Matthew: 15 months

Sleep:

He sleeps 12-13 hours at night from 7pm to 7:30 or 8 am. There are more days of 2 naps (about an hour and a half each) than one. When he does only take one, it's for two hours. We decided after some discussion with little brother coming, he will stay in his crib until he gives us an indication that he can climb out on his own.

Clothes:

I just changed his closet out to 18 month clothes over the weekend. The pants were getting too short and the shirts too tight. The 18 month pants have to be rolled, but it's better than high waters. . Shoe size is 5 to 5 1/2. I bought him a pair of sneakers last month and he brings them to me every day to put them on. Size 3 diapers still. He got two shots today- the MMR and HIB. His stats are 24.9 pounds (50th percentile) height 33 inches (90th percentile). Head circumference 19 3/4 inches.

Food:

He eats three meals a day with one snack. He uses a spoon at every meal. Two more teeth came in this month. He now has eight teeth- top four front, two bottom molars and 2 bottom front teeth. He is currently working on two top molars. He enjoys putting the toothbrush in his mouth every morning. He is completely on sippy cups, no more bottles :-) Style attempt 4 was successful and still in place. He does still like most of his liquids warmed up, water, milk and what we call juice but is actually flavored water - 95% water and 5% juice. He just started willingly drinking straight water in the last week.

Typical/ favorite meal choices:

Breakfast - waffle and grapes with half a cup of milk

Lunch - steamed veggies (broccoli, carrots, peas) with juice

Snack - 2 gerber graduates ( fruit chews, yogurt melts, wagon wheels, crunchers) with juice
Dinner - what ever we eat (with the exception of most meats, not a fan. We supplement beans for the protein) followed by his nighttime milk cup.

Socially/ verbally:

He is shy with new adults or those he doesn't see regularly. He relaxes within about 10 minutes if the person continues gently. When it's new children, he's fine right off the bat. He only has a few words down, dr said typical for boys. His current words are: dada, mama, ball, animal noises, niye niye( night night) mumbles for an extended period of time as though he's holding his end of a conversation. I've been reading basic baby books with just pictures and words below for recognition and repetition.

Progress on our baby sign language. He will do all done and more while eating. So we've started working on thank you and please now. Waves bye-bye

Developmentally:

Very curious about objects. The dr said today his fine motor is advanced. He really likes to see how things work.

Crawling up the stairs. He will hold my hand and will go downstairs sitting down together.

Walks well even with shoes on and runs a bit crooked.

Rolls a ball. He will clap on his own and high five people. He can stack multiple blocks. He can scribble.

He has started pointing to an object he wants.
Successfully mimics our facial expression, sticking tongue out, tries to wink, it's hilarious! Also repeats some animal sounds.

When he gets just a little hurt he scrunches his face up with out actually crying. He doesn't cry unless he's seriously hurt.
opinions are forming and compliance is a work in progress. We are working on some basic structure, time outs, eye contact.

He's tall enough now he can reach the drawers above the doors in the kitchen/ bathroom.

We are working on concepts like hot/ cold. Up/ down. Labeling things. Asking preferences.

He will smile and giggle when asked if he wants something to show he does.

Personality:

Matthew is a very loving fun little boy. Once he knows something makes daddy or I laugh he will repeat it with a gleam in his eye. Matthew gives hugs and kisses often. If either one of us is laying down on the floor, he will come over and just lay his head down and be still next to us. It's only for about 5 seconds that he's that still, but oh so sweet! He has a blanket he prefers and will carry that around and also use as a toy around the house. After our trip over Christmas we did start letting him watch a you tube video of Silly Songs with the Veggie Tales. He likes to help. I'll safely put him on a chair next to the cabinet and he will watch me cook dinner. He will get our real vacuum attachments or his play vacuum and work along side Billy when he's cleaning the house. He helps me put the clothes in the dryer when I take them out of the washing machine. Matthew beams when he succeeds at a task, we'll say 'you did it' and he's just one big smile. He is starting to show frustration more when something he's attempting is not successful. He enjoys swinging, sliding, playing in the water and outside. His favorite toys are his cars, blocks, trucks, train set, riding and push toys. He likes piggy back rides, being chased, tickled and tackled. Matthew's favorite book to have read to him is Larry the Cucumber's "I Can Be Me" which is short, funny and ends with a scripture. I already have it memorized.

Matthew highlights:

Let's see since 12 months....

First airplane ride. It wasn't fun and since I'm not a big traveling person we can live with out it until the boys are much older. Say, after he and little brother are both completely verbal and potty trained :-D It will be worth it when it's a trip they are excited about and are old enough to look back and remember when they are grown.

Matthew began walking the week of his first birthday and is very confident now. His running is a little sloppy and over excited but that doesn't stop him from trying.