hooooowwwwwlll - hairwolves of austin

do you get it? like the song - werewolves in london. anyway, that's me for halloween - note the caption under the picture on my shirt. :) thankfully, mommy did not try to dress me up in one of those ridiculous baby costumes and turn me into a hotdog, bunny, giant ladybug, or other thing that involved a too-big outfit and head gear. instead, i played it cool in an understated outfit with spiked hair. a successful first halloween to be sure.

here we are at our neighborhood get-together last weekend. they had a petting zoo, but the goats were scared of me - i guess they thought i was a real werewolf - silly goats!

they had treats, but i opted for a rock instead...

we had a great time!

and here i am back at home doing my best hairwolf impression!

we also went to a birthday party last weekend for another one of my friends from church. kids were allowed to wear their costumes, so i got to sport my spikey hair again - yes! here i am enjoying some strawberry cupcakes...

and here i am being anti-social, but that's only because i was having so much fun with this activity table long after the other kids got bored with it.

yesterday, aunt chris sent me a package in the mail - i was so excited! after i pushed the box around the kitchen floor for a while, we opened it up to find a cool blanket that rolls up, and some paper - yes!! thanks aunt chris! :) and note the extreme slobber - my 9th tooth is about to pop through!

i really do like crawling a lot. once i find something i like to play with, like magnets from the dryer, i crawl around with them around the house for a while until i find something new, like a spatula or magazine.

i also love playing with my xylophone (mommy helped me spell that correctly - whew!). i think i really like music a lot - sometimes i even bounce around a little bit when i hear a song i like on the stereo or radio. fun!

daddy went on a trip this weekend (boooo!). i tried to hide in his suitcase so that i could go with him, but i was a little too big - bummer! i will miss him a lot, but luckily, since i can't really tell time yet, when he gets back i will probably only think he's been gone an hour or so...

in the meantime, mommy and i will hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters, and then we'll turn off the lights once we're running low so that we can eat the rest ourselves! augh - kidding! i'm not allowed to eat candy, but i suspect mommy will do that... gotta go! bye!

missing, climbing, standing...

hello. here's some more pictures of what i've been up to lately. i haven't seen my favorite relatives on both sides of the family in a really long time, so i wanted to do another update since i do lots of new things everyday and really miss everyone.

i really like shiny toys, particularly mirrors. sometimes there is a really cute baby looking at me through the mirror, and i like to play with him. i also like to peek at mommy in the mirror!

here i am playing with the trash under a chair. i find that it's helpful to flash my cutest smile and giggle when i'm up to something like this...

and here i am after i bumped my head on the chair. who would have seen that coming?

i'm starting to thin out a little bit now that i've started crawling and eating solids, but i like to do chin-ups on the desk for extra exercise. pulling up and standing up is so much fun that i like to try out lots of different things to see if i can climb up them.

i'm still teething and curious about the taste of things, too, so often when i pull up on something, i take a bite out of it, or try to. this desk rail was not one of my favorites...

well, that's all for now. i'm not even going to mention anything about SELT not being able to come this weekend because it will make mommy and aunt elaina cry. if i was a girl, i would definitely cry too, but i'm trying to be tough since i'm a boy. i know they love me and we will see them again soon, so it will be okay. :) bye!!

9 months old...

hello again - well, i'm 9 months old + 1 day. i've finally been alive longer in the "outside world" than i was in the "inside" and i think i like this place after all. i'm a little confused, though, because i was pretty sure my name was "ben", but lately mom keeps calling me "no"... hard to say...

we've been up to the usual stuff around here. mom's been busy around the house, which is great because it gives me more opportunities to play with things i'm not supposed to. here are some things i do during a typical day...

this is me crawling through/under my jumperoo in order to get at a springy door stopper. whoever invented those things definitely had babies in mind at the time.

and here i am in the playroom reading some books. by reading, of course, i mean eating. paper is really good, plus it's a source of fiber, so that should make mom happy. mail is actually my favorite type of paper - either envelopes or flyers.

and here i am in mommy's closet getting busted while trying one of her shoes. these are also a good snack. closets are one of my new favorite places to play because they're new territory for me and there's all kinds of great toys inside, including all these shoes, plus clothes, hampers, shoe boxes, etc. closets are great. anytime mommy or daddy forgets to close a closet door, i think "jackpot!"

this is me after i've gotten bored with the upstairs and i'm trying to go downstairs. i don't think daddy installed this thing correctly, though, because i can't get it open and i can't get through. i'll have to ask him to take another look at that...

