It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

One day, Daddy's boredom took him to a very strange place...Mattaya's bag of barrettes.

And this was the terrifying result. (Notice him throwing his head back and emitting an evil laugh.)

An early Christmas present from MN gave us good practice for the Big Day.

It took a while, but she eventually got the hang of it.

It's a dress! With friends in the pockets!

The friends were removable, so Mattaya carried the snowman and gingerbread man around for DAYS, hugging them and loving them.

The very best part, though, was the hanger! (Just kidding--she played with the friends longer than the hanger.)

Time to write a thank-you note...

And we'll add a little color...

Then Mommy gets a whim to even things out.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow? Says who?

We've just been getting dumped on and dumped on. Nice to have a white Christmas, but there are certain inconveniences that make it less appealing. For instance, we live a bit off the beaten path, so the plows often FORGET to clear our street. Every once in a while, Grampa Dave gets assigned to the residential side of Base and comes over to clear not only the street, but also our driveway! BONUS!

No s'mores today.

So this was the temperature the day we celebrated Matt's birthday. My brother's comment was, "Matt should have been born in the summer." Matt had requested brats as the main course of his birthday meal. He prefers to have them grilled...an outside activity:

Crazy man.

Showing off his presents. Cards, money, a great concordance, and tie-downs (for his trailer).

And his dear wife gave him a Sid the Science Kid microphone and iron-on transfer (to make a T-shirt). Sid is on during Mattaya's breakfast....

Instead of a cake, Matt requested S'more Sandwich Cookies (a melty marshmallow smashed between 2 chocolate chip/graham cracker cookies).

She's now self-propelled! (And really excited about it, too.)

"Mother, you've seen me eat brats before..."

This girl likes the simple things. While she enjoys toys, she spends a lot of time exploring various uses for household items...like this diaper box.

She's a daredevil, too--likes to "rock the boat."

Documentation of part of the reason our main floor is always FREEZING. We have snow/frost 1/2 inch thick INSIDE our windows! There's cold air flowing from all the baseboards and lightswitches. Even our pantry (which is NOT on an exterior wall) becomes quite fridge-like when I leave its door shut.

Another fascinating household item. This napkin ring holder came from my mom's house. One day, Mattaya discovered it on our White Elephant shelf and decided it looked like great fun. She brought it near me and sat and figured out how to stack the rings on the fancy stick for a good 20 minutes.

I can't even tell you how many times I've counted, "1, 2, 3, 4, YAY!!!"

She calmly accepts the applause and begins all over again.

Over and over again.

And over and over...

For Christmas Eve, we hosted my dad's family. Everyone arrived before Mattaya's nap was over, so she was a little taken aback by all her visitors. On top of that, Gramma Julie had bought her some more new shoes, so her feet were again "stapled to the floor".

Still not moving.

"This is just all TOO MUCH."

The shoes came off. Dinner was had. Mattaya was comfortable and ready to get into the presents.

She began as a spectator...apparently the practice did very little to prepare her.

She performed much better in the gift bag events. Watching her fling tissue papper in the air was entertaining to say the least. However, when the paper was gone, she typically looked in the bag, said, "Oh, wow!", and took off to do something else.

And so a talking/singing telephone was introduced to our house. (And, yes, that is snow against our back door.)

And since Uncle Luke was in the house, Mattaya ended up IN a gift bag.

"Oh, wow!"

The first of FOUR baby dolls received.

"And everywhere that Baby went, the doll was sure to go."

Mattaya did pretty well holding the baby and hugging the baby and kissing the baby.

She didn't think the baby needed to be wearing a hat inside the house. (By the way, she LOVES to say "hat!")

Sometimes the baby would fall down...

...and Mattaya would pick her up and comfort her oh-so-lovingly.

Mattaya was starting to feel a bit tired, so she reached for a quick caffeine fix...

Instead, Mommy decided it was time for bath and bed. Once Mattaya was down, the grown-ups started the White Elephant exchange...

Great-Gramma Mabel actually really LIKED what she got. :)

Auntie Becca patiently waited her turn...

