I was thinking about something funny today. When I was pregnant, my husband said that our baby would be a caramel-vanilla swirl. I just about died laughing! It was so funny. I am Filipino so my complexion is a little dark and my husband is white American so he's a glow in the dark white.

My husband told his mother about this but she didn't know quite how to respond.  She didn't know whether it was appropriate to laugh or not.

It was terribly hot here these past weeks and since there was no stopping Matthew from wanting to go outside, I brought him to a mall with a jumping fountain. It's a hit with the little ones. Though Matthew stayed at the perimeter since he wasn't too thrilled when the water sprayed on his face.

Here is Matthew contemplating where the water disappears to.

Here is Matthew at the Little Gym doing a front roll, being spotted by the teacher. He loves this place!

The inlaws left today. They've been here since Monday afternoon to help out because my husband had palate surgery on Tuesday. My husband's recovery is pretty easy. He was up and about the next day, though he is on narcotics and will be until the end of this week or until he can take the pain with just tylenol. Having the inlaws was great, they got to spend time with Matthew while I attend to my husband or the other way around. But it was still stressful and tiring. My husband has also been a little moody because of the narcotics. I hope doesn't become too difficult for me this coming week.

So now we're all on our own. Matthew got a wee bit spoiled, but that's ok. He is entitled.

Matthew had his 15 month visit today. He weights 28 lbs (93th percentile) and is 30 1/2 inches tall (52th percentile). The pediatrician said that at this age, Matthew has a pregnang lady stance so he measures a little shorter than he would normally be.

Of course he didn't like the shots he got. But he did like the stickers he got afterwards.

I have a hefty son!

My husband had his palate surgery yesterday to ease his sleep apnea. He spent the night in the hospital and was discharged late this morning. He is up and about and one can barely tell he had surgery. He's had 2 surgeries before (nose and knee) and the recovery for them were tough on him and me. But this one is just a-ok. He's on narcotics, so I bet he's feeling mighty fine.  His parents will stay with us to help until Sunday and longer if we need to. But I doubt that we will.

Matthew did really well with his grandparents. He was able to communicate what he wanted so there was no major melt down. Though he was espcecially clingy towards his daddy. He missed him.

My in-laws are coming today to help out for a week or so. My husband is having surgery tomorrow to ease his sleep apnea in hopes that he wouldn't have to use his c-pap machine at night.  We are all anticipating that it would be very hard on me to wait on him and watch the active li'l booger so help is coming. My in-laws only live 4 hours away, thank goodness!

They funny thing is, theyin-laws sound a little scared of having to take care of Matthew for the whole day tomorrow. They have 3 other  challenging grandsons that they helped raise, but it's different with Matthew since they only see him every 3 months or so. Whereas the other grandkids live just next door. But I'm sure everything will be alright. I'll make them lists of everything Matthew likes so they can distract him if he ever looks for me and my husband.

It was gloomy and rainy today. It was one of those days that's perfect for just staying in bed all day long. Because Matthew is such an outdoors little man, he wanted to go outside. I decided to open the kitchen door for him so that he could see the rain and know that we wouldn't be able to play outside. I sat on the floor and held him. I held out his hands so he could feel the rain drops. His smile was so big once he felt them. Then he just stood there and babbled loudly to the outside. It looked like he was preaching to the trees and the rain, though who knows what he's really saying. After 10 minutes or so, I decided that it was time to close the door...then the screaming came. So I put his sandals on and took him to the front porch instead. This way he could be outside and still watch the rain. He was enjoying himself when he decided he wanted to go outside and leave the porch. Why I expected him to stay put and enjoy where he is, I really don't know.

Matthew's bedtime is 8pm and he wakes up between 7 and 7:30am. But lately, he's been waking up earlier and earlier. He's been waking up at 6 to 6:30 so he gets sleepier early in the day too. It's been creating quite a havoc because by the time it's time for bed, he is overtired and very hard to put to sleep. I've moved up his bedtime to 7:30. Today he woke up at 6 so by 11, he was sleepy. I gave him his lunch quickly and put him down for an early nap (noon). It only took him 5 minutes before he was conked out.  But because he napped early, he'll be cranky and ready for bed earlier too. It's a never ending cycle.

 

I found this while surfing on the net today.   So if I were a Filipino food, I would be a Halo-Halo!  Yummy! I haven't had this in 17 years!    I bet my son would love it. He is half Filipino half American.

