One Year Old!

I can't believe that a year has gone by. It has been the best year. Matthew has grown and become such a fun, smart little boy. He has learned so much. I love watching him do everything...play, eat, and ,I know it sounds creepy, but I love watching him sleep too.
He loves playing. He has so many toys and loves them all. I watch his big cousin Ryan two days a week and it is amazing. Not only do I get to spend time with Ryan, but Matthew is learning so fast from watching him too. They don't really play together but they fight over the same toys. They will eventually and hopefully become best buddies!
He still loves to eat everything! He is such a good eater. I love making him meals and seeing how much he likes them. He still lets me know if there is something he doesn't like, but that doesn't happen too often.
All in all, he is a good sleeper. He gets very cuddly when he is ready for bed. We have the same bedtime routine and he loves it. He has an elephant lovey that stays in his crib. He cuddles with it and goes right to sleep.
We are working on weaning him and starting whole milk. It is a lot harder than people think. I give him milk once during the day, nurse him in the morning and night, and every drink in between is water with a little bit of apple juice. When he drinks the milk, if he does, he lets it drip out of his mouth and onto his shirt. I hope that he starts to like it soon. Otherwise, I will be wasting a lot of milk.
We had one of his birthday parties last weekend and it was a blast! He had so much fun. We have two more! I put some pictures up after all three. We had pictures taken and they turned out so well! He loves the camera. He's our little ham!
I really don't know what I would do without him. He is teaching me so much about myself, from little things like fruit isn't so bad to bigger things like having more patience. I can't imagine life without him.

11 Months!

Holy smokes! In one short month, our baby will be 1! He is the sweetest boy ever! The only time he gets fussy is if he is tired or he is teething. He has a tooth coming in now (which will make 7!) and he wakes up a bit earlier and is a little more of a Momma's boy. We give him some Baby Advil and some cuddles and he is all better! They come in fast too which helps.

He loves to walk while holding our hands. He will walk holding onto furniture too but he is limited so he would rather crawl. He loves to play with the dogs' cages. He holds onto the sides and does a little dance. Everything he does is so cute.

He is a terrific sleeper at night. We have a bedtime routine. He eats dinner and gets a bath. We put his pjs on and he gets to play for a while. When he is sleepy, around 8pm, I take him upstairs. I read him his bedtime story while I nurse him. I give him a kiss and say "night, night, i love you". He rolls and wiggles for a bit until he is comfortable and goes to sleep. He is not good at taking naps. I try to put him in the crib and he just screams until his face is red and he is sweaty. The only way he will sleep during the day is if he is riding in the car or in my arms. I don't get to do very much during his naps.

He loves to eat. He would probably eat all day if we let him. He will eat almost anything. He is starting to get a little picky. If he doesn't want something, he will just throw it off the highchair tray. I(the dogs love this!) His favorites are still pancakes, blueberry waffles, chicken nuggets, bananas, applesauce, and sweet potatoes. He loves cookies too. It's sad but he knows what the Nilla Wafers box looks like and crawls as fast as he can to you if you have it.

I can't believe we are planning his birthday parties (yes, parties...he's having 3!).

We love this little boy so much! I can't wait to see what he is doing next month!!



10 Months!

I am so in love with this little boy! Robert and I tell him ALL the time! I could kiss him all day long!
He is such a busy boy now. He crawls and pulls himself up on everything...doors, walls, couches, legs...everything. Sometimes he successfully sits down and other times, he does a flying leap backward. Maybe he thinks someone is always behind him, but it's not always the case. He can scoot himself around the coffee table and along the couch. There have been a couple of times where he has been standing and has let go and stayed standing for a couple of seconds all by himself. He loves books. He will sit and let you read and he turns the pages. He needs a little help still but he thinks he such a big shot.
This boy is an eating maniac! Almost anything you put in front of him, he will eat. He loves almost everything. He has two more teeth now, total of 6. I think there are more coming but he really does not want me in his mouth so it's hard to tell.
He is getting so big. We had to start thinking about what to do for his birthday already! Time is just going by so fast. He smiles all the time, he is such a good boy. He is starting to "talk" more now. We will say
"Matthew, say 'dada'"  and he says
"dadalalablahda"
It's so cute and I can't wait to hear his little voice say other things!
It's been so great living closer to family. He is getting used to having other people around and I am loving it! Robert has been working really long hours but the weekends are so much fun! Hopefully we will sell our house and be able to start looking for our own.
I can't wait to see what Matthew will be doing these next couple of months. He does something new every day, it's hard to remember what he wasn't doing before!



