Enjoying Summer

I am enjoying my time with Matthew while I am off of work. He and I have played a lot and are working on his walking skills. He is getting more daring with his walking abilities while walking along furniture. He will let go of the couch and take a step or two before he holds on again, but the minute I hold his hand to help him along he drops to the floor and starts to crawl! I know that he will do it when he is ready and able and when that day comes our world will change once again! He went to Deah's for his first summer visit this past Tuesday while I went to school and worked at the summer reading program. It was a nice time for me to see my former and future students as well as their parents and interact with them. This week I worked in the math room and played an assortment of math games with the students. I played with the pattern blocks with the future first graders all the way up to multiplication math with future fourth graders. Matthew in the meantime had a great time at Deah's with many of his normal friends. He didn't skip a beat when I dropped him off, which was a relief for me. I was worried that with spending so much time with me he would have separation issues at Deah's. That is not the case and has not been an issue to this date. He can't wait to get his shoes off and get to his friends. It is a struggle for me to catch him to give him a good-bye kiss! That is very reassuring to me!

While I have been home, Matthew has really adapted well to his routine (he started with it at daycare and I carried it over to home). He wakes up at 9:00 and eats breakfast, which usually consists of whole milk yogurt, fruit and a starch (whole grain waffle, toast, etc.) and milk or water. Then we play or go for a walk until his lunch at noon. For lunch he eats a serving or fruit, vegetable and some sort of protein along with milk or water. After lunch he goes down for his daily nap of three hours! During the three hour nap, I get in my one hour run and weight routine, shower, cleaning and laundry done. He wakes up around 3:00 and has a light snack and water or milk and then we play again or go for a walk until dinner at 5:30. He eats what ever we eat which is a nice new addition to our daily lives, no more making him special meals and eating at a different time. After dinner we both chase and play with him until his bed routine. He gets a bath (not all nights) and a bottle and then a story before going to his crib at 8:00. Most of the time he will play a bit in his crib before falling asleep, other times he will just go right to sleep. He is very content as long as we leave his bedroom door open so he can see and hear us. Once he is asleep we shut his door. This routine works very well for us and it is the same routine he uses at daycare, so that works out beautifully for us.

Matthew also cut two new teeth. He now has seven teeth (five of which you can see very well and two brand new ones). He loves getting his teeth brushed too! I used to use the finger brush, but after having Matthew bite my fingers too much, we switched to a toddler toothbrush. That pretty much sums up the past few weeks of my summer vacation with Matthew!