Fifteen Months, Oh, and Jon's Birthday

Today, Seth did something that Matthew never did; he had a fifteen month check-up. Maybe the days of him being in Matthew's shadow are coming to an end;but probably not.

Both boys were so excited to see the doctor, they couldn't sleep. Then again, maybe it was their runny noses that kept them up. Seth woke up at 1 am and I fed him and spent about 45 minutes putting him back down. Not to be outdone by his brother, Matthew woke up at 3am. I hurried to get him out of the room before he woke Seth up again and then spent the next hour trying to get him to sleep in our bed. (Jon was sleeping on the couch because had more work to do when I went to bed at around 11pm and he didn't want to wake me up when he was ready to go to sleep.) Unfortunately, Seth woke up again a little before 4am. At this point I was forced to wake up Jon. Jon helped Seth get to sleep and after that he let me sleep on the couch while he attempted to cajole Matthew to sleep in our bed. Before too long, Jon had to start getting ready for work, which he did while Matthew rested. When Jon left at 6am (a late morning for him), Matthew had agreed to stay in bed until Jon called him from work. Well, fortunately Matthew didn't wake up to Jon's call that came around 7am, but I did. Thus began the day.

Jon often comments on wives' birthday/anniversary/whatever tributes to their husbands and says claiming he'd hate me if I ever wrote something like those for him. So, I will try not to be too sappy; but I think that the story of last night so aptly illustrates why I'm thankful to have him. He's such a dedicated husband, father, and employee. He continually puts the needs of others ahead of his own. I'm grateful for all he does for me and the boys.

Jon trying to hide from the camera while opening birthday presents.

So, on to Seth. Since he was already sick, Seth probably had one of the roughest doctor's appointments yet. The sun was shining this morning and we only live about half a mile or so from the doctor's office, so I thought it would be a great day for the boys to ride their "bikes" to the appointment. Well, it was a little colder than I thought and Seth didn't seem to enjoy the ride. He screamed when I had to put him down to be weighed and measured. He calmed down a little bit before our doctor came in, but obviously didn't enjoy the poking and prodding. Then came the shot. For the rest of the day he was just a little out of sorts. I'm hoping that he can sleep well tonight and be at least back to a normal-sick as opposed to a I'm-sick-and-I-just-got-a-booster-shot-that-left-my-thigh-sore.

So, here are the stats:

Height: 32.25 in (75%)
Weight: 22 lbs, 13 oz (25%) This includes a pretty soggy diaper.

Here's a few recentish pictures:

For all those of you that are thinking: "Julie, no wonder the boy was cold and unhappy, he's wearing shorts," don't worry, this picture was not taken today.

More pictures of our little Dalmatian and his firefighter brother to come soon!

Firefighter Storytime

In honor of Fire Prevention Month, the Seattle firefighters do a special storytime at several Seattle libraries. Since Matthew loves everything firefighter and also loves a good ride on the bus, we headed downtown to the Central branch for the very first firefighter storytime of the month.

Ever since it arrived, Matthew and his firefighter Halloween costume have been nearly inseparable. He wears it everyday that he doesn't have preschool or church, and even then he usually changes into it after those are over. So, of course, Matthew wore his firefighter costume to the storytime.

The bus was pretty crowded going down to Seattle, there was only one seat for me and the boys. Having both boys sit on my lap didn't last very long. Fortunately, Matthew got quite a thrill out of standing on the bus. Even after people got off the bus opening seats for all of us, Matthew insisted on standing. And since Seth wants to do everything that Matthew does, I was at wits end to keep Seth from scrabbling away from me to walk around the bus. Good thing it's not a long ride.

Walking to the library from the bus station we got several comments about Matthew's attire and even at the library, one children's librarian wanted to take Matthew's picture because he was just "so cute."

The storytime took place in one of the library's medium sized auditoriums. The miked fire chief read the story "No Dragons for Tea" at the front of the auditorium while scattered throughout the auditorium fire man sat with copies of the book showing children the pictures. After the story was over, firefighter Matt dressed in all his equipment, explaining the purpose of each piece. After he was fully dressed, they invited the children to come down and give Matt a high five. Another children's librarian thought that Matthew and Matt worthy of a picture, so here it is courtesy of a fantastic librarian (since Mama forgot her camera):
The firefighters then allowed all the children to come outside at explore their pumper truck and hook and latter trunk. Matthew, Seth, and I got to watch as they put out the outriggers and raised the latter up seven stories up on Fourth Avenue. I was so impressed at how much time and consideration each firefighter gave each child. Here are a few cell phone pictures that I managed to catch:

Not willing to miss a single photo op, another librarian caught a picture of Matthew and a firefighter in front of the pumper truck. Unfortunately, she missed the opportunity to take a picture of the two switching helmets (I got a picture of them switching back).

To top off the day we met Jon at the bus station, took the light rail to Westlake, enjoyed a early lunch together and then the boys and I headed home on the bus.

Matthew and Seth had so much fun that I think that Firefighter storytime is bound to become an annual event for our family.