Drunk baby walking

Matthew's new favorite past time- walking all over the house with Babci. (or mommy. or daddy. or whoever will walk him.) He looks a little like an old man after too many brewski's leaving the bar. But cuter.

Having fun

Matthew is having a great time hanging out with Babci this week! We drove to Portland (about 3 hour drive) to get her from the airport on Saturday. We should have been home that evening, however the weather did not cooperate with our plans. The snow was coming down, and while it wasn't a huge accumulation of snow, the roads were an absolute mess. They were very, very slippery with ice layers, and since it was dark out, we decided to stop at a hotel and stay the night. According to my husband, the roads were much better the next day. We still had to go slow and carefully though.

It has been a huge help having my mom here this week! All the little things that don't get done, and getting done! First off, I was finally able to go to the dentist. This should be an easy task, but as we still have no babysitters here, it's not. I have 3 cavities. Boo! I will go back Monday, while my mom is still here, to get them filled. Next, I got to use my Christmas present, a spa gift card, to relax, relax, relax! I got a facial and oh boy- it was great! Loved every second of it! I have been getting extra cleaning and organizing done with mom here to help with Matthew. My next project is the pantry and kitchen area.

A few weeks ago, I started taking Matthew to "Baby Boogie" at the local library. It is literally the only thing for babies in this town, and I'm so glad I found it!! He loves it. It meets once a week, Wednesday mornings- we will be heading out in about 45 minutes for today's group. Matthew is mesmerized by the other babies and toddlers and just sits there in amazement watching everyone. He is the youngest, and of course, littlest one there, but it is going to be great for him. It's also helping me meet some new people and that has been a relief as well. I went to lunch with another girl and her 11 month old last week, and it was just nice to get out for something like that.

Mike and I hope to have a "date" night sometime while Mom is here. I don't think we even remember what those are!

Matthew hanging n his chair while we eat dinner.

Matthew and his Babci

Daddy built a fort of pillows for him at the hotel. He wasn't too amused, but seemed content anyway.

Baby Mum Mums

I admit, not the most exciting post. Who wants to watch a baby silently eating his Baby Mum Mum? Well; I do! Here's a little video of Matthew trying to figure it out, and I'm pretty sure enjoying it in his own quiet way. This is his first "snack" and I'd say it went pretty well.

Ready for a walk on a chilly day.

Just hanging out being cute.

Football Sunday

Daddy gives him his first football.

He's so excited he drools.

Apparently this is what happens when daddy watches Matthew. Please note: not only is he letting the DOG LICK the baby's face, he also snaps a photo. Great.
A bit fuzzy, but it's a boy, his dog, his football, and the big game on in the background. I think the boys had a good time this Sunday.

It might be a bit big for him, but he'll figure it out.

Fun facts

We just got home from Matthew's 6 month well-child visit (ok, more like 6 1/2 months). Everything looks good for our little man. A few things-

- weight is 14 lbs, 14 oz. He continues to be our "little" guy, with his weight being around the 6th or 7th percentile. No problems with this as he is gaining steadily each visit.

-height is 25 1/2 inches. Hanging out in the 25th percentile.

-he's slightly behind on immunizations for many reasons. This meant he only got one oral and one shot today. I will have to take him to the health department again in the next few weeks for 2 more.

-his "ball" may be on the way down. Ok...back story..and yes, we do in jest call him our one-balled wonder... Matthew was born with one undescended testicle. This is not problematic for now. All along we've been told that the majority of boys with this issue have it descend to where it's supposed to be within the first 6 months. His is not there yet, but the pediatrician can now feel it and it seems to be making it's way in the right direction. If it's still pretty high at 9 months then they will do an ultrasound to find out specifically where it is. If it were to need "assistance" coming all the way down it's a minor procedure, but I doubt it'll get to that. (I suppose one day he's going to really hate me for right about his testicle on this blog...)

-his eating of solid foods is going very well. Basically, he loves it. We got the go ahead to start meats, so all that turkey I pureed after Christmas will be put to good use.

-the pediatrician was pretty darn pleased with his motor skills. He is apparently very steady when sitting up for someone of his age. Go Matthew! She also warned us that mobility will not be far behind.

-he still has no teeth. We're not even sure if there's any close. He acts like he's teething quite a bit and sometimes his gums feel different, but who knows. She couldn't get a good look at them because Matthew likes to hide his gums with his tongue anytime you try to sneak a peak.

-he's amazing! (ok, the doctor didn't say that. I made it up. But, he IS amazing.)

Some other fun tidbits from this week:
-the last few mornings when Matthew wakes up he has been doing the cutest thing. He scoots himself on his belly to the top of his crib and stares at the picture hanging on the wall of mommy and daddy. He smiles and laughs at it and it is unbelievably cute. He also lights up, smiling and getting excited if you walk over to the picture with him and point at "mommy", "daddy".

