That's What I'm Talkin' About

When I was a kid, I was all about Hot Wheels cars and Matchbox cars. In fact, I'm sure there are photos of me at some point of my life playing with my Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars in much the same way as Christopher does. Christopher absolutely loves cars (or "cart-ehs), airplanes, helicopters (or "he-kop-tas"), and all that stuff. Its weird because I haven't pushed him at all, but he just loves little cars...as I did as a wee-lad. I thought these pictures were cute so I decided to post them. I love how he just submerges into his little world of imagination when he's playing with them. He rarely has them driving around...most of the time he entrances himself with organizing them in some crazy way for what seems like hours, although Christopher can't focus on anything for more than a few minutes, so I'm sure it just seems like hours!

Matthew's First Bath

Matthew's umbilical chord finally dropped from his abdomen, which means that he is officially able to take a real bath with real water in a real baby bathtub. Truly a momentous occasion in the Kane household. Colleen took the opportunity to do just that, give Matthew his first real bath. He handled it about as well as we expected...about as well as Christopher did his first bath. (Christopher's first bath given by his Daddy who woke him up and put him in an arctic abyss of a bath....Karen got to witness that one. It was definitely one of my "learning" experiences.) Colleen unfortunately had to tackle this situation herself as I was otherwise incapacitated with Matthew's older brother who was refusing to take a nap. Not only did she give the kid a bath, but she was also able to knock out some pretty good photos of the whole situation. Bravo, Colleen....bravo. (If you could see me now, you'd be witnessing me imitating Charles Dutton's infamous clapping session at the end of the movie "Rudy").

...all the while, I was in Christopher's room pulling out some Nanny 911 tactics from his bag-o'-tricks. If you're wondering what trickery was afoot before stoning me to death or setting me aflame on a wooden steak, I will briefly explain. Christopher has been having "difficulty" napping in the afternoon, and he needs an afternoon nap for the sanity of everyone in the house. He's taking advantage of having the freedom from the seclusion a crib offers and keeps getting up to play...he's being a 2-year old and also pushing some limits. So, after 2-hours of playing "Christopher's-Out-of-His-Bed-but-Ran-to-His-Bed-When-Daddy Opened-His-Bedroom-Door-Peek-a-Boo", I decided to give this Nanny 911 trick a shot. Basically, I put him in bed and told him quietly, "It is nap-time, Christopher. It is time to sleep." I then sat in the room against an opposite wall and read a book. I ignored all of his whining and crying (aside from one instance when he knocked his dome pretty hard on one of the guardrails), pleading and "no"ing. When he got out of bed, I simply rose from my seated position, picked him up, and put him back into bed without saying anything to him at all. Well, I must admit that Nanny 911 might be on to something here. He was asleep within 20 minutes after playing the aforementioned "Peek-a-Boo" game for almost 3-hours (I'm not typing all that mess again and using cut-and-paste annoys me...sorry). So, we'll see how things go tomorrow.

The much bigger story, however, Matthew got his first bath today and there was much rejoicing.

Some Picture Updates

We were, quite honestly, unsure of how well Christopher would adapt to having a new baby brother in the house. He is an extremely affectionate young boy, but he loves his parents. Colleen would contend that he is especially close to his daddy, but I'm not exactly sure I agree with that. Regardless, we actually thought that he would overt issues with Matthew getting a bunch of attention from his parents and feeling somewhat neglected. I have to be honest, I actually believed that he would be jealous and become a whiny puddle of hot mess...but I was wrong, and I'll be the first to admit it. On the contrary, Christopher has shown nothing but affection towards Matthew. He's constantly wanting to hold him, hug him, and kiss him....even "helps" daddy carry Matthew in his carrier into the car. Now, we didn't think that he would be the type of kid who would lash out towards Matthew, and we were right about that one. He has, however, accidentally hurt Matthew while trying to be affectionate...Matthews gotten a headbutt on more than one occasion, but all loving headbutts...so I guess its okay, right? I took some pictures to prove to the naysayers that our eldest son is a caring, compassionate, and loving big brother...



See? He even gave up his crib for his little brother...now that is truly a sacrifice.

Matthew Thomas Kane Update

Just wanted to give you all an update on the Matthew Thomas. He's doing very well. He has a very healthy set of lungs and seems to be incredibly feisty. He fought tooth and nail to prevent the nurses from getting accurate weight and height measurements....but to no avail. Colleen is also doing well. She had to have a C-section because Matthew had the umbilical chord wrapped around his neck twice, thus his heart rate was too low to carry out a "natural with Rx" birth. Colleen is in some pain, but doing well. Christopher is adjusting as well as any 2 year old would expect. He's given Matthew hugs and kisses, but hasn't paid him much mind thus far. We'll see how things continue to develop with that relationship after they meet at home. It should prove to be interesting.

That's the news thus far. Below are some pictures of some of the family Matthew has met thus far. We can't wait for Matthew to get to meet all of you.

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Welcome to the World, Matthew Thomas Kane

Thomas, Colleen, and Christopher Kane would like to introduce the newest addition to our family. Everyone, please meet:

Matthew Thomas Kane
born 08/04/2010
weight: 8 lbs. 0 oz.
height: 20 1/4 in.

Christopher's Christening of His "Big-Boy" Bed

It is a momentous day in the Kane household...Christopher Michael has officially christened his "big-boy" toddler bed. Daddy was prepping his "old" room for the soon-to-be addition (hopefully) to our household. The cleaning and straightening and other touch-up things that were going on were taking longer than he had originally though...long past Christopher's usual nap-time hours. So Daddy decided that now would be as good a time as any to get him going in his new bed. It wasn't a completely clean run without any hitches, but it went much better than I had thought it would. He had mistakenly, but appropriately, shut himself in the room playing when Colleen asked me to put him to bed for a nap.

"Christopher, it's time for your nap okay?" I said, opening the door after he'd shut himself in.
"O-tay"
"You're going to sleep in your new big-boy room so go ahead and lie down in your big-boy bed."
"O-tay." he replied pouting.
"Okay, give Daddy a kiss and I'll see you in a bit. I love you."
"I yuvoo"

I then felt it necessary to check on him three times. The first time because the wind had shut his door and he had apparently rose from the bed to try to open the door again. The second was just to check on him. This time he was rustling around and starting to wrap himself into a blue-Christopher burrito-like-creation. Once he does that move, "lights out" is certain. Lo! and behold! He was asleep within 5-minutes, when I checked him the final time before la-la land. It really is a proud moment for me as a parent, although somewhat bitter-sweet as I'm reminded that he no longer a baby...officially. Time just seems to move too fast sometimes.

Christopher's New Room and Our New Kitchen (both about 85% done)

A look at Christopher's new bedroom and our new kitchen floor and paint job. The old kitchen is the last picture, and I never took a picture of the "old version" of Christopher's room. I admittedly paid or the kitchen to be done (painting walls and ceiling and new floor installation), but I did Christopher's room myself...aside from the new carpet. Obviously, no curtains or blinds have been installed yet...that wil happen this week, I might update the pictures at that point, but who knows.