Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Rex (?)
Lately, Michael has taken to speaking to Matthew like a dog and calling him Rex.
"Come here, Rex! Come here, boy!" He'll say.
Michael will do this when he wants to herd Matthew from one room to another.
While Toy Story has a Rex, and the boys do like Toy Story, I think the culprit is something entirely different. I think it's a clip from Snoopy Come Home I have occasionally let him watch on YouTube. In it, a little girl takes to calling Snoopy "Rex" and dragging him around violently by the leash and dressing him up:
Good thing it hasn't gone that far, right? I can't even imagine!
"Come here, Rex! Come here, boy!" He'll say.
Michael will do this when he wants to herd Matthew from one room to another.
While Toy Story has a Rex, and the boys do like Toy Story, I think the culprit is something entirely different. I think it's a clip from Snoopy Come Home I have occasionally let him watch on YouTube. In it, a little girl takes to calling Snoopy "Rex" and dragging him around violently by the leash and dressing him up:
Good thing it hasn't gone that far, right? I can't even imagine!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
What am I missing?
Matthew is learning new words everyday and sometimes, his pronunciation is astonishingly good. Sometimes he'll say a word and I'll be surprised how clear it is. He clearly is able to listen and imitate.
But here's our conversation this morning which has me thinking I'm just missing something in the way he is processing things:
Me: Matthew can you say 'airplane'?
Matthew: "airplane."
Me: Good! Matthew can you say 'car'?
Matthew: "Car!"
Me: Can you say 'Michael'
Matthew: "Michael."
Me: Can you say 'bus'?
Matthew: "Bus!"
Me: Can you say 'Choo-Choo-Train?'
Matthew: "Choo-Choo Train"
Me: Good! Can you say helicopter?
Matthew: "Stee!"
But here's our conversation this morning which has me thinking I'm just missing something in the way he is processing things:
Me: Matthew can you say 'airplane'?
Matthew:
Me: Good! Matthew can you say 'car'?
Matthew:
Me: Can you say 'Michael'
Matthew: "Michael."
Me: Can you say 'bus'?
Matthew: "Bus!"
Me: Can you say 'Choo-Choo-Train?'
Matthew: "Choo-Choo Train"
Me: Good! Can you say helicopter?
Matthew: "Stee!"
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Flippin' Sweet!
What is making him smile?
Seeing a dolphin for the first time, of course!!
Matthew was a little less interested and instead posed for a Myspace-esque self-portrait.
Seeing a dolphin for the first time, of course!!
Matthew was a little less interested and instead posed for a Myspace-esque self-portrait.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Trade Negotiations
What do you do when you have a dumb ol' graham cracker and a water cup while your brother has Goldfish and a helicopter?
Especially when your brother is this kind of a tough customer...
You can try several approaches:
1. Just Ask
2. Sweetness
3. Sneak one when an airplane comes....
4. Look for fallen scraps:
5. Performing
6. Scene-Stealing
7. Try to appeal to his patriotic spirit
8. Pretend to be blind and ask for handouts
9. Pull rank and just ask Mommy.
Especially when your brother is this kind of a tough customer...
You can try several approaches:
1. Just Ask
2. Sweetness
3. Sneak one when an airplane comes....
4. Look for fallen scraps:
5. Performing
6. Scene-Stealing
7. Try to appeal to his patriotic spirit
8. Pretend to be blind and ask for handouts
9. Pull rank and just ask Mommy.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Two Fun Packages and One Not-So-Fun
This was a busy mail week. Unless I indulge in a little online shopping, I don't usually get too many packages around here. So for three packages to have come was a busy week!
The first fun one was the boys' easter basket from the Campbells. Loaded with candy, coloring books, play-dough, balls and a little novelty gift (a candy-pooping cow) I just can't wait for the boys to wake up from their naps so they can enjoy them. I've been pretty stingy on candy distribution, but when I do give them a piece, I say "Happy Easter!" so when Michael wants more candy he says, "More Happy Easter? Pwease?" It's way too cute.
A very fun little fact about the candy-pooping cow--revenge for some of the gifts I got last year....but Wheetah, just wait til my package comes (some point after I mail it...thank goodness I have like 8 weeks!) I will once again reign supreme as gift terrorist numero uno!) anyways, this cow moos whenever it is moved even the slightest. When I picked up the package from the apartment office it Mooed loudly and the landlady kind of gave me a look indicating that it wasn't the first time she had heard that! She said the mailman commented that everytime he hit a bump on the way to deliver the package, he would hear a loud "Moo!" I guess it brightened his day :)
Second fun package was a cool-mist fan for the kids' room.
For the past couple of years, we have struggled with the kids room getting so hot in the summer. Since our air conditioner is only in the front room, and we keep the kids' door closed to block out sound, it gets pretty toasty in there. We have a fan going, but at a certain point, blowing around hot air only does so much. Furthermore, at some point before Michael turns 3 (you know, in like 2.5 months!), we are going to have to spring him from his crib and actually put him in a real bed. As nice as it is to have him confined, and since we have not gotten any complaints from him, we just haven't really had it at the forefront of our minds to change. The other problem is that the fan we have in there has a kind of loose grate, and imagining him milling around in his room with a fan that could cause him harm did not inspire us to rush things.
