Matthew--6 months

Matthew turned 6 months old...a month ago. It has kind of flown by in some ways...and in others it seems like September 24th is a loooong time ago.
He is super chunky. 20lbs. He smiles and laughs all the time. He is soooooo sweet!
He started solids around 5 1/2 months and now enjoys squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, applesauce, and other fruits.

He went through a very frustrating period before solids of not napping well. But once he got into the solids, he started napping great. He also just dropped his 10pm feeding, which is really exciting for us!!

look at my chub!!

cute little toes

he loves Peter! Peter already knows how to make Matthew laugh in a way that none of us can. My sister does the same thing with me, so it has been fun to see that humor between the two of them already.

not a huge fan of rice cereal, but smiling anyways....

feeding is very serious business for daddy

hanging with Henry

Easter

We had a great Easter...several weeks ago...I know, I know. I am so behind in posting pictures. Sorry.


We went to my parents' house and we were all super excited to go on an Easter Egg Hunt. My mom put together some really cute baskets and my parents also put together a great easter egg hunt for Peter.

We have fond memories of past egg hunts with me and my sister in this backyard. It was so fun to see Peter explore the same territory that we once did.....

He was pretty good at figuring out the concept.....

After lunch, he led us all outside by the hand and thought that since we were all outside together again--that must mean there are MORE eggs to find. I quickly went inside and gathered a couple and then secretly hid them again when he wasn't looking. He had fun finding them again. and again. and again.

Matty was still too small to go hunting, but he enjoyed tasting this egg.

This is kind of a random picture to post, but I liked it because I thought it captured what a fun day we had.

Dogs

At the beginning of 2010, we made a big decision. We decided that it was time to say goodbye to our bassets, Millie and Maggie. Millie turned 7 in February and Maggie turned 6 in March. As our family has expanded in the kid department, it seemed an increasingly difficult task to care for the dogs. So we decided the best thing would be to find them a new home.

I thought I would post some pics of the past 7 years....

Maggie hanging out on the couch with us at the old house...

Millie was always a good sport about wishing people "Happy Birthday"

One of our nephews, "enjoying" Maggie...

is there nothing sweeter than a boy and his dogs?

Millie

We contacted our breeder and she was able to find a wonderful couple in Flintridge that were interested in taking in 2 bassets! They have raised bassets over 25 years and have 2 bloodhounds too boot. AND they live in a huge house. Millie and Maggie are definitely moving on up!



When the owners took the dogs to the vet for the first time, the vet found a tumor in Maggie's neck. Maggie has an advanced form of thyroid cancer. The vet said that these kind of cancers can appear "overnight" in a dog. The tumor has grown significantly since we gave the dogs to the new owners two weeks ago. The new owners said that Maggie's breathing is already labored. They said that they would do their best to make sure Maggie is comfortable, but in the end they will be putting her to sleep.

We are so thankful that we were able to find good owners for our dogs. We know they are in good hands and that is very comforting; especially when we think about what Maggie is going through.

our last goodbye...(i think Matthew was really tired)

We will always have fun memories of our doggies. Mike had never had dogs before, so it was really exciting to have pets in our home. He spent many evenings in our Pedro house with them on the sofa.....of course...I won't miss their permeating basset smell....:)

I think one of the hardest things about saying goodbye to them for me was that it was a symbol of sorts that we are in this new phase of life. I felt like I was saying goodbye to my life without kids. Not saying I don't love my children or anything like that...just saying that I am finally getting comfortable in our "new" life as parents.....

Milestones

Deepest apologies for taking so long to post. There has been so much going on! For a few weeks, it seemed like everyday was a new milestone....here is a little recap...

Matthew turned 5 months old on February 24. Figure I better get these up before he turns 6 months...which turns out is just in a couple of days! He is still entertaining us with his lovely smiles. I started him on solids around 5 1/2 months...he is still figuring it out. But here he is above super excited to be in the high chair!

He smiles. A lot! More on Matthew in the 6 month post...

This may look like an ordinary easter bunny, but it will always be a special stuffed animal to me. on February 28, Mike heard Peter wheezing very loudly from his bedroom around 11pm. We got him up and it turns out he had an intense case of the croup. He had it once before last October, but this was much worse and had a rapid onset.

