Eye Eye Captain?

Matthew had his first boat ride yesterday. My parents got him a life jacket which he had loved to try on, but did not actually want to wear when the time came. So to encourage Matthew to wear the life jacket my Dad wore his in the car from their house to the marina (Matthew remained unconvinced but the rest of us sure got a kick out of it). He was actually crying in this picture because he had to wear the jacket that is why I thought it would be a nice shot from behind. Once on the boat he didn't give the jacket a second thought. Dad let Matthew steer the boat and called him the captain, to which Matthew replied while squeezing his eye with his fingers "Eye, eye Captain".

Bye Bye Mom and Dad

Our big boy had his first sleepover at Mine and Papine's house (otherwise known as Grandma and Grandpa Beachy, we have no idea how he came up with those names). My mom has been asking for awhile now to have him stay and Matthew has seemed ready to go (really everyone was ready, but me). I thought he might get a little upset when leaving, but as you can see from the picture there were no tears (on that side of the camera). According to Mine and Papine he was a great house guest and they all had a great time. He is such a big boy now!

Altered Emma

I don't think I have ever been so excited about a cat surgery (or any surgery for that matter) before in my whole life! Today, Emma was fixed or altered (I think that is such a funny word to use for it, I have been using it ALL week, I generally think about getting my pants altered, not my cat) as they call it these days. Altered, fixed, spayed, I don't care what they call it as long as it stops all of the spraying and whining she normally does (cats in heat are not fun, no object is safe from the spray and no ears, not even ears on a different floor, safe from the loud cries). We found this great low cost place which was such a blessing because there is no way we could have paid for the regular vet costs at the moment. She is a great cat (when not in heat) so it will be super to have her back to her normal self again. This weekend she will be spending some time relaxing in her cage (or her cave according to Matthew) with her big kitty brother Mac checking in on her. Happy Alteration Day (not so happy for Emma at the moment, but soon)!

Chocolate Bagel Recipe

Today after church we were going to Panera to meet some people for lunch. We stopped in at home in between church and the restaurant and I fed Matthew some mac and cheese because I didn't really want to buy him a 5 dollar pb&j (which seems expensive enough for a pb&j that would be eaten, but becomes painfully expensive when it gets thrown away with only 3 bites taken). Then, since he had eaten we could just get him a bagel to snack on. He kinda just wanted to stay home and we were hurrying him out the door and so Erik promises him a bagel, but that didn't really do the trick so he says "How about a chocolate bagel?". I don't really have to tell you that Matthew was VERY excited about the thought of a chocolate bagel. I myself had never really heard of a chocolate bagel, but I kept my mouth shut because it got us out the door.

So we go to Panera (about a 20 minute car ride). We wait for 30 minutes inside and the people we were supposed to meet didn't show up (due to some miscommunication). During this time we realize they don't have chocolate bagels (imagine that). We decided to just go home since our friends didn't show. Matthew starts crying as we are leaving saying "chocolate bagel, please" (50 minutes after it last mentioned, we thought we were in the clear). We distract him and tell him about other great things we have at home to eat which seems to work. Then we drive 20 minutes back home and make a stop, at a store, Erik goes in and comes back with a bag. Matthew is very excited when he sees the bag and says (yes you guessed it) "Yippee chocolate bagel". And, you of course know the bag contained not a one chocolate bagel (mainly because they don't even exist). So, the crying for the bagel begins again. At this point, Erik feels pretty bad because Matthew had been such a good boy waiting at the restaurant and he had promised the bagel. Now this is where I would have just tried some more distraction and brought out some fruit snacks. But not Erik, he decided he was going to follow through with this promise. So as soon as we got home he made a chocolate bagel. I am sure everyone will want to take down this recipe (an instant classic for certain).

Chocolate Bagel

Prep time: 5 seconds

Cook Time: 0 seconds

You will need:

One bagel

Chocolate Syrup

1. Squeeze the syrup onto the bagel.

It probably isn't nearly as bad for you as you think because you won't want to take more than a couple of bites. I know this, not because I tried it, but because even Matthew only took 3 bites. And even though he said "Mmmmm" after every bite I remain unconvinced.

Farewell to Our Favorite Stray

Since January, we have been feeding a stray cat we named Lola. We fed her and played with her everyday. She has been like a third cat to us. I didn't want to take her to a shelter because I was afraid she would just be put down in a couple of weeks if no one came for her. If we didn't already have 2 cats, I am sure we would have taken her in (actually I have threatened Emma on a few occasions that I was going to trade her for Lola). Now I know this must sound like I am some kinda super cat lover, but I am not really. I love my cats because they are fun and really great with Matthew and cause they are mine (yes, I really DO love you Emma) and I just really felt sorry for Lola so I love her too, but I don't just LOVE all cats. Anyway, we did plan on bringing Lola in when we got some extra money to get her fixed and declawed (since she jumped and hung on to our window screens for minutes with her claws, I was pretty sure our slightly new furniture would not survive without a declaw). Unfortunately, our adorable little stray didn't make it in. She never came on Tuesday (instead I found a HUGE raccoon eating her food in the middle of the night) and then on Wed. I saw her on the side of the road. We really will miss her (I would say especially Matthew, but I think it might be especially me). I think even the other 2 cats miss seeing her. Emma normally charged the door when she saw Lola on the other side, she would hiss and carry on (that is a picture of her below looking out, not very nicely I might add, at Lola). I guess Bob Barker is right in telling people to spay and neuter their cats after every "The Price is Right" show because they are lots of Lolas (and boy cats too, of course) out there.

