A Fond Farewell to Four

Oh dear, I haven't written in here for a year. Motherhood FAIL. Publishing this unfinished 'cause it's 11:59!!

Favorite things as you turn 5:

Places
ChuckECheese
Wisconsin Dells
McDonald's playplaces

Songs
"Dynamite" Taio Cruz
"S&M" Rhianna (oops)
"On the Floor" J.Lo
"Forget You" Cee-Lo Green

TV shows
- all of Daddy's cooking shows on public access' "Create" channel (Everyday Foods, America's Test Kitchen, Primal Grill, etc.)
- anything on "Qubo"
- the "Goodnight Show" where some trampy chick does yoga, practices Spanish words, and hangs out with a teardrop-shaped pillow named "Star" who looks more like a stuffed tumor
- "The Simsims" and Friends with Mama


Four has been even more fun than I imagined. Really, truly, awesomely fun. Let me count the ways by the months (thanks, F.a.ceb.o.ok!) ...

June 2010:

July 2010:
- Daddy and I met Grandma and Grandpa somewhere maybe halfway between our houses at a Culver's to pick you up after your stay. We were so happy to see you!
- We celebrated the Fourth of July at Miss Jess' and Aunt Emily's houses with kiddie pools, sprinklers, a BBQ, sparklers, fireworks in Aunt Emily's field, and lots of mosquitoes. Such a great night!

August 2010:

September 2010:

October 2010:
- October 24: NICU reunion, the most awesome yet. We did everything!
- October 25-26: ROAD TRIP to Champaign to see Aunt Missy! We do Curtis Orchard and the yard full of pumpkins. It is awesome. Nana doesn't come because she doesn't want to miss work. Unfortunately, that night, she burns herself while draining pasta, falls, and breaks her shoulder, making her miss a lot of work. We spend a lot of November at her house taking care of her.
- October 29: Preschool Halloween party with parade. So special. So exciting.
- October 31: Party at Miss Jess', then trick-or-treating in DG and Warrenville. You guys are candy-getting champs.

November 2010:
- November 5: Best day EVER with Uncle Jim, who buys you guys like 200 tokens and pizza at ChuckECheese. It takes like 5 hours to get through them. You're in heaven.
November 19: Nana's surgery for her shoulder.
November 21: Matt falls asleep in my arms while I'm icing his head after Ryan busted it open with a broom. Ah, the joys of being a boy mama. :)

December 2010:
goodes move :(
- December 5: Devin and Jennah's birthday party! Awesome fun, but Matt eats too much and throws up on the floor after running around hysterically (oops)
- Early December: We upgrade to your big-boy car seats, the awesome Graco Na.utiluses. You guys are huge fans of the cupholder.
- December 17-19: Kempker Christmas in Iowa! So much fun.
- December 20: Getting ready to watch a Bears/Vikings game:
Daddy: "Are you ready to watch the Vikings?"
Matthew: "No, we're weady to watch da BEARS."
- December 24-25: Aunt Missy and Uncle John make a surprise trip home for Christmas. It's a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! They were almost more exciting than Santa. At Christmas Eve Mass, you were amazed to see Santa come in during Mass to kneel beside Jesus' manger and leave him a present. Fr. Jim passed out candy canes after church.
- December 26: Matthew wakes up in the middle of the night after Christmas with stomach flu. For 12 hours or so, you are one sick little guy. We take it easy for the next few days.
- December 31: Our New Year's Eve at Miss Jess' gets cancelled due to illness at their house, so we have cheese and chocolate fondue and watch the ball drop in New York. NYE with my little family = perfect. You guys love fondue, btw. Good taste!

January 2011
- January 1: Ryan beats Daddy at SingStar on Taylor Swift's "Our Song." Awesome!
- January 15-16: Ryan is bummed at the end of this NFL playoff weekend, as 3/4 of the teams he was rooting for lost. Ry, you wanted the "Raisins" to beat the Steelers b/c "the Steelers steal stuff," you wanted the Falcons to win for obvious reasons (boo Packers!), & he was rooting for the Patriots over the Jets.

Me: "Why don't you want the Jets to win?"
Ryan: "I don't wike dem because dey wear green like da Green Bean Packers & the Packers are stinky butt cheese."
- January 23: Lunch with Miss Teeny and the NFC Championship game at Aunt Danielle's. Not Mama's best day as far as mood goes. ;) You guys had a blast with Sydney and Katie.

