News Flash! Mathieu Freestanding!

Mathieu is soooo close to walking unassisted now. Just tonight he starting balancing for a few seconds in one spot without holding on . Below is a picture. Each day he gains confidence and cruises more and holds on less. He hasn't taken any steps without holding on to something yet, but he is so close. It is exciting. Sue and I really believe not to push him in this activity. We are letting him walk whenever he is ready and not trying to "help" or "teach" him. But we were definitely cheering him on tonight when he let go and was balancing. He was proud of himself too. He would let go, look at us as we cheered, and then smile real big.

Days at the Beach

I love living at the beach! And we're incredibly lucky to be living on Tybee Island! Now that it's warmer, I've been taking Mathieu to the beach everyday so he can crawl around. The beach is THE BEST! Mathieu can pretty much go wherever he chooses, he's mostly gotten over the eating of sand, and he always finds something interesting to do. He plays with sticks, sits on piles of shells and proceeds to pick them up and drop them over and over, crawls after seagulls, dumps sand on his and mommy's legs, waves at walkers and joggers, and makes a beeline for the water. (it's too cold for that still.) Sometimes we stay out there for 2 hours. Other times we go both before and after his nap. On Tuesday, when it was a high of 65, we went to the beach 3 separate times.

The walk to the beach is just as fun. We always see egrets, usually see herons, and occasionally see pelicans. Mathieu even anticipates the usual bird-seeing spots. I now stop and talk to every person who's out walking a dog because Mathieu becomes very excited. He even does his own version of "woof, woof." Prior to Mathieu's birth, I didn't converse with any dog owners.

In many ways, it's a good thing that I no longer have a cell phone. I'd be tempted to call people while on these walks or hanging out at the beach instead of just enjoying these moments with my son. For someone who likes to "do" and "go," it's been a real discipline to just sit on shells, but what a wonderful time it is.
Oh, incidentally, Mathieu and I were in the grocery store yesterday and a woman came up to me and said knowingly, "He must love his carrots -- my kids had that same coloring!"

Mathieu Playing

Here's a typical 37 seconds of our one year-old Mathieu. He really enjoys crawling and is in no hurry to walk, which is certainly fine with us. He is also very light for his age. At his one year checkup, Mathieu weighed in at 16 lbs 14 oz. He's not even on the growth chart! But his pediatrician assured us that Mathieu is healthy because he eats well, is very active, and is hitting the important milestones. It should really not surprise us. Both of Matheiu's parents try to live the slim and active lifestyle too.

Looking Out the Window

Now that it is February, the 4-H center is busy with kids on weekdays. Mathieu is very intrigued by all the excitement going on outside. He loves to look out the window and shout about what he sees. The big coach buses really get him going!