Matthew is Five!

Wow, I just can't believe it. As we all know, time FLIES! We're planning this great party for him but not until November 10th to get out of the rainy season a bit. Costa Ricans don't leave the house if it's raining and they will definitely miss a birthday party, dinner plans or English class because of it (just my own personal experience :).

This is going to be one of the BIG ones with around a hundred or so people. Just finished up the invitations for the 50 children we're inviting and of course every child comes with at least one parent, if not both and possibly a sibling. Several have already asked me if their sister can come along, hahahahaha. So, needless to say, this is going to be a big one! Luckily we have a clown coming for four hours and he comes complete with his own sound system, wireless mic, balloon animals and face painting. I think it will be the party of the year!

Matthew continues to amaze me every day with the things he does and says. Counting higher and higher and writing and solving math problems. He keeps saying things like, "Mama, do you know what 3 plus 3 plus 3 is?" If I answer, I'm in trouble because it's HIM that wants to tell me, not me tell him. I learned my lesson quick on that one.

This past Sunday we went to a Tae Kwondo convention in Liberia where they had friendly competitions to practice combat with other academies and somehow Matthew got paired up with a nine year old green belt (a few belts up from him). It wasn't fully realized until a little ways into it and they stopped the fight. The chest pads they wear sometimes cover the belt some so I didn't realize and plus I was videoing. I'm so proud of him because everyone including his master was saying, "Did you see the way he handled that guy?" Or, "Wow, Matthew did amazing against that kid twice his age (not twice his size though since Matthew is tall) and much more advanced than him!" It was actually his first fight against someone other than his team. So proud of my little man!!!!

Spider-Man Shirt

After realizing that his Spider-Man shirt no longer fit him like it should, Matthew offered his first super hero shirt to his baby brother. It was so cute and so spontaneous. It was all his idea. He said, "Julian, this for you, it's my Spider-Man shirt. Here, take it." So sweet.

It's Been Too Long!

Ugh! It's been too long again and I think about it almost every day. Just seems like there's no time to blog. Now I know why after my favorite mommy blogger had her third child, we never heard from her again. Children take up WAY too much time and even with only two, it's a challenge. I have lots of things to report but for this one, I'm just going to post some great pics and the NEXT one will definitely have more content.

Believe it or not Julian WAS having fun.

Matthew and Emma were the ring bearers at their grandmother's wedding.

Memory Loss?

You know a lot of time has passed when writing a blog and you can't quite remember the web address to write your next entry. I ALMOST had it right on the iPad but thank goodness the other computer has a nice long memory because I couldn't get to it, if not.

We just got back a couple of weeks ago from a three week visit to the states that was very nice. We were going, going, going all the time and although tiring, we did lots of fun things. We went to the zoo, the children's museum, Hippo Hop, Monkey Joes, PLAY, a lake Lanier Beach, PDK airport several times, out on the lake by boat, several different pools, the aquarium and many other activities. Definitely a fun filled, jam packed trip and totally worth it with the exhaustion and all. I hadn't been ther in 2 1-2 years and it may be that long before we get back so we had to get it all in....and we did! I'm so glad that my boys got to know their cousin Shelby, Uncle Scott and Aunt Meimi better....tr at all for that matter so it was great.

A couple of things that probably should have been blogged about before the trip are Matthew watching his biceps grow as he was eating Papua one day and was like "look mama, my muscles are growing because I'm eating this papaya!". That was too cute. Also, one day Matthew decided that he was going to make phone calls to everyone in the family here in Costa Rica. I gave him a list of names and numbers because he wanted to dial them himself and literally called everyone. His grandmother, two aunts, four cousins and I forget who else......he was really on a roll and I think he got it out of his system because he hasn't asked to it again.

Julian has a fascination with armpits. This has been going on for a while. He will post and laugh at your armpit if you're not careful. Since its so hot here, most of the time women are in sleeveless or strapless tops and if His father is shirtless, watch out! Sometimes he just points at it and wants you to lift up your arm so he can see it. I tell ya, he's got something going on with armpits that really make him giggle. He also, since 18 months has been letting me know that he needs to pee or poop. He'll even go into the bathroom and make sure you go with him. He'll stand by the toilet and I've even taken off his diaper to see if a miracle would happen. He's usually on the toilet for a minute maximum and then he wants off. After that, he'll either do it in his diaper or one day I went to get him a little step stool so he could be like Matthew and stand up and I was gone maybe five seconds. When I came back, had peed on his shorts that were down by his ankles. At least he's showing interest!!! On day we ere at a pool and I was putting on his dry clothes but before I got his pants on, he told me "pee pee" and me, along with much of the family watched him go through the saloon type doors to the pool bathroom where we could only see him below the knees. Then we saw a stream of pee fall between those cute little toddler legs! He came out and he was done! Thank goodness it was a "pool bathroom" so it was a wet cement floor anyway.

