Road trip with the boys

While Nick was working up in Dallas for the week, we decided to take a road trip up to see everyone up there. We stayed with Granny & Grandpa and got to see the boys' cousins and Uncle Steve & Aunt Kim. We got to go downtown and see Nick's office and introduce the boys to Nick's co-workers. We had lunch with him and Matt rode on an escalator, saw and rode in his first glass elevator, and threw pennies in a fountain for the first time. One night, Granny & Grandpa even stayed with the boys and allowed me & Nick some grown up time together without the boys. They powered through the early morning hours with Jonathan and helped Matt with the morning realization that Mommy wasn't there with him. He was in great spirits when I got back to the house and wouldn't stop running around and telling me all about his morning.

The boys did great in the car, sleeping most of the way! It was wonderful. I was able to delay my lunch just a bit until Matt woke up, and upon slowing the car down, Jonathan began stirring. We stopped and did diaper changes and sat and ate together. Jonathan took a bottle while we ate, and we were all back on the road with full tummies! When we arrived, Matt was a bit wired and we found out his cousins were coming over for dinner.

This is what Jonathan looked like shortly before the Howell family, party of 6 arrived!

Matt was his usual entertaining self at the dinner table with his cousins. He is in rare form when we see all of them and of course we all encourage it with laughter. This was what happens when you anxiously eat black beans!

I got the camera out of reach just in time! I didn't realize at the time I was taking a picture of an opened mouth monster. Needless to say, all the wiping in the world wasn't good enough. There was still scrubbing to be done at bathtime!

Everyone got a chance to give Jonathan his bottle, but I have to say, Blake took to it most naturally and seemed to genuinely enjoy just starring at Jonathan in awe. It was awesome to see.

Chase took a turn and had some success getting Jonathan to take the bottle.

By the time Grace got to hold Jonathan, he was no longer interested in the bottle, but he had fun sitting with his bubbly cousin.

Blake snuck in for a little more time with Jonathan. This was our attempt to get the boys in a picture with all of their cousins, but Matt was not wanting to cooperate, and Chase and Ethan were off in another room. This is as close as we could get!

Uncle Steve and Aunt Kim got a little time with Jonathan once they could get him out of the kids' laps!

Ethan finally got a chance to hold Jonathan, but after all that milk, Ethan got to experience the rumblings of a baby after a feeding!

Jonathan got a bit of floortime play with my brother after all of that, and a diaper change!

This was the only chance I had to get Matt in a picture with at least one of his cousins. He was showing off his tops. He just figured out how to make them work "all by self, Mommy". That's his new favorite saying, other than "no, I no want to" when I ask him to do something.

10 hours of sleep and a trip to the museum

Just a little update on the boys: Matt is doing well with being a big brother, and he's loving all the adventures we get to have with me at home. We have gone to the park (weather permitting), story time at the library, and various errands including Matt's new favorite - the Post Office! Jonathan is still getting the hang of things and is in the process of developing a schedule with naps more so than just drifting off all the time. Awake time is getting to be fun, with lots of smiles and we swear he's on the verge of laughing any day now. Last night he gave me the best gift of all... he slept 10 hours in a row! I couldn't believe it when I woke up to his cries at 5:45 this morning. I had to rack my brain to figure out if I had gone upstairs to feed him or not. I didn't remember doing it, so I am assuming that he slept the whole time! Tonight he's sleeping in the swing. You can't win them all, he's only 8 weeks old now, what do we expect?

We decided to finally take advantage of the Children's Museum of Houston and see what it had in store for Matt. We took the boys up there and Matt had a blast exploring everything. Matt & Nick had to hang by themselves for much of the visit as Jonathan decided to be awake and therefore hungry while we were inside. I had bottle duty and the boys played and ran around.

Matt went shopping in the grocery store. Nick had to constantly tell him what was on the list, kind of like at the real grocery store.

He discovered the register, but the little girl wasn't quite ready to give up her post.

Matt finally got a turn to push buttons, but someone a bit older came to show him how it's done.

Then he got to go milk a cow. It didn't take much demonstration from Nick, and he went to town. That boy loves his milk!

After a long morning, Matt was getting a bit delirious as we waiting in the car for Nick to get some much awaited Tri-tip sirloin at Central Market. He had his museum sticker on his hand until I talked him into putting it on his nose. He'll love this picture when I pull it out for his girlfriend in about 14 years!

Matt was a bit worn out on the trip home and got in about 1 1/2 hour nap as we ran another errand on the way home. Needless to say, he didn't take his usual afternoon nap once we got home, though he showed all the whining signs of being ready for one.

Jonathan was a bit tuckered out himself. He "lost it", like Matt always says about the pacifier, but he was able to hang in there with a nap until about 10 minutes until we got home. I hate having to soothe an infant from the front seat of the car. Imagine a giant hand coming at you, not really knowing from where it comes. Yeah, that's calming! We managed to get him back to sleep until we got home.

Boys will be boys

We took a walk to the park over the weekend and Matt made his daddy proud by getting dirty in the sand. When we got home, he got even dirtier playing out front in the muddy garden. We haven't had much relief from the rain and the sun has been scarce, so Matt was anxious to get outside and play!

Nick had some fun at the playground too.

Matt helped Nick fill up the "scoop" by hand.

We finally got a chance to take his baseball game outside for a little batting practice.

I fixed Matt a quesadilla for dinner that night and he continued his messy day with the sour cream. He had it all over his hands and then tried to shake it off. That was quite a mess!

