All About Matthew

Following tradition, I always do a post about my kiddos on their birthday. So if you want to know all about what Matthew is up to these days, then read on!

• He weighs 36 lbs and is 3 ft 6 in tall. I actually took him to his well child doctor appointment this year and it was all very exciting to him. He got to wear a real doctor gown and I let him answer a lot of the questions about himself. There was a PA student doing the exam and she thought he was the greatest 4 year old ever! So do we :) He ended up having to get shots, which we weren't expecting. But he handled it like a true, tough future football player, only crying briefly right when he got poked. It was funny to watch him walk around that night as his muscles tensed up and got sore. He doesn't have to get shots again until he is 11; a fact that he keeps reminding me of. 
• Matthew's favorite foods: not much has changed in this category. He still loves chicken and rice, bagels, sausage, ice cream, pancakes...Matthew thinks it is a real treat when I take him to the produce store and let him choose any fruit and vegetable he wants. He loves broccoli, carrots, apples, grapefruit, watermelon,  cantaloupe, you name it.
• His favorite movies include How to Train Your Dragon and Wreck it Ralph. He has also been enjoying Aladdin, Land Before Time, Little Rascals, and the Goofy Movie.
• His favorite colors are most definitely green and yellow.
• Matthew has been sleeping really well and rarely finds his way into our bed anymore. Bedtime is still 8 and he typically wakes up at 7, sometimes earlier.
• When he grows up he wants to be a big strong football player and play for Boise State. He wants to play defense. And he wants to play at night with all the big lights on and mom will come cheer for him! 
• Matthew loves numbers. He is always counting or measuring things. He loves to think of big numbers and tries to come up with the biggest number he can. He also  loves time. He tries to understand the clock and always wants to know what time we are doing things or when things are going to happen. This is also true for the calendar. He wants to know what day it is and what we have coming up.
• Favorite songs right now: We'll Bring the World His Truth (he belts this one out at the top of his lungs all the time). The firetruck song, Take your Hat Off and the George Washington son (basically that whole CD from Brite music)
• Matthew loves to pretend being his favorite characters and he is very particular that we act things out exactly as they are in the movie. Matthew is quite particular about most everything he does. He comes up with grand plans in his mind and gets very  frustrated  when things don't pan out the way he thinks they should.
• Some of his favorite activities are: swimming, riding bikes, going to the park, wrestling with dad, playing with Riggs, playing board games, trains, baking cookies
• We have been learning the Articles of Faith and he knows #1, 2, & 8 so far. A few weeks ago he got to recite the first article of faith in primary for his scripture and he did awesome!
• He LOVES to play the Subway Surf game on the ipad and has gotten really good at it.
• Is quite good at doing puzzles
• Is progressing wonderfully in the world of education. He can pretty much spell his name (he usually leaves out the h), knows his letters well, etc. I think he is right on par with where he should be.
• Matthew is very social and enjoys making new friends. I find that I have to try to not stifle this in him. I am the type who finds no need to talk to or interact with strangers. I am learning how to give Matthew more freedom as he begins to exert his independence more.
• His one chore consists of putting away the kid dishes and the silverware from the dishwasher. We are going to be adding another one to the list soon. He also loves to vacuum.
• Getting dressed is still a battle most days. Not because he can't do it but he can't focus long enough to just sit still and get dressed.
• Potty training is going well. Most of our bugs got worked out this summer. We still have accidents at least once a week (usually more) but that will work itself out with time. He still wears a pull-up at night and that is a challenge that we will be battling for years; of that I am certain.
• If I had to sum Matthew up in one word I would say he is passionate! Matthew feels all his emotions very strongly which is hard when those emotions are sad or grumpy, but so rewarding when they are happy or loving.
• Justin's word choice for Matthew is: bi-polar! Haha,he really does swing back and forth on the emotional scale very easily. But for real he chooses exuberant. Such a perfect way to describe Matthew. We love him so much and since he is our first and we are proud parents we always think everything he does is so awesome, or exciting, or smart... And we have good reason to think such because Matthew really is a very good boy. He is well-behaved, smart, and full of personality. Oh how we love him! He is growing up so fast. The other day he was snuggling on the couch with me (we call this snuggle bunny) and we had this little conversation:

Me: What will I do when you grow up and don't want to snuggle with me?

Matthew: I will still snuggle with you mom, I will just sit next to you instead of on your lap, but my leg will be a little bit on you touching like this. 

I am so going to miss my snuggle bunny time but I am finding such joy watching my first baby grow up.