Matthew at 15 Months

Weight: 26 lbs 6 oz (91st percentile)

Height: 2' 9" (97th percentile)

Head size: 47.9 cm (79th percentile)

What he can do: Walk! He was a bit slow to join that party, and really only in the past week has he become proficient.

He has one puzzle piece to one particular puzzle that he can do (a round sun), which he enjoys doing over and over again with great yelling and cheering for himself.

He can climb things (floor to chair, chair to table, table to kitchen counter... you know)

Although he loves his soft monkey and pacifier, we confine these things for use in his crib only. It's interesting because we used to literally wrestle them out of his hands after a nap, but now he's well trained. The instant he's picked up, he removes them himself and throws them back in. It's a funny auto-response now. Even when you pick him up from a dead sleep, he does this without being fully awake.

What he likes: He loves being tossed around and rough housing. He really comes to life when Mitch wrestles around with him. All boy?

He likes cleaning up, and takes it upon himself to gather every item on his bedroom floor each morning and deposit them in the laundry hamper. This includes pretty much everything BUT laundry.

Oh yeah. He also has an "insane" love for animals. I say that because none of the rest of us are big animal people, so we just don't get it or know where that comes from. When Matthew sees animals, he pretty much goes crazy giggling, following them around, trying to touch and hug them, etc. Thankfully our friends have very nice kid-adjusted pets who are patient with him.

Other information: He is a phenomenal sleeper. The kids sleeps 12+ hours at night (8-8:30), and takes 1-2 naps. I wake him up from both naps to keep him on schedule, but he still logs a minimum of 4 hours of naps each day. It's awesome!

In fact, his stellar sleeping schedule has allowed me to pursue another, more demanding blog. Check it out at www.embracingasimplerlife.com

Matthew with his sister and cousin during our recent Branson family vacation. We even got matching family shirts! 

Big Boy Matthew

I can hardly believe what a big boy my little Matthew has become!

He's 15 months old today, and already he's doing and wanting to do so many big boy things.

I think these are all impressive "abilities" for this age. He's doing things like:

• eating corn on the cob (which he insists on)
• feeding himself with a spoon (which he insists on)
• drinking from a real cup (which he insists on)
• climbing up on a kids chair to see what I'm doing in the kitchen (which he insists on)
• going up stairs and down the slide all by himself on the park toddler structure

Notice any common thread? Our Matthew has his own ideas about life, that's for sure. He's the independent type.

He's also a man of few words.

While he doesn't talk much, he knows how to nod yes (saying "yeah") or shake his head no. He appears to understand pretty much of what we say to him, and uses his yes and no powers to communicate with us. So mom and dad are staying busy asking lots of yes-or-no questions and trying to out guess his needs. :)

In other words, he's into efficiency. Why expend more than minimum effort? Why not watch mom and dad run around until they figure out what he wants? Good questions.

But don't worry, he will not hesitate to defend himself against big sister. If he has any problem whatsoever with her he is more than happy to let us know with excessive yelling, screaming and crying.

He especially does not appreciate when she touches his cozy coupe.

This brooding face cracks me up. We love our Matthew!

Matthew's One!

Height: 2'7" (91st percentile)

Weight: 23 lbs 10 oz (83rd percentile)

Head circumference: 48cm (77th percentile)

What he can do: Pull up, cruise, walk while holding our hands, balance while standing by himself for a moment or two, climb stairs, speed crawl, manage his own sippy cup, say da-da, ma-ma, "more" and uh-oh, although da-da is his favorite. He can nod yes and no, throw and hit a ball around, put two blocks together, and mimic us (try to drink my coffee, pound with his play hammer, etc.)

What he likes: He loves dogs, splashing in water, our toy golf set, bananas, biscuits and gravy (he even rummaged a few stray pieces out of his bib), and having his belly eaten. Watching other people have fun really tickles him.

Other information:
His #1 source of tantrums is when I close the dishwasher while he's busily trying to play in it. He does not appreciate that at all.

I've decided he's into efficiency. He's not going to exert needless energy. He chooses the least strenuous approach to everything. He wouldn't even hold his own cup for the longest time, because he knew he could just whimper and I'd hold it for him like a bottle-fed calf. He didn't even think about crawling or rolling until he was good and ready at 9 months, after which time he easily and quickly mastered both. We've been teaching him baby sign language, which he seems to have no use for. He will, however, attempt to say the words we're trying to get him to sign, because of course that requires far less effort.

He's an observer. He's a giggler. He's my little boy. He's so fun.

He does have some opinions.

Organize and Reorganize

Our little Clara is QUITE the organizer. She loves to play with lots of pieces that can be organized and reorganized, sorted and categorized. Over and over again. This is a huge part of her life and play.

It's nice because when she gets an idea, she will play quietly by herself, totally focused, until that task is complete. She doesn't want help or attention; she's fully motivated by the end result she seeks.

Mitch is the organized type. Me, not so much. Thankfully I've come a long way, but I definitely hope Clara will continue to take after her father in this way.

I really do see and believe that a "more-organized" life is a "higher-quality" life.

Matthew at 9 Months

Cuteness.

 Height: 2' 6" (92nd percentile)

Weight: 22 lbs 2 oz (84th percentile)

Head size: 48.3 cm (99th percentile)

He's officially bigger and taller than Clara was at the same age, about which I'm pleased. Our kids definitely got the tall gene, and it didn't come from me!

