Matthew at 18 Months

I have decided not to allow Matthew to write his own update, as I usually would, because I have so much that I want to say about him, from my own perspective. Besides, he couldn't sit still long enough to write anything these days. As a toddler--and a boy--he is busy, busy, busy, "from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same." (Anybody remember that old song? Probably not, unless you too were raised in a church that was stuck in the '70's, musically speaking.)

So at his check-up last week, our little guy handled his shots quite manfully, with only a couple of whimpers when the needles went in. He weighed in at 24 lbs., 11 oz., or the 40th percentile for his age. Height-wise, he's now 33 1/2 inches, which puts him at about 85%. So he's tall, but not amazingly tall, and... skinny. In other words, he hasn't changed much in a purely statistical sense.

But that's about the only area where he's not changing. I really love the stage he's in right now! There's still so much baby in his face and his manner, but the boy is emerging rapidly.

For one thing, he's starting to get much more physical. Now he is more likely to initiate a wrestling match with Meg than she is with him. (He has a lot to get her back for.) He is liable, now, at any moment, to reach out and engage his sister physically--somehow, someway, doesn't matter what. Could be a kiss, a hair tug, a back pat, or a whack in the face with a plastic block... you just never know. (Yes, we are putting heavy emphasis on training him in gentleness!)

Matthew's communication skills continue to grow as well. He seems to understand almost everything we say to him; he certainly tracks with all of our direct instructions. He loves mimicking sounds and willingly "repeats" phrases on demand. (Example from earlier today: Mommy says, "Matthew, say, 'I'm sorry, Mama.'" And Matthew replies, "Ksssssss, Ma Ma.") His newer words include "truck," "baby," "teddy," "book" and "moon." He still won't say "Meg," but calls her "sister" instead. (This used to sound like "dih-dih;" now it's more like "sss-sss-dih.") And he is super excited about saying "hi" to strangers. "Haaaaa!" he says loudly as we walk through the grocery store, waving with all his might. It's a little pathetic when the passerby doesn't realize that he or she is being greeted and walks on in oblivious silence. "Haaaaaaaaa!" Matthew calls after them, still flailing his arm. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

I see quite a bit of David in our little boy. Matthew loves process, repetition, mechanics. Anything electronic, anything with moving parts intrigues him. And the things that catch his attention crack me up at times. For example, yesterday we took the kids downtown to the American Museum of Natural History. We were in the Hall of Mammals, and Meg was running around exclaiming over various animals, dragging her daddy around to look at giraffes, walruses, lions. Meanwhile, Matthew noticed a set of bolts holding together one of the display cases. Poke, poke, poke. Soon he was crouching down, examining these little black circles, seeing if they would turn, then checking them from a new angle. Too cute. Maybe it was just because the bolts were closer to his eye-level than the animals!

I'll close by saying that we love our little man dearly and are so grateful to God for making him part of our family! Dave and I love to tiptoe into his room each night to watch him sleep and soak up his sweet, baby stillness. We wink and point at his little diapered bottom poking up in the air, or smile at his adorable death-grip on Teddy. Then we cover him up and tiptoe back out, thanking God for each day we have with this fast-growing boy.