Now that we have this humidifier, we have it up on top of the dresser so there is no danger whatsoever in that room anymore, which means Matthew can hang out in his room unattended and while there is only so much we can do to prevent the boys from milling around their room at night once we spring them from their crib jails, at least they will only be able to cause mischief and not harm.
This fan also purports to cool the room by 20 degrees simply by its misting powers, so we'll see about that, and perhaps will be investing in another one for us!
And finally, the third package that came was this:
It came from a company that makes caskets for babies who die before birth. The casket itself is handmade, beautiful, and perfect for his size. The mortuary sells caskets, but sells only caskets for newborns (of which Gabriel would have taken up a full 1% of the space) but the cost of them is pretty astronomical. Obviously, we are not looking to deny him a burial with dignity, but goodness, the bottom line quote from the mortuary for the vault and casket, of which Gabriel was going to occupy such a small amount of space, I really hoped there would be a better way.
And there was!
I did not want to open the box, but I knew if something needed to be changed, the sooner I knew about it the better. And while it is sad to see such a small casket and to picture Gabriel resting in it, I will tell you, that it is very well made and despite being more economical, is in no way less beautiful or dignified.
The couple who runs Heaven's Gain has lost children of their own due to miscarriage, and they were wanting to provide something for parents who wanted to bury miscarried children, since not all mortuaries have caskets for that small of a child. Not only was I impressed with the craftsmanship, but the tone of the website, their compassion to their customers, and their service left nothing to be desired for us. I ordered the casket on Tuesday and it was here on Friday. God willing, no one reading this blog will have to bury a child, but if anyone knows someone who needs a casket and vault for such a small baby, I would recommend this company.
So those are my two fun packages and a sad one. But even the sad one has to be done...and since it has to be done, I'm glad we were able to find one that is nice for him.
The first fun one was the boys' easter basket from the Campbells. Loaded with candy, coloring books, play-dough, balls and a little novelty gift (a candy-pooping cow) I just can't wait for the boys to wake up from their naps so they can enjoy them. I've been pretty stingy on candy distribution, but when I do give them a piece, I say "Happy Easter!" so when Michael wants more candy he says, "More Happy Easter? Pwease?" It's way too cute.
A very fun little fact about the candy-pooping cow--revenge for some of the gifts I got last year....but Wheetah, just wait til my package comes (some point after I mail it...thank goodness I have like 8 weeks!) I will once again reign supreme as gift terrorist numero uno!) anyways, this cow moos whenever it is moved even the slightest. When I picked up the package from the apartment office it Mooed loudly and the landlady kind of gave me a look indicating that it wasn't the first time she had heard that! She said the mailman commented that everytime he hit a bump on the way to deliver the package, he would hear a loud "Moo!" I guess it brightened his day :)
Second fun package was a cool-mist fan for the kids' room.
For the past couple of years, we have struggled with the kids room getting so hot in the summer. Since our air conditioner is only in the front room, and we keep the kids' door closed to block out sound, it gets pretty toasty in there. We have a fan going, but at a certain point, blowing around hot air only does so much. Furthermore, at some point before Michael turns 3 (you know, in like 2.5 months!), we are going to have to spring him from his crib and actually put him in a real bed. As nice as it is to have him confined, and since we have not gotten any complaints from him, we just haven't really had it at the forefront of our minds to change. The other problem is that the fan we have in there has a kind of loose grate, and imagining him milling around in his room with a fan that could cause him harm did not inspire us to rush things.
Now that we have this humidifier, we have it up on top of the dresser so there is no danger whatsoever in that room anymore, which means Matthew can hang out in his room unattended and while there is only so much we can do to prevent the boys from milling around their room at night once we spring them from their crib jails, at least they will only be able to cause mischief and not harm.
This fan also purports to cool the room by 20 degrees simply by its misting powers, so we'll see about that, and perhaps will be investing in another one for us!
And finally, the third package that came was this:
It came from a company that makes caskets for babies who die before birth. The casket itself is handmade, beautiful, and perfect for his size. The mortuary sells caskets, but sells only caskets for newborns (of which Gabriel would have taken up a full 1% of the space) but the cost of them is pretty astronomical. Obviously, we are not looking to deny him a burial with dignity, but goodness, the bottom line quote from the mortuary for the vault and casket, of which Gabriel was going to occupy such a small amount of space, I really hoped there would be a better way.
And there was!
I did not want to open the box, but I knew if something needed to be changed, the sooner I knew about it the better. And while it is sad to see such a small casket and to picture Gabriel resting in it, I will tell you, that it is very well made and despite being more economical, is in no way less beautiful or dignified.
The couple who runs Heaven's Gain has lost children of their own due to miscarriage, and they were wanting to provide something for parents who wanted to bury miscarried children, since not all mortuaries have caskets for that small of a child. Not only was I impressed with the craftsmanship, but the tone of the website, their compassion to their customers, and their service left nothing to be desired for us. I ordered the casket on Tuesday and it was here on Friday. God willing, no one reading this blog will have to bury a child, but if anyone knows someone who needs a casket and vault for such a small baby, I would recommend this company.
So those are my two fun packages and a sad one. But even the sad one has to be done...and since it has to be done, I'm glad we were able to find one that is nice for him.
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