Matthew 18ish months

We had to wait a few weeks on his 18 month appointment to spread out the shots, so we are a little late in these stats.

Matthew Stats:
Height: 34 inches (87%)
Weight: 27 lbs 2 oz (64%)
Head: 19 inches (61%)
In comparison, here is John's at 18 months:
John Stats:
Height: 34.5 inches (94%)
Weight: 26 lbs 10 oz (54%)
Head: 19.25 inches (79%)

A few things about Mr. Matthew:

- We started MDO on Wednesdays. We have been 4 times now and this last time there were no tears, he was smiling and reached out to Ms. Karen! WOOHOO! He does not nap at school, bu apparently is quiet, so they are fine with it. Surprising enough, he functions pretty well the rest of the day with no nap. We all got a little cold on week 2 and then settled with MJ and he got a double ear infection from it. yeah.

- We also started a playgroup with the kids in his class on Tuesday mornings which is nice, so they get to see each other 2 times a week now. He does not play with the kids, but he acknowledges that they are there.

- Still not a lot of words, but communicates very well. If not with sign language, he will point or grab your hand and take you to what he wants. I am guessing those words will come in a flood real soon.

- He LOVES to do whatever John is doing, most of all run around and play tag. Although he has no idea what is going on, he just runs and screams and laughs.

- Starting to really get into coloring and asks to do it all the time.

- Really enjoys nursery rhyme/ toddler music on Pandora and when I sing silly songs to him.

- No interest what so ever in TV yet. Not that I care, I just assumed he would like it by now. :)

- Full blown Mama's boy, but less and less separation anxiety each and every time. Worst part is when I am cuddling with John, he will literally insert himself between us.

- Can dribble a soccer ball almost better than John!

- Eats like a champ, not really picky at all. Although I still do have to sneak veggies in where I can.

And finally, to quote the new movie "What to Expect When You Are Expecting". I love him so much I am afraid I will eat him!

LOVE THIS AGE!

Mountain Village, Colorado: Summer 2012

 

WARNING: Long post, but I want to re-live this one years from now. If anything, look at the pics. (to see the pictures in full screen click on the slideshow and it will take you to the site)


Our first family trip just the four of us and it was a huge success. There were some struggles as well, but how could there not be with two young boys, a long drive and mountains?

Breaking down the days:

1) Monday 3:00am, Carl and I get up, get ready and pack the car. We have the boys in the car and on the road at 4:30am. They were pretty groggy, but stayed awake for half hour to an hour or so. Then me and the boys fell asleep for a couple of hours. Sorry Daddy.

The drive was not bad at all. John was GREAT. Matthew had a little harder time, but overall as long as I was available to give, reach, climb, feed, do, have, etc, they were good. John only watched one movie. Cars 2. Matthew would not wear the head phones to his movie, but he watched some baby Einstein pretty well. John played on the ipad a lot too. Stickers were a hit for both and the best thing of all was food. I had packed about 10 sacks of random trail mix type of stuff that was supposed to last the trip there and back. It was like a surprise in every bag. They made there way through them all on the trip there. We stayed in New Mexico after 9.5 hours and then drove in the next day. The hotel was not fun, too tight of space for a family with Matthew's age. And we were all tired and cranky.

2) Tuesday morning we got up and went swimming at like 9:00 in the morning after some room service that neither boy would eat (note: the boys have not had a real meal since dinner the night before we left our house. I tried to let it go.) The pool and the little splash pad with the mountains in the background were great. We were trying to wear them out before getting in the car for another 5 hours.

After we dried off and packed up we headed off again. Matthew was asleep with one night taken from a granola bar before we got on the highway. John was not far behind.

The landscape totally changed this part of the trip and was awesome to look at it. Oklahoma and Texas are so flat. I only thought we passed through mountains in New Mexico.... Colorado was AMAZING! From the moment you cross into the state there was not ever a scene that captured my attention.

We pull in right at check in time at 4:00. We stayed in Mountain Village which is a smaller less known area, but just a gondola ride away from Telluride. The house and views were nothing less than breathtaking, seriously, made me wonder why I live in Texas.

The second thing that becomes very apparent to only a mother of two boys and the the second one having no fear.... STAIRS....E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E. A little panic set in, but in the long run we were able to block and maintain. Not quite sure it was how the house intended to be used, but it worked for us. The house was built into a side of a mountain so there were literally 5 stories or half stories throughout the house and multiple staircases to some. The bottom street level was like a basement with three bedrooms, and although I think it was meant for the "kids" to stay in we stayed down there too. I could not imagine John trying to find us in the middle of the night otherwise. Or me stumbling around to get down to Matthew.

The very top floor was all a master suite and bathroom, AMAZING! It had a steam shower and I used it as my bathroom while we were there to escape, but other than that, did not really use it much.

We spent most of the time in the great room, porch and kitchen area. Beautiful from every vantage point. There were no vents in the house, thus no air conditioning. The house was heated through the floors. So during the day we had to open every window and door and it felt like we were outside. Again.... AMAZING!

We ordered pizza and the boys finally ate... A LOT! Everyone off to bed, slept pretty good.

3) Wednesday. Our first day of hiking. We got off to a little late start, maybe 9:30. Carl had scouted out the Alta Lakes. We drove up what they call "switchback" roads, which was basically zig zagging up a side of a mountain on a one lane road, inches between you and well....I  won't turn this to negative town. I did cry the entire way up the mountain. Seriously.

