18 3/4 months

Hi again. Well, after 3 weeks away Matthew was able to come back to Orlando for a 2-night, 1 day stay! He was pretty tired after all that flying, but he still managed to come back home and we put him right to work! Yay, we say! Thomas was very excited to see him, and it hardly seemed like Matthew had been gone at all, they got on so well. Matthew took him swimming, playground, and walkies and he jumped right back into diaper-changing and mealtime routines. He even babysat (with Mom and Dad) Thomas AND Javon for a few hours so that I could go to a Mom's Club Annual Banquet! What a guy.

I was in the kitchen the other day, and I handed Thomas the tub of spreadable "butter" and said, "Thomas, can you please put this onto the table for me?" And he walked out of the kitchen and put it onto the dining table! I was half-wondering if he knew what a table was. Apparently he does! We have also heard him say a few new words. "To" for toast and "mame" for beans, like edamame soy beans, not the green bean variety. He is also starting to say "no" and shake his head! On one hand, this is great to see his language developing, but it's not so great at mealtimes. "Thomas, would you like some peaches?" And he will answer me with a "No!" and a vigorous shake of the head. He has been refusing

vegetables and all fruit except for bananas for the past few days. I would say he's on a carb diet but he's not even eating potatoes. He used to eat veggies and fruit happily, but now .... I wonder what happened, and if it's just one of those temporary refusals or if this is a real shift in the way he eats. We'll see. I'm trying not to worry about it!

Ok, another update at the end of this week! Matthew will be coming home, and Mom and Dad will be going back to Wisconsin via Utaka's place in Gainesville to help him do a bit of packing and cleaning before his big move to join Shauna in California. We will miss them all terribly, but I'm sure they want to check on their house, mow their jungle lawn and plant a quick garden before turning around and coming back in time for the next baby to be born around Thanksgiving. Yay! More soon!