Awesome Pawsome

Bob, Matthew, and I went to a Paw Sox game on this Mother’s Day. It was Star Wars day at McCoy Stadium. The tickets were a birthday present from us for Matthew. Emily came over to watch Samantha for the day. We ate lunch there and sat in our seats to watch a couple innings of the game here and there when we were not standing in line to meet the characters. 

First we met Captain Rex who let Matthew hold his guns for the picture. Then we met what I thought might be a Wicket or a Wookie until Matthew corrected me that it was a Jawa. Matthew danced with the Jawa. In those two sentences alone I have exhausted all my SW knowledge and I do not know the names of the rest of the characters that Matthew met except for his favorite Darth Vader. He even got to meet Paws, the team mascot, who Matthew addressed as “Mr.Paws.” 

After the game they allowed the children (and their parents) to run around the bases on the field. The SW characters went first. It was a well organized event and very exciting for the kids (and their parents).

Bedtime In Crazy Town

Caught in the act

 Bedtime for the kids is typically between the 7 and 8 o’clock hour of the night. While I give Sammy her bath Matthew is in charge of picking up his toys.  Sometimes I have to remind him of this while getting Sammy dressed after her bath.Picking out bedtime stories comes next. Matthew will pick out more than he can carry and Sammy enjoys pulling them off the bookshelves. She will sit patiently for the first story but then gets fidgety and is either put to bed or down to chew on a board book while we finish the rest. 

We have gotten into the habit of writing down the books that we read so that he can earn a new badge from the library. Every twenty books with a grown up earns a new one. He recently acquired his very own library card too, the big shot five-year-old that he is. 

Still searching for the perfect book

Some of our favorite bedtime stories lately:

Interactive

Tickle Monster – Matthew is always the tickle monster much to his and Sammy’s delight.

Can You Make A Scary Face? -  About a bug trying to chase away a frog. In the end our scary face scares the bug into wishing the frog would come back.  

There is a Monster t the End of the Book – In this classic Sesame Street book Grover warns readers to not turn the page because there is a monster ( which ends up being him) on the last page.

 We Are In A Book – the characters are IN a book and they quickly realize they don’t want the book to end. 

Board Books

All the Hippos Go Beserk – Matthew loved this book as a baby and now Sammy does too. One hippo alone once more, misses the other 44.

Bedtime Books

Berenstain Bears Bad Dream –Brother bear is very relatable to Matthew especially in this book where Space Grizzles are similar to Star Wars characters 

Other

 LEGO books – Catch that crook! Defend that Castle! Fight the fire!  

Magic Tree House Books- Like any good story this one starts at the library. Another boy named Matthew met my Matthew and the two got to chatting. Aside from having the same name they were both 4 ½ . When the other Matthew asked which Magic Tree house book he was on this Matthew was stumped. We had not heard of these books before and decided to check them out. They are a chapter book series about a brother and a sister who find a magical tree house in the woods which takes them on many adventures. 

Or maybe it was Matthew that she was looking for

After story time they are tucked into bed. At this time Sammy does not have a favorite blanket or stuffed animal but will yell if not fed one last bottle before being put to bed. Matthew sleeps with an assortment of stuffed friends and some nights will flip through books using the reading lamp clipped to his bed. Most nights, especially after an extra busy day he falls asleep almost immediately.

Spring Helpers

My two little helpers and I planted a batch of vegetable plants over the weekend. There are lots more planting to come --the theme of our garden this year is 'creative spaces'.

Season of Homemade Cards

With many of his friends having birthday during the same month as him and all those thank you cards to write, Matthew has been busy making homemade cards for his friends! And he takes his time choosing the perfect Star War sticker for each card. 

Some cards from friends

New Sandbox!

Special Delivery!

By the amount of sand that has been dragged into our house the assumption might be that we moved to the beach. Nope but Papa and Dad built a big sandbox in the backyard. Matthew, the sandbox requester, was in his own sandbox world of imagination seconds after plopping down in the sand to play. His first order of business was to dig to the bottom. Or as he put it to dig to the “underworld city of a-horror-bohra”. He loves his new sandbox, underworld city and all.

"Do we still get to go to the beach ?" Matthew

Matthew Turns Five!

2007 : Feels like yesterday

Yesterday

Interview with the birthday boy on the night before his fifth birthday

Q. What is your favorite color?

Red and Green

Q. What is your favorite thing to do with Mom?

Go to Higgins Armory

Q. What is your favorite thing to do with Dad?

Go to Patriots Place

Q. What is your favorite thing to do with Sammy?

Play ‘rocka’, papers,scissors - she always picks rock.

Q. What is your favorite TV show?

Lego Ninjago

Q. What is your favorite thing about school?

Playing with friends

Q. What is your least favorite thing about school?

Nothing

Q. What is your favorite thing to wear?

Bruins jersey

Q. What is your favorite animal?

A dog!

Q. What is your favorite song?

Thunderstruck

Q. What is your favorite book?

Lego Ninjago chapter books

Q. Who is your best friend?

Mommy

Q. Okay. Who else is your best friend?

Tyler, Austin, Hayden, David, Jonas ..

Q. What is your favorite snack?

Cake

Q. What is your favorite restaurant?

Pizza Hut

Q. What is your favorite video game?

Lego Batman

Q. What is your favorite board game?

Pay Day

Q. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas – Santa gives you expensive stuff

Q. What do you sleep with at night?

Stuffed animals Mickey, Banana Who, Kermit and a stuffed toy Buzz Lightyear 

Q. What do you want to be when you grow up?

A librarian

Q. Why?

To look at the books that come back and see if they have been torn – if they are torn I’ll take away your library card

T-Ball Beginnings

Last week Matthew had his first t-ball practice. He couldn’t remember his coach’s name right away, was it Madam? His coach Adam turned out to be patient and kind with the children making them excited to participate in the sport. They have practice one night a week and games on both weekend days. This age group certainly makes it fun to watch!

On Saturday our town had opening day for baseball and Matthew marched in his first parade. One of his friends from school is on his team and the two entertained each other with chatter and purposely knocking into each other during the mile walk parade route. The walk might have worn them out as they sat and paid attention during the hour long opening ceremonies with speeches and team introductions. Twister the Worcester Tornadoes mascot was even in attendance and gave the kids high fives. Our town seems to take baseball quite seriously!

His first game was on Sunday. Grandma and Papa came to watch him. Kids ran past first base into the outfield, around bases without touching them, forgot to run to the next base, and one time three kids piled up onto third base. Some played with the sand. There is no score keeping or outs so both teams are happy when they go home. I’m going to miss these days once he moves up to the competitive age groups.