First time at the zoo!

We went to the zoo yesterday with Aunt Lori, Noah, and Granna. We knew the boys would be a little young to enjoy the zoo, but figured they would like being outdoors, walking around and looking at people, and interacting with a few animals up close. After morning naps we went to the zoo and spent most of the afternoon there.

We got there a little bit before Lori, Noah, and Granna and spent our time with the monkeys, which Matthew wasn't too crazy about, but he did wave to them. Then we went to the petting zoo, which was really cute. Matthew was by far the youngest child in there, but Alex was so sweet with him, showing Matthew how to pet the goats and getting a little too close to the Llama. Alex was warned about the spitting, and when he got too close to her food she tried to spit, but I think they hay she was eating gave her a dry mouth because there wasn't much behind her spit. We found a quiet goat away from the other animals and I started petting him. When I touched his ear he twitched it and turned to us, which Matthew thought was really funny (because we did it about 20 times). He had fun touching the goats's ear, and I'm glad he didn't decide to take a bite out of Matthew.





After lunch we met everyone else at the fountains. Matthew wasn't crazy about it. He loves water, but doesn't like the cold on his skin. Noah was really cute in the fountains. I know that by next year and after that the fountains will be the highlight of the zoo day.



We went to see the Florida animals, including the manatees. Matthew stood at the aquarium glass, a little hesitant to trust the glass to hold him up. He is so cute! We spent quite a lot of time just walking around and seeing birds, bears, penguins. When we got to the African animals we really had the best time. We got to feed a giraffe a lettuce leaf. It had a long, blue, swirly tongue which it wrapped around the leaf and pulled it into its mouth. The boys liked seeing the giraffe, and Aunt Lori and I really had a good time. I told Alex he had to try too because it was so cute, and when he took Matthew he let him hold the lettuce while the giraffe took it from his hand. So cute! After this Matthew was about spent, and took a short nap in the stroller while we walked around some more.


When we got home Matthew decided he hadn't had enough animals for the day so we decided to feed the ducks in the pond behind the house. Matthew was more interested in the chuck-it than the ducklings, but I had fun with them.

Spring Break!

The week I have had circled on the calendar since I went back to work is finally here. I waited with so much anticipation for the week we could spend with Matthew, and Aunt Lori and Noah's 2 week homecoming. Unfortunately, Matthew has had a rough couple of days. He is teething right now, getting his top middle teeth. He spent the first 4 nights of Spring Break waking up at 2:00am and screaming for an hour and a half until he finally passed back out, and has been a little clingy and cranky during the days. So the week I was hoping would recharge and rejuvenated me made me more tired than when I worked. But tired and home with Matthew is better than alert and at work... any day! Thankfully he has gone back to sleeping through the night and we have had so fun days with family. Here are a few pictures of the boys playing around the house.





We went to a park in Granna's neighborhood. We played on the swings and found some fun bell toys that the boys enjoyed. We found a nice bench swing under a shade tree overlooking a pond-- with an alligator in it. He minded his own business so we were ok.





Aunt Lori and I took the boys to the beach, but we went to Fort Desoto this time, hoping the longer drive would make for a better nap and this beach would have fewer Spring Breakers and related traffic. We were right on both accounts. The boys enjoyed the beach and playing in the sand. We went to the water, which had really gently crashing waves, but Matthew is still hesitant about cool water. He knows bath temperature water and isn't sure about cooling off yet. We will work on that for the summer. We didn't stay for too long, but it was a nice day and worth the trip. We found a shady, grassy patch on our way back to the car, and changed the boys before heading home. They liked this the best out of the whole trip. We stripped them and they were so cute all naked and perky with a fresh breeze ticking their little bums.

9 months = Big Boy territory

Wow, I can hardly believe I am writing about Matthew's latest and that he is 9 months old already. I am even more surprised that several people have already asked me about Matthew's birthday party plans, and told me that 3 months is not that far away. Actually the countdown to Matthew's birthday coincides with the end of the school year and I do know that once spring break hits, summer is just around the corner.

Well Matthew has probably made some of his biggest accomplishments this month, and many of them all in about a week's time. Matthew is a mobile boy now, which has made him shed that "baby-ness" I so love, but has me excited for life with my kid! Here is what you are up to this month sweetie:

You have been crawling for most of this month. Your babysitter, Mrs. Edie, worked with you a lot and in an effort to keep up with your buddies you learned this pretty quickly.

In the same day you started crawling, you learned to sit yourself up. You have been sitting for months but this month, you were actually capable of getting yourself into that position from any other.

About 3 days after you started crawling you learned to pull yourself up on furniture. This is now your favorite way to play, but sometimes you get stuck up high and are too scared to come down for a new toy.

Your sleep has been inconsistent this month. For about a week you woke up every night and stood in your crib and then cried because you couldn’t get back down. You practiced crawling and standing in the middle of the night, which mommy did not enjoy.

You sprouted two adorable little teeth on your bottom gums. You were a little annoyed by the first round of teething, but this week you are working on your top teeth and are having a miserable time. You wake up at night in a lot of pain, and it is hard for me to soothe you. You have even been cranky during the day and have had trouble settling for naps, which is not normal for you. You have wanted to be held a lot and I know we are both looking forward to you being back to your old self.

Mrs. Edie taught you how to wave. It is the cutest thing ever. You see someone waving and look at your hand, as if telling it what is about to do, then you wave your arm up and down from the shoulder, with your arm stiff at the elbow. So adorable! You do it at appropriate times too, as someone is coming or going. You even wave to Maggie. Mrs. Edie also says you clap too, but I have only seen this a few times. Waving is much more fun right now.

You are repeating some simple words. You say “Hi” and “ Mom”, not to be confused with “Mmmmm”, which is what you repeat over and over at meal time. So adorable! Just last week you started saying “dada”, and you continue to say “Maggie“, or your version, “MaGGGee“.

You learned what “no” means, and you DO NOT LIKE IT. You tested me when I told you “no” as you reached for an unsecured phone jack cover. Once you knew not to touch it you tested cause and effect 5 times to see if when you reached for it you would be told no. I did tell you know each time, and you cried louder and louder each time.

Your cute peaceful back sleep with your hands folded behind your head has been exchanged for tummy sleeping, side sleeping, and in general moving around to every inch of the crib during sleep, including standing in the corner of the crib closest to the door. Your Great Aunt Anne bought us a video monitor so it has been fun for us to watch you move all over the crib at night.

You are eating a wide variety of foods and foods with more texture. You have added meats this month, including chicken and ground turkey, and dairy like yogurt and cottage cheese. You have had some new foods like broccoli, barley, brown rice, blueberries, and you drink water from a cup. You have had some flavor in your foods in some new spices, like garlic and cinnamon. I made some pasta, mixed with chicken and a little marinara which we will try this week. If you don’t like it I’ll eat it. I thought it was pretty good.

We went to the doctor and you checked out perfectly. Still have been healthy as a horse. You weigh 21lbs 3oz (75th percentile), are 29.5 inches tall (90th percentile) and have a 18cm head (90th percentile). You are a cute little sprout!