Where is the baby?

Matty doesn't look like a baby any more. It has only been a year, isn't it too early for him to look like a big kid?

He wanted me to hold him yesterday and rock. It was so good to hold him and rock him; to smell his hair that still has that baby smell and to feel his breath on my cheek. I should have put him in the crib for his nap but instead I held him and we rocked. Soon he won't want me to rock him anymore. I am so grateful for the opportunity to watch him everyday while Susan is at work.
That said, it makes me realize how much I miss seeing the girls. We shall see Lael and Alyssa in Oct. for Alyssa's birthday (if not before) but we will not see Morrigan until her birthday which is in February. By that time the new baby will be here. Donna would like for us to come for his birth and stay until Morrigan's birthday but as it looks now, we will not make it down until Morrigan's birthday and he will be 2 weeks old by then. (If you are wondering how I can be so precise about the date, Donna makes an appt. and they induce her).

Then in March, J&J's new baby will be here.......we are truly blessed grandparents!

Another post from Matthew.com

Finally, the other bottom tooth came in yesterday. I thought I saw it just beginning to break through and when I checked, sure enough, it's coming in.

My back has been bothering me a lot the last few days. Thurs. and Fri. I decided that I would have Matthew walk to his room and then I would put him on the changing table to change him. I was not certain how this would work, but all I had to say was "time to change your pants", and he would take my hand and walk to the other room with me. Stopping only to be sure the gate was shut behind us. (this is so much like his father) So I was amazed that with his limited vocabulary, he does understand what we are saying to him.

On another note, we (OK, Wm.) is putting in the new washer/dryer. Well, right now he is running the new water lines and drain for it. I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. No more going down stairs to do the wash. If it was just going down, that would be bad enough, but I need to get the laundry down there too. Things are looking up!

Back in the saddle again

Well, my vacation is over and I am back to work (sometimes I think that you can hardly call that work and then at other times, he really runs me ragged)
I finished my painting over vacation but I did not get the sewing project or the scrapbooking done. But, let us not forget the boxes I went through to find the pictures and hang them in the kitchen. (that should be worth something, after all, it had been a year they sat in the cellar). Having a chance to see the girls was definitely a plus for me.

Matty is running now.....great for him, the jury is still out for Gramma. He has learned a few new words, but has not gotten the other tooth on the bottom.
Susan said while they were up at camp (Old Forge) they saw an Explorer that looked like ours and he got very excited, hollering and waving at what he thought was Grampa!

The little garden we put in at the beginning of the summer still looks pretty good. I am amazed, seeing it has pretty much taken care of itself. The salmon colored impatiens in the front were the ones they gave away on Mother's day at Faith Chapel. Impressive, eh?

How I spent my vacation ?????

In retrospect, I had been looking forward to this vacation for a while and had big plans of all I would accomplish with 10 days to myself. Well, my big plans fell short of my goal.
*I did get the kitchen cupboards cleaned and de-cluttered. I finally went to the cellar and found the boxes with the fruit and vegetable pictures for the kitchen and got them hung up (I know it has been a year since the move, and when Sheri got things on her wall, I felt compelled to do likewise)
* I got some painting done (bar stools from terra cotta to white) that I had wanted to do since we moved but never seemed to find the time. OK, there was more painting I wanted to do but it was damp and rainy there for part of the week and I knew the paint would never dry.
*Yesterday was the highlight of my week. I went to Canton with Uncle Roy. He was gracious enough to let me drive his car and go with me as long as I stopped in Cracker Barrel in Watertown on the way there. I got my hair cut and highlighted while the girls had school. After my hair appt we went to see the girls. Did I mention how my much I miss them? It was sooo good to see them and listen to Lael's stories of homeschool and Alyssa's horror stories of the hospital. They both told us how excited they are that Mommy is having another baby. Alyssa said now she will be a big sister! Having to leave them was tearing at my heart.
*I had wanted to get some scrapbooking done as well as some sewing. I do still have 3 more days of vacation, counting what is left of today. I guess I had better get moving here.

Now, I am looking forward to having Matty back. I did not think I would miss him as much as I do. Susan, Tom and Matty have gone to camp up at Old Forge for vacation. Because the weather was so cold and wet, I had imagined them coming home. Alas, they didn't. I guess I can wait until tomorrow to see them.

Strange thoughts

I was thinking about how I find myself doing some of the same things my mother did (despite promising myself I would never do that). Anyway, I was thinking about Matthew and how I see him doing things that his father would do. Now at 13 months, this can not possibly be learned behavior but more like inherited. Example? OK: Whenever he gets out of the stroller he has to go back and put the tray back straight. (His father always has to have everything perfect too) Another example is the container of wipes on the changing table. If I do not close the top as soon as I get the wipe out, he feels it necessary to stand up (in the middle of getting his pants changed) and close the top. After he puts the tray back or the top on the wipes, he gives me one of his huge grins, just so I know that everything is OK now.

A few more hours and Susan and Tom will start their vacation. That also means I will start mine too! Unfortunately, my poor Wm. has to work next week. Susan and Tom have been taking this week for vacation for the last 15 yr; their anniversary is Sept. 14th. I would love to go somewhere but with Wm. working I guess I will be waiting until his vacation in Oct.

On our walks Matty has been pointing and telling me car or truck (cuck) when one goes by. Yesterday he brought Susan a picture of Tom and Lael and pointed to his father and said DaDa. I was hoping for Gramma but so far nothing. If you ask him where Gramma is, he knows. He likes to feed Zoe from the high chair and on the rare occasion she is not there I tell him he has to call her. I called "Zoe, Zoe".......he called "we, we".

Now this may not seem blog worthy to you; but I love it every time I see or hear him doing new and different things.

Maybe with vacation, I will get a chance to see "my girls" OK, Josh and Jackie's girls!

Newsflash from Matthew.com

Matthew finally got another tooth. He has had 6 for months and the doctors told us that more were getting ready to push through. We were playing on the floor, he got laughing and threw his head back and sure enough, another tooth on the bottom, can the one on the right be far off?

Three day weekend

I do love these three day weekends. It was so nice to have the extra day accomplish things.

Matthew went to the doctor's on Thurs. for his check up and shots. He had a great check up. He is 32 3/4 in. tall and weighs 25#. They said he could have a reaction to the shots in 3 weeks and get a rash. He also had a very sore thoat, which would account for his not eating. On Fri morning, during our walk, I noticed he had a rash on the back of his neck. When I changed his pants, the rash had spread to his stomach. I called Susan, who called his dr. They looked at him and said it was a virus. Symptoms are sore throat, rash and sleeping a lot.

On Sat. Susan and I went to the Christmas Tree Shop and then to the Super Wal*Mart. I got really sick and had to come home and go to bed.

Sunday was Uncle Roy's birthday. We took him to Cracker Barrel for his birthday dinner. We went to Susan's house for cake and cookies, etc. Stephanie, Michael and Anthony as well as Uncle Jim came for cake.
*note: Matthew and Anthony are the same height and Matty weighs 3 oz. more. Anthony is 6 mo. older.

Today we finished the grocery shopping,put up the copper star on the porch, Wm. worked on the closet where we plan to put the washer/dryer, made some macaroni and cheese. Yep, the weather is definitely changing. It is cooling down next week.

News Flash: Jon and Donna are having a boy. Donna had a level II ultrasound on Fri. and the sex was determined : male. Josh and Jackie's baby will either balance the scale or throw it over to the other side.