My weekend with Matthew

Dad here. Maria was invited to spend a “spa-getaway” weekend with her best friend (and matron of honor) Barb that Carl (Barb's husband) organized for Barb's birthday – When Maria mentioned that she would like to spend her first night away from Matthew I was quick to offer to watch Matthew by myself...it had nothing to do with her threatening to make me sleep with the cat for the next year!

That left Matthew's feeding, diaper changing, entertainment, i.e. all responsibilities to me, and any family member that I thought I needed help from, though I did not ask help from any of them. I know that I was up for the challenge! Matthew is a lot more stable on his feet then a month ago and his "monkey walk" is almost gone. By monkey walk, I mean that he looked like a chimpanzee, walking with his hands lifted above his head for balance. He definitely knows where he wants to go and loves to charge my legs when I play “goalie” to block him from going somewhere.

His latest thing is to dunk everything he can get his hands on into the dog's water bowl. He also likes this game: getting a hold of the TV, cable box and/or DVD player remotes and walking away from me at top speed, laughing with every step. At this rate, I will not be able to keep up with him in a few years. Keeping the remotes from getting drool-soaked (or dunked in the aforementioned water bowl) and ruined, not to mention wrestling them from his vice grip hands, is a full time job.

We had a great time without mommy. The only downside was that Matthew did not want to drink any of the milk that mommy pumped for him and left in the fridge. I offered him apple juice or bottled baby water more than once but he did not want any of them, so I had to switch tactics. I started feeding him food that had a higher content of liquids: apple sauce. He absolutely loves apple sauce! I made sure that he had at least one apple sauce serving per meal and received no complaints. He got enough hydration; the proof was all the wet diapers. That made daddy happy too.

Saturday night, we had a long session of drumming with the drum kit that his godfather gave him as a Baptism present. He must have been inspired by the Taiko Japanese Drummers we saw the night before at the Miller Outdoor Theater. I called our hour-long jam session the "Caucasian Drummers", which Maria later re-christened "Crustacean Drummers". Hee hee. Unfortunately, the fun times had to end when Matthew walked off with the drumstick and managed to squirrel it away somewhere -- it has yet to found.

I convinced him to take two naps on Saturday, but managed to get only one nap on Sunday. On Sunday, we ended up going to Katy Mills Mall before joining mom, Barb, Carl, Johnathan and Daniel for dinner. He was getting sick of the house as much as I was since we did not get out of the house on Saturday – not even a stroll. We lost the opportunity to go for a stroll while I was waiting for him to nap Saturday morning. I thought that he would take a nap before 9:30 am so I let him keep playing, and walking, and playing and walking until he fell asleep at 11:30 am. By the time he woke up, it was 1:00 pm and 85 humid degrees outside; it was below 70 degrees at 9:30 am when I was thinking about taking him on the stroll.

I made sure that I did not make the same mistake on Sunday. I took him and the doggies for a stroll at 7:30 am, shortly after feeding him breakfast -- daddy had two cups of coffee. It was a crisp morning with a temp of 65 degrees. To prove that he was in a good mood, he sang. Mommy said that he's sang once or twice last week but I heave not heard him sing until Sunday morning. He also sang a few times on the drive to dinner on Sunday night. I wish that I had the video camera (or even a tape recorder) to record it. It must have been something that he made up since I could not recognize the tune he was singing from any of the lullabies and baby songs he's been listening to.

We'll have to record him singing on video. Who knows, maybe he'll be the next American Idol. GASP! I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT!!! :-)

1 Year Exam Stats 2 Weeks Later

A couple of weeks ago on Wednesday September 10th, Matthew had his 1 year exam. Here are his stats: Height 30 3/4 inches (75-90%) and Weight: 23.4 lbs (50-75%). The doc said Matthew is a "tall slender baby". A little different from his 3 month appointment where he was referred to as "ginormous". The doc also gave me suggestions to get him to sleep through the night without feedings. She recommended that Matthew's Dad attend to him at night when he wakes up by reassuring him every 10 minutes until he falls back to sleep. We started this plan on that same night and so far it has been working very well (at least I am getting a lot more sleep). Matthew got three shots during this appointment. The nurse whipped out the syringes so quickly that before Matthew registered that he got his first shot he had already received two more. He cried for a few seconds but then was back to normal.

Screen Window-1, Matthew-0

On Monday both Tony and I had the day off of work because Houston was largely without power at that time. We made due. A miraculous cold front came in that made our days much more mild than they normally are at this time of the year. We usually don't get weather in the 70's and 80's until late October. We had all of the windows open enjoying the fresh air. Matthew decided to pound on the screen and fell through the screen window. Don't worry, Matthew is fine, but he scraped his nose on the screen on his way down. His scrape looks like a rug burn. The first day it was red, but the second and third day he had a noticeable scab.

