Grandma and Grandpa A Visit

We enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa A visit us for a few days. Megan made fast friends with grandma by crawling into her lap and giving her a big hug shortly after we arrived home from the airport. Matthew really liked grandpa--he'd even reach for grandpa from me, which is amazing! Sarah liked having more people to play with and especially liked the help with riding her bike.

We packed a lot into the few days they were here. Besides all the activities I've already posted about (U's birthday and Christmas), we watched a few movies and played some games. They watched the kids so that U and I could go out on a date-yeah! Grandma worked with Megan and Matthew on going down the stairs properly. (Megan is pretty good at doing it now; Matthew sometimes is and sometimes isn't.) We drove around looking at Christmas lights. We took a few trips to the park. Megan and Matthew really liked grandma and grandpa teaching them how to go down the slides on their own.

Here are a few pictures from their visit. Bet you can tell who the camera (wo)man normally is. We need more pictures of grandma!

Matthew loves grandpa!

Megan and Matthew both really liked playing with grandpa's red Alaska hat. Megan would even put it on her head and then go put it back on grandpa's.

Matthew loves his sister!

U, Megan and Matthew

At the park

Reindeer puzzle Grandpa got that he and Sarah put together

Matthew got his birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa A a couple days early so they could be there. 

Matthew and Megan loafing on his couch.

Matthew's 11th and 12th Months

Matthew has had a busy couple of months. Here are some highlights:

Walking: Matthew has started taking a few steps. The first few weeks he did this, I never saw him. U or Sarah would tell me that he'd just walked a little. If I ever watched, he'd get down and crawl. I've now seen him, though, and he is getting more confident. Sometimes it's like you can see his brain trying to decide whether to try to walk or just crawl. He crawls most of the time, but is starting to walk a little more, although never more than a few steps at a time.

Standing: Matthew likes standing. He's wanted us to put him down standing for the last few months. He'd then stand there for a few seconds. Now, he can push himself up to standing and he is getting good at balancing. Today, he was standing drinking from his water bottle for quite awhile.

See me stand!

Eating: Matthew is still a very messy eater. He likes to experience his food and this includes rubbing it all over his face, hair and clothes. He often gets a hair wash after meals. The good news is that he's used to this and so it doesn't bother him one bit. His favorite food is still avocado--he'll eat a whole one at a meal if we let him. He's also had binges with eating carrots (40+ baby carrots in one sitting!) and pasta. He is proud of the fact that he gets a bowl with some of his food in it. He will often pick it up and show it to us as if to say, "Look at this! I'm such a big boy."

Communication: Matthew says "mama" and "dada" and signs "more" and "all done."  He enjoys shaking his head "no." However, just because he shakes his head "no" doesn't mean he's saying "no," although sometimes it does. (I guess we need to work with him on clear communication.) He is really good at screaming to get attention.

Playing: Matthew is quite interactive with us. He likes clapping and giving us five. He will click his teeth and he also makes little popping noises with his mouth. He has started folding his arms for prayer. He sometimes conducts the music for us, too. He likes playing with Megan a lot and often imitates what she is doing and the sounds she is making. He ventures off on his own a lot as well. Some of his favorite activities are playing chase with a ball and getting plastics tubs and utensils out of the kids' drawer in the kitchen to play with (and spread all over the kitchen...). He also loves the dishwasher and has some sort of internal sensor to know as soon as we open it--he'll crawl over and want to play in it. (It's only resulted in one broken plate so far.)

Conducting the song during devotional

Playing with Megan

Other odd bits: Matthew is still a really smiley kid most of the time and he loves to have fun. He's a wiry little guy (he weighed 17 lbs the 9th of December) and is so flexible--legs are supposed to go up by the face when sleeping, right? He is a mama's boy, although he gets upset if daddy doesn't come see him as soon as he gets home from work and he loves playing with Sarah and Megan. Besides daddy and Sarah, the only person he reaches for from mommy is Grandpa A--he really liked being with grandpa when he visited!

Doing war cry with Grandpa

He still loves the camera!

Matthew-in-a-box (yes, it is a really little box he's in)

Balloons

Zoolights

We went to Zoolights on U's birthday with Grandma and Grandpa A. There were lots of cool lights, including an LED lion, a huge scorpion (glad we don't have that size around here) and color-changing globes. They had a really neat sphere in the middle of the lake that they create images on. It was neat to see all the different things they did with it. Definitely a family tradition we all enjoy. Although next year we'll make sure to bring hats for all--we may be in Arizona, but it can cool off quickly once the sun goes down.

Happy 1st Birthday Matthew!

Yesterday was Matthew's first birthday! It is crazy to think that it has already been a year since he was born. We had a big party to celebrate....at least it was big for a one year old. Festivities included opening presents, taking calls from well wishers and eating cake. One cute thing is that while people were singing "Happy Birthday" to him, Matthew showed his approval by shaking his head "no" the entire time. Once the song was over, he applauded. What a cute kid!

Matthew sporting his birthday bib. We took the picture before he ate anything because it wasn't going to stay clean for long!

Opening presents. Gifts included a Toy Story couch, a play house, a few books, an outfit, puffs, a train and a Wheelies set.

Looking at a card.

Eating part of the train. The play house is in the background. It is pretty neat--there's a door with a key and light, a shape sorter, a gutter that plays the itsy bitsy spider and all sorts of other things. It is a hit with all three kids:)

With his cake. It was an interesting cake as we needed to avoid dairy and eggs. There wasn't any sugar in it either. It was quite dense and tasted pretty good.

Eating his cake.

Playing with his Wheelies.

Showing off his new couch.

We love you Matthew:) We are glad you are in our family!

Merry Christmas!

What cute kids!

We made our big meal for Christmas Eve. We had ham, sweet potato, scalloped potatoes, salad with dried fruit and pine nuts, cranberry sauce. The nice part about this is that then we were able to have it all over again on Christmas but without all the work

After dinner, we had our Christmas program complete with the Little People Nativity acting out the Christmas story courtesy of Sarah. We sang some Christmas songs and each kid opened their pjs. (Ok, maybe Megan and Matthew had a little help.)

Wearing Christmas jams

Christmas morning, Sarah was so excited! (Ok, she'd been excited for a few days before, or maybe it was a few months.) We got up and opened our stockings. Then we ate some eggs and toast for breakfast. We had time to open a few gifts before church, like the Sunday clothes Grandma and Grandpa A got for the kids. We were able to enjoy a nice church service. We then ate lunch and finished opening the presents. We were able to talk to a lot of our family on the phone which is always nice. We certainly had a nice Christmas!

Sarah hanging out with dad right before we went downstairs.

The stockings

Sarah with her stocking. She also got a gumball bank (all the gum was gone by the 26th) and Skipper & Chelsea sisters camp out set.

Matthew with the avocado he got in the toe of his stocking (the rest of us got cuties)

Matthew with the Thomas the Tank Engine toy he got from Santa--it has been a big hit with all the kids

Megan with the roller toy she got from Santa.

Opening presents 

I love how the bag is almost as tall as Megan (Yes, she is standing)

Her own baby doll!

A leopard that roars!

Grandma with the three kids--they are in the outfits Grandma and Grandpa gave them

Sarah with her nice doll

Megan and her baby doll in matching nightgowns, courtesy of Grandma O

Each of us with our gifts--we made quite the haul!

The kids with a few of their other presents:

Hats and mittens from Great Grandma H

Books from Grandma and Grandpa O

Stuffed animals from Great Grandma and Grandpa B

Toys from Luke and Andrew (they are all looking at the camera--AMAZING!)

The cutest Santa we saw on Christmas