Happy Thanksgiving 2017!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a quiet day of cooking, eating, and playing games at home. We hosted one guest, a friend of mine from college.

Matt doing puzzles and playing games with our guest

I managed to make cornbread and pumpkin pie yesterday, but Jon did most of the cooking today, including the turkey.

Jon's photo of the finished turkey

Matt took a bite of pretty much everything, but he preferred the (store bought) rolls, of which he ate 3. He said his favorite part was the pumpkin pie with the whipped cream.

 

Andy woke up from his nap just in time for dinner. He sampled pretty much everything but wasn't fully awake until dessert. It seems the pumpkin pie with whipped cream may have been his favorite, too.

We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, including pumpkin pie!

Matthew's 4th Birthday

Saturday we celebrated Matt's 4th birthday. We went to the aquarium, then came back for an evening with Matt's Uncle Vic. We opened presents, and then ate what has become the traditional birthday feast of spaghetti and meatballs. We finished off the evening with an ice cream cake from the dairy bar. Matt requested it be "chocolate" and "green," so that's what he got.

At the Aquarium

Watching the seals outside

 

Matt "petting" the rays in the ray touch tank

Andy pointing at the rays (his arm is just a little too short yet)

Andy having fun lifting flaps

Matt watching the baby sharks

Andy eyeing the sharks

Checking out the penguins

What are those? You say they are birds. But they swim? 

Matt interested in the whale skeleton

At the tidal pool touch tank

Checking out the sea lion statue

Not surprisingly, Andy is now signing "fish" and saying "fff" for fish. 

Matt watching the penguins getting a "shower"

Here comes a sea turtle!

Making our way up the giant touch tank

At home

Checking out a new book with Dada and Uncle Vic (while Andy tosses balloons and wrapping paper around)

Helping put the candles on the cake

Trying to get a piece of that frozen ice cream cake

Assembling his new fire truck kit from Uncle Vic and Emily

Wee-ooo! Matt the firefighter coming through!

Andrew's 15-Month Check-Up

Before I return to the birthday boy, I want to report on Andy's 15-month check-up, which he had (a couple of weeks late) today. Andy is, as we suspected, healthy. He weighed 26 lb 1 oz (11.8 kg) and measured 2' 9.5" or 33.5" (85.1 cm). That puts him in the 90s for weight percentile and in the 99th percentile for height. He continues his trend of being very tall and solid. Looking back at Matt's stats at this point (keeping in mind that Matt went in right at his 15th month), Andy has half a pound and a full inch on Matt. So they're still similar. And this suggests Andy will probably start slowing down over the next year or so, too. Both of them did a lot of growing right out of the gate!

The doctor and I discussed Andy's love of active movement, not because of any concern, but because it's such a major part of who he is and what he does. It turns out he particularly enjoys proprioceptive, or body awareness-based, movement, which explains why he loves running, climbing, bouncing, etc., and it also explains why he likes to push things like the wagon outside or laundry hampers full of books or his brother on a kitchen chair around the kitchen. We're just going to have to work harder to wear him out! Perhaps he'll be the athlete of the family. (This weekend he was throwing around a long, thin balloon almost like a javelin - maybe taking after me...) In any case, Andy is definitely developing into his own person, distinct from his brother.

Happy 4th Birthday, Matthew!

Yesterday was Matthew's 4th birthday. I hope to post more from his birthday today or tomorrow, but first I want to make sure I get this photo of Matt and his cake (an ice cream cake from the dairy bar) and this video of Matt blowing out his candles:

Happy birthday to Matt!

October 2017 Recap

It's already November!

We weren't as ambitious with outings and such in between Matt's school and my recovery. We took advantage of good weather and hit playgrounds or went over to friends' houses. So we still kept busy!

We had a couple birthday parties this month.
One was in a friend's backyard.

Andy squeezing his way out of the bounce house

Matt meeting Daniel Tiger

Another was at an indoor splash pad.

Andy

Andy and Matt

Matt

Enjoying a snack

Andy wearing his cupcake

We went to several different playgrounds. (You'll be able to see the wide range in temperatures over the month from how the boys are dressed!)

 

Andy swinging

Andy and Matt on a swing together

Matt pushing a friend on the swing

Matt (in the bright blue sweatshirt) and his buddies watching a ladybug on the merry go round

 

Andy peeking out from a play structure (yes, he's looking at Matt in the second shot)

Andy going down the slide

Andy going up the slide

And Andy going up to the big slide all by himself (more than once!)

Watching the trucks just outside the playground fence

Testing out my new phone's camera mode using Andy as a subject

 

Brothers playing together

Balancing on the shaky bridge

Climbing wall fun with friends

Driving the fire engine

Snack time!

Making music

Our little climber

Tunnel fun

 

Going for an autumn hike with friends (we wore out Andy!)

Sandbox fun

Watching the wind blow leaves

We spent a lot of time at the library.

Coloring

 

Light table fun (Matt's robot is the second photo, and the last one is a typical depiction of these two playing together)

Doing crafts

Music & movement fun - ribbons and percussion instruments (with Andy "helping" Matt play the drum)

 

Building fun - squares, funny creatures, blocks, and trains

Two brothers at storytime

We had a few other outings.

Grabbing a bite to eat

We went to an open house at a nearby day camp, where the boys had a great time in the mini village.

Going camping 

Hello? 

Working at the garage 

 

Andy in the diner

Handing out "tickets" and "candy" at the theater box office

Running the grocery store 

In the vet's office

Playing school 

We played outside in the backyard at a friend's house...

 

Digging in the dirt

Andy tries some golfing

And at ours.

Backyard swing time

Bike riding

 

Sliding

Watching the praying mantis

Wagon fun

Not quite sure how he wants to get down from the playhouse

Some inside fun

Matt coloring