How did it get to be October already?!?

I apologize for letting this go so long!

Here's a quick run-down of the last 3 months:

Matthew's first birthday was August 11th.



We celebrated the Saturday before, and it was lots of fun! He opened a gift with clothes in it, and decided it was time to play peek-a-boo with all the guests. Very cute!

He also received a wagon from his Steinbach grandparents, which Grandpa put together for him. We take the wagon to the park in our neighborhood all the time and Matthew LOVES it. :)

In August we also went on a trip to the zoo. Matthew especially loved the aquariums. We will have to go back sometime soon.



In September we found out Matthew is going to have a little brother! He is still oblivious to the fact that there's a baby in my belly, but he gets a kick out of playing with my belly button. :) Baby is very very active. I have a feeling we're going to have our hands full!

This month we had another appointment at Shriners. I should find out later this week how his labs turned out, but his x-rays looked good. We saw an orthopedic surgeon who and said if Matthew continues on like he has been, his doctors will just monitor from the sidelines. He is doing very well!

Matthew is now 14 months old and is an expert crawler. He can get around well on his feet if he's holding on, but he does not walk on his own yet. His doctors are not concerned, and neither are we!

He has started talking more lately. He says:
Uh-oh!
No
Yes
Hi
Kitty or Ki-ee
Say-ee (Sadie, kitty 1)
Doh-ah (Dora, kitty 2)
mamama or mao mao mao mao (MEOW. Yeah, he talks to the kitties)
Dada or Da-Dee or Da-ee Da-ee (Daddy)

He also signs:
Milk
Ball
Eat
More
All done

I'm still waiting for him to call me mommy. :)

He's Unstoppable (almost)!

I get a little teary-eyed when I realize how independent Matthew is becoming. He prefers to feed himself, and will only tolerate spoon-feeding for so long. He can sit up from laying down or crawling. He loves to walk around the room with assistance, and has started reaching for other people/objects while walking. I think we're seeing the beginning stages of independent cruising! This morning he was climbing up the steps while my mom and I watched, all ready to catch him if he needed us. If I don't have the gate up at the top of the stairs and he decides he wants to go down, he can get to those stairs faster than you can blink. I have been trying to show him how to turn around and go down the stairs safely, but so far he prefers to try going down head first. Luckily I have caught him every time so far. He pulls himself up to onto his knees and sometimes gets himself into a squatting position, but I have yet to see him stand up on his own. Something tells me I will not have to wait long. :)

(Several hours later...) I was right! Here is proof - he got up on his feet and started climbing the stairs without help!

Lots of Good Stuff

Last week was a marathon of crazy, but we survived, and are thoroughly enjoying the last day of our much-deserved 3-day weekend.

On Thursday I had an appointment with a midwife who, thankfully, I really like. She and I see eye-to-eye, and I suddenly find myself feeling much less anxious about this pregnancy. I did not realize just how much anxiety I had until it went away! :) The midwife is incredibly supportive of my desire to have a VBAC, and she said so far everything looks great. We were not able to hear the baby's heartbeat at this appointment, but I am not concerned since we saw it on the ultrasound at 8 weeks, and it is still a bit early to find it.

On his pediatrician's recommendation, we took Matthew in for a free infant screening at our family eye care place. The optometrist was fantastic. Apparently eye problems are very strongly linked to genetics, and the fact that I am blind in one eye means it is quite likely that Matthew would have the same problem. If we catch it early, we can hopefully correct it. Fortunately Matthew does NOT have vision problems. He can see as well as expected out of both eyes. One eye is stronger than the other, but it is not a concern at this point.

Matthew also had a checkup at Shriners Hospital this week. His doctor is very pleased! Not only are his labs showing wonderful improvements, he is CLIMBING the growth chart for height, and his weight is keeping up wonderfully. All this shows his medication is working. He had to have blood work done again at this appointment but he is one smart kid. He made such a fuss that they gave him TWO prizes (books) when he was done. He is not even a year old yet, and already knows how to work the system.

