Ba Ram U

We took Matthew to the Oil Ranch in Hockley Texas, northwest of Houston, on Saturday. We had a raincheck from a previous visit in early October. This time it seemed that Matthew was developmentally ready to enjoy himself thoroughly. He had his first pony ride:

He got to herd some sheep:





...and head butt a ram:

The ram head butted Matthew back and knocked him on his butt and this resulted in laughter (instead of a trampling).

And then he played for about 30 minutes in this moonwalk geared for younger toddlers. He went up and down the slide about 20 times and had a blast riding or falling off of the blow up animals.

Little Drummer Boy

Matthew still loves his percussion set that his Unkie Jude gave him for a present earlier this year. It has become an afternoon ritual that every afternoon after I pick him up from daycare we play on his drums to his favorite music. Recently, Matthew has misplaced the drumstick which is only one part of his 8 part percussion kit. He knows that I keep his drum set high on a desk in his play area and recently he points to it every time he enters the room. When I pull down all of the pieces, except the drumstick which we still haven't found, he will play the percussion set for a couple of minutes and then point up as if to say, "I want my drumstick too". Tony and I have ransacked the house looking for this drumstick... no luck yet. See the Little Drummer Boy in action from an earlier blog: http://theadventuresofmatthew-maria.blogspot.com/2008/08/jam-session-with-unkie-jude.html

Matthew's Many December Outings and Visits

Whare has Matthew been? To Dewberry Farms in Brookshire, west of Houston.

Matthew had the opportunity to pet this friendly horse, but all Matthew wanted to do was poke the poor horse in the eye, so I pulled him away. We need to work on his equine etiquette.

He also had fun in this hay hole. I do not know the significance of the "B".

Grandma and Grandpa stopped by on their way to the office Christmas party to say Hi.... to Elmo?

We went to Chick Fil A to enjoy a visit with Santa and.....

SANTA COW. We will have to send this photo to Kerry the "Bovine Savant" to find out what kind of cow Santa Cow is.

15 Month Exam Matt Stats

I have been quite busy lately chasing Matthew or managing proposals which left me little time to update the blog. However, I feel a need to update the blog with the latest Matt Stats from his 15 month appointment. Except for the actual numbers the appointment went very similarly to his 1 year appointment.

Head Circumferance: 19"

Height: 32.5" (75-90%)

Weight: 24 lbs 9 oz (50-75%)

Once again he is a "tall slender healthy toddler". He got three shots again but the nurse was lightning fast this time and barely gave Matthew enough time to let his bottom lip quiver, let alone cry. Of course like always he played with the "butcher" paper and enjoyed the view of the Houston Medical Center from the 9th floor window.