9 Months!

Holy smokes! Another month has gone by so fast! He started to crawl on December 1st and started pulling himself up on everything a couple of days later. Now I can't turn my back on him for even a second. He is getting so big and is such a happy baby. I can't believe that he will be one in 3 months! I am so excited to celebrate our first Christmas together! I can't wait until he opens all of his presents!
Robert was transferred to Bedford Park right after Thanksgiving and we are staying with his parents until our house sells and we find a house in this area. I am so grateful and they are wonderful! Both of our families are thrilled that we are living closer. This little boy is growing so fast, they would be missing so much.
I am still breastfeeding him. No one told me that it would be hard for me to give it up too. To wean him now and start to give him formula just seems silly since in 3 months he will be able to drink whole milk. I can still do it, so I am going to. I hope that it will help since he isn't drinking bottles, he might be able to just start using sippy cups and I won't have to wean him of that too. He is getting better at using his sippy cup. He likes to drop it off the side of his chair. I am making his food too. He loves to eat but certain textures he doesn't care for yet. His favorite is applesauce and a chicken recipe I found. I love staying home with him everyday. There are days, I'll be honest, that I wish I could leave for a little bit but then he smiles at me or pulls himself up on my lap and "kisses" me and I remember why I am so grateful that I can stay home. There is always something to do or somewhere to go, I am busy but I love it.
I can't wait to see what he will do in the next month. Such a busy baby now but so much fun!

8 Months!

Time is just flying by! A lot has happened in the past month. Matthew has 3 teeth now! He has one top tooth and one more trying to come in any day now. He is so much more curious and loves to watch April! He also loves babies. Any baby really. When we were in Florida, he was getting a little fussy so Robert was walking around with him. He walked by the Pampers diaper box and Matthew just stopped and started smiling. There is always a picture of a baby and he just loves pictures. It can be any baby now. Pictures online, magazines, dolls, just about anywhere.
He is almost crawling now. I feel like I've been saying that for a long time now but he is really close. He gets up on all fours and moves both of his knees. He will stop for a minute and then belly flop. When he wants to get somewhere, he will do that really fast and it almost looks like he is doing the worm.
He loves to eat. He will eat from a spoon and puffs or cheerios with his fingers. I'm going to start giving him more finger foods and experiment with different foods and textures. I love making him food and it is making me realize how much I like different foods. I have never really eaten butternut squash, sweet potatoes or any fruits.
I can't imagine my life without him. I have never been happier! I used to worry about things that don't matter so much to me anymore. I love him soooo much!

7 Months!

Wow! Okay, that last month went by in the blink of an eye! It seems like I just updated!
I cannot believe he is 7 months old! He is working on crawling. He will push himself up and then scoot a little and kick his legs as fast as he can. Sometimes, he will roll and then scoot a little on his side and roll again until he is somewhat where he wants to be. I want him to be able to crawl but I know I should just enjoy the time. I can put him down and go get a cup of coffee and come back and he is right where I left him. That won't be the case once he starts crawling, or ever again.
This past week has been really tough. I'm almost certain he has six teeth trying to come in right now, four on the top and two on the bottom on either side of the two that are already in. His mouth is swollen and he is just not happy. For everyone that knows him, he wouldn't eat for two days! That should prove something!! He has not taken a decent nap in a while and wakes up several times during the night. When his bottom two came in, this phase only lasted a week so I'm hoping that they pop through soon and I can have my happy baby back.
Robert and I don't have much time alone so we took an opportunity to go to the zoo in Bloomington. It was so nice to walk around with Robert and watch Matthew notice certain animals. I am excited for when we can take him and he can enjoy it more. There is so much I want to show him!
We have been trying solid foods now and he loves to eat! We have tried sweet potato, carrots, peas, applesause, bananas and avacado. The only thing he didn't care for was the avacado. He has something to help him eat more independently. It is a mesh sack that prevents him from getting bites that are too big for him. I put a small piece of banana in it and he is satisfied for quite a while. He loves it, and loves banana!
We are getting ready for Halloween. He has his costume already (actually since last year when I was still pregnant!) and we will probably go and get our pumpkins soon. I love this time of year!

(this was an old picture that never made it, until now)

Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington

These birds seemed very interested in Matthew

Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington

I was more afraid than Matthew!

Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington

Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington

Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington

Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington

6 Months!

6 months already! I just can't believe it! It didn't seem like it was going fast but now it does! Especially since in the next 6 months, we will be doing a lot more...learning to crawl and walk and eating new foods. Very exciting!
He's such a big boy but still such a baby. He can sit by himself now. He's still a little wobbly but he's getting it. He can push himself up almost on all fours but it doesn't last long. With a little more practice, he'll be crawling in no time! We are giving him a sippy cup and solids now. Those are still more of a pain than a help. I thought that I would have a little more freedom once he started solids and I think that comes a little later because right now it's a mess! We have tried bananas and sweet potatoes so far, and he really likes bananas. I'm also trying to get him on a schedule. Up until now, I've been trying to let him tell me when he is hungry and tired. He was almost on a schedule anyways but enforcing it is a little easier said than done. He is very strong-willed. Even the doctor said so. That's not good for us.
A couple of weeks ago, we were in Destin, Florida. I was standing up in a wedding and we thought it would be easier if we had someone to watch Matthew. I asked mom and dad if they would be available and they said yes without hesitation. We were already talking about going on another family vacation so we chose Florida! Richard, Teresa, Joe and Ryan all came too. It was really amazing! We went to the beach every morning and when it was time for the boys to take their naps, we sat by the pool, most of the time with margaritas! :) It was perfect. We couldn't have asked for better weather and better company! Thank you mom and dad!!

adjusting his mirrors in his jeep

rolling over during changing, he will hate me for this picture!

trying to crawl!