Where Is God?

So, we taught Matthew how to pray. Sometimes, we have to ask him millions of times to pray before bed, and other times, he just does it on his own.

His nightly prayer consists of making the sign of the cross at the beginning. Then he blesses everyone and himself. In the prayer itself, he thanks God for everything, including "nice good day," "good food," "breakfast, lunch, and dinner," "thank you for going to the zoo," "thank you for playing with friends," "thank you for ice cream," "thank you for Mom and Dad," and anything else that happened to him during the day. He concludes with the sign of the cross, blesses everyone again, and blesses himself.

All of this is accompanied by heavy jumping around the bed on his knees, and when he’s finished, he drops his body on the pillow. One time, I dropped down with him.

"Matthew, that was a very nice prayer," I praised him.
"Matthew, do you know where God is?" I asked him.
"On the shelf," Matthew replied, pointing toward his dresser.

Theoretically, he’s very correct. We never got around to hanging the cross on the wall.

Things We Only Say At Home

So, we have fun. I sometimes pinch him on the bum, and he pinches me back.

One day we went outside to meet our local nanny and all her children. Matthew loves playing with them, but he adores Lady Margaret, the nanny. When we arrived at her place, the first thing he said to her was, "I pinched Mommy's bum."

"Matthew, don’t say that. We can only say that at home," I explained, laughing inside.

"I understand," Matthew replied and ran off to play with the children.

Another time ...

Another time, we were playing hockey outside. Matthew is really good at hockey for his age, always making me run down the street to catch the ball. We only play with a ball for now.
- 'Oh Sh!%' - I heard him say.
- 'Matthew this is a bad word and we do not say things like that when things go wrong' - I told him.
He’s at the age where he understands, so instead of ignoring it, we try to explain why certain words aren’t okay. They will pick up bad words eventually, so it’s better to teach him right from the start.
- 'Matthew we do not say bad words ever' - I explained again.
- 'I understand' - he confirmed.
The things kids pick up from TV! They know when and where to use them. We watch kids' channels most of the time, but when we switch to something else, he picks up the bad words. But he knows now and understands.

Later that day in the evening ...

I was talking to Matthew about something, and I remembered what he had done while playing hockey.
- 'Hey Daddy, Matthew said a bad word today' - I called to my husband.
Matthew smiled.
- 'Oh no Matthew why did you do that for' - Daddy asked with a serious face.
- 'Daddy we only say it at home, right' - Matthew called back to Daddy.
- 'No Matthew bad words, we never say them' - I started to explained to him.
Matthew looked at me kind of confused.
- 'F$#@&en Damit' - he replied, and walked away with smile on his face.

Oops! We definitely missed that one. After that, we had another little talk. Matthew now understands.

Only Three Years Old & Wants His Own Car

We were eating lunch together and talking. Daddy left the table to get something. I told Matthew that after lunch we have to go to the car dealership to look for a new car.
- 'No, no, I don't want to go to the car dealership' - Matthew demanded.
I explained that we need to get a second car.
- 'Daddy needs new car for work, and Mommy will take the KIA' - I told him.
Matthew started to think, and he is very obvious usually by grabbing his head or tapping on his forehead.
- 'What will Matthew drive?' - he asked with both hands in front of him, almost demanding.
I thought that was very funny and cute.
- 'Well, you can drive your red wagon' - I replied.
He looked at me, first surprised and then laughed.
- 'Oh that is funny' - he jokingly replied.

Children Learn To Count

Short and sweet counting post. It is amazing to see how children see patterns when they learn certain things, especially counting. Matthew is now three years old and this is how he counts.

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

... Twenteen

'Matthew, it is Twenty and not Twenteen' - I corrected him.

'Okay Mommy, Twenty' - he corrects himself and continues to count.

Twenty One

Twenty Two

Twenty Three

Twenty Four

Twenty Five

Twenty Six

Twenty Seven

Twenty Eight

Twenty Nine

... Twenty Ten

'Matthew, no it is Thirty and not Twenty Ten' - I corrected him again.

'No Mommy its Twenty Ten' - Matthew replied.

'Matthew, next is Thirty One' - I wanted him to continue.

'No Mommy, I am done counting NOW' - he replied.

Kids Say the Darndest Things - NO Bath Time Please

Life with Matthew been very exciting and entertaining as usual. Kids always say the darndest things, and this is another one for me to report on. I am very blessed that Matthew is able to express himself at that early age. He is officially 2 years old and 6 months, however, he still thinks that numbers don't change, so for him 2 years and 5 months.

Last week we been hit with some flu or cold (cannot never differentiate), and Matthew has not been himself since then. He would get irritated very easily, change his mind in the last minute what he wants to do and what he does not, and struggling with his constantly running nose.

Couple of nights ago, all day I been reminding Matthew that tonight is a bath time. He has no choice but to wash his stinky feet. He agreed every time with a smile on his face, but do you think he would do it? Let's see.

