11 Months Old

Matthew is 11 months old!!!

It has been a great month as we've seen more of Matthew's personality emerge. He is quite a little ham and loves to make us laugh. Matthew also likes to roughhouse! Thanks to some wrestling lessons this month from Matt, he began throwing himself around on the couch and bed. He will stand up and then fall straight back or nosedive onto his face. Then he laughs hysterically. We have to watch him very closely! He also plays a little too rough and thinks it's funny to "bang" us/Caroline/the dog on the face with his hand (or an object) and/or bite us. We are trying to teach him "gentle" and "no biting!" but he hasn't quite caught on to those concepts yet. Needless to say, he is all boy, and I'm loving it. Well, maybe not the hitting and biting so much, but loving the boy-playing-rough stuff. It's fun!

Matthew loves music and he started dancing this month (which really consists of him rocking back and forth). The past two times I've picked him up from BSF, his teachers told me he loved music time and clapping along/dancing to the songs. He loves any song we sing to him but his favorites are 'Twinkle Twinkle', 'Itsy Bitsy Spider', 'This is the Day' and 'Jesus Loves Me'. Matthew loves to steal Caroline's little piano book away from her and bang on the keys. He also likes stand on his tiptoes and bang on the real piano.

Speaking of stealing stuff from Caroline, the sibling squabbles have officially started. Mainly when they want to play with the same toy! Matthew decided to go and get an opinion this month and it is not okay anymore when Caroline takes a toy away from him. It's also not okay when we take something away from Matthew that he isn't allowed to play with i.e. my cell phone. He will immediately start to cry but thankfully is easily redirected. Other than a few squabbles here and there over toys, Matthew and Caroline are crazy about each other and are enjoying playing together more and more. They love to give each other kisses and make each other laugh. Watching their relationship grow has been one of our greatest joys this past year!

Matthew likes to play rough but is still my snuggler and major love bug. He loves to cuddle all throughout the day when I'm holding him, especially before naps and bedtime. I hope he never stops cuddling with me. I love it! He is also content sitting in my lap and hanging out a lot of the time. Matthew still likes to cruise and is the happiest when standing up. He pulls up on anything and everything. He started standing up without holding onto anything this month! The longest he can balance is about 20 seconds. I still don't think he will be walking anytime soon, but he loves to walk while pushing his radio flyer wagon (pictured above...also, this pic is a hint about the theme for Matthew's first birthday party!) His very favorite thing to do right now is climb, climb then climb some more. He can scale a set of stairs in no time (with me following close behind of course). Matthew also tries to climb furniture, rocking chairs, Caroline's stool, the fireplace hearth and really anything that is low to the ground. Did I mention we have to watch this little guy???

Matthew is still our great little eater and eats more than Caroline at most meals. He loves salty foods more than sweet and his favorites are any kind of meat, pasta and veggie. He ate spaghetti for the first time this month and loved it. It was fun to watch him get really messy. He still likes his formula heated up, but we're trying to wean that so he will have an easier transition to milk. Matthew has four 7 oz. bottles a day and eats 3 meals with one snack between lunch and dinner.

Matthew continues to be a good little sleeper. I have to wake him up from his morning nap after 1 1/2 hours so he'll go down easier in the afternoon. He usually takes a 2 hour afternoon nap then sleeps from 7 p.m.-7:30ish a.m. every night. He likes to sleep with two little lovie blankets, his puppy dog, teddy bear, and a big blanket we cover him up with.
We're still dealing with separation anxiety, however, we have seen some improvement this month (I'm so thankful...for awhile there, this momma's heart was breaking every time I had to drop him off at BSF or MDO). He doesn't scream every time I leave now and his teachers say he is a lot happier.

Matthew isn't really doing anything new in the babbling department and definitely doesn't have any consistent real words yet. He will sometimes try to imitate us when we say "all done", "banana", "mama/dada", "Abby/doggie", and a few others. I still have some concerns about his speech but there isn't a lot we can do right now other than watch and wait. Needless to say, I'm amping up the sign language just in case. Matthew consistently signs "all done" and "more" and we're working on "thank you", "milk", "drink", "eat" and "help". He still loves to play pat-a-cake and wave hi/bye.

No new teeth this month...Matthew still has 6 total (4 top and 2 bottom)

(see that little face below? that is Matthew's mischevious face that is usually accompanied by a laugh)

I can't believe in less than one month our baby will be ONE! Where in the world did the last year go? Thanks to Caroline, I know what we have to look forward to with Matthew getting older...that makes "the big first birthday" easier this time around. On the other hand, I want time to stop so Matthew will stay my baby forever. Since that isn't an option, I'm going to take a deep breath and soak up every minute I can with my baby before he turns the big O.N.E.
We love you, sweet boy! Happy 11 month birthday!