Mattox's 8th Month

{Taken Tuesday, November 3, 2015}

{Taken Tuesday, October 6, 2015}

{Taken Friday, October 16, 2015}

{Taken Tuesday, October 20, 2015}

{Taken Tuesday, October 27, 2015}

{Taken Tuesday, November 3, 2015}

Oh my, you are getting so big!  Only a few more months before you are a whole year old!  You are acting more and more like big brother Evan.  You are a mover and try to grab and touch everything you see.  I can't wait to see how you handle the Christmas tree next month.  

Size:  I am very late getting this post up, but we did get a weight check on you last week at your last appointment to check your head size.  Your head size is staying consistently in the 75th - 90th percentile growth curve so we aren't concerned about that anymore.  You just inherited Mommy's big head.  You have been loving eating lately so I really wanted to see how much you had gained.  You weighed 17 lbs. 8.6 oz. (19th percentile) and were 27.36 inches long (25-50th percentile).  I think 20th percentile for weight is going to be your standard size, and that is okay with me.   You have still been wearing size 3 diapers and mostly 9 to 12 month sizes.  

Developmental Accomplishments:  You aren't quite crawling yet, but it is only a matter of time.  You are really trying to move and rocking back and forth just trying to figure out how to move forwards.  You slither all over on your belly to get to what you want and do a lot of rolling too.  We are learning the hard way that you are so much like Evan and will roll yourself off of anything if we don't watch you closely.  You can also stand holding onto furniture for a good little while when we stand you up.  You haven't pulled up by yourself yet.  You do get onto your knees by yourself but not onto your feet.  You hold your own bottle more now.  You still love your big brothers and laugh and "talk" a lot now.  I have been thinking you were getting your top teeth in for several weeks, but I just felt one breaking through this week.  Separation anxiety and stranger anxiety has really been increasing too.  You definitely want mommy or daddy in the room with you and do not like being alone.  You are still so sweet and cuddly and are just so fun now as you are curious about everything around you.   

Sleeping:  You still sleep very well through the night as long as you get your last feeding before you fall asleep.  There have only been a few nights where you woke up in the middle of the night to get that feeding because you fell asleep without it.  You do still sleep in the bassinet in our room, and I am just waiting until you are really pulling yourself up and trying to stand to move you to your crib. 

Eating:  You have still been doing well eating, and we are still chugging away at breast feeding which I am thankful for.  If you would consistently take 7 oz. at each feeding, we could probably go with just four feedings a day, but you still need at least 5 feedings a day getting between 5 and 7 oz. each.  You usually get a 5 oz. bottle of breast milk in the morning, and a 6 to 7 oz. bottle of formula with cereal in the afternoon with breast feedings in between.  You still really love eating solids and have really been doing well with every food you have tried.  You eat more mixed combination meals with a fruit and oatmeal combination for breakfast, a vegetable combination for lunch, and a meat and vegetable combination for dinner.  You have now tried avocados, peas, squash, apples, pears, bananas, sweet potatoes, peaches, zucchini, green beans, broccoli, white potatoes, and mangoes.   You like white potatoes mixed with a green vegetable like peas, green beans, or broccoli.  You eat a chicken puree mixed with an orange vegetable like sweet potatoes, butternut squash, or carrots. You also love pieces of whole fruit like cantaloupe or mango in your little mesh feeder.  

Nicknames:  Mattox Pattox (Mommy's nicknames for your brothers are Evan Pevin and Brody Pody so yours goes with theirs); Matt Matt; Matt Patt; Matty Patty.  Also, we call you "Squealie Pig" because you love to shriek and squeal really loud, sometimes happily and sometimes when you want to get our attention.  I love my little squealie pig!  

More picture cuteness from this month...

More sock monkey cuteness.  Mattox has been seriously lacking in the Fall/Winter clothes department so I have tried to pick up a few warm outfits on sale.  This one was from TJ Maxx.  

I just think this baby makes the cutest faces.  He's so cute and doesn't even have to try.  

More of those cute faces and sticking his tongue out. 

I know, I know...too much cuteness.  But can you blame me?  October just calls for cute pictures of babies in pumpkin hats. 

Oh, those faces!  

So silly! 

If I had to pick a favorite expression in these pictures, it would probably be the top left picture.  I don't even know what that one meant.  Something stinks, maybe? 

Something about these pictures of him, especially the ones of him looking down, remind me of those cute Anne Geddes pictures.  

Handsome little man wearing his tie.  Of course, every shopping trip to Target calls for a quick check of the baby clothes clearance racks.  $2 to $3 shirts...Score! 

I cannot resist when he reaches that little hand out for me. 

Oh, those baby smiles!  I'm going to miss those!

Big brother Evan helped with this photo shoot. 

And of course, pumpkin pictures were a necessity this month.  I used my little Target bunting banner and the pumpkins we were going to carve later for this little shoot.  He is wearing the same first Halloween onesie Brody wore. 

A little 9 month outfit that is on the verge of being too small.  

We thought we needed to have a teddy bear prop.  He loves a teddy bear.  He is always trying to get a hold of big brother Brody's favorite teddy bear, but he will be getting his own very special bear for Christmas from his big brothers. 

Lots of play time now.  He only naps for a little while in the mornings after breakfast and in the afternoons in the car on the way to get Evan from school. 

He loves playing on his tummy and slithers all over the floor.  He would be crawling if he could figure out how to get on his knees. 

Hungry Baby/Sleepy Baby

He can stand up for a long time holding onto the furniture although he doesn't quite pull himself up yet.  He needs a little help to get up on his feet. 

Bath time is definitely one of his favorite times.  Big brother Brody loves to play with him which means putting lots of toys in the tub for Mattox. 

This is the best comparison I have for this month between Evan and Mattox.  They both loved bath time! 

Mattox also enjoys seeing himself in the mirror after his bath. 

Our Halloween {2015}

I don't know if our Halloween was an epic one, but I thought it was a fun one for our little family.  It was the first time I have actually been able to get us all to dress up as a family with a theme.  Usually, Eddie refuses to join in.  Since Evan wanted to be Harry Potter this year, I knew we just had to all participate.  We needed a Professor Dumbledore and a Professor McGonagall for sure.  I have had a pin posted to Pinterest forever of a homemade baby Dobby the house elf costume so I was just beyond excited about dressing up Mattox.  Brody was the real challenge.  I convinced him to join in for a family picture dressed as a dementor, but he didn't like the idea of being the bad guy who sucked all the joy and happiness out of people.  Haha!  He was a good sport though.  He was much happier in his pirate costume with his little brother as his little parrot companion.  I think it was a great costume year for us.  I guess the only sad thought I had is that our little Mattie would have made a cute little Hermione. 

We attempted to carve two pumpkins this year.  The weekend before Halloween, Eddie and the boys did the work of cleaning out both pumpkins.  They looked great, and I didn't want them rotting by Halloween so I told Eddie about how to spray the inside with a bleach solution and let them dry to keep them looking fresh longer.  We decided to wait a few days to cut them.  I was able to take pumpkin pictures of Mattox with the cleaned out pumpkins.  On Friday when we were going to carve them, one of the pumpkins still looked great, but the other one was a fail.  It was completely rotten and soft on one side.  That one had to be thrown out.  There were no more pumpkins at the store or at our local pumpkin farm across the road from our neighborhood.  The boys were very sad not to get two carved pumpkins. 

On Friday night, I carved this Mike Wazowski pumpkin from Monsters, Inc. for the boys.  I used the different technique of shaving the outer layers of the pumpkin without cutting all the way through so that the light reflects softly through the thin pumpkin that remains.  I think I could have shaved it a little thinner for a better effect, but it was still cute. We enjoyed it even though I forgot to light it on Halloween night. 

Evan, Mattox and I got dressed up the week before for Evan's Cub Scout carnival. 

Brody wanted to wear his pirate costume.  They had a little duel, pirate v. Potter. 

Then, the dementor came to our house.  Yikes.  He was the cutest dementor ever, but that probably makes him even scarier. Harry defended sweet little Dobby. 

These were the looks Eddie and I were going for.  My hat wouldn't stay up on my head.  It was just a cheap witch hat from Target.  Eddie ordered my cloak from Amazon which was pretty cheap.  I know Professor McGonagall doesn't always wear glasses, but since mine are more necessary, I think I pulled it off. I made Eddie's hat, hair and beard with left over scraps of white batting, gray silky fabric and some gold yarn.  Since I don't sew, the hat was just stapled together.  He wore a cheap gray blanket as his robe.  I wanted a silkier sheet, but the blanket was only $5 so whatever. 

