My Little Man

I know that some things about acting "like a boy" or "like a girl" are taught by our culture, but you know what?  Matthew was meant to be a boy.  When people told me that little boys are naturally more attracted to bugs, dirt, rocks, destroying things, cars, balls, and crazy adventures, I wasn't sure I totally believed them.

I am now a total believer.  Matthew is a boy, and he acts like it.  Constantly.

When I was pregnant with Matthew and found out that he was a boy, I was excited but also a little nervous.  I was worried about being a mom to a boy.  Being a mom to a girl seemed way more natural to me -dolls and princess dresses?  Yes please.  Getting dirty and digging for worms?  Not really my thing.  Well, whether or not I felt ready, Matthew started making his transition from baby-hood to toddler-hood and out came the trains and legos.

Guess what?  Turns out that I love being a mom to a little boy!  It's exhausting (especially as I've now reached my third trimester!) and yes, kinda messy, but my goodness, I sure have a lot of fun.  Matthew is constantly on the go, always getting dirty, and narrowly missing death traps every 20 seconds, (scaring me to death) but I still find myself wishing (almost) :) every day that I could freeze time.  I sure do love my little man, and the ways that he is toughening me up.  ;-)  Don't get me wrong - I am beyond excited for the little lady coming in a few short months and the accessories, glitter, and dresses that are coming with her, but I sure do love the "boy stuff" too.

Here are a few cell phone pics (in other words, horrible quality pictures) that I've taken over the last month of a few of Matthew's favorite ways to be 100% boy.

 First he learned how to climb up onto the open dishwasher.....

And then he learned how to climb onto ... well, anything.  And he still cannot safely get down, which means leaving him alone for even 20 seconds is a big no-no right now.

He's also also constantly opening the fridge, looking for good food.  He's always down for a snack.  I'm scared of feeding him when he's a teenager.

He hates being cooped up in the house so we go to the park or for walks ALL the time.  His favorite thing is "treacherous terrain."  I guess this is pretty treacherous for a 1- year old.

When we walk to the car, he bangs on the drivers side door until I open the door and let him climb up so that he can "drive."

And then when I finally move him to his car seat, he's pretty mad.  He'll arch his back and flail and fight me until he finally loses.  He fake cries for a minute to show his displeasure.

He is also into making block towers and then immediately destroying them, playing in the dirt, making messes, wrestling, and walking on the treadmill.  (With help from me or Michael).  Oh, and although he has finally given up trying to eat rocks, I have caught him a couple times trying to eat a cigarette off the ground.  That's fun. (Not!)

Matthew is just plain awesome.  I'm so glad he gets to be the big brother of this family.