And he loves cornbread. His belly was so full after dinner he looked bloated. He kept signing for more “crackers” and handing us his bowl for chili or his plate for cornbread. It amazes me how fast they develop non-verbal communication, that is why I think he is so good with signing; it’s easier than language and speech development. He has been starting to say ‘boo’ though when trying to scare us. He is on the low end when it comes to speech, but all my boys are (their daddy was too) and once they get to a certain age, they catch up so I am not too concerned about it. He will be checked again in 4 months if he is meeting the minimum. If he’s not, we will get him into see a speech therapist.
Matthew has a new sign, help, and he uses it appropriately… he brings me a toy that he has pulled apart, puts it on my lap and signs “help” and waits patiently until I fix it. He says or signs thank you (with prompting) and breaks the toy again… repeat everything above and there is a good hour of our day.
He also has expended “hurt” to mean physical as well as feelings, and now to toys. He was upset that is favorite toy was running low on batteries and sounding sick… he insisted it was hurt and that I help it feel better. Amazingly enough, hugging toys only makes children feel better, not toys…
I almost forgot to mention, Matthew stayed with my friend while I was getting my second panel of blood tests done this morning, and not only did he NOT freak out (he did cry and whine, but only if they looked at him), but he even kissed them both goodbye!
Christopher was NEVER a clingy or fearful of strangers or new situations like Matthew has been, I truly appreciate the differences between my two youngest sons.
Pretty uneventful, Matthew got 3 shots and was VERY upset about that. The doctor said his rash was bacterial, not yeast, so we are changing courses of treatment, and he said he is fine to go back in cloth, YAY!!
Stats:
Height: 30 3/4 inches (10th Percentile)
Weight: 22lbs (10th Percentile)
He said we will revisit my concerns I have about his speech at his 2 year appointment.
Matthew has a new ‘word’, and he uses it appropriatly.
Matthew:
Mommy: “Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?”
Matthew: “Um”
Matthew: “Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad?”
Daddy: “Yes son?”
Matthew: “Um “
I am mom, mama, or mommy when Matthew talks to, or of me, but I have just graduated to a new name. I am now “mom-mayyyy?”, which in Matthewism is his way of saying “Mommy, may I nurse please?” Without fail, as soon as he starts in with “mom-mayyyyy?” he starts signing for milk.
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Speaking of signing…. we now have added “me” and “thank-you” to our repertoire.
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Also today, Matthew was throwing a huge fit; Christopher was folding laundry in the clothes basket, and Matthew wanted to play with the basket and he was not getting his way so the toddler alarms were ringing in all their glory (by Toddler Alarms: Read ’screeching shrill and loud’). I asked him to stop and tried to redirect, but he was very pissed off and in a fit of baby OCD would not let it go. He ran back in a final attempt to gain control of the basket and did not get his way so his toddler alarm went off again…. I had had enough, I was trying to cook and had no time for bratty baby antics. So, into time out (the playpen) he went. After about 30 seconds he stopped crying and was looking at daddy sweetly trying to get out on good behavior. To win him over he starts singing “dad-dad-dad-dad-dad-dad-dad” so sweet and lovingly to his daddy. Bobby interrupts him and asked “who put you in there”? Matthew gets all serious and makes and angry face and says “mom”! Thinking it was a fluke thing we tried a couple more times with the same results. Silly boy!!
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Matthew is resourceful, he has been climbing since before he could walk, he can climb on my bed, on my recliners, into his highchair, up and down the steps alone, on my kitchen table, on his push toys, you name it… this kid is a MONKEY! So, today we noticed how resourceful he is. He wanted on my lap with his cup of water, but instead of coming over and waiting on me to pick him up, he pushes the lever on the recliner so it lays back, tosses his cup on the chair, climbs up on the leg-rest of the recliner and onto the recliner, onto the couch with the cup, across the couch and over daddy and then onto my lap for a well deserved water break and a cuddle.
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Bobby learned today they are renegotiating his contract, all is tense while we wait for the news of how this will change his benefits and salary (if at all).
Bobby finished his two classes with two solid B’s! Not bad for someone who has not set foot in a classroom in almost 15 years (well, not counting our children’s schools and the classroom he teaches in).
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Bobby’s mom got married to her boyfriend of 10 years who has terminal cancer and his sister is 7 months pregnant. I am not saying anything more on my blog about that… you can email for more details if you want.
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Austin and Christopher are really enjoying school. Austin is really thriving in the boys only class and Christopher is doing much better after the call to mom last week for misbehavior. This teacher will not tolerate his sh*t and knows I can be at the school within 5 minutes of a phone call home.
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Austin has continued to follow his characterization of a klutz. Running home from getting the mail on Tuesday he ran into a garbage can, not a little one, but the HUGE ones from the garbage company that are as tall as he is… it scratched his face up and gave him one heck of a shiner. His only response was “at least I moved it back into the yard!” Yeah, with your FACE, good job Austin. LOL That boy is famous for his “at least” phrase and his unwavering optimism.
