Easter

Matthew received a full sized basketball as an Easter present. He was very excited about his new ball, but as he sat pondering his new gift while eating his breakfast pancakes it occured to him that his old and small toy hoops would not do.

With utter seriousness he looked at us and informed us that, "We need to go to Target and get a bigger net." He was very serious...

Bite

We are at a church function watching the kids Sunday night and one of the little boys sticks his finger in Caroline's face. She looks at us with an expectant smile hoping permission might be granted.

"Bite?"

"No bite," comes the parental reply.

Skinny Dippin'

Theresa's out of the house and I'm not paying attention to Caroline and I begin to hear the toilet seat clinking up and down. At first I don't think much of it, but I soon realize that it may be a wise thing for me to check on her.

As I'm heading down the hallway, she darts out of the bathroom carrying her doll and rushes into her room. The doll is lying on her floor and I notice there's a little puddle of water. Picking the doll up - I see that it's feet are all wet.

Apparently she was dipping her in the toilet.

Caroline crawls down out of the rocker she's scampered into and points at her own leg.

"Wet", she informs me. Indeed her PJs are pretty moist with toilet goodness.

Valentine's Day

"Dat's uh hart."

"What?"

"Dat's a hart," said Matthew pointing.

I looked a second and then made out the shape he was pointing towards.

"Oh. Yes, that is a heart!" It in fact did have a nice heart shape.

I had just spit in the toilet and the spit bubbles floating there were making a nice little heart.

Happy Valentine's day, sweetheart! It doesn't get much more romantic than that...

New Stuff

I hate that I don't post more often. There are always things that I'm sure I will forget as the years go by if I don't write them down. Matthew is 3 1/2 now and Caroline is 1.

At night we put Matthew to bed in pajamas and socks. His new thing is to immediately remove his pants and socks, then go to sleep. So, every night, when we check on him we have to locate his socks - which may or may not be in a neat pile beside him and put those on. Then slide his pants back on. I'm not sure why he does this as he is obviously cold - balled up into a little ball with his blanket draped over his mid-section. It's cute - and I know I would never remember it if I don't write it out now.

Caroline now likes to grab my hair after a bottle and give me head butts. Or grab my hair. Or slap at my face. Then she laughs. But not for long. The girl hates to sleep...

Order

So the wife and kids are in CVS yesterday afternoon and they were near the Kodak photo printer. Apparently, there's a silver "speaker looking" thingy on the side of the Kodak photo printer.

Matthew leans into it and places his order, "Cheesburger. Apple juice, That's all. Thanks."

Walking

Caroline was walking by month 10. Last night she pushed herself up from the floor with her hand and stood up without any other help. No walls. No toys.

I recon' that's a milestone.

Face Plant

Caroline is 9 months old now. For whatever reason she wants to grab most everything with her hands except her blankets.

When presented with a diaper or blanket - she drops her face to the ground and tries to pick it up with her mouth. Like a dog. Or, if you hand her a blanket and she takes it with her hands, she will smash it into her face with great force.

I can't tell if she loves the blankets or hates them.

No Jesus

Saturday we were riding home from the park so the kids could have their afternoon naps.

We had a CD in and a contemporary kid's version of "Jesus Loves Me" was playing. We were all quiet and listening to the music, then my wife broke into song and was singing along.

Matthew, apparently no fan of the accompaniment, let her know she should remain quiet:

"No Jesus".

Shoulder Shrug

Recently Matthew has taken to using what is probably his first phrase: "I don't know". Every question receives the same response.

"Matthew, did you sleep well?"
"I dooon't know" (Large shoulder shrug).

"Matthew, do you want pancakes?"
"I dooon't know" (Large shoulder shrug).

"Matthew, where are your toys?"
"I dooon't know" (Large shoulder shrug).

I don't know where he got this. (Large shoulder shrug).

Mmmmm....

While putting Matthew to bed tonight he wanted some more water. We still let him have a cup because, well...he's still in diapers. So I carried his cup back in and handed it to him.

Reclining on the bed, he rubbed his finger over the top of the sippy-cup, popped it in his mouth and announced the verdict:

Mmmmm.....'Licious!!!!

I didn't know water was delicious son, but glad you enjoy it.

No Wan Dis

A few weeks ago Matthew was throwing a temper tantrum. Desiring to put an end to said behavior, I quickly retrieved a wooden spoon from the kitchen.

"You want some of this?", I asked, waving the spoon.

"No wan dis.", he replied with conviction.

Request granted.

Shuffle

Caroline is almost 3 months old and she has just discovered her feet. She likes to look down at her feet as she sits in her bouncy chair and watch as she shuffles them back and forth, usually with a drool-sickle hanging from her chin. It's good to be a baby.

Girl Trouble

Matthew is in a two day a week pre-school and yesterday Theresa went to his class for an hour. They were having a little Valentine's Day party.

Apparently, a young lass chased him about the whole time Theresa was there. As she chased him around the room she was saying, "More Matthew. More Matthew".

This is the second time young ladies have expressed interest in the boy. A sunday school mom told us a bit back that her daughter talks about him often.

He's only 2 1/2, so this is cute. Later, it might be a different story...

Week of Firsts

Last week was a week of "firsts". Thursday Caroline laughed for the first time which was very cute. Then, on Sunday afternoon Matthew learned a little something new.

We put him down for a nap, and a few minutes later he came tooling out of his room with his blankets. He has been able to get in to his crib for quite a while, but he fell out one time a while back and had not attempted it since.

Thinking I had left the side down, I checked. Nope. Still up. I put him back in - and 2 minutes later back down the hall he snuck again - startled when he saw me. I put him in a 3rd time and hid at the door with it cracked. When I heard him rustling around I peeked in and he was balanced up in the corner like a little Spiderman.

So, after being caught in the act and instructed not to do it again, he went on to sleep. I suppose it's almost time for a "big boy" bed.

Sleep

Wednesday night Caroline slept from 11 pm until about 4:45. Last night she slept until 6 am. She is just a few days shy of 2 months. This is good! We shall not get our hopes too high in that this will happen every night, but the closer she gets to sleeping through the night the better!

Cute

Bad Words

I have now learned the all important lesson that every parent learns - that kids quickly pick up on what you say.

I got home from work last night and my wife was opening junk credit card solicitations.

"That looks like more crap." I said.

Two year old scoots by right when we are talking.

"Crap." He says matter of factly and carries on his way.

Lesson learned....hopefully.

Cry Time

Matthew loves being outdoors, but when it's time to come in he has a tendency to start crying and whinning.

We're going to break him of that, so Theresa really gets on him when he starts fussing when he steps into the house. Sometimes he gets a spanking, sometimes he has to go to his room. The other day she told him not to cry or he was going to his room. Then she said, "you have to go to your room if you're going to cry".

So, he walked into his room and shut the door and cried for about 20 seconds then reappeared - fresh attitude and all. That's the stuff you laugh at.

Chew Toy

So anyway...Theresa is feeding Caroline and Matthew walks up to her with Caroline's nasal aspirator in his mouth. Sure - she rinses it off and all, but...icky.

She yelled at him to give it to her, but he thought she was playing so he ran away - then stood down the hall looking at her while chomping away. She was feeding the baby - so just let him have it a while. Too bad we didn't get a picture for later.