August was AWESOME!

Relaxing on the porch with Mom...

Matt has really been enjoying his anniversary gift.

(Literally HOURS of entertainment.)

Outside with Daddy.

Most days we'll find that she still has a mouthful of food an hour after finishing lunch.

Cheddar cheese is a new favorite.

She was a little unsure of her first taste, but she's sure she loves it now.

One of our kind neighbors passed some riding toys down to us. Mattaya LOVES when Daddy gives her a wild ride!

Mattaya's friend Anthony came over to play.

(His parents took childbirth classes with us.)

Anthony is 100% boy. He stands and walks and yells in a man-voice.
Looks like he wants to dead-lift Mattaya...

Anthony: "Tickle, tickle, Mattaya!"
Mattaya: "I'm not ticklish there."

Anthony: "How 'bout your toes?"
Mattaya: "Nope."

Anthony: "How 'bout your tummy?"

Mattaya: "Nope."

Ham is yummy!

Mattaya helped Gramma Catherine celebrate her birthday.
Great-Auntie Karen had lots of fun with Mattaya.

Mattaya really likes "pretty things".

Trying to get on her "motorcycle".

What a happy girl!

Mattaya was thrilled to get a "big toast" (instead of ripped up pieces).
She does such a good job. She soggifies the edges then pulls off little pieces with her fingers.

The kid's been caged!
We finally got some baby gates up since this girl is ALL OVER THE PLACE!

(Your guess is as good as mine.)

Mommy got nervous that this 24-mo outfit wouldn't fit next year, so we tried it on. It fit! Thanks, Gramma Mabel!

She used to do so well with hats...

Not so much anymore.

Peeking out the front door.

Getting ready for bath time...

Check out these curls!
The longer it gets, the curlier it gets. We're just LOVING these little corkscrews!

Mattaya loves to "rattle the cage"!

"Grampa, you have to do it like this."

This girl has been pulling up on and cruising along EVERYTHING.

And she's pretty sure she can climb everything, too.

Visiting Grampa Leander and Gramma Catherine.

Great Auntie Marlys gave Mattaya this lovely vibrating, singing pig.

Mattaya LOVES kissing the vibrating, singing pig.

She's been getting so brave...testing everything.

Here she discovered that the stroller works much like her push toys.

See July Fly By

July was a VERY busy month; it seems to have just FLOWN by. Here's a picture of what we were up to:

Who would have guessed Gramma Mabel would've given Mattaya a LAVENDAR outfit? ;)

Our little prodigy practices her Riverdance.

Matt ran in the 5K Zoo Run

We celebrated a tame 4th of July with Gramma Julie and Uncle Luke.

During Mattaya's nap, Mom and Gramma Julie ran to town and found new toys.

Mattaya took her first independent steps on Independence Day!

(Notice her eyes are closed...anticipating the fall.)

This girl still LOVES to read.

Mattaya can be quite the politician...

If you tell her to "wait", she'll rest against your legs and let you have your hands back.


Ready for church.

Fish face

This girl also loves to eat...see her lick the bowl clean.

Mattaya loves to try on big shoes.

This girl loves to walk.

If she gets ahold of your fingers, she's off like a shot...and she won't stop.

She walks right up to things and thinks she can climb them.

Here she discovered that she could climb Grampa Dave.

Crowning achievement: Climbing Mount Papa.

Eyes on the prize.

Mattaya is usually fine to play while I get lunch ready...but one day it was just too quiet.

I found Mattaya very much enjoying the contents of the Kleenex box.

Matt ran another 5K in the Prairie Rose State Games.

Mattaya finally learned to crawl properly...on Uncle Luke's bed!

Once she got the hang of it, she was good to go!

Mattaya is LOVING her new swing!

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"I'm just so cute with mess on my face."

"How does mess look in my hair?"

Mommy's Messy Monster

"Look out, Mommy! The Messy Monster is gonna get you!"

"I'll get you my pretty..."

Upstairs and downstairs...oh the many, many stairs we climb....

This girl is ready to SLEEP.

Daddy and Mattaya often swing while Mommy makes lunch.

Another 5K...the Fair Run.

Gramma Julie bought some new bath toys: letters and numbers. Mattaya systematically took each one out of the package, bit it, and set it aside.

Near the end of July, we loaded up the van to head to Minnesota for a mini-vacation. We took our Granny-Nanny with us...
There were several stops along the way to let Mattaya play and eat and walk. She was a good little traveler.

We stayed with Uncle Larry and Auntie Cindy who welcomed us warmly.

We arrived at bedtime, so Cindy gave Mattaya a bottle...

and Larry read a couple books.

First thing in the morning, Auntie Cindy was up and ready to play!

Auntie Cindy: "Who's that in the mirror?"

Mattaya: "Me, Silly."

Being messy is just as fun in Minnesota!

Fingering the goods at Baby Depot...

We took some time to visit Aunt Cindy's sister Nancy and Nancy's husband Bob and puppy Brandy...

Baby meets puppy...

"Can I touch it?"

Mattaya did a nice job of being gentle with the puppy (who should get a lot of credit for the patience and self-control she exhibited!).

Reading...

...and walking...

...and reading some more!

Matt and I decided to celebrate our anniversary a little early with dinner at Enjoy! in Apple Valley. It was a BEAUTIFUL restaurant with EXCELLENT food.

Here's the view from the back where the patio is.

The next day, most of us met for lunch at Olive Garden. We're obviously still working on Mattaya's table manners.

Mattaya's first ball-pit experience. We stopped at Once-Upon-A-Child. For those of you not familiar with the store, it's like a well-organized baby garage sale. We scored some really good deals, and Mattaya had LOADS of fun!

There was an old-school bouncy horse which Mattaya thoroughly enjoyed.

This little push toy made the adults' eyes brighten as we all realized there was hope for our aching backs.

Auntie Cindy got to babysit while we took Gramma Julie to experience IKEA.

Our last night in MN.

"You keep showing up wherever I go!"

"Well, I suppose we might as well be friends."

"Let's go play then!"

Mattaya's new friend didn't follow. ;)

Luckily, Frosty the Snowman was available for singing and dancing!

"I love to read!"

"I love to walk!"

"I love to practice my George W. deer-in-the-headlights look!"

Visiting Grampa Leander...

Studying my animal book...

Mattaya's first sprinkler experience.

Mattaya's friend Anna turned 1!







Mattaya's hair is getting SO long.
Sometimes we experiment in the tub to see what shapes it will make...


Matt suprised me with flowers on our anniversary.



Mattaya's first steak was served with pasta and green beans.
She picked out all the steak first.
A girl after Uncle Luke's own heart.

I was really surprised to find these horrific photos of my messy kitchen. I'm very much a clean-as-you-go type of chef, but this night was somewhat of an exception. I was making a big meal for another family...there was no room left in the dishwasher...and Matt beat me home. In my own defense, please note there is NO food, NO paper towels, NO food wrappers...just dishes.

JUST dishes.

Down the stairs...time to eat.

Mattaya has really caught on to signing. She's most consistent with "drink", "eat", and "finished".