Matt is adjusting so well to Jonathan. He loves rediscovering his old toys too. Occasionally he'll offer them to Jonathan, but not before he plays with it a bit.

Jonathan is beginning to learn the concept of cause and effect with one of Matt's old favorites.

Nana and Pawpaw visit

Nick's parents came into town for the weekend for a visit with us. They got to spend some quality time with the boys.

Jonathan poses in his new overalls.

Matt showed them all his tricks, including hauling all of the balls down the hall and throwing them everywhere!

Matt played baseball with Pawpaw and his daddy.

Then he got out his doctor's kit and listened to everyone's hearts.

Before they set off for the airport, Nana and Pawpaw said goodbye to Matt. He showed off a few crazy tricks before they left, like beach ball baseball.

Matt's Two Favorite Things!

Videos!

Matt has taken to lots of his toys since Christmas, but his two favorite things to do upstairs are hit baseballs and "read maps" with his Daddy. We are so proud of him and his affinity for geography. He has his daddy's love for maps already. This is now one of his bedtime stories at his own request.

As for his love of baseball, that has been several weeks in the making. Matt definitely throws left-handed right now, but he looks pretty good hitting right-handed.

Evenings at the Trevinos

We have had some adjusting to do in the evenings. Matt usually has the run of the upstairs and he takes full advantage of the space. Now he has to share it as well as watch out and "be gentle" around Jonathan. Matt has adjusted well with a few reminders now and then.

Jonathan gets to stretch out on the floor.

Trying to get him to look at the camera a bit early.

Matt still runs down the hallway in style. Look at the mess behind him. He and Nick throw the balls up and down the hallway playing catch and their own version of dodgeball!

He still likes the close up shots!

It's fun getting to partake in the physical play now. I sure have missed making him laugh like this over the past few months.

Matt is such a great big brother, giving Jonathan kisses (typically upon request from us, of course).

Jonathan stars in his first video. He has started smiling at us and it is so amazing!!!

Mommy & the boys

Today was our first day without Nick. He went back to traveling as of this morning, so we were on our own. We managed to get out of the house by 10:30 & ran a quick errand and then we were off to story time at the library. Unfortunately, we were only 10 minutes early and there were no more "tickets" for story time. Matt was such a trooper though. I told him there were no more tickets and asked him if he wanted to stay to read stories or if he wanted to go back to the truck. He said "go to truck, Mommy", and off we went. I felt so guilty and wanted to do anything to make it up to him, but then realized he was just fine with my telling him we'd try again on Wednesday. So, we stopped at the park in our neighborhood on the way home and he showed me how he is mastering the art of climbing one of the ladders at the playground. He loves telling me to stay back and "I climb by myself". I stay within arm's reach though, just in case. After the park, we came home and ate lunch and then Matt entertained me with his desire to take pictures with my new camera as well as his latest combination of toys.


A self portrait

Matt took this picture of Jonathan sleeping in his swing. Matt loves it when Jonathan is in his swing because it means Mommy is free to play with him.

Jonathan is such a trooper, sleeping through Matt playing with all of his trucks, tractors, and anything else with wheels. Here's Matt on his new tractor from his Grandpa Marcus & Grandma Karen. He loves when Nick pushes him around on it and he loves to have his stuffed Elmo drive while he pushes him around. Today he decided that it would be fun to have th footballs along for the ride.

Time to unload the footballs from the tractor to the dump truck.

Multi-sport Matt

Matt enjoys entertaining us these days and combining his toys in unusual ways is his favorite. Today he decided to try on his new helmet (affectionately known as his "garage helmet" because of a recent slip and fall in the garage), and shooting baskets with his whiffle balls. The video is a bit long, but there are so many things to see to truly understand how much laughter there is around our house these days!

Here's our big boy!

Notice the left handed skills. Nick is so excited every time Matt throws with his left. I am still trying to leave the whole dominance thing up to Matt and not force things, but as far as eating and throwing, he's a lefty!

Brotherly Love

Overall, Matt has adjusted wonderfully to his baby brother. Along with being 2 years old, he is dealing with sharing our attention, which has been a bit rough on him. We are seeing more emotional reactions and whining, but we are also seeing some incredible moments between the two boys. Matt typically tells his brother "It will be alright, Jonathan" when he hears him cry. He grabs the nearest pacifier when Jonathan has the hiccups (and sometimes it goes right to Matt's mouth and then to the sink before Jonathan even sees it). He keeps asking if Jonathan can play "choo choos" with him, and like one of his Big Brother books says, we tell him "not just yet". He is eager to play with Jonathan, but for now we'll just have to settle for sweet kisses on his head and an endearing voice whenever he talks to him.

Matt tried to show Jonathan his cool new airplane with the pilot that comes out. He told him all about how to put the pilot in so that you could close the top of the plane. I am sure Jonathan understands!

Jonathan didn't really engage with the airplane, so he tried two of the cars that came with his new train set. He is trying to get Jonathan to grab anything he puts near his hand. It's so hard to explain to Matt that he just can't hold anything yet.

Matt decided to climb up on the couch to sit with his baby brother for this shot. Notice Jonathan's blurry left hand. It looks like he is ready to reach for something, but Matt's given up this time.

Our two favorite pictures of the boys right now:

Nick and Matt went to HEB, and this picture just says it all. Matt is kicked back in his car grocery cart, with his drink in hand.


Jonathan gives his first smile to the camera.