She’s getting better at entertaining herself, she will walk upstairs by herself and play with Matthew in his room for 10-30 minutes at a time before moving on to her next game, heist, or inadvertent demise. This is bittersweet, as part of me is happy she is able to play independently, while at the same time I worry she won’t make it to her second birthday. Now that she conquered her fears about walking, she seems to have no more healthy fears left and is quite the little daredevil.

Her imagination is really starting to blossom too. Not long ago I wondered why we owned so many toys that no one played with, and now I am amazed at how, and how much she plays with them. She imitates so much and it is funny watching her play and realizing that she is imitating normal daily household activities. For instance she will put her purse on her shoulder and then push the shopping cart by her toy box picking out play foods, which she will then transfer into the refrigerator of her toy kitchen. She will also rock her babies and pat their backs, shush them, and coo at them. The toy kitchen has provided countless hours of play for Sophie and Matthew alike, as well as help from Austin and Christopher too from time to time.

I guess the more I look at this time, the more good I see in her growth and maturity. She is really amazing to watch as she grows into a young child. However, I do with, that for once, I could actually eat all of my own food. I feel like I get to only take a bite or two of whatever I have before I have to hand it over to one of the younger two. Yet if I put it in front of them, they won’t eat it, or will cry for what I have, even if it is the exact same thing.

I am devastated.

***Updated with Pictures***

So Bobby and I had agreed he is out of the will, until I came up with the idea that the only thing he will get is all the stuff he has broke/ruined/marred…. at this rate, he will get more than the other three. *sigh*

Wednesday, I am at the Midwife’s office with Matthew and they are doing a quick pelvic exam. Matthew keeps trying to see what is going on under the sheet while the nurse and the midwife try to get him up by my head. Matthew asks “doctor hurt mommy’s vulva?” and we all start cracking up, little smarty. At the same appointment we are listening to the baby’s heartbead, and Matthew start’s getting disinterested and comments “Mommy laying on toilet paper?” Again I crack up because the exam table paper does sort of look like a roll of toilet paper. He then decided his own baby was hungry and lifted his shirt to nurse her.

My only solace is that DH is taking our oldest to school, so I don’t have to get out of my pajamas. I need whatever comfort I can get so not dragging out the two year old, scraping frost off my windshield to drive him to school is the best thing I could have asked for.

Don’t get me started on the middle son though…. the boy is on my last nerve. I have been wondering how it takes my oldest two boys to get ready to school when the oldest has 1 1/2 – 2 hours to get ready for school, and the middle child has 2 hours to get ready. Yes, they have chores in the morning (make sure the dishwasher is loaded, should have been done after dinner so that is a cinch, get the clothes out of the dryer and start a new load in the wash, pick up your messes, and get yourself showered, dressed, eat breakfast, brush your hair & teeth). NOTHING that should take more than an hour. Apparently my middle son thinks it should take 45 minutes to be dressed up to his underwear. When I finally gave up trying to sleep, and got up because I was sick of hearing him yell through the house, I got up to find he had showered for 15 minutes (no biggie) and then done nothing but stand around in nothing more than his underwear for the next 30 minutes. I am not sure how I can get that boy motivated without breathing down his neck for 2 hours each morning, which just is not feasible with my lack of sleep lately.

On a better and brighter note, I am 12 weeks today! The baby is starting to look more human, and I am *supposed* to start feeling more human soon, but I will just watch and wait to see if my morning sickness gets the hint that it is time to hit the road. I am going to go out on a limb here and say either I am carrying a girl (since I have 2x as much morning sickness than I did my other two pregnancies combined) OR this is another baby boy trying to guarantee he is last baby we have (which was always the plan anyways). Either way, I will be happy, as I truly just want a healthy baby. Don’t tell Matthew this, as he insists this is his “baby sister”, he gets angry anytime I even suggest it could be a baby brother.

Please someone tell my 2 year old that mama REALLY needs him to take a nap today, so she can try to nap herself. This nap strike he is on is about to drive me batty!

I have to leave NOW to get Austin to school, but no one is ready, then I have a 45 minute prenatal appointment today Mr. Whiny Pants is going to have to accompany on. I want to cancel it, but she should have answers of my test results this morning and I really want to get a treatment plan going NOW.

