Matthew's First Trip to the Dentist

Our first day of summer break started off with a trip to the dentist. Tyler was scheduled for his 6 month check-up and cleaning so we went ahead and took Matthew for his first visit to the dentist. Both boys were so good! Matthew laid down on the chair and opened his mouth for the hygienist to look at his teeth and even clean them with the little "tickler". Tyler jumped right up in the chair beside Matthew and served as a good example for little brother to see. They cleaned the boys teeth at the same time so I was nervous not being able to stand beside Tyler like I always had but Tyler didn't mind a bit. I guess my little boy is growing up faster than I thought!
Here are both boys after their visit playing at the dentist's office. Tyler was too busy playing to smile, but Matthew is showing off his freshly cleaned mouth full of teeth!

Matt

That's what he's called a lot these days. It seems that Tyler has turned in to Ty and Matthew has turned in to Matt. Not all the time, of course, but I find myself calling them Ty and Matt more and more. So here's what's been going on with "Matt"...

We kicked the bottle habit! What a dirt kid in the picture below in his stained up shorts and Alabama tee, but I couldn't resist posting this picture of my 14 month old child laying on the chair in his room drinking his "ba-ba". He absolutely loved his bottle so it wasn't an easy task transitioning from the bottle to the sippy cup full time, but we made it about a month ago. Now, instead of downing a bottle every morning, he downs a sippy cup of Next Step formula just like it was a bottle. We still haven't made it to whole milk...he hates it...so that will be our first battle of the summer.

Although he doesn't like milk, Matthew loves almost anything else to eat and boy does he eat! I think he would eat all day if we would let him. His favorite thing to eat right now is a "nana" (AKA a banana). When you ask him if he wants to eat, he gets all excited and goes to his highchair. He requests to eat by saying "bite" or "nack" (for snack) or "wa-wa" (for water). He always wants whatever we are eating even if he has the same thing on his tray. I guess ours looks better not all cut up in to small pieces!

Matthew loves to be outside. He likes to swing, but he also likes to just roam. He gets in to anything and everything! He likes to follow his big brother around and try to do what he's doing. For now, Tyler's pretty sweet and let's Matthew join in. We'll see how long that lasts. Matthew will enjoy the summer, spending our days outside playing!

Matthew's First Christmas

As you know, Matthew spent his first Christmas sick. We woke him up Christmas morning for him to see what Santa brought. Here it is before Tyler helped him open his presents...
And here are his presents after they were opened. Tyler was excited to see that Matthew got a Laugh and Learn Kitchen and his very own Curious George just like him!
This Christmas Matthew was more interested in playing with the ribbons on the presents and chewing on the presents than actually opening or playing with them. I guess that's what you would expect from a 10.5 month old little boy! As I wrote with Tyler, here is a quick list of unforgettables for Matthew's first Christmas:

1. Runny nose and droopy eyes throughout the Christmas holidays.

2. Throwing up on me 4 times at various Christmas functions.

3. Chewing on the boxes under our tree and playing with the ribbons on the gifts.

4. Sitting and playing quietly in our laps during the Christmas Eve church service.

5. Still smiling although he was sick. What a sweet baby!

Hopefully next year he will be well and able to enjoy the Christmas season.

Look Who's Crawling

Matthew finally started crawling on November 15th, close to 9 1/2 months old. I was beginning to wonder if he would ever crawl. Tyler started crawling just before he was 8 months old so, of course, I thought Matthew should follow the same track. I'm not sure why I was rushing the whole crawling thing. Life was much easier when Matthew would sit on the floor and play with his toys...he couldn't crawl out of the room or try to get his big brother's toys! Crawling has also made picture taking a lot more difficult. As soon as you set him down, he wants to crawl away, especially when I'm trying to take a picture of both boys together. Here's a few pictures of our Thanksgiving photo attempts...
Finally, I opted for separate Thanksgiving pictures, however I could get them...standing in Daddy's lap, laying in the driveway, whatever!
We had a great Thanksgiving, as I hope everyone else did. Now, we're looking forward to spending our day tomorrow watching the Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa. Roll Tide!

Long Overdue Update

Wow...we've been so busy lately. Between school, football games, and getting ready for a certain little boy to turn 4, I haven't had a chance to update the blog. Here's what's been going on with us over the past couple of weeks...

Tyler is saying goodbye to 3 with a bang! The past few weeks or so, he went through a time period of constant fit pitching. Last Sunday, after we picked him up from his classroom at church and the teacher told us to try decaff next Sunday, we cut way back on his sugar intake! With football season and being gone most weekends, we realized just how much sugar he was eating. I prayed the sugar thing would work and, so far, it's been a success! He can have one "sugar item" per day and he's very choosy with what he eats. He loves peppermints so I told him he could have one after lunch today at a restaurant. He told me didn't want it because he was saving his sugar for a piece of candy at home. At least he's learning! We also started another sticker chart for good behavior. After 7 stickers, he earns a quarter from Daddy. He wanted an Alabama football sticker chart, so, as you can see, that's what he got! I just pray it continues working!

Future Football Players???

Matthew turned 8 months old last Monday. He is in the process of cutting his top two front teeth. The child cannot cut one tooth at a time! So far, he has 4 teeth. He is trying to figure out how to move around. This afternoon, I sat him on the floor with some toys and he managed to scoot on his bottom a few feet to reach Tyler's toys on the shelf. I have been dreading the day Matthew becomes mobile because Tyler has so many toys with small pieces and they have to be out of Matthew's reach. After Matthew's scooting maneuver today, I spent the rest of the afternoon putting up baby gear, rearranging toys, and moving toys with small pieces to Tyler's room. It was time well spent because we made room for Tyler's birthday toys, too! Although Matthew continues to be a very laid back baby, I have a feeling he'll be crawling in the next few weeks. He wants his toys!Look for another post soon about Tyler's birthday party this weekend. He had a blast! Have a great week!

