I don't know exactly what it is, but I have the HARDEST time with Matthew growing up. It kinda makes me sad anytime I think about it, but it has been especially hard every August 19th for the past few years. (The night before his birthday). I always hold him extra close, sing him extra songs, and lay with him in his bed a while even after he has fallen asleep. I knew that motherhood would be hard sometimes, but one of the very hardest things for me is how completely gut wrenching it is to know that my babies won't stay little forever. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE watching them grow and I know how much I still have to look forward to, but man! Heaven knows it can be hard to experience them needing you a little less as they grow.
Luckily for me, Matthew seems to just get more fun and even more hilarious with every passing day. It is a good thing he's such a happy and fun kid, because the boy wakes up EARLY! Like, so early that if he sleeps in until 7 (which is very, very, very rare) I totally freak out and go check on him. He has been my alarm clock since the day he was born and it's a good thing that he's at least an excellent morning person because it's hard to get mad at his smiling face as he races into our room each morning, ready to greet the day.
Matthew is smart. He is an amazing reader and has such a love for books. Since children's books are my very favorite, reading with my kids has always been a favorite activity of mine... And Matthew is the kid that would let me read to him all day if possible. He loves to go to the library and pick out new books, though he'll happily read all his books at home too - even though he basically has them all memorized. :-)
Some things Matthew loves include: Play Doh, dinosaurs, pirate stuff, coloring, camping, chocolate, playing in the sand, the rain, Legos, helping me make cookies, Primary, wrestling with Michael, the park, holidays, the iPad, the pool, and playing with his siblings.
Some things Matthew does NOT love include: being left out, being kicked out of the cart or double stroller thanks to him being the oldest, bugs, most healthy foods, (sigh) when he thinks someone is laughing at him, and any sort of teasing. (We're working on getting him to take some good-natured teasing a little better, haha.)
Matthew is really into games. His favorites include Diggity Dog, The Squirrel Game, and Memory. His favorite movie is Finding Nemo, and his favorite shows are Super Why, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Jake and The Neverland Pirates.
When I say that Matthew has a heart of gold, I mean it. Yes, he has his moments, ;-) but in general he radiates kindness and shows very high levels of empathy. If I cry (or pretend to cry) he will immediately burst into tears. He is so sweet and innocent and tries hard to make others happy. He loves people for the way they are, and he will go out of his way to include anyone and everyone. We are so proud of the boy that he is.
We kept his birthday pretty simple. We actually took the kids to the Phoenix Children's Museum the weekend before his birthday as a way to kick off the celebrations. Matthew absolutely loved it. (As did Kate!)
On the night before his birthday we filled his room with balloons so that he'd have a fun surprise when he woke up. He definitely appreciated it - he was so cute as he ran into our room on his birthday shrieking, "There's a balloon party in my room!!!!"
He then asked, "Is downstairs decorated too!?!?" Haha, I was glad that I HAD done some simple decorations the night before!
We let him immediately open the one thing he has been asking for for his birthday for a couple months - a Jake spyglass. He was thrilled with it.
As luck would have it, Michael actually got to work from home this day so he took advantage and took Matthew out for both breakfast and lunch. Breakfast was yummy donuts:
And lunch was nuggets and fries from "Old McDonalds," but really just fries. Hey, it was his birthday. ;-)
He opened a couple more presents and then was off to preschool. He LOVES preschool and was excited to go, bring everyone dinosaur cookies, and show off his new spyglass for Show and Tell.
After dinner (pizza) he opened the rest of his presents and we had the cheesecake he'd requested as his birthday cake.
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