Playing in the Rain, Visit to the Farm and Closet Time

I don't know why all children want to play in the rain but it was Matthew's turn today. Julian wanted to but honestly the boy gets sick so easily, I don't know when I'll ever let him. Plus, Matthew got a new raincoat now that we're into rainy season here so it was fun to use it for the first time. It's actually his first ever because in the past, if it was raining, we just didn't go out or we just used an umbrella. He has rain boots but they stay at school for recess. If he wants to play in the rain all the time, I might just have to get him some boots for the house too. Today he used his Spider Man crocs.

 

Also, last weekend we went to the farm for a tasty barbeque and relaxing hanging out time. It was great. There's something so peaceful about hanging out at the farm.

 

I think kids also like to play in closets and before I knew it, Julian was in there putting on his beach hat. The next thing I knew, they both were in there.....

Things That Make You Chuckle

So....several cute little things that just make me chuckle.

Julian says "Ipad" like there's no tomorrow. If Matthew says it first, Julian instantly says it and starts fussing because he knows I'm going to give it to Matthew first since he said it first. Thinking we're going to have to buy some other kind of "tablet" just for them because to be honest, it's hard to get my turn on the Ipad.

Matthew says and INSISTS that it's "happy cake" instead of "patty cake". If I try and correct him, he gets mad and says that I don't know and he does....Hmmmmmmm. OK.

 
Matthew showed me the other day how he can ride his old smaller bicycle (still has training wheels of course as does his bigger one) with no hands. Gives me a mild heart attack but I guess I'll be getting those the rest of my life from things he does so I better get used to it.

The other day Julian went through a few days of showing me how he can stick his finger in his eye. Of course I told him not to do that but that just spurred him on. Later, I took a lollipop out of his hand and he got mad and looked directly at me and stuck his finger in his eye just because he knows I don't like it. Oooooooh, I think he's going to be a handful!! Especially the way he's been calling/yelling my name lately when he wants my attention or is irritated about something. It's like "maMA!!!!!!!!" I mean, it's hard to write how it is but let's just say the second syllable is kinda yelled in a sassy kind  of way. Uh-oh.

Speaking of "uh-oh", Julian says this all the time when he drops something or something goes wrong. I remember when Matthew started doing this and I think it's so cute. Also one day he said "Matthew" pronouncing it pretty darn well about 20 times before we went to pick up Matthew from school. Since then he's never said it again. He's made some sad attempts but it really just sounds like "pa-pu" instead. Julian, what happened????

Matthew can officially write his name and loves trying to write all the names of all the kids in his class. Good thing I know their names because I have to tell him how to spell them but he can do his own spelling and writing of his own name. I'm sure 4 to 5 years old is the age they do this anyway, but I'm just so proud of him. The other day, he went on a tangent telling me how he was going to do something and what was going to happen, etc but all in Spanish. He usually speaks English with me but it's definitely a mix as it is the way I speak with him. Considering many times there are Spanish speakers around us, we have to do a little mix but I think this was the first time it was just he and I and he went on and on about something in Spanish. It was so cute because I don't think I've ever heard him say THAT much in Spanish.

