Month: April 2009

Michael and Matthew are so different in so many ways. Michael will still at this point of over 4 1/2 fall asleep in the car and be trasnferred to a stroller and stay asleep for hours. He will also fall asleep in a shopping cart in BJ’s, or HomeGoods, and stay asleep if it is noisy, etc.

Matthew will fall asleep in the car for 10 minutes and instantly wake up if we stop at a Red Light. Michael has always been a great kid to trasnfer and would fall asleep in the noisiest of places!! Matthew has always been the opposite, but Matthew will take an over 3 hour nap in his crib, which he loves and he is a great sleeper at night. He will sleep for over 13 hours most nights and will stay in his crib playing with his toys and puppies until 9:30 many mornings.

Matthew loves mac n’ cheese, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, crackers, cherrios, peanut butter puffs, and apples and peaches. He also loves ice cream, and cake and will eat cake and frosting, whereas Michael only likes icing. Matthew will point out what he wants in Starbucks and will repeat muffin when you ask him if he wants a muffin. He will sit in the high chair there and eat the whole muffin and then say, more, more….

He tries to imitate almost every word we say, such as animal sounds, things we see, etc. He loves babies and when he sees a child his age, he says baby and has a big smile on his face.

Michael is getting taller and is improving his speech in a lot of ways now. He loves to describe things and talks a lot except when he is watching TV. He describes things he saw, he recalls things from months ago and when we go back to somewhere he has been before, he says, we were here before. He has a great memory. Last week at the Cape, mom and I took Michael and John Paul to dinner at Wimpy’s in Osterville. He immediately said upon entering the restaurant, “we were here before.” The last time we were there was Valentine’s Day.
When Daddy was showing Michael a coaster from DVC-Disney Vacation Club, Michael remembered the symbol on it and said we got this in Disney World. He even remembered this week when he opened a Thomas pull toy that he received one on his B-day–that was his SECOND B-day–we are not sure if he remembers this from watching a video or actually his B-day, but either way, that is pretty good! He remembers all the shows and movies he has been to in the last 2.5 yrs and remember who he was there with. He knows what people like–he always mentions John Paul liking Spider Man and Sponge Bob.
Michael loves to draw and color and has a vivid imagination. He draws monsters, snakes and people. He loves it when daddy pretends to be a BIG Monster and comes chasing Michael and Matthew!

Michael loves doing play doh and making shapes with cookie cutters. He also loves to color but has trouble staying in the lines. Matthew also likes to color.
Michael loves Nana to read him bedtime books and loves to go out with Nana in her car and is very interested in where Nana is on a daily basis. Michael loves to watch what he calls “Reg” shows–these are regular shows on TV–such as channel 2, Caillou, Sesame Street, Curious George, Sid the Science Kid. He also likes us to put on Sprout shows–which can be Handy Manny, Caillou, Thomas, and Mickey Mouse ClubHouse. He likes Winnie the Pooh movies and many Disney movies, such as Pinocchio, Jungle Book, Cars, ToyStory, Aristocats.

The only behavioral problems we have had in the last year and a half of so with Michael has been that when we go to a store with him and he sees Thomas items or other toys, like Legos, he wants to buy many items at times and can have a total meltdown when we say we can only get you one or two or none–he especially has a temper tantrum when he is overtired.
The other issue with Michael is that since he does not nap consistently, but still needs the nap, he gets overtired easily and whines like a baby, and says comments, “Don’t get mad at me.” He may say this when there was no reason for us to be mad–this is when we know he is exhausted because he will say the statement, “Don’t get mad over and over and over in a whining tone.

Michael does not usually give a problem with going to bed, but once in bed, he will call for one of us usually two times to ask us questions, such as “Do I have school tomorrow?” Are we going to play with a certain toy tomorrow? Or, tonight he asked me what day it is, what month it is and what tomorrow is? Bedtime Routine consists of: tub–if tub night, brushing teeth, reading two or three books, and being tucked in with snuggly blankets. He likes his closet light on and Music CD that he has had since he was a baby on. Michael also gets a water bice (sippy cup)–this is either regular water or grape water. Matthew has no music and gets no bice in his crib.

Since he turned 4, he only naps 2 or three days a week and some weeks, only one day and many weeks, these naps will only happen in the car–mommy’s car–without Nana’s DVD player. Therefore, on the days he does not nap, he is very tired by 4 or 5 and usually goes to bed on those nights by 7pm, the same time as Mattie.

Michael’s behavior towards his brother is usually very good, unless he is overtired–then he may try to push him over, pour water on his head in the tub, and crash into him with his bike in the driveway.

Since around February 2009, Matthew loves books and loves to hold books now in his carseat and he likes to sit in Michael’s Thomas bed and have nana or mommy read him and Michael 2 books at bedtime if the boys are going to bed at the same time.
Matthew likes tubs and loves to have cups in the tub and pour water from one to the other. He started using the expression nuff about a month ago and this means enough and to stop whatever we are doing!
He loves to chase Michael and he gets so excited when Michael is chasing him.

He likes to use a fork and spoon and is fairly successful at feeding himself with stabbing the food with a fork. If nana is eating cottage cheese or yogurt or crackers, he wants some and will allow nana to feed him as much as he wants, but if we get a yogurt out of the regrigerator for him or apple sauce or other messy food to eat, he will not allow us to feed it to him! He is very specific as to what he wants and when he wants it.

Matthew likes the pool at Southport, but does not like his yellow boat. He likes to splash nana, or Michael or mommy. He likes movement a lot and likes the feeling of going up and down into the water.
Matthew loves to play with Michael in the backseat when both are in their carseats. They play with toys and Matthew tries to repeat things Michael says– it is very cute.

Since the warmer weather, Matthew loves being outside. He loves slides and can climb steps to go up to the top of some very high slides. He loves the sand boxes at playgrounds.

When Early Intervention came out to evaluate Matthew for qualification, one of the speech issues they discussed with me was to minimize the time Mattie uses a binkie. We started that day with only giving it to him at naptime and at bedtime.

It worked out very well and the only exception is when we are going in the car and it is his naptime or we know he is very tired–we give him his puppy dog and Binkie then. He did not give us too much of a problem with this, which was a surprise to me.

Mathew loves Gymboree and likes to do certain things at the class, such as put balls in a bucket, and when all the balls are done and are in the bucket, he wants the bucket emptied, so he can do more, more……..

He has a temper and is very loud so he can get what he wants. If he had his way, he would walk around with food–cookies, crackers, anything and make a mess all over the place. He is a very messy eater, but is slowly getting a little better. He loves Food–most all foods, and will keep saying more, more, more…

Around March 2009, he discovered how to buckle and unbuckle the booster seat when he is not in it and also the stroller buckle and that keeps him occupied often for a half hour or so.

He loves to see birds flying, airplanes, dogs walking, and will make comments until we acknowledge that we see what he is pointing out to our attention.

He is not often agreeable to what we recommend–and clearly says no, with the shake of the head from left to right. He likes to be the one to initiate what to do. For example, if at the playgroung, and I recommend going on the swing, he usually says, “no, but at some later point, he will make his way over to the swings and make noises until I put him in the baby swing.

He loves to use Nana’s swiffers much to her dismay, because he does not use them correctly.

He loves to push his baby carriage and grocery cart around the house and front yard and put things in and out of them. He loves to help put things away in a bucket or box, but then will want to dump it out again.

He loves his toy kitchen and toolbench that the Schaeffer’s gave him and loves to pretend to eat and serve us food. He likes to play with the train table, and does a good job of destroying Michael’s track that daddy takes a long time to assemble!!