I met some friends for lunch today and then we took the kids to see Cars 2. Really cute movie. I think I even liked it better than the first one. Lots of action! Both of my kiddos really enjoyed it. Natalie was on the edge of her seat and smiling the whole time. I was wondering if Matthew would understand the espionage part but, surprisingly, he got it. I am always surprised by how much he comprehends. I guess he really is growing. Anyway, our conversation at bedtime reminded me of all of those funny things that Matthew says and does. He is getting older and those cute little witticisms that come so innocently are few and far between. But alas, we had a moment tonight. Here's Matthew and my conversation after watching Cars 2:
Me: What a great movie we saw!
Matthew: Yeah, I knew he did it all along. (referring to the "bad guy")
Me: Really?
Matthew: Yeah, I know engines.
Me: Are you a car guy?
Matthew: No, but I used to be.

Where are the Reindeer?

Last night we had our Christmas camping event with the camping club. Santa always visits and brings the kiddos a gift. This year Matthew was so excited he could hardly contain himself. He was all grins, ear to ear. After the gift giving (Matthew received a Transformer by the way) Santa left. Matthew noticed he left and ran out after him saying, almost frantically, "I have to see the reindeer. Hurry, hurry, I have to see the reindeer!" He actually followed him and would have followed him around the corner had I not stopped him. I told Matthew that he couldn't follow Santa because it woud take away from the reindeer magic. Then all the way back to the trailer he talked nonstop about Santa, flying reindeer, and how he almost saw Santa's reindeer. I just love that kid!

Ah, The Movies

So I finally had time to take the kids to see Beezus and Ramona today. Natalie has been wanting to go since the movie came out but we just could never find the time. It was originally just going to be a girls day event but several weeks ago Matthew expressed interest in seeing the movie too. And boy am I glad that I took him! Out of all the wonderful messages in that movie (which was very good by the way - a good, wholesome feel-good movie), the one that made the most impact on the boy was...when Ramona squeezed toothpaste all over the sink! I should've known that I was in trouble when, during the movie, Matthew looked at me and said, "I'm going to do that!" And I said quietly, "You'd better not." Matthew smiled and said, "Just kidding!" I am sure it will come as no surprise then that when Natalie went in to brush her teeth she found a big, blue gooey mess in the sink! Yes, Matthew did try that at home! Crazy kid! Of course he was very apologetic and didn't find it as funny as he did in the movies today as he was cleaning it up! But, hey, it that's the worst thing he mimics, I can live with that!

All the Single Ice..

Matthew: What's a single ice?
Me: A what?
Matthew: A single ice? starts humming Beyonce's All the Single Ladies...
Me: Ohhh. What's your favorite song?
Matthew: All the Single Ice. What's does single ice mean?
Me: What do you think it means?
Matthew: I think it means beautiful and I think it's a chipmunk.

Kidisms

Today while we driving to Natalie's dance class I was reminding the kids of the room cleaning that had to happen before sleepover night. I told them that they could clean after school on Thursday and on Friday afternoon. Matthew said, "Mommy, I can't clean tomorrow. I have too many things to do." I asked him what he had to do, thinking he'd say that he had school. Instead he replied, "I have to draw and make some pictures and then color."

A little bit later we were talking about school and why it's important. Matthew asked, "Why do we have to go to school anyway." So, I fielded that question to Natalie. I said, "Natalie, tell your brother why do we have to go to school." She replied, "Well, at school the teacher tells you things and then you have to memorize them."

Progress

Here's a photo of Matthew's homework. He wrote his name all by himself in a fairly straight line with the letters about the same size and it was a reasonable size too.

Also, the other day I had two paperback books on our ottoman by the same author. He pointed to the author's name and said, "Mommy, these two books have the same word on them." I love to watch the flashes of learning and understanding that take place.

Way to go Little Buddy!

Why?

We were watching the Wizard of Oz this afternoon and Dorothy was singing. Matthew paused to watch a little of the movie and said, "Mommy, why does she keep singing?" Ah, gotta love little boys! No love for the musical!

Relief

I am happy to report that Matthew LOVES preschool. He started off a little rocky with some crying the first couple of days. There was that, "Mommy, don't leave me!" on the first day but now he looks forward to going and today he even went an extra day. They were having an apple festival and all the kids were invited whether it was their day or not. He tasted apples, made an Apple Jack necklace, had homemade applesauce, and made apple print art. He was so excited when I got home from school that he climbed up next to me on the couch and said, "Let me tell you about my day."

Priceless

Matthew saved two snails in our yard tonight. He dunked them in the dog's water to get them wet and left them by the wall. Later he went to check on them. He shouted, "Mommy, I saved them!." I replied, "Yes, you did. You saved those snails." He said, "Does that make me a superhero?"

