Matthew's First Christmas!

Pictures from Matthew first Christmas, these were taken at Christmas lunch which was at Jaspers at Hunters Hill. 1) Matty getting stuck into his present, 2) not too impressed with his antlers, 3) with Great grand nana Bradey and Pop

Matthew 30 weeks

Nothing much to mention this week other than we think Matthew's decided that learning to crawl on his hands and knees might give him more access to other things. We've caught him practicing pushing up with his arms to a kneeling on all fours position. He's not quite sure what to do next though.

Tomorrow is Christmas and as I've mentioned I'm going to offer him some meat for the very first time to have a chew.

I've not uploaded any pictures this week to picasa. I'll be uploading a few this weekend.

See you all at some stage over the holidays.

Matthew's Mum

Ps. Matthew disliked parsnip, but gave it a good go before saying in his own way 'no more please!!!'

Matthew 29 weeks

Matthew has been so cute and cuddly this week.

He's perfecting the art of blowing raspberries and kisses. Most of the time we end up covered in dribble but it's so much fun. He's doing excellent day sleeps but still wakes overnight for a little TLC.

He's eating a little more solid food, increased to about 4 tablespoons a day. Normally a 1 tbsp for breakfast, 2 at lunch and 1 in the afternoon. This week he's been eating a combo of pear, mango puree mixed with 2 tsp of apple and cinnamon porridge for breakfast. Lunch consists of pumpkin, potato and cheese purée and for afternoon tea/dinner he has banana and ricotta. Every few days I like to introduce something new to his diet. This week it was grapes and watermelon. Ive got parsnip for him to try next. 

Matthew is now a healthy 8.8 kg.

Until next week, 

Matthew's mum

Matthew 28 weeks

I think we are going into Matthew's 28th Week (?) Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Well, poor little Matthew had his 6mth vaccinations on Tuesday afternoon. He's had a slight fever for the past day and has been grizzly. He seems much more himself today - happy.

Matthew seems to have perfected his morning naps - for the past 4 days, he has been sleepimg 1.5 - 2 hours from 9am. He'll get tired again around midday - 1pm and will do another 40 mins or 1.5 hrs and then possibly another 40 min nap after that. This has allowed me time to bake cookies, make pannetone bread and butter pudding and make pistachio choc fudge in the past 2 days! I'm enjoying the rest I get, although some days I'm left sitting on the couch waiting for Matthew to wake up so we can play.

He's two little teeth are coming along nicely still, they've well and truely broken through the gums and are on their way up. 

A small selection of family photos from Matthew's 6 mth portraits can be view on Picasa along with the weekly snapshots

Matthew 26 weeks

Matthew can no longer be left alone in his nursery or his bouncer any longer. He can get himself into a lot of mischief otherwise. He can sit up in his bouncer and when left alone in the nursery for more than 2 minutes, he will inevitably end up under the lounge or cot or worse munching on the cable to his baby monitor.

'Safe' zones are now his highchair or his cot only :(

He is quickly mastering the art of commando crawling and is quite speedy when something he really really wants to get hold of is just beyond his reach. He's suddenly decided that sitting up is not so bad after all and will sit comfortably by himself for a couple of minutes without support.

I've introduce some dairy into his diet this week by adding grated tasty cheese into his vegies at lunch and stirring through some ricotta to his favourite mashed banana for afternoon tea. We will be trying some baby yoghurt next! At the moment he has about 3 tablespoons of solid food a day and 6 breastfeeds (still) and yet he's not been gaining much weight. I think it's because he's physically more active with all the crawling around. In a few weeks I'll be able to introduce some protein in the form of meat into his diet - just in time for Christmas. I have a feeling he will love getting into a bit of steak! ... pureed of course.

He's two little teeth are coming up nicely and I have a feeling we will have more teeth to come very soon!

till next week,

Matthew's mum

Matthew 25 weeks

Here is cheeky monkey doing what he loves... 

Matthew has been a lovely little boy this week. He seems to be a little less distracted than normal and more happy to play by himself rather than relying on his Mum to entertain him. He's also settled into a routine during the day where he'll take a long sleep of around 2 hours from 1130-130pm, with at least 2 additional short naps in the morning and afternoon. Additional sleeps I'll been told is a sign of growth both developmental and physical (to be expected at around 6 mths of age).

On the menu this week is carrot and broccoli combo, apple, pear and banana and rice cereal. Matthew generally has one meal (consisting of 2 ice cube sized portions) of solids a day with the main source of nutrition still from breastmilk.

