Happy 4th of July

For the independence holiday, we headed to Michigan to visit the family and enjoy the cooler weather. We were hoping for the typical 80 degree weather and it ended up in the 90s. Nonetheless, we had fun and Matthew enjoyed a lot of firsts. We went to the 4th of July parade in Adrian where Matthew couldn't stop talking about the "very loud firetrucks". He pointed to the equipment and he would say "tractor" or "police car". He also enjoyed the "drums" from the Adrian City Band.

On Monday, we went to "Pa Bru's" house and a farm nearby where Matthew rode a horse for the first time. He enjoyed sitting on top of the horse and touched the mane. He petted the horse when he saw him but then he moved back when Alex started to sniff him. Matthew saw alpacas, ducks, bunnies, and horses on this farm. Pa Bru gave him a ride on the golf cart and they toured the gardens, too. We all took naps and then Matthew rode on the 4-wheeler for the first time. He was smiling as soon as he got on there. They fed the horses at Pa Bru's house and rode around the trails.

On Tuesday, we took a trip to Ann Arbor and ate at the famous Zingerman's for lunch. As we were walking by a fire station, one of the firemen waved for Matthew to come inside to check out the fire trucks. Matthew was on Andy's shoulders at the time. Matthew got to sit in the driver's seat and turn the wheel. He was grinning ear to ear. We went to the hands-on museum where Matthew enjoyed all the exhibits. He was a happy camper and he didn't want to leave.

On Wednesday, we went to Cabela's where Matthew saw "bison", "polar bears", "elephants", and "caribou". He kept repeating it throughout the day. He also fed the fish and loved it.

Daddy time

I have been sick with a terrible sinus cold so most of the weekend Matthew hung out with Daddy. On Saturday, I took Matthew to the Aviation Museum at Love Field in order to get him out of the house and do something indoors to avoid the heat. He liked the airplanes and he really liked the bounce house and play equipment. It was his first time in a bounce house and he kept falling down. I think he would get frustrated and then want out of there but as soon as he got out, he wanted back in. There were lots of other 2 year olds running around because there was a birthday party. He really wanted to get some birthday cake but I had to tell him that we didn't even know these kids and we left at that point.

Andy played with Matthew the rest of the day so that I could rest. They swam in the pool together. Matthew is quite the swimmer and he enjoys going under water. Andy started doing a blast-off routine by counting down from 10 and then throwing Matthew up in the air. Matthew loves it. Ana Paula babysat for us on Saturday night so that Andy and I could celebrate our 6th anniversary. Boy, how time flies! We ate at Eddie V's (a new seafood restaurant in town) and watched a movie afterwards.

I was feeling worse on Sunday and decided to rest most of the day. Andy took Matthew for a walk to the park and then he kept Matthew busy with colors. At one point, they were running through the sprinklers in the backyard and I'm not sure who was having a better time - they both were squealing. In the afternoon, I finally felt energized to hang out with Matthew so I brought the fingerpaints outside. Matthew was having a good time with that.

During the bedtime routine, Matthew could tell that I was not feeling well so he kissed my hand because he thought it was a bobo and he said "feel better, mama?" And then a kissed a couple of more freckles that he thought were bobos and said "feel better?" It was really sweet. Every time I would cough, he would say "goodness". I guess that's what I say sometimes to him.

He's very curious lately and says "what's that?" often. It's amazing at how quickly he learns new words. He loves books so we make sure to encourage that. He likes to bring books to the couch area and read together. Andy has a new nighttime routine where he comes in and reads Barnyard Dance. One night he put on his cowboy hat and he was reading the book in full Andy-animation mode and Matthew was smiling ear-to-ear. Every night, Matthew asks "Daddy, Barnyard Dance?" so that Andy knows it's time to come up and read.

Happy Father's Day

The weekend started early for Daddy Andy. Matthew's daycare had a Father's day celebration at 3pm. Andy went there and enjoyed chips and salsa and koolaid with Matthew and his friends. Matthew was proud to have daddy there and he wanted to be sure that Andy did not leave without him by holding up his arms for Andy to pick him up. Andy took Rusty to get his shots from the vet and then we all met at Pappasitos for dinner (of course, Rusty stayed home).