Its been a long day for all of us. Matthew didn't really want to go sleep and did not want to drink his milk either. Okay we let go. Then time for a bath. Matthew does not want to get undressed, he cries - 'No bath time please.' At some point we just let him cry in his bedroom. He calmed down by himself and came out. We talked, but no not able to convince him. I played with the water, I put some toys - still no, not interested at all. Finally I lured him with some splashing for him to come closer to the bathtub. He came. So we started to talk, and this is after 45 minutes of convincing, some little yelling (which never worked), and talking back and forth. Poor Daddy from all that eventful evening ended up sleeping through the best part of our conversation.

So both of us standing by the bathtub.
'Matthew will you take bath now?' - I asked.
He did not responded, just looked at me.
'Matthew please say yes, Y E S.'  - I spelled the word yes for him.
'Yes.' - He answered softly and not very confident.
'Okay Matthew O K A Y?' - I spelled the okay word for him.
'Okay.' - he answered again softly and still not confident.
Matthew is thinking very hard (literally steam is coming out his ears).
We are looking at each other, eye to eye, then suddenly...
'Mommy spell NO.' - Matthew demanded.

Well on the end I gave him bath anyway. I splashed his shirt, so he had no choice but to go inside the bathtub anyway, of course after little fussing. Once in he told me: 'Mommy go do laundry Matthew's shirt'.

Handyman Or Candyman

By now probably all of you figure out that I will be writing a lot about Matthew. This is my 24/7 job, a job I absolutely love and it is worth writing about.

Today, I will list cute things Matthew says everyday. His vocabulary is absolutely amazing, however, sometimes, he has little difficulty remembering the right pronunciation or even structuring the sentences. It really sounds so cute, hopefully you can hear the same.

'Mommy I need a waterlemon' - Matthew said.
'Matthew I think you meant a watermelon' - I replied.
Never mind after while the waterlemon becomes contiguous word.
'Honey we should get more waterlemon for Matthew today' - I told my husband.
'Mommy (my second half calls me Mommy), I think you meant a watermelon' - he replied.

'Mommy baba and dzido lives in Mr. Saga' - Matthew said.
'Matthew its Mississauga' - I replied.
By the way, baba and dzido, means grandmother and grandfather.

'Mommy I want McDonald handburger' - Matthew demanded.
'Matthew its McDonald's hamburger, and you don't want to eat it, its not good for you.' - I replied.
These days it is very easy to learn from the commercials, and he learns fast.

'Mommy I am going to play panio now.' - Matthew told me.
'Matthew how about playing p-i-a-no?' - I asked.
'Okay.' - he replied, and walks away.

'Look Matthew little girl Melody says - Hi' - I told Matthew.
'Hi Medoly, I am Matthew, how you doing?' - he told Melody.

'Matthew this is an elevator, would you like to go up?' - I asked.
'No no no alegator mommy!' - he yelled.
Well, for some reason we cannot take him to the elevator, he is scared; and it has nothing to do with the alligators.

We taught Matthew the full home address, from home number, to street name, to town name.
'Matthew where do you live?' - we ask.
'I live ### Street Name in Aurora' - he replies.
So every time Matthew sees Aurora sign, he get excited.
'Look Mommy, Daddy Inaurora sign on the road'.
It gets even better, when we tell him that lady Mary (our neighbor) lives in Aurora.
'Oh no that's wrong' - Matthew replies with serious face.
He thinks only Mommy, Daddy and Matthew live in Aurora.

The latest and greatest. I got him Halloween dress up suit. Matthew will be the handyman. We got home and started to test all the tools. Matthew puts hardhat on, safety glasses, and picks hammer to hold.
'Mommy look I am candy-man' - he tells me.
'Matthew you are a handyman, but you will be a candy-man after you go trick-or-treat' - I replied.

If you have not seen yet, here is picture of Matthew taken in August - Good Bye Summer & Welcome Autumn Full Of Good Memories.

Sometimes I Wonder What Children Think When They Do Things

Sometimes I wonder. Few years ago I was sitting on my backyard and I was enjoying nice weather. It was kind of loud, because children in other backyards were playing. I didn't really mind. However, I overheard this one incident that made me laugh.
- 'What did you do that for?' - a mother asked one of the twin sisters; in the mean time one of them was crying.
Silence, and no answer from the sister in trouble. Now its all mother talk.
- 'How would you feel if someone put your head under the water?' - a mother asked.
- 'How would you feel' - she asked again.
Silence continued and mother kept talking trying to discipline the twin in trouble.

So sometimes I wonder why children do that. Explore. Have Fun. Discover. Action and reaction. All that probably. Since that incident I have now my own child, and sometimes I wonder what he is thinking too. The other day we went to the playground. At that time there was a grandmother with two children, a boy and a girl. He was trying to play with them, but at the age of almost two you think they are playing together, yet no. If you observe carefully they are in their own worlds. Just hanging out close.

