Matthew...my little ball of energy is 9 months old!!! He's been outside as long as he was on the inside (literally, since he was 3 weeks early plus had a bonus week on the outside in a petri dish...). What a crazy 18 months it has been.
Matt is just funny. His personality is really beginning to come out, and I think we scored in that department. He's pensive and introspective. He studies new things carefully. Yet he loves to have fun and enjoys being silly. He's not a pleaser. He does things on his own time after much thought and consideration. He seems to be a little introverted, which I totally get. He's also pretty chatty with us, but less so in public. In fact our babysitter asked me if he was talking yet, and I was floored, because he's not usually quiet for very long. I asked him to tell her "Bye-Bye" and he immediately said bye-bye. She was just as shocked as I was when she asked me if he was talking yet...*sigh* This does not bode well for school, I fear.
He FINALLY clapped yesterday for the first time. We actually took a rare and ever elusive nap and he woke up before me because I found him lying on his back studying each of his hands. They were approximately a body width apart and had assumed an appropriate pre-"pat-a-cake" position. He carefully brought his hands together and pulled them apart, then tried a little faster and got a little sound. I'm so very proud. He refuses to clap for BJ, however...
His other skills include finding toys hidden under a blanket. Chasing kitties and golden retrievers. French kissing golden doodles. Speed crawling, waving bye-bye and feeding himself are also much more precise than they were during his 8th month. Precise but not always accurate...
I make most of Matt's baby food because it kinda skeeves me out to eat 3 year old bananas. So anyway, I'm happily buzzing around the kitchen steaming this and blending that into some concoction for my toothless miracle when I hear his palms happily slap across the kitchen in a speed crawl. He loves to splash in Emma's water bowl, so I make my way over there and try to distract him with a toy before returning to blending. I don't hear anything for a while, so I glance back to Emma's bowls to see my little miracle baby eating dog food while I'm making homemade, hippie-approved baby food because Gerber is poison...So anyway...Gerber's probably fine...
We've also enjoyed eliciting those baby belly laughs. Matt is not a free laugher....
It actually takes work. And things he found funny a couple of days may barely muster a smirk today. So when we do find something that evokes those throw his head back baby giggles, IT.IS.AMAZING! It's definitely one of those 'we could have missed this' moments.
The pain of infertility is erosive to your soul, yet having a child after going through infertility is truly inconceivable. After over 5 years, I had no idea I could not hurt this much, or be this happy, or have so much to look forward to in life. So when Matt giggles, the heavens open up and my heart fills with a joy I had no idea could exist. And then I become overwhelmed with the thought of 'Wow, we could have missed this.' It is entirely possible that all of this could have eluded us, and my heart fills again.
So when people say Matt was worth the wait, they honestly have no idea. He's not just worth it, he exceeds all of that pain with a sense of peace. A peace that soothes my soul, and helps me look back with a sense of understanding. He's an answer to so many prayers, hopes, desires. He's simply a miracle. I couldn't appreciate this as much as I do without having gone through such an arduous journey, and I would never want to have a child without that level of appreciation.
And that same miracle...well, he eats dog food sometimes, too. :)
Matt Facts:
Height: 2' 3 1/4" for 13th percentile
Weight: 16 lbs, 13 oz... 8th percentile
Teeth: 0
Fave Food: Cheerios are amazing...and Lucifer the kitty likes them, too!
Fave Toy: Wheels...or anything that spins: squeaky frog toy
Fave Word: Bah-Bah-Bah (Bye); dew-dew-dew (No translation), La-la (Yadda-yadda); din-din-din (no translation);
Fave Activity: Playing in a water table, AKA Emma's elevated water bowl; readjusting the wine fridge settings; Petting the kitties; playing in his tunnel.
Favorite Comfort Item: Mama & Dada...Wubba Nubs be out (Matt's choice...no parenting credits to us)
Future Career: Wine connoisseur.
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