Halo-Halo: A medly of beans and fruits mixed with ice, ice cream, and condensed milk

Matthew is 15 months old today and very hard to contain. We went to church this morning after missing the last two weeks. We went early so that we can make sure that he warms up to the nursery before we leave him. But sadly, the nursery is closed until volunteers steps forward and organized.   Bummer. Now what? We picked a corner pew way in the back of the church so that Matthew could walk around. Not 10 minutes into the mass, both my husband and I were already stressed. We couldn't keep him still. We had toys, but they weren't interesting enough.  We were unparepared to have Matthew with us during the mass. He walked around and if I stopped him, he voiced his opinion. Another 10 minutes and my husband and I gave up. We left. Until the nursery opens again, my husband has volunteer to keep Matthew so that I could go to church by myself in peace.

I wrote down the number of the contact person for the nursery. I will volunteer! I will do whatever I have to so that my husband and I can celebrate our faith together. Without the nursery and until Matthew is old enough to be able to seat quietly, things will be very hard indeed.

I was doing an online search and saw one of the minti articles I wrote. I used google and there it was. I used yahoo and there it was (though yahoo wasn't working quite right). I'm not against the fact that the minti community is out there for the world to see, but I was just a litlte surprised.

Anyway, this would be a great reason to proof read any advice written here.

Matthew will be 15 months old in a couple of days. Though he is "talkative", he doesn't really say any "real" words yet. He used to say "igh" for light, mama, dada and "a leh" for my dog Salem. But lately, he has stopped saying these words. The only words he consistently uses nowadays are dada and "u-dah" for "I want that".

But like I said, he is quite talkative. He babbles on and on sometimes, but who knows what he's really saying.  But I have noticed that he does understand a lot though...surprisingly more than my husband and I are aware of.  Just yesterday I handed him a balled up dirty diaper. I asked him to throw it in the garbage for me and he did. I thought I may have to guide him along on how to do it since this was the first time I had ever asked him to do this, but he needed no guidance at all.  A week or so ago, I asked him where the animals were that belong to his safari truck toy and sure enough he went off somewhere and came back with the animals! I was trully amazed. First I didn't really think he would understand me, and second I didn't even know he knows where he hides stuff!

I have been teaching him sign language (I started when he was 12 months), which has been paying off. He now knows "more", "daddy", "mommy", "thank you", and we're currently working on "help".

I am amazed when I hear other parents say that their 15 month old can say this or that many words.

Matthew and I were in the backyard this afternoon enjoying the cloudy day. He was busy pulling his toy wagon filled with the two garden ornaments from the front yard (a rabbit and a frog). When he saw Koby (the younger of my two miniature schnauzers), he stopped to walk to her. Koby was busy munching away at the slightly tall grass that has grown around the crab sandbox. When Matthew got to her, he bent down on all fours. I thought he was just going to pet Koby, but boy was I wrong! Matthew placed his mouth on a tall grass!!  

I placed my hand on my forehead, closed my eyes and shook my head. What next?!

Daddy was able to join Matthew and I today at The Little Gym. Matthew is getting good at using the balance beam. When he first started, he kept his feet side by side as he walks forward. Today he was keeping his foot one in front of the other. Yay!

 

My husband came home from a week long business trip yesterday and since then Matthew has become very clingy. He has attached himself to his daddy all day long. We were actually wondering if Matthew even knew that his dad has been gone since I never really saw any signs, but we are now sure.

When Matthew woke up form his midday nap, he started wailing and he was inconsolable. Then I decided to call his daddy over to see if he can get him to stop. As soon as Matthew saw him, he just grabbed on and wouldn't let go.

We are now wondering how long this would last.

I placed Matthew in his crib so that I could take a shower without worrying about him. The crib in the side of the bed, near the bathroom door. While I was in the shower, I heard a small thud. I thought that's probably Matthew throwing the toys outside of his crib onto the floor. When I peeked my head out to check, he wasn't in the crib! He had grabbed all the pillows from the bed and placed them in the crib to climb on top of. So I ran out of the shower and started screaming his name. He wasn't in the room, so I ran out to his room but he wasn't there either. I ran downstairs to the dining room, to the office, to the hallway and up to the master bedroom again. I couldn't find him! This whole time I was buck naked. For a fleeting moment, I contemplated grabbing a towel or a robe but Matthew could be into something that will hurt him by then so I didn't. I continued to search for him while screaming his name. Finally, I opened my walk-in closet door and there he was. He loves to go in a room and close the door so that's what happend.

I've never worried about doors before when I know he's in the crib, but this will teach me.

The buzz of my of the septic alarm woke me up at 2:30AM last night. I had to go out there and turn it off (I'm so glad I know how!). Then today as I was about to call the Septic repair people, I found that my phone didn't have a dial tone.  ARGH!!  It's just one of those days.  Why do these things have to happen when my husband isn't home?  :( Oh well. He will be home tomorrow.  I need a vacation!