Later came the for-real gifts. Becca had put this together for Mabel. It included a picture of ALL the family members. Grandma Mabel LOVED it.

Miraculously, the kitchen set we'd ordered [very late] for Mattaya arrived on Christmas Eve...so it became Matt's mission to get it put together for Mattaya to play with on Christmas Day.

Christmas Morning. (Nevermind the re-used gift bag...Mommy was a little lax in the wrapping department this year.) Here's Mattaya showing off her gift bag disassembly skills.

"Oh, wow!"

Baby doll #2 was a Cabbage Patch...but Mattaya doesn't care for it. The only interaction she's had with it is picking it up and dropping it on its head to get it out of the way.

Opening a gift from Grampa Gary and Gramma Pam...

...and it's TWINS! Baby doll #3 and baby doll #4 were from the same Fisher Price family as baby doll #1. :)

Whenever Daddy has to wrestle something out of toy packaging, Mattaya watches intently and does a little dance of anticipation--legs a-bouncing, bottom a-swinging...too cute. ;)

Carrying twins is much harder than carrying just one baby.

Another present from Indiana...

...a percussion set!

Daddy finished the kitchen set during Mattaya's morning nap.

Of course, at least one baby had to come with us (at least one baby goes with us EVERYWHERE now).

Exploring...

She really wasn't sure what to do with it. We ended up just giving the baby a pretend bath in the sink. :)

After lunch, we scooted downtown to say "Merry Christmas" to Great Grampa Leander and Great Gramma Catherine. (And, of course, a baby came with us.)

This kiddo never fails to make herself right at home, helping herself to anything within reach.

Mommy has had to get creative in her practicing...

Somehow it never sounds at church like it did at home.

When Grampa and Gramma came over for supper on Christmas Day (along with Grampa's family and some friends from church), they brought some bristle blocks. Mattaya's more into taking apart than putting together...but Daddy really likes to try to get something put together before Mattaya destroys it. :)

Voila! (Quick take a picture!!!)

Chilling out (literally for ONE second) after rough-housing on the couch.

Daddy and Mattaya are best buds.

"Oh, Daddy, I love you. Let me give you a slobbery kiss."

Someone is ready to bolt.

But not before Daddy sneaks a kiss in, too! (Less slobbery, but more stubbley.)

For whatever reason, Mommy thought it was a good idea to let Mattaya experience a rosette.

Click to enlarge if you cannot see that this baby's face is COVERED in sugar.

Up to her hairline, in her ears and eyelashes...

Sticky, but sweet. ;)

Waving "hi" to Daddy whilst Mommy tries to figure out a cleaning strategy.

We had one more meal with Grampa Dave's family...and a baby came with us.

Gramma Julie helped us place a few calls on our talking/singing telephone.

Walking away with a doily stuck to your back is a hazard at Gramma Mabel's house. They're everywhere, they're everywhere!

Mattaya's gotten really good about touching trees and ornaments with just one finger...and she's also gotten really good at spotting presents! ;)

We always start with the bow...

She's still not that into ripping the paper, but she really anticipates seeing what's inside.

It's a tractor with a farmer, a cow, and a pig that peeks out of the haystack! AND it talks and sings! WOOHOO! ;)

Mattaya much preferred carrying it around to driving it on the floor.

And then we celebrated Mommy's family Christmas on Sunday. Boy, Mommy was excited to help Mattaya with more presents!

Clothes? For real? ;)

"Yep, I think it'll fit."

Helping herself to more than her share...

She knows the drill.

She managed to rip one tiny little piece of paper all by herself!

And then a bigger piece!

TAH-DAH! A Clipo Activity Table. (Doesn't she look impressed?) ;)

Then she caught some of Mommy's excitement and said, "Oh, wow!"

Ready to play...but it was time for nap. Then the grown-ups opened their presents...

A giant knife and some ammunition...what could be better?

Perhaps diamond plating for one's trailer?

Some friends of ours who have a little boy Mattaya's age bought these ballerina pajamas for Mattaya for Christmas. They came with a removable tutu!

Not sure that's a real ballet move...

Forget the well-coiffured bun...we're putting a new spin on ballet!