Major Announcement

You heard it here first, people. Today I finished the first draft of my "doctoral document." It came to about 80 pages. I say that's not bad for a non-scholarly degree in performance, right? In case you are wondering it is entitled "Programming Trends in American Orchestral Concerts: A Reexamination of Musical Taste Twenty-five Years after the Price Study." Sounds cool, no?

I Make Milk

So I have to admit, I feel a little left out of this blog thing. Yes, I have my own blog and I write for another...but that is about boring feminist stuff, not about my cute kids. I wish every day that I was at home snuggling my babies and blogging about their crazy baby antics.

Insert crazy baby antics here:

(George deciding that the rules of the road, and gravity for that matter, no longer apply to him.)

(George declaring that he is the kind of drummer that rips cushions off of furniture...Motley Crue here I come.)

I was meeting with a client in my office the other day and having a fairly serious conversation with her about her parenting skills. She was telling me how she wanted to be more involved in her children's lives. Then out of nowhere she said, "You know, if I had wanted to stay home and where a long skirt, I would have married a Mormon!"

I just about fell out of my chair laughing and had a hard time keeping my composure for the rest of our meeting. After my client had left, I heard those words reverberating over and over again off the BYU diploma hanging on my wall. And I wondered to myself (in a very Carrie Bradshaw-like way), how did I manage to mess that formula up?

Epic Fail.

So, when not managing to mess up perfectly simple cultural formulas, I go to work and feel pretty good about providing for my family. Of course, providing is relative, as I learned from my little friend Jaxon.

We were over at the Steed's home recently so that Brandon and Mark could practice their Wii Tennis skillz (see, I can be a TAMN blogger too). As I was nursing Sylvie, Jaxon climbed up on the couch next to me and we had a perfectly adult conversation about breastfeeding. (Props to Jessica and Mark for being such wonderful parents and teaching their boys that nursing is natural.) Jaxon told me about how his mom used to nurse his little brother and that she had this really cool pump that sucked milk out of her and put it in a bottle. I told Jaxon that I go to work like his daddy and that I had a pump like that I used it to make Baby Sylvie's milk. Jaxon thought about that for a moment and then said, "Yes, but my daddy makes money."

So for any of you wondering what I do all day...I make milk.

And she is obviously not complaining!

Sleepy Time with the Matthews Kids

Overall, the kids are tremendously good sleepers. As babies, both George and Sylvia have been fairly easy to put to bed, and they generally stay there most of the night. But they both have their sleeping quirks. Sylvia prefers to sleep on her tummy. Her parents, trying to faithfully follow the doctors' recommendation that babies sleep on their backs, force her to sleep face up each night. (Naps are a different; Dad lets her sleep the way she likes. Consequently, she takes LONG naps...) But if Sylvie can't sleep face down, her second favorite sleeping location is in Mom and Dad's bed (see above--she looks comfortable, doesn't she!).

George can also be particular about his slumber habits. A couple of nights ago, he decided he absolutely could NOT sleep with out his fake crocs on his feet. His mother tried valiantly to pry them away, but her earnest attempts were pathetically feeble in the face of a toddler's adamantine resolve. You guessed it, George won the battle and slept--the WHOLE night--in the clogs.

Sylvie's First Meal

It is a truly sad time for this proud daddy. My baby girl has begun to eat rice cereal. Now perhaps you think me slightly melodramatic, but it all just reminds me how quickly kids grow up. Yes, I realize that four months hardly signals the end of innocence, but still...my time with my babies is fleeting!

Last night we sat Sylvie in the high chair and introduced her to non-breast-milk nourishment. She wasn't too big a fan--but it's only a matter of time. We have gotten tired of the nightly 2 a.m. snack attacks and hoped that some cereal would help her sleep longer. Success! Last night she didn't get hungry until 4 a.m. (But to counter this progress in the Matthews household, George decided to wake up screaming at 3 a.m. Luckily he went right back to sleep--between us in our bed. First time that has happened--hopefully not to repeat anytime soon...)

GROWTH UPDATE: Yesterday was also Sylvia's four-month check up. Everything looks great. She now weighs 16 pounds and 14 ounces--nearly double her birthweight--and she stands at a commanding 2 feet, 2 inches. She's in the 97th percentile all around, a big but decidedly proportional girl. She's also in the 97th percentile for baby intelligence, but that's according to her dad's ultra-scientific calculations.

My Friends Ziggle and Goo

I just have to write a post about the fact that I have the best kids in the world. Now that I am done with the coursework for my doctorate, this semester I am truly enjoying being a full-time stay-at-home dad. It is such a pleasure to be with my children all day and watch them grow. It is happening all too fast! (Nap time is still an appreciated break and opportunity to work on my thesis.)

Both George and Sylvie are very vocal, though George wasn't always that way. But in the last couple of months George has developed a highly sophisticated language that he now employs non stop. And for several weeks he has been acquiring more English words, too--much to his parents' relief.

Sylvia, on the other hand, absolutely loves having conversations with just about anyone (especially me) in her coo-goo parlance. I am hoping to get a video of it soon because it is so cute--she twitters like a song bird! all the while smiling with her gaping, drooly mouth.

Given the kids' communicativity, I decided to give them nicknames based on their favorite "words." Thus George became "Ziggle" (he walks around saying "ziggle-AH, ziggle-AH") and Sylvia "Goo." George now calls his sister "Goo," and when referring to both his dad and sis, "Da-da-goo." (Since Sylvie always wants to be held, we are basically a compound entity).

The other day I snapped two shots of the kids that just reinforced their personalities for me. George was playing all alone in his playroom (the "Arizona" room strewn with toys) well past his bedtime. His back was to us as if to say, "I can take care of myself, thanks. Maybe if you can't see me you won't put me to bed..." George has the most remarkable independence--he is truly his own man.

Unlike her brother, Sylvia craves human interaction. If she's not held, she demands eye contact and dialog. But as soon as she gets it, she shows her appreciation.

I put Sylvia in her swing so I could work on the computer. She started getting a bit fussy, so I turned my attention to her and she immediately grinned at me. I grabbed my phone and snapped this picture.

I love my adorable kids!

New Year's Baby

Here's our New Year's baby. We consider her one since that's when she was conceived! Originally we wanted to do a picture of both Sylvia and George, but of course our little toddler had no interest in cooperating.