Dear Matthew
Today after I finished work and came to pick you up from grandma's house you took me into her pantry and asked for 'bubbles?' which was your way of asking for a bowl of rice bubbles.
I quickly obliged and sat you in your high chair to eat. After a few minutes of eating you asked 'more bubbles?' and I said 'you've got plenty of bubbles to eat in your bowl already' and then realised you had put two words together, something you had never done before.
And so it begins! The start of sentences! It is the most beautiful thing to watch your language skills (and other skills of course) develop. I'm grateful every day that you're an early talker, with over 50 words now and not yet even 16 months old. I know communication is key to keeping both our frustration levels to a minimum when we're trying to portray our messages, so am very thankful that you seem to learning a new word every day and using if regularly in context.
Don't ever stop talking to me baby boy. Lord knows nothing can stop me from always talking to you :)
Love you my babble boy
Mum xxx
P.S. You've also learnt that you can throw potatoes at windows because FUN. Also you like throwing balls at walls so I guess you're making that link too. So of course I had to take some snaps of you with your weapon of choice :)
Dear Matthew
The day after your trip to emergency was my 29th birthday. It was a Tuesday so I headed into work and your Nanna came to look after you. I was thoroughly spoilt at work and had an early dinner with you, dad, and Nanna and then grandma, gramps and Aunty Robyn came over later in the evening. We had my favourite meal- laksa from Cafe 55 in Freo.
But by far my favourite part of the day was coming home to you- you get so excited when you see me now, it is pure joy for me. Your face lights up in a huge smile, your eyes twinkle and you come running toward me with your arms up wanting to be picked up. It is the best.
Thank you for loving me as much as I love you. It's like it's my birthday every day of the year.
Mum xxx
Dear Matthew
A few weeks ago you had been suffering from a fever for four days when you woke up, started crying in my arms, your eyes rolled to the back of your head, you semi fainted backwards then lunged forward and vomitted. So we did what any sane parents would do- we drove you straight to the emergency room.
The nearest public hospital at that point was Fremantle so lucky you got to be seen by the doctors there (it's old and gross but the new Fiona Stanley Hospital opened this week so we'll be heading there in the future should the need arise).
It took three doctors, including the paediatric registrar, to look you over and be confident you were ok before we could be sent home. We were told just to watch for febrile convulsions and that it was just a nasty virus causing the fever. The sort of thing every parent wants to hear. But luckily you were fine and by the end of the day pretty much fully recovered.
Fun times! Grateful for our free health care system and no so long wait times in hospital. It was scary but we knew you were in safe hands. And so proud of my brave boy- you were prodded and poked but still generally happy. What a trooper.
Love,
Mum xxx
Dear Matthew
Last Friday we visited the Re Store with Grandma. The Re Store is just an Italian gourmet shop in Northbridge that has a deli where you can get a roll made, but it holds special meaning for me. This is because when we were young, as a school holiday treat, Grandma, Aunty, Uncle Andrew, Aunty Robyn and my cousins Kate and Anna would go there and have a roll made just the way we like it. And on the way out the person on check out would give us a Cadbury chocolate.
It sounds so simple when I type it out like that. But for some reason it was a highly anticipated tradition and treat.
I suspect the reason I loved it as a kid was that I got to feel like I had a bit of culture- us skips would also help out on Tomato Day with the Melias, bottling a years worth of pasta sauce in a day in the front yard of aunty's house under the watchful eye of nonna (uncle Bruno's mum). And I could cling to that, as I didn't realise that we had our own culture at the time. I didn't recognise our own traditions to be important as they weren't hugely obvious, so I tried to swing with my wog cousins in an attempt to feel some form of cultural identity.
Also, I got to spend the morning with my extended family whom I love and adore. Nothing beat that.
So you've made your first trip and I hope there will be more :) You loved your roll, almost as much as you loved watching the pigeons each scraps near the table we were eating at! And you loved all the nativity sets in the window of the store (it was fun describing the scene to you as you would point to each and day 'dat!' and I'd tell you who was who).
Love you monkey.
Mum xxx
Dear Matthew
My job is to teach you about the real world. So here's how exciting New Years Eve can get when you're a parent:
It was great. Truly.
Hoping our 2015 is awesome. What am I saying- with you, things are always awesome :)
Love you baby boy.
Mum xxx
Dear Matthew
Christmas this year was wonderful. You were a bit more switched on and even though you didn't know why you were being given presents and visiting everyone, it was clear you were really enjoying it.
The night before we went to the children's mass at St Benedicts with the Constables. For some reason it was indoors this time but that didn't stop you wanting to run around liked a crazed monkey so it was interesting (and fun as you got to play with other kids).
We started the big day with the Constables for breakfast. Grandma doesn't really know how to do basic gift giving so as usual we were showered with presents. We had a lovely breakfast of waffles and fruit with ice cream, cream and syrup. It was a great way to start the day.
We then moved on to Aunty Lynne's for lunch with your dads mums side of the family. You went for a swim in the pool and we had a visit from Santa. It was very relaxed and the weather was beautiful.
For dinner we went to your granddad's house and enjoyed catching up with cousin Jen a bit more as she had flown over from Sydney (she is from London but is currently working in Sydney).
As we were heading home grandma called and said their house alarm had gone off and as they were in Mandurah asked us to drop through on our way home to check it out as they were speeding home but still an hour away. Turns out the Christmas lights had caused the electricity to switch off for a second, triggering the alarms to go off so thankfully all was well. You slept through the whole thing in the car seat, even the police visit.
On Boxing Day we headed down to Mandurah to catch up with my grandparents, Aunty Sharlene and Steve and cousins Brianna and Travis. We had lunch on their balcony overlooking the estuary and again the weather was great for it. You particularly loved the bubble machine Aunty Sharlene gave you :)
So it was a jam packed couple of days and you managed it all really well. I was so grateful for all the loving people in our lives and cannot wait till next Christmas when you'll have an even greater idea of what's going on :) #bringonthemagicofmattsfaceatchristmas
Love you,
Mum xxx
