Mail Order

Matthew found the basket of magazines under a chair in the living room. Although he knocked out the Sports Illustrated and Better Homes & Gardens, he settled on the Cable's catalog before he got caught.

"I'm not doing anything"

Perhaps he was looking for something for Mark's birthday in June.

Like anything on this page?

Look at these prices!

He ripped out the pages he didn't like. So be warned if you let Matthew borrow your catalog, it's not coming back in one piece.

Stand and Rock

Matthew has far too many toys to play with and he trys to play with them all at once. His table is just the right height for him to stand and play with. Pressing buttons and turning pages while making noise playing music.

"It's learning time"

 He also climbs all over his farm.

 He had rather climb over than crawl through the barn door. Actually he had rather go over any obstacle than go around.

His red rocking chair made an appearance over the weekend. Although he's not really big enough to sit and rock.

He had rather stand than sit anyway.

Ears and Teeth

Generally a happy, smiling boy, Matthew has been struggling against two forces the past few days. First his large Campbell ears have displayed a propensity to catch whatever it is that causes ears to become infected (the blog author is not a doctor). Secondly, Matthew has two prominent bottom teeth that have fought their way through the gum with additional teeth trying to follow. The combination of ears and teeth have adversely affected the sleeping patterns of both Matthew and his parents. Otherwise, Matthew is great! Crawling better than ever and pulling up and letting go. Last night Matthew displayed a new trick that he has learned about standing up. When he is standing without holding onto anything and he starts to lose his balance, he squats down to either try and regain his balance or at least decrease the distance he has to fall. Genius!

 Look closely to see the two bottom teeth, but don't focus so hard that your eyes cross

He has puffs stuck to his right hand. Puffs dissolve in your mouth and taste kind of like a combination of the marshmallow and non-marshmallow part of Lucky Charms cereal. They are just for kids though.

Enjoying some Juice

Laughing at the boy in the mirror

Animal Lover

Matthew's fondness of animals has already been documented on this blog during the last month here and here.
But now that Matthew can both crawl and pull-up his ability to chase and pet animals has reached a new level. Yesterday afternoon, Matthew laughed with excitement as he lept from a seated position to tackle the family cat. Similarly, Chloe, the small chihuahua mix at Ms. Vicki's, now has to run and hide from Matthew's boa constrictor like grip whenever he touches fur. Matthew loves the animals so much, but doesn't understand why they don't want his affection. Everyone around him cringes waiting for the retaliatory scratch or bite that has, so far, yet to come. The best way to describe his adoration is like that of an old Bugs Bunny Cartoon: the Abominable Snow Rabbit.

and i will hug him and pet him and squeeze him

On another unrelated but cartoon inspired note, when Matthew is getting his hair washed, it helps if you sing "Figaro" from the Barber of Seville.

G Day

Matthew made his first trip to Sanford Stadium Saturday afternoon to see the Dawgs play Between the Hedges.Before going to the stadium, he met some friends downtown for lunch. While he was there he saw his friend Will Lawson and got to meet young Cooper Murphy for the first time. After a hearty lunch of bananas for Matthew and Pizza for everyone else, it was time to go to watch the Dawgs scrimmage.

Half of the stadium was blocked for renovations, but Matthew and his parents were happy to find a seat in the shade.

By the time halftime rolled around, someone's eyelids were getting heavy.

He slept through most of the second half, but enjoyed watching folks file out of the stadium.

He even got in a few good stomps.

Sunday was silly day at the Campbell household. Matthew's fleece lamb blanket became a hat.

Dimples

Ups and Downs

Matthew has made a lot of big strides in the past 5 days.
He has finally put the motions together to crawl very well. Although, he does a much better job of crawling while nobody is watching him. Usually if Matthew sees someone watching him crawl he start whining in an effort to either get picked up, or to get helped to his feet.

Another new development this week has been Matthew pulling up on his own. He first started in his crib, grabbing the chickens on his mobile was great motivation, shortly after the above picture was taken his mattress was lowered. Yesterday afternoon he succeeded in pulling up on the couch for the first time. He can even stand up on his own without holding on to anything, for a few seconds at least.
All the crawling, pulling up, and standing up have led to Matthew banging his noggin more this week than ever before. Evidently "baby-proofing" is a constantly evolving process that involves more than bubble wrap and duct tape. Who knew.

HAPPY EASTER

Matthew had a very exciting first Easter weekend. He got to spend a lot of time with his Grandma and Papa.
Saturday, he took a trip to Hopeland Gardens in Aiken, South Carolina.

There was another family taking pictures at the Gardens, and they let Matthew play with their bunny. He still has to work on being gentle, at one point the bunny was in danger of losing her ears.

Posing for pictures, he liked the feel of the cool bricks.

With his hand painted Easter Basket, eating plastic eggs.

Aunt Amy took lots of pictures of Matthew at the Gardens, maybe those pictures will be posted at a later date.Here is Aunt Amy getting up close for a low angle shot.

The Whittle family dressed up in their Sunday best Easter Morning.