New Towel

Matthew loves dogs, so we got him a new doggie towel.
Here he is trying it on.

The towel didn't look as cute on me...but Matthew thought it was funny

One of these things is not like the others...

Matthew has this toy called the "busy ball popper". It shoots little balls up and out of it and plays music. Today he was playing with it and started crying loudly. I looked and saw that he had put his arm all the way down inside the popper. At first I thought he was stuck, but then I saw the real problem.

I saw that he had dropped his cracker inside with the balls and was trying, unsuccessfully, to retrieve it.

We got the cracker out (after taking a few pictures) and Matthew happily went back to playing with the toy and eating his cracker. I did see him try to drop it in again, so I have a feeling it's not the only busy ball popper rescue we will have to perform.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

The Itsy Bitsy Spider is one of Matthew's favorite songs. The other morning when we were singing some songs together he started "singing" and doing little "itsy bitsy spider" hand gestures, which he's never done before. We haven't sung that song in a while so I was surprised he remembered it. He wouldn't make his little singing sounds for the camera, but he did do a few of the hand gestures.

Pudding Painting

We tried finger painting again today. I used pudding this time and added a little food coloring to it. Matthew was very hesitant at first. It was as if he didn't want to get dirty, which seems odd, because he rubbed both yogurt and peanut butter in his hair earlier today and it didn't bother him at all. Eventually he warmed up to the idea and, of course, tasted the pudding paint. I don't think it was his favorite activity of all time, but he seemed to enjoy it for a little while.

Happy Father's Day

Scott was assembling some shelves for us today and Matthew REALLY wanted to help him. He kept taking the screwdriver and trying to poke it onto the screws like Dad was doing or pick up the screws and carry them around. We tried to let him "help" by using his little toy screw driver, but he quickly decided that one wasn't as good and threw it on the ground in disgust. He also took his little toy hammer and tapped it on Scott's head a few times while Scott was trying to work. Despite the best efforts of Daddy's little helper, the shelves got assembled and they look great. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, (especially our dads - Grandpa Keeler and Grandpa Guptill) who let us "help" when it really isn't very helpful at all and help us to learn and grow by the example they set. We want to be like you too!

Ah, simple pleasures.

Matthew was really fascinated by this 3D-ish card he got from Aunt Alycia and Uncle Cody. He was amazed by the dog (or "wa wa" as he likes to call it) with googly eyes and kept trying to rip off the cupcakes and eat them. It entertained him for quite a while.

Hits and Misses

Scott was gone last week and Matthew and I tried hard to entertain ourselves while he was away, with mixed results...

Playing with friends and the big ball at playgroup: HIT!

Trying to convince Matthew how fun these nesting containers are...miss.

Having a lazy mommy day and trying out the "nibble tray." Hit for Matthew, miss for mom. He liked being able to "graze" but I think he may be too young for this. I had to vacuum a lot of snacks off the carpet. I was careful not to include any stain-able snacks however. :)

Playing in the pool...HIT! It's so hot and Matthew always wants to go outside on our back balcony and walk around. He likes playing in his pool and is especially interested in the hose. He must have been feeling hot too...he loved letting the water fall on his belly. I think we'll be out there a lot this summer.

Ears?

Matthew is learning and understanding so much.
Here he is learning some body part words.

Go Cougars!

Matthew is wearing the shirt that Uncle Will got him.
Here is a picture of Will wearing the shirt.

Saving them for later?

Today Matthew was eating some Cheerios as a snack and he brought me the empty bowl they were in. This is how he tells me he would like more. Then he walks back into the kitchen and waits for me to come get him more snack. Today as he walked away I could see a bunch of the cheerios he was "eating" stuck to his pants. It made me smile.

At the Office

"My boss won't get off my back"
Scott had to stop in at his office for a few minutes
(on the weekend!) and Matthew thought he would
come along and try to help out.

The full office shot...the sippy cup isn't usually there. :)

Matthew likes visiting Dad's office.

Playdough Time

Here I am in yet another attempt to entertain Matthew. We drew pictures with markers and crayons today and then played a little bit with playdough. He is still a little young for all this, but at least it kept him busy for a while.

Thanks Uncle John!

Scott's brother John flew back to the states a few days ago after visiting us for three weeks. Matthew loved having him visit! John played with Matthew, read him stories, helped him practice his walking and carried him around or pushed him in the stroller a lot. Matthew loved spending time with Uncle John. Thanks John for coming to visit us and for being such a fun uncle to Matthew. Sorry we were all sick and I hope the trip wasn't too boring. Come back anytime!!! We'll try to be more fun next time. ;)