Random Pictures and Videos

This is how I found him watching TV one afternoon. Silly guy.

I was able to get a picture before he charged me. Whenever I whip out the camera, not a second goes by until he's crawling to me and trying to see what I'm seeing from the other side of the camera.


I don't remember why he was only in his diaper. I think we had just changed a dirty one, and he was gonna take a bath soon, or something like that.


Doesn't he look tall?

Josh found a way to get Matthew to practice walking. He loves to tackle Daddy, so Josh stands him up farther away from him so he has to walk towards him. It works pretty well.



And some more animal sounds. We forgot some of his other new ones (like a snake and a bird), but you'll hear a bunny ("hop hop") and a cat (my absolute favorite). Enjoy!

"How can you read this? There's no pictures!"

(That title is not original, folks. What movie did I get it from?)

Confessions of a pregnant drama queen:

--I polished off a bag of chocolate chip cookies in 2 days, and I didn't even share with Matthew or Josh. I have a dr.'s appt. tomorrow, and I hope the scale won't reflect my indiscretion.

--I think about food after I've just had a meal, and when I go to bed, and when I get up at night to pee, and when I wake up in the morning.

--I am totally breaking out this week. Hmm, could it be the cookies? Nah, I'll blame it on wacky pregnancy hormones.

--I can pretty much fall asleep at any time of the day, except of course after the middle of the night bathroom run. For some reason, I'm wide awake after that.

--I've officially got "the waddle."

--I registered with Babies R Us simply so I could use my coupon and get a $10 gift card. We bought Matthew a new toy that day.

--It's getting really hard to grocery shop with Matthew or do laundry or pretty much anything that involves semi-strenuous labor.

--Maybe I shouldn't mention labor at this stage. I don't want Jellybean getting any ideas and coming too early. Though a little early would be nice. Giving birth to Matthew was a chore, to say the least (and fyi, he came a week before my due date, all 9 lbs. 5 oz. of him). I should start praying that Jellybean will be sized more like a jellybean and less like a butterball turkey.


Confessions of a pregnant mommy:

--Sometimes I get annoyed when Matthew is messy at meal times. But he's 17 months old; really what more can I expect?

--I get weary of playing with him. And that's probably because sitting on the floor too long makes me sore.

--I am so happy that he doesn't follow me to the bathroom every time I go. I shut the door and all, but really, a girl needs her privacy, and that includes no toddlers knocking on the door and calling for me.

--Prune juice is not always solving his bowel movement problems. Note to self: must discuss this with pediatrician at end of month.

--So proud that he's become a pro at drinking from a straw. So proud that he now loves getting his teeth brushed. He stands on a stool in the bathroom as part of the bedtime routine. And now in the mornings, when I tell him we need to go upstairs so I can brush my teeth, he leads the way and we wind up in his bathroom as he says the word teeth.

--Matthew is now wary of unknown noises. We had a thunderstorm yesterday evening, and on the first rumble he crawls right over to me and holds onto my shoulders. So Josh and I opened the garage door and let him hear it better and see the rain and see that we weren't afraid and that he shouldn't be either. He even tried to say the word thunder a few times.

--Whew! Matthew stinks. I better go change him before the smell permeates the entire house.

6 months down, 3 to go!

The first buckeye game of the season was Saturday, so of course we had to put Matthew in his jersey. His Aunt Laura gave it to him before she went back to school. And she was smart too--it's size 3T, so he can wear it for a few years.

And my 6-month belly...

I'm looking pretty big, right? Yeah, well, I feel it too. Jellybean is pretty active. I couldn't sleep last night because of her movements, so I got up to read for a little while. But she's a little stinker. As soon as Josh tries to feel my belly for her kicks, she stops. And once he pulls away, she starts up again. I think they are going to have an interesting relationship :) I am feeling well, except for the typical pregnancy complaints. Swelling once in a while, fatigue, soreness.

I've got a prayer request for you all to consider. When you think of it, could you pray that Matthew would walk on his own soon? 17 months old, and still not walking yet. He uses his walker all over the house, and he's down to holding one of our hands instead of both, but it is discouraging at times. And for a more physical reason, it's getting harder for me to lift him up and carry him places. I think that's part of the reason why I've been so sore. There's really nothing you can do to make your child walk. They have to decide to try it on his own, but he doesn't want to try. As soon as he figures out our tactics, he sinks to the floor and crawls. He doesn't even want to try balancing. I swear, I've never seen a kid so set in his ways. It's not that he's a stubborn brat about it. He's just content to be doing what he's doing, and I don't think he sees a need to try anything new.

And speaking of his development, he seems to be saying more words now, or at least trying to say the things we say. It's not all understandable, but a lot of times he can get the first syllable out. And like I've said before, he understands so much of what we say to him. He's become quite the ham, too. He knows when he's being funny and how to make Mommy and Daddy laugh, and he'll turn on the charm when he needs to. He's been much better about playing on his own (he went through a very needy stage after our vacation), and he "talks" so much. He comes up with new consonant/vowel combinations and has fun repeating it over and over in the car. He's been sleeping longer stretches at night--averaging 11 or 11 1/2 hrs, and sometimes 12 hours. Nap lengths are not consistent. Some days it's two hours; some days it's half an hour, and he always wakes up grumpy from his nap. But after 10 or 15 minutes, he's usually in a better mood.

