Matthew: Fifteen Months!

So I know I’m not always the most punctual with these posts, but I generally pride myself in at least getting the posts up in the month they are for. But I clearly missed that mark by a long shot this time, and while Darrell is constantly reminding me that our lives will never not be busy with four boys, I feel like this was an extreme series of events. Matthew’s 15 month “birthday” was the same day that Garrett threw up after school (requiring a negative COVID test to return to school), which was the day before Connor spiked a fever, which was two days before Matthew spiked the same 24-hour fever, which was the day before our garage door broke, which was the day before Darrell caught the stomach bug from Garrett, which was the day before my car got ransacked (I can’t say broken into because it was parked outside due to the busted garage door and we forgot to lock it overnight. All they took were my cloth masks—dumbest thing ever—and some change for parking), which was two days before the cold I caught from the boys turned into a nasty sinus infection, which was two days before William had surgery to remove the mucocele from his lower lip, which was the day before I got my second COVID vaccine, which was the day before I had fairly noticeable side effects from the vaccination, which was two days before I loaded the boys up for a 30-hour trip to Minneapolis to watch my cousin play baseball. Oof. Surely that’s abnormal, right? Surely our lives aren’t destined to be like that forever, right?

Height/Weight: Well, he continues to put on weight like a champ (and if you watched him eat, this wouldn't surprise you in the least), and at 22 pounds, 7 ounces he is our heaviest fifteen-month old, but at just over 29 inches he is our shortest fifteen-month old (not by much, mind you; William was the tallest at 30 inches and the other two fell slightly below that). Our pediatrician--who is far from an alarmist--seemed a little concerned by his short stature compared to his weight, but they also changed the means by which they took his height (standing up versus laying down), so he didn't pursue the issue too much. I could maybe see a little more being discussed at eighteen months if the disparity remains.

Wearing: We made it through the last of the size three diapers, and have happily been chugging along in size fours. No blowouts, no peeing through overnight--life is good (and watch, I'm sure I just jinxed myself, but whatever). All his clothes are pretty much still twelve month, but some of his pants and long sleeves are definitely close to being on their last wear (and yes, we're still needing to wear plenty of pants and long sleeves because darn Mother Nature can't get her act together and consistently give us weather warmer than sixty degrees).

Eating: I seriously think the biggest issue with this kid and food is that we don't serve his food the same way we serve his brother's food. He does not seem to appreciate that his food is cut up and his brother's food isn't--and we've had to start sneaking around Matthew when we want to give his brothers something he can't have (like raw nuts) otherwise it is a DISASTER. We've seriously joked that if this kid works as hard in his job as he does trying to get food, he will go big places. He will stop at nothing to get food when he sets his mind to it: standing at the fridge and screaming, raiding the pantry, and even pushing a chair up to the table and climbing on it to see if he can reach any food from there. Super fun. We wrapped up nursing around thirteen months, and honestly, it was harder than I thought it would be. Especially after the rounds of mastitis I kind of figured I'd be chomping at the bit to be done, but when the reality of being done nursing FOREVER sunk in, it was kind of hard to close that door. He was 100% fine with being done, which at least made the transition easier, but I definitely pushed back my (self-imposed) "last day" a few times because I just wasn't quite ready. He's taken to cow's milk way easier than any of his brothers--maybe that's part of what contributing to his weight being higher? (Although he certainly doesn't drink a ton by any standards--we still limit pretty significantly so he fills up on his food and not milk--but he certainly drinks more than his brothers did at this age.)

Sleeping: Well, this kid is still Jekyll and Hyde when it comes to his sleep. If it's a good night, it's a great night with nary a peep and close to a solid eleven hours (roughly 7:45pm to 6:45am--although let's be honest, there are plenty of days he is up by six, but fortunately he's content to hang out in his crib for a little bit so we typically don't get him out until closer to seven). If it's a bad night, it's a BAD night with multiple wake ups, wanting to be held constantly, and (seemingly) endless screaming if he's alone in his crib. I tried blaming teething around his first birthday when he was acting like this, but it was a solid three weeks before he got any more teeth--although he did end up getting three teeth in a two week span, so who knows. He's had plenty more "Hyde" nights since cutting those three teeth, though, and we're still holding strong at five teeth, so as much as I want to blame teething, I'm just not convinced that's the issue (although I haven't the faintest idea what could be the issue, so that's fun. Not). This to shall pass, though, this too shall pass. 

