, but it seems like they really are becoming closer as a result.

Michael seems to talk about Matthew more lately, and they seem to be interacting a lot more.

The Barber family band during rehearsal

Of course, some nights, Michael keeps Matthew up late, and Matthew wakes Michael up early, but in the end, and tonight, there was an echoing effect going on where Matthew would try to sleep, but Michael was making racket, and then Matthew was going on and and on and Michael was getting bothered because he wanted to sleep. I would go in and try to calm Matthew, but that was really only effective if Michael was at a place where he was ready to wind down and sleep. Finally, they were both so exhausted that after I re-settled Matthew, Michael collapsed on his bed and they both went to sleep.

Fortunately, as crazy as this can be, it produces the benefit of a) helping them sleep later and b) helping them both nap better, a happy change from Michael's previous no-nap streak! So, all around, it seems to be a win!

Slumber Party #2

Tonight went much better!

Michael was marching around and generally making a ruckus, but Matthew seems to be able to sleep through it! I walked in once thinking I heard Matthew crying, and it was Michael doing a Matthew impersonation, probably to garner sympathy. Imagine my surprise when I saw Matthew sleeping away in his bed and Michael laughing his head off that he got me to come in!

Michael is in the midst of this game called "throw my stuffed animals and pacifier out of the bed and try to get my parents to come in and give them back."

Well, I don't like that game and we decided that we would stop playing by simply NOT giving him his things back. Unfortunately, that just makes him go on and on louder and longer.

But in the end, he finally passes out sans ele-fountain and sans pacifier. I guess we are doing a little bit of two things at once: getting the kids used to sleeping in the same room and weaning Michael off that pacifier, though I guess the latter is more of his fault than anything because he would still have it if he didn't toss it over the side trying to bait us in!

Anyways, this morning, the kids were tired, and they both napped, but I'm sure it will take them awhile to adjust to the big change.

We are so excited to have them in the same room. It really is a landmark...this is how things are going to be from now until they leave for college (oh..sad to think about that). Having the kids share a room will further solidify their friendship and it really will create a bond between them without Mom and Dad facilitating it.

Plus, we like having our apartment back! We would move Matthew from our bedroom to the front room every night at 11, but couldn't really go to bed any earlier than that or later than that. Anyways, it's nice to have him tucked away with his brother!