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