Once we get back home from taking Austin to school, I think I am going to toss Matthew in a hot shower to steam his sinuses clear and then a nice snuggle in bed before we go, maybe that will put him in a happier mood.

He also noticed a car with a Papa John’s logo on top of it today while getting Austin from school and he was all excited to see a pizza car. We watched it pull into the school, watched him deliver the goods, and then watched him leave. Matthew was all excited and even had to tell Austin that he saw a pizza car when Austin got into the car. Austin, being 11 and starting to get the teenage enthusiasm just did not share Matthew’s joy… shocker there!

In December, Officer Ken Jordan was killed in the line of duty just blocks from my home while trying to apprehend a suspected drunk driver. The driver decided he did not want another DUI and shot and killed the officer in cold blood. For weeks the bridge he was shot was decorated with flowers, candles, cards, stuffed animals, and frequently visited by his fellow comrades. Every time I would pass that site, I would cry.

Well, I guess today was his birthday, because as I drove by this afternoon I saw a beautiful bouquet of roses, a bunch of balloons and a huge birthday card. I grew up around our men and women in blue; my father worked for the county and we frequently visited the court house and I remember often him introducing me to this officer or that officer and I also got to tour the local juvenile facility and getting to ride in police cars. We all grew up with a huge respect for the law and for police officers.

***

In an unrelated note, my house smells like a cat box. My cat started inappropriately urinating on the dog bed, the cat beds, etc. I though he was just expressing himself in a negative way, until I noticed he was visiting the cat box every few minutes and staying there for long stretches of time with limited results. This made me almost positive it was a urinary problem of some sort and I immediately called the vet and requested a drop-off appointment. They will call me when he’s done and the kids and I will be busy cleaning today and tomorrow. I could not find my cat carrier, so he had to ride on my lap with a leash & collar and in the 10 minutes while he was in the car managed to pee on my leg. He had peed in the cat bed right before we left too.

***

General Matthew Cuteness:

Daddy was changing Matthew and he pulled a big old booger out of his nose, sticks the finger with the booger out at daddy and said “Here Dad, for you”.

~

Matthew likes to make himself burp, especially after he gets a drink, today after finishing my water he makes himself burp and it’s strained and really gross sounding and he said “Mmmmm, Juicy!” I am almost positive he was referring to the sound, not the taste as he had not had anything fruity to eat yet.

He is such a boy!!

***

Forgot to mention, Austin has his first school dance today ::Sniff, Sniff:: My baby is growing up!!

—————-
Now playing: Blind Faith – Had To Cry Today
via FoxyTunes

So it’s smack time in the Mistakes household, and Matthew is happily munching on some Bunny Grahams, raisins, and a big glass of water like a big boy at the table. I decide since it’s 10 am and I am hungry to grab a snack for myself too. I just don’t understand how I could already be hungry, I did eat breakfast, but then I remembered that a grapefruit alone does not go very far when your two year old is sitting on your lap saying “BITE! MORE MOMMY!” before you can even get the food to your mouth.. anyways I digress.

So I grab myself a Pumpkin Spice Flax granola bar and the little stops eating his snack and says “MY manamana mommy!” which apparently means “granola bar” to a 2 yr old. So I give him half wondering WHY I am not 98 lbs by now living with the food gremlin. So the rest of snack time goes like normal; Matthew climbs on the table and starts dancing, in the process knocks over the water, spills the bunny grahams, hears the garbage truck and abandons the raisins. Starts yelling at the dog who is in the other room, but he feels is encroaching on his food and then ends up playing on the stairs. I remind him he needs to eat his snack and he glares angrily at me and then uses his highchair as a barricade while using his food as cars.

The one-half granola bar did little to satisfy my hunger, but it’s not worth it to go find something else, if I hear “mine mommy” one more time my head is likely to explode.

—————-
Now playing: Disturbed – Voices
via FoxyTunes

As I started walking through the kitchen, the smell hit me at once… Comet!

I walk slowly up the steps to catch the baby in the act and in my head I am hearing the sound effects from Jaws, ‘duh-duh, duh-duh’.

I can feel my blood pressure rising with each and every step, and I will share with the class why this is. Below are pictures of what I saw in sequential order:

First step.

Second step.

Top landing.

Top landing leading into the kids’ bathroom.

Hmmm, footprints of the guilty??