Crazy Cat

So here are some pictures of our cats. Emma is the little light colored cat in the bookcase and Mac is the fat orange one wishing he could fit his enormous body into one of those small heart shaped holes too. This is Emma's new hobby, climbing to the top hole in the bookcase and she just takes in the sights or a nap. I am not sure if the draw for her is her very own little space where no one can bother her (except for an occassional book falling down on her) or being able to taunt Mac. This is not her first trip to the top of a bookcase, however. Last August, she somehow brought down a tall bookcase full of books all on her own. My favorite part of the story however, is not the fact that our little 7 pound cat brought down such a large thing, but that Erik walked into the room and sat at his computer (which he would have HAD to step over at least 10 of the fallen books to get to) and said nothing about it. I walked in and said "Oh, my goodness." and he said "What?", I pointed to the bookcase and said "This, didn't you see the bookcase on the FLOOR????". The answer of course is no, he had not, and I am absolutely positive that in ANY other room of our house he would never have missed such a thing, but it was in the COMPUTER room. The computer, it can suck a man (or at least for sure my man) in, make him forget time, place, or that bookcases do not belong on the floor in the middle of the room. (Sorry honey, it is funny!)

Penguins

Today we visited our aquarium. They just got penguins last week so went to see them. We (I thought it was "we" until we went today and realized I just had my "m" upsidedown and it turned out to be just "me" who was excited) really have been looking forward to seeing them. My Mom went with Matthew and I which was great. At first I was a little worried when we got there and saw 10 school buses. I thought, oh great now little Matthew will never get to see the penguins because it will be so crowded, poor Matthew. Well don't spend even spend a moment worrying about "poor" Matthew, because he didn't even spend a moment looking at the penguins! The truth about Matthew is he LOVES the aquarium and asks to go all the time (in fact he even has an hour long aquarium video of fish swimming around that he asks to watch everyday, it also only cost me 45 cents, definitely not important or completely relevant but I do love to share about unbelievable deals). Fun fact: Aquarium is the largest word in Matthew's vocabulary (2nd largest word: awesome, not really important, but really fun to hear him say).

So just because he loves the aquarium does not mean he likes to walk leisurely and take in all the sights and sounds. I think I can say with confidence that if there were an aquarium visiting race, we would definitely win with Matthew as our leader and guide. They say it takes about 2hours to go through the 2 buildings (more time of course when it is crowded). But I tell you we can get it done in 1 hour complete with 1 bathroom break, 20 attempts to touch a sting ray (and then 2 visits to the hand sanitizer), 30 hello waves to various fish and other sea life, 10 pretend swims on the floor (followed by 10 "Oh Matthew, please don't lay on the floor" 's), taking 15 pictures (not all of which are keepers) and dodging 150 elementary students! It is an action packed hour, but a fun one, and is not recommended for a first timer (or anyone who likes to read informational signs). The great thing is we have a year's membership so we don't feel cheated by our speedy visits (or the fact that Matthew couldn't care less about the new exhibit).

I know you are probably thinking will this post ever end???? The answer is for sure it will, but I just have to add one more thing. Sometimes in one section there is a man that plays his banjo at the aquarium and today he was there. It is not unusual (and by not unusual I mean it happens every time he hears or even thinks he may hear music) for Matthew to dance, but normally very few people are there to see him. Well today it was so crowded but he just started shaking it as usual, everyone young and old alike made way for a proper stage for my young entertainer. Everyone laughed, and stared at Matthew as if he were a new exhibit (I am pretty sure the penguins were jealous) and then, of course, I told my little dancer to take a bow and exit his stage. But he reminded me later while "swimming" with the fish, that he is 2 and he NEVER exits his stage.

Happy Day: Matthew's Medicine is All Gone

Matthew has been on some yucky medicine for the last 10 days. It is supposed to eradicate the staph (which we are praying it really will). He had to take it 4 times a day, every 6 hours, so we had to wake him up in the middle of the night (yucky medicine+middle of the night waking=nothing even remotely close to fun). Matthew is normally really good about taking medicine but giving him this medicine has been a chore (and at times a 2 man job).

We have rewarded (or bribed, but rewarded sounds so much better) him with chocolate milk and gummy bears 40 times(that is EVERY time), set the alarm to wake at 1 am 10 times, chased him down 30 times, held him down to take it 20 times, practically bathed in the medicine 39 times (that is out of 40 doses), reminded him to actually swallow and not spit it out 35 times, got medicine spit into my eye 2 times (it doesn't sound like many but it was enough). And now for the final numer, how many of us are just ecstatic about being done with the medicine and the thought of also being done with staph: 3! So today after the last dose Matthew did a little dancing and got to throw the medicine bottle away! An event we have been looking so forward to!

Dance, Dance, Dance

Matthew's new favorite thing to do when Daddy gets home is dance. Matthew got some way cool American Idol sunglasses in a happy meal last week and he insists on Erik wearing them while they dance. It cracks me up (since, of course, I don't have to wear them and dance). Matthew is very picky also about the kind of music they dance to, it must be fast music. If a song starts out too slow he shakes his head and says "No Daddy, faster". Poor Daddy isn't allowed much of a dance break either. If he sits down for even moment Matthew "suggests" (by pulling on Erik's shirt) that they dance some more! Erik does love it too (not wearing the sunglasses, the dancing).

New Sport

Crib Basketball is the new sport at our house! Matthew got this cool basketball net from Grandma Smith for his birthday in November. He has been playing with it, but he is a bit of a perfectionist, and he didn't want to throw the ball without getting it in the hoop so we would always have to lift him up to shoot. Well he found out now that he can play from the crib where he is a bit taller. He LOVES to play. I love that he loves it except now I can't get him out of his crib!