Matthew 101

Matthew 101 : Translations

-A-
A clue – a paw print, Blues Clues or otherwise
Acorns – sometimes acorns and also popcorn

-B-
Babies- old movies of himself on the computer
Boogies- the act of wiping his nose with a tissue just so he can flush it down the toilet
Boom booms- thunder storms

-C-
Carry you- asking you to carry him
Cream cream- ice cream

-D-
Da- the
Dass- dance

-E-
Eh-eh-ence – Ambulance
Eatin the poop- something Bob taught him to say, and I am not amused
Ems – M&M’s

-F-
Fishies- band-Aids with fish on them (there are also Band-Aids called “hats” and “batman”)
Firetruck cat- Dalmation

-H-
Happy Cake- pie or birthday cake
Hot- fireplaces

-M-
Mailmantruck- mail truck
Monkey- his uncle Mike
Moss- anything football related, was taught as in “Randy Moss”,
My trains- daycare, he loves the train table there

-N-
Nigh nights- bedtime

-O-
Oosee popsihangin: orange popscicle
Otay- okay

-P-
Papa’s bulldoza- all bulldozers since getting to sit in one at his papa’s house
Peacocks, ahhh!- peacocks
Pockets- cd carrier

-U-
Up- help

-Y-
Yellow- Lion
Yummy Cakes- anything he likes to eat but doesn’t know the name of

Quotable Quotes:“Trace my eyes.”
“Where it go?”
“Monkey broke it!”
“Good morning Pepper..is Pepper clean?”
“You weren’t watching!”
“What happened?”
“A big mess.”
“Big hug!”
“The moon is behind the trees.”
“Look at that!”
“Dada, the dragon get you when you sleeping."

The Pow Wow

A teenager with almond colored skin and shoulder length dark hair takes out an earplug from his iPod to give me directions. He tells me to continue on the road, which is roughly the width of a driveway, and to turn right at the barn up ahead. In the distance, I can hear drums beating. I thank him and follow his directions, which lead to a field where other cars are parked. Matthew and I have never been to a Pow Wow before, so when I see a couple carrying lawn chairs I grab a blanket from my trunk and toss it in the bottom of the stroller.

We follow the sound of drums back down the narrow road and to another field. A circle is marked by blocks of hay, which some children and adults are already sitting by in anticipation for the Pow Wow to begin. Just outside the circle, four women sit in their own circle playing the drums. There are vendors selling handcrafted jewelry, musical instruments, art, and other goods. Matthew and I settled on our blanket in the tent where Grandmother, a woman with white hair in a braid that went all the way down her back, told stories. We heard one about the origin of strawberries.

Next, we sought out a dream catcher. I did not want one that was too large, and Matthew did not want one that was too feathery. We settled on small one with just four feathers on the bottom. I noticed Matthew admiring the wooden flutes and so we got one of those too. It was then time for the Pow Wow to begin and so we went and found a spot to sit near the circle.

The first dance was the grass dance. This we were told was a ceremonial dance to flatten the grass for the other dancers. The second dance was the Grand Entry Dance led by the head veteran, a man called Thundering Buffalo, and volunteer veteran attendees. There was a flag ceremony and a flag song to follow. We learned that the dancers enter circle from an east entry and danced clockwise to follow the sun. Following the Grand Entry Dance was more drumming, dancing and singing. Both inside and outside the circle people of all ages and nationalities celebrated Native American heritage. It was as beautiful as it sounds.

Later at home, Matthew could not wait to show off his new Pow Wow moves to Bob. I ‘played’ the flute and thumped the couch with my hand while he danced in circles in our living room. When he was finished we hung the dream catcher above his bed and tucked him in for a late afternoon nap.

Blog News

Hello,

Starting this fall I will be updating my blog twice a week instead of once.

Look forward to a new blog on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting this upcoming week.

Thanks for reading!

Laurie

Fare Thee Well, Summer

Saturday marked the first day of our second annual at-home vacation. It poured rain outside all day. Pepper had her first vet appointment and was given a clean bill of health. Matthew and I spent the morning baking peach pies with homemade crust.

Sunday was more excitable by all means. In the morning Pepper aka “runaway bunny” escaped from our fenced in yard. Now she is only allowed to roam the yard on her leash and harness. We went to Bob’s parents house for a family party celebrating; his parents new house, his brother moving to college, his aunt’s birthday, our wedding anniversary later this month, and not one, but both of his grandmother’s birthdays. The cake simply said “Congratulations.”
Matthew got to eat M&M’s for lunch, play football, and catch frogs in the backyard. He slept the hour and a half drive home after the party ended.

On Monday I thought I was just going to get my oil changed but it turned into a grand inquisition. The mechanic asked me, “What kind of oil do you use?”, “When is the last time you had your transmission oil changed?”, “Look at this air filter, do you see what I mean about Ford and these cars?” Normally, I go to places where I can read a magazine and nod when told what needs to be done. Bob claims that said places are overpriced and told me about this place. Thankfully he was with me and having known to study my old car repair receipts beforehand he was able to answer the questions for me. I know that you wouldn’t believe me if I told you that I was the one who taught him how to change a tire many years ago.

We took Matt to the park and then to the lake. Where the lifeguard chairs usually are there was a sign warning us that the waters were unguarded. Translation: Summer is over, folks. Matt waded in the water, dug holes in the sand, and then we had a picnic lunch. On the way back to the car we saw the fall leaf on the ground.
In the nighttime Bob and I went out alone on a date to dinner and then to see (500) days of Summer, which is a really great movie if you haven’t seen it. On the way home I complained that our staycation was already going by too fast and we should really move to someplace more boring to drag it out more.