This weekend he has started crawling on his knees. Before this he was doing a creeping/army crawl with his belly on the floor. He still does this from time to time, but he is spending much more time on his knees. In the nursery at church he started pushing a toy and walking behind it. And the past few days he has stopped to snuggle with me when it wasn't feeding time. I rarely get cuddles because he is so active - constantly go, go, go! So this is a special treat.

My baby is growing up! (sniff)

So much to be thankful for...

Matthew is 10 months old! Hooray! I have already started planning his birthday party. :) He is such a blessing. Oh, and did you notice his shirt? Yup, he's gonna be a big brother. His younger sibling is due in January!

Today I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Special Olympics in Minnesota. It was awesome! I arrived late for my shift due to a car accident on 94 that went from the left lane to the right lane, so three lanes of traffic were squeezed into one. Add road construction to the mix, and it took me much longer than anticipated to get to the U of M today. But I finally got there, thankful that I wasn't the one whose car was in pieces sprawled across the freeway. Because I arrived late and missed my training, I was put in the water tent. I think that was the BEST possible job at the Special Olympics. I was in the shade, got to talk to the athletes and coaches and families and volunteers, stayed cool by digging around the tubs of ice for the coldest water bottles, and got to serve everyone. I LOVED it. The sun was out and the weather held (for the most part) until just before the day's events were supposed to end. They stopped a bit early due to high winds, but that early ending corresponded to the end of my shift, so I didn't even feel like I missed out on anything by leaving early.

Then I went to work. I don't always like my job, and today really was not an exception, but I am thankful to have a job that pays my bills and provides insurance for me and my family.

While at work the severe weather rolled in. There was a tornado warning in Monticello, and I couldn't get in touch with Jason. I finally was able to get him on the phone, and he and Matthew were safely in the basement. A tornado did go through Monticello, but my family was safe and there was no damage to our home. *BIG SIGH OF RELIEF*

And my uncle David is getting married in a few hours (ok, more than a few) to a wonderful woman named Paola. I am SO happy for them! Now, he not quite 3 years older than me, so in some respects I was kind of like the "obnoxious little sister" to him when I was younger. (I may still be that obnoxious little sister-type, but I'm just going to pretend I'm oblivious.) I wrote this awful poem about him in 5th grade that makes me giggle every time I think about it. I tormented him by calling him "Davy Poo," and then further insulted him by writing a poem about "Davy Poo Dah-doot-da-doo" and having it published in my elementary school's yearly conglomeration of student-written works. But I tormented him because I love him. He is very special to me and I'm thrilled that he is marrying Paola. I wish them the very best! (And Dave, if you ever catch wind of me mentioning this on my blog, I really do love you and don't mean to cause you any grief... Thanks for being the best big brother I never had!)

Hello Summer!

Ok, so it's not officially summer yet, but it sure feels like it. And again, I find that time has gotten away from me and I have not posted nearly as much as I wanted to. Here's a very brief update:

Matthew will be 10 months old in a week! We cut his hair for the first time in April, when people started commenting on what a cute girl I had. :)


He's growing up so fast! He meows at the kitties when they meow at him, and when he sees a dog panting he does the same. :) He's a very happy guy. He LOVES eating food off of my plate. I cannot eat anything by myself if he is in the room. Luckily he usually has good table manners, too.


He has 7 teeth - four on top and three on the bottom. He has been rolling and scooting backwards for a while, but just last weekend he discovered the joy of moving forward! Look out world, here comes Matthew!



Last weekend my uncle Jamie got married. His wife's name is also Jamie. I think I'll have to start calling him Jim.


There is lots more to share, but that will have to be some other time!

Whoops, I blinked...

...and another month flew by! How did that happen?


Matthew is now 7 months old. He sits independently and has great fine motor skills. He loves taking apart his turtle shape sorter and banging the pieces together. He sleeps all night and was getting up each day at 6:30 before daylight savings time. This morning he didn't wake me up until 9:10! He's a little chatterbox. On sunny mornings I find him in his crib talking to the sunbeam on his wall.

