Accessories

Matthew is growing up, and part of growing up is making your own decisions.  Matthew has decided that he will make the decisions about what he is going to wear, and for the most part I have allowed him this freedom.  Which is why he went to the museum like this:

That's a basketball shirt, jean shorts, soccer shin guards and water shoes.  Which, apparently, is THE look for this season. 

I'm so out of touch!  I mean, I haven't worn shin guards and water shoes since, what, summer of '82 maybe?  But not paired with jean shorts, of course.  That would be lame.  I used to wear mine with the neon kulots and the off the shoulder sweatshirt.

Fashion Statement

Yesterday, Cameron was wearing his new Tigers' baseball cap when I picked him up from school.  I had told him that he could not wear it in class, but he could put it on when he went out to play.  "Did your hat keep the sun off your face?" I asked him.

"Not much," he replied, "but at least it's good for looks!"

Alert the Media

You know how every once in a while you see a newspaper article about how someone found a Cheeto that looks exactly like George Washington's profile?  Or a blueberry pancake that is unmistakably an image of the Virgin Mary?  Which are so totally obviously messages.  (Interpretation:  George Washington was a total cheesehead.  And the Virgin Mary loves syrup.)

Well, Cameron went to a birthday party this past weekend and made a tie-dye t-shirt.  On Valentine's Day, after the dye had had 24 hours to set, we followed the directions for washing and drying the finished product.  Cameron put it on, proud of his creation. 

And then, I spotted this . . .

Oh. My. Gosh.  What could it mean, people?  I'm buying a big ol' bag of Cheetos in the hopes that it clarifies things.

Artistic License

We spent not just today but the weekend celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. and all he represented.  So, here's a picture Cameron colored of MLK Jr.  Bet you didn't know he was such a snappy dresser, huh?  It's 'cause all of those photos of him are in black in white.  If you saw the color photos, you'd see that his favorite suit was aqua and his favorite tie was orange.  Little known fact. 

The purple ear, however, had me befuddled.  Cameron explained, "All the other kids were using the brown crayons, so what choice did I have?"

Also, a book recommendation from me.  I recently read Claudette Colvin, Twice Towards Justice, by Phillip Hoose and it was fascinating.  Claudette Colvin was a teenage girl in Montgomery, AL, who refused to give up her seat on a bus almost a year before Rosa Parks did the same thing.  I wish I could convince everyone, middle school on up, to read this book!

Hip to be square

When I was a kid, my mom always made my Halloween costumes.  The traditional newspaper-stuffed pumpkin, the more eclectic Minnie Pearl, the regionally-inspired Zilwaukee bridge builder.  I think most kids wore homemade costumes in those days.  These days, every other kid is wearing the same store-bought costume and it just doesn't feel the same to me.  So from Cameron's first Halloween on, I've been making the kids' costumes.

Last year, under intense pressure from Cameron, I let him wear a store bought costume for the first time.  This year, I was pleased when he decided that he'd go back to a homemade one.    It was pretty easy to choose what he wanted to be.  What does Cameron love more than almost anything?  Legos.  And who does Matthew want to be like more than anyone?  Cameron.  And thus, I ended up making two Lego costumes.

To be honest, I was pretty disappointed in how they came out.  The spray paint didn't really cover up the "Whole Soy Yogurt" and "Zappos" labels.  But that's the beauty of trick or treating at twilight -- as soon as the sun began to set, you couldn't see those labels at all!

Matthew stayed home with David, as he's still fighting a fever that won't quit.  Cameron and I hit the streets with friends.  Before he even got to the first house, though, Cameron tripped.  Turns out it is difficult to see obstacles in your path when you have a box velcroed to you.  He fell forward, landing on his Lego and displacing several yogurt containers.  The good news was that the Lego cushioned his fall and he was uninjured.  "My Lego!" he cried.  "What are we going to do?"

Who does this kid think he's trick or treating with?  An amateur? I opened my bag, pulled out a roll of packing tape and had him patched up in no time!

Cameron got quite a bit of attention for his unique costume and on the way home he gave a satisfied sigh.  "Well," he said, "I think my costume was a big success!"

Not a Fan of Fringe

When Cameron was about 2 1/2 years old, he took a pair of kiddie scissors to his PJs.  Apparently, they needed to be livened up with some fringe on the sleeves.

This morning, Matthew came to me with a look of bewilderment on his face.  He held up his arms, then pointed to one sleeve.  (Yes, he's wearing the cut up PJs.  They are still plenty warm!)  "Look, Mama," said Matthew.  "Somebody cut my PJs!"

