Conversations with Matty...

Our sweet little Matty is a follower. He is always watching his big brother, seeing what Mitch is doing, so that he can imitate him. All of this despite our many conversations with him about choosing appropriate role models.

Anyway, after two years of watching Mitch walk up to him, grab a toy out of his hand, replace it with a crappy toy, and then tell us, "No. I didn't take it, we traded." we have been waiting for Matty to stand up for himself. Tell Mitch, "No!" Well, it is starting to happen, and boy, did we ever miscalculate!

I did not realize that the "standing up for himself" would also apply to refusing to do what I wanted him to do!

Here are some examples of conversations with Matty from the last few days.

Me: "Matty, time to come eat."
Matty: "No eat. Play cars."


Me: "Matty, time to change your diaper."
Matty: "No diaper. Play choo-choos."


Me: "Matty, time to (fill in the blank with some sort of boring task)."
Matty: "No. Play toys. No boring task!" (OK- I made that last part up. Sorry.)



And, yes. That is a diaper on his head. And, yes. It is clean.

Love Can Grow a Garden

OK- Are you ready for a super sappy post about believing in yourself, overcoming obstacles, and doing anything you set your mind to? Ready to be completely inspired? Maybe even motivated to run right out, face your fears head on, and conquer them triumphantly? Well, if you are looking for that, you best move on, because you will not find that here. Instead, this is a sarcastic story about young whippersnappers gettin' the better of their parents.

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of having our good friends visit for the afternoon, as they were passing through from North Carolina on their way back to Florida. We boke our own rule of: "No one shall ever come to see us at this cheesey apartment." but for the sake of adult conversation with good friends, and a chance for the kids to play, we broke down and gave them directions to the ghetto.

They have two darling children, who the boys love. Mitch, especially, loves Lauren. Loves her loves her loves her (and Claire, too! ). Well, those two got to playin' and imaginin' outside, and before we knew it, they had shovels, buckets, and a wheelbarrow. "We're making a garden" they exclaimed, full of idealistic four-year-old glee. "Great," said all of the adults. Good luck with that! I'm sure you'll have a bumper crop of imaginary green beans and made-up peas. Yum! I can just see the giant invisible salad that you will make with all of your yield! Ha!

They even got water, packed the "seeds" down, put it in the sun...the whole nine yards. Oh, isn't that cute, we all snickered. Making a garden, la la la.

Well, joke is on us. When we went into the garage a few days later, THIS is what we found.

We have no idea where this could have come from, but our guess is birdseed. OK, you two rascals, I take back my sarcasm. You did it. You grew a garden. Now, can you grow me some imaginary crow, so that I can eat it?

Swimming Lessons....A Work in Progress

Here is a little tale about our Mitch...a complex child. Fun-loving and silly, but painfully shy and quiet when confronted with new situations. Take swimming pools, for example.

In our apartment pool, he is amazing. He dons those "Floaties of Invincibility" and is unstoppable. A total splash monster. Running and leaping into the water, going completely under for several seconds before he pops up and does it again. And again. And again. He motors all around the pool, kicking and paddling and is fairly self sufficient, except for when one floatie broke and was unusable, but he insisted on "swimming" by himself with only one. That time, he just swam in circles, but had a great time doing it. OK- swimming is totally under control. Check that off the list.

In the words of Lee Corso (ESPN Gameday host and prognosticator- can you tell I am getting excited for college football season?) "Not so fast my friend." I signed Mitch up for swimming lessons at the new YMCA. Yesterday was the first day. He is going to be in the Pike class, which is the lowest of the swimming lifeforms. Hopefully some day he can graduate to the Polliwogs, the Eels, or even the Fish, but for now, he is a Pike. He seems excited, we get to the pool, and that is when he turns into a puddle of mushy, non-swimming, plankton. Plankton is lower than a pike, right?

He has a darling teacher, Mr. Tye, who is all full of smiles and encouragement...at the beginning of the lesson. He coaxes, prods, and pleads with Mitch to even sit on the side of the pool and put his legs in the water. Mitch is having none of it. Not wanting to interfere, but certainly not going to allow Mitch to continue to be a jelly fish, I head over to him and prod him (read- push him into the pool. Now remember- this kid is not afraid of the water. He loves the water. I was not being cruel.) Tye takes him for a little swim, and asks Mitch to kick, at which time he puts forth the most pathetic effort I have ever seen. He slightly, ever so slightly, moves one leg. Then, ten minutes later, he moves another one. The complete lack of effort continues throughout the lesson, and I watch as Tye's initial smiles of encouragement morph into looks of total confusion as to what this kid was doing, and finally into pleas for help. His eyes are searching for anyone, anyone who might be able to shed light into what exactly is going on. The grande finale was when Tye was asking the kids to blow bubbles in the water (remember- this is the kid who goes completely under the water all the time) and Mitch looks at him and says, "But, I don't have any air." Tye was utterly stunned. No idea what to make of this.