February 2011
- Early this month, Matt answers the phone when Aunt Missy calls with "Hello? Who is this?!?" which is hilarious.
- February 1-2: MAJOR snowstorm. We got 22 inches, and the snow drifted up to Daddy's shoulders at the door. No work at Gigi's for Mama, and no work for Daddy at the cafe. It was a great time!
- February 5: Thanks for the birthday breakfast in bed, guys. :)
- February 6: Packers win the Super Bowl. booooooo. But at least you got to play with Sydney and Katie while the grownups watched the game!
- February 11: Preschool Valentine's Day party. You guys worked SO hard on writing your names on all 28 (apiece) Valentines. And you got LOOT! from your classmates.
- February 14: Valentine's Day! Daddy made you heart-shaped calzones for dinner. Yummy! Then we had chocolate fondue. Awwww yeah.
- February 14-21: Gigi is diagnosed with multiple myeloma. :( For the next week, we were there every day until Daddy got home. You guys were amazing during this time. You were good. You didn't fight. You made Gigi pictures and kissed her goodbye every day, even when she didn't look like herself at all anymore and didn't answer you when you talked to her. I will never be able to express how proud you made me.

We had to talk some about death after we lost Gigi. I told you that people's bodies stop working, and sometimes they get too sick to be healed, so then they die. Ryan started to cry. "I don't want to die!"
Me: Oh sweetheart, you are not going to die. You are young and strong.
Ry (still crying): I am not stwong! I cannot wift heavy sings!
Me (torn between laughter and tears): I don't mean "strong," that way, baby. I mean healthy. You can run and climb and jump and use the regular potty. Remember how Gigi just couldn't walk and needed the special potty?
Ry: Yes.
Me: See? You're young and very strong. You will be just fine.
Matt: I will miss Gigi, but I am not sad she's died.
Me: No?
Matt: I am happy, b/c she's with Jesus and she's not sick anymore and she doesn't have bad owies (Gram had lots of bruising from her IVs and tape) anymore.
Me: You're right. Gigi is happy. It's just us who are sad b/c we will miss her.

- February 25-26: The wake and funeral. Again, you were amazing. So polite. So well-behaved. Loving and comforting and perfect. (You did run up near the altar during the funeral to try to crush a bug with your snow boots, but that was just good thinking.) ;)

March 2011
- Two CEC party weekend: Alyssa and Brooke's on Saturday, Audrey's on Sunday. Way to get your Chuck E. on!
- March 2: Mama and Daddy attend our first Bower School event, your Kindergarten Roundup. Shockingly, no tears from Mama.
- March 3: Ryan: How do you draw an artichoke?
Me: Do you want to see a picture of one? We can look it up on the computer.
Matthew: Do you need to go to ar-choke dot com?
- March 4: Hanging out at Miss Tiffani's with Claire, Truman, and Preston! You guys love Claire. Lots of Mario was played on Wii this evening. ;)
- March 18: Matt gets stung by a wasp on the preschool playground. A wasp! A stupid wasp! In March! You were so brave, lovie. You called to me from the top of the playset. Miss Crystal lifted you down while I killed the bad bee with a magazine. We took you in for some ice. You didn't even cry. I was almost crying, but you were just fine. My brave little love.

April 2011
- April 3: Happy birthday, Daddy! We went to Nagoya and you guys tried sushi. I love what good eaters you are, very adventurous. Matt just doesn't like mushrooms, and Ryan doesn't eat big hunks of meat in anything. Neither of you are crazy about onion.
- April 9: First sleepover ever at Nana and Papa's. Success! We just have to convince Nana to stop sleeping downstairs sitting up on the couch. She did enough of that when she was hurt. I know it makes you feel safer, though - and Nana too, since she worries about sleepwalker Ryan. ;)
- April 22: Hooray! Grandma and Grandpa are here to spend Easter with you! You guys stay over at their hotel.
- April 23: Double Blessings Easter egg hunt! Matthew didn't look like himself when he got back home before we left. I thought he felt a little feverish. You said you didn't want to go, Matty, but I convinced you ... and then right before the whistle blew, you burst into tears and said you didn't want to look for eggs. Bad mama me had you do it anyway. As soon as we were done, I said, "Wanna go home?" You said, "No, I want to play. So we stayed another hour. Why were you lying in the sun at the bottom of the slide? Why did you fall asleep on the very short car ride home? Why didn't you want lunch and just wanted to nap? ... oh, because you're running a temp of 104. My poor guy! :( You were unfortunately sick for the next week, so unlike you. The doctor said it was probably the flu. Ry, you started with the sickness the very next day, Easter morning, and it continued as long as Matt's did. Poor feverish babies with no appetites!

May 2011
- May 9: A preschool playground collision leaves a huge bruised bump on Ryan's head and loosens one of Matt's front teeth, as well as bruising all hell out of his gums. Poor guys!
- May 10: On a 95-degree day (seriously?!?!) Matt is stung by his second wasp of the year while walking home from the red park. Boo.
- May 13: ROAD TRIP to Champaign for Aunt Missy's graduations - master's and veterinary school. You guys were REALLY good through what were three loooong ceremonies. We had fun in the pool and got eat at lots of restaurants, which of course you love. ;)
June 2011: