Signs

So Kylene and I have been doing Baby Signs with Matty. Until recently he hasn't really shown any interest in the signs. He signs milk and sometimes bye bye. Well sometime last week, I decided that while we had him seated on the toilet I would ask him to give me a kiss, or an oh-wah as we call them. We call them that because that's the sound he makes when he puts his open mouth to your cheek. Anyway, he gave me a kiss and I immediately signed and said "Thank you. More" and leaned in for another kiss. He gave me that one too, so I repeated. After about 15 times, I took him off the toilet and got him dressed. That night at dinner he signed "More" for us. Perfectly.
Now he mainly does it when we're rough housing. So I bounce him on my knee and he squeals and laughs. When I stop, he signs "More". It's great.

Fun in the Snow......take 2

Well the first time I tried to take Matty out in the snow to play...well let's just say that didn't go as planned. But today was a different story. He was very interested in what the white crunchy stuff was on the ground. Anyway for those of you who don't read my photo blog I thought I would post a picture of Matty having some fun in the snow.

He's baaaack

And we missed him terribly. I picked Matty up from my parent's house today. I think it's good for us to get a weekend to ourselves. I also think it's good for him to spend a weekend without us. It's tough though. We have to really fight the urge to run up there and bring him home.

A Little Sappy

Matty is staying with my parents this weekend. He's a lot of work when we have him here, and I always feel tired. So I'm going to take advantage of the chance to rest, but I still can't help but miss him. I miss his laughs, his smiles, and the sound of him yelling DAD from within the bathroom in the morning. I miss it all.

A New Trick

Matty is constantly trying and learning new things. This really should be no surprise, but it often manifests itself as something that is hilarious to behold. For Christmas we bought Matty a pop-up adventure play-set. It's basically two tent structures with a tunnel that runs between them. Well the whole thing was taking up a lot of room so we took down one of the tents and keep the structure on the linoleum in the kitchen. Recently Matty has discovered that if he stands up within the tent he can push it around the kitchen. We've started calling him R2D2, because he almost looks like a robot as he walks around the kitchen. He of course loves every minute of it.

The Big Flirt

So I got to take Matty shopping by myself today. Now for those who don't know, I'm letting you know that Matty is a huge flirt. The whole trip he sat peacefully in the cart, drinking his juice and checking out the world. As soon as I got in line, he started smiling and talking. I turned around and there were several women behind me that were smiling at him. He kept kicking, talking, and smiling until the conveyor belt distracted him. It of course isn't just today, this little show gets put on whenever we take him shopping.

Like Father Like Son

So Matty has inherited some things from me. We've compared him to pictures of me at his age, and he looks almost exactly like I did. But I think the funniest thing is that he's inherited my 'evil cleaver' grin, which is the smile I get when I'm being bad.

He will go to do something that he's not supposed to, like climbing behind the gate and onto the hearth, and when you say his name and give him a stern look, he just gives you this little grin that lets you know that he absolutely know he's not supposed to do it. It's hard not to laugh at him, and we often have to turn away for a second to regain our composure.

Reading is Fundamental

Recently Matty has taken to bringing us books to read. If you are seated on the floor with him, he'll pick up a book and walk it over to you. If you ask him if he wants you to read it to him he'll climb into your lap, turn around and wait for you to start reading. Although I think the best part is when other people are around and while your reading he leans forward and looks at them with a giant grin on his face.

We were reading to him before, but it's much more rewarding when you know it's something that he wants you to do.

The Best Part of My Day

So when I come home from work, I take off my jacket, my shoes, and my watch. All of this takes some time during which Matty is milling around and fussing. I know what he wants. So I crouch down, and I open my arms wide and I ask him for a hug. He toddles over to me, and wraps his arms around my neck and I give him a big hug. That hug never fails to brighten my day.

Dance Machine

So Matty loves to dance, it's just about the funniest thing I've ever seen. He'll start bending one knee, swaying side to side, or swinging his left arm in front of him. The dancing is funny, but the funniest part is that he dances to everything. If a song comes on the television, he dances. When his toys play music, he dances. Today I put a new ringtone on my phone, and he started dancing. On a whim I decided to tap out a beat on the counter, and go figure, he started dancing.

Of course as long as he keeps dancing like me, he won't be winning any dance competitions.

Going Potty 101

Always have a book on hand because you never know how long you'll be in there :-)