Happy Halloween from Matthew

Matthew celebrated Halloween handing out the candy with us!

He did however favor his bottle over the chocolate, but he loved giggling at everyone who gave him attention.

Happy Halloween!

Port Washington celebrated Trick or Treat this past Sunday! The words of: "Scary mommy" "looking for Dora and Boots" "wow, a pumpkin" were repeated over and over and over as we skipped through the neighborhood. He really didn't understand the whole idea of trick or treating yet, but sure did a great job talking to everyone who opened up the door. When the UPS man came to our door today, Sam yelled, "Trick or Treat"!

Matthew met some new friends!

Sunday Playgroup

On Sunday, we went to Playgroup at Temple! Here is a picture of all his little friends!

The theme of this day was: Making Puppets! Rabbi Shari brought white socks and we all
traced pictures of Animals on them. Some of the older kids decided that drawing on the chalk board was a little more exciting and the parents ended up making the puppets!

2 year old Birthday Cake!

The birthday theme this year was: Animals

We celebrated his special day with family this year. Sam enjoyed his special day and had a ton of fun opening up all his presents!

On Monday, we went to the Doctor for Sam's well 2 year old check!
Weight: 28#'s (60%)
Height: 34 3/4" (70%)

We also got asked a lot of questions on development...does he say more than 20 words, can he undress himself, does he eat healthy snacks, how much milk does he drink, does he watch TV...etc. The 20 word one I answered honestly, but the TV one...I can't give an honest answer...I looked at her and said, "well, yes, he does watch TV"..she asked, "how much?" I replied..."oh about an hour or so". I left it as an open ended answer with the "or so...". What I didn't realize about the well check up is I would be drilled with questions.

He showed Dr Paley and her medical student how he could jump off the big boy scale saying, "look mommy, Matthew & Doctors, 1-2-3!" and land on 2 feet! He did great, as she performed her physical. She said she was going to look in his ears for potatoes and I saw a red light go off in his head as I'm sure he was thinking she was going to find Mr. Potato head! He did leave the doctors office with giant tears as he received his flu vaccine, but I think he got over it.

Another favorite birthday gift.

Thank you Uncle Stephen & Aunt Vicki for the Mr. Potato head!! Sam loves his "otato" head which sometimes is confused with, "Apple head"! I can honestly report that this toy will occupy his attention for about 30+ minutes. What more could I ask for in a birthday present!

I tend to hide these toys and bring them out when I need to get something done w/o distractions.

Matthew also says thank you to his Aunt and Uncle because with this new toy, he can have a peaceful feeding, no brotherly distractions

(flying cars, screeching Cailiou, jumping Sam etc....you get the picture)!

Horsing around with Daddy!

T-Shirt Buddies!

Little chef

Instead of trying to occupy Sam with TV while I prepared his bithday dinner, I decided this time, he was going to help me. Oh what a experiment it was. Did he have a blast. Sam helped me make his birthday dinner with all the wrong kitchen utensils! He did however, find all the ingredients himself.

His birthday dinner consisted of:

Apple cider, blueberry syrup, jelly, jam, bottled water, ranch salad dressing, HOT taco sauce, spaghetti noodles, Mayo and a box of raisins. If he had his choice, he would of emptied out the entire fridge, but he only was allowed to help himself to the condiments where his little hands could reach! Doesn't it sound perfect?

Towards the end of his dinner prep, I decided to throw a few ice cubes in the bowl...now he thinks I am the coolest mommy! It's all about make believe!

What present tops the list this year????

DINOSAURS!

Top 23 reasons why we love you Sam!

