Christmas and walking

Matthew started walking last Wednesday - with the aid of his walker, he crossed the room without our help.  He's only ever taken a few steps with it before, or walked if he's been supported.  Since then, he's walked across the room a few times with just his walker, and can now pull himself up so that he can do it himself.
He's also now able to climb the stairs at our house unaided.

We spent Christmas at Matthew's Grandma's house for lunch and then went to see Gran and Gramps afterwards.  Matthew was generally well behaved and enjoyed himself though did stop Louise from enjoying her Christmas dinner when he threw the last third of it on the floor and managed to splatter Louise's trousers!  He also wanted to be fed constantly, as he can't put enough food on his spoon to do it himself, so Louise couldn't tuck in to her own dinner until Matthew had finished.  My mum cooked Matthew a special version of Christmas dinner without salt, and he did seem to enjoy it.

For Christmas he received a lot of gifts - he did try to open the paper but wasn't able to easily and got distracted, so we had to open most of them for him.  Among his gifts were a large play dome (which we bought in Toys R Us last week), ball popper, lots of books, Mega Bloks, a ball pool, a wooden caterpillar, a door name plaque, a toy Thomas the Tank engine, penguin bath slide toy, smiling egg toy, Thomas the Tank puzzle, Noddy train set, V-Tech V-Smile computer system, a small toy dog, YoJoJo from Waybuloo toy, Whizz Down Mountain car race toy, clothes, slippers and money.

Yesterday for Boxing Day, Louise's  family came for dinner and I cooked the whole turkey dinner without any salt so that Matthew could have some.  Unfortunately he didn't seem to like it (I think it was the stuffing - he spat it out and then wouldn't eat much more) but it didn't taste bad at all without salt. 

Matthew's vocabulary is gradually expanding - he surprised me on Wednesday by saying "key" when I mentioned I was looking for my car keys, and has said it since when I've shown him my keys.  He's been saying "star" for a while too (have I posted that before?), he can just about say "drink".  He has also been able to say "teddy" for a while though sometimes it comes out as "daddy" and vice versa.  He understands many more words though, and surprised us this evening by recognising a reindeer, presents, Father Christmas, a mouse, teddies and stars in his Father Christmas book.

Daddy again

After Matthew said "Daddy" last week I thought it could have been a coincidence, as he called me "mummy" later in the week, but he's now said "Daddy" to me two days in succession - yesterday when he came home from the shops with Louise, and today when I came home from work.  He's also saying "mummy" to Louise as well now.

More words

I was looking through a Mothercare catalogue with Matthew today and pointed at some pictures of babies, and after a while Matthew started saying "baby" (or "bebe").  He's not quite got to grips with the meaning of "mummy" yet, as when we were looking through the same catalogue, he said "mummy" whenever there was a picture of a woman!

Not sure if I've already mentioned this, but he's also been saying "tree" or "tee" since we put up the Christmas tree, and looks at it if you say "tree".  When I took him to his Grandma's this morning, and passed him to her, he said "Gr..." "Guh"...

He can also now operate light switches, and enjoys turning the light in his room on and off when he's held up to it.  He particularly enjoys the dimmer switch in the lounge, which I wish we'd never introduced him to, as he wants to use it every time he's by the door!  He can also open and shut the DVD player, so we've now locked this in the cabinet under the TV.

His cradle cap now looks like it has gone - not sure when it disappeared as we've not paid much attention to it since he has had more hair. 

Tongue

Matthew discovered his tongue last week - he now opens his mouth and moves it from side to side.  He can't stick his tongue out yet though, if you stick your tongue out at him he just makes a sucking noise with his cheeks!

Matthew's 12th tooth (last back molar) has put in an appearance last week too, though despite this he's still slept well and has yet to develop the cold symptoms he's had with previous teething.  This could be about to change, though, as Louise thought she noticed the first signs for his next teeth coming through at the weekend - his first canines.  These aren't due to come through until between 16 and 20 months, so she could be mistaken, as she couldn't see any sign of them today.

Daddy!

When I came home from work today, Matthew smiled and shouted out "Daddy! Daddy!"  This is the first time he's ever done this.  Although he often smiles when I come in, he's never said "Daddy" as if he knows that's me, and he's excited to see me before.

Over the weekend he's started to stand up a lot more.  Yesterday he stood up against his musical table, and today he stood up against the TV and the baby gate in the lounge.  He also climbed the stairs in our house today almost unaided. Perhaps the most significant development though is that today he also managed to walk a few steps with his baby walker, unaided.  The wheels move a bit too quickly for him and as he's quite big for his age it's also a bit too small which makes it more difficult for him to lean against.

Climbing the stairs

Matthew can now crawl up the stairs at my mum's house.  Mum has to climb the stairs after him and then carry him down, as he wants to crawl down but he's not really safe enough to do so yet.  We've tried to get him to climb the stairs in our house, but they are too steep and narrow for him at the moment and he can't pull himself up high enough.

Commands

Until now, Matthew's words have all been descriptive - he'll say "doggy" when he sees a picture of a dog, "duck" if he sees a duck, and he now also says "teddy" and "car" as well.

He's started saying "mee" - short for "dummy" - this week, and today he said it when he wanted his dummy and not just if he has it.

Standing alone

Matthew surprised Louise yesterday morning - after sending a message on her mobile phone she looked round and thought he seemed rather tall, only to find he had managed to pull himself up using the sofa to a standing position without help!  He was still holding on to the sofa, but this is the first time he has pulled both of his legs up without help.  He's not done it again since (that we know of) but it does make his nursery key worker's claim that he's done it at nursery when he thinks they're not looking more believable.

Coughing and changing sleeping patterns

Matthew seemed better today after having various illnesses over the last couple of weeks.  After developing the chest infection I mentioned last week, he developed a cough and found drinking his milk difficult.  Unfortunately I think I've now caught what Matthew had as I've had a sore throat for a couple of days and started coughing!

The biggest change to Matthew's sleeping pattern in a long while has happened this week as he's dropped his morning nap.  He dropped it at home at the beginning of the week and cried when he was put to bed, but continued sleeping at nursery until yesterday when his daily report came back saying that he wouldn't go to sleep!  Louise didn't try putting him to sleep this morning and instead he had just a one hour nap at 1.30pm.

Matthew's key worker at nursery told Louise yesterday that she'd seen him standing up when he thought she wasn't looking - we're not sure whether to believe this as although he can half-stand with one leg in a standing position and one in a kneeling position, he's never stood up on his own at home (as far as we know!).  If he's put in a standing position leaning against a chair, he will stay standing when you let go but he can't move or let go of the chair and support himself yet.

Christmas DVD

Matthew was filmed today at nursery and we had a promotional DVD to view of him.  It's only five minutes long and features him on a toy car with a superimposed background of snow and winter scenes and a storyline about him travelling to see Santa.  The DVD costs £20 to buy, which is expensive for five minutes but it's hard to refuse when you've seen it!

He nearly didn't go today after developing a chest infection this week.  Louise took him to the doctor yesterday who put him on antibiotics again, for the second time in a month.  The possible cause was Matthew's 11th tooth, on the bottom left of his mouth, which appeared today.