This weekend has been an adventure. Yesterday we went out with some friends to church and then to dinner. When they brought us some water I gave Matthew the lemon slice from my glass. He ate some, made a sour lemon face, and went back for more. This went on until he ate most of the lemon. Later he tried a little bit of my dinner (very mild Rad Naa, which is noodles and chicken and broccoli and mushrooms), but it was too boring. So he tried some of my friend's dinner, which was (slightly) spicy meat and potato soup. He only tried the potato, which definitely had some kick to it, and he LOVED it. After dinner we had ice cream. Of course I let him have some of that, too. Once he got over the shock of cold food, he decided he wanted more. He screamed for it - in a happy pterodactyl sort of way. Jason and I were supposed to be sharing the ice cream, but every time he or I would take a bite, Matthew would open his mouth for more. Every time he would look confused when the spoon didn't land in his mouth. We did share with him, and he wasn't satisfied until it was all gone.

Today has been sunny and beautiful. The feet of snow we once had has melted, and there is only a tiny bit left in our yard. There is even some green grass poking through out there. We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and we took Matthew to the park. He loved being outside. He also thoroughly enjoyed the baby swing at the park, although it was hard to see his big toothy grin behind his fist, which was shoved in his mouth the whole time. Every now and then he would let out a joyful shriek, so we know he was having fun.


Speaking of toothy grins, Matthew's two bottom teeth finally came in on Valentine's Day! They are razor sharp and super cute.


I can't believe how fast the time is going. He looks less and less like my little baby and more and more like a toddler every day. :) Thankfully he's not quite mobile yet...

Long-awaited update!

I started this post weeks ago, and got distracted by something more important (my precious baby, of course). I'm sorry I have not updated lately!

Matthew and Dora are best buds! If Matthew is playing anywhere close to the floor, you can bet Dora is right there too.


They already look like partners in crime. :)


Matthew recently started sitting up very well all by himself. He does not get himself to a sitting position yet, but if we sit him up he can stay up for a long time.


In other news, we took Matthew to Shriners Hospital last week. They confirmed that he does in fact have hypophosphatemic rickets (I referred to it as X-Linked Hypophosphatemia before). We are very blessed to be able to have him treated at Shriners, where I was treated as a child too. Treatment is free, and the doctors and nurses at Shriners are excellent at what they do. While we are sad that Matthew has rickets, we trust God and know he has a plan that is much greater than we can understand. It is a blessing to have this diagnosis at such a young age. Starting medication before he is walking will help his bones grow strong (and hopefully very straight!). Our next challenge will be getting him to take his medicine every day!

Happy New Year

We finally made it to Wisconsin last weekend to celebrate Christmas with Jason's family. It was an adventure getting there! We left the house at 10:30am. We had to stop at the Chiropractor and the bank on the way out of town. We left the bank and came up to a stoplight on our way to the freeway, and the tire burst. Luckily we were almost stopped when it happened. We drove the car to a parking ramp and Jason put the spare on. It was -10 degrees and windy. Then we drove to a tire store for a replacement since we couldn't drive on the freeway with the spare. Luckily we found a place that had a compatible tire and could replace it for us on New Year's Eve.

At the tire store, Matthew was completely mesmerized by the shiny rims hanging from the walls. When he realized I wasn't going to let him eat the rims, he moved on to bigger and better things.


Yes, here he is STANDING. He would much rather be on his feet these days. I think he's going to skip rolling and crawling at take off running. I am SO NOT READY for that!

Anyway, when we finally arrived at Jay's parents' house it was already 11:00pm. The 7 hour trip took us almost 12, but we made it, safe and sound. We unpacked the car and got settled, and before we knew it, it was after midnight. Happy New Year! Matthew rang in the New Year strapped to me in a new wrap that we both like much better than the sling. We'll have to get a picture of it sometime soon.

We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent in Wisconsin. It's hard to live so far away from family. Matthew made up for lost time by snuggling with Grandma.


We came home with full bellies, good memories, and a car full of Christmas presents. I don't think Matthew will run out of toys to play with for a long, long time!

Matthew will be 5 months old tomorrow. He got his first cold this week, and then I got it just in time for my birthday. No fun at all. But we did discover that Matthew LOVES it when Daddy uses the booger sucker on him. This morning he was giggling up a storm - it was hilarious! What a goofy kid.