Matthew is working on his balance when sitting and standing. He can sit unsupported for very short periods. He much prefers to stand by the way, even when having his bath :)

This week we also went up to the Hunter to visit Nana and Pop. Matthew had a lovely time being spoilt to bits.Here is little Matthew lounging on Pop's recliner and having breakfast.

Matthew 24 weeks

Matthew had his 6 mth checkup on Tues (3 weeks early). Everything is progressing well and he is 'normal' - what a relief!! :o)

He managed to gain a little weight while I wasn't looking and is around 8.4 kg. The Dr has recommended that we progress his feeds to 2 solid meals a day and increasing this to 3 meals a day after 6 mths. Matthew tried the following foods this week in addition to rice cereal.

Potato
Sweet Potato
Pumpkin
Banana
Avocado
Carrot

I actually think Matthew will eat just about anything (including paper - that's a story you'll have to ask Matthew's Daddy) but particularly likes carrot and banana. He's taken to eating solid food very well so far and is willing to try anything. Zucchini and squash are next    on the list of foods to try. 

Here is the cheeky monkey waiting to be fed banana and rice cereal...

Matthew 23 weeks

So Matthew is another week older today. He's had a busy social calendar these few days, enjoying the sunshine with a picnic or two on the weekend. He's also experienced his first Melbourne cup with some of his friends from 'Mother's group'. (new pics on Picasa) The horse he had in the sweep came last so he won the booby prize which was a book.

Aside from that, Matthew has been cheerful and sleeping well, his mum on the other hand has a cold and is grumpy (according to Matthews Dad) and not sleeping well.

Here is Matthew pictured with his grandmother (Poh Poh)

Matthew is still not crawling yet, still long and still chubby. Strangers will still comment that he is big for a 5 mth old. There's nothing new to report this week, when something amazing does happens you'll ALL know about it :)

Matthew 22 weeks

The lovely Matthew turned 5 mths old last night. He's been a cheeky vocal monkey all this week. As you would have seen from his latest video, the clever little man is now rolling bothways and when on his tummy rolling in both directions and crawling sideways and backwards! Still haven't mastered any proper crawling yet. We also offered him some baby rice cereal on Sat and he took to it really well and seemed to know exactly what he was supposed to do when the spoon came near his mouth :) We've stopped again in the meantime as Matthew has been prescribed antibiotics to clear up an ongoing problem with eczema. He's not gained additional weight for the first time (?!?!) and remains a healthy 8.2 kgs. As you can see from the pic below he's still chubby.

Matthew 21 weeks

Matthew has been very smiley (new picasaweb album pictures) and vocal this week. He's been practicing varying his pitch and tone, unfortunately sometimes he likes practicing when his Mum is shopping at Coles. He's still doing lots of sucking of anything that he can get in his mouth and the tongue poking we saw a couple of weeks ago as returned. We 'think' we can see a bud forming on his lower gums where his first tooth should erupt.

Matthew is still extremely alert and appears to have an unsatiable appetite to discover his surroundings. He needs constant stimulation, he's either listening, touching, tasting or looking around (not much sleeping during the day). Empty potato chip packets and anything crinkly are his favourites at the moment. This week I've noticed that Matthew associates objects with routine activities, eg, at the change table, he'll look above his head for the cleansing wipes I use. He'll protest if he cant locate it or if I hide it from him :). When I put him in his cot for his morning nap he'll reach up to look for his music mobile. He knows where I store it (resting on the chair beside his cot) and will look over to it to indicate that that is what he wants. As soon as I attach it to his cot he'll wave his arms and legs wildly, at seeing this, I will say the word 'Music' and stroke his tubby tummy in order to teach him the word and baby sign for it. He's not
making any noticable improvements with his crawling but is much steadier sitting when supported. You can see him adjusting his balance and shifting his weight from side to side with his chubby arms.

We started Gymbaroo last Monday, which consists of 30 minute class involving singing, dancing, massage and physical play on the swing, trampoline, hammocks, etc. Theres also a bit of hanging upside down which Matthew doesnt mind.

Matthew will be 5 months old at the next update :)
till next time,
Matthew's mum

Matthew 20 weeks

Matthew has not made any more progress with his crawling - THANKFULLY :)

His sleep is all over the place. Sometimes he'll wake once during the night, sometimes five times.... we take the good with the bad I suppose.

He is becoming more independent when playing and will not need me to entertain him much. He's also more generous with his giggles and smiles this past week. He's gripping his toys really well and will bang objects together when holding a toy in each hand (sometimes, he'll get overexcited and bang himself in the head!)