"Yes," I agreed.  "Someone did cut your PJs.  Those were Cameron's PJs when he was a little boy.  Do you know who cut them?"

Suddenly, comprehension dawned on Matthew's face.  "Mr. Charlie cut my PJs," he answered.  No matter how much I insisted that Cameron, not Mr. Charlie the barber, was at fault, Matthew was convinced.  "Yes, mama," he said.  "Mr. Charlie cut my hair.  Mr. Charlie cut my PJs."

I have a feeling Mr. Charlie is going to get an earful at Matthew's next haircut.

He's Got the Look

Cameron has never cared much about what he wears.  Oh, sure, occasionally he would spot some particularly appealing item of clothing -- a Stars Wars Lego t-shirt, for instance -- and beg that it be purchased.  But for the most part, he's as happy wearing plaid shorts and a Hawaiian shirt as he is wearing a nice pair of khakis and a polo shirt.

Matthew, on the other hand, seems to have an opinion on his wardrobe.  It started a few months ago, when he snatched a pair of Crocs off the shelf as we passed by.  "These MATTHEW'S shoes," he declared.  "I want dese.  Dese my shoes."  He clutched them protectively all the way to the checkout, where the cashier has to assist me in prying them from his grip long enough to scan them.

Then, yesterday, we went to buy Matthew some new pants, of which he is in dire need since I apparently gave away or donated the 2T winter wear prematurely.  As I picked up some cheap jeans and clearance rack t-shirts, Matthew pointed to a pair of gray pants on a nearby rack.  "Those ones," he said.  "Those my pants, Mama.  I want those pants." 

I picked up the pair of pants and held them up.  "These ones, Matthew?"

"Yes, those ones."  Then he pointed to a shirt.  "Wit dat shirt.  Dat's da shirt I want.  Those Matthew's pants, Matthew's shirt."  He was absolutely beside himself with excitement when I handed him his selections.

When we picked Cameron up from school a little later, Matthew breathlessly told him of his new clothes.  "Did you get me anything?" Cameron asked.

"Yes," I said.  "I got you these two shirts."

"Oh," said Cameron with disappointment.  "Just clothes?"

Just clothes.

Didi

When Matthew was just beginning to babble, he'd often say "Dididididi!" One day, without much thought to the future, I said to Cameron, "Matthew thinks your name is Didi! Listen, he's saying your name!" Cameron was astounded and delighted. Every time Matthew said "Didi," Cameron would shout, "That's right Matthew! I'm your Didi!" Well, as you may have predicted, Matthew really DOES call Cameron "Didi" now.

Here's Didi, showing off his signature sense of style in the classic football jersey and sweater vest combo. It's on all the runways this year -- mark my words, you will ALL be buying jerseys and vests this fall.

Proof

We do change his clothes

I just noticed that the last few times I've posted a photo of Matthew, he is always in the same outfit. Seriously, we DO change his clothes. Daily, in fact! And sometimes more!

Tacky in khaki

Yesterday, Cameron wore a pair of light tan pants to school. Nothing fancy, but a decent pair of pants for a preschooler in my opinion. On our drive home, he told me with excitement how he was singled out for good behavior during news. "And the teacher said, 'Someone is sitting still and being a good listener. Can anyone guess who it is? His name starts with C and he is wearing tacky pants!' and it was ME!" It was bad enough when they were teaching him evil work. Now they are lobbing personal insults? The NERVE!

Should've taken a photo

I should have taken a photo, but I didn't think of it. Cameron just emerged from the bathroom, where he had been instructed to brush his teeth before school. With a big grin on his face, he pointed to his head which was crowned with a mass of wet, spiky hair. "Look what I did!" he crowed.

"Oh Cameron!" I said, not amused but not particularly concerned either. Wet, spiky hair can be combed down. But then, I saw the bubbles. "What did you put in your hair?"

"Soap!" Hand soap, more specifically. And generous amounts, by the looks of it.

"Oh geez, Cameron! Get your step stool and bring it to the kitchen sink. I'm going to have to wash your hair out and we've got to leave for school in just a few minutes!"

"Nooooo! It'll dry! It's fine!"

With much protestation, Cameron leaned his head over the sink where I squirted him down and then quickly blew his hair dry.

Just moments ago, Cameron looked in the mirror and said, "Alright! Thanks, Mom, for giving me the uh-oh."

"The what?"

"The uh-oh! Look! My hair is dried, sticking all uh-oh!"

I didn't think boys were supposed to care about their hair until they were about twelve. But my four year old is thrilled that the back of his hair is dried into a messy cowlick.

