Barhorst Brewed: August 13-27

I got tired of putting off my last post, so when I finished it on Monday I backdated it to Sunday. If you're someone who only checks on Sundays, go look for it. :)

Mom, Dad, and James were here for several days during all the craziness. I didn't really note that in my last post. We mostly just enjoyed spending time together.

Mom and I painted a tree on the wall. I've had an idea for a thankful tree since last November, but never screwed up enough courage to actually put paint on my wall. With mom around for moral support, I decided the tree was going to happen! We picked a general design, decided not to sketch it out first, and she called encouragement from the other room as I took a deep breath and made the first brush strokes of a trunk. Once the trunk was done, she came in to help with branches. We think it turned out quite well. :) The idea is that everyone writes things they are thankful for on construction paper cutouts and uses sticky tac to affix them to the tree. I have dies in the shape of leaves, flowers, butterflies, and snowflakes, so we can change the tree with the seasons.

Matthias had his one month appointment on August 15. He is 11 pounds, 13 ounces, and 23 inches long. The pediatrician also noticed a tight muscle in the left side of his neck, probably caused by being wedged in one position during the last month or so of the pregnancy due to his size. It's not overly severe, but it does cause him to favor looking left (something I had noticed). We've been told to stretch and massage it in an effort to help loosen that muscle so that his head doesn't flatten.

Kaitlyn says "pick my up" instead of "pick me up." That in and of itself is not particularly noteworthy, but as a result she also uses "pick my down" to be put down. :)

Kaitlyn words: Pack-CAT = backpack

A story that got left out of last ~~week's~~ month's post:

Justine and I were downstairs in the basement looking at tubs of clothes and toys. The big kids were playing, the babies were napping, and there were adults scattered throughout the house. When we came upstairs, Jacque met us at the door holding Matthias. Kaitlyn pushed her way outside and Jacque said, "Do you want to tell Mommy what you did?" Kaitlyn looked at me proudly. "I give Matthias a Aunt Jacque!" Apparently Kaitlyn had gone into Matthias's room and came out carrying him by the back of his clothes. Arms in front of her, she staggered out with the neck and bottom of his sleeper clenched in her fists. Jacque leapt to the rescue and saved him from being dropped on his face. As I resignedly removed the bassinet attachment from his pack and play, Jacque wondered if Matthias's neck would be okay. Mom and I reassured her that since he was face down his neck would be fine. Mom tried to figure out how Katilyn managed to get him face down since he sleeps on his back. I was able to help shed some light on the mystery: Kaitlyn can't actually reach into the center of the pack and play bassinet. She climbs partway up the side of the mesh, braces herself with her armpits, and then she can reach far enough to roll Matthias toward the side. Once she had rolled him, I assume she climbed down, reached inside, and used her tremendous wrist strength (?!) to lift him over the side. Needless to say, the bassinet has been relegated to the basement. Now the worst Kaitlyn can do is climb into the pack and play, land on top of Matthias, chuck him over the side, and then climb out, landing on him again. That's an improvement, right?

We watched the eclipse on Monday. The girls did not know it was coming until five minutes before I put the live feed on the television. We had a different live stream on the computer, just in case. :) I gave a brief explanation and then we watched. Lima was expecting 85% totality, which in reality just looks like an overcast day but with defined shadows. Just before the peak of the eclipse, it became an actual overcast day with rain, so we got to experience darkness anyway. :-P We did manage to make it outside with a pinhole projector before the clouds rolled in, but I don't think the girls really understood what was happening. I thought it was cool. For the next eclipse I need to have them use a pinhole projector on the uneclipsed sun first so that they know what normal looks like.

We saw a dragon at Lowe's. I was on a quest to get a piece of plexiglass cut to fit in our little IKEA bin table. With the plexiglass and a string of stick on LED lights, it can be a light table as well as a regular table! But I digress. Lowe's has realized that Halloween is a mere two months (and one week) away, so they have their giant blow-up decorations prominently displayed. I confess, however, that I would not have noticed the dragon, or perhaps any of the decorations, had all three girls not started pointing and jabbering about a dragon. (Side note: In my defense, the dragon itself was suspended from the ceiling, but still... I wonder how much else I walk by without noticing each day.) I looked up and, lo and behold, a 9-foot black dragon with moving wings, glowing eyes, and pretend fire coming out of his mouth was looming over us. Such excitement has not been seen at Lowe's since the day Olivia discovered the chandelier section. We took care of the plexiglass and then headed back to the entrance to admire decorations for a minute or twenty. They also had a pirate ship, a monster with spinning eyes, some fancy lights, pumpkins, skeletons, and two spooky trees. I eventually called a halt to the decoration admiration and we bid a sad farewell to the dragon.

Kaitlyn knows some of her colors. Blue, red, white, and orange are solid. Green, yellow, and purple less so. She has also conquered screw on tops, as is evidenced in one of the below pictures. This is not new, I just haven't ever remembered to mention it.

Matthias is doing things! Well, only kind of. He occasionally makes a sound that is not one of distress, which is quite exciting. Of more note, at least as far as his mother is concerned, he's sleeping fantastically. He's been getting at least eight hours each night for two weeks now and as of this writing had four nights in a row where he went to bed between 8 and 9 and didn't get up until 7:30. This boy knows how to win friends and influence mothers.

Pictures:

After a bath: