Work!

Ryan finally went back to work yesterday after being off for a combined six months. Since being laid off in December he has only worked five weeks until now. Knowing that his job is unpredictable like this we saved up and were able to keep our heads above water. Thank you for our family and friends for their support during this bumpy road for us. He jumped back into work full force, working seven twelves until mid-August! We are not complaining at all, in fact we are thrilled. Granted it means we will not see him that much for the next months or so, but we got in a lot of great family time over the past months. After the long hours are over, they should move to four tens, which is great news for football season! From the sounds of it, this company will have work for at least a year, not including the other jobs they pick up along the way. It all worked out for the best. There was a call out for Wisconsin last week and we found out that Ryan was one guy away from being called. Had he been called, he would have been in Wisconsin and not here to get this job.

Matthew finished up swimming lessons this week and absolutely loved them. We already are planning to take the same class again next year. One of his favorite things in jumping off the edge by himself (to my arms) and going completely underwater. I posted pictures to our photo site (along with a recent boating trip). Enjoy!

ENT update

I took Matthew to his ENT this afternoon to have his ears checked. Both tubes are officially out of the eardrum and both eardrums are healed completely, so that is good! However, both tubes are still in the ear canal and will hopefully wok their way out in the next few months. The goal is to work out enough so the doctor can use his tools and dig them out the rest of the way. Matthew' s left eardrum looks great and they are not worried about it at all. His right eardrum is another story though. It has fluid around it again and he could very well get an infection in the near future. He had a hearing test on that ear to see how the sound waves were bouncing off his eardrum. His eardrum is still quite flat, which is not what they want to see. We go back in two months and hopefully then he will be able to take the tubes out and we can talk about what happens next. If his eardrum continues to collect fluid like it is doing now, he will have to have the tubes put back in, which we are completely fine with. It is very comforting to know that Matthew got his tubes first put in on April 18, 2008. He has not had an ear infection since that day, so while they were in the were doing their job.

In other news, Matthew started swimming lessons this week and absolutely LOVES it! He is like a fish and hates to get out of the pool. He is even brave enough to jump off the edge to my arms! That really shocked me as well as our swim teacher. We will continue with lessons next week too and then be done for the summer. Ryan will be going to swimming lessons tomorrow to take some pictures, so check back soon for some fun pictures!

Sitting on the Potty

I know that in the future when Matthew looks back to this he is going to kill me for posting this picture, but oh well! We have embarked on the task of potty training Matthew. To start, we just wanted him to become familiar with the potty and what it is for. Since he can't verbalize to us yet if or when he has to use the potty it makes this step a little hard. To our surprise, Matthew loves to sit on the potty, so why stop him! We started on Monday and he sat three times for over a half-hour each. While he sits, he likes to read books, it is just too cute. For the past few days it seems like he has the urge to go, but doesn't know to just let go on the potty. Last night, he used it for the first time and was super excited when Ryan and I did the happy dance and rewarded him with lots of cheer and a Junior Mint. First thing this morning, once he was up and out of his crib, he ran to the bathroom to sit on his potty. Though he sat for a half-hour and didn't do anything, we were still happy with him for wanting to sit there and starting to connect what the potty is for. We don't want to rush this, so when he decides that he is done for now, we will put it away and try again later.

We also are in the process of moving Matthew into a big boy bed and out of his crib. He is having some troubles understanding that even though he can get out of his bed whenever he wants, he needs to sleep in it too. He is having too much fun now. I wanted to have this step completed this summer because I am home and can work with him. We will keep you posted on our new adventures!

Trip to Chicago

We took Matthew on his first official family vacation to Chicago. We visited Shedd Aquarium and Brookfield Zoo while we were there. Shedd Aquarium was a big waste of time. It was their "free" admission weekend, so we were there with about 5,000 other people. After driving in traffic for an hour to reach the aquarium and standing in line for 45 minutes (we were in the very short line because we had a stroller, the other line was at least a two hour wait) we finally got into the aquarium only to find out that the "free" admission was only for the freshwater fish and the other areas were extra. So $45 later (luckily Matthew was free because of his age) we were on an elevator and ready to embark on the aquarium. There were so many people there that we could not see any of the attractions on the main floor. We went to a few of the "pay" areas that were far less congested and saw some pretty cool things, like saw fish, sharks, jellyfish, exotic saltwater fish and sting rays. We also fought through the crowd to get to the dolphin arena only to find out that the dolphin shows were canceled for the time being. We did visit the underwater viewing so Matthew could see the dolphins and manatees swim and he was very intrigued with them as well as the penguins. After a much easier trip back tot he burbs, we relaxed and had a nice dinner at Cheesecake Factory. The plus of Shedd Aquarium was watching the massive storm roll into downtown Chicago just a few miles north of us. This same storm produced tornadoes in the burbs about an hour before. It was an amazing site to watch and luckily we didn't get a drop of rain on us!