Day Two of No Nursing

About two weeks ago around the 16 month mark, I decided to see how Julian would react to cutting out one or two nursing sessions a day. We have been down to four for a while now since he really started sleeping through the night, about two months ago, if that. He didn't seem so desperate like Matthew did back in the day for that wake up session so I went with that first. Then, there was a 6pm one before dinner and I realized that I had forgotten that one once or twice because Julian was preoccupied and didn't remind me. I tried to keep him busy during that time to see how it went. Then, we were down to two. The ones before he went to sleep. I thought those would be the hardest but the afternoon nap wasn't as hard as I thought because three times a week my housekeeper and sometimes nanny would put him down for that nap when she was here. Julian got kind of used to not doing it before that nap. THEN, the last one before he went to sleep at night, I thought would be impossible, but.....seems like he's ok with going down without it as long as I don't really offer it and offer him some warm milk instead. The last five days or so have been only once a day at bedtime and now for the last two, no nursing at all. I never thought it would have been this easy or fast and that's why I was just going to "try" it so see how it was going to go. It may not be completely over because who knows what will happen tomorrow but it's coming to an end and it's bittersweet. My last baby and the end of a very special bond between mother and baby. I'm glad I was able to nurse both my babies for more than a year even if it sometimes challenged what I was going to wear (hard to do it in a dress if you have to pull it up), caused us to change "going out to eat" times, made me wear special one size bigger nursing bras, caused hormones to be outta wack for so long, etc. It was still an honor and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Some Recent Pictures

Seems like they might really love each other, huh?

Matthew was SO happy to climb the tree with Daddy to pick fruit.
These are called "manzana de agua" but we don't have them in the states that I know of.

Julian in his Costa Rica soccer jersey.

Matthew had to choose a profession that he wanted to be when he grows up
to dress up at school. First he said doctor and then he all of the sudden said, "no, police! I want to be a police!"
Obviously I hope he changes his mind!

Matthew and his buddy/sister Negra!

I came in from the kitchen this morning and Julian was sitting on the coffee table
eating his cheerios with a nice big grin on his face. He was so proud.

 

Matthew Advanced a Belt in Taekwondo!

So, so, so proud of my Matthew for doing GREAT on his Taekwondo exam today and getting the next belt! He really impressed me especially in a part that it was just him and the teacher and the teacher was calling out combat poses and hits and he had to perform them right there on the spot. It was like an immediate reaction when the teacher called it out, he did it. I didn't even know he knew all the names and stuff because usually they do these in a group and there's a leader and you just follow what the guy up front is doing. But he did it!!! And did it amazing well!  Unfortunately, I didn't get that one on video but got some others with pictures and stuff. Every 4 months they do an exam and get the next belt. Lately, he's been complaining that he's too tired to go to Taekwondo so we've decided to take him out of his extracurricular activities after school on Monday and Wednesdays (which are swimming and gymnastics) because it's just too much for a 4 1/2 year old (turns 4 1/2 tomorrow to be exact) to go to school from 8am till 3pm and then be expected to go to Taekwondo at 3:30pm. Hopefully he won't be so tired. We just started the new schedule of picking him up at noon today, so I hope it helps. Here are some pics, but the videos wouldn't really load. I sent a couple out in emails to some people and if you want to see them and didn't, let me know! SO, SO PROUD!

Julian likes a little pre Taekwondo action as well.

Matthew is on the middle row, first one closest to us.

Proud of his new belt, yes!!!!

 

 

 

                                      

A Few Cute Little Moments

Just to jot down a few cute little things....

Julian has really taken to our housekeeper/sometimes nanny, Arsenia. Arsenia is amazing and I love her so much and she does ANYTHING and EVERYTHING we ask. She also sees things that I might not have even have thought of and does them. In Costa Rica, housekeepers really do more than just keep house. At any given moment, she might start raking the leaves, wash my shower curtain, clean out my closet and wipe down my shoes, change the dog's water bowl, cook whatever I ask or just do the prep work and act as my sous chef and I can't count the amount of poopy baby clothes she has gotten her hands on.....mainly Matthew! Don't know what it was but it was really hard to keep Matthew's poop in his diaper and he pooped MUCH more than Julian but Arsenia was there ready and willing and I'll never be able to thank her enough. She takes care of Julian quite a bit during the three days a week she works with us. He doesn't even say that many words really but he's started saying Arsenia. He'll yell for her from the other room and she'll answer him from down the hall. It's so cute. The other day when he woke from his nap, we overheard him calling on the monitor for her. It was the first time I think he's woken from a nap and didn't call "mama!" I thought I would feel weird about it but instead I couldn't wait to run tell her that he was calling her over and over from his room. It was so cute and I know her heart totally melted. She walked in his room and started talking to him and I heard him start giggling. Such a sweet little moment.