We ended up calling 911 and Peter and I took an ambulance ride to Torrance Memorial. When I got out of the ambulance, one of the paramedics was standing there with this bunny. I almost started bawling! How sweet of him to think of that at such a late hour....

We were taken care of by a wonderful staff in their ER and got home around 230am. They gave him a steroid IV and chest x-rays. Peter behaved like a total champ, he was so brave! After some sleep, he recuperated very quickly and was thankfully well enough to celebrate his 2nd birthday the following Friday/Saturday.

***
sidebar: Okay, I don't have a picture for this, but ANOTHER milestone that happened is that we were the victims of "ding dong ditch." Around 3:30am the morning of Peter's party, our whole bedroom shook and we thought it was an earthquake. Mike leaped out of bed and went running for the door. Next thing I knew, he was standing by the window in the front room, peering out the window.

I guess some young hooligans thought it would be funny to kick our front door really hard in the middle of the night. Well, it wasn't funny. I had the biggest adrenaline rush, I thought I was going to puke or pass out. It took me forever to fall back asleep, which is a big deal these days....

We ended up calling the police department--I wanted to feel like I could do something! They said they had gotten a couple of other calls. Felt good to know we weren't crazy.

*****

I made Elmo cupcakes to go with the theme of the party.

This is a picture of Peter blowing out his candle on his birthday. Gramps and Omi came over to celebrate. About 2 seconds after this picture was taken, Peter decided it would be a good idea to put the candle out with his fingers. :( I actually thought we would have to make another visit to the ER. Turns out that ice helps a lot. Thanks, Daddy!

We also spoke with Heidi in Australia via skype. It was so fun. Peter kept going up to the screen and giving her kisses! Made it feel like she was a little closer than she actually is.....

i have to say that i think one of Peter's FAVORITE presents was 195 cat stickers that yours truly gave to him. when he opened the box he gave a big "ooohhhhh!!!!!!" it was so cute. even if it is cats.

Didn't get more pics of the decorations, but we had it all decorated with balloons and streamers and Elmo table cloth, balloon, etc. Those are the party favors. I felt like a mom putting those together.

singing happy birthday!

enjoying his cupcake...no burns this time made for a more flavorful experience, i'm sure

He's 2!!

Dara and Zeke......

Miss Kendall.....looking adorable as usual...

Peter is getting pretty good at opening presents. He got a lot of cars, sand toys, Sesame Street toys, and other fun stuff!

Dara and Harper (1)

john and harper

gramps and little brother

4 months old and vroom vroooommm

hard to believe we are at the 4 month point with Matthew these days...February seemed soooo FAR away back in October. Matthew is getting closer and closer to inching his way out of the bassinet. we're on the hunt for bunk beds and I am mapping out some sort of plan to get the boys to sleep in same room....wish me luck. i think we will still need a port a crib to help us through naps....

this one is for Auntie Karen...thanks for the outfit! Matthew is a very smiley baby. He laughs too! I don't remember Peter doing that at this age. Daddy knows exactly how to make Matthew laugh....it is very sweet.

Peter is still obsessed with the camera. Here I surprised him as I was laying down on the ground.....

Matthew can now grab some of his toys. He likes to lay on his floor gym. He really likes it when Peter comes to visit him. Which is often. :)

ah...cars. Peter has been into cars and trucks for about a month now. He lines them all up on our the arms of our sofas and stares at them. Then he pushes them over the other side. He does this for quite a long time. At least 15 minutes. It is very mesmerizing to watch.

Peter loves it when Matthew watches him play with the cars. He especially prefers Matthew to perch himself on the arm of the couch. I think they will be good friends.

Random Cuteness

I have been meaning to post these for awhile....


One afternoon, Peter started getting "artsy" with his Cheerios. He lined them all up in some sort of pattern on the table...........

He was very proud of himself.

He is so sweet......

the great 8

we got together with all the cousins this weekend.
it was so fun to be all together!
from left to right
(Lily, Peter, Nora, Matthew, Hannah, Sophia, Charlie, and Joshua).