1 year doctor visit

Matthew had his 1-year doctor visit on April 1st.  His stats are the following:

weight:  21 lbs 7 oz , 30%

height: 28 1/4 inches, 15%

head circumference:  18 5/8 85%

He had 3 shots:  chicken pox, mmr, and a few others.  He didn't have any reactions to the vaccines. 

In other news, Matthew loves to climb.  We still need to baby-proof our home and sometimes he crawls over to the stairs to climb them.  There are about 14 steps and he can climb to the top.  He takes pride in climbing and yells with excitement as he is going up the steps.  We are amazed that he has the strength to make it up.  

He also likes to climb on the sofa or on you.  He just doesn't sit still like he used to.  He likes to walk (almost run) and hold on to the push toys.  He will be walking soon.

Happy 1st Birthday

Today was Matthew's day. We had a small celebration with mostly family and neighbors at our house. It was good to do this in a way because we needed to fix a few things around the house and this party gave us the motivation to clean up the house and finish decorating rooms, etc. Grammy Mary K came down from Michigan to help us prepare and celebrate. She helped hang picture frames and put together goody bags for the kids. We put her to work!

We had a baseball theme and we served hamburgers, hotdogs, pretzels, cracker jacks, and cupcakes. We sang Happy Birthday to Matthew and he dug into the cupcake. He liked it. Most of the kids at the party were around his same age. He was having fun playing with everyone. He particularly enjoyed opening the new toys.

The birth story

It is hard to believe that it is only 1 year because it seems like much longer. But today marks the day when Matthew was born and entered our lives. He brings us so much joy.

I remember the story - he was 2 weeks late and I was so ready for him to be born. I went to the doctor on Thursday, March 27th 2008 and I was dilating but the baby was still too high. My parents, Andy, and I went out to eat at Pappadeaux's and then we went to bed somewhat early. The next morning I started feeling contractions and since I was dilated to a 5 we calmly took our time getting ready to go to the hospital. The contractions were getting more painful as we approached the hospital. When I showed up at 8:45am, I was dilated to a 7. This was unheard of for first time moms. They checked me into a room and I was in a lot of pain with the contractions until the anesthiologist showed up - Sweet Jesus, Thank the Lord for drugs. Matthew's head was transitional so it was turned and there was no way it could fit in the birth canal. All we needed was for him was to turn his head either face down (like normal) or sunny side up. We waited and waited and I twisted and turned in all different positions trying to get him to move around. One nurse came in while the other was on her lunch hour and said that I was probably going to have a C-section because Matthew was not turning his head and moving down. There were several times where his heart beat would stop from the embilical cord getting wrapped around his neck during a contraction. And they would give me oxygen and it would come back - it was very scary to hear the heart beat stop and the staff would rush in and try to revive it as quickly as possible. Finally, after several hours, his head turned and immediately I felt him drop. I started pushing and only pushed for 30 minutes (also unheard of for first time moms). At 2:55pm, Matthew arrived in this world. Compared to a few of my friends, I had a very short labor - Praise God! Matthew had the embilical cord wrapped around his body twice. It is amazing how he managed to make it through the delivery process.

He was 7 lbs and 13 ounces with very little hair. He was so precious and I was so happy to hold him after carrying him all that time. He had a temper and cried A LOT after he was born. I went through 6 weeks of serious sleep deprivation because he was so fussy in the early days. But it was all worth it because now he is a healthy baby/toddler and he is learning new things everyday. And I am especially thankful that he sleeps all night long now.

Birthday Party at Daycare

Matthew had a birthday party at Northway CDC on Friday. They ate pizza and cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday to Matthew. He had a good day.

Happy 60th birthday Grandpa Snider

This week Matthew got up several times in the middle of the night.  Normally, Matthew sleeps from 8pm - 6:30am but this week he woke up at midnight a couple of times and then again at 4am and then 5am.  We were racking our brains trying to figure out what was wrong.  We thought he could be hungry because he has been eating different foods at daycare (as opposed to baby food) and we wonder how many bites actually make it in his stomach.  The other thought was that it was from an ear ache.  It's times like these when we wish he could just tell us what is wrong.  We suspect it was teething pain because another molar is cutting through his gums on the top left.  He already has a molar on the bottom right and that was a painful breakthrough, too.