We have started putting a larger (9oz) sippy cup in Julian's crib at night and most mornings when he wakes up, there's nothing left in it. Matthew, since this age or before has always slept with a water in his bed as well. It's just so hot here that most people drink at least some water during the night. I ALWAYS have a cup of water by my bed. I think I did in the states though too, just in case I woke up thirsty. April is the hottest month of the year and many times when I get ready to go to bed around 11:30pm, it's still 88-89 degrees in my bedroom. This has been the last few weeks but it has started raining this week and is definitely cooler tonight. The 88-89 is rare during most of the year but common for April. The other night I went to make sure Julian's music in his room was ok before I went to bed and all of the sudden he just sat up. I froze....and waited. He reached for his sippy and just started downing it. Then he closed the little flip top it has, put it back in the corner and laid down. Since we put that water in there, he rarely wakes in the middle of the night to nurse. I think before he didn't need to nurse so much as he was just so thirsty.....poor kid.....and poor me....if only I had thought of the sippy earlier, I wouldn't have been so sleep deprived.

Matthew has a few, cute things going on these days. The other day he asked me if a spider bit him, would he turn into Spiderman. I explained that that was a very rare spider and we don't have that kind here, so he doesn't have to worry (or get excited, whichever the case might be). His new thing is when I ask him to do something he doesn't want to do, like clean up the OJ he spilt on the floor, he says in a very winey voice, "but I'm SO tired of cleaning up juice", like he does it ALL the time. We went to a mass dedicated to my father in law's passing for the one month anniversary last night and he said, "but I'm so tired of going to church", like he does it all the time. In the last month, we've been to church 3 times for his grandfather but other than that, we almost never go. I don't see how he can be so tired of it. He uses this for other things too like taking a bath every night, hahahahaha.

As I said, we don't go to church much but when we went last night for the service for his grandfather, his cousin Emma was there as well. You would think that my children go a lot the way they behaved so well. I was so proud of them.....and then Emma popped over to our pew and I realized why it's good to only have two children instead of three. Three was WAY different. So, after a few minutes, Matthew went to the pew behind us where his aunt Marjorie was and she gave him a little container of broken up crackers that had obviously been smashed up in her purse at some point. Then, Emma and Matthew decided to go two pews ahead of us where there was no one sitting. These are wooden pews with enough space for about 5 adults. Matthew started walking in front of the empty one and tripped......spilling ALL the little pieces of broken crackers ALL over the pew and the floor. I was sitting two pews back and with Julian and couldn't do anything and Dani wasn't there. I just waited to see what he was going to do and he started sweeping all the crumbs and bigger pieces up with his hand and putting them back in the container. There wasn't much on the floor, I don't think but he took 5-10 minutes picking up every crumb off that pew and then brought me the container to throw away later. I was so proud of him and the way he handled that. He did such a good job and knew what he had to do. Also, at the beginning of the service, they make announcements including announcing the people who had passed that that mass was dedicated to. Matthew was playing with something in his hand and the priest announced in Spanish, Daniel Vargas Castro. Matthew looked up at me and said in English, "Mama, he said Tito". I had no idea he was even listening OR that he new Tito's real name. I was truly impressed. I was also reminded  that he hears EVERYTHING....and he understands more than you think.

Teaching Matthew About Death

As sad as it is to say, my husband's father passed away recently on March 18th. He went in for an elective procedure to improve his quality of life and didn't make it out. I'm sure no one in their wildest dreams thought when walking through those hospital doors to do an elective procedure that he would never walk back out. Very sad and sudden for everyone.

The procedure took place in San Jose about 4 hours away from here so my husband was working when it first got bad. They said he had had a stroke and that Dani should head there as soon as possible. When we told Matthew what had happened, he said, "Is he going to live with Jesus?" We really hadn't thought about it as so severe and pretty much expected him to come out of it so we told him that we didn't think so but Daddy had to go check on him anyway. That was on a Wednesday and still on Thursday night, although paralyzed on one side and having machines help him breathe, there was still hope and I was told not to worry about packing up the kids and going yet. First thing Friday morning, I got the call to pack things up, get Matthew out of school and head there as soon as possible. They said he may have only a few hours or days left.