Off To A Better Start

This week is definitely off to a better start. School is going good and the boys are great. Last week Tyler moved to his new classroom at school and he is enjoying his new teachers and his new room. For the past two years when he has moved up to the next classroom we have had a rough start to the school year. He likes to test his new teachers and see what they will put up with. This year has been no exception. Last week he, along with a few of his school buddies, made two visits to the office. We haven't had any office visits this week so hopefully he has learned that his teachers will not tolerate any misbehavior. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! On a more positive note, Tyler is ready for football season to begin. He and Jason talk football all the time and play football outside. I think this is a favorite time of the year for both of them. The picture below is of Tyler playing football tonight. As you can see, he is in need of a haircut yet again.
Matthew is 6 months old and is in the process of cutting two of his bottom teeth. He is a constant drooler these days and wants to put everything in his mouth. He went to the doctor for his 6 month check up last week and he is doing great. He weighed 16 pounds, 12 ounces putting him in the 50th percentile for weight. He measured 28 inches long which is in the 90th percentile in height. Matthew is enjoying spending his days with Grandad, MawMaw, and Granna since I have gone back to work. He was supposed to start daycare last week but fortunately everything worked out so that he won't have to start until after Christmas. This is a huge blessing to me as are our wonderful family members who keep him during the day. I love the fact that he is able to spend time with his grandparents and great-grandparent while we're not home during the day. I know he will be rotten by the time Christmas rolls around (as if he's not rotten already!). Here is a picture of Matthew at bath time last night. The boy loves playing in the water and splashing like a wild man! It's nice to be feeling normal again. Life is good and I'm so blessed to have a wonderful husband and two beautiful boys along with the family and friends we love.

Growing Up

Matthew is growing up right before our eyes...He is now eating baby food and we've yet to find a food he doesn't like. So far he's eaten squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, pears, applesauce, bananas, prunes, and oatmeal cereal. I have to limit the amount of solids he eats because he won't take his bottles if he eats too much. He drinks four 6-ounce bottles each day and eats solids for breakfast and dinner.

He is also taking baths in the big bathtub now and Tyler loves it! Tyler came in early from playing outside last night because he wanted to take a bath with Matthew. Matthew's not too sure about Tyler splashing around but he does like playing with the bath toys.Matthew continues to be a great baby! He sleeps all night and wakes up talking in the morning. He smiles all the time and is very content. What a blessing both boys are in our lives!

Matthew's 1st Swim!

Matthew took his first dip in the pool last week at a friend's house. He only lasted long enough for me to snap a few pictures, but he loved laying on a towel in the shade. He took a good nap in the shade while Tyler, Aunt Jana, and me played in the pool. What a sweet baby and big brother we have been blessed with!

Do you know why this baby is so happy?

Matthew slept for 8 hours straight last night and he's taken 2 wonderful naps today...one 2 1/2 hour nap and one 2 hour nap. You know I like schedules and this baby definitely needs to get on some sort of sleep routine. I hope we have more days like today. He is always a very happy baby but today he didn't even fuss when he was tired. If only I could say the same for Tyler today. After a day full of playing with Jeb at the zoo, Tyler did not take a nap. He actually laid in his bed for 2 hours and did not go to sleep. Someone is going to bed early tonight! And hopefully Matthew will sleep all night again. My fingers are crossed!

Matthew's First Cereal...A Little Early!

Matthew is not quite 4 months old yet (the youngest my doctor recommends giving babies cereal) but he is close enough! He sits at the table in his high chair with us while we eat dinner and he has started making chewing motions. He watches every bite of food we put in our mouths and fusses like he wants something to eat even though he has just finished a feeding. We gave him some cereal the other night after we ate dinner and he loved it! He has yet to drop a feeding but hopefully soon he will drop his early morning feeding (2:30-3:30 am) once he eats cereal consistently during the day. I guess we'll wait and see!

Tot Ball and Smiles!

I LOVE reading other people's blogs and keeping up with what's going on in their lives, so I've decided to begin a blog to keep our friends and family up to date on what's going on with our two precious boys. My plan is to make at least one post each week. We'll see what happens there, especially when I go back to work in just two weeks! As you can see from the title above, our weeks are filled with tot ball and smiles...

Tyler is playing Tot Ball, a coed t-ball league for 3 and 4 year olds. He likes playing but I think he enjoys putting on a show for his audience even more! Last week, he received the game ball because he hit a homerun and made an out at first base. He was so excited to be given the ball and hasn't stopped talking about it. He's still rooting for his buddy Jeb to get the next game ball!

Matthew is 10 weeks old today and is growing bigger each day. When we went for his 8 week check-up, he already weighed 13 pounds. He is such a good baby and loves to smile and "talk". The first picture above is after his baby dedication on Sunday, April 6. Matthew enjoyed sharing his church with our family that day even though it took many of you a long time to get out of the parking lot! Next time we'll share an easier place to park with you! The second picture is of Matthew's first real bath. His cord stump finally fell off last week. He has had 9 weeks of sponge baths but is finally enjoying his bathtub!

I hope you enjoy Blogging with the Blakes. Let's see if I can actually keep up with it amid our busy schedules!