Catching Up

Matthias plays a typical childhood game by a slightly different name: Duck, Duck, Moose. He must have heard someone wrong and decided that this was the right name. Uncle Brad heard him, though, and told him that the moose part means he has to put his hands up by his head like moose antlers when he runs. So now that's an official rule when Matthias plays Duck, Duck, Moose.

At the beginning of the summer Matthias jumped on his bike and promptly fell over. This is the bike that he rode for 2-3 months without training wheels last summer. Suddenly he couldn't remember how to do it. We took the pedals off and after a day of balance bike training he was back to riding normally.

Theodore has been jumping for quite some time, according to an undated note I found on my phone. He particularly likes jumping on the trampoline. He also jumps as a way to display anger when we do something he doesn't like. Sometimes he gets the two confused and rage jumps until he lands on his bottom in the middle of the kitchen. Usually the shock of sticking the landing on the floor rather than bouncing comfortably back up onto his feet on the trampoline jolts him out of whatever tantrum he's throwing.

Other Theodore things of note, he weaned forever ago. Maybe back in March or April? I couldn't get headache medication until that happened, so it would have been back in the spring. He also has opinions about his place setting now, and requires a fork and/or spoon, although about half the time he still uses one hand to feed himself while the other one holds his utensil. He can drink from a real cup and does so most of the time, and he's getting much better and getting his cup on and off the counter without accidentally spilling the contents on his head.

Theodore has strong opinions about a lot of things, but one thing he's always done well is let me wash his hands after meals. The other kids didn't care for that part of mealtime, but Theo will happily hold his hands out to be cleaned.

Gretchen had a moral crisis about eating shrimp during Lent and decided she might need to be a vegetarian. Since the conclusion of Lent, however, she's decided she might like chicken too much to really commit. Kaitlyn has had similar concerns and recently decided that she's going to take care of God's creation by not eating the animals. She doesn't care for most meat, though, so it's been an easier stance for her. So far both of them tend to remember to ask if we're eating meat only about half the time and about a quarter of those times they'll be conscientious objectors to dinner. I'm waiting for it to be enough of an issue that I have to make a vegetarian version of meals.

Theodore had a birthday at the end of August. He turned 2 and proudly sang Happy Birthday and God Grant You Many Years to himself. We almost postponed his birthday at the last minute because he wasn't feeling well that day, but then grandma and grandpa came and we couldn't not have cake. So he got cake and got to open his presents from them, but as a result of the confusion and indecision he actually hasn't received his gifts from us yet. Maybe we'll give them to him on his baptism birthday tomorrow.