So what's going on with Matthew lately? Well, my little fella is growing up. I am amazed by how much he has changed over the past year. He has so much personality. He learns new stuff everyday. Since the beginning of the summer he has been in the classroom designated for three year olds at daycare. There are several other two year olds in there as well. But he is also getting to interact with older, bigger children. He is learning to share (a work in progress), he is learning to stick up for himself (by biting the boy that pushed him down), he is learning to care about others' feelings, etc. With this move to the new classroom came some trepidation on my part (as has been the case with previous moves that I felt happened too soon). But he seems to be thriving. He is with his friends (several of them moved up with him). And he loves Mrs. Joan. He still misses his old teachers and must go hug them goodbye every afternoon. He did start getting bitten when he moved up. And there for a few weeks, he started using biting as a problem solver as well. But hopefully we have taken care of that. At two years old he has experienced the "no TV" punishment. He was very sad to not be allowed to watch cartoons for 2 days, after he bit someone 2 days in a row. Who would have thought I would have to ground my two year old?
Matthew is learning about sports now from Brian. He really likes baseball. He likes to pretend to play. He will steal Brian's cap and put it on backwards (cause you can't play ball without your cap). He will hold his imaginary bat and swing when you "pitch" to him. He will also take a cloth bag and put in on his hand pretending it is a ball glove. My big boy can sing "Take me out to the Ballgame." Now he only really sings every other line. But boy does he belt it out with gusto, especially "1, 2, 3 strikes you're out at the old BALLGAME!!!!".
While Matthew was away at Me-Ma and Pappy's, we converted his crib to a toddler bed and got him some new big boy sheets. We told him that when we got home he was going to start sleeping in his room instead of in ours. That was quite a transition. But he has been in his own room since July 22. There have been some long nights where he wakes up 3, 4, or even 5 times a night and needs comforting to go back to sleep. But there are also some nights where he sleeps through the night. He still doesn't go in there all by himself and go to sleep. I have to sit with him. But he likes sleeping in his big boy bed. He is so proud of himself. He sleeps with like ten stuffed animals. But the main thing is that he sleeps in his own room. And I know that in time he won't need my presence to fall asleep or in the middle of the night. Now I will try to appreciate the fact that he needs me, when I am awakened out of a dead sleep at 2 am to go chase the memory of a bad dream away.
He says his prayers every night. We say pretty much the same thing every night (if I happen to forget part of it, he is quick to remind me what I left out). But all on his own he says God bless ..... and he lists all the people he wants God to bless (Me-Ma, Pappy, Pop-Pop, Gma, Bailey the dog, Flop Flop the stuffed bunny, etc). He wants God to bless all those he loves. He lists A LOT of relatives (aunts, uncles, cousins). He also prays blessings on his teachers and some of his classmates (even the boy who pushes him around). It is so sweet to watch him pray. I don't think he fully understands what he is doing. But he is very sincere. And I have seen God's blessings poured out on people that Matthew prays for. That shouldn't suprise me either - God is faithful and who should I expect Him to be more faithful to answer than an innocent child?
He is starting to try to potty again. I am not pushing it or making him potty. I just ask him frequently if he would like to try to potty. He sometimes wants to and sometimes he doesn't. He loves the Care Bears right now. I loved them when I was a kid. They currently don't make any Care Bear toys, just the TV show. So I bought him some small Care Bear figures on Ebay. (I am getting to relive a piece of my childhood as we play Care Bears with little figures just like I used to have.) We set potty goals for him to earn new Care Bears. This is working OK for him.
Oh, Brian decided that Matthew needed a cap gun. I being a girl had never played with a cap gun before (hence the reason I didn't say NO). Brian wanted to see how Matthew would react when it was fired the first time. The trigger was too tight for Matthew to pull it himself. So Brian just walked in the living room, took aim and fired. Matthew was looking at him. I don't know who jumped more, me or Matthew. I had no idea that it was going to be so loud or that real gun powder was in it. But Matthew's reaction was priceless. His eyes got really big. He put his hand on his chest and clutched at his heart and said, "You hurt me real bad" in an "I've just been shot voice". Then he fell over. I think he truly thought Brian had shot him. A few seconds later when he realized he wasn't dead, he wanted to play with the new pow-pow gun.
