Feel Good Movie of the Year

It has taken a bit of technical wrangling, but the video that my Dad got of Matty giggling like crazy while being tickled by his uncle Chris back at Christmas has finally made it to the blog. This is 2 and a half minutes straight of giggling baby. Just try to watch it without giggling yourself, it's impossible.

I saved the video at a lower quality setting to get the size of the file down, so it is not crystal-clear, but it's really the audio that matters.

6 month check-up

Matty had his six month check-up about a week ago and we are happy to say he is a happy and healthy little boy. He is now 17lbs 9oz (55%), 27.5" long (89%) and 17.5" in head circumference (73%). His head has made quite a leap - from average size to 73% now. I for one am very happy he waited until well after birth to grow a big head! He is still fighting off his cough, and the doctor found he also has a slight ear infection in both ears. So, we're still doing the nebulizer and now a round of antibiotics too. Ugh! We are very tired of the nebulizer. It usually takes us both to do it - one to hold the mask on him and one to entertain him. On the plus side - Juan is getting really good at puppet shows.

Matty is turning into quite a little charmer. He really turned it on during his doctor's appt - the doctor's comment was "If he's this happy when he's sick, I can't imagine what he's like when he's feeling good!". Of course Juan and I are very smitten with him. The conversation around our house goes something like this these days "Can you believe how cute he is???", "Wow, he is really, really, cute.", "Look, he's doing something cute again!", "That is SOOOO cute!!". He is going to think his name is "cute" before too long.

Here are some pictures to prove the cuteness...

Having my diaper changed is fun!


In front of our neighbor's azalea bush


At his first Rice baseball game - go Owls!


Hmmm...that camera looks like a good toy!


What? You won't let me play with the camera?


Fine, I'll play with my feet then.


It's all good...

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

Matty enjoyed a visit from his Grandma and Grandpa Felling this past weekend. Unfortunately, the poor boy had another bought of bronchilitis, so he was not a very happy camper for the first day of their visit. But, after a trip to the pediatric night clinic and a few breathing treatments with the nebulizer (good thing we bought it the first time around!), he was back to his giggly, smiley self.

The weather was sunny and beautiful over the weekend which was a great escape for my parents coming from Minnesota winter! We spent as much time as we could outside, including a trip down to Kemah for some seafood.

Enjoying watching the sailboats down in Kemah


His first beer


All smiles


Cute boy


We also had our friends Jamie and Andy Lee and their daughters Brooke (2) and Sophie (1) over for brunch. We got a great picture of the three little ones in a "bed" that Brooke created on the floor for them. Notice that Matty's head is by far the biggest!


We've also recently started him on solid foods. It took a couple weeks for him to get going, but he's an eating machine now. He just keeps on opening his mouth, and we keep shovelling it in.

Checking out the spoon...


And, a few cute pictures just hanging out

TWO Teeth!

Matty got his first tooth last Saturday, and the second one followed shortly thereafter, making it's appearance on Monday. I got a couple pictures this morning where you can see his little teeth peeking through:





And, some video footage of him playing in his exersaucer - his favorite activity these days. A big thanks to Krista and Eric Ledman for lending it to us!

Big Week!

Matty had a very big week! He rolled over for the first time, slept through the night TWICE in a row (hallelujah!), and got his first tooth! Go Matty go! His tooth is just barely breaking the surface right now so I can't get a good picture of it, but will post pictures once it is easier to see.

I also neglected to post the stats from his 4 month check-up (now over 3 weeks ago):
26.5" in length - 75% percentile
15lbs - 50% percentile
50% percentile for head size
And, of course he had another round of shots, poor baby. I was especially sympathetic since I got a flu shot and tetanus booster the same week - shots HURT!

He is now about a week shy of 5 months old - we can't believe how fast the time has gone! We are really enjoying this stage. He can hold onto toys now, so it's fun to watch him play. He's figured out that if he grabs one of the toys on his bouncy chair, it plays music, so he goes right for it as soon as we put him in there. He is also "experimenting with pitch", so we hear funny high pitched shrieks over the baby monitor in the morning.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

Napping with Mom


Literally hanging out in his Bumbo seat


Reading his book


Enjoying attention from Morgan Fu


Having fun with Morgan and Marshall Fu


Smiley boy


Napping with Dad


Sitting up like a big guy

Awwww....

One of his favorite activities - "close talking"

Notice that he put his leg through the green music note hanging off his toy

New Year's Eve

Okay, so I'm really embarrassed that I am just now getting around to posting our New Year's Eve pictures, but oh well! Being back to work full time is cutting into my play time! We hosted the 2nd annual Thurman New Year's Eve party this year, and really enjoyed ringing in the New Year with the great friends we have here in Houston. Thanks to all who were able to make it. We were especially happy that the Barrutia family was in town from Wisconsin and stayed with us for a couple of days.

A big thanks to Max Robinson for being our photographer for the evening!

Us...with my eyes closed


Jaime and Sujey


Jen discovered that maternity clothes are also good for smuggling alcohol!


So are Guayaveras...


Angela and Kevin


Emily and Max


Pablo and Chantal


Kathy, Will and Erika


Ajay, Melissa and soon-to-be-born baby Vargheese


Juan and Max


The Barrutias and Villescas

Christmas in Minnesota

We travelled up to the Great White North to see my family for Christmas. It was indeed white - there was a good foot of snow on the ground! We had a great time staying warm by the fireplace and spending time with my family. My sister and her husband win the medal of bravery for driving to MN from Colorado with their 2 yr old son Sam, and THREE dogs! Suprisingly, there was only one injury requiring medical attention on the trip. Here are some pictures from our visit:

This is how we go outside in Minnesota