Matthew's mum survived 5 days without Matthew's dad who flew to Singapore for a bucks party. My hats off to all single parents out there, it's a lot of work on your own.

Some new pictures of Matthew on the picasa website for you to enjoy.  http://picasaweb.google.com/jackiebradey/Matthew20Weeks

Matthew 19 weeks

Matthew is learning to crawl!

He only started tucking his legs under yesterday.  I predict he will be commando (on his tummy) crawling by 5 mths. Duncan's worried that he might miss this milestone in the 5 days while away in Singapore :)

Matthew is also becoming quite dexterous with his fingers and can intentionally pass objects from one hand to another. Normally from his right hand to his left, then flinging the object on to the floor. He threw his toy whilst laying on his back on the playmat so hard yesterday that it smacked the door with bang. He also turned off the music on his mobile, though I think this was an accident.

I'll be working on developing his pincher grip (holding objects with his thumb and index finger), getting him to 'find' his feet and sitting up with a straight back in the next few days.

Yes all this and the little gorgeous boy is only 4 mths old and a week old.

New pics on picasa and Matthew's new videos are on YouTube.

Matthew 18 weeks

We've had an interesting few days. Matthew has gone from sweet and cuddly to grumpy and back again. During the grumpy phase, he was wanting additional feeds overnight and suspect his unsettleness may be due to undergoing another growth spurt (both physical and psychological) rather than teething.

Unfortunately his grumpy period coincided with visits from a certain Aunty from Melbourne and both sets of grandparents! 

Matthew turned 4 mths old on Monday and we celebrated by giving him his vaccinations :) which consisted of 2 injections, one on each side of his chubby thighs. He weighs 7.7 kg and measures 67 cms. At his current size, Matty is larger than an average sized 6 mth old baby. Anyone care to guess and place a wager on Matthew 6 mth stats??

On Monday morning I bought him a new toy which he absolutely loves. He grabs at it, shakes it and explores it with his mouth. It keeps him occupied long enough for me to get some chores done around the house so is well worth the $9.95!

www.YouTube.com/sneakymum

Love

Matthews Mum

Matthew 17 weeks

Little Matthew who will be 4 mths old on the 28th of September is a strapping young lad and more like a little boy each day. Its easy to forget that he's still a baby. Matthew was 7.5 kgs when weighed yesterday.  We are planning to offer him his first taste of baby rice cereal soon although he is growing quite happily and healthily on breastmilk alone.

Anyone who has spent time with Matthew recently will know that he is now far more active. He'll roll over onto his tummy at every opportunity, including when in is cot. He still can't quite figure out what to do once he's on his tummy though except cry in frustration. He needs plenty of interaction and physical play to be kept occupied during his wakeful periods. This has kept me very busy. I guess this is good training in preparation for the next milestone - crawling!

We also think that he might be starting to teeth as he has been more unsettled over the past couple of days and had bright pink cheeks.

Matthew is booked in at playgroup every Monday starting 19th October until the end of the year. He'll also be starting swimming lessons/aqua play with Dad on Saturdays from the 10th of October.

I've posted new videos and pics as usual at the same locations.
Here's a very peaceful looking Matthew to drool over:

Matthew 16 weeks

Matthew is going through a phase of poking out his tongue for some reason... very amusing :)

Matthew 15 weeks

I just love his cubby little arms and tubby belly... makes me clucky all over again ;) Pictured here at breakfast with Uncle Tim.

I can't believe Matthew is 15 weeks old this week. Time has really flown by and I'm already dreading having to leave him and go back to work in April. Matthew loves to practice turning (especially when he is nude!), giggling and smiling more and sleeping much less during the day. I weighed him again today just in a fresh diaper and singlet and he weighed 7.2 kg. He seems to also gave gotten a little longer in the body.

I just got the tape measure out and he looks to be about 64-65cm in length now. He is getting so BIG!

Matthew 14 weeks

Oops I forgot to send out Matthew's 14th  week update. I remembered at 3am this morning after his nocturnal feed.

Yes, Matthew did nearly 8 hours sleep last night which is a huge achievement (for us, not him).

He's also making headway with his motor skills. Earlier this week he managed to roll on to his side. Unfortunately rather than being a joyful moment for parents, Matthew tipped onto his side while we had him up on the bathroom vanity and gave us quite a scare. He is also mastering the art of wriggling away.