On Saturday, we had vendors over to clean our carpets. Matthew was watching them with big eyes and later commented on "cleaning carpet" by moving his hand in a circular motion to imitate their machines. He's so funny that he never misses a detail. The weather is hot, hot, hot. Andy took Matthew and Rusty to the park while the carpet cleaners continued. After they finished, Matthew and I enjoyed lunch at Whataburger while Andy went to work out. Matthew nearly drank the ketchup in a small dipping container. He loves ketchup.

We went to the library and Matthew was in heaven there. He was having fun looking at books and even climbing into the chairs. He's our little book worm. It was technically nap time but I drug him out to target for another errand. I gave him popcorn and an icee to keep him entertained in the grocery cart while I bought a few things, including Andy's father's day present. It was 1:30pm by the time I came back from the store and Matthew was sound asleep. When I moved him from the car into his bed, he was limp and hardly flinched. He was exhausted. He slept for 3 hours!

After the long nap, I peeked in his room to find him playing in the floor. He has been getting out of his crib this week and just playing around the room. When I put him to bed at night, he has been climbing out at least once and then I have to go put him back in the crib for a final goodnight. He will walk over to the door and knock and say thing like "mama", "hola", "knock-knock". It's so cute and annoying at the same time.

But after the nap, he had a big poop so he felt great. I had to give him a bath to get rid of the smell (yes, it was one of those big blowouts). He screamed because he thought he was getting back into the bedtime routine. We took him out to eat at Maggiano's for his favorite - spaghetti. He had it all over him because he was hungry. We walked around the mall afterwards and he was running saying "hurry" and excited to get to the fountain or observe the art work in the middle. He was having so much fun. We tried to get him to burn as much energy as he could. He was really into Daddy this weekend. Even at night, he would climb into Andy's chair and do belly flops onto him. He likes to wrestle with Andy.

On Sunday, Matthew woke up at 6am. Andy didn't ask for much for Father's Day but he was hopeful to sleep in. Oh well! We went to church and we were running late so we just took Matthew in the service with us instead of going to the nursery. He did well but we thought he was sleepy. Instead, he was smiling and jumping up and down on the pews. We went to breakfast afterwards but as soon as we sat down in the booth, Matthew was whining and laying down so we decided to just come on home. Matthew screamed the entire drive home because he was tired, etc. Happy Father's day Andy!

I put Matthew down for a nap as soon as we got home and sure enough, he climbs out of the crib and he is knocking on the door ready to come out. I was sleepy and tried to ignore it but Andy came to the rescue when he heard Matthew starting to yell "mama". Andy swam in the pool with him and said that Matthew was becoming fearless - just jumping in on his own. Papa Snider came into town on his way to Arkansas so I picked him up from the airport while Andy put Matthew down for a nap. When Matthew woke up by knocking on his door, Papa opened it and Matthew had a big grin. I just laid down for a nap and when I heard "hola", I yelled "Papa" so that I could continue sleeping and it worked.

Papa played with Matthew and watched the US Open. We all got into the pool around 5pm and Matthew was going under water left and right. It was nuts. I was getting worried because he would barely come up for a breath and then he wanted to go back under. I think he was really excited about this new concept of swimming. He's getting the hang of it. Now if we can just get him to kick his feet and move his arms at the same time. Papa put Matthew down to sleep and he said that Matthew could barely hold his eyes open as he scratched his back in the crib. I was shocked to hear that Matthew didn't pop back up out of the crib. But I guess Dad's have the magic touch.

Happy Father's Day! A special wish goes out to Papa Durkin, Papa Bruce, Papa Snider, and Great Papa Guido.

Newsflash- Matthew poops in potty

We are happy to report that Matthew pooped in the potty for the first time this week. He has been crying right after he poops in his diaper and wanting it changed right away. Then, he was telling us he wanted to go to the potty to poop a couple of times prior to big incident with nothing to report. But the third time is a charm because he said poop again and I rushed him over to the potty. He actually had some poop already in the diaper and I put it in the toilet. He was screaming because he was not used to doing this. I told him to push and you know the rest. He was still crying when Andy came in to praise him and comment on how big it was. I told him to flush and he stopped crying to flush. Then, he wanted to wash his hands so we put a step ladder in our bathroom for him to be able to wash his hands on his own.

He was so proud. We said "Wow, good job Matthew, you are a big boy." The rest of the night Matthew repeated "poop in potty, good job, Matthew big boy." He was in the best mood the rest of the night. We tried to put him on the potty to tinkle but that never seems to happen in the few seconds that he sits on the potty. We have a small potty for him for the tinkles but we use the "big boy potty" as Matthew calls it for the poops.

