Talkative Matthew

Matthew using playdoh for the Bruce family: Mama, Daddy, Matthew, Rusty

Matthew's "happy face"

Matthew is talking more and more these days. His teachers are teaching him manners so he will say "May I please have some more" and "thank you" and "you're welcome". He is quite amusing with some of the things that he says. Anytime I come into the house with a bag, Matthew asks "Mama, what you got?" He will talk about his friends at school and tell us a few words about his day. When I come home in the evenings he tells me to "take off shoes, mama" to make sure I am going to stay a while.

For Oct 2nd weekend, we enjoyed the cooler weather. I took Matthew to the Galleria to play in the play area because he was jumping on our furniture at home. The Red River Rivalry was in town so the mall was decorated with UT and OU balloons and they had a drum line playing in the mall, too. Matthew enjoyed that. I was hoping to get his picture made in the mall but the picture place was closed. I was a little productive at the mall and bought hand soap from Bath and Body Works to last us 4-5 months! You can tell that I am going through a nesting phase right now.

Matthew took a late nap on Saturday and didn't wake up until 6pm. He woke up grumpy and fussy - just the opposite from his usual mood after a nap. We put him in the Yukon and headed to dinner. He was throwing a temper tantrum to even get into the car and he was yelling and crying nearly the entire ride. Andy and I both debated on turning around and just eating at home. We couldn't figure out why he was being so difficult. Once we made it to the BBQ restaurant, Andy put Matthew on his shoulders and that seemed to calm him down. We ordered the food and once Matthew got the food in his belly, he was the happiest toddler. I guess that was the problem. He loves corn and he ate grilled cheese and some of the pulled pork. He doesn't like chicken but he likes pork. After dinner we treated ourselves to frozen yogurt. Matthew was dancing to the music in the yogurt shop. His mood was so different from before.

We went to church on Sunday and Matthew cried when we dropped him off at the nursery. This was the first time he did that in a long time. He has been crying when we drop him off at school in the mornings, too. But as soon as we leave, he is playing and "having fun with friends". He is always in the best mood when we pick him up from school so we know he enjoys it. Plus, they have a tumbling hour at school that Matthew really likes on Tuesdays.

We let Matthew play on the playground after church and he enjoyed that. We bought tamales from a church fundraiser and headed home. As soon as we arrived at the house, Matthew wanted to play outside. He was on his tricycle on the deck and I asked if he wanted me to move it to the ground so that he could ride it there. He liked the idea and when he tried to get off the tricycle, he lost his balance and fell down the deck steps - hitting his head on the edge of one of the steps. I was standing right there but just couldn't catch him in time. When I picked him up, I noticed a little bump on his temple and scratch. We put ice on it right away. The next day it looked worse as the bruising started to show more - it was a black eye. At school, he liked the attention and told his teachers "look at my shiner". He told them the story about falling off his bicycle and onto the steps.

Matthew "helped mama" make pumpkin muffins. He enjoyed mixing the bowl and cracking the eggs. In the evening, we delivered some to the neighbors and Matthew enjoyed that, too. At night, he likes to read books to me. He says "mama, listen". He can read Goodnight moon, Shake a Leg, Potty book, Polar bear, and Barnyard Dance. He has almost every word memorized. Sometimes he likes for me to read and he will say "mama, talk". The bedtime routine is his favorite time of the day. He takes a leisurely bath and then does a little tumbling on the guest bed in his room. After that, he reads stories and then I finally get him into bed around 9:30pm. We start the routine at 8pm!