Matthew's 13th Month

This month, Matthew has spent most of his energy focused on WALKING. He is bound and determined to do it! Consequently, he is now quite proficient. Not that he walks all the time or that he never crawls when he falls down. And he's quite wobbly when he does walk. But most of the time, he's walking. It's fun to watch him walk because he's such a little guy and because he gets a huge smile on his face.

Here's the phone!

Look at me go!

Another development for Matthew this month is that we got him tested for allergies. We were planning on getting him tested after he was a year. We ended up making a special appointment with the pediatrician to expedite it after he threw up due to something he ate (maybe Megan's milk). Later that same week, he threw up again after definitely getting Megan's milk. We're all for sharing around here with the exception of that! Anyhow, he did great getting his blood drawn (yes, he screamed a lot--that's expected, right?) and we got the results a few days later. Of the 20 allergens they tested for, he was allergic to four--soy (very low level), egg white (they didn't test egg yolk), cow's milk (we had that one figured out!) and peanut. None of his levels were really high although we do now have an EpiPen for him. We are avoiding milk products and peanuts completely at this point and aren't going to be eating tofu or quiche anytime soon, although it's ok if he gets a little soy and egg baked in things. It's amazing how much stuff has some form of milk in it. It's definitely helping us cook from scratch more.

Matthew had his 12 month appointment the end of January (so it was really more like 13 months--we'd had to reschedule due to illness.)  He's doing really well overall. I had a bizillion questions about the allergy stuff and the immune system  and diet and so we got a referral to an allergist/immunologist. (The pediatrician said that I had a lot more technical questions than most parents. Go figure!) Anyhow, here are his stats:

Weight: 17 lb 13 oz (3.5%)

Length: 29 inches (9%)

Head circumference: 18.5 inches (70%)

He still has his daddy's head!

Matthew is still our snuggly, smiley little guy who loves to give kisses. He has added "please" and "thank you" to the signs that he does. He is really flexible and loves to be folded in half. We joke that he'll be able to stay rear facing in his car seat for a really long time because he often has his legs pulled up. When he goes down the slide, he'll often have his legs up as well--it makes him look a bit like a frog. It makes him a bit unstable and I worry he'll flip backwards, but he hasn't so far.

He likes playing with Thomas

Enjoying a trip to the park--he really enjoys going

Playing with his favorite Legos--the flowers:)

Cute picture! (Matthew is in this position a lot. It makes it very convenient to stand.)