Lately, we call Matthew Dennis the Menace because it seems like he finds trouble quickly. He is starting to play more on his own. He put toilet paper down the toilet and kept flushing it until it was all backed up in a matter of seconds. He will take all the balls out of the basket on our coffee table and throw them about. He will turn chairs upside down or empty blocks to make a mess in quick fashion. He will find my computer and have it doing all sorts of functions I didn't even know existed.

On Saturday, I took Matthew to McDonalds to get ice cream and play in the indoor play area. The temperature is so hot here so I was trying to find indoor activities for him. He loved it. There were some older kids playing and Matthew was so excited to be around them. He was saying "hi" and trying to copy them. On Sunday, I had nursery duty at our church and I was surprised at how Matthew was doing a good job of helping me get other kids to play with puzzles or play with toys. He was my little helper. We visited the senior citizens home but it was Matthew's nap time so he was a little shy.

I tried to put Matthew down for a nap earlier but he jumped out of the crib and started knocking on his door in a matter of minutes. I tried to get him to go down again for a little stretch but he was knocking at the door again with the biggest smile. I gave up so Matthew took a nap later than normal. I was a little disappointed because I was ready for a nap myself and Andy was jogging outside at the time. Andy ended up getting Matthew to take a nap in front of the St Jude Classic golf on tv on the couch while Andy was napping in the chair. Matthew was fighting the nap with all his might.

Arden, Taylor, and Kristy came over on Sunday to enjoy the pool and fajitas. Matthew was cranky after the nap on the couch because I think Rusty woke him up earlier than he would have otherwise. But as soon as we told Matthew that Arden was coming, he was in a good mood and kept talking about it "Arden coming." Matthew gets a surge of energy when she is here and he was showing off in the pool. They enjoy capri suns and then backyardagan tv show during dinner. Matthew has been watching the Robot Rampage episode for the past several weeks and actually says "systems A-OK" at random times during the day. Andy and I feel like we have the episode memorized.

Summer time

Matthew and Arden playing peek-a-boo on the couch

Celebrating Taylor's 40th birthday - Arden and Matthew loved singing and eating cake

Rusty enjoyed the water and just sat there for a while after a walk

Matthew loves popsicles on a hot summer day

It was a short work week so that was nice. Matthew seemed ready to go to school on Tuesday but then crying to go on Wed. The difference was that Daddy took him on Tuesday and I took him on Wednesday. He pooped a big poop on Wed night so maybe that was impacting his mood. I went to book club on Wed but Andy says Matthew was running around the house because he was so excited afterwards.

On Friday, we met with Matthew's teacher, Krystal, for a parent-teacher conference. Ms. Krystal raved on how Matthew was the smartest kid in her class. She talked about how advanced he was for his age. She graded him on the following: Cognitive skills, language skills, self-help, social, gross motor, and fine motor. He excelled in a majority of the areas with a few things they are still working on. He needs help identifying boy and girl, indicating age by fingers, using the pronoun "I", putting on socks and clothes, going to the toilet, and pedalling a tricycle. She was amazed at his fine motor skills. I told her that it was the engineering genes because it is funny to watch him play with the tripod at home.

He will be moving up to the 3 year old class in August with his friends. He will miss Ms. Krystal but he will like the stimulation and challenge of learning new things. He is really good at school and always comments to other kids on what they need to do. He will read books on his own while other kids are playing. He's our little book worm.

Taylor, Kristy, and Arden came over on Sunday and we celebrated Taylor's 40th birthday. The kids enjoyed singing happy birthday and eating cake. They love swimming in the pool and it is funny to see them try to out-do each other with floating on their back or going underwater. They are pushing each other to do difficult things that they normally were scared of. Matthew is improving on his swimming skills and we hope he will be able to swim on his own by the end of the summer or earlier.

Memorial Day Weekend

Trapp family lodge inspiration for The Sound of Music

Riding a bike over one of the many bridges

Old covered bridge in Stowe

Stopped for a picture together

Matthew enjoyed some family time this weekend. Nanna, Papa, and Mike watched Matthew while Andy and I went to a wedding in Vermont. Matthew stayed home from daycare on Friday and went to the Ft Worth zoo. He had a great time and still talks about the "very tall giraffe" and elephants.