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Still no new adoption news.
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Not much new with me…. I have been talking with old friends and that has been nice… my best friend of 10 years who I lost contact with when we moved across town and is doing fabulous! My neighbor who was 6 when we moved who is now 22 and has a little girl that looks as pretty as her mama was. I am waiting to hear back from a friend who I have known since kindergarten who’s dad works with my dad. Ahhhhh, memories.. 
So, we have been signing with Matthew for a few months (read: over 6 LONG months), and he is just now really getting it. At the store yesterday we were in the snack isle and he started getting excited and signing “hungry” so I asked him what he was hungry for and he starts signing “cheese” then “cracker”. So we walk towards the goldfish area and he spots the Cheese-Its and starts going nuts, signing “more, more more” like a madman. So, into the cart it went. So I got to thinking this morning on the signs he knows, and he has added SO many, just this month alone.
This is him signing “milk” around 10 months. That was about all he knew. At a year old he picked up “dog” and in July started signing “more”. In just August alone he has learned “banana”, “cracker”, “water”, “hungry”, “thirsty”, “cereal”, “cheese”, “eat”, and “cookie”. Good thing too, because he can only speak the words “mommy”, “daddy”, “Austin”, and “kitty”.
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I got a call from the school today, the counselor called the mom of the boy who was bullying Austin. The counselor had the date wrong, so the mom was super defensive saying we were lying and such because he was with her all day. The mom said that her son was too small to do anything like that. The average weight of a normal 10 yr old boy is between 60-70 lbs, Austin is the smallest boy in his grade and below the 5th percentile for weight and height (50 lbs) so that is not a far stretch by any means. The counselor is going to call back with the correct dates and the police report and hopefully after talking to the witnesses to see what the mom says THIS time about her precious baby being unable to be a bully .
PARENTS: PLEASE GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE SAND! Any child can be a bully!! Instead of refusing to think that little Johnny or Sally is capable because they are a perfect angel who can do no wrong; listen to the facts and DEAL with it!! Please talk to your kids, do not put anything past them, and deal with the problem instead of thinking your child is too good to be bad! Austin is a GOOD boy, very good, but he has had problems in the past and we worked through it because no child is immune to having behavior problems. Ok, stepping off my soap box now.
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When I was driving to the attorney’s office today I saw a man on a Honda who was trying to look cooler than what he was. He was wearing a helmet and a windbreaker that matched his motorcycle and BRIGHT white shoes (my dad calls them Honda riding boots). I giggled a bit because he was trying to look like a mean biker… Later, I saw him again in the parking lot of Safeway and it reminded me of a comment that Christopher made when he was 6.
Austin and Christopher and I were at the mall where we saw a motorcycle being given away as a prize in a drawing. Chris went up to the gas tank and read the logo, “Hon-da” he read out loud, then said to me “mom, does that Honda want to be a REAL Harley Davidson when it grows up?”
So, today at Safeway I giggle to myself and tell Matthew that when that Honda grows up, it wants to be a REAL Harley and I go on my way shopping. After shopping I was unloading my groceries and looked over and in the spot where the Honda was, and in the same spot was a Harley Davidson motorcycle! I about peed myself laughing, I guess it really DID want to grow up to be a Harley!
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We have some new baby tricks. He climbed INTO the playpen today, the pictures below were after the fact. The playpen, which was resting against the recliner had some toys in it he wanted, so he climbed onto the recliner and then lowered himself into the playpen and then threw out all the toys. Somehow it became my job to save him from the situation he got himself into. *UPDATE* I shot and added pictures of him climbing in, shown below.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Proof My Child is a Monkey, Part One and Two.
He also learned a new word. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-tiiiiiiiiiiiiii” which is Matthewism for “Austin”. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs calling for Austin to come down. Maybe we yell for the boys too much… oops! He still is not saying more than a half dozen words or coppying what we say, so I will be bringing that up at his 18 month checkup. Christopher was slow to talk too and I just got papers from the school to continue speech therapy. Both were/are tongue tied, but I am not sure how much of a role that plays in it.
VERY little. At his 15 month well baby he was 20 lbs even and 29 inches long. Well proportioned for his size, but still a small boy. You should see how much this boy EATS though, holy cow! The other morning at breakfast he ate an egg, a piece of bacon, and 1 1/2 Belgium waffles (not those lame-o toaster things, home made), and a cup of orange juice… like his brothers, the kid is HOLLOW!!!!!
He’s still not talking much (like his brothers at his age), but he is a climber! He can climb on the kitchen table, climb in his highchair, etc.
I absolutly adore his personality, he is such a cuddler. He will rub my arms and face when I am nursing him, and he comes and leans against you like a dog does when he wants picked up into your lap. He likes to stroke our faces and give slobbery baby kisses. He loves to lay with his daddy in the recliner, and is SO gentle with the animals. Now that we have just one dog, he is so good to her, as she is to him. They pass her bone back and forth, and he slips her snacks when he’s eating. I love this age!!!