Matthew has started to giggle, below are a couple of rare photos of Matthew smiling away.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jackiebradey/Matthew14Weeks

We also had our first trip away to to Muswellbrook to visit Matty's Nana and Pop and celebrated Duncan's first Father's day :)

Matthew 13 weeks

Out of curiosity and because Matthew will be 3 months old tomorrow (and I'm slightly obsessed with his weight!) I wanted to find out what he currently weighs. Not sure if you can see the number on the scales but it is tipped at over 7kg. Matthew continues to delight and amaze us each day. For the past few nights he has been rewarding us (me especially) with only the one nocturnal feed. He is sleeping from 7pm till 2am, has a feed and goes back to sleep till 7am in the morning. We hope this continues :)

Matthew 12 weeks

Hi All,
This has got to be one of my favourite photos of Matthew! He's so cute and cubby here :)

Nothing much to report this week. Matthew is his usual self, grumpy on some days and an angel on others. Usually is a mixture of both all in the one day. Here are some pictures of our Matthew taken in the past 7 days.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jackiebradey/Matthew12Weeks#

As the weather warms up, we have had more outings with Matthew in the baby carrier. Today I bought him a brimmed hat to protect him from the sun. I'm not sure whether he likes the hat, but he looks very cute (and grown up) in it.

Here's a photo of Matthew in the Baby Bjorn sound asleep and looking very adorable.

Matthew 11 weeks

This past week our little boy has been showing us his grumpy side. He knows when it's time for a feed, when he's had enough sleep, when he's bored in his bouncer or when he's done in the bath and he's not afraid to tell us.

He continues to develop his gross motor and cognitive skills. He is showing interest in objects around him and will reach out to touch it. We will often observe him studying his own fist with interest. On Wed morning I'd discovered that he had dragged a toy towards him and was nibbling on it.

Here are a couple of movies which I took on my phone of Matthew at play which I've uploaded to YouTube for easy access:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Sneakymum

Attached is a photo of Matthew with his friends Ben (left) and Lily (right).

Matthew 9 weeks

As the subject line suggests, Matthews turns 9 weeks old tonight. This past week, he's been sleeping particularly well at night and during the day. He's been consistently rewarding us with 5 hr sleeps the past 4-5 nights. Last night he slept from 7pm - 12am and then from 1230am till 5am, waking up at his usual time of 7am. We are of course delighted with his progress.

He will give us sustained eye contact, smile and watch us as we speak to him. He also likes to listen to Duncan and I speaking to one another. I've been reciting the alphabet slowly to him and he will watch my lips and 'chat' back. He responds particularly to the sound 'ooh'.

Matthew had his medical appointment yesterday. The test results show that he had no reflux from his bladder to his kidneys and that everything is functioning normally. The results will be sent to his paediatrician and we are waiting for final word that he can stop his medication.

Attached is a photo taken before bathtime a week ago.

Love, M's M

Matthew 8 weeks

Matthew will be officially 8 weeks old at 8:52pm this evening. He's gained a mere 100-200g this week. I couldn't get an accurate reading as he was bouncing up and down on the scales. His neck is much stronger and he is smiling and talking a lot more this week. Hope you recieved his sound file. We are trying to get him to sleep longer than 3.5-4 hrs in a single stretch overnight! We are still being woken up 2-3 times a night. Hopefully that will change very soon. Love Matthew's mum. Ps the dreaded test is next Wed.

Matthew 6 weeks

Hi All Matthew has been doing well. The renal ultrasound on Wed showed no probs with his kidneys and bladder. I have a followup consult with his Dr next week to discuss whether further tests are required. He gained another 300g this week making his total weight 5.5kg. We measure his lenght last night and estimate him to be about 59-60cm, which is about 8 cm growth since birth. I'm trialling a new routine to reduce the number of feeds I give him in a day from 9 to 7-8. Also making sure that we have at least 2 'playtime' sessions during the day which lasts around 1 to 1.5 hrs depending on how tired he gets. Playtime consists of chatting/singing, using the rattles and playmat, tummy time (he can now turn his head from side to side when on his tummy) and finally I read to him quietly to let him know it's time to wind down and have a nap. It's been difficult getting him to sleep in his cot during the day as he has gotten used to being rocked to sleep in the pram/ car. I'm going to a 'settling' class next week to get some advice. The evenings we bath Matthew to let him know that the routine for night time has started. I'm doing all this to encourage a long sleep of 4-5 hour stretch at night. So far it seems to be working. Last night we fed and bathed him by 730 and it then took another 45 mins or so to settle him and sleeping in his cot. He slept till 1.15am. It's the first time he has gone without feeding for that long. Hopefully we are heading in the right track.