Matthew

Sorry I haven't posted in almost a month...just feel like I haven't had anything to post, other than the daily routine of life! So here's a little update on the kids, since that's what most people are curious about :) Here are some ramblings about Matthew: Matthew is 3 - that says a lot! He is EXTREMELY extroverted, to the point that it totally exhausts both David and I. I am an extrovert too, but not as much as Matthew. He talks non-stop - really. We think he talks just to hear noise. He can be extremely sweet - and sometimes not so sweet. He loves to read, absolutely loves it. He gets up around 6:30 am (not my choice of awakening time...). He comes out of his room very loud and ready to start the day. There's no easing into the morning. He's ready to go! He often wakes everyone else in the house! He's very eager to learn. He knows his alphabet well and is now really trying to learn letter sounds. We're not doing anything official in the way of homeschooling - just trying to take learning opportunities as we get them. So it's fun to see him try new things. He's often asking how to spell words and tries to sound them out. He loves rhyming words. He's not a big eater, never has been. Bedtime is NOT his favorite part of the day. He enjoys laying down to read with us, often asking us for more books. But once we're done, we have had a hard time keeping him in his room. We're trying to get to the bottom of the issue with this. Maybe it's his extreme need to be with others - he can't handle being alone?? Maybe?? He wants someone to stay with him, he hears a noise, he has a booger, has to go potty - and he has a potty in his room: you name it, he's used it as an excuse. He often comes out at night as well, after we're sleeping. We are working on breaking his habit of screaming for us in the middle of the night. It's just a rough way to be awoken! We have a paper chain, and for each night he makes it without needing us, he gets to take a link off. Every time that happens, he gets something from his treasure box (sticker, etc), and when he gets to the 5th chain, he gets a bigger prize (first time is a basement camp out, second is a car movie car, and third we're still deciding between a few things...stay tuned, maybe we'll eventually get to it!). We've been doing this for about two weeks and we're almost to the first big prize. Slow progress, but at least we're moving in the right direction :) We're open to advice :)

Matthew is loving preschool. We think it has been so great for him. He's making friends and talk about them all the time. I'll post more about that another time :)