Hat heads

St. Patrick's Day began with excitement in our house -- we were shocked to find that the leprechauns had played a trick on us and turned our milk green! With some trepidation, we took a taste and were delighted to discover that green milk is DELICIOUS! Cameron independently determined that leprechauns turn milk green "by dipping their socks in it." Mmmm.

After school, Cameron went to a St. Patrick's Day party and David went to an Irish pub with his co-workers. I, apparently, am no social butterfly, as I spent the evening carting kids from school to party to home. I think I am in a social cocoon stage of my life.

The party boy apparently has a really cool mom who somehow managed in 1 hour in 45 minutes to get 6 kids fed, play games, frost cookies and make pretzels and paint a toy train. Even better, each kid got a goody bag which, among other things, contained a very large hat. The hat was endlessly amusing, as you can see!
Cameron, recognizing that Matthew was likely green with jealousy, kindly allowed Matthew to try the hat on, too. You know, really humongous green hats don't work for everybody, but I think my boys really pulled off the look!

Guide to Child Health

Call it maternal instinct, call it women's intuition . . . I definitely have a knack for identifying when my child is sick. I know some parents really struggle when trying to determine if their little one requires a trip to the doctor, so I thought perhaps I should share my wealth of insights. Sometimes examples are helpful, so I'll tell you about the past 24 hours and point out to you, simple reader, the oh-so-subtle clues that allowed me to determine that my child was in need of medical care.

It began around midnight, when I heard Cameron whimpering and moaning (subtle clue #1). I went to his room and he told me his throat hurt. I stayed with him while he fell back asleep but a mere hour later he crawled in my bed and sobbed, "Please, my ear hurts, take me to the hospital!" (subtle clue #2) He tossed and turned all night and awoke looking pale with fluid leaking out of his ear (subtle clue #3). Now, keep in mind that I do have a medical background -- I don't want you to feel completely overwhelmed and inadequate in the face of my mind-boggling knowledge -- but I deduced that the child had an ear infection which required prompt treatment. A few hours and $50 later, he was dosed up with antibiotics and pain meds and snoozing on the couch.

Now, here are some of the subtle clues that told me the antibiotics were working. After a long nap, Cameron awoke and proposed a new game which he called "Human Bowling." It is played by stacking rolls of paper towel in the hallway, sitting on a bouncy ball and bouncing your way through as many rolls as you can (subtle clue #1).

The game was followed by clever snack proposals, such as "When you are sick, you should eat lots of popsicles, right?" (subtle clue #2) And, of course, regaining pride in your personal appearance is always a sure sign of recovery (subtle clue #3).

Diapers and Danger on the High Seas

Cameron enjoys changing the diaper of Matthew's baby doll. He has an eclectic technique, however, and I don't think I'll be letting him change Matthew any time soon. First, he removes the diaper and remarks loudly on how dirty the baby is. He then turns the baby over on his stomach, gets a baby wipe and vigorously rubs at the baby's bottom. Next, he flips the baby over to his back, states "Oh, his face is dirty, too!" and uses the SAME wipe to clean the baby's face! Ewww.

In other news, Matthew has joined a gang of marauding pirates. He now insists we call him Captain Gummy Grin.

Me, I want a hula hoop

As always, we've had a wonderful Christmas -- every moment packed with family, friends, excess calories and endless gifts! I'm limited to photos taken by my mom at the moment, as I can't find the USB cord for my camera and I don't have Stacy's photos yet. So, more to post in the future!

We began slow, enjoying a Christmas Eve's Eve dinner with my parents and David's parents. Matthew apparently felt a bit jealous that everyone was enjoying food and drink. "Do they have to rub it in my face? Milk, milk, milk . . . let's liven things up a little, huh people? It's the HOLIDAYS!"Or could it be some sort of weird "put everything in my mouth" phase? Nahhhh.Matthew also debuted his new ability to ride in a hip carry, which is a big relief for my aching arms.

Christmas Eve included the traditional shushing of a preschooler at Mass, followed by delicious food, the company of family and plenty of Wii play. When the party had died down, Cameron plated some cookies and dictated a note of welcome to Santa.

Bedtime, to no one's surprise, was a lengthy affair as Cameron was literally jumping up and down on the bed in anticipation. However, the next morning I was the first one to wake up -- I'm finding that a mommy's anticipation of her children's excitement exceeds even that childhood excitement. Evidently daddies don't have that same instinct, as David was roused from sleep quite some time later.

We all received a ridiculous amount of gifts, including lots and lots of toys. Here's mine!!!

That's right! A ROOMBA! A vacuuming robot! This was a completely unexpected surprise from David and I don't think I could ask for a better gift than clean floors with no effort. I actually had a dream about my Roomba last night. I like it that much.