The weather has heated up into the 90's and they played in the pool and went to the park. Matthew did really well and hardly cried. He would let them know if he didn't like some kind of food or was hungry or thirsty. He hardly mentioned mama and daddy. He was in a good mood the entire weekend, giggling and laughing.

Andy and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip together. Vermont is a beautiful state and the weather was in the mid-70's. We took a bike ride through a wooded path and stopped for lunch. It was relaxing and we cherished the time together, especially sleeping in later during the morning. We flew back on Sunday and jumped in the pool right away. Matthew just woke up from his nap so he was full of energy and ready to play. Mike and Roxy (his weiner dog) also swam in the pool. We turned on the music outside and enjoyed the pool. Matthew was having so much fun.

On Monday, Nanna, Papa, and Mike headed home. Matthew and I took 2 hour naps and then we invited Taylor, Kristy, and Arden over for dinner and pool time. Arden was having a lot of fun and Matthew was enjoying the playmate. They were especially happy after the ice cream. Life is good!

Trip to Austin

Andy traveled to Austin for a work function so the plan was to meet him there on Friday night. But the flights were full due to UT graduation weekend so Matthew and I decided to fly Saturday morning. It probably worked out for the best because Matthew was in a great mood and he traveled so well on the plane. On Friday night, I took Matthew to Nordstrom's cafe for dinner and we enjoyed our dinner with a 3-piece band. I was also able to shop for some new shoes so I didn't mind staying in Dallas.

As soon as Matthew woke up on Sat morning, I put his clothes on and put him in the car - which was already packed with our luggage and stroller. We ate breakfast at the McDonalds in the airport and Matthew enjoyed the pancakes. We flew standby on Southwest since they fly out of Love field - a mile from our house. One of the perks of working in the airline industry is that we can fly standby on other airlines as well but the pitfall is that we pay more in fees and we are below airline employees on the list. But it all worked out nicely on the 8:30am flight and we will definitely consider it next time because the DFW airport is 25 minutes away and much larger so we prefer the smaller airport nearby.

Nanna and Papa picked us up at the austin airport and then we headed to the outlet malls in San Marcos. We ate lunch at the outback restaurant and then headed to the hotel. By that point, Matthew was ready to jump in the pool. He took a nap while we shopped and he was done riding in the car. When he saw Andy, he was giggling and just so happy to be out of the car and see daddy. After he put his swimsuit on, he was running to the pool. Andy thought it was hilarious. Matthew had a blast in the pool and went down the water slide with Andy. He was giggling at the end because he was having so much fun.

We went to the County Line for dinner and enjoyed BBQ and peach cobbler with blue bell ice cream. There was a live band outside on the river and Matthew liked watching the turtles and fish in the river. It was a beautiful view and the weather cooled down with a breeze. We love Austin!

We ate breakfast on Sunday at the hotel and then enjoyed the pool until time for checkout. We ate lunch at Flores where they had a playground attached to the restarant that was shaded by a big tree. I was telling Andy that it wouldn't be a trip to Austin without BBQ and Tex-mex. So many times while we were living in Chicago, we would visit Lori and my parents and enjoy the Austin cuisine. Of course, we would have to eat tums later to calm our stomachs...LOL

We had a long drive back to Dallas. We left around 1:30pm and arrived at our house around 7pm. The hotel was actually in Lakeway, Texas, so it was a little longer than our normal Austin drive. We also had to stop multiple times to keep Matthew content. We stopped for ice cream in Salado and he was in a great mood after that. And we ate dinner at a Denny's in Waxahachie. Matthew traveled well in the car and I was in the back seat trying to keep him occupied. I gave him my makeup bag at one point and he had a few spots of makeup on his forehead. He even put the eye lash curler up to his eye. He was having fun imitating mama.

The trip to Austin was fun but it was a whirlwind trip. I don't recommend to travel Sat and then turn around and travel Sunday. Next time we will make sure to spend more time there. Memorial weekend is coming up and we are heading to Vermont for a wedding. Andy and I are looking forward to a trip by ourselves in the beautiful Vermont area. Nanna, Papa, and Mike will be watching Matthew at our house and bringing Mike's dog, Roxy. They plan to go to the zoo and hang out in the pool. It should be a fun weekend for them.