On Tuesday we went to the EcotariumWe rode the train, looked at exhibits, and had a picnic lunch by a stream. Then we took Matt to story time at Barnes And Noble where he mostly played with a train table there. That evening we had an end of summer celebration dinner with grilled haddock and veggie kabobs.

Then after dinner I took Pepper for a walk and at night Matt and I laid in bed reading all his favorite bedtime stories, ignoring the minutes ticking past his bedtime. “Hop. Pop. Hop on Pop,” he recited when I finally carried him to his crib, “Red, Red, they call me Red.”

On Wednesday we played t-ball in the park.Matthew loved running around real bases and sitting on the bench in the dugout to cheer. We saw friends of ours at the park for the second time that week. “I still think this week is going by too fast,” I told Bob on our way home.

On Thursday we went to the ocean for what is probably the last time this summer. The older kids are back in school so it was nearly empty and the shore was lined with shells and sea glass not yet picked over. Matthew and I pretended to be pirates collecting treasure. Not that he has much reference to pirates outside of the Backyardigans. Maybe to him that is what we were pretending to be. We filled an empty grape bag with all our ‘treasure’ to bring home with us. After another afternoon or wading, digging holes in the sand, and a picnic we headed up to the boardwalk to walk around before heading home. On Friday we went to a U pick farm. Bob asked me to note that it was his first time ever going. Matthew and I usually go two to three times a month so we showed him the ropes. We picked raspberries and then played on the playground where Matt climbed to the top of a child sized rock wall for the first time. That night we had a family game night and played Cootie.

Saturday was the last official day of our at-home vacation. Matthew and I missed the beach so we built a sandcastle in his plastic turtle shaped sandbox.

On a whim we decided to attend a fair that was a couple towns over from us and spent a few hours there. There were kiddie rides there which seem to be a prerequisite for vacations these days.
That evening we painted leaves, pumpkins, and acorns that I cut out of construction paper. . Once our masterpieces of work dried we hung them on our glass deck door. In doing so we said goodbye to summer.

About A Bunny

Our family has adopted a four-month-old Giant Flemish rabbit that we named Pepper.

 I stopped off at a pet store to stock up on bunny supplies and treats. They gave me a lesson on litter box training and printed me out a sheet of cliff notes for basic rabbit care.



The following day Matthew came along with me to a family owned farm to pick up the bunny that we decided to name Pepper. In his lap Matthew holds a willow ball ready to give her as a greeting present. A few days prior the breeder had emailed me pictures. In a sea of steel gray, white with black polka dots, and nestle brown, Pepper stood out to me as the only bun with an all black coat. She almost blended into the background as the pictures were taken in the evening.

When we pulled up to the farm Matthew became shy, “Carry you? Carry you?” he asked me before remembering  to say instead, “Carry me?” We met the breeder, some ducklings, and then a pen full of dozens of bunnies of all different ages and breeds. Up close I saw that Pepper had a couple tufts of brown fur. She was scooped into a wooden box that looked sort of like a lobster trap.

“Mine?” Matthew piped up, pointing to the lobster trap box.

“Yes, we get to take her home,” I told him and watched his eyes light up with excitement.

At home we let Pepper out in the yard to play.
.

During my research online I learned that rabbits can actually be scared to death. Lucky for us Pepper seems to be a mellow rabbit. Moments after her arrival in our home, she ate carrot sticks out of Matthew’s hand and didn’t seem bothered when he sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to her, rather loudly, four times in a row. Watching them together made me certain that Pepper was the right choice for our family.

Davis Farmland

“Wow Mama,” Matthew marvels at the sight of a cow head painted on the side of a building with two air conditioner boxes for eyes. I have been meaning to take him here, to Davis Farmland, all summer. Davis Farmland is a park with playgrounds, playhouses, a water spray park, a huge corn maze, and animals.

When we walk into the farm there is a pen of kittens for adoption on our right and a pen of rabbits for petting on our left. Matthew makes a beeline to sit on an out of service tractor in the distance ahead.

After several minutes of pretend tractor driving, I coerced him off the tractor and back on the path that leads to the water spray park.

Along the way we stop at a bull pen of calves being bottled fed. A bucket of brushes are near the fence for guests to brush their fur. “The cows are eating?” Matthew asks me.

“Yeah they’re-“ I pause because when I look over I see that he is using the cow brush on his own head. I show him that they are for brushing the cows and Matthew brushes between their eyes, and their hooves. The calves seem to give me a sideways look to each other, as this boy brushes the tips of their ears and hooves again. As we are leaving their pen Matthew gives them each a shy hug, “bye buddies.”

By now the sun is uncomfortably hot so I hurry Matt along the path and change Matthew into his bathing suit to spend the next hour at the water park.

Now cooled off we trek to a playground with lots of tunnels to climb in that lead to slides. “Happy, happy, happy, happy,” Matt sings from inside the tunnels. He finds that painting a wooden play house with a bucket of water and a wall sized paintbrush fun, which is a play idea I plan on copying at our home. Next we loop back past our cow buddies and over to the field of more farm animals, llamas, pigs, goats, and sheep. Matthew is at ease with all the animals, petting them solemnly at first and then laughing when they lick his hand.

By noon the farm is crowded and we only have a half hour before we must go. We eat a quick lunch at the “Herd Rock” café before heading home. Matthew doesn’t seem to notice we are heading back towards the car because he is excited to point out the buses that he sees in the parking lot. Anyway, almost as soon as we drive away Matthew falls sound asleep in his car seat.