First trip to the beach

Matthew sitting in his lawn chair on the S Padre beach Matthew taking a nap under the umbrella. He was so tired
Matthew was a trouper on the flight and slept on the flight there and back Matthew and mama on the beach
Matthew and Daddy in the water

Technically, Matthew has already been to several beaches - Laguna and Maui. But he was too small to enjoy it before. This time, Matthew played in the sand and sat in the water. He loved it! The sun was hot and the cold water felt great. We kepts a t-shirt and hat on him as well as sunscreen to prevent him from getting sunburned - and it worked.

He would put the sand in his pail and carry it around on his arm. He liked to use his tools to pick up sand and throw it around. The sand was everywhere. Nanna and Papa Snider and Uncle Mike were there, too. They watched Matthew while Andy and I went to a wedding on Saturday night. It was my first night away from Matthew and he did pretty good. He was so tired that he went to sleep at his normal bedtime and slept all night long. We brought his music and blanket to help lull him to sleep. My parents ended up going to bed at 8pm, too!

It is tricky finding the right foods for Matthew while on the go. I was surprised when Matthew ate fish - he normally doesn't like it at home. We were eating it so maybe that influenced him. We brought chex mix and snacks to keep him covered between meals. We also had grapes on the beach and Matthew really liked those. Do you have any suggestions for healthy food options while traveling?

Happy Father's Day 2009

To all the dads out there - Happy Father's Day!

It takes a lot of work to be a parent and all the fathers deserve a day of appreciation. Andy helps me out in so many ways. He helps around the house with chores as well as helps with Matthew. He gets up in the middle of the night to console Matthew and he helps take and pick up Matthew from daycare- a BIG help! He does all the grocery shopping and cooking. He took Matthew to the mall for 3 hours one afternoon so I could host a tea luncheon at the house. He said they bonded during their father/son time together.

In the beginning, Matthew was tied to me because of the breast-feeding but now that he is weaned and he is getting older and more curious, he loves spending time with his daddy. He has a book that kids can feel daddy's scratchy face, and then Andy showed Matthew his scratchy face and Matthew said "Ohhh". It was so cute.

On Sunday, Matthew was baptized. The priest gave an excellent sermon and Matthew did pretty good. Andy and I kept trying to get Matthew to stay still and quiet. He cried a little but overall he was good. He just wanted to walk around. At one point the priest looked at Andy and said "Well if that's not your father then I don't know who is" and Andy's face turned red - it was funny. We had a luncheon at the house afterwards for family and a few friends.

Matthew and Papa Snider at the baptism this weekend
Matthew, Daddy, and Papa Durkin in Michigan at 6 months Matthew and Papa Bruce in Michigan at 6mos - Matthew resembles Papa Bruce the most
Cool dudes in Hawaii Oct 08
My favorite picture of Andy & Matthew. Snowmass, CO at 11 mos old

Matthew update June 8 - 14th

Matthew eating chex mix and enjoying a dip in the pool on a very hot Texas day!

Matthew pointing to the ducks in the middle of the Northpark Mall.

Matthew's personality is showing more and more.  He seems like he is a little shy sometimes and he plays so meticulously.  He is not one to bulldoze around the house and knock things over.  One of his favorite toys is the Quaker Oats empty container.  He likes to put toys in there and then take them out.  He walks room to room to find things to carry into another room.  He found the remote control to the light/fan in our spare bedroom and he loves pushing the button to see the light turn on and off.  

On Monday, Matthew had a fever and he was acting a little different.  He got up at 6am instead of 6:30am and he cried while I was taking a shower - usually he plays and most of the time Andy is there but Andy left for a business trip.  I gave him some tylenol thinking it was his teeth but told the daycare to call me if he was not acting right.  I gave them instruction to give him tylenol if he was not feeling well so they did at noon.  

On Tuesday, he seemed like he was in a better mood so I didn't mess with the tylenol but then at 3pm I received a call from the daycare that he had a fever.  I quickly got him into the doctor and they said that his ears looked fine and there were no antibiotics that they could give because it seemed like a virus he was fighting.  I ran by Nordstrom to take my watch in since it stopped and Matthew and I treated ourselves to a nice meal at the cafe.  It's a challenge to find foods that he will eat but he loved the asparagus and shrimp rosotto.  

I expected to stay home with him on Wednesday so we took a leisurely breakfast stop at Einstein's.  Once we were there, Matthew was dancing to the music and waving to everyone that walked in the door - clearly feeling much better.  So I took him to the daycare and he was full of energy.  

We had terrible thunderstorms and tornados in the area on Thursday night but Matthew slept right through it - except he woke up one time.   We both slept until 7:30am that morning just listening to the rain.  Over 200 flights were cancelled out of DFW that day but Andy made it back (barely) by purchasing a ticket on another airline.  He made it home by 12-midnight and he was so happy to be home.

On Friday we usually go out to eat Tex-Mex.  We went to Fernandos and Matthew loves the rice there.  Andy was exhausted and actually fell ill on the weekend so we didn't do too much.  Matthew and I went to the mall and he fell asleep at just the right time so I could try some clothes at the LOFT.  Lots of girls comment how cute he is and Matthew just hams it up.  He smiles, plays peekabo with his hands, blow kisses, and dribbles his lip with his fingers.  He does pretty good in the stroller.  At one point, we stopped and I let him walk around and see the turtles and ducks.  He likes getting out of the house to get a break in the day.  One of these weekends we plan to take him to the zoo.

Matthew's 14-month old school picture - Doesn't he look like a little boy here?  Where did the baby go?

14 months old

Matthew smiling in his stroller on our Saturday morning walk to Starbucks

Matthew's favorite activity - opening and closing cabinets/doors

JoAnna, Andy, Kristy, and Taylor at the Central Market cooking class on Sat night.  It was Andy's Christmas gift that we just now used.  I love it when I give gifts that I can enjoy, too.

Preston and Matthew at the Northway Baptist CDC Pool Party

On Saturday, we went to the daycare pool party.  Matthew was crying in the car when we pulled up (possibly because of his teeth) but as soon as he saw Ms. Monica, he got in the best mood.  He swam in the pool with his friend, Preston.  Matthew and Preston are about the same age (within a month) and they are best buds.  One day Matthew was pushing a chair one way and Preston was on the other side pushing it back.  They seemed to pair up since they were on the same development level.

Matthew is teething, AGAIN.  It seems to be bothering him because there were several times this weekend when he was in a crying fit.  Once we gave him tylenol and orajel, he calmed down into his normal happy self.  We try to only give tylenol when he needs it.  

He is walking around the house as if he has been doing it for a while with very few falls.  He likes to open and close doors and walk from room to room to see what he finds.  He grabbed Rusty's ball and leash and Rusty got excited.  He couldn't throw the ball so Rusty just grabbed it from Matthew's hand.  Matthew thought that was fun; he also likes to feed Rusty from his high chair.  It's hard to find foods that Matthew will eat but Andy made ground turkey with spaghetti for dinner tonight and Matthew loved it.  

Matthew got us sick again

When people say you will get sick having a kid in daycare, Andy and I didn't know how true that was! Andy and I both called in sick on Monday due to the stomach flu. Matthew was not feeling himself the prior weekend, although he was still walking around and playing. There is a lot of talk about the Swine flu but this is definitely not it. It must have been a 24 hour bug because Andy & I started feeling better on Tuesday, albiet a little weak. Andy traveled to NY for work on Tuesday but he was back on Wednesday. Andy was happy to be home because he missed Matthew (and probably me, too). Matthew waved "bye" to Andy and blew him a kiss yesterday morning. Andy was smitten.