Our Harry Potter family. 

Brody the pirate and Mattox the parrot made an appearance at a special Halloween story time at the library on Friday. 

Story time was a packed house, but I managed to sneak these pictures from the other side of the bookshelves.  I love when they sing "Rock A Bye Your Bear" by the Wiggles.  Brody is so cute doing the motions of rocking his teddy bear, going to sleep, and saying "Shhhh."  

Thankfully, Daddy could join us for story time, and this little sleepy parrot was very happy about that. 

The kids trick or treated and got treats from Max in his wolf suit from "Where the Wild Things Are", the raccoon from "The Kissing Hand," The "woman" in the yellow hat and Curious George, and Princess Fiona from Shrek. 

Brody was happy with all of his treats which mostly wasn't candy. 

The festivities on Halloween day started with our town's Fall festival, Hollyfest.  It was a lovely day with blue skies.  We didn't know this would be the last day for the next couple of weeks where we would see blue skies and no rain.  Brody commented on the unusual clouds that day so I took a picture.  I also took a picture of our town's new symbol on the big screen.  I think it is very pretty.  The old one was just red and green holly so this new one shows the green holly leaves and blue water for the spring. 

First stop was at some inflatables.  This one was football themed.  Brody wouldn't go in by himself so Evan had to get permission to go with him. 

Brody liked this little fish ride and was so proud he rode by himself.  He was waving and giving high fives (or taking his hand back and laughing). 

We watched Evan the pro shoot some basketballs. 

I really think having a trampoline has helped both of these boys.  In the past, they have both been scared or timid about getting into big bounce houses but not anymore. 

We all enjoyed taking pictures with this scary scene. 

The boys walking their new pet.  I really think this is the pet for me.  No food and cleaning up required.  

Of course, trick or treating was the highlight of the day.  The boys loved our new neighborhood which had some very good decorations.  There was a little decorating contest earlier in the month. Dumbledore probably got the most compliments from other trick or treaters as he pushed Dobby in the stroller. 

The boys enjoyed fighting lots of scary creatures.  

Some of my favorite scary decorations were the Chucky doll hanging from a foyer chandelier, a zombie eating a leg in someone's scary graveyard, and a ghoulish figure in a black trench coat.  I thought the spider decor on the garage doors was more in the realm of cute. 

A mummy graveyard and a scary Grim Reaper completed our list of favorite houses.  The boys had a great and "scary" Halloween.  We also liked these Star Wars painted pumpkins.  

So I am too lame to do a whole post for my 1000th so this one is it.  At least, it is my 1000th published post.  Since I blog more as a way to publish our memories from over the years, these posts tend to be more lengthy and sometimes incorporate whole months of memories.  I tend to think of it as more about quality than quantity here.  I haven't written much for followers or readers over the years and started the blog in 2009 as a way to memorialize the years of our life since we started our family in 2003.  I find that this is the most manageable way to organize our memories.  I have printed my blog posts from 2009 which actually incorporate our memories from 2003 through 2009 in 3 volumes that cost about $100 each.  2010 to the present are considerably more lengthy as we added to our family and so the amount of pictures we take has also grown.  Those years will probably require at least two printed books each.  My blog posts tend to be very picture heavy so that makes for longer posts and more printed pages.  One of the inspirations for my blog was actually my husband's grandmother's memoirs she hand wrote.  I hated that my kids may not ever get to really know the stories of our lives, and I hated having so few memories from my own childhood.  I knew that attempting to hand write my own memoirs would result in failure because I hate to write.  Typing is so much easier.  Plus, I wanted a way to include our pictures to help tell the stories.  Blogging was the "answer" to my goal, and I have been blogging the events of our lives ever since.  I hope you enjoy the stories! 

On another note, I have created another little monster blogger.  Evan has started his own blog as a way to share and preserve some of his writings.  He is a budding writer and loves writing about history, things he loves, and his own stories.  I suspect we may have a future published author on our hands.  So hop on over and give him some encouragement.  I may help him add some of his past works on there, but he is starting to be able to type well on his own and will be working to add new posts when he can.  I am going to leave some of his spelling errors in his earlier works for nostalgia purposes.  I may even include a couple of my own childhood stories over there for comparison.