3 + 1 = September

I'm sure lots of other things happened in September, but the major events were the girls' birthdays. We officially have a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old--fun ages to be sure.

Here she's coloring in a new coloring book from the late-August birthday celebrations.

Just a few days before her birthday, the USO did a Sesame Street production for the kids on Base. We weren't sure what Mattaya would think...never been in a theater, easily overwhelmed by loud noises, never exposed to grown-ups hiding in large furry costumes. This is a picture of her just waiting patiently. We had arrived early because of parking then had to wait a long time.

So worth the wait! And after sitting on my lap for a bit, she was itching to dance and clap in the aisle.

She had a BLAST!

And by the end, she was asking to go up and meet Elmo and shake his hand. Several kids headed up there, and she timidly joined the fray. But she did it on her own! I was so proud of her. :)

Mmmm waffles.

Still loving her big fluffy dog. She loved his ear right off! But Gramma Julie quickly re-attached that for us. ;)

Working. Agavah. (working together)

Ready for Mattaya's Elmo party.

In the past, her birthday parties have been family-only. This year, she's definitely become more social and more interested in playing with kids her own age. So we took the plunge and invited some friends!

Just hangin' with Moka.

This year's cake was much better than last year's! I'm learning. Slowly. :)

Up from nap and checking out the scene.

First, we sugared them up with cupcakes they decorated themselves.

Then we played "stick the nose on Elmo".

Mattaya was right on the nose! And she was also the only one who refused to wear the blindfold. Funny that.

Jacob is a tish younger than everyone else and played very well in the grass. ;)

Sesame Street colors game

Opening presents

Mattaya: "Whoosh!"

Hayden: "This girl is a show unto herself."

Party blowers. The silent kind. :)

After barbecuing for supper, we dug into the Elmo cake.

And just one more present from Micah and Beth.

Mattaya has no clue.

Daddy got one, too.

Not sure if she's excited about all the Nerf wars in her future or if she's under the impression she gets more cake...

Beautiful. Just beautiful.

(Men doing dishes, that is. NOT Matt's headgear.)

S is for silver.

The littlest party animal.

She loves to put her hands in her pockets. She calls it "walking like Gampa Dave".

Happy Birthday!

For her birthday, she got to spend the morning at the mall with Mommy (something she'd been asking to do for a couple weeks). It was a good time! After wandering about the mall and picking out some books at B&N, we met Gramma Julie in the food court for lunch.

Loves to smile. Loves to eat.

Loves to flirt!

Her birthday fell on a Tuesday which is piano lesson day, so she got to enjoy a birthday cupcake with Kate.

For dessert after supper, Gramma Julie brought out some cupcakes from Cold Stone--YUMMY!

Inside the chocolate cup is some cake and some ice cream topped off with whipped cream.

Three different flavors.

It was the number of the day. ;)

And Makenna ate a cookie. ;)

THREE!

Mmmmm sugar!

Grampa Gary and Gramma Pam sent some balloons to help Mattaya celebrate.

This is one of the books Mattaya chose at B&N--the Cars characters actually MOVE in the book.

Dramatic.

"Look at me--I'm doing a puzzle!"

The birthday princess crown is from Grampa Gary and Gramma Pam, and the purse is from Great-Aunt Linda--she was pretty jazzed about these new accessories.

Wrestling.

Bit off more than you can chew, did ya?

She says she wants to be a doctor when she grows up, and I'm beginning to believe her. For several weeks, ALL SHE PLAYED was doctor. All day long. She's still playing it, but she's now willing to separate her "work life" and her "after work life". ;)

Oh dear. So this child got some shots at her well-child exam. This has never been a problem in the past. And it wasn't a terrible experience this time either, except that she woke up really sore the next morning. She refused to stand or walk on her own and seemed to really be in pain but wouldn't take any Tylenol. Finally I said, "Mattaya, what do you need?" Her response: "Broccoli from the freezer." All I had was California Blend, but it seemed to suffice. She sat and munched on frozen veggies for a while and then was much better!

Sharing her new markers and coloring pad with Miss Valerie.

"May I check your blood pressure?"

Doctor Mattaya

This is the "pleeeeease let me sit on your lap while you're at the computer" face.