Once we got to where we could park, we loaded up and started hiking. It was more fun than I ever dreamed. All 4 of us had a great time. It was an easy hike to start out and then we set up a day camp by the side of one of the lakes to fish and fly fish (hoping to catch lunch). John of course caught the first fish, but it was a baby and a throw back. We ended up eating the PBJ's that I packed.

Carl and John went on a hike by themselves while Matthew and I explored a bit. They saw some sort of animal that we never really figured out what it was. When the got back, the boys fed a duck on the lake while we packed up and then we headed back. 10 minutes into that hike, Matthew was asleep in the pack. He was exhausted. It was so cute. Carl took the opportunity to hike a steeper hill with him asleep and John and I perched in the valley eating a snack and watched him the whole way. John found a chipmunk skeleton and yes, it is on his dresser now along with the cow bone he found on Nana's farm. yea.

Back to the house (much less nervous on the drive down, I guess you get initiated and then it seems okay). I pulled together some random stuff we had packed for dinner because we were too tired to do anything else. We were starting to adjust to the altitude, but still struggling.

Wrapped up in a blanket and a cocktail Carl and I spent our evenings on the porch just staring. LOVE THIS PLACE!

4) Thursday. Okay, so Wednesday went well.... we decided to take it up a notch and try for Silver Lake. The sites all said "difficult", but we thought we could do it if we carried both boys. We should have brought a trail map.... going to leave it at that.

The drive up was MUCH longer, but the roads were a little wider, so I felt better. It seemed like we had driven to the top of the mountain. Only to find there were more mountains to climb. We found the only place to park and loaded the boys up. Carl's pack with John and the gear was so heavy that he broke his walking stick trying to STAND UP! WHAT? Should have been our first clue. We followed the directions on the website (prior to leaving, because of course you get no reception once you are on trails) and this guy that worked at the power plant (uh huh) and crossed the river right where we were supposed to, only problem was we really did not know what to do from there. We were in the thick of it and creating our own trails at this point. I was getting a little anxious. Then we kept seeing people on a main trail across the river... we came to a decision point.... we hit a part of the river where it was either climb a mountain on the right or turn back, we could no longer cross the river because of the high cliffs.... we were exhausted and Carl had too much weight.... we crossed the river where we could and then literally crawled on our hands and knees up the steep side to the main trail and collapsed. At this point we needed shade and food.

We ran into some folks that pointed us in the direction of Silver Lake (our destination) and it was on the opposite side of the river and on a steep mountain with no main trail.... poo... we hiked a bit more towards another lake and then decided to turn around, we were in over our heads. Matthew slept on me on the hike down. We found a shallow and narrow part of the river with some shade and ate lunch.

Carrying Matthew was great, Carl and I both agreed. Although he does not weigh much less than John, he sits still and he "talks" the whole time very sweetly and happily and plays with your head. Super fun. John apparently (although I never carried him) would lean from side to side and at one point tried to count as far as he could and got close to 150. And he would talk loud right in Carl's ear and then start rambling about something and then complaining. In retrospect... pretty funny. I choose Matthew on this one. :)

On our way home, we drove through Telluride because John had fallen asleep. There was one school K-12. But beautiful. I can only imagine what it would be like to live there.

We stopped in Mountain Village for a rootbeer float and some sliders and this little park with the biggest and the best see-saw I had ever seen. Carl and I got on that and laughed so hard we couldn't get off. Showered and then back on the gondola to Telluride for dinner. The boys loved the gondola. And I have to say.... I think it would be pretty cool to take a gondola to work everyday. We ate at a high review but let down of a bakery type place, but did pick up some cool desserts and breakfast stuff.

4) Friday. Carl got up with the boys and got them breakfast and brought me coffee in bed. FIRST TIME EVER to bring me coffee in bed AND I WILL NEVER FORGET IT! MEANT A LOT TO ME!

For the adventure, we decided to take this one easy. Went to Priest Lake (I think) after a detour up a long switchback road to get to lake that was private (they should put that CLEARLY on the maps). Back down we go in the car. Once there, no hiking, car within site distance, set up day camp and tried fishing for lunch again. No luck. but lots of fun. We went on little adventures around the lake and crossed another river and built a lean-to for some shade. Awesome day.

For most of the trip I am the type of person to be anxious about the unknown and what could happen that I would not enjoy myself. However, from the depths of my sole, I trust Carl with our lives and if I ever had to be stranded with both kids and him, I know we would be okay. He amazes me and keeps me sane. He approached every outing as if he was to break a leg and we would have to stay the night in the mountains. He was more than prepared and I can not thank him enough for that peace of mind.

After our adventure, we took the gondola to the same place with the pizza from the first night. Just a huge outdoor open area with umbrellas that several restaurants shared. But still my kiddos run-a-muck. We ate quick and went home.

5) Saturday. Up and at 'em. Long drive ahead. Took FOREVER to pack us all back up. I forgot what time we got on the road, but it was 14 hours until we got home I think at 1:00am (ish) Sunday morning. John watched movies at night and Matthew fell asleep right on cue, but then after an hour or so, he was just awake, staring, almost in a trance for a couple of hours before he fell asleep again. I tried my hardest to stay awake. I did. I did. But I think I slept the last hour. Boys went right to sleep when we got home, but were up early.

Would do it again in a heartbeat and I hope to do it every summer. As the boys get older it will only get easier and more adventurous.