Milestone

Matt is a unique little fellow in many ways. One major thing that sets him apart from most other 4 year olds is that he will not eat cereal. I'm not sure why or how this started but he has always revolted when offered any kind of cereal and milk.

I guess it is in his genes because his dad and both grandfathers are serious breakfast eaters. The longer it takes the woman to fix breakfast, the better. I think if Richard had his way, I would make him homemade biscuits, bacon, and fried eggs every morning.

Anyways, when Matt and my mom were at the big box mart the other day he begged her for a bag of Tutti-Fruittis (it is the Malt-O-Meal version of Fruit Loops). Of course, Grandma's are not created to say "no" so he got a delicious and nutritious bag of the colorful loops.

The next morning we decided it was a cereal morning. I told Matt to come eat his breakfast and when he saw it he recoiled and started shrieking "I don't like cereal and milk!!" Being the good mother that I am, I told him to eat or go hungry. He finally took a bite and shouted "I love cereal and milk!!!"

Once he began to happily eat his food, I looked at my mom and Richard and said "I'm not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing. I just forced my child to eat sugar cereal and he loves it." My logical husband responded very enthusiastically " of course, our life just got easier!!"

Anyways, this was a big day in our house. It's not everyday that a four year old eats cereal for the first time in his life. Can't say this is my proudest moment but it will make some other mom's life easier when she fixes my son breakfast after a sleepover. Can you imagine, "Matt would you like some cereal for breakfast?" He replies "no Mrs. Jones, can you make me a cheese omelet with a side of bacon instead?"

On a related note, Matt just walked in and asked for a snack. I asked him what he wanted and he said an avocado. That's my boy!!

New Outfit

Isn't this a cool picture?

When I was a child (and even now), I use to love hunting for their shells. I would stick them on myself or anyone who was around. I know, I was kind of a wierd kid.

Unexpected

I went to Pet Co today with Matt and my mom. They had these cute little kid grocery carts for the munchins to use which thrilled Matt. We cruised around the store for a little bit and then I loaded him up with the biggest bag of Science Diet dog food I could find. (By the way, it was on sale and I had two coupons. Otherwise my dog eats Purina.)

After we checked out he pushed the tiny buggy with the giant bag of food out to the car for me and helped me load it up. After he was in the car, I pushed the tiny cart back to the door and met this old man pushing an adult cart. I guess I must have looked pretty silly because the old man looked at me said "that's the weirdest thing I have ever seen!"

Well, I was thinking the same thing, but not about myself. The dude had a very freaked out Himalayan cat sitting in the seat of the grocery cart. Not in a carrier or anything, just in the seat looking like it was going to bolt any second.

I just laughed after his comment and told him my four year old had been helping me shop which seemed to be a relief to the old man. What I really wanted to say was "so, what's your excuse?"

Selective Hearing??

Have you ever noticed how the sound of a plastic wrapper can get a person's attention?

To be more specific, how a cellophane wrapper can get attention.

A while back when Richard's family visited, we ate dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. Richard's dad was sweet enough to surprise me with a Mexican coconut confection after we left the restaurant. Of course, I was stuffed so I put in into my purse to save for later.

Later happened to be the next afternoon when everyone was halfway passed out in the living room. Richard and the dog were sacked out on the couch, his dad was dozing sitting up against the couch, and his mom and Matt were playing on the internet. I snuck into the kitchen, found my treat, and began to slowly unwrap it. After about two seconds of the package rattling, in the other room, I had EVERYONE's attention. Even the dog bolted up and was wagging her tail in anticipation.

Seriously, you would have thought I screamed I have free money by the way everyone reacted. It was hilarious.

This makes a great social experiment. You should try it!

By the way, I figured out how to post through Word. Since this is so much easier then writing through Blogger, I might actually post more frequently. Just think, you will have the opportunity to read even more of my random thoughts.

Testing to see if I can upload pics from Word

Testing

This is a test to see if I can import from Word.

Vacation Pictures from Gulf Shores

Path leading down to the beach.

First evening at the beach. The sand was like sugar.

Our beach house.

Playing in the sand with one of many beautiful sunset.

Lola having a great time. She ate sooo much sand!!

The kids buried her and she loved it.

Matt and his new friends burying Lola.

Richard with his parents.

The only picture of us.

Heading out for a crab hunt.

Matt and his girls.

Matt sitting in one of his many holes pretending to drive a race car.

Gorgeous sunset on our last night.

We took this early morning while we were waiting on the fairy.

The big bus riding on the ferry.

Matt and Lola on the way home in the bus.

Hello Again

I know. I know. I am so behind in blogging. This seems to be my new mantra every couple of weeks. I do have a good excuse this time.

We went on vacation, have started painting the outside of our house, and my hubby is home for the summer. I do have lots of pictures to post and stories to tell. Honestly, when I am away for awhile, I get overwhelmed with the amount of info I want to post and I begin to procrastinate. I guess I am hoping for some kind of blogging elf to do the job for me.

So let me start with Matt's swim lessons. He took 8 lessons and by the end he was jumping off the diving board and swimming underwater to the wall.

It was one of those great parenting moments. At the first lesson, he did not want to put his head under the water and by the end, he was yelling "look at me" as he jumped into the deep end. I am not saying he can swim yet, but he definitely has the idea.

The following is a video of his last dive at swim lessons.