On the Cuteness of Species

Mike: "Stanley is a dog. What are you?"
Matthew: "Matthew bear!"

(This was not an unreasonable answer, since we call him Mattie-bear all the time!)

Matthew (about his stuffed beagle): "My dog has a tail. My dog has feet. My dog has a name!"
Me: "What is your dog's name?"
Matthew: "Dog!"
 

Three Twos

Our neighbors L & S invited us over for dinner tonight, along with other friends of theirs who also have a two year old. (Actually, he's not going to be two until the fall, but he's already bigger than Mattie and James!)

The boys had a great time playing together! They imitated each other, ran laps through the house, and found the "big ball" (one of those huge exercise balls). They also liked playing with R's old dinosaurs and toy cars. The adults enjoyed themselves, too; it was wonderful company.

We told Mattie that we were going over to Miss Lakshmi's house (I suppose that should be Mrs., but that's harder to say), and he said, "See baby Ellie! Play the piano!" (He thought we were going back to J & Y's!) So we told him that no, baby Ellie wasn't going to be there, that we were going to Blizzy's house. He was pretty happy to see Blizzy-dog, too. :)

Mattie also enjoyed the ice cream for dessert. Lakshmi offered him some and he sat right down and very obediently ate it off the spoon. James, as usual, wouldn't even take a bite. I don't know what that child has against ice cream!

We also had swimming class this morning. Both of them were happy to get into the water, and Mattie did a great job all the way through, including going underwater. Poor Jamesie started shivering when we were only about a third of the way through class, so he and I got out and dried off so he could warm up. He got back in at the end and happily went underwater, too. (So, when we went home I ordered him a baby wetsuit from Ebay -- apparently babies get too cold in the pool often enough that our swimming instructor has a wetsuit brand that she recommends!)

Teach Your Children Well

Mike was playing the "got your nose" game with the boys the other day. Yesterday, Mattie ran into the living room with his fingers and thumb pressed together, and held it up to me. I asked him what he had, and he said, "Daddy nose!" Hahaha!

Less Annoying

We went back to the ear doctor today. This time, we called ahead like with the airlines to see how late he was running (at least one of us is still annoyed about the over two-hour wait last time). They said everything was on time, which meant we waited "only" an hour in the waiting room. The visit with the doctor probably wasn't much longer than last time, but it felt less rushed, which was nice.

The good news is that the eardrops had gotten rid of most of the wax, so he had a better view of James's eardrum; the bad news is that he didn't see the tubes, so James might have to have a new set put in. (The results of his tympanogram -- an eardrum flexibility test they do at the audiology appointments -- suggest that he may still have fluid in his ears, even though it's not an ear infection.) He goes back for another appointment in August and the doctor will make a recommendation then. (I'm sort of hoping that if he has to have new tubes, we can combine that with getting the g-tube out, so there's only one OR trip. But that requires a lot of pieces coming together, so I'm not counting on it.)

In other news, we met another little boy with hearing aids at the playground today! Instant parent bonding. :) It even turned out that we have the same hearing therapist, although they don't see her much any more. It's so uncommon to see kids with hearing aids that it was really nice to chat about our experiences together.

Attention to Detail

Mattie didn't nap today (alas!), but after we gave up on nap time, Mike took him downstairs where he vacuumed with his toy vacuum for about 20 minutes -- including moving the throw rug to vacuum underneath it.  Such attention to detail!  :)

Our fabulous babysitter N is away for a few weeks visiting family, and we miss her already!!  We have hired a temporary sitter who we think will be good (and the boys seem to really like her), but it's not the same.  (Hope your trip is off to a great start, N!)

Jamesie and Mattie have been practicing their kicking in the bathtub -- they'll be all set for their next swim class!

Friday Done Right

Our friends helped us start the weekend off right yesterday, by having us over for a cookout (which ended up being inside due to August-like the heat and humidity combination). Despite the picture, Mike did not make Matthew pull the wagon full of margarita fixings all the way up the driveway. :)

We fed the boys beforehand just in case, but they enjoyed some of grillmaster Y's sausages, and Matthew drank two (small) cups of mango lassi. He did so well with it, in fact, that when he asked for water, I gave it to him in another regular cup instead of a sippy cup -- and then he prompted dumped almost the whole thing on the floor. (This is why two-year olds get a bad rep.)

