An unwelcome milestone...

Holy cow people...is it just me or is it HOT in here!?!?  All I know is that I want major snuggies and juice and mom and dad keep talking about something called a fever.   I mean here I was...days away from getting this walking thing down and BAM...sidelined.  This is not ok.
I spent the weekend with mom and dad at my big cousins college and I think all those boys have cooties!  It sure was fun though, it was my very first football game (on the outside anyway).  We didn't win..well, they didn't win, I kept getting passed from one pretty girl to another so I took home a big W!  But man am I paying for all that fun now, at least mommy got to stay home with me today...
So before the hots came on I was really having a lot of fun.  Im cruising along everything and standing up on my own and I've even tried taking a step once or twice.  Im feeling better about it everyday...soon I think I'll let go and see what happens!
I have had a few trips to the Dr. Man and as suspected, they think I'm awesome.  As of last nights impromptu visit I'm a whole 22 pounds!  I am also talking a lot.  Mom and Dad are still pretty slow to catch on but I don't know why they are having so much trouble, I mean I talk CONSTANTLY, so I'm giving them lots of chances to figure it out.  They have finally caught on that I can say "hi" so hopefully we are starting to have a break through.
I have a bunch of these things in my mouth now, I think they are called teeth, that make it really fun to bite stuff.  I tried them out on mom once but I don't think she was a fan, so now I stick to biting my "stuff" and not my people.  Apparently having all these teeth means that meal time gets a lot more interesting.  I pretty much eat anything mom makes (except green beans...blech).  Sometimes I make funny faces the first few times I try stuff (I really do it because it makes mom and dad laugh) but I usually warm up after a few bites.  Im a good eater.
Right now though I don't feel much like chewing I think I'm gonna go bang on momma until she makes me a bottle.  I'll write more when I'm feeling better.

Love,
Matthew 

Lovin the view from here!

I see mom finally got it together and updated this thing but I figured my version would be a lot more interesting so I wanted to share my take on all thats been going on around here.
Things have definitely changed for me in the last month or so.  I have gotten so much better at my plant arm-pull maneuver and my crawling I can really explore this place now, but just when I get good mom and dad try to trip me up!  All of a sudden I have these things on they call pants  and boy do they make it hard to crawl on these slippery floors!  And on top of that they put all my favorite toys together on a fun colorful mat and next thing I know Im trapped inside some big fence...but don't worry I almost have that escape worked out ;)  
Im able to grab on to just about everything now and stand up to see better.  Its a whole new world from up here! I can get to that big thing daddy always holds that makes the box on the wall play my movies in the morning, although they don't ever let me play with it.  I mean I don't get it, it lights up and has pictures like all my other toys I don't know why daddy wont share it with me. When I hang out with mom in the kitchen there is this big shinny thing I like to look at, there is always this baby in there staring back at me!  He's alway smiling at me so I smile back at him, mom thinks he's really funny too :)
I guess since I like to move around and climb all over everything so much at home mom and dad decided to take me to this really fun place called My Gym.  It has other babies my age and some big kids too but I get to crawl and explore and climb and they don't keep telling me to stop like they do at home!  I really like that part.
Dad and I have had lots of fun, he takes me on bike rides and we go to the park.  They have these big things there that make you feel like you are flying, I LOVE that,  it actually puts me to sleep! Daddy is my best buddy.
Well I guess we have to go, mom said something about Target and I LOVE that place, don't want her to leave without me!

Catch ya later,
Matthew

Time, she ain't no friend of mine...

Holy cow, so many developments and despite a full time work job and a full time home job I really have no good excuse for not updating this thing more often!   In fact I’m fairly certain as I was discussing this out loud with little man the other day somewhere in his adorable (and loud) baby gibberish I heard him mutter “slacker”.  Perhaps he and daddy have been working on his language skills while I’m gone  :/

Speaking of language skills this is just one of the many new additions to his bag of tricks.  We have finally moved from our B’s (Babababwbwba) on to A’s some T’s and of course D’s (read DADA) although he doesn’t realize what he’s saying yet, I’m encouraging it and pointing and hoping he will make the connection soon.  Still no Mama’s but that’s to be expected, for now I will happily settle for he huge grin and lunging reach I get from him when I get home at night!  He shows great vocal range, all they way from his ear piercing shrieking little girl impersonation (which of course he executes to perfection anytime we are in a public place, and all the better if it has excellent sound carrying properties) to this freaky “Damien-esk” growl (that unfortunately sounds exactly like the little kid from The Shinning when he chants “red rum”… uughguggh gives me the willies every time!)

