Lefty

Matthew's spaghetti sauce goatee at Fireside Pies

Matthew being cute at Bent Tree CDC

Matthew is using his left hand more and more these days.  It looks like he may be a lefty just like Andy.  I notice that he uses his left hand to turn the pages of his books and eat with a spoon.  Matthew continues to surprise us with new words and just act like a big boy sometimes.  We went to the park this weekend and Matthew was walking up and down the stairs on his own and going down the slides on his own.  He is 18 months old now and he wears 2T clothing (18-24 month pants for now).  

He likes to walk everywhere we go.  Every now and then he will get frustrated and want to be picked up but for the most part, he is a good little boy.  The staff at Bent Tree CDC just love him.  Andy calls him the mayor sometimes because Matthew likes to wave at everyone and blow kisses.  It's really cute.  

New Daycare update and A Weekend in Scottsdale

Matthew loved the pool

The Texas Tech game watching crew

 Matthew loves Aunt Lori

Ready for football season

Family photo in front of Camelback Mountain

Having fun with Aunt Lori

Watching the ducks - Matthew was fascinated 

Going down the slide like a big boy - he climbed up and went down 10 times!

Walking in the park with Mama and Dada

Matthew is loving his new daycare at Bent Tree.  He comes home with a summary of his daily activities: Qtip painting, baby sign & sing/dance, tearing and glueing paper, coloring with markers, learning body parts with puppets, and shaking bottles and building blocks.  He is learning so much.  On Tuesday, I took him to the nursing home to volunteer and he was the center of attention.  He was dancing to the music and running around chasing a little dog that one of the volunteers brought.  I was impressed with his dancing skills - he's a natural!

Over the weekend, we went to Scottsdale to visit Lori.  The hot, dry air felt wonderful to us because it has been raining for 2 weeks now in Dallas and all of us seem to be experiencing allergies because of it.  We could definitely live in Scottsdale.  It is beautiful with the mountains nearby and there were no clouds in the sky.  Matthew was a trooper on the plane despite the fact that we arrived after his bedtime.  He was up at 6:30am Central - that's 4:30am Mountain time!  He went to bed early at 8pm C/6pm M.  We had a babysitter watch him while he slept and we went to a bar to watch the Tech vs UT game.  Tech put up a good fight.  We played in the park the next day and swam in the pool - Matthew loved that!  And Matthew enjoyed playing with Sadie, Lori's chocolate lab.  Thanks Aunt Lori for being such a fabulous host. 

17 months old

Daddy and Matthew watching the fountain at Northpark Mall

Matthew with Mrs. Kriston - the Northway Baptist Director

Matthew with Mrs. B - she has been at Northway for 20 years

Matthew definitely has a mind of his own sometimes.  For the most part, he is easy-going and happy but lately we have seen a different side of him where he stomps his feet and cries because he does not get his way.  On vacation, there were times that I said, "Matthew, your crying is not working - you played that card too much."  He likes to walk every where that we go (as opposed to being carried).  And in the mornings when we are getting ready to leave for work, he will walk around the yard and we will have to pick him up to put him into the car seat and he will give this cry that you just broke his heart!  

We had more daycare drama this past week.  Northway Baptist was down for 2 weeks for renovations.  They opened back up last Monday with new carpet, new air conditioning, and all the staff were wearing uniforms.  Three days later (on Wed) they told us not to come back on Thursday because there was an air quality issue - they found something when they were switching out another air conditioner.  Luckily, our neighbor, Gay, watched Matthew Thursday and Friday until we could figure out a daycare option.  

We found a wonderful daycare near Andy's office in Addison called Bent Tree Child Development Center.  It has workers with teaching degrees and a nutritionist on site.  They have told us that it is not a daycare but a learning center.  Matthew's first day was Tuesday and he seemed to adjust very well.  He knows sign language so that was easy for the workers to help communicate with him and he was already used to the family style eating and nap routine.  They just love him!  They have music time in the mornings, outdoor areas for the little mobile toys, play grounds, indoor play areas, etc...  

The old daycare, Northway, had a goodbye bash on Thursday so Matthew and I went to that.  It was good to see the staff one last time.  The director said good things about the new daycare so that's good to hear.  

This weekend was rainy.  Matthew got a little stir-crazy so we went to the mall on Sat and Sunday.  He loves to walk around and see other kids.  Both times, I left with clothes for Matthew.  What happened to shopping for myself?  We had a babysitter Sat night and enjoyed a nice dinner at Nick & Sam's.  It was well-deserved, considering we didn't get a chance to enjoy a nice dinner while we were on vacation.  Most of the times we were eating at kid-friendly places.  

Matthew's First Haircut

Matthew is 17 months old now and he just now received his first haircut.  His hair is blonde with a hint of red.  His strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes make a handsome combination!  The top didn't need cutting, only the long curls in the back that formed a "rat-tail" (if you remember that popular hair style from the 80's)

A video is in order to show how good Matthew was being in the salon chair.