Memorial Day

A Memorial Day weekend wouldn't be complete without our traditional upstate trip to the farm. Matthew is proving to be a true farm kid, just like his older siblings.

Little Troublemaker

Matthew is turning into quite an adventurer around the house. He's getting into more and more, especially the baby wipes and DVD basket, and loves to dump out baskets... toy baskets, laundry baskets, garbage baskets... He dashes to the bathroom whenever the door is left open and unfortunately has discovered the toilet (sigh). The other day I heard him making his way into the kitchen and heard some pans crashing around. Maria, my little reporter, made sure to tell me that Matthew was getting into things in the kitchen and sure enough, he had opened the bottom oven drawer that stores some baking sheets. I love it how he's discovering his surroundings and causing a little bit of trouble at the same time. Sounds just like every other one year old ;-)

He wanted a snack, I guess

A gluten filled mess

Standing up straight

Hello

Lego boy

We had Matthew's annual EI review on Monday. Everything went really well! We're going to continue with the services he receives now- PTx2, STx2, and OTx1 and it was great to hear about the progress he had made. I really like our team, they're very positive and encouraging and Mathew is comfortable with them all. With the school year coming to a close it will be nice to have more relaxed weeks at home, with therapy sessions scattered throughout the late morning/early afternoons.

I finally took him in for his 12 month bloodwork (CBC, thyroid, and a couple other checks). He was a touch guy at the lab and did well for the blood draws. His pediatrician called me yesterday saying that everything looked great, aside from his iron being a little low. This is common around this age for our kids though so I wasn't surprised. Poor kid had a rough week, waking up more at night crying and had a slight fever, most likely teething related since I noticed a couple of ridges in his bottom gumline today.

12 Months of Matthew

Matthew is 13 months old today! I'm kicking it off by sharing his monthly pictures, taken next to a bear from 1 to 12 months. I've done this with each of our kids and it's a fun way to see their growth throughout the year.

Life as a 12 month old

We saw many family members over the weekend who mentioned how they enjoyed reading Matthew's blog. I promised them some more updates since I've slacked off and haven't posted in nearly a month! Our typical week now consists of school work for Maria in the morning, therapy sessions in the afternoon, a couple nights of soccer & dance, a busy work schedule for Michael, and chores and various activities filling up our weekends. We've had doctor appointments for Matthew, both his 12 month well-check and a visit to the cardiologist. He weighted in at 18.5 lbs, and 28.5 and had a lousy reaction to his MMR vaccine 10 days after (covered in red bumps and a fever). His PFO in his heart is still there but should decrease in size, no invasive surgery necessary. We don't need to return to the heart doctor for another year. I still need to get to the lab to do Matthew's CBC and thyroid tests but it's on my list.

We have a fully loaded therapy schedule now, with PT 2x/week, speech increased to 2x/week, and OT 1x/week. OT (occupational therapy- fine motor skills) is our most recent addition and our therapist, Melissa, is awesome. All of the sessions are generally held on Tu-W-Th, allowing Monday and Friday as free days. I can breathe easily on those two days, without anyone coming to the house, and know that the house can stay messy if it's messy. Though I'm very grateful for all of the services we receive and know that they have helped Matthew significantly, it's a lot to juggle with 4 little kids, nap times, feeding times, school work, etc. Once Maria's school year is complete we have a wide open schedule with no activities, so bring on the therapy! Our annual meeting is next Monday, it's a therapy pow-wow where all 3 therapists, our service coordinator, and the county EIOD come together and write up Matthew's new IFSP.

Some of Matthew's recent accomplishments... he's creeping on all fours and pulling up to stand! This is huge, for the longest time his little legs were like Jell-O and bottomed out whenever we would stand him up. And now he's doing it all alone! He still has a fast army crawl and usually beelines for the bathroom, the floor vents, or the front storm door. We're working on cruising, or moving along standing up, now. His babbling has really picked up. Just a couple weeks ago, clear as day, he said, "Hiii Dada." He says a loud, grunting "Hiii" to everyone and waves. He's clapping often and lights up when we sing, "If You're Happy and You Know It." And tonight he did his first sign, "more." Matthew's still nursing about 4 times a day but has tried regular milk and yogurt and liked them. He still doesn't get the hang of the straw cup but does well drinking from a regular cup. He generally eats bananas and rice cereal for breakfast, crackers and a Stage 2 tub for lunch, and another Stage 2 tub for dinner along with food we're eating chopped up into small pieces. Most of the food he spits right back out, but at least he's taking part in what we're eating. The kid could live on crackers if I allowed it though.

But enough of those stats and facts... his favorite things to do is play with his siblings and watch them as they run all around him. They are so sweet to him and he just adores them.

In their "nest"

"Hiiii Dada!"

We have a creeper!

Trying out the car

Hi!

Soccer night at the park

Mass with Daddy

Our family at Matthew's aunt's First Communion, also pictured with grandparents and aunts and uncles

A special time with his great-grandma