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 :)