Well, we're in California. It's been an adventure so far. We arrived Saturday morning and got off the plane to find that the airline had lost 3/4 of our luggage. I am the only one whose bag arrived with our flight. Gilbert's bag, Matthew's bag, and Matthew's car seat all got lost. So we waited for the next flight from Houston to come in to see if they were on that flight, but they weren't. So we went and filed a claim and then they gave us a loaner car seat (which was absolutely disgusting) and we were on our way to get some food. Rough start for the trip. Our bags ended up getting to us about 10PM that night.

I seem to have caught some kind of stomach bug back in Texas, because by Saturday afternoon I was a complete mess. Taking care of a 9-month-old is one thing. Taking care of a 9-month-old while having to run to the restroom constantly is like competing in the Olympics. I seem to be getting better but I've lost even more weight and I told Gilbert that I feel skeletal. I'm sure I'll make up for it at some point. I'm just hoping this thing has run its course by the weekend. I can't imagine trying to make it through a wedding with this thing. Especially since I hear it's supposed to be 102 on Sunday. WOW.

Matthew is having a much easier time this time around. He's had several good naps and he's taking seeing all of these strangers in stride. He's fun =)

No pictures right now. Those will have to wait. That's all for now!

9 month appointment today. Shots went well. Here are his stats:

Weight - 21 lbs 7 oz (70%)
Height - 28.5 in. (55%)
Head - 19.5 in (>95%)

He lost an ounce from his last appointment. He initially gained weight but then he started crawling. Not a whole lot of growth in one month but he looks good. Only cried for a little bit with the shots. They want to see him back in 6 weeks to measure his head again just to make sure he doesn't have a big jump in size. The only reason she wants to be sure is that she just started treating him and I can't remember how big his head was at 4 months. She's not worried at this point, especially because Gilbert has a big head.

Well, off to California in the morning.

We're headed back to California in a couple of days for another wedding. Our friends Luke and Reanna are getting married next Sunday and Gilbert and I are both in the wedding. Matthew is not in the wedding this time. We're excited to watch two of our favorite people get married.



Matthew has been pulling up onto his knees. I know I've mentioned that before, but in a moment of desperation to get a hold of Gilbert's phone, he pulled himself up onto his feet.



Silly boy. We tried to get him to do it on the couch but he wouldn't. Gilbert did prop him up for a bit, though.





Wearing Daddy's new hat



Matthew had a playdate today. Matthew's friend Lydia, who is 4 days older than him, was supposed to come, too, but she and her mom got sick last night. Bruce and Elijah came out and we went to the park for a little bit but it was way too hot to stay. Matthew did get to try out the swings, though.










Untitled from Melissa S on Vimeo.

So after a few minutes in the heat we headed back to our house to play in the a/c. The boys played well together. They shared a Gatorade bottle, a plastic cup, and Matthew's musical table.









Bruce and Elijah went home so the boys could take their naps. Within an hour of Matthew falling asleep I looked out the window and saw this:





It was quickly followed by LOTS of rain, lightning, and thunder. It woke Matthew up earlier than I would have liked but he wasn't too scared. We're still hearing a lot of thunder an hour and a half later.

Well, I may or may not be updating while I'm in California. It'll really just depend on what kind of access I have to a computer with the right ports and/or software. We'll see. Hopefully I'll come back with lots of pictures for everyone to see.

Happy Father's Day

Today we're celebrating mine and Matthew's favorite guy in the whole world. Daddy (Gilbert). He loves the both of us so much that even though it takes sacrifice on everyone's part, he lets me stay home with the boy. Gilbert is a great husband, provider, and friend (to me and all of our friends). Matthew loves his daddy so much. The whole world lights up when Daddy comes home from work. Matthew has a smile that he saves just for Daddy. It's one of the best parts of my day to see him get so excited to see Gilbert. I knew there was a good reason I wanted to make Gilbert a Daddy. I asked Gilbert what he wanted for his first Father's Day and he pointed to Matthew and said, "He's sitting right there."

The boys both took a 3 hour nap today. Not together, but at the same time. Matthew even wore a couple of Daddy's favorite things today. This morning he wore a t-shirt (that Grandma bought him) with Darth Vader on it that says "My dad can beat up your dad". Of course, later on in the day he changed into his Celtics jersey. We went to church in the morning and Matthew made his first craft today. We went into the nursery and they put his handprint and picture on a piece of paper with this poem on it.

Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls.

But every day I'm growing -
I'll be grown some day
And all those tiny handprints
Will surely fade away.

So here's a little handprint
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small.



Gilbert was very happy to get his present. We're going to be watching Game 5 of the NBA Finals soon and Gilbert is hoping for the Championship tonight.



These pictures tug at my heart like nothing else















































Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy a boy (and Mommy) could ask for!

My boy is napping right now. Scratch that, he's waking up. I'm hoping he goes back to sleep. Of course Pez starts barking right as Matthew starts to stir. Oh well. I finally got a video monitor and this thing is great. It keeps me from guessing what's going on in there. Funny thing is, he's actually fallen asleep sitting up twice this week. Silly boy.

We tried finger painting. We got the Crayola non-toxic washable finger paints and some poster board. I was convinced he was going to try to eat it, but he didn't. He didn't quite get what to do with the paint at first but I think he figured it out. He seemed to enjoy the bath that came afterward a bit more than he enjoyed painting.











The mess he made



The masterpiece



Sitting in the tub waiting for his bath



Now that he's crawling, he's taken to exploring areas of the house that aren't carpeted. He thinks the kitchen is the place to be. Maybe because Mommy is in there so much washing dishes, cooking, feeding him, eating lunch.









Happy boy with his Leonidas



After all the happiness, Matthew managed to come down with a cold yesterday. Yesterday morning was very dramatic for him. Anything I did set him off. I put him down when he was done eating... he cried. I took two steps away from him... he cried. I wiped his nose... he cried. I changed his diaper... he cried. I think the only time he didn't cry was when I put him in his crib for his nap. We were supposed to meet up with Bruce and Elijah yesterday for a play date at the park. When Matthew had a low grade fever I called Bruce and told him we'd reschedule. We took a quick trip to Target because we needed diapers and infant Tylenol and instead of his cheerful, curious self, he was slumped down in the cart looking miserable. Poor boy. I've been doing my best to keep him happy and wiping green snot from his face. I did call his pediatrician to see if she wants to see him but she's not concerned at this point. I figured as much, but I called her anyway. Just supposed to keep an eye on the fever and any chest congestion he might get.



Booger face



This was his happiest time this morning









Right before nap time