Matthew

Matthew is very happy and polite boy when comes to playgrounds, but when he sees other kids running around and doing crazy things, he laughs and then he joins them. My heart sometimes stops - running without breaks, sand flying. However, today he wasn't so bad. He was playing in the sand and moving the sand from one place to the other. Then who would thought. He takes his full hand of sand in his hand, and puts it all on the girls head. So spontaneous, that I didn't have time to stop him. So innocent too, because he started to laugh (really laugh), while I am trying to clean the girls long hair.

- 'Its okay' - the grandmother said.
- 'No no it is not' - I said.
- 'I am sorry again' - I said.
- 'Mathew why did you do that for?' - I said to Matthew.
- 'Why do that' - he asked.
- 'Yes, why?'- I said.
- 'Why?' - he said.
Finally I caught on to his play on words game.
- 'Matthew, please say you are sorry' - I asked.
- 'Sorry' - Matthew said.
- 'Its okay Matthew' - the grandmother replied.
Matthew laughed.

Children? Things they will do. I think I prefer when he hugs girls instead, because if they fall at least it was a good intention.

Dr. Google My Baby Is Colic - Can You Help?

My baby was born. It was me and my husband - new parents, some experience from others, little knowledge from the books. However it all comes naturally anyway when comes to taking care of the baby. Well how hard can it be - they need food and need to be changed? I was breastfeeding. Totally new to breastfeeding - new as I could be. Baby latched his way, chewed my nipple. I got thrush and infection, but I was still breastfeeding (believe or not two years later I am still breastfeeding). My Matthew was a hungry baby, as far as I could tell then. Now days, probably comfort and soothing. Every two hours he would eat. I remember that one day, I was holding him for four hours, no washroom break, no getting up. Yes I would do anything for my baby. Well, the best thing about Matthew was that almost exactly 7 pm he would get fussy, and started to cry. All this in the first three days being home. We tried everything, radio, rocking on the chair, walking back and forth, singing, playing CDs, moving in the stroller - nothing worked.

When Matthew was dismissed from the hospital we suspected that he had jaundice, and he did. His doctor scheduled him for blood test. All we could do was keep him in on the sun. After the test, next evening doctor called and confirmed that the he did in fact had mild jaundice. Told us to keep Matthew on the sun, and to bring him for another test in few days.

- 'Doctor, can I ask you a question' - I thought I get some advice on the crying, while I have him on the phone.
- 'Yes' - deep voice answered.
- 'Baby is crying around evening time, and I cannot figure out what is wrong' - I told him.
- 'He is colic, too young to know, look up on Google - okay' - he said.
- 'Okay' - I answered in shock, especially about the Google part.
- 'Good bye' - he said and hang up.
- 'Good bye' - to any body if still left there on the phone.

Okay what did just happened, I thought. Look up on the Google? Doctor, you get your advice from Google too? May be every time there is something wrong, I will just look up on Google and Dr. Google will solve all my baby's illnesses and problems. Never mind may be make him even more sick. Self diagnosis can be very frightening, when you start reading any medical book or web sites with medical information.

That night I read everything possibly about colic. To my conclusion I have learned that everything was wrong with my baby. I got scared.

'I cannot take it anymore.' - I said.

Next day we have scheduled appointment with breastfeeding nurse. Believe or not she was the best thing ever that happened to us. She thought us how to breastfeed properly. She told us when baby is fussy just put him on the breast. 'He wants to be close, he wants to be nurtured' - she said. 'He is growing, and needs to adapt fast to the new environment outside mommy's belly. He needs to be close, and breastfeeding is the best thing you could give to your baby' - she continued.

That was the best thing someone ever told us. We really have been blessed with nurse that really cared. Baby was and is now healthy as it can be. As long Matthew was close to me and had access to food - he was happy.

'Dr. Google may be another time we will consult you, but this time you were wrong. There was nothing wrong with our baby.'

Kids Say the Darndest Things - The Parrot Talk

Watching Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 been very exciting for three of us. There were moments of happiness, sadness, surprise, shock, excitement. You name it. All that for three of us.

Olympians fall down the hill. Not a pleasant view for all of us. Ouch, ouch something I will have to say. With Matthew around repeating everything we say, definitely there can be a possibility for him to pick up some words you don't want him to know yet. But yet, did happened.

(watching tv)

Matthew - Olimpics, Olimpics. Watching Olimpics.
Mommy (me) - Matthew man is going to jump.
Matthew - Oh man jumping, ready set goooooo.
Mommy (me) - Matthew watch, man is jumping high.
Matthew - High. Juuuumping. (yes he likes to emphasize his words)
(pause, man falling on his butt)
Mommy (me) - Oh Sh_t!!!
Matthew - Ohhh Sh____t, Ohhh Sh_t, Oh Sh____t.
Mommy (me) not responding, not reacting so Matthew stops to repeat. Sporting event changes to commercial.
Matthew - Mommy more sh_t. (looking at me)
Mommy (me) - Matthew wait few more minutes and it will be back. (looking at Matthew and trying hard not to laugh)
Matthew - Ohh baaaack. Olimpics back.

Next time Mommy needs to watch her language.