Getting Ready for Preschool

Five pairs of shorts - $35.00
Five shirts - $25.00
One Star Wars lunch pail - $5.00
Matthew trying on four pairs of shoes and testing each one for perfect running, jumping and balancing ability - PRICELESS!

Matthew Witticisms

Matthew (to me as I was leaving): "Goodbye, Adorable!"
Me: "You're Adorable too!"
Matthew: "Adorable means cute!."

Matthew Shines

Of course we always talk about how bright Natalie is and what a natural learner she is. And I was never one to compare the two, knowing very well that boys differ than girls and that he Matthew would come into his own. Well, he seems to be blossoming right before my eyes.

Matthew has been very verbal from age ten months old so it's no surprise that he doesn't stop talking and singing and laughing. Also, from a very young age I began to see that he was incredibly artistic, drawing and coloring. That was something that always frustrated Natalie until probably right before Kindergarten. This past school year we set aside homework time for Natalie nightly. During this time Matthew also wanted to sit and do homework with us. At first it started out as coloring but soon he was working in his little workbooks and noticed that he took to the spatial concepts. He seemed to have a knack for numbers and early math concepts. He can easily count to 30 but he always skips 16!

Ever since he could hold objects, Matthew has had a love of books and reading. He prides himself on being able to read environmental print. He can "read" a Target sign from a mile away. Reading nightly is a must for him and he'll often grab a couple of books to read even after we've said goodnight. A couple of weeks ago Matthew picked up a repetitious book and used picture clues and the pattern to read it. Immediately pride took over his expression. It gave him the confidence to venture out and "read" more of this type of book. Today, while we were playing "Space Buddies" and sitting in our rockets. Natalie, Matthew, and I had reading time. We all silently read our books, Matthew quietly whispering a story about a mother seal who loses her pup. Hopefully this is just the beginning of more to come.

Oh, and the first book that Matthew read happens to be the very first book that Natalie read (Big and Little). While it's probably a level one on the Running Record scale, he's only three and I'm darn proud!

New Furniture

We had put off getting Natalie's big girl bed for a while. She still fit in the toddler bed, so we figured we were good. Once she started kindergarten we thought she needed another rite of passage - hence the "big girl bed." Before school started we placed the order at a local furniture and a little over a month later, it arrived. She was so excited and already had her bedding ready (bought weeks before).

Daddy emptied out her room (a big chore) and set up her bed. That left Matthew with his own mini version of the "big boy bed," which was Nat's hand-me-down toddler bed. Of course with all the set up required by Nat's furniture, we didn't have time to get Matthew's room set up. Poor guy! He felt left out. So we moved the little toddler bed into Natalie's room so he could share in some of the newness. The following day we set up Matthew's room complete with his new Cars bedding. That made it all better.

Here's a photo of Natalie reading her guided reading book from school to Matthew in her "new room."

Busted!

In my defense, Matthew NEVER asks for his ice cream the following day. I always finish his frozen yogurt. It's only fair. He always eats mine! Anyway, tonight after I got home from work (late because of Back to School Night) Matthew informs me that he wants his pink ice cream - the one I ate yesterday! I told him there wasn't any. He kept on insisting that his pink ice cream was in the freezer. So we looked! It wasn't (duh!). Luckily he settled for some of Daddy's cookies and cream ice cream and forgot all about the pink one! I guess I'll think twice before finishing his ice cream again!

What's This?

I know I said I wasn't going to write anything until the weekend because I am so utterly exhausted, but I might forget this if I don't. And, yes, I am still tired. I just graded sixteen multiplication tests, addition test, and subtraction tests and I graded, by use of a rubric, sixteen paragraphs. So, if my paragraphs are out of sorts it's because the highest paper was a ten out of 16! I digress.

Anyway, we got frozen yogurt from the Golden Spoon the other day and Matthew hadn't finished his. After putting him to bed, I thought I'd eat his mini strawberry because I knew he wouldn't. When we bring the yogurt home he usually likes to play in it. He'll it it at the "ice cream store" but not at home. The yogurt was pretty hard from being in the freezer since Tuesday. I noticed multicolored sprinkles had been mixed in and some of Natalie's white chocolate chips as well. Then I came to something hard and blue. "What's this?" I wondered aloud. I tapped it. It was hard. Frozen, I assumed. "It's a fruit snack," I guessed. Ryan looked at me and said, "I think it's a dinosaur." And sure enough, it WAS a small dinosaur toy! Did that stop me from eating the yogurt? Absolutely not! I ate around it and pulled out a small, blue dinosaur! I guess Matthew's dinosaurs had wanted some of his "ice cream" the other day. Ah, the things you'll eat when you're tired!

Matthew's First Movie!

All month I debated on whether or not to take Matthew to a movie. Would he sit still? Would he be quiet? Would he want to leave? Natalie was three and four months when she saw her first movie. She sat for it, but her personality even at that age was not as active as Buddy's. I wasn't sure if he was ready.

