New tricks every day

Matthew has been a really active boy lately. He is pushing his body to new limits every day. He has become a great sitter and this is his favorite way to interact with his toys, and although I wouldn't go too far, he is able to sit on his own even without someone there to catch him.

In addition to sitting he has decided he does not like being on his back, and when I lay him down that way to play, he lifts his feet in the air and goes into the cutest roly poly ball I've ever seen, leans to the side, then stretches out and pops over to his stomach. For much of his early months he hated tummy time so I find it funny that that is how he now chooses to play.

Two nights ago he woke me at 4:00 am and I went in to check on him and found him upset and on his tummy. After I rolled him back over he went right to sleep. Yesterday at Granna's house he took his nap, and after I laid him down on his back he went right to sleep. When I went in to check on him he was peacefully sleeping on his tummy. I couldn't believe me eyes!


Matthew has also started to put himself into a crawl position by doing a push up and pulling his knees up under himself. He rocks back and forth and although he isn't quite coordinated enough to crawl yet, he know it is a possibility and once he gets his arms moving forward he'll be able to prevent a face plant.

Cousin Noah and Aunt Lori come to town

Aunt Lori is in town for 3 weeks until New Years, and we are so excited to have them here for as long as my maternity leave lasts :( They came over a few days ago and played with some of Matthew's toys and then we spent the last 2 days over at Granna's house having a great time with all her new toys! Noah has been in wonderful spirits. He is a happy, happy boy and I am enjoying getting to know him now that he is a little older and can do more things and has more boy spunk to him. He is just so precious! And it has been so fun watching the boys interact together. They both are really drawn to one another, and you can almost see the conversation behind their sweet eyes.


Here is Matthew enjoying his new toys at Granna's house. He loves his first remote control car!


Today Great Aunt Anne and Great Uncle John came to visit and meet Noah for the first time. Granna and Aunt Lori made a great lunch and we had a nice few hours enjoying our boys in between naps. Here is Matthew opening one of his presents. It is a lighted Christmas Fire Station. So sweet. We also got some cute Fire Engine jammie pants, shorts, and shirt, in addition to some hand-me-downs from our 2nd cousin Griffin.

Another mommy meal

I made another meal from my cooking light magazine. This is Moroccan Style Ground Beef, with Carrots, Onion, Chickpeas, and Couscous. It has a great spice flavor too it, and even if it wasn't an award winning taste, at least I got it to look like the picture.

Sweet potatoes

We have started making Matthew's baby food. We bought a baby blending system that includes storage cups and a freezer tray so we can make a big batch of food, have some for a few days, and freeze the rest for some variety later in the month.

Since Matthew was such a champ of an oatmeal eater we decided to add bigger and better things to his baby palate. We bought an organic sweet potato and steamed it, then mashed it and pureed it with some breast milk. He loved it! It is nice to know that his food has two ingredients in it, and nothing more. I hear that jarred baby food, even when labeled organic, has preservatives or whatever keeps it good for up to three years. Fresh food for my baby, thank you very much. I like that this sweet potato tastes exactly like a sweet potato, and not like a sweet potato, but with that obvious baby foodness to it.

We end each meal by letting Matthew polish off the spoon. I think it is really cute, and besides that, it gives him a chance to practice coordinating the spoon and his mouth together.

Happy Half-Birthday, Matthew!

Oh my! Six months have flown by. Some days would not go fast enough but most were over before I knew it. I hardly remember what life was before I knew Matthew. It is filled with such joy and promise now. I feel so blessed to have had this time at home with Matthew, away from work and away from anything that might distract me from eating him up every chance I get. Every month when I sit down to write his birthday update I think there can't be that much more to add, he does pretty much the same things, but I am always surprised at how much I have to say... and every month he impresses me more than I ever thought. Matthew is a happy baby, he laughs and smiles at pretty much everything. He loves his routine and sleeps like a champ. He is getting stronger by the day and you can see so much thought going on behind his eyes.

Here is what you are up to now that you are half a year old:

• You are so strong. You are steady on your feet and can hold yourself up if you have something to hold on to.
• You have to be watched on the floor now- you roll over to your tummy then scoot to whatever toy you are after every time I turn around. You are secretive about it because I think I have only seen you roll a few times, but every time I turn around you are opposite of the way I laid you down.
• You can sit up very well, in fact you did this on your own for the first time just one day after your 5 month blog update. You get better and better each day and this is your favorite way to interact with your toys.
• You can hold yourself up on all fours, like you are ready to crawl. You can't quite get up to that position yet on your own though.
• You have a lot of control with your hands. You can play your xylophone now. You like to hold everything and shake it around and put things in your mouth. You love to chew on your toys, just like your big sister Maggie does.
• You love books, and are interested in the pictures and the words as they are read. You even like to turn the pages.
• You sleep through the night. You go to bed about 7:30 and wake up to feed at 5:00am, then go back to sleep until 8:00.
• You take two naps of about an hour and a half each. You can soothe yourself and can fall asleep in just a few minutes without help from mommy or daddy.
• You give signs that it is time for your nap. You either rub your eyes or bury your face in my shoulder or throw your hands behind your head, your relaxation sign
• You like to play with your pacifier, but you don't usually get in back into your mouth correctly.
• You can ride in the top seat of the shopping cart and are such a good boy when we go into stores.
• You smile and laugh at Maggie, you want to pet her when ever she comes near you and you don't even mind when she kisses your face.
• You like to talk to yourself, like when you wake up from a nap or first thing in the morning.
• You can jump really well in your jumperoo- and you think it's funny when mommy jumps with you too. Granna is jealous- she wants a jumperoo for herself.
• You are curious about other babies. You like to smile at them and reach out to touch them.
• You think daddy is the funniest thing on the planet! You get so excited when he comes home in the morning after working his shift. You laugh and laugh when he plays his version of peekaboo. Actually, it's just "Boo!"
• You are a very efficient nurser. You can get your fill in 10-15 minutes. These are my favorite moments of the day.
• And the best trick of all. Eating! You have oatmeal cereal with breast milk for lunch and you love it! You know exactly what to do with the spoon and don't even make too big of a mess. You even like to hold the spoon.
• You are in the 75th percentile all around. Head, Weight, and Height. Perfectly proportioned. 18lb 3oz, 26 3/4 inches TALL, and 17in head.

Here are some pictures of you- such a big boy- as we move into the second half of your first year. I can't wait to see all the tricks you'll show us in the next 6 months!

This is how you sleep. No wonder you are so refreshed when you wake up!

Here is Matthew with his Tio Mike, reading "No more monkeys jumping on the bed". Really cute!

All you can eat oatmeal

Anyone who knows Alex knows he can eat. He has a huge appetite and never is hesitant to clear anyone else's plates. Something tells me Matthew will be a good eater too, and I have a feeling my boys will spend years bonding over food. Today Alex fed Matthew for the first time. He is getting better and better each time, with less mess and more mouth control on the spoon. He is so cute, and he really enjoys eating his oatmeal. Here are some pictures of the boys. I wish I could know exactly what he's thinking, but his eyes are so expressive I can tell he is learning and enjoying every minute of it.

He's an eater

Matthew got his first taste of food today. He had a yummy, runny mixture of oatmeal and breast milk. We knew he was ready aside from the fact that will be 6 months this week. He has been very curious in our food and has been trying to cram everything in his mouth just to see if it is edible. I think he has either been going through a growth spurt or is just hungrier these days because he has been up in the middle of the night to feed every night this week.

Here he is, a Moran with a good appetite. Ignore my goofy mommy voice.