Growing up!

We went and picked up a toddler bed for Eric on Monday. He was very excited to have a "big boy bed" and was more than willing to pass the crib on to Baby Paul. I was a little worried about how well he would sleep in it. He's always been a great sleeper, but I was afraid he would start getting out of bed a whole bunch at bedtime. Since we had been out and about a whole bunch on Monday, Eric didn't get a nap. I thought that might be a good thing- he would be extra tired at bedtime and hopefully go right to sleep in his new bed. Well, while I was setting the toddler bed up and letting the boys watch a cartoon, Eric fell asleep on the living room floor. It was about 5:15 when he fell asleep. I tried to wake him up, but he was OUT. Nothing I tried woke him up. He finally woke up around 7:00 and came to eat dinner. I was sure there would be no way he would go to bed easily an hour and a half later. But when bedtime came, we did our usual routine and after I rocked him for a while he walked over and climbed into his bed told me goodnight and I didn't hear a peep out of him until the next morning. I was so happy! It was the same for his nap yesterday and today and for bedtime last night too. He hasn't gotten out of the bed before morning at all. Such a good boy!

While we were out running around on Monday, we drove by Dairy Queen and decided to stop and get some ice cream cones to celebrate the first warm day of Spring. It was a really beautiful day and the boys had fun eating their ice cream and then running around outside.

Matty had been asking me everyday for about two weeks if he could paint a picture. I finally got some paints out for him the other day and he had so much fun. He told me he wants to be an artist when he grows up. This picture is his experiments with mixing different colors of paint together. After he did that, he painted a picture of our family.

Another thing Matty asks me multiple times a week is if we can have breakfast for dinner (or Brinner for those of you who are Scrubs fans). That boy can pack away the pancakes. He also loves scrambled eggs and bacon. It is tempting to have Brinner often- it is a pretty easy thing to cook, but I try to only have it every couple of weeks... unless Matty gets really persistent in his asking. Sometimes he's just too cute to say no to.

This is a picture of Eric before we moved him out of the crib. Both of the boys looked like such little angels one night last week (well they do pretty much every night...) that I went and got the camera and snapped some pictures while they were sleeping. Matty has a whole entourage of stuffed animals that have to sleep in his bed. Usually most of them hang out on the shelf behind his pillow, but this night he must have been lonely and arranged them all around himself after we put him to bed.

The Name Game

When we found out that this baby is a boy, we knew it would take us a little longer to decide on a name than it had with the other two boys. At the ultrasound we asked Matty what his new baby brother's name should be and he thought for a couple of seconds and then told us "Zalick". He thought for a few more seconds and added "or maybe Spike". The only thing we really ever got out of Eric was "Turtle". As much as we love our adorable little boys and value their opinions, we didn't think their little brother would appreciate any of those names when he's all grown up. So, together Michael and I have decided that baby boy #3 will be named Paul David Montgomery. We have always liked the name Paul, partly because of Paul in the New Testament- hopefully our Paul will be a good missionary too. Another reason we like the name is that it is the real first name of Bono (of U2). We're not saying we're naming him after Bono, but it simply adds to our reasons for liking the name. We decided on David for a middle name after browsing through our family history and seeing that the name had been used on both sides of our family. Coincidentally, it is the first name of U2's Edge (the guitar player). We think the names go well together, especially the meanings: Paul means small and David means beloved so he will be our Small Beloved. And here's what my belly is looking like these days. He seems to have had a huge growth spurt lately. I'll be 27 weeks along tomorrow.It has been a while since I have posted anything- I attended two births in February, which means I've now been a doula at enough births become certified, which I was really hoping to do before Paul makes his appearance. Here are some other things that have gone on in the last month... of course, we had Valentine's Day. I made the boys heart-shaped waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast, which they loved.
Matty had preschool on Valentine's Day and got to exchange Valentine's with his classmates. He loved filling out his Valentines and got some really good name-writing practice in... he insisted on making them not only for his classmates, but also for every grandparent, aunt, uncle or cousin on both sides of the family.
My visiting teachers brought us some humongous cupcakes from a bakery in Durham. The boys were so excited when they saw them. They ate them right before bathtime.

Eric spends almost every day playing with his trains. We make him clean his tracks up every night, and they are usually the first thing he asks for every morning. We love watching him play with them. He has just always had a thing for trains.

Poor Matty was sick for a whole week. He ran a fever for 7 straight days. He had a pretty bad cough too. He spent most of that week on the couch watching movies and taking multiple naps. After he had run a fever for 5 days, I took him to the doctor and they swabbed his nose and did a flu test... which is what he had. Influenza A... which means there was nothing the doctor could really do. Two days after I took him in, he completely recovered and has been his usual energetic self ever since.

At preschool last week the topic was dinosaurs and Matty was really proud of his Dino-land that he made. I love how enthusiastic he is about learning! I registered him for Kindergarten last month and we should get his track/teacher assignment any day now. His school is year-round, so his first day will most likely be July 7th!