On Saturday we took Matthew to Brookfield Zoo which was a much nicer experience. We walked around the 215 acre zoo for four hours seeing all kinds of great animals. Matthew was very interested in many, often saying "wow" and everything they did! They had a special exhibit called Dinosaurs Alive, which features life size anamatronic dinosaurs. This was a little scary for Matthew, so he stayed his distance. Once we got back to the hotel we spent an hour in the pool to cool off and Matthew loved that! We swam around with him, threw him back and forth between us and even taught him how to kick his legs while on his back. We capped off our day with a late lunch to the Rainforest Cafe.

All in all we had a great time. Matthew did a great job of sleeping on his "big boy" bed in the hotel (a toddler aerobed) and slept all three nights without any problems or fuss. Though I do feel bad for our hotel neighbors because Matthew gets very excited when he wakes up and a few mornings at 8:00 am he decided to run around and scream at the top of his lungs just for the fun of it. He enjoyed watching the cars on the highway outside our hotel window and watching the big airplanes take off and land from Ohare. He kept saying "cars" and "trucks" while watching out the window. We were very lucky to be able to take Matthew on this trip with everything going on in our lives right now, but we had been planning for it for a year, so we were well saved up. Enjoy the pictures at our usual site.

2 year check-up

Ryan and I took Matthew for his 2 year check-up today and we got a clean bill of health! He now weighs 27.25 pounds (25th percentile) and is 33.75 inches tall (25th percentile). He is proportionate in both height and weight and we couldn't be happier. An added bonus was that he was up to date for his shots, so we didn't have to get any and we don't have to return until he is three. The doctor is also pleased with Matthew's growing vocabulary and isn't worried at all. We will go to the ENT in July to have another hearing screen and have his ears checked. We also plan on starting the potty training process this summer since I will be home with him for a constant. Who knows how that will turn out.

We are gearing up for our first family vacation this week. We are taking Matthew to Chicago to go to Shedd Aquarium and Brookfield Zoo. We will be staying for three nights and coming home late Sunday night. It is also a trip for our sixth anniversary and Father's Day, which both fall on Sunday!

It's done!

Ryan worked very hard the past week and a half to complete Matthew's swing set! We got to play on it yesterday for the first time when Aunt Cara, Uncle Brian and Cousin Maia came to visit. Matthew took very well to the rock wall and loved the slide while Maia enjoyed the swings. Today after the rain stopped and Matthew woke up from nap, we went back outside for more playtime. This time, Matthew took it upon himself to climb the rock wall by himself! Ryan was standing very close just in case, but he didn't need much help at all. Once at the top, he scooted to the slide and went down all by himself. He did that over and over for a while until we moved him to the swings. He actually liked the swings today and really likes his toddler swing we got for him yesterday. It sits slightly reclined so he can relax while being pushed. He also liked to do short swings on his glider. We still have to set up the sandbox under the clubhouse and mulch out the play area, but the hardest part is over. School is out on Thursday for the summer and we are looking forward to many play dates on the new swing set this summer. Take a look at our picture site for more pictures of the set and Matthew playing! Enjoy!

Matthew's Second Birthday

We celebrated Matthew's second birthday today with family. I still can't believe that my baby boy will be two on Wednesday! The weather today was gorgeous and we spent most of the afternoon outdoors playing with toys and watching Matthew explore. As expected, he loved his cake and did a much better job of eating it than last year. He opened some gifts and went right back to playing. Once everyone left he crashed for his afternoon nap a little later than usual. He is still sleeping now (over three hours later)! Ryan has spent a few hours a day this week building Matthew's swing set and today we finally moved it to it's "home" in the backyard for him to finish. We would like to thank our friends and family for their support and love. Matthew is truly blessed to have such a wonderful group of people surrounding him on a daily basis. Before we know it he will be in kindergarten...but let's tackle potty training first! Enjoy some birthday pictures at our photo site.