His mobility has already reached the “batten down the hatches” stage too.  While he has been army crawling for close to two months he surprised us last week by actually bothering to put his knees under him and crawl!  We just sort of assumed he might skip it all together but as usual the only rules Matthew follows are his own ;)

So in addition to his own hybrid crawling style he has also begun standing for short periods all on his own.  We are dangerously close to a walking tornado!

The cabinet locks go on order today, as he has now realized these cool new doors open just like the ones on his activity table (good teaching leapfrog…thanks for nothing) and every surface has become a place to pull himself up to explore.  It is equal parts amazing and terrifying to watch this stage of advancement.  As I sat in his play yard with him a few days ago and he executed one of his stand up maneuvers from my lap I just grabbed him and hugged him and begged STOP STOP STOP (literally I said that out loud)…but isn’t that the challenge of parenthood?  They cant stop, and we, for as much as we might truly wish to freeze time, are supposed to encourage and enable them to GO GO GO…pride and pain, who would have ever suspected they could be such close cousins.

As the holidays approach we are so excited to see these new experiences through his eyes and I promise that we (either he or I cause at this rate he will be better than me on the computer by 10mos) will keep you updated. 

Lots of love, gotta go chase down the baby…

Lori Ann

Crusin

Boy have I been busy!  So much as happened since the last time we talked...sorry about that but I just haven't had a minute to spare!  So besides working on my two front teeth...owwwie by the way, I can now sit up on my own and I am scooting all over the place!  Mom and dad call it army crawling, I call it awesome!  There is so much cool stuff I haven't even seen in this place before.  I keep trying to reach out and check out all these new things but I keep hearing mom and dad say "no".  I don't know what that means yet so I just keep on doing what I'm doing, I'll plead ignorance as long as possible ;)  The big red thing in the living room, I think mom calls it a fireplace, is really interesting but they keep turning me around just as soon as I get to it.  But not to worry, if you don't remember from previous post, I'm pretty determined so I just spin myself back around and try try try again!  So in what I suspect is an effort to keep me "contained" I've been presented with my own car, photo attached, its pretty cool and the rents like it cause they always know where I am...gesh! Like I'm gonna cause trouble! 
Something else new and fun I've been doing lately is running with mom and dad.  Who knew my stroller could do that!  I sit in it differently now and I can't see mom anymore but I can see EVERYTHING else and it is great!  I love being outside so this is one of my favorite things to do.  I'm told I'm a great running buddy, as soon as mom slowed down the other day I piped up and told her to go faster!  I have a need for speed...well at least until I fall asleep.  Its very relaxing you know, all that fresh air.
So on the food front I have added peaches to my rotation and mom said something about trying out carrots today...sounds good to me.  One of my new favorite things is this cool feeder I can hold myself and mom and dad put good stuff in it for me to chew on.  Feels good on my gums too.  I have had banana this way and also something called sprite melon, that was really sweet and yummy! (came in our CSA basket).  
Well it's off to Danville this weekend, mom has to work on her teeth too with Uncle Jeff, so I gotta go pack.  Have a great weekend everyone!