This is the "get me out of this house" face. Matt had gone on another trip to CA for a week and a half, so I did my best to get them at least out for a walk or to the park or SOMETHING. The weather turned chilly pretty quickly, so we were exploring fall jackets.

That funky photo face. And brushing George's teeth. George is also a fixation. She (yes, I said she) goes with us everywhere. If Mattaya goes potty, George sits on the potty chair. If Mattaya eats breakfast, George sits in the doll highchair. If Mattaya goes to sleep, George gets tucked into the doll PackNPlay next to her bed. So, of course, George will also get her teeth brushed often...

She takes her work very seriously.

And she's very into mothering. She mothers George like nobody's business, but she also mothers Makenna quite a bit. It can be amusing (and sometimes revealing/embarrassing) to observe her sitting like Mommy and saying what Mommy says in the way that Mommy does.

A new birthday outfit from Grampa Gary and Gramma Pam. The lighting is way off--the colors are really much better! :) This outfit fit her just right! (I did tighten up the belt after I realized it was sagging so much.)

Trying out some milk in preparation for the abolition of formula.

Not a fan at first, but we helped her acquire the taste. ;)

Shopping in the One Step Ahead catalog.

Right-handed.

Escaped the night bar.

Ready for a library date with Gramma Julie.
(This time around, Gramma Julie took a few mornings off while Matt was gone to get Mattaya out of the house--MUCH APPRECIATED.)

This child cannot be placed upon a sofa to have her picture taken. I routinely forget this. To her, a sofa is a playground. Or maybe a ball pit. She jumps and climbs and flops and rolls continuously until removed from said sofa.

Notice the hand-switching. She's keeping her options open.

Trying on outfits for family photos. Mercy the ordeal I put my family and friends through in trying to find JUST THE RIGHT OUTFITS. Good grief. But this IS the outfit we settled on. Finally! ;)

Some of the photos are posted on our photographer friend Mandi's blog:

http://www.mandiblog.com/mandi-carroll-photography/2010/9/29/real-deal.html

This face is just a show. This girl LOVES her some meatsticks.

Trying out the outfit from Uncle Larry and Auntie Cindy--fits great!

Squinty-faced Mattaya is sporting an outfit from Auntie Net.

She's getting TALLER. At her 1-year visit she was 30" tall and 22lb, 14oz (about an inch shorter and pound lighter than Mattaya at that same age...ironically, Benton is 6 months younger but 1 pound heavier and 1.5" shorter).

Gramma walked in one afternoon to find Mattaya feeling postively fetal.

Whatever possessed her to do this, I don't know.

She's just an all-around goofball.

Of all the muffins, blueberry is her favorite.

First tortilla chip.

"Are you sure this is meant to be eaten?"

Outfit from Larry and Cindy. (Sorry about the blurry photo!)

The blueberry muffin scared her a bit...

...but then she just gobbled it right up!

Daddy had picked out this wooden snake at Hobby Lobby a long time ago, and we saved it until we were working on our S projects (which spanned a few weeks because I was hit and miss while Matt was gone).

Another silly request: Popcorn. In a bowl. Eat it with a spoon.

She comes up with some craaaaazy requests when she's sick or sad or hurt. No idea what this is about, but she really likes it. The fourth part of her request was "eat it in my bed", and we did not humor that particular clause.

Working.

Daddy's tomato plants did produce some tomatoes! And Mattaya threatened to chomp one.

But she didn't. Matt was pretty proud of these good looking 'matoes.

Eating like a dog is difficult with long hair.

Eating popcorn in a BIG bowl with a spoon.

Tucking George in.

Grapes are great.

And bread's not too shabby.

"Am I not cute or what?"

(She was so proud of getting it on herself.)

Bein' funny.

Crawling on her knees more and more!

We had several cold, rainy weeks. Hence the fall/winter clothes. I packed away all the summer clothes. And then Indian summer arrived. Of course. But I won't complain. In ND, I'll take an Indian summer ANY TIME!

The snake doubles as a magnifying glass. She's pretending to check out some ants. Sometimes I'm amazed at what she comes up with on her own. Pretty sure I was never this creative.

Micah came over to bake some brownies for a work BBQ and let Mattaya be his helper. He's a good sport. :)

Slowly learning to climb stairs.

She seems a little less driven motorically than Mattaya was, but I'm also realizing that she probably doesn't get as much prompting and help and practice as Mattaya did either. Being the second kid is just a different experience altogether.

