Matthew's "Happy Birthday"!

Last week, we celebrated Matthew's "Happy Birthday" with a big party full of lots of kids, laughter and fun! As Matthew's "friends" are only 2 years old... we thought it appropriate that they come with parents (don't you?) so we had a houseful!

The theme was Sesame Street, and particularly Matthew's favourite... Elmo!

We had hoped to play outside with the kids. I rented some fun backyard equipment including a jumping house, slide and tunnel system. I had watched the weather all week with crossed fingers, hoping that the 40% chance of rain wouldn't materialize, but it wasn't meant to be.

Around noon, it hailed ferouciously, and was very cold outside, which didn't make for a lot of fun. So what were we to do?

Bring the fun INSIDE of course!








I sent Daddy to Superstore to buy a new tarp... we emptied our living room of almost all furniture.. and voila! An instant playgound.

For added fun, I had been walking through the dollar store and found some really cute fishing sets with little magnetic fish and fishing poles! For the price that they were, I couldn't resist picking them up to make a little fishing game for the kids.




The cake was, of course, Elmo! (with a little help from my friend Bridget)



with some little cupcake friends to go along, made by myself.



We all had a little lunch,



and birthday cake of course!



We said good-bye to all of our friends and enjoyed the evening, playing with new presents, which Matthew got right into!



What a fun day for all.. but thank goodness it's only once a year!

Dear Matthew...

May 12, 2009

My dear baby... wow, you turn two years old today. Two years old! Who could have imagined how much you changed my life in these two little years. You were a little blue bundle when I brought you home and now you wouldn't even fit in your car seat if I tried!

I went from changing itty bitty diapers to bigger diapers and now I hardly change diapers at all, I help you put on your big boy pull ups instead..... your big boy pullups.... your big boy everything.... you sure aren't a baby any more, but you'll always be my baby.

Boy, do you ever want to be a big boy right now though! You want to do everything that Mommy does and you love to help me make pancakes in the kitchen, and you always want to "flip" them in the pan. You like to sneak veggies from me when I'm making supper and you're favourite spot is smack dab in the middle of our island where you have access to all of Mommy's kitchen toys. You will be an expert baker soon... you can even measure the baking soda all by yourself already!

I can't find the middle piece of our vacuum because I've removed it so many times to make a mini floor vacuum for you, that it got lost! You have your own toy vacuum, but it's nothing like the real thing and you sure know the difference. Although, Uncle Mark bought you a toy lawn mower for your birthday and you sure think that is fun to run up and down the hallways with.. but that is because you don't remember what the real lawn mower sounds like, you just wait Daddy!

I love that you still love to be my baby. I love that you learned the word "nuggle" and although sometimes after I've had my arm stretched around you until it's falling asleep and I try to sneak away and even though I think you're asleep, and you snap it right back into place, I have a brief moment of wanting to pull it away, but I know that the "nuggle" stage isn't going to last forever and I try to savour every moment I can.

You started swimming lessons a little while ago.. you are hit and miss with the water, but you sure love to go to "Donalds" afterwards. You will sit yourself at a booth and polish off an entire hamburger (no cheese, ketchup only thank-you very much) and a milkshake... or chocolate milk... or both....

I am thrilled at how much you love to read. Sometimes I'm so tired at the end of the day that I just want to go to bed myself, but I will read as many books as you want because I never want you to lose the love of reading... (it just means we have to start the bedtime routine at 6:00 some nights!

You already knew how to walk when you turned one, but now you know how to run. I love when I open the door upon coming home from work and you bolt around the corner and straight towards daddy and I with a big hug! It makes my day! You tell us all about your day and the fun you had and it makes my heart feel less guilty about going to work each day and not being with you.

I started your second year being "Mama" but just recently became "Mommy". I wasn't thrilled about the change at the start because it's just another thing that isn't a baby and is a little boy, but you melt my heart every time I come into the room and you smile big and say "Hi Mommy!"

Your transition from a crib to a bed was an easy one. We went to California in February and you didn't want to have any part of sleeping in a play pen, so the only other choice was to give you your own bed...with all the dining room chairs firmly around it! From that point on, there was no more crib.. you wanted a big boy bed, so a big boy bed we bought you and you have loved to show it off to everyone who visits, ever since.

You love hockey and golf and I'm sure it's because your Daddy always has them on tv! But you love "Don" even more and let us know every time he comes on TV during the hockey game. You recently discovered that a "man sings O Canada" and once and a while give me a one verse rendition of the song yourself.

It wasn't long ago that I was posting about how you learned this word or that word, but before long, I couldn't keep up! You say everything and anything now and you're even talking in full sentences once and a while! I couldn't believe my ears when I asked you to tell me a story the other day and you started to say "One Day, Allison and Emily (your park friends) went to the park...." Wow! You know your numbers, although it took until this week to convince you that you were only turning 2 and not 3, and you're starting to learn your ABC's too. You can name almost everything in the Richard Scary word book and you routinely point out "Big Truck", "motorcycle" or "tractor" when you see them as we're driving!

Some more things about you....

~ Blankie is still your favourite comfort item... Boo Bear is a distant second
~ You are just over 32 lb and almost 36" tall
~ the cutest things you say are "pocables" and "hicksups"
~ Your favourite tv shows are Sesame Street, Night Garden and Franklin
~ Your favourite books are Mouse Cookie and Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb
~ Your favourite food is anything in a bun, which you call a hamburger
~ You still want warm milk at bedtime in a "baby cup"
~ You are 1/2 potty trained, all on your own doing
~ You play pretend on the phone and say "hello, how are you?.... good!" over and
over
~ You are still so darn cute!

By the time I write this post again, you aren't even going to be a toddler any more. You will be playing sports and riding your bike and an even bigger, little boy than you are today. Thank-you for being the light of my life and I look forward to all of the stories, games and fun that we will have in the years to come.

All my love,
Mommy