Matthew's 35

 
And now, without futher ado....Matthew's 35!

1. Matthew was born 2 minutes until midnight. My doctor told me I could choose his birthday!
2. He was my smallest baby at 7lbs.11 oz. He hates this fact! ;)
3. Matthew could turn on the phone, TV, and push the panic alarm on my car keys at 8 months old.
4. He could name different cars by looking at them by 16 months. He also knew which set of keys belonged to whom (me, my brother, Bryon, my parents) by 16 months.
5. He popped my car out of gear at 25 months and I watched in a panic as it rolled down the driveway with him still in it!
6. While in my sister's care, he ran down the center aisle of church, completely naken from the waist down, at 3 years old.
7. He is a man's boy, but a total mama's boy! He is very affectionate with me, Aunt Lauren, and Nana.
8. He loves school more than anyone I know. He cried last Columbus Day because he couldn't go to school. He is counting down the days until school starts next month!
9. Matthew is very athletic and does well at any sport he tries.
10. He loves to read. He is really into Harry Potter this summer!
11. He usually remembers anything we tell him after being told once.
12. Matthew loves geography and loves studying maps. When he was 4, he could tell me all the countries in South America.
13. He is attracted to babies. He is extremely gentle around them. Matthew adores James and his baby cousin on Bryon's side of the family.
14. Matthew loves being useful and gets a big ego boost if an adult asks him for help.
15. Matthew gets a kick out of funny sounding words. As a 9 months old, he would bust out laughing if he heard the word, "Gooshigooa!" As he got older, he thought "budget" and "student" were hilarious words!
16. Matthew write and illustrates beautiful books.
17. Of my three, he is definitely my biggest rascal. He gets in trouble much more than the others, but apologizes freely when he knows that he has done something wrong. This is one of my favorite qualities about him!
18. He is incredibly driven. I never have to push him to do anything. Whatever he tries, he wants to do it better or faster than anyone else. He remembered that there were Red Cross levels given out at swim lessons. Before the first day, he told me that his goal was to get to level 4 because a 5th grader got to that level last year. He made it to level 5! I love watching this aspect of his personality kick in!
19. He has more energy than I ever thought a child could have! He dropped his naps at 25 months and never looked back. We have to make him go to bed at night! Even at that, I find him in his room, when I am going to bed, reading. He can go to school all day, go to piano lessons, do homework, play a sporting event, and be ready for the next activity. He is very much like his Daddy this way! He isn't hyper, just a big ball of energy!
20. When Thomas was 5 days old, Matthew learned how to jump out of his bed (hence the end of naps). I combatted this by putting him to bed wearing tight Wranglers so he couldn't swing his leg over. This worked for a few days until he learned to take his Wranglers off after I put him down! He went from 3 hour naps and 12 hour nights to no naps and maybe 10 hours of sleep a night with a newborn in the house!
21. He adores Mary Beth. She can do no wrong in his eyes! He is also a wonderful big brother to Thomas about 90% of the time. The other 10% of the time? Well, he is only human! He does love sharing a bed with Thomas. The worst punishment I can give to Matthew is to tell him that he has to sleep in his room alone!
22. Last year, my parents took him to Washington D.C.-- A trip he still talks about daily. When the security man asked him if he was travelling for business or pleasure, he replied very seriously, "business". This kid is serious about travelling!
23. His favorite foods are spaghetti and broccoli.
24. He has the loudest voice of any child I know. I never worried about losing Matthew because I could hear him a mile away!
25. He is fast! He isn't slow at anything. I never have to tell him to keep up. One time he was getting his hair cut, and the barber told me with a very thick Texas accent, "It's kinda lahk cutting the hahr off a jack rabbit!"
26. He is a daredevil. He is also a leader. The words "alpha male" come to mind!
27. He won't go to sleep at night without me tucking him in. He also has to sleep with the closet light on, which Thomas thinks is silly!
28. He reminds me a lot of my Dad. They have similar temperaments and are built the same way. He also reminds me of my brother, Michael, who Matthew idolizes.
29. He never stops thirsting for knowlege. He loves writing book reports or looking things up in the encyclopedia.
30. One of my biggest regrets is that I wasn't blogging when he was a toddler. He made us roll on the floor with laughter every single day! He said hilarious things daily that are now lost in time.
31. He is very self assured and has never told me that someone or something hurt his feelings.
32. He recalls things that happened to him when he was 2 or 3 with lots of detail. Things that we haven't talked about in years! This attribute is a little scary! ;)
33. His favorite shows are Hannah Montana, High School Musical, and Drake and Josh.
34. He wants to be a gastroenterologist when he grows up. Referring to number 15, I think he mainly likes the way it sounds.
35. Going on number 30, Matthew has (and has always had) a wonderful grasp of the English language. He uses adult sarcasm and wit and it all makes sense! He easily converses with adults.