Matthew and Ike Aftermath

I will provide a more thorough update in a future blog. I am currently in a coffee shop that has Internet connection. The Houston Vivonas and Varesics made it through the storm okay. Matthew, Tony, and I evacuated to The Woodlands (40 miles north from our home). Ironically, my parents house sustained more damage: A huge 100+ foot pine tree snapped from the middle and landed on their garage and a neighbor's tree fell across the street and landed on my father's truck.

My parents in The Woodlands are without power as of Sunday afternoon. We returned to a house with no damage but no power and no cell phone coverage. My brother (Matthew's Unkie Jude) seems to be doing well in the Southwest side of town, but we haven't talked to him directly. Who made out the best through the storm: Matthew-he got full attention from his mom and dad and grandparentsfor the last five days. Who was the most disturbed throughout the storm? Tony's hell cat Angel. She meow/howeled (meowlled)both trips to and from The Woodlands and left us an SUV that smells like cat urine. FYI, the dogs treated this like a happy ride.

Matthew's First Baseball Game Stats Sept. 9, 2008

• Who hit the first home run at Matthew's first baseball game?: Mark Saccomanno and it was his first at bat in a major league game.


• What was the score?: Astros 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 2


• Who pitched the final strike to win the game: ?? (I bet I will get a response from Unkie Jude)


• How many beers did Matthew's Unkie Jude have?: 2 (His mom ate 1.75 pretzels, Matthew gnawed on .25 pretzels)


• How many verses of "Deep in the Heart of Texas" did we sing during the Seventh Inning Stretch: 6


• How many laps did we walk around the Minute Maid Field concourse when Matthew started to fuss?: 2.5


• How many times did his grandpa call us on the cell phone to see if Matthew was having a good time: 3
  

Matthew's Birthday Brunch

Matthew's First Birthday Brunch (Told through Photos)

The special homemade birthday cake made by our friend Robin.


She also made a mini cake for Matthew to manhandle.


Which he did.


His daddy secretly took him to take a quick bath before he opened his presents.



I ended up with Matthew's cute friend Audrey on my lap. There is something about being in the center of a room full of presents that is appealing to kiddos. Notice Matthew's friend Collin also joining in.


Tony also put together a slide show and video montage of our favorite photos and high definition videos of Matthew on his big screen TV. I was proud of Tony. He was able to keep the presentation down to 10 minutes. This was very difficult because he has taken over 2000 photos of the little guy over the last year. Fortunately, I was able to convince him that the 38th photo of Matthew sleeping was probably unnecessary. We relived our honeymoon argument that he could capture a Maui sunset in 20 seconds as opposed to 20 minutes.

Matthew's party was from 11AM-1:30PM. The party ended just in time for him to take his afternoon nap with his balloon of course.

Hurricane Season Baby

Matthew's birthday comes at the peak of Hurricane Season. I remember being especially worried about this last year when I was 9 months pregnant. We decided we had to prepare Matthew for potential downpours somehow. (That and the neighborhood pool is closed for the year). This hurricane season we have averted Edoard, Gustav, and it is yet to be determined if we will be so lucky with Ike. Fortunately, Matthew's Birthday Brunch on Sunday was not in any hurricane "five day cone of probability".

Update: Hurricane Ike did hit us with the eye of the storm passing right over Galveston. Matthew, Tony, all the pets and I evacuated to The Woodlands to be with Matthew's grandparents. The Woodlands got more damage than our side of town and we spent 5 days without power. Crystal Beach, our favorite family/doggie reunion beach on Boliver Peninsula was demolished and Galveston got a historically high storm surge destroying many homes and businesses.

Happy Birthday, Now Watch Mommy Drive

Today is Matthew's birthday and his first birthday present didn't cost anything. Tony turned his rear-facing child car seat around to face forward. For the past several months Matthew fussed and wrestled with me every time I put him in the car seat. He also does that every time I change his diaper which is beside the point. Today on his way to daycare he babbled in delight. I think he likes looking forward instead of into the back seat. We brought balloons to daycare for all of the kids to celebrate Matthew's birthday. We haven't decided what to do for Matthew's Birthday evening.

Matthew, Curly, and Moe.. okay there is no Moe

Matthew has a fascination with curly hair lately. Nana Josie at daycare told me that he likes his friend Chase's curly hair. Matthew will very gently pull a lock of hair from Chase's head just to watch the curl spring back into place. He also does this to the 4 month old girl who responds with a giggle. On Friday evening I got a chance to witness this myself. A girl about 4 years old approached Matthew and I at a restaurant. As the little girl told me how cute Matthew is, Matthew gently grabbed one of her curls. She looked a little confused and wasn't sure whether to be upset.