We gave Matthew a super cute baby doll, of whom he appears to be fond.

Cameron, as you may have guessed, was deluged with superhero gifts and our superhero play has now improved ten-fold.

And, since he was shirtless and he has a Y-chromosome, Cameron decided to experiment with his stomp rockets in a way not described in the directions . . .

More to come . . . Merry Christmas!

Big Boys

I tried to get a photo without Matthew's hand in his mouth but, well, his hand is always in his mouth. Today, Matthew dressed in his big boy clothes. No onesies for him! Check it out -- a truck shirt, jeans and SHOES! His shoes are Robeez which I adore. Cameron wore only Robeez until he was about 2 years old. I have some of Cameron's old Robeez, and am trying to resist buying the adorable turtle Robeez! Are they cute or what? Here's Cameron at age 1 year wearing red monkey Robeez.

Speaking of big boys, when I asked Cameron what he wanted for lunch today he replied, "A peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Now, that may seem like a pretty typical preschool lunch to you, reader, but I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Cameron has been vehemently anti-peanut butter his whole life. When I confirmed that he had actually requested a PB&J he responded, "Mm-hmm. I decided I like peanut butter now." And went on to actually eat one!

Now, it should be noted that our nephew Marcus eats little other than peanut butter sandwiches, yet rejected mine. "YUCK!" he said. "It tastes like PEANUTS!" Yes, folks, we eat the organic valencia peanut butter which, unlike Skippy, tastes like peanuts not sugar. Crazy, huh?

And lastly, if you are bored, Cameron recommends the game Ballistic Biscuit. Here he is cracking up at the silly sound effects.

She's a cutie pie!

Matthew has fantastic hair -- long, soft, curly, wild, beautiful hair. Such pretty hair that I am frequently told how cute "she" is! Now, as anyone with lots of hair will tell you, there is such a thing as a bad hair day. This picture of Matthew had my mother and me in hysterics. (Note to the future teenage Matthew: I am sorry for sharing such an embarassing photo with the masses. But, seriously, it was just too funny not to share! Please forgive me.)
Today Matthew and I made a quick trip to the mall. I figured it'd take 10 minutes to run in and out. Instead, I stopped every few feet to say, "Yes, thanks, but he's a boy!" The cashier was particularly taken with Matthew. After admiring him for quite some time she ventured a guess: "Is he adopted?" When I said yes, she quite sincerely told me how she has always wanted to adopt. She asked me a few questions about the process and I was thinking what a nice conversation this was when she said, still quite seriously, "Yes, I figure I'll have 10 kids of my own and then adopt 10. And then we'll move to Kenya and live like one big tribe." Uhhh-huhhh. I smiled, wished her the best and headed off with my purchases thinking, "First off, best wishes to your poor uterus should you succeed in this plan. Second, let's check back in after, say, kid number 2 and see if you'd still like another 18! And third, I wonder what airfare would be like to move yourself and your 20 children to Kenya!" And since it is National Adoption Awareness Month, let's just throw in this little bit of education on positive adoption language: Adopted or not, Matthew is "my own" kid! And he's also my "real" kid. What he is not is my biological kid! stepping off soapbox and heading to bed . . .

Matthew's fitness craze

Matthew had his two month check-up this week. When he heard the nurse say that he weighs 12 lbs. 6 oz., he immediately decided it was time to really commit to his exercise routine. "I thought those onesies were feeling a little tight," he mused to himself.

The first order of business was getting some stylin' work-out clothes. Babylegs were just the ticket. Seriously, get this kid a headband and he could put Richard Simmons to shame!

For day one, Matthew focused on strength building exercises using free weights. Exhausted, he slept a full four hours that night. Day two, Matthew really meant business. Look at his tough guy mug as he does his push-ups.
But he couldn't keep the smile off his face during the aerobics work-out. "FAME! I'm gonna live forever! I'm gonna learn how to FLY!" he sang.
He's also on a strict, liquid diet.

Tuxedos and snow boots

This morning, Cameron tried on his tuxedo for Stephanie's upcoming wedding. He looked adorable! He was thrilled with the all black ensemble and instructed me to assist him in removing the white shirt "but leave the rest on to play Batman." Seems that Cameron thought his tuxedo pants, vest and jacket would be the perfect Batman disguise. When I told him that, despite the obvious similarities to Batman's wardrobe, he would not be able to wear his tuxedo today he had a complete meltdown. After many tears, he finally decided that if he couldn't wear the tuxedo, he'd find the next best thing. He is currently washing dishes (one of his favorite activities) in his black underwear and Spiderman snowboots. This kid isn't afraid to make daring decisions in the name of fashion!