It's official. Since day 1, we knew that Matthew was just a little "Mini-Mike." But now word out on the street is that Zachary is "Jenny Junior." Ha! Poor kids. Well, we each left our mark on at least one little human.

Zachary is already five months old! Can you believe that? I can't. We have to start actually feeding him [solids] in a month. Man! But I think he'll definitely be ready for some extra nourishment the way he moves around. It's amazing that even at five months I can see such a difference between the boys. Zach is our mover and shaker. He always wants to be facing out, watching the action (especially whatever big brother is doing), loves being flown around like an airplane, usually wants to be standing (with help of course) and loves to jump. In the last week, we've introduced him to both the Excersaucer and the Johnny Jump-Up -- LOVES them. He's also found his voice and can now yell at the top of his lungs in a very happy but very loud voice! Matthew thinks it's pretty darn funny when Zachary does his 'baby talking', so our house is often filled with loud -- and yet happy! -- noise! Music to my ears.

I'm not sure if I should even share this one. It's definitely one for Dr. Phil. My disclaimer: I claim no responsibility for the behavior of my children -- they have free-will and creative, little, inquisitive minds and are no reflection what-so-ever of my parenting skills (exluding when their behavior is exceptional, of course, in which case, it's all my doing).

Zach was down on the floor doing tummy-time in the living room when I heard Matthew talking to him, so I stuck my head around the corner to be sure there was no overly affectionate brotherly bonding occuring. Unfortunately, there was. Matthew was lying down in front of Zachary, holding his shirt up, and saying, "Do you want to eat Zachy? From my nipples?" Oye. My three-year-old son was trying to nurse his baby brother. Not OK. Not at all OK. I'm sure Dr. Phil's expensive, but probably worth it. Better start saving now.

I didn't know that I signed Matthew up for a 'Children of Over-Achieving Moms' Preschool...or maybe all moms are like that and I'm just the only slacker mom out there. So, last week, was Matthew's first 'official' day of Preschool. To me this meant, you leave your child there and let him...uh...experience Preschool. Let me expand: We arrive on time, and Matthew runs right in and starts playing with his new pal, Theodore (also a truck-lover; they had an immediate bond). All the parents linger around for a little while (five minutes or so) and watch as the teacher, Ms. Susan attempts to pull the kids away from the toys and over to the painting table. I waited to see what the experienced parents would do (the ones who have already had older children go through the whole preschool process). Finally one of the other Moms says, "OK, Ms. Susan, I'm going to go...I'll be out in the hall if you need me." Huh? For two hours?! The whole time?! Then, the second experienced momma: "Ms. Susan, I'll be out in the hall." I watch as both moms file out and stand on the other side of the window watching their little ones from the hallway. I took a big breath, readied myself and said to Ms. Susan, "OK, so I'm going to go." Ms. Susan, "Great. You'll be out in the hall?" Me: "Uh, no, I'm going to go...go." Ms. Susan in total surprise: "Oh! Go...go? Do you think Matthew will be OK?" Me: "Yeah." (Also known as: "Later!"). So, it's official, I'm the slacker mom...ditched the kiddo and went to run errands instead of standing outside the hall watching my child through a window. Time to cut the umbilical cord and apparently neither Matthew nor I had any issues with it!

Now, confession: I did return a little early for picking Matthew up and watched from the window as he and Theodore established themselves as class trouble-makers. Theodore opened a storage cupboard and found a whole hidden stash of trucks which he proceded to hand out to Matthew as quickly as possible before Ms. Susan could put them back faster than they could take them out. Then, a bit later, all the children marched over to the corner for circle time...all the children except for Matthew, that is. Matthew discovered a fire truck up on a shelf and took it upon himself to get it down (which required climbing precariously up on a stool). While reaching for the much sought-after truck, Matthew lost his balance and slipped off the stool, scraping his leg in the process. He was about to cry, looked around to see who would give him attention, realized that all the other kids were in circle time with Ms. Susan, rubbed his leg and joined the group. In the car, on the way home, Matthew told me he had gotten an owie from preschool. I asked him how and he said, "I fell off the stool." I asked him, "Were you supposed to be on the stool?" And he confidently replied, "No, it was circle time. I made a bad choice." Oh well, at least he knows when he makes them, even if it doesn't necessarily stop him!

On Saturday, we celebrated down at 'Newcastle Days' -- our little town festival. We got Matthew all pumped up for his first pony ride. We attempted it last year and he backed out at the last minute, so we were anxious to see if '06 would be our year. And I'm happy to report, indeed it is. Matthew hopped up (with Daddy's help) on Snickers, the dark brown, somewhat rebellious pony. When I called to Matthew to look at me (camera on the ready) and to see if he was OK and not about to panic, he raised one arm up and said, "I'm the farmer!" When I went to take the picture, he did get briefly side-tracked by the pony in front of Snickers who was taking care of business before getting back to work. We had to talk about it a few times that evening, that "the pony went pee-pee."

Speaking of pee-pee (sorry, but this is my blog and I am the mother of a hopefully-soon-to-potty-train three-year-old, therefore, you must be willing to read a fair amount of potty-related stories. Also, as you know, we do tend to have a body-function curse on our house, so it is a common theme with the Fartin Martins)...Matthew has been totally anti-using the potty lately until Mike decided to treat Matthew like the little man that he is and let him attempt standing for his business rather than sitting. Potty time has turned into 'Target Practice Time' and Matthew gets to shoot Cheerios in the toilet. I'm just concerned that someday we'll be out in public and instead of saying, "Mommy, I need to go potty," he'll say, "Mommy, I need to shoot my O's." Just sounds a little bit odd if you ask me.

Today we went to the zoo for Matthew's birthday outing. There is no greater sound than the belly-laughter of a three-year-old while watching the antics of a sea otter! We had a great time.

Yesterday, both boys got to have check-ups with the Pediatrician. As a three-year-old, Matthew weighs in at 37pounds 6ounces ("solid boy;" 90-95%) and is 37 inches tall (75-90th%). As a four-month-old, Zachary weighs in at 12pounds 15ounces (10-25%) and is 25 inches long (50th%). Both boys did great in wowing Doctor Benda with their age-appropriate skills. Phew! All that cramming paid off!

Today was just another day in the Martin household: Matthew turned three, went to his first day of preschool, got his lampshade stuck around his leg during naptime, rode in the stroller during a run, played at the park and got his first bee-sting, choked on snack, laughed out loud at Curious George, ate some cake, opened presents, had a bubble bath while using his new bathtub crayons, and went to bed. Nothing like being a three-year-old. All in all, he reported that he had a good birthday, his favorite part of the day was "cake" and his favorite gift was the "big red truck."

New pictures for July and August! at http://mikenjennymartin.home.comcast.net