"Whoooooa, look at me!"

Checking my email isn't nearly so easy as it used to be.

First birthday fell in the middle of the week. Party wasn't until the weekend, but we still wanted to make the day special. So Matt hid behind the highchair (don't all dads do that when their child turns 1?), we made her a ministack of pancakes with syrup AND a candle, and we lit the candle and sang to her. And you can tell by her expression that she's REALLY not sure what to think of all this.

"No, really, Guys--what's going on here?"

Matt and I are both seeing her go for the candle, but I really want a picture and he can't reach!

Mattaya saved the day by blowing out Makenna's candle in true big-sister fashion. ;)

She was totally diggin' the pancakes and syrup!

And then for dessert, we had ice cream cones! More sugar than her system had previously encountered heretofore.

Makenna (poking the ice cream): "What IS this?"

Mommy: "Taste it. Just lick it. Try a bite."

Makenna: "This is cold!"

"And YUMMMMMMMYYYYYY!"

Isn't it a bummer when your sibling finishes dinner faster than you and gets her dessert whilst you're still choking down your veggies?

"I'm beginning to feel a bit whoozy."

"Wanna bite?"

Good from both ends. :)

Trying to shake her giraffe free from the balloons.

Still enjoying the balloons the next morning.

(And several weeks later, they're STILL floating in the play room.)

1st mac & cheese

She tends to attack food as more of a work task than a recreational activity. But I'll give her props for being self-motivated and having excellent attention to task. Her productivity in the realm of consuming is to be commended.

These peaches, however, are NOT. :( We really enjoy the Colorado peaches we get up here once a year. But we weren't on our game and didn't get the Colorado ones. We got the Washington ones. Washington peaches are YUCK. There were these moldy ones...and then there were the ones that weren't moldy but were incredibly tart, EVEN WITH ICE CREAM. ugh. Guess you can't win 'em all.

And then it was finally time for Makenna's party!

In true mommy fashion, Mattaya let George celebrate with a strawberry while we all prepared to eat cupcakes. ;)

Trying to be so patient while we wait for Makenna to wake up.

We had aimed for a family party, but Luke and Becca were tied up with their house (as was Gampa Dave, but he did come in time to bbq), so we invited our friends Keaton (who was working but came for the bbq)) and Valerie to join us. Valerie was the kind lady who came to help us out for a while after Makenna was born. :)

Still not quite awake, but Mattaya crowned her "Birthday Princess" to get the show rolling.

"Hey, that looks like fun!"

"What do I do? Why are you singing?"

"Oh brother--this process takes way too long."

First taste!

mmmmmmm

"Ohhhhhh this is sooooo gooooooood."

Goatee

She didn't get upset about the sticky glop on her hands (which is what Mattaya HATED about her first birthday), but she was frustrated by not knowing how to EAT that yumminess off her hands.

"This is a good time."

"Let's have another one!"

(No, we did not let her have another one...especially after we'd gotten her clean once!)

Remember what I said about Makenna and couches? This child had no concept of gifts or birthday protocol. She just wanted to climb.

She humored us a bit.

The cards really seemed to be her favorite. Are my kids weird this way, or do other kids like the cards, too?

A back-flip attempt to play "couch".

New book

New baby doll (that Mattaya was eager to play with)

I get the impression that she thought she had to be still in order for the headband to stay on. Maybe not too far from the truth.

So many cupcakes in September.

Many cupcakes leads to much brushing of teeth. ;)

Bratwurst

More tomatoes!

Some friends handed down a bike to Mattaya--and it was the perfect size! We'd been looking all summer. :)

So, yeah, this is when summer returned and I had to fish out some summer clothes. We've definitely been taking advantage of these opportunities to get outside. (We know our days are numbered!)

My weird husband. But look at him slaving in the kitchen. We brought some apples home from Dad's trees and borrowed Mom's apple peeler-corer-slicer. Apparently Matt had never experienced such a device. He was rather elated and looking for MORE APPLES.

Made an apple crisp, with extra crisp (and what looks like too much butter to me, but Matt and Micah were really excited to see butter floating in their ice cream...cardiologists everywhere are getting out their surgical gear right now).

Good morning, Mattaya and friends...

And good night to all of you who made it ALL THE WAY TO THE END OF THE POST!