Our Morning Routine

Every morning when I take Matthew to daycare I take Paxil and Domino along with us for the ride. This short ride is pleasant for all involved. Matthew becomes less fussy because he has dogs to pet and the dogs LOVE their rides. In the winter time I can take the dogs to pick up Matthew too, but summer afternoons are too hot for the dogs even for the 2-5 minutes it takes to pick up Matthew.

Matthew and proud Domino

Matthew and coy Domino

Paxil thinks she's alpha dog so she always wants to sit in front.


Maybe Matthew spends too much time with the dogs seeing that he has started to chew on his drumsticks like they are bones.

Shhhh.. Don't Tell Matthew

Matthew had a fun-filled weekend. He attended two parties. One in the morning for his friend Collin at Bicycle World and Fitness (Collin's daddy's bicycle store) and one in the evening for his little friend Victoria from daycare who turned one. I will let the photos tell the story.

Matthew's first cupcake of the day: chocolate with vanilla frosting. This was after a lot of fun coloring and listening to a story about a doggie who could not bark. (Don't worry neither of our dogs Paxil or Domino have this problem).

Having fun in the store with Collin after the party at this Lego table.

Collin is a little salesman just like his daddy. He showed Matthew how much fun bicycles can be.




Shhh, don't tell Matthew but his daddy bought this bicycle for Matthew's birthday in September.



The second party at 6:30PM--having fun at the playground.


After Victoria got her time alone with her BIG pink cupcake. Matthew joined in for this photo op.

Here is Matthew enjoying his second cupcake of the day. To his dad's dismay it is pink :)

This photo doesn't add to the story.. I just thought it was a cute close up.

Matthew's Ear Tube/Adenoid Adventure

This morning at 6:30 AM we took Matthew to the hospital for surgery. He had his adenoids removed and ear tubes put in his ears. We had noticed for a couple of months that he has not been hearing nearly as well as he used to. He hasn't been turning to us when we call his name. For a while we thought it was toddler stubbornness but a few weeks back we decided to check him out with the pediatrician. She said that there was a lot of fluid in his ears and she referred us to an Ear Nose Throat specialist. At the ENT they tested his hearing using an instrument that measured how the ear drums respond--they did not. The audiologist then did a test where Matthew was placed on my lap in a sound proof room with two stereo speakers at either side. The audiologist observed whether he would turn to the sounds made from either speaker--he did not. The ENT checked his ears and adenoids and surely enough the adenoids were enlarged and there is a lot of fluid in the ear causing Matthews hearing loss.

This morning the surgery went very well. The surgery released a LOT of fluid, which was the main reason for it. Matthew behaved very well. He was in good spirits before the surgery. (That was only partly due to the "silly juice" that the anesthesiologist gave to him). He was a little cranky and disoriented when he woke up after surgery but that was to be expected. Overall the surgery was a success. We will have his hearing tested again in a couple of weeks.

Here is Matthew before the surgery.

Matthew before surgery but post silly juice.

Matthew asleep on Tony's shoulder after he woke up or appeared to at first.

Here we are a happy family after the successful surgery. I am calling family members to make sure everyone knows that Matthew is okay.

A Few Cute Photos from Friends

Matthew enjoyed using this battery operated car during a picnic at Brazos Bend Park with our friends Hazel and Mark and a lot of their friends.

The smile on Matthew's face might mean that he will get one of these for a future Christmas or birthday.

Even toddlers have bad hair days. This was taken at an Astros game on July 25th. Even under the dome it was still quite hot.