Matthew's 6th month

It's crazy to believe that Matthew is already 6 months old but he is! Wow! Time flies!

He had his 6 month check up on his 6 month birthday. Here are the stats:
Weight: 14 lb 7 oz (5%)
Length: 25.75 inches (25%)
Head Circumference: 17.25 inches (50%)

He got a clean bill of health from the doctor. When she was checking his heart and lungs with her stethoscope, Matthew decided to create his own heartbeat with his foot--thump, thump, thump. (Yes, it's still those running legs!) I got to hold it down so she could hear the real thing. Developmentally he is doing great as well. Hooray!

Matthew has had a big month. Sarah even commented the other day on how much more he is doing--sitting, rolling, babbling. He loves blowing raspberries and does this all the time. He also enjoys sucking on wrists--his, mine, U's, really anyone's who is around.

Interactive: Matthew is being more interactive. For example, whereas he used to only laugh when people interacted with him, he now laughs when he thinks something is funny (this often involves Sarah).

Pacifier: Matthew has decided that the way to sleep is with his pacifier. This is all well and good until it falls out of his mouth. He'll then holler for us to put it back in. When he is awake, he'll suck on his fingers and thumb but this is not an acceptable alternative for sleep time since he will flail his arms all around if he is not swaddled.

Rolling: Matthew has started rolling places. And where does he roll? He has clearly been watching big sister Megan as he rolls where she goes. The first place he rolled was to his car seat. He also rolls under the bouncy seats, swing, shoes, etc.

Sitting: Matthew has started sitting pretty well. We help him a bit but he is getting pretty good at balancing himself and can probably sit up for a minute or so on his own.

Wiggly guy!: Matthew still "runs" everywhere. It is pretty funny to watch--he has such an intent look on his face while he runs. Those of you who haven't yet met Matthew probably wonder why I keep talking about him running, but it really is something he does all the time! He also flails. He is wiggly in general. His wiggles have recently caused excitement as he knocked one of the floor gyms down repeatedly. Looks like we won't be using that anymore!

1st Solids: Matthew had his first solids the end of this month.  His food of choice? Oatmeal.  He seemed to like it pretty well--we even had to make up some more for him.  He did seem a little confused about how the food got in his mouth, though.  He was probably thinking, "Here I am just sitting here and with no work on my part, there is suddenly this yummy food in my mouth."

Some people say that breast-fed babies have no use for formula.  Here's proof that they do!

(It is helping him sit up straight in the booster seat.)

Other Photos:

Playing with dad

Yoga Baby!



Sleeping in swing

Sitting in the swing (he's actually sitting forward in it)

Which to suck--toes or hands? (He'll really get his hand jammed in his mouth sometimes.)



Family Visit--Other Activities

While our families were in town, we did a lot of fun things.  Besides the sealing, blessings and Science Center, activities included:

Eating at Sweet Tomatoes (Megan ate a ton!)

Swimming

Playing Oh Heck

Playing

Sleeping

And Lots of Pictures!

Family Visit--Science Center

When our family was in town for the sealing and blessings, we went to the Arizona Science Center.  It was lots of fun.  We learned about volcanoes and hearts and physics and all sorts of other stuff.  Here are some photo highlights:

Wheel Chair Race

Playing in the heart

Andrew loved dropping the balls and having them go through the hoops!

Tug of War

Spin Sarah, Spin!

Building a Dam

Megan and Matthew at the beginning of the day

Megan Sleeping

And Matthew Not...

Cousin Transport!



Baby Blessings

On June 19th, we had Megan's and Matthew's blessings at church.  U's mom made their outfits which were really nice (Megan's dress is the same one she was sealed in).  The blessings were beautiful and both babies were perfectly behaved, both for their own blessing and for their sibling's.

Megan's Sealing

On June 18th we were able to take Megan to the temple to have her sealed to us.  What an awesome experience!  Both sets of grandparents, my sister and some friends from our ward were there to support us.  It was really cool to be able to walk into the temple with all three kids.  You could definitely tell that temple patrons aren't used to hearing babies cry!  Our moms went with the kids to the Youth Center which was nice.  I fed Matthew in there, too, which was pretty cool--how many people can say they fed their baby in the temple?

The actual sealing was wonderful.  The most special moment for me was when they brought in all three kids--WOW!  To see them all dressed in white and in there with us was really, really awesome!   Megan was really good and looked so lovely!  We showed Sarah how our family goes on in both directions in the mirrors--just like we can be in eternity.  Very neat and I have to say I feel a little bad that not everyone gets this experience.  (As an interesting aside, Sarah wasn't going to wear a white dress since she didn't have to.  The temple workers were trying to talk her into it, but she was quite set against it.  They showed them a short video before they went into the sealing room and after watching it, Sarah said that she thought she should wear a white dress.  And she looked beautiful in it, I might add.)

Brother Angel Sandoval was our sealer.  He was from Mexico, adopted three of his children and had some nice insights.  He had a hard time saying U's name and eventually started calling him by his middle name (which was interesting since that is his dad's name and his dad was there). 

The funny moment of the morning came when I walked back into the Bride's Room afterwards.  The temple workers said to me, "And you're Sister Who?" to which I replied "Sister O" not quite sure why they were asking.  I then realized most people coming back in have just been married.

Here are some pictures of the beautiful day.