Bathroom & rug.

Wet comet.

Hmmm, could Matthew have done this? Does he look guilty and remorseful or what?

Matthew signing “sorry” while saying “sorry mama”.

So I could tell he felt bad, and I did not need to raise my voice, but I did tell him he was naughty and that the comet was a “no, no, no”, I still can’t figure out how he got to the Comet, but my instincts tell me Austin got it out and put it away under his sink instead of in the locked cupboard under the kitchen sink. I gave him the meanest punishment I could, I told him to sit down on his stool in his room while I vacuumed. The vacuum scares him more than anything else, so I shut the door to minimize the sound. Normally he runs and hides when I vacuum, or I do it when he’s sleeping, but today he got to hear it right outside of his bedroom. Five minutes later when I was done cleaning I went back in his room to check on him and he was still right where I left him.

I wish I could say he was better after this ordeal, but he was a pill when we went to go run errands, at lunch time, and at nap time, but he’s sleeping now so I KNOW where he is and as a bonus my house is quiet once again.

Oh, today I was at the post office mailing off a math textbook to a friend and when when they did the standard “anything perishable? Fragile? Hazardous?” I said “only if you consider math hazardous” and he said “I sure do, and I am sure your kids will agree with me!” LOL I love that post office, the one who handles my mail is full of people who are unkind and act like they hate their job. At least at this branch the workers are not afraid to joke, conversate, or be polite. If you have any doubts about what I mean when I say they are rude at my local branch, read this post from April.

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Now playing: Grateful Dead – The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)
via FoxyTunes

This morning he woke up a bit feverish, but acting normal and his stomach has been completely fine, so I am sure it was just a passing bug.

We have been a bit uneasy about kid-puke for about 4 years now… when Christopher was 5 some friends, the kids, and I had just returned from Six Flags. Christopher started acting funny on the drive home… he started being unusually lethargic, but after 12 hours in the sun we were ALL tired. The next clue was when he refused to eat anything, VERY unlike him, but again I blamed the day in the sun. That evening he started puking and running a fever, I figured maybe it was too many goodies, or too many roller coasters and let him sleep on the floor in front of the bathroom like he requested. The next morning he was still pale, lethargic and puking with fever but no diarrhea so I decided it was time to head to the ER for IV fluids.

When the fluids did not perk him up, they ordered an x-ray to find out why he only had vomiting, they worried about an obstructed bowel. When the x-ray was clean, the intern ordered an Cat Scan as a precaution. The radiologist came out and I remember his words exactly, “I think your son has an appendicitis, but I am not sure. I have consulted another radiologist, a specialist and a surgeon and we all agree we have NO clue what is wrong with him, honestly I have never seen images like these before but we all agree his appendix is larger than it should be”. He went on to say that they were confused because Christopher did not appear to be in pain, did not exhibit any of the classic signs (retrocecal, psoas, obtruator, Rovsing’s, or Blumberg’s) these are tests like tapping of the knee or heel to see if the patient reacts. These are normally extremely accurate, so this is why everyone was confused. So the surgeon comes in and asks for permission to do exploratory surgery. I consent and they go in to find his appendix is in bad shape and there is foam all in his abdominal cavity. We figure we must have caught it early. His recovery went well, it took three days for him to leave the hospital and he was able to manage his pain on just Tylenol alone. He is also very proud of his 3 inch scar and shows it off to anyone who will look.

Anyways, to make a long story longer, since the appendix episode, Bobby tends to be a bit puke-shy, especially in the little ones who get sick out of the blue for no apparent reason and who toss their cookies more than 4 times (since the little one dehydrate easily). I don’t blame daddy for being worried.

Update 4:00 pm

**Since writing this, Matthew started crying when I picked him up. I asked him to point to his owie and he had me kiss his right side of his belly near his belly button, so I have called the nurse at his pediatrician’s office to see what they recommend. I am starting to feel the anxiety daddy felt last night and I am hoping it was a fluke thing.**

Update 11:00 pm

**The little faker is just fine and as soon as we got to the ER started acting like his normal self.**

So I use long-range walkie talkies to communicate with my kids when they go out to play, that way if I need to call them in for dinner I don’t have to go out and yell or search or knock on doors. Sometimes the children will forget to put them away and sometimes we will get on a bad channel and you will hear static and interference. Well this afternoon I hear static and we are looking for the walkie talkies and not finding them anywhere.

