The Lost Month

Yes, we're still alive here. Thanks for checking in periodically, and sorry that you have had nothing new to see for a while.

We have had a tough month. I spent all of February conducting an opera production, so I was basically absent from home. We enjoyed a visit from my parents and grandparents at the end of the month--they came down to see the show. Once they left, I immediately contracted some horrible illness from which I am only now recovering. Unfortunately, the kids both picked it up. They had a fever for three days and are still both congested--Sylvie sounds downright pathetic when she tries to cry and a raspy sqeak is all she can produce. Happily, they are getting better now, too. But Meghan just came down with it. That's the fun of living together as a family, I guess.

Anyway, we've been in a funk for a couple of weeks and have hardly felt the energy to do much, especially blog. But it would be a shame to let an entire month go by undocumented. So here are some shots:

George sporting a BYU hat and monkey-leash harness at the cactus arboretum. We went there with Grandma and Grandpa Matthews. Such a pity that the kid already has a monkey on his back at this age!

Sylvia gets more beautiful every day. Look at those eyes! And as an added bonus, she can also suck her own toes. So talented!

Last Saturday, we celebrated Pi Day (3-14, get it?) with our ward; everyone brings pie and pigs out. Meghan and I made a beautiful chocolate ricotta tort. Unfortunately, it looked better than it tasted. It was just too rich! Curse you, Giada di Laurentiis, and your over-the-top recipes! The pine nuts looked cool but overwhelmed the pie. Oh well.

Dear World: I Promise I'm A Good Mother

Dear Colleague:

I realize that despite the cold spell Arizona has had recently, Baby Sylvie consistently comes to work in little more than a onesie. I refuse to take responsibility for this...Brandon is perfectly capable of dressing her in weather appropriate clothing. He feels, however, that Sylvie has enough baby fat to withstand the elements.

I could fight this battle but I would lose, just like I lost the baby kissing/baby pinching battle. Plus, if I were to actually exert the energy it would take to insist that Brandon put a sweater on our Rubenesque child, I would no longer have enough energy to keep from telling you that "supposedly" is never pronounced "supposebly."

Dear Random Man at Church:

Yes, I know my son's hair is similar to that of a old, homeless man's. Despite my best efforts, I cannot tame the monster's mane...

I have cut, brushed, combed and gelled as much as one mother can do with a two year old. Unfortunately, I cannot overcome swift toddler hands or my father's genetic gift of cowlicks.

Don't worry, I'm fully intending on taking George's do from Transient to Skinhead as soon as the weather heats up. Yeah, that's how I roll.

Dear Judgemental Lady at Safeway:

I agree that perhaps m&m's at 10:00 a.m. is not the wisest nutritional choice for my child, especially as his genetic line is littered with people who have "the sugar." Nevertheless, I think that you'll agree that your shopping experience is much pleasanter without his goat-like bleating reverberating off the canned foods.

Also, thanks to your withering death stare, I just forgot to pick up the key ingredient I need to make dessert for Valentine's Day. So, ruiner of my self-esteem and chocolate bread pudding, if you would please remove your cart from the middle of the aisle so I can push my double stroller through, I would appreciate it.

Dear Neighbors:

If you think you hear my child screaming alone in the backyard and worry that he is being neglected, please don't call the police. I promise that he is actually in his screened-in playroom playing with the mountain of toys that I have bought him out of my hard-earned guilt...I mean money.

Your benevolence in this matter will save me a year's worth of humiliation, a fight with my husband and two days worth of crying.

Thank you all for your patience.

Sincerely,

One unexceptional, but earnest mother

Fashion Week

So we are creating new trends in haute couture here in the Matthews household. George has a real knack for choosing amazingly dapper ensembles. Featured below is his latest pick--he is wearing it as I write this post!--Pampers diaper (size 4), Sunday dress from waist up (blue shirt, red tie, suit vest), monkey leash harness (he literally asked Meghan to put it on him), and that "tie it all together" accessory, the fireman's helmet.

Doesn't he look reflective in that shot? Looks like it is straight out of the Neiman Marcus catalog.

Sylvie is wearing what I call the Rhapsody in Pink:


In case you assumed that Dad must have chosen such a get-up, I must inform you that you guessed wrong. This was Meghan's fashion sense, all the way.

Happy Birthday, George

This has been Georgie's birthday weekend. We have been very busy celebrating and having fun--and dealing with the rather disappointing reality that George doesn't yet understand how special a birthday is compared to every other day. Even when his Mom and Dad go to great lengths to have toddler-friendly festivities.

Friday, the birthday proper, began with the two-year old opening his presents. His favorite was a racing cart his parents have him. The video below shows his first drive; initially you will see that he was not pleased that he was being filmed so early in the morning. What a vain two-year old!

George had a monkey-themed weekend, and breakfast featured "monkey bread," basically cinnamon pullaparts with a carmel sauce. Very yummy. The rest of Friday was very busy--work for Mom, lunch appointment for Dad, and several voice lessons in the afternoon. That evening we had a fancy dinner in George's honor and saw a movie, The Tales of Desperaux. It was cute, and George enjoyed it (most of the time).

Saturday we invited some friends (the Steeds and Curtises) over to have lunch and monkey cake. We had a lot of fun, especially having other adults over to keep us company. We really had a blast--thanks for coming over, guys! Meghan created the most amazing cake, see below. Its creation was an odyssey in itself--ask us again sometime...

Everyone was happy to help George blow out the candles. We had at least four boys trying simultaneously. In the end, Meghan did the honors.

We were just relieved George seemed to enjoy the cake!

Call of the Valkyrie

As you may know, Sylvia is a vocal little baby. She loves to coo, goo, and shriek with delight. I've always wanted to catch her vocal outpourings, but whenever I got the camera in front of her, she clammed up. Well, this week she has become even more vociferous, and far less camera shy. So here are a couple of clips of Sylvie-speak, one filmed by me and the other by Meghan.

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!