Oh Matthew...

Mike came home (after watching some Purdont baseball at UIC) last night with a sore throat and stuffy nose. At 3:45 AM he woke up and had a 100.4 fever. Mike took some medicine and we went back to bed in separate rooms.

This morning I shunned him from our home until his fever ended to prevent our little one from getting sick.

Matthew really struggles to sleep at night when he doesn't get to see his dad. Every time. He cries and cries and cries. Hard. Tonight was not much different in that he struggled but it certainly was different. And funny. And sad.

I put him down to bed a little early tonight because he was fussy and looked tired. After 40 minutes in bed and not settling (fussing, squealing, quiet, and then fussing again) I picked him up and cuddled with him for about 30 minutes and Mike talked to him on the phone. When Matthew heard his Daddy's voice he squealed several times and was kicking and smiling, all while reaching for the phone. So sweet. He loves his dad so much.

Then he pooped.

I changed him and then put him to bed. This is when the funny starts...

Matthew sleeps on his stomach but when I put him down he immediately rolled onto his back. I rolled him back to his stomach with the assumption that he might not fall asleep on his back since he never does and wouldn't think to roll back to his stomach on his own. He then rolled again immediately to his back. We went back and forth 5 or 6 times (with me trying not to laugh at this game) before I just left him. He cried for about 7 minutes and then...silence.

I checked on him an hour later wondering what had happened...

He was on his stomach...at the very top of the crib...with no blanket...and his left arm completely wedged under him. Man do I love him.

6 Month Check-Up

Matthew's Stats:

Weight: 16 pounds (25th percentile)
Height: 27 1/2 inches (90th percentile)
Head Circumference: 45 inches (75-90 percentile)

Doctor's notes: Matthew is long and lean.  He is sitting as well as a 7 or 8 month old and has a very strong core!

We will go back to the doctor in 6 weeks to ensure that Matthew stays between the 25th and 50th percentile for weight.  It is likely that he is just lean, but we all agreed it was a good idea to make sure he was staying healthy.

Easter: A Photographic Journey

Polo shirt.  Yellow belt.  Baby blue pants.  Aggressive glare.  All the makings of an Ivy Leaguer.

Matthew sees grass.



Matthew makes an interesting point re: Gingrich's refusal to concede.



Matthew: "Caterpillar!"  Titus: "Cloud!"

  

Matthew's name means "Gift from God."  He sure is.



When Cute Borders Yucky

Grocery Shopping

This is Matthew at the deli counter checking out his options:



He chose corned beef.

Matthew's First Trip to the ER

Fortunately, the generous amount of spilled blood belonged to father, not son.  Mike, in an effort to prevent a glass that had rolled off the counter from shattering on the ground, tried to catch the glass but instead smashed it against the wall.  His right ring finger instantly went numb and spewed blood everywhere.  On the bright side, Matthew, who was sitting two feet away, escaped unscathed.  He also was clueless as to what was happening.  From the moment that Mike punched the glass to the moment Mommy brought him home from the ER, the kid didn't stop smiling.  Glad to see he isn't fazed by watching his father sustain a potentially serious injury that included nerve damage, albeit nerve damage that should heal in the next few weeks.

And yes, I just wrote this whole post in the third person.

Note: Please rest assure that everything in the above pictures was cleaned and sanitized.

I Know Who the Father Is...




President Chester A. Arthur

 

Also pictured: Secretary of Defense, Titus.

Note: This is the blog's second reference to President Chester A. Arthur. http://knollwoodandgarland.blogspot.com/2011/04/sexy-face.html

This Week In the Achievements of a 5 1/2 Month Old

Actually, we should probably call this "The Last 10ish Days Or So In the Achievements of a 5 1/2 Month Old".

After many attempts by his mother and especially his father, Matthew is now capable of sitting up.  We have placed him in a sitting position for months now.  Many of these efforts led to gravity immediately winning.  It really is incredible that a child taller than most kids twice his age still carries 80% of his weight above his shoulders.  Anyway, as time went on Matthew eventually stopped nosediving when put in the sitting position and began to respond instead by slowly falling forward.  It was still gravity asserting its dominance, but Matthew at least was putting up a fight, or as much of a fight as one can make when he still ends up in a position where his head is burrowed between his thighs.  After a while, Matthew began to realize that his arms are not meant for decoration and he began to catch himself as he fell.  Progress is a beautiful thing.  Well, now we are at a point where our offspring is able to sit up for 10 minutes at a time.  He still can't put himself into that position on his own, but as long as Shouty or Milklady sits him up, he is good to go.  The only issue for us is when he is sitting up consistently, it kind of lulls you to sleep.  This makes it a little more difficult to catch him when he eventually topples over.

Matthew also tried a new vegetable this week: peas.  Like everything else not called avocado, he enjoyed the peas thoroughly.  What we don't enjoy thoroughly is what the solid food is doing to Matthew's digestive system.  As previously mentioned, since we introduced solid food to our lad, his poop schedule went from twice daily to twice weekly.  It also went from odorless to wet dog.  Seriously, combine the smells he produces with his new found passion for sucking his own toes and you have an absolutely disgusting human being.  He sure is cute though.

Finally, we have also learned that M has separation anxiety.  Not for people; he barely notices when we go to work.  Rather, for objects, such as his crib's mobile, which we decided to remove one day only to have him scream bloody murder that night when we put him to bed that night.  After 45 minutes of screeching, we re-installed the mobile and he went to sleep immediately.  So not only is Matthew disgusting, he is materialistic.  Terrific.

He's still cute.