The First Two Months

It's been quite a while since I've posted a blog entry, so I thought I would recap the first two months of baby Matthew's arrival home. He continues to bring us joy and I love him more and more with each day!

Several people have asked how we came up with the name Matthew Charles. Matthew is Ryan's middle name, so we thought that would be very special for him to carry on his Dad's name. Matthew is a strong name and fits him perfectly. Charles is after my Grandfather (my Mom's Dad), who passed away when I was 6 years old. Charles was his middle name and I have such fond and sweet memories of sitting in his lap as a child and asking him for Dentyne gum. He always had Dentyne gum in his pocket and we had to "snuggle" with him in his big brown chair to get any. To this day any kind of cinnamon gum reminds me of him. He was such a wonderful, sweet and genuine man and I miss him and my Grandmother so very much. It will be nice for Matthew to know that his middle name is after his Great Grandfather -- a man who loved God and loved his family.

It's hard to believe that Matthew is already 2 months old. The time has really flown by so fast, although there were a few days and nights where it seemed never ending! Our parents came into town each for a week to help out with Matthew when he was first born. It was great to have them here to help out with cooking, laundry and to give Ryan and I a break to catch our breath. When Matthew was 4 weeks old, Ryan had to leave for some flight training in Colorado. That was very hard on us both. Matthew was still adjusting and had some very fussy days and nights. It was so much harder to be home alone with him than I expected, so we were fortunate enough to be able to fly my Mom out for another week to help. That was a pure blessing to have some relief and to have her here to help keep me on track. Ryan was working so hard in Colorado to finish his training so he could get home and it was equally tough on him to be so far away from Matthew and me. Thankfully, God got us through the 4 weeks apart and Ryan returned home safely.

At Matthew's 2 month baby wellness appointment, he weighted 14 pounds and was 23 inches long. He's gone from being in the 25 percentile at his birth weight (7lbs. 4oz.) to the 85 percentile at 14 pounds! He's extremely healthy and it's obvious that the breastfeeding is going great. He had his first series of shots (one oral and 3 shots in his legs). He did really well and only cried for a few moments as the shots were given. He slept most of the rest of the day (probably a result of the baby Tylenol we gave to him) and didn't get a fever. He was a little fussy and his legs were somewhat sore the next day, but he bounced back wonderfully. We feel so blessed that he's healthy and growing like a weed! He's so cute and chunky! :) I love his little dimples!

We have family coming into town to visit us over the course of the next month, so it will be nice to see everyone. David and Jennifer were here this past week and it was so cute to see Uncle David with his red hair next to Matthew and his red hair. I've attached some photos below. We had a great time exploring the Alamo and walking downtown San Antonio at the Riverwalk.

Now that Ryan is home, I'll try to do better at posting updates on Matthew. He's talking more and more, so I'll take some videos and post those soon too. In the meantime, you can view our family photos at http://themiddletonfamily2.shutterfly.com/ Enjoy!