He's a crazy, energetic toddler that likes to have fun and climb on everything. He climbs up and down stairs really well, though we are working on teaching him that he can't do it unless we are with him. And as you'll see in these videos, not walking doesn't seem to be holding him back. He's still a goofball and a nutcase, and any other crazy words you can think of.

Food and a Good Find **EDIT**

Some random musings about food:

--Earlier this week, I cut open a peach for Matthew and I to share at breakfast, and it was the most beautiful peach you've ever seen. The juice dripped out as the blade of the knife cut through, and the inside color was just amazing. The flesh was so yellow, and right by the pit it was the deepest of burgundys. It tasted just how it sounds--perfect.

--A deli sandwich is so good, am I right? But when you add sliced tomatoes, it brings it to a whole new level.

--I totally had a craving the other night for a Subway sandwich: tuna on wheat with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber. It seemed that it would be so refreshing at 9 o'clock at night. But I never found out, cause I didn't get one. And I'm pretty sure they're not open that late anyway.



We went to some garage sales today, and we parked by a tree that had some squished nuts on the ground. Upon closer inspection I discovered they were buckeyes! I'd never seen a buckeye tree before, so I was really excited. Josh even cracked one open and brought it home.


We also found a Little Tikes work bench for $10! I was so excited, cause I had recently thought about getting something like that for Matthew for Christmas. Those kinds of things can be expensive, but the Lord found us a great deal, and Matthew loves it.

**BEGIN EDIT**

Matthew with said work bench.

And sticking his tongue out at Daddy.

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And here's just a couple pictures of our boy growing up before our eyes.

A Picture Look Finale

Another morning opening gramma's gift. Matthew is such a boy--so into cars and points them out whenever he sees them.


During one outing we made sure to get a 4 generation picture: my dad, me, Matthew, and my grandmother, Mahmon Bazorg.


Then we switched out Josh for my dad. Matthew smiled so well for these pictures.


And my family (Sara, Tony, and Ari were at Storyland this day): my colege-age brother Pete, my dad, my mom, and my grandmother.


Cannon Mountain

We took a gondola ride up Cannon Mountain, and there was a nice hiking trail to an observation deck. We got some pretty scenery shots.
And that's not one of them :)


Ok, that's better, now that my silly husband is out of the way.


Josh, aka Adventure Boy, deviated from the trail many times and went closer to the edges than I dared to go. He found this pretty mountain flower out there.


Not staged, I promise. Well, it sort of was. I had my camera all set to take the shot, but then Josh turned around too soon. So I made them turn around again so I could capture this look.


Love this one. They both look so cute!


This sign showed us the division between Cannon State Park and the White Mountain National Forest.


More scenery.


A reward for all that hiking he did. Well ok, he was carried the whole way, but we had him climb some of the stairs of the observation deck, so his little legs got a workout.


Family picture (obviously)


The Last Day

Ari had this Mickey Mouse Clubhouse playset thingy, and I think that was Matthew's favorite thing to play with all week. It was pretty cool. Even I liked playing with it.


I had to find time to get a pic with my favorite sister!


And Matthew made sure that Daddy made time to wrestle with him.


Here's my 5-month belly picture! I compared this pic to when I was pregnant with Matthew at 5 months, and I think I'm a little bigger. In fact, I think it's closer to my 6 month Matthew pic.


We went to the outlet mall nearby because they were having sidewalk sales, and for lunch we hit Burger King. Matthew is already trying to take off the crown.


The night before we left, Ari wanted to come into our room to say goodnight to "Baby Matthew." Then somehow they both ended up jumping on the bed. Crazy kids.

The Ride Home

We stopped in Massachusetts to visit my grandpa. So yes, we took another 4 generation picture.


Matthew really liked his great-grandpa and had a great time using his walker and playing peek-a-boo.


We also made another stop to see Matthew's great uncle on my side, Ahmoo Hesam. Both were short visits, but it gave us nice family time and a chance for Matthew to move around and not be stuck in a car the whole time.


And that pretty much sums up our week long vacation. The flight home was uneventful. Matthew was more uncooperative than normal, but a week of little naps and fewer sleeping hours was catching up to him. He actually fell asleep on the plane on Josh's shoulder for about 40 minutes. He looked so precious and exhausted, but I didn't want to snap a picture and make him wake up.

The first week we were home, Matthew had trouble adjusting back into decent naps. They got longer as each day went on though, and now it's better. A definite plus since we've been home: Matthew's been "sleeping in." He used to sleep 10 hours at night, but now it's more like 11 or 11 1/2. Oh yeah, this is one happy mommy, and we've got a happy daddy on the weekends. Matthew's benefitting too. He's a happier boy with more sleep for sure.