-Boss has started bringing Matthew her toys. She has a duck that she likes for us to throw and play fetch with. She has decided she'll bring it to Matthew for a game of fetch. Too bad he can't throw it yet. It is funny to see though.

-Matthew and I discovered (ok, Daddy told us about it), a nice little walking park in town. It is about 1 mile around the big loop, so we get a good walk in on nice days by doing 2-3 loops around. The fresh air is nice.

That's about all for this update! :-)

Hold on to your hearts.

I do recognize that perhaps those reading this don't have quite the same reaction I do. My heart seriously wants to explode when I see how stinking cute my kid is. I do not joke. These pictures are not for the weak at heart. And watch out. They get progressively cuter as you scroll down.

Yes, I'm biased. But really? Try to refute this.

Some new photos for a new year.

We always joke that Matthew doesn't like to cuddle with Daddy (Daddy's are for playing!) On this rare occasion, he sure did enjoy his cuddling. And we have a photo to prove it.

They really are best friends. Well, Boss is sort of indifferent about the friendship, but Matthew is all about that dog.
Whoa...I'm standing all by myself?!?!

"I really really can't believe I'm doing this!"

(Ok...mommy really really can't believe he's doing this! But I'm sure he was amused too.)

No, he did not pull himself up there. But when strategically placed in the standing position, he does a darn good job at staying up.

I hate peas.

It's that simple. Ok, maybe not simple. I'll eat a nice snow pea in a good veggie stir fry. I'm eat a raw sugar snap dipped in hummus (YUM!). But put a bowl of the green, round, stinky vegetable in front of me and my gag reflex kicks in. Big time. You can imagine steaming and then pureeing the things for my son to eat being pure, total, torture. But, in wanting to offer all kinds of foods to little food adict, I gave in and submitted to the hell on earth that is peas.

And guess what? He apparently also has a gag reflex that responds to just that same flavor. But for some reason he's ok with it if it's mixed with carrots, so in the end, my boy eats peas. And I am disgusted anytime I have to feed them to him.

See? Simple.

For my baby

Dear Matthew,

I absolutely cannot believe you are 6 months old today!! How fast you are growing up. It seems like just last week when you were snuggle-bugged up on my chest, curled in a tiny little ball, taking your very first nap at home. And now you nap and sleep all night in your big boy crib. There are so many exciting things that have happened in the last six months, I only hope and pray I remember every little bit of it. You have become quite the little traveller, flying on an airplane to Texas and then again to go to Connecticut to meet your GREAT dziadzieu. You learned to make noises, laugh and smile (which happens to melt my heart), roll over and sit up. In fact you LOVE sitting up. You are so content to sit up on your blanky and play with all your little toys. You started eating real foods, and loved every bit of it (well, you didn't love the green beans, but we're working on it still). You absolutely adore your dog, Boss. Anytime you are getting cranky or bored, if Boss comes around, you smile and stare at her. She does not enjoy it when you pull on her hair, but she just gets up and walks away. (She's even become a bit protective of you and comes to find mommy anytime you're crying and I'm in a different room!) Your favorite toys right now are your counting crab, your talking candy corn, and lots of little handheld rattles. You're starting to enjoy some of the bigger toys you got for Christmas, but seem to prefer the little ones still. You love to people watch whenever we go out, and people are always telling mommy and daddy how cute you are.

There's so many things that I want you to know about the first six months of your life too. Like, I wonder if you know that every single night I (and sometimes Daddy) sneak into your room before we go to bed and just stand there watching you sleep. You look so serene and peaceful and I amaze at this special little miracle that we made. I wonder if you'll remember that when I rock you to sleep at night, I hold you longer than I have to before I put you to bed, simply because it's so cozy there. You smell so sweet after your bath and you just cuddle so perfectly. I want you to remember how excited you are to see your daddy when he gets home from work each day. He puts his bag down and walks over to you with a "hi buddy!" and you smile so big back at him. Bath time...oh bath time! You LOVE to take a bath. When you hear that bath water running, and we take your clothes and diaper off and sing that silly little "naked baby" song to you, you start jumping, dancing and smiling because you know it's time for bath.

You have so many people who love you, Matthew, and they all love to watch you grow and learn. Six months ago you came into our lives, and now we simply couldn't imagine life without you.

Love,

Mommy

2009!!

Happy New Year!!! I went to bed at 8:45. My excuse is a child who woke me SEVEN times the night before, thus creating the walking zombie effect. I was, however, up at midnight. No, I did not STAY up until midnight, but the combined efforts of my child screaming, my dog barking, and the fireworks outside, managed to wake me. Guess they didn't want me to miss the excitement of midnight on New Years Eve. Oh the joys of motherhood!

Happy 6 months to my little sweetie pie!!!!!! Don't worry, I will get his 6 month picture sometime today, but for now, holy moly!! Look at the difference just 6 short months can make!