daddy got to go to the UT football game last saturday, so i took mommy on a date. we went to barnes and noble and listened to music. here i am with the headphones on, eating the cord. dates with mommy are fun, but she had to drive and pay even though the boy is normally supposed to do that.

well, that's all for now. i had a doctor's visit yesterday for my well-check, and he said i was "perfect" - that's a quote. i had to get a flu shot in my leg and i didn't even cry one bit! i am tough. i won't mention the tears that came later when they drew blood for the labs, however. they even took it out of my arm just like they would an adult - yikes! not cool. mommy held my hand and daddy gave me kisses later, though, so it turned out okay.

gotta go. bye!

fun with daddy...

hello again! i sure do love crawling around and getting into everything i can find, but i decided to take a minute and update my blog. it beats taking a nap anyway! things are going good around here. mommy and daddy and i had a fun weekend at home. i helped daddy put up a gate at the top of the stairs so i don't fall down them when i'm roaming around. i am pretty good with the level...

i also had fun playing with my own shadow! mommy took a cute video, but we still can't get those to upload. we need a mac.

and yesterday when daddy came home, we both were using our phones. he had some email to catch up on after work, and i decided to call beamee.

one of my favorite parts of the day is when daddy comes home from work. when he walks in the door, i immediately get a big smile on my face and am so excited to see him! sometimes i'm in the middle of my dinner, and having daddy around makes the peas go down a little easier. :) then we play together and i show him any new tricks i've learned that day. i love him so much.

well, i better go. mommy would really like it if i took a nap, and it's probably a good idea so i can get some more energy to use this afternoon. i've started pulling myself up on lots more things and love to crawl into corners and under desks, and all that playing takes energy, so that's why i have to rest up and eat my veggies. okay, bye!

put me in, coach!

dear coach mack brown,

i'm ready to play quarterback! i know colt mccoy is really good, but if he gets hurt or has to finish his homework, i am ready to suit up! just call my daddy if you need me, and i'll keep practicing in the meantime. bye.

ben matthys

hello! i didn't really send that letter to mack brown (mommy says i'm too little), but i will save it for a few more years when i get bigger.

whew - we've been pretty busy lately and i don't know where to start! we just got back from Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg (TX), where we spent the weekend with daddy's family - it was so much fun! i got to see mimsie and grandpa and lots of cousins, aunts, and uncles - the usual crowd. there sure was a lot of shopping, but it was nice to be outside and there was a lot of good food too. i like those matthyses a lot. :) mommy took a few pictures but i'll have to post them in a few days because they're not on our computer yet.

now we're home again and getting back into our routine. i just love crawling around and going from sitting to crawling to sitting to crawling, over and over again. i've bumped my head a few times, but i'm trying to learn not to do that so much! i love baths - here i am in the bathtub the other day...

i love to practice walking with mommy or daddy's help. and i love getting into magazines and piles of blankets. i'm already starting to find out that life is not fair sometimes - some of the most fun things to get into are apparently off-limits to little boys: remote controls, dvd player, speakers, wastebaskets. i find this to be frustrating and unfair, so i will keep trying to check these things out and maybe one of these times i won't get in trouble, or maybe mommy will be on the phone with aunt elaina and won't notice... i don't like to misbehave, but sometimes i just like to play with new things, you know?

i guess that's about all for now. better go work on my running game...

< insert clever blog title here >

hello! now that i can crawl and get into everything, i have been neglecting my blog and my avid readers, so i apologize for that. :) things have been going great, though! i really enjoy moving around and i can even get into a sitting position on my own once i crawl to something i want to play with. i can pull myself up on a few things too, but luckily i'm not doing that too much yet or mommy would have another reason to think i am growing up too fast! i'm working on some more teeth and love using the ones i have in the meantime. i will eat almost any kind of food and like to try all kinds of new things. i had some ice cream the other day, and it was so good!!! here's how i sit in my highchair when i'm eating. i like to put up my feet and get comfortable while i'm enjoying a nice meal...

mommy and daddy have purchased some great toys for me, but i actually like to play with things like hampers, luggage, diaper boxes, measuring cups, and things like that the most. here's me with the hamper the other day...

i also enjoy standing up on my own with help from furniture or people...

and here i am the other day trying to crawl to grampee's house (in indiana). i really miss him and he sent me an email that mentioned ice cream and riding bikes, so i thought i could just crawl to his house... well, mommy won't let me cross the street, so i had to keep turning right. before too long, i had only gone around the block and was back at our house again. mommy was already missing me a lot, so i decided to just go see grampee another time.

okay, that's all for now. bye!