Mateus at 10 months....

Mateus has hit the double digits!  At 10 months:
 He is sporting quite the head of hair (that seems to have more of a mind of its own these days)
Does not like to sit and play for long periods of time and instead much prefers walking (assisted)
STILL is not crawling but just recently has figured out to scoot in a circle to get what he wants
Is obsessed with the bubble wand and does quite the "little wizard" impersonation
Is very attracted to everyone's hair and  has no qualms about reaching out and grabbing it (including his "girl friend's" at daycare :-)
Learned to clap and does so often
Drinks from a straw
Continues to strengthen his pincher grasp by reaching for anything that is put in front of him (even the piece of cat hair stuck in the carpet)
Expanded his table food repertoire and will let you know in a loud voice when he is not yet done with his meal.
Thinks that 6:30 (or earlier) is an acceptable time to wake-up EVERY day (hasn't quite learned that weekend should be sleep in time...I would love a 7:30 wake-up one of these days.....)
Continues to show his personality through smiles and vocalizations...melts our hearts everyday :-)

Cabin in the woods and other experiences at 9 months....

  Mateus has been enjoying his last few weeks of summer.  We had a little getaway two weeks ago when we spent a long weekend in Berkely Springs, West Virginia.  5 families and 6 kids in a cabin tucked away.  We had a blast as we were with some of my best friends and their families.  It was fun to have all the kids together and the grown ups enjoyed lots of good food and conversation.  Here are a few pics from the weekend...

                                                        Hangin' with Daddy at the beach

                                                            Checking out the water

                                                  Wasn't so sure about sitting in the sand

                                                     This is how he enjoyed the water best

                                                                 Playing with the girls

                                                                Lazy, rainy Sunday

                                                       First Grahm Cracker-yum!

The weekend was a learning opportunity for me as I have been so hesitant (and nervous) about giving Mateus finger food.  First I was giving him miniscule pieces and only 1 at a time, and only things that were basically the consistency of mush.  After watching some of the other kids close to Mateus's age eat a wider variety and bigger pieces, I put my fears aside and boy has he been enjoying himself!  He has discovered his love of cheese, grahm crackers, kiwi, and chicken noodle soup.

                                                            Chicken Noodle Soup
This month he also had his 9 month check-up.  He's weighing in at 18 1/2 lbs and got a thumbs up from the doctor (even though he is still not crawling).  Mateus's favorite part of the visit was playing with the white paper on the table.

                                     He loved the sound of the paper when he kicked it with his legs.
                                    And a few more photos from the month.........

Mateus at 9 months.....

Mateus is 9 months old!  He had a great week getting to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Tingley.  He had his first trip to Kennywood as well as his first dinner at a winery (why not expand his horizons early?)  This past week we have really seen an increased interest in standing...maybe that is an understatement- all this kid wants to do is stand. And when he does he gets a big grin on his face like he can see the world better.  It's making morning play time a bit more challenging (or maybe just less relaxing on my part as I no longer can finish a cup of coffee between 7 and 8 am).  We may have a mover on our hands yet.... :-)

Where Did July Go?

Somewhere between trying to survive the heat and participating in day to day life, July has flown by!  So what has Mateus been up to....He is now loving trips to North Park to swing on the swing-

But was not all that excited about going down the slide (although we still managed to capture a smile at the end)

If I haven't commented before, Mateus does NOT like the heat so our outside time has been few and far between when that major heat wave set in.  We still managed to stay entertained indoors as Mateus's toy collection seems to keep growing!  We've been working on "moving" as Mateus still has not made any attempts to crawl.  I'm trying so hard to be patient but the overachiever in me is very aware of the timeline for this next milestone.  He just taught himself to roll onto his stomach (yay!) mostly to retrieve books or cell phones- his 2 preferred motivators at this point.  Here are a few snapshots from the past few weeks:

                                     Yay for yogurt!  (Did I mention this kids loves his food?)

                                                                   Laundry helper

                                                            Standing with Daddy
Just today Mateus had his first trip to the zoo.  He was more interested in people watching than looking at the animals.  We were fortunate to have a nice visit from one of my dearest friends Sue and her family.  Mateus enjoyed meeting more new friends.

The excitement finally got to be too much for him and he gave into sleep (3 hours past his nap time! :-)

Mateus at 8 months........

                                                              Has perfected the pout

                                                     Is showing signs that he likes water

 Tried chicken for the first time (this picture is deceiving as he has yet to   decide whether or not he actually likes it

                                                        Is discovering an interest in tools

                                                                Loves to laugh at Daddy

                                                       Gets more handsome by the day :-)

                                                  Is already working on being a "ladies man"

                                                       Gets so excited for his toy train

                                                    Tried a puff for the first time (and was very unsure of it!)

Family time

There truly is nothing like family.  The familiarity and comfort is such a nice thing to look forward to during our visits home.  Mateus is so fortunate to be part of a such large extended family.  I wish we could make the trip more often but when we do, it's always filled with lots of visits which is wonderful!  It truly is so nice to have so many people excited to see our little man and we are lucky that he is pretty easy going with all the attention...actually let's face it- Mateus loves the attention!  :-)  Here are some pictures from the weekend:

                                                              Hangin out with "GG"

                                                                First visit to the lake!

                                                             Snuggling with Daddy

                                                                 Using his voice

 This was a position we found the cousins multiple times throughout the weekend.  Nathan wanted to give hugs, Mateus was more interested in pulling hair, and neither one of them was sure how to respond to the other.

 We thought we had this great idea to do this photo op outside not realizing how interesting the grass would be to the boys.  Needless to say they were "busy at work" pulling grass and could have cared less about looking at the cameras.

                                  We were able to capture this moment between the two of them. 

                                                      

                                                 Already taking a turn in the driver's seat

Weekend Fun

                                                                   Pouty in the Park

                                                                        Bucket Fun

                                                                Happy Father's Day!