Year 1 and 2 - likes

I've seen a few of these around and thought I'd do Matthew's. This is a lovely idea and a great way to track their likes over the years. 

AGE 1

 AGE 2

Please let me know what you think....

2nd birthday and a new tattoo

Today, it's just 4 days until my little boy turns 2 years old. He's growing like a weed and making me bankrupt with all the clothing I need to replace. :) He is developing so well and his speech is above anything I could ever hope for. (Especially considering how panicked I was a few weeks ago). He just loves water, motorbikes and balloons.

I was going to have a birthday party for him, designed (and sent out) invitations but decided against it. We're in the middle of moving (still have to find a place and need to be out at the end of January) and we're not in a space right now to have a big party. So we decided to do cake and tea on the day of his birthday (the 21st) and then take him out for the day on Saturday (26th). This has been a very hard decision for me to make because even though Matthew is so young and probably won't even remember his party, for me it's more than that. It's about celebrating his 2nd year with us, celebrating the love and joy with family and friends, and thanking everyone that has had an influence on his life this last year.

In other news, I got a new tattoo on Friday (11 January 2013). I'm getting another (hopefully) very soon, but will update on that one when I get it.

Life has had it's ups and downs for us lately and I've been super quiet on all forms of social media and with our friends. I'm trying to get my head back into a good space and I'm struggling with my weight (big surprise!). At least hubby and I are going strong, although I need to work on my insecurity issues. Together, hubby and I have discovered the reasons behind it, now just to find a way to get over it and forgive myself. 

Christmas (Tree and Advent calendar)

Our Christmas tree is up and Matthew just loves it! Every night, when I put the lights on, he'll stand in front of the tree and point to the baubles and say "ball", then point to the frames with his picture in and say "baba". Just love that he is understanding a bit more now!

(please excuse the quality of my pics)

I made some teacher's gifts for Matthew's caregiver at the creche and one for the principal. There are actually 3 caregivers in the whole establishment but only one looks after Matt and the other toddlers. Am I being unfair by only giving the one caregiver something?

Oh and the advent calendar I attempted to make? Well, it wasn't a total flop but I ran out of time and couldn't 'prettify' them. But Matthew wakes up every morning and goes to stand where the advent calendar is and says "shhhweets".

I am loving that he understands so much more than our last Christmas. Can't wait to incorporate more things when he's older.

Our Christmas cards

A friend's birthday party

Last Saturday, 3 November, Matthew was invited to a 1st birthday party. My friend had asked me to create an invitation for her and help with some of the décor.

Here is the invitation that I made:

And here at the décor items I helped with:

I made the animals that went on the party boxes and the chocolate marshmallows.

I also made the birthday banner, which had animal figures on as well.

 

All in all, everything turned out well and Matthew had a blast!

Matthew at 22 months

Matthew will be 22 months old in 12 days. He is such a friendly little person who loves to laugh and loves attention. Everything he does needs to be seen by Mommy. And he calls for me when he wakes up, when he can’t see me and when he wants to show me something.

He has 12 teeth so far with his 4 canines making an appearance soon. He had his first haircut on 4 November and it was a bit of a disaster. I followed hubby’s instructions of wetting his hair and then just cutting the front straight. Well, anyway, the front is very short and the one side is a bit skew. He moved at the last minute and the scissors slipped. Oh well, next time, I’m doing it my way and I’m sure it will turn out better. He still has his long curls at the back and I refuse to cut it, although the temptation to do so is great.

He can say a few more words now but nothing too significant. At least we can communicate better with him and he seems to understand loads. His current vocabulary consists of:

Yo – yoghurt

Bis – biscuit

Fiss – fish

Biyte – bike

Duse – juice

Ball

Hallo

Mama (calls everyone this)

Daddy

I got you

I don’t know

There are a few more that I can’t remember just now

He loves his bike and ball and as soon as the backdoor opens, he just runs inside and fetches his bike so that he can ride outside. He loves watching The Lorax and Animal Planet and can sit quietly for more than half an hour watching these programs. He loves dancing and as soon as he hears one of his favourite songs, breaks out in this funny little dance. He does what we call a half chicken dance. One arm flaps at his side, while his legs move side to side and he does a bit of a bop. Ha! It’s the funniest and cutest thing ever!

He eats very well and loves yoghurt, viennas, rice dishes and anything meaty (chicken, steak, chops). He loves chocolate and biscuits and goes gaga over jelly sweets. The only luxury he doesn’t eat is chips. Won’t touch the stuff. (funny child)

We started to wean him off the dummy but I keep forgetting and it’s been 4 weeks since we started and he’s still on it. I tried doing the weaning where you cut the dummy. There is only half a teat but he still sucks/bites it. Although, he now only has his dummy at night and seems content to leave it by the bed when he gets up in the morning. I need to put in more effort where this concerned. I was going to start weaning him out of our bed this month, but we need to move again and I don’t think he will adapt very well. But I think we should do it anyway. He starts out in his cot but when he wakes in the middle of the night, we put him in our bed instead of making him fall asleep again on his own. This is something that hubby and I must do together.

Overall, Matthew is a wonderful child, full of life and laughter and really a joy to have around. He throws the odd tantrum but nothing that we haven’t been able to handle. Tantrums are short-lived and quickly diffused.

                                                                                       Creche pic