This weekend we went to Lakeway just outside of Austin to celebrate Grandpa Snider's 60th birthday.  Matthew swam in the pool and loved it even though the water was a little cold.  He enjoyed all the attention from the Snider family - Uncle Mike, Aunt Lori, and Grandpa and Grandma.  We had a nice view of Lake Travis from our room and Matthew watched and pointed at the speed boats.  

Week of Transition

We took this picture while walking in our neighborhood.  The weekend was rainy and cold so this may be the last time Matthew wears a jacket.

Last week was a week of transition for Matthew.  He started a new daycare on Monday at Northway Baptist Church.  He is the youngest in the class and he enjoys watching the bigger kids play and run around.  He is not walking yet.  He participates with the arts and crafts and he made a beautiful handprint collage.  

Ms. Monica and Ms. Jessica have been working with Matthew to get him on the toddler schedule. This includes drinking juice out of the sippy cup, eating real food versus baby food, and eating more snacks throughout the day.  He has made significant progress.  Last week, he drank half breast milk and half whole milk out of the bottles at daycare.  Then on the weekend, I gave him whole milk and he drank it.  I was very impressed that he drank it because normally I breast-feed him.  He will be 1 year old next week and I am happy and sad to wean him off.  It is hard to believe that I made it a whole year!  We will have a small celebration for Matthew's birthday next weekend and I will certainly celebrate the breast-feeding accomplishment.  Matthew has been breast-fed from the beginning without any formula.  That wasn't my goal but it just happened that way.  

He is getting so big.  I swear he grew overnight.  I know we are not supposed to give him a bottle to go to sleep but I figured one thing at a time.  Let me wean him first and then we will worry about the bottle.  I tried the sippy cup with milk and that didn't work.  Gosh, I remember when he was half this size.

 

Happy St Patrick's Day

Last week at Childrens Courtyard

Matthew's new thing is pointing. He likes to jibber and then point at something, usually Rusty. Here he is pointing at daddy and daddy is pointing back.

We went out to dinner on Saturday night to Shin sei and Matthew was happy as a clam. He was a little fussy this weekend from a sinus cold and his teeth cutting through the gums, but he was happy at dinner. We were glad to have a nice night out.

This was Matthew's last week at the Children's Courtyard. The staff will surely miss him. When I picked him up on Friday, Ms Sharon started to cry because she has grown so attached to him. She has a passion for infants and Matthew loved her!

Ms. Sharon with Amelia, Matthew, Kalei, and Dylan

Baby shower 1 year ago

It's hard to believe that at this time last year I was waiting for Matthew to arrive. It seems like he has been around a lot longer than that! Maybe all the days and nights during the first 6 months make it feel like double the time.

I had a wonderful baby shower at Kristy Bowen's place. The weather was perfect and I had such a fun time. The hostesses were fabulous (especially Lori) and served sprinkles cupcakes - the fancy bakery from beverly hills.

11 months old

Matthew is 11 months old now. He is eating solid foods pretty well. We gave him a pickle when we went to Snuffer's this weekend and he liked it. He also tried a piece of bread and did pretty well. He also ate a banana for the first time. I peeled it and took a bite and then he took a baby bite. He just copies whatever we do. That's a scary thought for Andy so he is trying to watch his language around him.

At the Children's Courtyard (Matthew's daycare) they moved the older kids out of his classroom and moved them into the pre-toddler classroom. Now Matthew is the oldest in his class and I think he gets a little bored without Dylan and Kalei since he has been with them from the beginning. He has one more week in his classroom and then we are switching daycares to Northway Baptist church near our house. The age group will be 1 to 2 years old. Matthew will definitely be challenged. I checked it out on Friday and I am excited to have him learn in a faith-based program. He will also be closer to the house so Andy can help out more. I'm really excited about that. But I'm sure I will be sad because I will not be able to see him on my lunch hours like I have been doing.

I know Ms. Sharon is sad to see Matthew go but she is glad that he stayed in her classroom all the way until he was ready to graduate to the 1-year old classroom. He is not walking yet but I am sure he will be in a couple of weeks. He is getting his balance better when walking and holding onto things.

This is Matthew's first art project at his first day at the Children's Courtyard - 3 months old. I remember seeing him at lunch and wondering why he had blue paint on his toenails.