1. Waking up at 4:43 a.m. wanting to "play trucks"
2. Eating fries, french toast sticks and Happy Cake all day long
3. Washing animals in left over spaghetti sauce and calling it, "clean"
4. Drinking water and spitting a little out saying, "animals drink water"
5. Escaping the tub, running around naked, drying himself off on the carpet
6. Watching Barney, Cailiou, Sesame Street, Dora and Diego all day long...while sucking on his ne ne and blankie in hand
7. Talking on the phone mocking Mommy
8. Can count to 8, but absolutely not on demand.
9. Can sing: Itsy bitsty spider (and do the hand moves), The more we get together (and dance as we sing),
10. Kissing brother Matthew, then realizing he's stealing his attention followed by flying trucks
11. Passing Mequon Rd (papa & gaga's exit), "Go see papa gaga?"
12. The word NO used a little too much
13. Earth shattering, teeth clenching, God AWFUL diaper changes
14. Independent everything. "mommy, I can do it"
15. Sprinting to the door at 4:30 p.m. when he hears the garage door open, screaming, "DADDY'S HOME!"
16. Play Animals!?
17. Play Trucks!?
18. Play Blocks!?
19. Coloring with crayons everywhere but on the paper
20. "go see...papa? Grandma? Uncle Marc? Aunt Lori? Uncle D? Josh, Zach, Either?"
21. When Matthew is screaming in the car, "It's okay Matthew, almost home" will be repeated over and over and over until he stops screaming
22. Waking up in the morning at 4:43 a.m. saying, "good morning Mommy, daddy, daddy WAKE UP!"
23. Going to bed at night saying: "Luv you daddy, Luv you mommy, Luv you Matthew"

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY SAM!!!!

You make our life worth living!

We love you!

Discussions with the Bell Man

Fighting for fishies!

A lotta lovin' going on!

It's a visit with the Jahners! Keira was intreguied by Matthews precence.

Look at those piggies? Unfortunately, us Teplins will never see those...

Life on the pumpkin farm

We visited the pumpkin farm over the weekend! Boy it was a cold one...
The famous words of the afternoon were:
"Mommy, Daddy, Look at all the pumpkins!" "WOW!"

We had a blast, but Matthew...

...just didn't want to be in his darn car seat!

He screamed the entire time....but the rest of us, well, we're used to it!

A new distraction...

DORA and her cousin, DIEGO has opened up a whole new adventurous, bilingual, Latina heroine who lives inside a computer, Sam! Who needs pre-school?

Forget Oscar, he lives inside a trash can...

Come on...FIT

New Matthew Discovery: Hands
We're talking, soaked shirt, red, chapped lips from the attempt to fit his entire fist into his mouth. And when one fist isn't enough...we try two!

Sam memories are starting to come back to me!

Blocks, trucks, cars and Animals...

What more could a little boy ask for. Independent playing is starting to take over.

Sam can sit for hours on end playing with these 4 things. It's all about make believe!

On the birthday list: dinosaurs!

Hurry up...

Sam: "Ana will you PLEASE come play upstairs?"

"Ana, I will carry you up...."

Poor Ana just wanted to do it herself...but Sam was determined to help...

Anything for a little attention...

You can't tell me all this stuff just jumped out in front of him...the hallway echoed with wines and fake like tears for sympathy. Instead of asking him if he was okay, I got the camera...

We only tend to "hammer the wall" when Matthew is sleeping!

Tada!

2 in the crib

Shoulder love & hugs

We've entered a whole new SAM. Sam=SHY, in public! I can't believe it. Yesterday we spent some time at the dental office, visiting Uncle Marc for his birthday. On my way there I was nervous that Matthew was going to scream the entire time (because he hates his car seat), and I was also nervous that Sam was going to do his usual run through the office, talk to all the patients and jump up and down on the chairs. We got there, Sam pranced in like normal. Smiling and laughing and starting to run. And then it all hit him....he decided in the mist of fine air, that he was going to put on his shy face and NOT LET GO of me. He did the dance behind my legs combined with, "Mommy up, mommy help, mommy no, mommy out NO!". Because I wasn't used to this Shy boy, I picked him up and WOW...did I get the BEST shoulder hugs EVER. Those of you who remember Sam as an infant, and now, you remember he did NOT like to be cuddled. SO, this was ALL new to me. This shy shoulder hug, head down, lasted the entire time we were there. Even Uncle David couldn't convince him to open up. AND...much to my surprise, Matthew did excellent. He smiled and giggled at everyone and had a blast.

So the moral of my entry...this too is another phase that will pass. I just can't believe the amount of shy love and shy hugs I got yesterday from about 9:45 until 10:30. When I'm at my end with him, I shall remember to take him in public to get some shoulder hugs again!

Matthew-3 months!