A Day At The Mall

We went to the mall today with my parents, brothers, sister, sisters-in-law and nieces. We went to Build A Bear where we made a stuffed turtle for Matthew. Then we saw Santa again - and got some cute pictures of Matthew and his cousins.

Matthew, Santa, Alex and Ashley

Hanging out with daddy

Matthew's stuffed turtle, Buddy

I'm Not Tired!

Matthew has started to fight his sleep lately and gets himself to the point of exhaustion - that's how this happens! He gets so tired that he falls asleep in any position he's in when his eyes happen to close. This particular night he fell asleep watching The Santa Clause with daddy (who, as you can see in this picture, is quite tired himself from putting up the Christmas lights!).

1st Thanksgiving

Even though he's too little to partake in the feasting, he's not too little to look cute! The stuffed turkey in the first picture unfolds to become a big soft blanket (coincidence that it happens to be a turkey and perfect for today's pictures!). His little shirt says "I'm Stuffed" and he had on the cutest little pair of corduroy pants. Matthew was a good baby today - slept through dinner, which allowed me and Matt to feast uninterrupted! He also didn't mind posing for pictures with his cousins - although we had to change his outfit due to a spit-up incident, the picture is still too cute!

Matthew and his turkey blankie

Matthew and his cousins Ashley and Alex

Back from Rhode Island

Matt and I went to Newport, RI for the weekend. We had a great time shopping and touring the mansions and the wharfs (we even got to see the church where JFK was married). It was too cold to visit any of the beaches, but our hotel had a few sand walls where I was able to write what you see above. We left the baby with grandma and grandpa for the weekend and while we were gone he continued his streak of sleeping through the night - 8 hours on Friday and 9 hours on Saturday! This is great timing - I go back to work next week and if we can all get up together at about 5AM we'll be in good shape.

He loves his Bumbo!

Since he has such great head and neck control, I thought I would try him in his Bumbo seat today - he loved it! I took a ton of snapshots of a very happy smiley baby!

Winter in NY

We busted out Matthew's winter gear this week - temps have been as low as the 30s (20s at night!). It's a good thing Matthew doesn't mind the bundle-up process. Today also marks Matthew's two-month birthday - which means he gets his two-month shots at his doctor appointment tomorrow :-(

Baptism

Today was Matthew's baptism. He looked so cute in his little white outfit. It was a beautiful fall day in NY. Matthew was so good - at church he ate a little, slept a little and when he was awake (and not eating) he was mellow and calm. He didn't even care when the deacon poured the holy water over his head. He was good at the reception as well - he didn't mind being passed around at all. He only had a few meltdown moments, but those were quickly squashed with a bottle! We got to see a lot of friends and family that we don't see very often. For some of them it was the first time they were meeting baby Matthew - everyone commented on how cute he was and how lucky we are to have such a good baby.

Matthew's Furry Friends!

We had a family of deer visit us this week - 4 of them hung out in our back yard for a bit. We live next to a wooded area that seperates our property from the elementary school on our street, so we always have some furry creatures in our yard! They are so pretty - and in the calm of the morning, they were in no rush to leave. One of them even seemed to pose for the camera when she spotted me taking pictures from the living room window. We are planning on putting up a privacy fence next year - which means the deer won't be able to frolic in our yard next year, I'll miss them!

8 Weeks Old Today!

Time flies! I can't believe he is already 8 weeks old - seems like only yesterday he was beating me up from the inside! Here are two pictures - one when we were in the hospital the day after he was born and today (he smiles A LOT - this is the best picture I could get, sort of a smirk, but cute none the less!). It almost seems like they're two different babies. We weighed him yesterday before his shower - he's already up to 11 pounds. His hair is coming in nicely - looks blondish/brownish. Soon he'll lose that Terry Bradshaw look! He goes to the doctor next week for his two month check-up (where he'll get his first round of shots - I'm not looking forward to that and I'm sure if he knew what was going to happen, Matthew wouldn't be either!). It's a good thing he's in love with his doctor - maybe he'll be strong for her!

Getting the hang of it

After seven weeks Matthew is finally getting the hang of tummy time! Not only does he keep his head up for longer periods of time, he is also holding his head up higher each time. He stays on his tummy longer now - he used to get frustrated very quickly. He really is growing up!

We met with Santa today...

What better day to go see Santa than on a random Monday in mid-November! Santa arrived at the mall this past weekend and I thought the middle of the day on a weekday would be the best time to go - and it was, there was no waiting (thank goodness - Matthew is not a patient baby!). He seemed intrigued by Santa - wouldn't look at the camera despite the efforts of me and the photographer, but I think it's cute the way he's looking up at Santa! I had him dressed in a cute little onsie that said "Santa Loves Me" and his candy cane striped pants and socks - even Santa commented on how cute his little outfit was.

Here he is!

This is Ish (Matthew Jr). In this picture he is about 7 weeks old. He is getting so big - and is developing quite a personality. He is getting closer every night to sleeping through the night - last night he went over 6 hours!

The First Ish Post

Why "The Ish Blog"? Ish is what we called Matthew Jr. when I was pregnant, before we knew he was a boy. Ish seemed neutral - and even after we found out he was a boy and that his name would be Matthew, we still called him Ish. We still find ourselves calling him Ish now! This blog is for him - in all his cuteness!