poor kiddo!

We took Matthew out to a park today to run around and burn some energy while the weather is still nice, and he wound up with a bee sting! He was picking dandelions to give to me when he must have grabbed a bee along with the flower. Poor kiddo - he cried, but only for a little bit. James got the stinger out and we kissed his hand a few thousand times to make it better. It got a little swollen but not too badly, and a little Tylenol and some kisses from his beloved Kitty (as well as Mommy and Daddy) made it a lot better. Now he just points at his hand and makes his "bug" sound (kind of a shhh noise but with your teeth closed and your mouth open) where that mean old bee stung him.

I managed to slice my thumb open last night while washing the dishes, so my hand hurts too. Not sure I'll get away with asking for kisses every five minutes, though. Matthew is happy to indulge me when I do ask, however.

Noah comes over to play... and swipe toys.

Matthew's buddy Noah came over to steal his lawn mower (and green Beetle and toy Chihuahua riding a taxi and stroller and...) We were planning on taking them to McKinney's Easter thingy, but we got there and they had the eggs all laid out ahead of time and were expecting toddlers to wait for an HOUR before they could go out and grab them. Uh, yeah, good plan! After Noah opened his third or fourth egg (Matthew was only interested in running around the field), we decided we'd be better off at Town Lake's playground. Afterward, it was Culver's for lunch, where the boys shared a fry or three, and Matthew decided he'd rather wear his milk than drink it.

Three day weekend

We had the day off on Friday, so we took Matthew to the Heard Museum to walk the Hoot Owl trail again. The weather was gorgeous!


We went to Scotty P's afterward for lunch, where Matthew decided he need to experiment with self-portraiture:







and a gratuitous picture of James, looking worried about his camera:

Carbon monoxide detectors!

The night James was coming home from China, Matthew and I were reading his bedtime stories (his Thomas the Tank Engine books these days) when we hear this sharp chirp coming from the doorway - the carbon monoxide detector! Gave me a coronary. Thankfully it was only the low battery warning... but I had to sling Matthew into his crib and run downstairs for the ladder and spare batteries. Drag the ladder upstairs, get up the ladder, find out I've grabbed the wrong batteries (all the smoke detectors are 9V, but not the CO2!) so downstairs again for new ones. Where are husbands when you need them?!? (flying to Springfield, MO since DFW had canceled all landings due to high winds) and the whole time Matthew is laying in his crib shouting "BEEP BEEP BEEP"

Almost a week later and he still points at it and says, "BEEP BEEP BEEP".

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit

We had a great week (March 9-15) when Mom and Dad drove out from Georgia to visit Matthew and me. James was in China for two weeks with his MBA course, so we were grateful for the help and the company. We all went to the Dallas Zoo, the Dallas Arboretum and the Heard Museum, as well as a few shopping trips - to Bed, Bath and Beyond for a quesadilla maker and to Toys R Us for Matthew's birthday present - a great big red wagon that he LOVES. We take it out to the duck pond just about every single day (when it's not pouring or freezing, that is).

Matthew usually likes to pull it himself, despite the fact that at 30 pounds, the wagon outweighs him by three pounds, and he's very particular about it being empty while he pulls it. We can't even stash a sippy cup or his fleece jacket in there. He stops the wagon and shakes his head emphatically until we take everything out of it. He also likes to stop and watch the front wheels turn sideways when he steers, and sometimes he'll bend down to straighten them out. :-) After he's pulled it most of the way around the pond, he'll consent to riding in it, or pushing from behind while one of us pulls it. The red wagon is extremely popular with nearly 2 year olds in this household.

I'll post a link to the pictures when (ahem) Grandpa gets them online.