What he can do: Well, upon turning 9 months, he wasn't doing much at all in terms of moving. But after passing that mile marker, he decided he was ready to go! And since he was good and ready, he proceeded to hit several milestones in quick succession, which was thrilling but left me saying a resounding "WHAT?!"

You see, in my mind Matthew wasn't supposed to crawl before walking, and not walk until about 14+ months. He was my chill, content, relaxed, still-natured, easy baby. He sat where I put him and played with the toys in his reach, which I was QUITE okay with. Easy, relaxing, calm.

Now suddenly, all at once, he's sitting himself up, rolling over (he had never rolled off his back before 9 months), lunging onto his belly, CRAWLING (up to five steps), pulling up to his knees, play while standing, and scooting backwards all over the place, including under couches, beds and chairs where he disappears totally and gets rather mad.

In addition to that he's now yelling, making noises, screaming excited screams, eating table food, drinking from a sippy cup (with a little help), clapping, giving a high five on command, and babbling on command... all more or less new in the last 3 weeks.

Self feeding! It makes life a little easier & messier.

What he likes: Sleeping, ice cream, sausage, swinging, sharing experiences with Clara (they laugh and giggle together... ahhh! so cute!), Itsy Bitsy Spider, music, exploring new things, and being tossed around.

Sleep: He goes down easily and either wakes up at 5 to nurse or sleeps straight through and gets up at 7 for the day. He naps twice, and I often wake him up after 2-3 hours of sleep to keep him on schedule. He loves to nap!

Other information: Matthew is his own man. He's a unique little guy, such a boy and yet so sweet. I see his boy-ness come out in the bath tub. When I put him in he splashes and squeals like crazy until I take him out. I'm wet, the floor is wet, it's a mess. Clara never did that. She was much more likely to sit with her toys, turning them over carefully in her hands.

I love seeing their differences. :) Matthew, Matthew, what a guy. Oh how I love him.

Ha ha! He does have some opinions. He makes this face well before making any sounds though. SO funny.

Little Orator

Clara is turning in to quite the little orator.

From the back seat of the car we hear, "Talk to me! Mom. Dad. Will you please talk to me?" almost any time we drive. It's rather difficult to get a quality conversation in, because Clara is in the back seat dying to be involved most of the time.

Besides that, I pretty much have no need to say anything anymore. Clara knows the script for everything we do, and she's happy to say everyone's lines.

For example: "Mom, I pooped in my pants... That's ok! But we do not poop in our pants. You have to poop on the potty. Let's get the wipes. I have to clean you up. Ok!" (Meanwhile I'm silently fuming and glad she's filled in my script with gracious words because I'm feeling frustrated at present moment.)

Her latest "game" is one where she gathers everyone together in the living room and then stands on the ottoman and "talks to us." With lots of smacking sounds, she proceeds to inform us that she will be telling a Bible story, although she rarely gets to the actual story but instead has more fun repeatedly emphasizing and checking to make sure we know our job is to listen to her. Or she just sings "Baa, Baa Black Sheep."

Her speech is above average for her age. She puts together sentences in a thorough manner. This weekend while driving home from church, she piped up, "My dad is very special to me." It was sweet and surprising. I didn't know she could put that thought together on her own. It still makes me chuckle.

Instead of saying a simple "thank you," she prefers, "Mom, thank you for getting me my pink coconut socks" (aka: polka dot socks).

She's also memorized three Bible verses. Not to mention about 87 Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, a favorite book of hers.

She's good company. We have fun. :)  Clara brings much joy and conversation into my daily life, which I love!

Silliness

Peas

Matthew is not a fan of the green stuff. Vegetables that is.

Our pediatrician laughed when I told her of his faces when first introduced to peas and encouraged me to try them 12 times before drawing any conclusions.

Well, I haven't counted, but I think we're nearing 12, and he is cracking me up with his well-established opinion on the issue. Same goes for green beans.

Today as I was attempting to shovel some in his mouth, not only was he using his growing coordination to block and push the spoon away, but he was also pinching his mouth closed and pursing his lips. Of the few spoonfuls I got in there, I think more came out than went down, and he repeated shuddered throughout the process. Hilarious.

But he never made a peep. He makes his opinions known, but does so in true Matthew fashion: quite, calm, pleasant, and relaxed.

Matthew at 7.5 Months

Height: 28"

Weight: 20 lbs

What he can do: Play peekaboo by pulling a blanket over his head and then bringing it down, roll from front to back consistently, buzz his lips as spit flies everywhere (future trumpet player?), and make his opinions known.

What he likes: Sweets! His favorite is the sugary infant Tylenol that I gave him during a recent fever and teething, but he'll also take any fruit as a second choice and sweet potatoes as a third option. He is not a fan of green beans or peas. He loves being talked to, the remote, and being thrown around. He also loves strings (like those attached to a hoodie).

Sleep: Very sketchy and inconsistent. It's not often that he will sleep through the night, that's for sure. His two new bottom teeth may account for this somewhat.

Other information: From what we can tell, he's done with the bottle. I'm okay with that though since I don't have any need to be away from him in the near future, and he's doing great with solids.

He's just the sweetest little guy. He has the puppy dog eyes and little grin to make your heart melt. Sweet, sweet, sweet. And he's a cuddler too. Matthew is good for the soul.