A Little More From Mattaya...

Mattaya is gaining a sense of time. Her use of the word "doo-my-oh" (tomorrow) reflects that. And she's coming to associate certain activities with specific days of the week. She knows that big events like swimming or the zoo need to wait for a "Satuhday" and that she needs to "ack Daddy". She knows that if I tell her it's Sunday, we "go chuch, restwaunt, gamma's house". And hearing that it's Tuesday, she will often declare, "Kate Addy come playthoo" (Kate and Addy will come play with you.) It is just too funny to greet her every morning! I used to walk in and tell her what day it was and what we were going to do. Now I walk in, and she tries to convince me that it's Saturday, that she's going to the commissary with Daddy to buy donuts AND go to the zoo AND go swimming at the Y. :)

She's definitely trying to say more and more words, and her utterances are getting longer. Yesterday, she made up her own word. She was sitting on the potty first thing in the morning, holding her hippo and Makenna's giraffe, telling them such sweet things. Then she looked up at me and said, "Mommy, Hippo is cute-iful!" Like cute+beautiful. :) This is such a fun age!

The Daily Goings-On

I never have anything seriously earth-shattering or even exciting to blog about...but this is the record for our kiddos. I don't scrapbook or engage in other serious memory preservation efforts, so this is it. Their memories...

H is for "hat".

What cracked me up about this was she thought the picture of the rose was a spaceship!

Sometimes I see some Gramma Julie in Makenna...

Art is serious business.

Daddy and Mattaya made this man during H week so we could give him some hair. On her own, she came up with the idea to give the man a "mushmash" (i.e., mustache).

"What's going on?"

This was the first effort to remove the casts. We were under the impression that the casts would dissolve easily when confronted with water. Not so. We were trying to avoid setting her down in the tub, because the tub would be filled with plaster of paris. We tried running water over them. Nothing. We tried sticking her legs in buckets. Nothing. So we soaked her in the tub, with two diapers on. :) It's a little tricky. You have to find the ends of the gauze and unwrap all 3 layers of easily-broken plastery-gauze. Fun times.

When we got the casts off, we discovered she had a nasty bruise on her right ankle. :(

And an owie on the back of her right ankle.

Waiting for Dr. W to come give her some new casts.

It's no wonder to us that the staff love her. ;)

PRETTY dress! Soooo which I could put some cute little sandals on those feet!

Stunning? Or just stunned?

Ready for church

(Church has no air conditioning, so we dress breathably.)

WHAT?!

Our thoughts exactly. I went to put her in the bouncer so I could move some laundry around. Before I set her in, I heard a hollow "thunk". I looked down at her, and her right cast was gone! It just FELL RIGHT OFF! Because of the owies she had on that foot, Dr. W used extra padding wrap under that cast so the bruises could heal and to help prevent open sores from developing. But apparently that extra padding meant a little extra wiggle room which meant WIGGLING OUT OF THE CAST! Once she was out of the cast, her right foot was kicking and wiggling NON-STOP. :)

Yum

Time to soak the left one off and get MORE new casts.

Matt's got this down to a science.

I have such a great husband. :)

Loving her moments of freedom!

When the casts are on, she tries desperately to crawl...when the casts are finally off, she's happy to just chill.

I is for ice cream and igloo.

Still teething...

Yoga time!

On my daily schedule, I highlight the tasks as I complete them. This day, Mattaya was standing right next to me at the desk, highlighting her "schedule" right along with me. ;)

Mommy was making a chocolate chip cheese ball, and Mattaya was just finishing breakfast. So she got to lick the "frosting" off the beaters.

"Mmmmmm, this is sooooo goooooood!"

"Positively lickalicious!"

Makenna: "Girl, you are invading my bubble."

Mattaya: Get used to it. I'm the big sister, and I'll give you a chiss (kiss) anytime I want.

A two-fisted eater.

The shirt says it all.

Her signature raspberry expression.

Baby Benton came to the Triple Birthday Bash.

Chisses for Benton.

Mattaya was pretty sure it was HER birthday. She was VERY excited about the cake.

Mabel, Dave, and Becca graciously let her take care of the candles.

The dining room walls have "stuff" now!

Both girls found it all very intriguing.

Mattaya keeps asking, "Mommy, who's dat?" (None of the picture frames have been filled with pictures of US yet....)

Catching up with Gramma J

Gramma Julie recently reminded me that I hadn't confiscated her camera in a while...

The day Mattaya accessorized.

Yes, the rain boots go fabulously with the black tu-tu.

Gramma bought some HUGE water colors and some handy-dandy paintbrushes.

"Just call me 'Picasso'."

Pa rum pum pum pum

Mattaya is always thrilled to get her hands on a "mop".

(Wish I could say the same!)

"Walk like Gramma Julie."

Gramma Julie is not so much a fan of actually being IN the pictures.

Blue Eyes

This is a special treat at GRAMMA'S house. :)

The jacket didn't have a hood. This state is forever windy. Grampa and Gramma improvised with a handkerchief.

And after playing outside, she took Grampa and Gramma for a "drive".

Blurry Benton says a wide-eyed, "Hello!"

"Gramma, you take so many pictures."

"Seriously, Lady, you're burning my retinas."

;) Just kidding, Gramma--we appreciate the pictures!

"Mattaya, look in here..."

BOOM

(I thought it would scare her, but she kept coming back for more.)

More pictures? Really?

Clearly unimpressed by the efforts to get her to smile.

"Maybe if I roll over and play dead they'll leave me alone..."

The cryle...or smry?

"Beam me up, Scottie."

Gramma is perfecting Matt's pasted-my-kid-to-the-wall technique. Here she took it a step further and stuck the poor girl to the ceiling.

Pajama Time

On Sunday's we head to Grampa and Gramma's after church. After the kids are down for their naps, Matt and I head to small group. We come back in time to help with supper and baths and jammies then take them home and put them in bed.

Yay for Grampa Dave!

My parents have a Wii. For 2 decades, Luke and I lived at that house and never had any sort of gaming system. And now my parents have a Wii...which they use almost every night. *sigh*

Baby Benton is a BIG boy

At his 2-month check-up, he had more than doubled his birthweight, weighing in at a whopping 15 lb 12 oz!

And he's a HAPPY big boy!

Sunday afternoon at Gramma's

Push-ups

Trying to go somewhere

Biting her lip. We've been in a perpetual state of teething...and still no teeth.

Ab crunches

More crunches. Seriously, sometimes it looks like she's going to make it all the way to a sitting position.

Leg lifts

Raspberries

(I think she likes the sensation of her spit raining back down on her face.)

Afternoon at the zoo with Grampa and Gramma

Last year she was TERRIFIED of the donkeys. This year, IN LOVE with them.

And inanimate cows are great, too.

Especially when Grampa will give you a boost!

A pretty uneventful "ride".

But she was in no hurry to get down. :)