On several occasions we made plans to go see Horton Hears a Who, which surprisingly was still playing. I chickened out every time. I took Natalie to see Kung Fu Panda and didn't take Matthew. I sneakily (is that even a word) waited until he was asleep! Since Natalie started enjoying movies I've been the the lucky one to take her, but only because I plan it.

As soon as Ryan saw the trailer for Wall-E, he declared that one his. At first I agreed because I do take Natalie to see all the movies so it's only fair that Daddy has a turn. We've seen: Charlotte's Web, Happy Feet, Happily Never After, Surf's Up, Enchanted, The Water Horse, and Kung Fu Panda. I guess Ryan was due for a turn.

Matthew, however, had different ideas. He, too, saw a trailer. He also heard Daddy and Natalie talk about Wall-E quite a bit. Natalie and Matthew then named our vacuum cleaner Wall-E. So it was no surprise that Matthew, upon hearing Daddy and Natalie so frequently talk about Wall-E, decide he wanted to go too. The night before the big Wall-E trip, as Natalie and Daddy bubbled with excitement, Matthew looked at me with all sincerity and said, "Mommy, Wall-E is my bet friend." Aw, how can you not give in to that?

So, it was after work (for me) on July 1st that we all went to see the 4:30 showing of Wall-E and do you know what? He did great! The immense size of the movie screen impressed him. He had his own bag of popcorn which he shared with me. He laughed at appropriate places and he sat pretty well through most of it. Towards the end he would go from my lap to Ryan's lap and back and forth. And I did miss the end of the movie because at that time he announced to the whole movie theater that he pooped! Then of course he had to add that the movie theater pooped and the movie screen pooped! Thank goodness theaters are loud! But really, he actually did great and he was so happy to be a big boy and do big boy things. So, I guess now we can take family trips to the movies when the picture is right. Yay, because I love movies!

*The pictures aren't the greatest but they'll preserve the memory!

Time to do Laundry

What do you do when you run out of socks? Buy sandals! At least that's what I did when I came home (after hitting three different stores) to pick up the kids this morning. Matthew came down the stairs without any shoes on and Daddy was going to stuff his little feet into too small shoes. So, I cancelled the initial plan which was groceries at Albertson's. Instead, we took a side trip to Kohl's and bought a very wiggly Matthew a pair of sandals. Then that side trip led to lunch at Chick-Fil-A, which led to several times down the slide in their play place. Finally, we made it to Albertson's, got what we needed, and headed home. There we had some Easter gifts to open from Nana and I had cleaning to do. And no one wanted to take a nap but me! As for the no socks, good thing it's sandals weather because I can't see that happening any time soon.

A Conversation With Matthew

Matthew, "I don't like spiders. I like snails."
Me, "Yeah, snails are nice. They don't bite."
Matthew, "Spiders get in my face and . . . " lots of movement and babble. Spider babble?
Me, "We stay away from spiders. They are not nice."
Matthew, "Yes, I like snails. They love me. They are happy."
Me, "Yes, they do love you and they are happy. I love snails too."
Matthew, "You like pink snails."

Yes, I do teach my children to stay away from spiders. I hate to incite fear in them, but with our climate and the prevalence of black widows, I've no other choice.

New Fishy Moves In

I was all about having Natalie share her fish, Goldie (changed to Rose Red Goldie). We were out doing some errands after NATALIE'S FIRST HAIR CUT, when we decided to do lunch at Chili's. As we drove over to Chili's, we had to pass the pet store (Pet Co) and Natalie mentioned getting Matthew another fish. I kind of fluffed it off when, from the backseat, Matthew said in his saddest voice, "I am so sad about my fish." Well, that did it. After lunch we headed over to Pet Co and another fifty dollars later we had another fish, because it had to have the same set up as the other one of course. Matthew's is a pretty red which he first named Ruby. This incited Natalie to insist that she was changing Goldie's name to Ruby too. She decided on something different anyway, but it wouldn't have mattered because Matthew changed his fish's name again to Max. Now we have two little fishy condos in our kitchen. They get to stare at each other and fluff up their fins in agitation. It's all good . . . until someone has to change the water. Natalie says I am not very good at it (because I didn't put the rocks in right) and maybe I shouldn't get to do it any more. Heh, heh. I like the sound of that.

A Brief Trip Down Memory Lane

Today was a beautiful day. The kiddos played outside for a good portion of the afternoon, running around, sliding down the slide, riding the cars and picking weeds - I mean flowers. After running around like crazy, I thought they'd like a popsicle treat so I offered them an Otter Pop, a memory from my childhood. Natalie and I were talking about the different colors and flavors and surprisingly, without even looking at a wrapper or the box, I could name all of them! Can you? I'll give you a hint. Matthew named his Doc Hudson car Rasberry after Louie Bloo Raspberry.