The adults enjoyed Lakshmi's bhel puri, an Indian appetizer that is spicy but delicious. Yum! We are so lucky to have neighbors who are so much fun to hang out with and also great cooks. :)

A high point for James and Matthew was "riding" C's bicycle, with training wheels and Mike's help. (James says "bicycle" very well these days, by the way!) They wanted to do it more and more until Mike hid the bike away. He now thinks they're old enough for bikes, but I disagree!

Swimmingly

We had our second swimming lesson today. Mattie did not have a good night's sleep (woke up around midnight crying but not fully awake; woke up around 3 AM and threw a fit when I told him he could have water but not milk, and didn't get back to sleep until an hour or so later), so I wasn't sure how things were going to go. But it was great!

Mattie was fantastic -- he waded right into the water (they have a very nice graduated entry for the little ones) and enjoyed himself playing until class started. He was happy to be pulled around on his front and on his back. He wanted to play with the Easter eggs (which we weren't using in this class, but Ms. Barbara said the kids could play with if they wanted) but took only one at a time without being told. He loved seeing Mommy go underwater. It was almost the end of class when he said, "Ride-rides. Milk." and wanted to go home, and he behaved well when I told him it would just be a couple more minutes.

Jamesie was great, too. He still wanted to be held a lot at first, but he was happy to do the activities with Mike. I think he wasn't the only one who gets cold in the water -- all of the other little boys (except Mattie) had shirts on in the water today! (We put James in a slightly heavier onesie this time, which may have helped a little.)

P.S. Happy one-month birthday to Cousin Sethie!  (And we're sending him our best wishes for a quick recovery -- the poor little guy had to have a laproscopic surgery but it all went well, and he is home now.)

P.P.S.  James finally got his other hearing aid back from getting repaired.  Hooray!

Open Doors, Part 2

Now Jamesie can open the doors! We are happy for his accomplishment, but sad because it was nice to be able to easily block off rooms if we didn't want them in there. Ah well, such is the price of progress.

James and Mattie now (if they're in the mood) will say "cheese" and smile for pictures. My point-and-shoot camera was too slow to capture it, but Jamesie puts his hands up by his cheeks when he says it -- so cute!!

Our former babysitter N came by for a visit yesterday, and she brought birthday presents for the boys. They were happy to see her, and they LOVE their new Elmo phones. They carried them around most of the rest of the day. (And she is very wise because she got the exact same thing for both of them! It was perfect except for one point in the evening when Mattie decided he wanted them both and kept trying to grab James's away from him.) Thanks so much, N!!

I asked Mattie who he was calling, and he first named S (our current babysitter's daughter, who he adores). Then he said he was calling Grandma. When I asked James, he said he was calling "Papa" (Grandpa).

First Swim Lessons

The boys went for their first swimming lesson yesterday. Matthew was very excited about it and had no problem getting in the water. Somewhat to our surprise, James just wanted to be held by Mommy the whole time. (Since almost all of the class involved the kids being held by their parents in the slightly deeper part of the pool, this wasn't actually a big deal.) I think part of the problem was that James gets chilly in the water -- he was fine for most of the time, but shivering by the end!

I had originally thought that a half-hour was a pretty short class (what can you get done in a half-hour?), but it turns out to be about perfect for two-year-old attention spans. Ms. Barbara took pictures of everyone, we sang a song, worked on kicking, worked on arm movements, and that was that. Seemed like a good start to me!

James can't wear his hearing aid in the pool, but it turns out that it's really hard to hear at the pool anyhow because of the background noise and/or the acoustics of the room. So, that's not exactly a good thing, but at least it's a level playing field. :) And the instructor is pretty much talking to the parents and not the kids anyhow, and since we're holding the boys, we can talk directly into their ears.

Vacuum Chair

Can't blame Daddy for this one -- James insisted on wearing these red shorts this evening, even though Mike suggested some other choices!

When we got home from the playground, Mattie said that we "might need a key" to get in the front door. Then he immediately found a small stick and tried to pick the lock with it! (He saw Mike do that once or twice when the bathroom door got accidentally locked, and clearly it made an impression. I guess it's never too early to work on those breaking and entering skills.)