Lots of love,
Matthew

Eat Fresh, Buy Local

Why, might you ask, would I have any interest in this topic, especially since I have been eating as "locally" as possible from the get go?  Well I will tell you...I have a few new tools available to me now, two of them to be exact, right in the bottom of my mouth!  Mom is calling these new additions teeth, Im just calling them weird, and ouchie.  It's been a busy week and a half getting these puppies here.  I had no idea what was happening but all I knew is that my mouth hurt pretty bad.  I mean I know how it hurts when my tummy is empty but this...well this was just ridiculous.  Daddy discovered that the first one had cut through last Monday and Ms. Barbara found the second one on Thursday.  They are still not up quite enough for mommy to try and get a picture for you but hopefully in another week or so they we will be good and photo ready.  Now that they are here, and mom got me some good stuff to make my gums hurt less, I don't mind them so much.  They are pretty interesting and I am keeping pretty busy exploring them.  So now I am fully expecting my food horizons to grow!  I have been eating oatmeal for the last week or so and I have to say, I like it quite a bit, but Im ready for more!
For the last 8 weeks or so, every Saturday morning, we have been going to the farmers market to pick up our CSA basket.   I don't know what that means and normally I fall asleep in the car so I cant tell you much about this farmers market either but I do know that it is full of yummy fruits and vegetables that are all grown locally and mommy and daddy say that they help our local farmers by buying them.  I'm just looking forward to eating them.  Mom has made me squash and she made me sweet potatoes this morning that hopefully I can try later today.  Yesterday she took me to a different farmers market down by the beach, this time I woke up and got to stroll around and see everything, we even bumped into Mrs. Kristy and Mr. Christian from mommy's birth class and I got to meet Chet!  He was in his mommy's tummy then too, hopefully we can see each other again soon and compare notes on our folks, see if he has any new tricks I might need to try...anyway mom was happy to see that the people from Full Quiver farm were there from Suffolk.  They specialize in all pasture raised pork and chicken and one thing mom's been talking about, pastured eggs.  These eggs are different because the chickens that make them feed only on grass, bugs and worms...or "normal natural" stuff...those things don't sound tasty to me at all but the eggs sure did look yummy when mom fixed them this morning.  She also bought some sausage from them that they had for breakfast.  Im sort of bummed just "looking" at all this good stuff but hopefully soon I will be able to eat it with them!
So besides my teeth work, which has been work believe me, I'm still busy rolling around like a log and spinning myself on my belly like a top.  Mom and dad say I'll be crawling in no time...but they don't sound very excited about this.  Im trying really hard.  I can get my knees under me and I can push way up on my arms but I can't quite seem to do both as the same time, but don't worry I'll keep practicing and I'll have it figured out in no time!  I also like to jump really high in my baby Einstein activity jumper.  I am very strong!  All that jumping is good practice cause now daddy can take my hands and I can pull right up on to my legs.  I like to stand way better than laying around, I can see so much more that way.  Im a busy guy, I like to see what's going on and make sure I'm not missing a minute of it!  Lots of life to live and lots more to learn, better get back to it!
Enjoy a few shots of mom and dad's breakfast today....
Love to all
Matthew

Farm Eggs from Full Quiver

Look at that nice yolk

This breakfast is brought to you by Hampton Roads VA!  Eggs and sausage from Full Quiver,  cantaloupe from our CSA basket and blueberries from Pungo blueberry farm! 

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas...

Well, I can't really speak about the apples yet, although they look great, but I can tell you I really enjoyed those bananas!  Mom mashed some up for me yesterday and left them for Dad to share with me at lunch…wow, so much better than that avocado thingy from last week, who’s idea was that!?!  I don’t know when I will get to have more of this tasty treat but if this is what the whole eating thing is about, sign me up!

On to other interesting news, I finally went to the beach this past weekend!  I've been patiently waiting to go back cause I remember how much I enjoyed it when I was still in mommy’s tummy.  It was a lot different than I remember but lots of things are different here on the outside.  The sun still felt nice and warm, I liked that part so much I took a nap while we were there…oddly it sounded a lot like my bedroom does at bed time…but the sand, well, that part was kind of funny.  Mom put my feet in it and it was squishy and soft and then my toes disappeared!  This alarmed me because I just found those toes and I really like to put them in my mouth, but luckily it was just for a minute because then some water came and uncovered them again.  But that water...that was another area I had my doubts about.  I mean I’m just standing there…well, being dangled there…and out of nowhere this wall of water is coming at me trying to take my feet away!  Then that sneaky water runs away!  But does it stay away? NOOOOO here it comes again, over and over with this silly game…finally mom and dad realized I was tired of playing with it and actually carried me out into it …this I liked much better…this felt more  like my big bathtub.

Today mom got to stay home with me from work, so we are having a play date with my buddy Colton at his pool, that's gonna be fun cause its gonna be hot hot hot around here.

Keep cool peeps, check ya soon!

Love

Matthew

Taste like....

Psssst...hey...did you all know there is stuff out there, besides toys and milk that is, that you can put in your mouth!?!  Well me either!  This is the sort of stuff I rely on you people for.  Mom and dad swear they are trying to tell me things and lately moms been waving her hands around a lot and talking about something called baby sign language but we are still working on the communication stuff.  But low and behold they sat me in my bumbo this weekend and put this long plastic thing in my mouth (I know its plastic cause its hard like my toys and its nice to chew on) but something was wrong.  There was stuff at the end of it that felt sort of funny on my tongue.  It tasted different that anything I've had too.  Mom called is avocado...help here guys, I have no idea what an avocado is!  I mean I feel pretty sure that she wasn't trying to hurt me, I haven't figured it all out yet but I do know that she loves me and is crazy about me, obviously, so what else could be the motivation for this?  But as usual Im a good boy so I played along with their weird new game (I figure its a game cause daddy had out his fun camera he takes on our bike rides).  So the first few taste were...interesting.  I gave it a fair chance (i have photographic proof Im making mom post) but...after a few bites I'd had enough.  Ill stick to the milk for now thank you very much!