New Stuff: Oh boy. I'm not sure what it was, but this kid just EXPLODED in growth and development (and personality!) the past few months. He'd been getting himself into a standing position in the middle of the room since before his first birthday, but just wouldn't take the next step (ha! #punny) to figuring out how to walk. Shortly after his birthday, he decided that knee-walking was an appropriate substitute, and he subsequently ruined a few pairs of pants. Finally, right around St. Patrick's Day, he took off walking--and hasn't looked back. Even William and Garrett are frequently commenting on how fast he is, which is super fun when we're outside and someone across the street is walking a dog and he takes off after it like a bullet (and yes--he LOVES dogs, just like his brothers. If we make it through their childhoods without a dog it will be a miracle). 

Speaking of things he loves, the picture window continues to be a big favorite. Well, actually, being outside is definitely the favorite (seriously--I can't even begin to count the number of times he has tried to put on someone else's shoes or bring us his own shoes so he can go outside), but since Mom doesn't take him outside nearly as often as he wants, he has to settle for watching stuff out the window. Garbage trucks--or anything equally loud--are by far the coolest (he makes a beeline to the window whenever he hears one, and if I dare have him in his high chair he will immediately sign "all done" so he can get down and race over to the window), but birds have been very popular lately as well, as evidenced by the fact that he picked up the sign for bird in about a 24-hour period. 

In addition to "bird", he is pretty good with the signs for "all done" and "more", and will usually sign "milk", "water", and "eat" with prompting. Spoken words are still not super identifiable, but don't let that fool you--this kid is LOUD. Apparently with three older brothers he's afraid of his voice getting lost in the background or something. He gives the best kisses and has the cutest little wave goodbye, although naturally he only elects to do those things on his terms. He's recently started figuring out high-fives as well, which is pretty darn cute. In the world of not-cute but super-cute at the same time, he is incredibly proficient at sulking. He will pout like you wouldn't believe, back himself up into whatever solid object is nearby, and slowly lower himself to the ground while he works himself up to a full-blown cry. While he will perform this spectacle pretty much any time he is reprimanded for something (which definitely isn't infrequent #hemightbeaproblemchild), he especially doesn't appreciate being fussed at for antagonizing his brothers, which he does CONSTANTLY. You know it's bad when Garrett--who dotes on the kid like you wouldn't believe--gets frustrated by Matthew's incessant interferences in their activities. 

In other news, Matthew tolerated his first round of swim lessons. He definitely spent a handful of lessons screaming the majority of the time, but by the last few he was a total rockstar. Proof not to give up on something with kids just because it's hard or they don't seem to like it right away. He also got his first real haircut in mid-March; I thought we should take him to the salon because they are more practiced dealing with little ones, but Darrell insisted he'd be fine at home, and sure enough, he was. He sat on my lap and barely made a fuss. I suppose it's probably helped that he's watch Daddy give his brothers multiple haircuts--come to think of it, the salon might have actually been worse because the whole environment would have been completely new and unfamiliar #pandemicbabyproblems 

 Since I'm so late on this I'm having a hard time drawing the line between 15-month updates and updates that will come in the 18-month post, so I think I'm just going to wrap things up now with a bit of a photo dump (which I know will be timeline appropriate thanks to automatic timestamps on my photos!). Enjoy our silly, crazy, adorably loveable baby boy!

I swear our photographer gets better with every kid. I just adore this photo--especially considering he was being a stink-butt for basically the whole photo shoot

Just another day at the (home) office!

100% my kid

Won't be long before he's part of the family bike brigade (and hopefully he hits a growth spurt soon because it is KILLER to hunch over so far to help keep him balanced!)

Yes, that plate was full when we started the meal. Yes, he polished the whole thing off. Yes, he is pretty darn proud of himself for it

God made dirt so dirt don't hurt

Have you noticed a food trend yet?!? This kid didn't pack on over a pound by being picky, that's for darn sure! (also--typical spoiled last baby. No way were the other boys given full s'mores at this age)

Cool dude on a walk!

Happy boy with his "pretties"! I swear these necklaces have provided hours of entertainment--if he isn't piling them around his neck he's putting them into (and taking them out of) containers or dragging them around the house. Who needs expensive toys?

William wanted to go bowling for his birthday and this kid LOVED it

Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest marshmallow of them all? (The getup was probably a little excessive for the mid-April dusting of snow we got, but his infant snowsuit is just fleece--not water proof--and doesn't allow for boots, which was just going to spell disaster for this kid. So size up we did)