A Night Crawler!!

It was the evening of October 12th, an we had just gotten home from the zoo. I changed Matthew's diaper and then went into the restroom myself. I could hear through the door that he was rolling out of his bedroom and into the hallway with a toy. I came out of the restroom just in time to see him get up on all fours and crawl for the very first time!! (I was even able to tip toe around the courner and grab my camera to capture the moment! Wish I had a video camera near by!) I can hardly describe how exciting it was to see him reach a "milestone" like this!

Today he's still army crawling on his elbows and rolling for much of his transportation, but he did crawl a few paces today. I'm sure he'll get more interested in crawling as he improves at it! What a cutie!

Zoo trip #2

Matthew's Grandma M. had been just dying to take him on a zoo trip, on Friday 10/12/07, we be bundled up (thanks to Aunt Callie & Uncle Dave for letting us borrow the cool hat!) to enjoy a nice fall day seeing many of the beautiful and amazing animals that God has made.Right before this photo was taken Matthew tried to reach out and hold his cousin's hand; it was a cute "Kodak moment" but we missed the photo op. Oh well, a "high five" is nice too.
Matthew zonked out while the rest of us continued to sight see.
He was awake and alertly watching many of the animals throughout the day. He especially seems to like fish (but those pictures never seem to come out well). Here he is looking at sloth and some lemur-like creatures.
Matthew hadn't really said a word all day. He looked at this orangutan and said, "Da-da." I laughed. I don't see the resemblance but I said, "I'll have to tell Da-da you said that!" Who doesn't like elephants?!

It was a fun day with family at the zoo!

Surgery, already?!

Well, it was Tuesday 10/9/07 and we had to be at the hospital at 5:30am. So we changed a soggy diaper and put Matthew in the car, being as quiet as possible so that he could sleep on the way there. About 5 minutes into the drive we heard the most appropiate words in that sweet little voice, "Uh-oh!" We laughed. Yeah, "uh-oh" is right, buddy... At the hopital he repeated his little "uh-oh" and seemed to gesture, "So what gives, Mom & Dad? Why'd you get me out of bed and bring me here??" This gown is big enough for 3 Matthews! Ooo, and what's this thing on my arm?
Never seen socks like these before!
Ah, that's much better - a Matthew-sized hospital gown.
The surgery (which is a common one for little boys & commonly needed for premature boys) went well. But going to see him in the recovery room was the hardest thing ever! He was almost swallowed up in tubes and bandages. As he came out of the anestheisia, he cried inconsolably for at least an hour. After they gave us the clearance to leave that area of the hospital, he stopped crying almost instantly when I stood up and said that we were going to leave this place. In the holding room, he was very sore - he cried if you moved him even just an inch or two. But Matthew cheered up immensly as we walked him out to the car. He barely made a sound when we put him in his car seat. It amazes me how alert and aware of things he truly is.

Surgery is surgery, I know, but I never realized how terribly painful this would be for him. Oh that crying was just heart-breaking! He's a trooper though! He even found the courage to smile at the end of this most tramatic day yet!

17 months!

It's hard to believe that just 3 months ago we had our first day as a family of three with Matthew. He is now 17 months old and doing really well. He is transitioning to solid foods and loves his sippy cups!

He's still not off his belly for crawling, but he likes to get up on his hands and knees to rock back & forth. Who knows? Maybe he'll skip crawling and go to walking?!
He enjoys swinging in the back yard. Weeeeeeee!!
Oh the look of concentration... what a cutie!
He's in to mimicking most every sound and gesture that he can. Here he is saying one of his new favorites, "Ohhhhhhhh"
Matthew likes sitting with, playing, and petting Beau. Matthew loves to play hide & seek with us when he's in his walker.

And his other favorite walker is activity is called "Pin the Doggie to the Wall." (Beau continues to be so patient & gentle with Matthew - what a good dog!)

1st Camping Trip

We went camping with friends from our church at a local state park. Matthew's first camping trip was mostly a success ... except for the leak in the air mattress, that is. Nap time in the woods is no problem. Matthew dozed off while Tim cooked up Coney dogs.
Matthew enjoyed his first canoe ride. He stood up in front of me holding on to the side of the boat, and liked it most when I held him over to reach down and touch the water.
And... of course Beau's favorite part of any trip is playing in the water too. Some of the church kids were excited to throw the ball in the water to watch him swim.

The Littlest Rocket

Many of you know that I coach volleyball. I have a really wonderful group of girls this year, and we are having a first class season. Not only is my team talented on the court, they also have a nack for getting big smiles out of Matthew. He gets lots of attention when he comes to cheer on the team, and he can often be found clapping his hands while sitting with daddy in the bleachers.

In competitive drills the winning group picks a silly consequence for the losing group. "I'm a Star!" Jumps are a popular "punishment." And, yes, they are all stars in my book!! I'm so sad the season is nearly over!