Having a blast this July past...

"How much trouble am I in?"

She got me on a technicality. I had told her there was to be no coloring on her hands and no markers in her mouth...I hadn't said anything about the nose.

We explored another new playground...

Mattaya found this slide intimidating...

...tried a rear-first descent...

...and pondered whether there was ANY other way to get down. She finally slid down when I held her hand. :)

The crazy girl was not at all intimidated by this tall twisty slide, however. First ride was great. Second ride was near-fatal and resulted in a very fat lip.

After some consoling, she was ready to play some more and wanted to ride a horse...

...in each color...

...because they all are VERY different, you see.

Our big girl climbed on all by herself this time!

And a climber she has become. Since she mastered ladders, she's all over the climbing business.

And usually very successful! :)

Mommy tried to bring the swelling down...

...but while orange is a good flavor...

...popsicles are just too cold.

I'll give her credit for trying to be obedient in spite of her dislike.

But she eventually couldn't take it any more.

"Die, popsicle, die!"

Maybe chewing on the stick will help heal the split lip?

"Here, Mommy, you can have it."

I asked Matt to stop by a garage sale on his way home to pick up another bouncy seat for cheap (bigger house, more kiddos, don't want to drag the thing around with me). Much to Mattaya's delight, he came home with "Ahmo" (Elmo), whom she now uses as her body pillow at night.

That very same day, Daddy also picked up a "bike" for Mattaya. She had the right idea about where to put her feet, but the turning of the pedals was simply mind-boggling and therefore frustrating.

But Daddy helped her have a BLAST!

She typically won't smile at the camera, but she'll get close if I say, "Show me your teeth." Well, she showed me her teeth...

"Just call me Ray Charles."

She's one "cool cat". ;)

And then the bookshelves Matt made FINALLY came home!

Thanks for the cute dress, Auntie Cindy!

Doesn't she look just delicious?

Matt and I have been trying to sort through the storage room and create some semblance of order and chuck things that disrupt order. This was a lovely camera. But it's mostly broken as it won't take pictures and won't let me get that last roll of film out. Seemed a shame to throw it out. ESPECIALLY when you can make a camera-lover's day!

"CHEESE! Click."

And then she inherited yet another stuffed animal which she immediately LOVED.

At the playground with her best friend Tobias.

This year, Northern Neighbor's Day fell within her nap schedule. We took Mattaya for the morning to see the trucks and planes up close. Funny--I told Mattaya to show me her teeth, and MATT was the one who gave me a cheesey face.

We do so love wheels. They are certainly the best part of any vehicle from bikes and wagons to strollers and semi-trailers.

This girl LOVES to see airplanes and helicopters in the sky. She didn't care too much about sitting in the helicopter, though.

Shade-seeker.

It was ONE HOT DAY, to be sure.

Why would you want to walk around and see airplanes when you can touch the wheels on a large air compressor? (I'm just GUESSING that's what it is...don't make fun of me...but feel free to inform me if I guessed wrong.)

Going INSIDE an airplane with Daddy.

They quickly came back out, because it was stuffed full of people.

But going UNDER an airplane is just as much fun!

Boppa and Leelee caught up with us and humored Mattaya with a "One, Two..."

"...THREE!"

What's too funny is that she wants me to do that for her when I have her in the Commissary parking lot BY MYSELF. Tricky.

There was a piping band that Mattaya found rather engrossing. I don't know that she cared much for the bagpipes, but she was fascinated with the drummers.

"Mom says I'm finally ready for church, but I'M pretty sure..."

"...I'm ready to PLAY!"

Day 1 of Potty Training.

That little butt is just too cute in panties!

By Day 3, we were better equipped. Mommy had finally read the book, and Daddy was home. Things got much better, much faster after that.

Day 4.

By the weekend, she was doing really well! Boppa and Leelee hosted a big BBQ with lots of Mattaya's friends and set up a pool in the garage for them.

Takin' a break.

Trying on Daddy's "cool" motorcycle helmet.

She calls her motorcycle a "goes" and produces her own sound effects: a deep, throaty, un-little-girl-like growl.

Sweet freedom!

After a week indoors for potty training, she was more than ready to hit the playground.

We had a very happy and accident-free first trip to the playground.

(Actually, she hasn't had an accident in public yet!)

We find it hilarious how she bends down to walk under the equipment where she clearly has 2 feet of clearance!

Feeding ducks at the zoo with Daddy.

She desperately wanted to hold the monkeys but couldn't.

Daddy tried to distract her with the gibbon ape who scared the pants off of her (but she still didn't have an accident!).

The cutest lion Mommy's ever seen. ;)

So in the rearranging/cleaning of the storage room, the Potato Heads became visible (on a top shelf, mind you). Mattaya spotted them almost immediately and asked ever-so-nicely if she might play with them.

And play with them she did!

For over an HOUR!

She refers to them as "Tato" (potato) and/or "Nan" (man). That first day she had a whole scripted scene going on. It was too cute!

Then she discovered the glasses.

Good thing we have 2 so Matt didn't pitch a jealous fit. ;)

Matt and I ran down to the State Fair to ingest some yummy food (which turned out to be a gigantic mistake, of course...Fetus rejected the funnel cake all night long). While pacing through a commercial building trying to avoid the rain, we picked up this free plastic "hard hat".

It was love at first sight.

And she wears it often.

Really often.

No, we don't have a dog. Sometimes when Tobias comes over to play, his dog Bodey waits in the backyard. Mattaya LOVES when we have a dog in the backyard....