Dear Matthew:
This letter is really late. Our days blur by together so much now and it’s hard to see where your new talents start – sometimes I look at you and it’s like you’ve always been pointing urgently asking “Ah dah?” (meaning in Matthewese, “What’s that and why can’t I have it RIGHT NOW MAMA?”)
A few notable events: your 18 month well baby visit went well. You’re no longer above the 100th percentile for weight, you are at a respectable 97th percentile. You are on track developmentally and even gave Dr. Lewis a hug. I got you a set of sized 2T/24 mos sleeper pajamas back in October and already they are too tight. For the longest time it seemed you’d have quite a bit of room to grow into them and now, already, too tight. You are a tall and stocky little boy, definitely not a baby (but don’t tell your Baba I said that).
You’re growing 4 new teeth right now and I think that should do it until your 2 year molars come in. Your sleep has been touch and go for a few weeks now, so either it’s because of the teeth or because you’re developing so fast in your brain that you can’t contain it all and have to share your crankiness with us. I am waiting for you to poop out an opera.
We went to Florida for Christmas and you had a blast, despite the grueling days of travel that bookended our trip. You were spoiled like crazy and I suspect this trend will continue. I ended up being really sick, and it was hard – I couldn’t hold you or take care of you, especially on New Year’s Eve. It scared me, and I want you to know I am here for the long haul. As soon as I finish up this round of being sick, I promise I am going to take better care of myself so you and I will get to know each other well when I am 90 and you are 60 and we’ll both be scouting out nursing homes together. Promise?
Love,
Mama
Month 18 on Flickr
The verdict thus far: undecided. Matthew’s pediatrician thinks his recurrent cysts/boils in his diaper area are MRSA. She thinks all of us have it (and definitely me too since I’ve had 2 bad abscesses and cellulitis), Josh has colonized it too. So we have to wash all of our clothes in hot water:
which will come in handy when we get our washer and dryer this weekend!
We also have to do bleach baths once a week (all of us), and swab the insides of our noses with an antibiotic ointment.
Of course, my doctor doesn’t think I have MRSA. I’m on another antibiotic, and if my current abscess doesn’t decrease after this course is done, then I have to go in and get cultured.
Man almighty am I sick of being sick.
***
Matthew, though, is none the worse for wear. He spent a bit of time yesterday in and out of Ava’s crate.
Sorry for dropping off into the ether like that. I’d say I’ve been busy, but haven’t we all?
Some fun things: today the landlord’s handymen have been by to install washer and dryer hookups! I am beyond excited, because this means I will break out Matthew’s cloth diapers. And because he was so chunky as an infant, he fit into size larges – which he will still fit into now. Woot! Cloth! Hiney! Yay!
I am the dorkiest person I know getting all psyched about diapers. Sheesh.
Another fun thing: the weather this weekend was gorgeous. One of my favorite pictures of my most favorite subjects:
Another one for the record book:
For breakfast we had leftover chili and I spooned some onto a baby/toddler sized spoon. A few tries in and he totally got the concept of shoving the food in the mouth and then handing me the spoon back.
For lunch we are eating chili again (he loves chili and we have a ton of it) and I put some in a tupperware bowl and he is scooping it himself. He is about 4000 times filthy but my baby is feeding himself with a spoon!