Luckily our nephew Rolando wasn't able to go until after lunch so he could go with us and he could drive while I entertained the kids. We got there on Friday evening and went directly to the hospital to meet the rest of the family who was already there. I wasn't able to go in that night because they were changing linens and stuff and it was getting late so Dani, the kids and I went to my sister in law's house with her husband and our other nephew Jose to stay the night. Dani went back to the hospital in hopes of staying the night with his sisters but I think they got kicked out somewhere around the 3am hour. He was in intensive care and it was a shared room and they didn't allow people to be there at all hours. On Saturday, I didn't go to the hospital because there was really no one to leave the kids with since everyone was at the hospital comforting each other and hoping he would come out of it. On Sunday, it was the same basically and I really can't remember why I didn't go that day either. I think that I wasn't totally sure I wanted to see him in that condition and I thought it was better for the rest of the family to be with him as much as possible even though he was under so much medication, he may not have been aware. By Sunday, they were definitely saying he had hours to live but that his body and organs were really so strong since he had not been sick before and that was what was making it hard for him to pass.

After lunch on Monday, I went to the hospital with Dani. I told Matthew that he had to stay with my sister in law, Carolina because I was going to see "Tito" (his grandfather) and they didn't allow children in the hospital. I told him that he was probably going to live with Jesus soon. I was able to see Tito this time and I was really nervous that I might lose it and start crying if I walked in with Dani. LUCKILY, he got a call as we were approaching the waiting area just outside Tito's room and I greeted the other family members that were there. While Dani was around the corner, his aunt Melba asked if I wanted to go in and I said, "yes". She led to where we stopped and washed and sanitized our hands and we went in. I was really relieved to go in with her and not Dani. I just think 32 years old is so young to lose a father and I felt/feel so bad for him. Especially how close they were and that he had lived with us almost the whole last 6 years of his life. A little later  Dani went in and we talked about him a bit and what was going to happen after his passing, etc.

After that we went to run some errands but I wanted to get back as soon as possible to let my sister in law go back to be with her father because I can imagine that she was dying to be there all the time. We were about 2 blocks from the house when we got the call. He had passed away right at 3pm as the family was finishing a prayer that is a prayer of mercy and compassion that is prayed at 3pm, at the time of Jesus Christ's death. Now, I'm not Catholic so I don't understand all this but basically that's what I got and that it was very special and meaningful that he had passed at precisely that moment.

We haven't said all THAT much to Matthew except that Tito isn't here anymore. That he died and his soul went to live with Jesus but his body stayed here and we were going to bury it. He kept saying that he wanted to see Tito but I kept saying that Tito wasn't here anymore,  just his body with nothing inside. It is so interesting how Matthew is taking this all in and just says random things when we're not talking about it or anything. Later that day, Matthew said, "I'm so sad"....and I said, "why?". He said, "because Tito died." and he had such a sad, long look on his face. I tell him that Tito is so happy living with Jesus and he doesn't have problems walking now and he feels so good all the time. He's also looking down on us and taking care of us like an angel. The other night, when we were out on the porch, Matthew looked up and said, "look! it's Tito!" as he pointed up to the brightest star he saw. I said, "yeah, and look how he's smiling Matthew, he can see you." Since all of this, we've talked about how one day we'll see Tito again when we go live with Jesus and so far, Matthew seems content with all the things we've told him. Although the day of the burial, I thought he was going to have a little fit because he wanted to see Tito in the casket. It was a closed casket funeral. Somehow I managed to distract him from that idea.

Taekwondo and First Day of School Pictures

Matthew had his first full week back at school this week and I thought it went really well. I thought he would be knocked out tired by dinner time but he wasn't as exhausted as I thought. I was glad about that because when he's so tired, he can be really difficult and if it happens right around dinner time, he won't want to eat or take a bath or anything. This year he's in school until 3pm every day. They have different activities every day after lunch. Monday he has swim lessons, Tuesday-writing skills, Wednesday-gymnastics, Thursday-math skills and Friday-arts and crafts. I thought Mondays and Wednesday were going to really wear him out because not only is his afternoon activity and "active" one, after that, he has Taekwondo. To make matters worse, on Wednesday he has PE which is once a week but that's on the same day as Taekwondo as well but it didn't seem to affect him too much.

We got his Taekwondo uniform and here are some new pics.

TaeKwondo

Great TaeKwondo class for Matthew today! He did everything he was told and did it well. If you don't know, this is a very strict sport and here it is considered a "discipline sport" which I'm pretty sure most martial arts are considered around the world.

Also, Julian slept REALLY well though the night last night. Just one wake up around 11pm to nurse, then a little later, a five minute cry and after that, slept till 5:30am. For those that don't know, sleeping till only 5:30am is a great welcome if they'll just sleep through the night! Happy, happy!

Matthew is in the red shirt. His uniform is on its way from San Jose with a friend!