Finally we find the source of the noise… it is inside an old purse Matthew decided to steal from me. Here are pictures of what we found inside the purse.

From top left to right is: The walkie talkie (and Austin’s hand), the purse. Next row left to righ: The Stereo remote, the DVR remote, my cellphone, my laptop mouse, Austin & Christopher’s laptop mouse, my keys, and Matthew’s right foot with his left boot.

Matthew was so proud of himself and giggled at each item we pulled out of the purse. I was shocked at how much that little purse could actually hold!

Matthew had his 2 year well baby exam today. He was super cute playing with the “bwocks” (blocks) in the office… he would stack them up and then knock them down. He also played with the cars and did REALLY well putting together the puzzles.

The actual exam went well, he is as usual on the smaller side; 25% for weight, 5% for height… normal for him and normal for our family.

Getting ready to go was quite another story… Bobby was working at home so he was helping me get ready. We could NOT find any of his shoes that matched!! It was ridiculous. Thanks to Terri, my little guy is a shoe hound… he has a dozen pair of shoes or more… however he is all right feet apparently because of all those shoes he ONLY had one left shoe… that one of course not being a match to any of the other right shoes. So, he went to the doctor in mismatched soft sole shoes. One was a boat, and the other was a puppy.

After the appointment I went to Payless to take advantage of a BOGO sale since he could use a pair of sandals and I wanted a pair of Airwalk Croc-Off shoes. I then went to Walmart to get him an over the door shoe organizer, play shoes near the bottom, and his every day wear shoes at the top out of reach. In time as we find shoes we will put them in the organizer and voila, a pair is found! I sure would love to know where he is ferreting the left shoes away too. I have searched in his room, my room, and any other common areas I have thought of. Silly little guy probably has a mountain of shoes hidden away somewhere.

For about 6 months now it is all about taking the diaper off, wet or soiled, with or without our knowledge. Then about a month ago he climbed up on the potty himself and peed in the toilet. Now, it is like having a new puppy… I am cleaning up poop everywhere. He attempts to make it in the potty, but more often poops next to the potty. I am all about child-led everything, and I have been encouraging early potty learning, without sitting him on the toilet all day every day.

A few weeks ago, we got him some big boy underwear with a Finding Nemo theme. He loves his fish – butt as he calls it. See, Matthew is ALL about butt lately. He pretty much has about a dozen different meanings to butt; from tooting, pooping, his penis, his butt, and now his underwear.

Sunday morning, Daddy let him wear his underwear and he came to visit me in bed. He was holding onto my headboard, jumping up and down on daddy’s pillow, singing “butt-butt-butt-butt-butt-butt-butt-butt”; he was so happy, and Bobby and I were laughing like crazy. He is such a silly baby!

So far, no accidents in the big boy underwear… but honestly that is because he does not keep them on long enough, but that is OK. He is making positive steps forward, and learning at his own speed, and that is fine by me!

Take today, I had just folded a nice fresh laundry basket full of diapers and set them outside his door to be put away when he woke up. Well, I got busy with baby A. and he was up playing and having a good old time in his room. He was quiet and I did not see all the red flags.

So A.’s parent came and got her and I go upstairs with Matthew who smells suspiciously like poop. First clue something was amiss were the two poopy diapers on the stairs. The second clue were the three diapers in the middle of his toys. I am gathering all these diapers as I walk towards the diaper pail, telling Matthew “no-no-no, we don’t play with diapers, ewww!” When I get to the diaper pail I stop short; the diaper pail is now overflowing with dirty clothes from his clothes hamper. I start digging them out, hoping I see the rest of the diapers at the bottom. Much to my dismay they are not in the pail, but instead are now piled under his crib, along with some of the freshly washed ones.

I was pretty darn pissed, however I knew my emotions would be lost on him, and that two years of age a severe scolding, or a spanking would not make any difference. He was just exploring his room and trying to help by taking care of his dirty clothes. I did explain that it is yucky, and that it is not a place for babies to play. In the meantime I will make sure I shut his door when I can’t supervise him. I also need to think of a long term place to put his diaper pail so he is not playing with them, especially when he moves into a toddler bed. Thank goodness we have not had any coloring experiences!!