Our Baby is No Longer a Baby

After a much longer than anticipated hiatus from blogging, I am hoping to give some updates on our growing family. Although I missed doing Matthias' monthly updates like I did for our older boys, I still wrote down all of his milestones and am able to look back on each month. There is a level of mommy guilt that everything is not completely equitable between the twins and the baby in that regard but intellectually I know there were many extenuating circumstances that prevented me from doing so. We really reveled in Matthias' babyhood after surviving the intensity of having twins the first go round.

Our Matthias Theodore turned one year old last month. It was a surreal feeling for his birthday to come around. On one hand it felt as though he was still that chubby newborn with a head of dark hair and on the other it felt like a lifetime had passed.  This year has presented some heavy trials for us and we are thankful that Matthias has been a big bright spot. 

We call this little boy Baby Beef because he takes a lot after his papa. His mannerisms and facial expressions just scream Eric. At his one year appointment, this kid was in the 76th percentile for weight and height so the moniker just makes sense. He took his first steps at eleven months and really got the hang of it around his birthday. He had several words that were distinguishable including mama, papa, do-do (or dog), yes, no and diaper. He gets very animated when eating food and likes to make a 'mmmhh' sound when it is something that is his favorite. He also says 'ah' when he opens his mouth to let you know he is ready for more. He does the 'ah' sound even when he is independently feeding himself. His favorites are cheese, yogurt, crackers, snap pea crisps and fruit.  He is a good eater overall and it is not too hard to coax him to eat veggies. He also like green smoothies.

Matthias and Marcus- cousins and little buddies

We got our back yard landscaped this past summer and it has been a blessing to have a nice space for the kids to play.

Matthias has a hearty giggle and loves to be involved in whatever his older brothers are doing. Thus far he seems to be very extroverted like his older brothers as well. He is a content little guy and many people comment on how mellow he is. I like to joke that he is very easy going until he is not. It does not come out too often but this kid can have a temper and his inner sin nature can definitely rear its ugly head. He has actually pushed my face and said "Nooo, nooo, mama" when he gets frustrated from being pulled away from something off limits. He is also pretty funny when he gets caught doing something naughty. He will crawl, or now as is the case, walk away as fast as he can. He gives you this look as if to say "You did not see that." I forgot how hilarious and exhausting the naughtiness of a young toddler can be.

Right at twelve months he had three teeth, just a snaggle tooth on top and two bottom teeth. He wears size four diapers and 12-18 month clothing. He does not sleep through the night...yet.  He can generally do 7-8 hours before he wakes up but that still means his mom's sleep gets seriously interrupted.  We have tried more strict forms of sleep training and it just doesn't work on him. He is his own little person and I know that it will happen eventually. I have noticed that every time he cuts a tooth that we are hitting sleep regression (no big surprise there). He is an affectionate little guy and frequently lays his head on people's shoulders which is his version of a hug.

We had a little party at our house for his first birthday and enjoyed the perfect weather by playing outside. We are so thankful for this little boy and his sweet, funny and mischievous personality. Matthias has been the perfect complement to his older brothers and they clearly adore him. We have been blessed with three sons--what an incredible gift! Thank you, Lord, for our our wee Matthias.