By this point, I am just praying for the lesson to end so I can get my hands on this kid. It ends, I am toweling Mitch off, when a mother looks at me and says, "His first time in a pool?" I smile, but I want to reply, "No, his first time in public."

And then, because someone has a sense of humor, the fire alarm goes off in the whole gym. Like this whole experience was not traumatic enough for us! People are filing out left and right, Mitch and I head out the doors and try to track down Matty, who is in the Childwatch area. We finally get everyone and head home.

After I report to Mike, Mike spends the evening talking to Mitch, bumping up his self confidence, telling him he can do it!!! Bless his heart. I take a practical approach, and moments before today's lesson, I bribe him with a trip to the Cracker Barrel.

Well, I am happy to report that today's lesson was much, much better. Mitch was jumping. Mitch was kicking. Mitch found the air to blow bubbles. Tye kept looking at me like, "What did you say to this kid?!?" He may have figured it out, however, because after every jump or kick, Mitch would look at me and say, "Do we get to go to Cracker Barrel yet?" Mitch was much more at ease and willing to try. Thank goodness! He still did, however, provide Mitch moments, as Tye was trying to get the kids to make giant circles with their arms, just like they were "scooping ice cream." Mitch just started doing weird things with his hands and his mouth. He told Tye that he did not want to scoop the ice cream, just eat it. Again, Tye's confused look made an appearance. But for the most part, it was a success.

Now, I am not saying that I have a Michael Phelps on my hands and we are certainly not heading off to Beijing anytime soon, but at least I think that I have a Pike. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a date with a Pike and the Cracker Barrel.

You'll Poke Your Eye Out!

Mitch: "Mom! Matty just hit me in the eye with his (plastic) hammer. Now, I can't even open my eye again until after Christmas."

Me: "OK. Well, come eat lunch."

Weather Man Mitch

Oh my! Here is a treat!

Yesterday, we took the boys to an awesome children's museum in downtown. We had a blast! Here is a highlight- Mitch doing the weather in the little TV studio. He is always running in and checking the weather when the Today Show breaks and shows the little weather snippet, and here is his own version.

Translation help:
"It's going to be a rainy day today, so you have to listen to the weather!"
Then some mumbling, and then, "It's going to be raining today...so hard...that the whole world will even look like a big, big mess, from all the rain coming down."

And at the end, "That's all" and he "storms" off. Thank you, Mitch, and thank you, me, that something told me to have the camera in movie mode.

Just watching him slap those "L's" up all over, we can hardly stand it. So make sure you grab your umbrellas!

Mitch Turns 4!

Big day! Here's how it all went down! (This will be a chronological, pictorial representation of our day. Highly entertaining to related parties, such as grandma's. Generally, not interesting to anyone not related to these hooligans. If you have stumbled onto this blog accidentally, there is still time to get out. It's OK. I will not be offended.)

Here are the birthday cake preparations. Don't worry- this business was authorized, and thanks to Shout Pre-Treater, the shirt recovered nicely.




Here is Mitch admiring the finished product. "Oh, Mom! Great job, Mom!"

Then, bring on the presents!
(Mitch making a pirate face...argh!)

Thank you, everyone, for the wonderful presents! I don't think the boys are going to surface for a week, they are so engrossed in new toys!

Then, into our clothes and off to an awesome children's museum. (Mitch, of course, comes running out of his room, exclaiming, "I'm all dressed in a GREAT outfit!" We were hoping that they might let us in for free, as our child has a certain homelessness to him. No such luck.)

Here we are in the "World of Work." This was a perfect little area, where the kids got right to work as farmers, firemen, and construction workers.
Then, on to the child sized grocery store, complete with real carts, fake food, and big smiles. We let the kids just go, very curious to see what they would select to put in their carts. You know, all the fruits and vegetables that they see in our home every day, at every meal. Always.

Mitch did pretty well. A nice assortment of fruit, breads (I am sure it was whole grain), and a pie for dessert. He even plans on doing a bit of laundry when he gets home (check out the bottom of the cart!)Then, there's little brother. Here is what his cart looked like. I am ashamed, but not surprised.
DOUGHNUTS! Ritz crackers, Cheese-Its, a pie, and doughnuts. Honestly...I did not even know he knew what a doughnut was...(yeah, right!)

Then out to dinner at "Rob Robin" (really Red Robin) and then back home for a few more presents and cake.

Then, green cake faces all over, the tub, books, and Good Night! Happy Birthday, Mitch!

Happy Bithday, Mitch.

I really love you. See?