Matthew's 10th Month

Matthew just keeps getting bigger and doing more all the time. It's crazy how quickly he grows! Here's what is going on in his world:

Moving: Matthew is quite the fast crawler these days. One thing that he likes to do is raise his hands high over his head while kneeling. He then throws his hands down on the ground and crawls off. He has started standing for brief periods on his own. He also cruises. And he's started crawling up stairs. As for his running legs, well, they are still there but are mostly seen when someone is holding him or when he is in his car seat. Otherwise, he's transferred that movement to his crawling.

Eating: Matthew is a messy eater. It's especially obvious when he's had cereal mixed with prune juice. He likes to grab the spoon from us and stick it in his mouth. Sounds like a great system except that he grabs the actual spoon (not the handle) hence getting cereal in his hands which he proceeds to transfer to all other parts of his body. Maybe it's his way of getting more baths. He is doing well with feeding himself finger foods. His favorite food right now is avocado.

Want a kiss?

Personality: It's fun to see Matthew's personality emerge. He is a very active kid! He enjoys moving his arms and legs a lot and is very rarely still. He is very talkative and babbles all the time. He smiles a lot. He has lots of different smiles--there's his scrunchy nose smile and his wide mouth smile, his laughing smile and his "I'm having fun playing" smile. (He has a very expressive face!) And then there are his cuddles. He is a cuddler, especially right before or after sleeping time. He just melts into you. Nice:)

Scrunchy nose smile

Wide mouth smile (sometimes it is wider)

Playing: Matthew is starting to play more with us. Just tonight, he was teasing Megan by crawling around with a pacifier that she wanted. He would crawl away from her and around the island in the kitchen. He'd stop at the corners to make sure she was still coming. If she didn't come fast enough, he'd go back until he saw her and then he'd turn around really quick and crawl away. He also enjoys peek-a-boo and uses the top of the Lego bucket lid to do so sometimes (thanks, Megan!). He puts toys in buckets and bins....and then dumps them out again. One thing he really enjoys doing is putting his hand over his mouth repeatedly (think Indian war call of yesteryear). He's even gotten Megan and Sarah into doing that as well.

Third hand: Matthew thinks he has a third hand. It's what most of us would call his mouth. He thinks it works well for grabbing toys, for pulling up, for using to help balance while he shifts his hands, for holding onto whoever is holding him. You get the idea....

Yummy pumpkin! (Sampled before and after carving)

Thoughtful Matthew