Mike commented this evening (to me) that the boys needed haircuts. Matthew patted his head and said, "There," and we said that was right, and then he said, "Vacuum chair." Apparently he remembers at least the high points of the barbershop!

I'm pretty sure James said, "Up the hill" when he was walking up the driveway this evening (and I think he also said "play the straps" the other day, which is what Mattie says when he wants to buckle the high chair straps). He wouldn't repeat either of them, but I think we're moving into three-word combination territory.

More from the Playground

In case you need some cute toddler pictures to brighten up your Monday. :)

Chased by Daniel

Nora and Adrian wanted Daniel to get some exercise before their car ride home, so we hit the playground this morning. Daniel's game was to chase us all the way up the playset to the slide, and down and then do it again -- so the adults got their exercise, too!

James and Matthew wanted to climb all the way up to the top of the blue climbing thing (second picture), which is tough because it's hard to hang on to them when they're that high up.

We had so much fun with our visitors -- we were sad to see them go. Daniel is so polite these days, and he was great with sharing with the boys. He's also in the midst of potty training and doing well (although that didn't seem to provide much additional inspiration for our guys.)

I think Jamesie has gotten a little taller, because he can now reach the kitchen counters, too. He can also reach the main reciever for our phones, which is annoying because he pushes any button he can reach, and he deleted all the messages on the answering machine! (Fortunately I'm pretty sure we'd listened to them all already.) His other new hobby is climbing up on a chair in order to climb on to a table.

Someone who I won't name (but will refer to simply as "my husband") was getting stressed out about James's weight, so we made another appointment with his feeding therapist. And lo and behold, after we made that phone call, he's now up to 20 lbs, 9 oz or so, after hanging out at 20 lbs, 1 oz for a while. (Such is the power of the therapist -- James improves by us merely scheduling a visit with her!) We hope he keeps up the good work!

James continues to pick up new words all the time, though I've mostly stopped keeping track of them here. Recent ones include "stop sign", "ice cream" (though he still won't eat it), and "dinosaur."

Uncle Adrian said he heard Mattie count up to 13. Wow! (I've only heard him do up to four.) He will tell you that his brother's name is "Jamesie" (which is about the cutest thing in the world). He sings parts of lots of songs, though he doesn't know most of the words yet. And in case there's any doubt that he's a child of the modern world, today he said, "I need the iPod."

Dinosaur Museum

Daniel was looking forward to going back to "Auntie Mel's Dinosaur Museum." (Translation: the science museum in Durham.) It was a gorgeous morning, so we spent no time at all on the inside exhibits. The boys liked banging on the outside drums, at least until a group of boys from a visiting field trip came along -- holy cow, those kids made a lot of noise! (And they looked huge but apparently they were only second-graders.)

Jamesie also really liked the farm animals on this visit. He even stuck his hand in and touched the pig's nose before I could catch him! Our time in that section was a bit short because we had train tickets.

The train ride was even better than before -- they've added a few new pieces of art along the way. Mattie enjoyed it a lot and asked for "more, more" when we got off.

We did the dinosaur trail after that. The boys liked the one dinosaur that they could try to climb on, and seemed reasonably interested in seeing the other ones. They would have played for a while in the Fossil Dig section (which to them was probably just a rocky sandbox), but Daniel was getting tired at that point and it was approaching lunchtime, so we made a quick visit to the butterfly house and then headed out.

Primos

We are enjoying a visit from Cousin Daniel, Auntie Nora, and Uncle Adrian. Despite the hot day, the boys enjoyed their outdoor time with the water table and the sprinkler. (Daniel was a bit suspicious of the sprinkler at first, and to our surprise, James also was not eager about it at first -- he wanted to have Mike hold him near the water instead.) We also managed to squeeze in a trip to the playground before bedtime.

Not only did the boys wish Grandpa a happy birthday on the blog, but James actually said "Happy birthday" (well, the "happy" and the "day" part were very clear) when we called him on the phone. Yay, James, and yay Grandpa!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

James and Matthew say Happy Birthday to "PaPa" Alden!