Out and About

We all had a big weekend this past weekend. Matthew's sister Erika got married so we traveled to Hickory this past Thursday night. Matti attended Erika's bridal luncheon with me. I fed her exactly what I was eating as she sat in my lap. We had asparagus and egg/cheese quiche. She seemed to really like the egg and cheese quiche. She kept saying mmmmmmm... and wanting more. She has recently started saying mmmmmmmmmm...when she is eating and she is stuffing her mouth. She was very well behaved. After a big afternoon we had the rehearsal dinner that evening and Matti once again was so well behaved. I was so proud of her. After the dinner, needless to say Matti was exhausted so she fell asleep with no problem. On Saturday, I was so worried about her during the wedding, but she slept right through it and did not make a peep. Wow! Also at the reception she was a complete angel as well. Any relative or friend who came up to us wanting to watch her she would go right to them with very little problem. She did a lot of people watching and even danced a little. I was so relieved that she was a perfect angel. I was not sure how she would deal with so much going on and her schedule being completely thrown off.
Now, seeing that she is so good out in public for long stretches at a time I am wondering why I have not taken her out and about a lot sooner. She does go shopping with me, etc, but never to a restaurant or a function. I have always been to worried she would have a melt down and I would not know how to control it. I know this great cooperative behavior will not last forever, but I have been treating her like she will turn out to be me (hell on wheels and temper tantrums), but I have a GREAT child.
The bridal luncheon was held at a big bed and breakfast in Hickory and the landscaping was absolutely beautiful. I tried to snap a few pictures and I will post them below. One thing I will say-Matti definitely needs to get outdoors more. There was a huge tree with beautiful leaves lying underneath it. I sat Matti down int eh leaves and she freaked out a little. She was scared of the leaves. Now, that is definitely a sign she needs to get out more.


Here is a picture of Matti on the front porch of the bed and breakfast in a big rocking chair.



Here is a picture of Matti and her Daddy before the rehearsal dinner:



Matthew and I also lowered Matti's crib all the way down yesterday. I have been so worried she was going to climb out. That was a big relief for me. Now, when she wakes up for her brief periods early in the morning I do not have to constantly check on her or worry that she will get out. She normally falls back asleep if we leave her alone.

Matti has been taking more and more steps without holding onto furniture. She just gets so excited when she lets go and takes a step toward me or Matthew. She just squeals and giggles. I am willing to bet she will be walking by her birthday or Christmas. I will try hard this weekend to get this on video.

Climbing

I wanted to update the blog a little more. I like Jenn, think that every post has to have a picture or milestone, but have decided just to post the everyday things.
Last night, I put Matti in her crib to get her bath ready. When I returned to her room her leg was thrown over the rail as if she was trying to escape. We have lowered her crib once to the second level which hits her right below her chest, but I guess now we need to lower all the way down. I am willing to bet she will be in toddler bed by next summer. Matti is a little monkey. She plays so rough. She loves to roll around on the floor with us and crawl over us. She has a bad habit of smacking and hitting me. She thinks it is playful, but it could hurt another baby. So I have to tell her "no" and I have been taking her hand and showing her how to pat my face or stoke my hair.
We finally got Matti on a great sleep schedule to where she was sleeping until 7:30am in the morning and as soon as that was established the time changed and screwed it all up. For three days she was up very early. This morning she seems to be back in the old sleep pattern waking at 7:00am this morning. Hopefully she is already adjusted to the time change.
Yesterday, I picked Matti up from school and once again she was all passed out in the cozy corner sleeping away. They cannot get her to take a nap at school in her crib. When she is ready to nap she just crawls over to the cozy corner and passes out. At home she naps well. She will usually nap for an hour in the mornings and two hours in the afternoon.
I have already started planning Matti's 1st birthday. I bought her an outfit and have been checking on invites. I cannot believe she will be turning one so soon. Last year at this time I was about to pop!

Baby Babble

Matti has been trying so hard to communicate with Matthew and I lately. Sometimes the expressions on her face when she wants to talk, but nothing will come out are priceless. I cannot help but crack up. She loves to voice her opinion! I have a video clip of her protesting. I fed her spaghetti for lunch and had to strip her down in the kitchen before I could bring her to her room for new clothes. She had spaghetti everywhere. I put her in her crib while I got some clothes together and this is what happened:



She has been really babbling up a storm. Mama, Dada, Nene, baable, gaagaaa, etc.
She even looks at us as if she is trying to tell us something and if we do not understand she starts to cry. I feel like she might even be trying to tell us what she wants now, but of course we cannot understand her. She still has not started to point yet. We can tell her to go find a popular object and she will hunt for it and if she finds it she will hold it up with a big grin on her face.

She still only has two bottom teeth. We are still waiting on the top to come in. Although I feel it will not be long. She seems to be getting a rash on her chin and started drooling a lot again. I will be so excited to see some top ones. We have only been wiping her teeth with a wash cloth at night, but I guess it is time for a toothbrush. I want her to have good dental hygiene habits so we will start early!

Matti still eats pretty much everything except Green Beans. For some reason she absolutely refuses to eat them. If I put them in her mouth she will just spit them out. I tried mixing them up with chunks of potato and she will eat right around them. I sat and watched her pick up the green bean and throw it in the floor and them pick up a potato and eat it. She is too funny! Oh, by the way, she still falls asleep when she eats. It does not matter what time of evening it is. Here is a picture from the other night.



Matti has also been pulling up and cruising for some time now. She is starting to let go of furniture to find herself standing all alone for a brief period of time. She will also take a big step from place to place without holding on. I am sure she will be walking by her 1st birthday.

Speaking of 1st birthday I have already started thinking how in six weeks I will have a one year old. WOW- a whole year! I have caught myself looking at birthday party invitations and a special party outfit for her. OMG!

We visited nana and papa in Mount Airy this weekend. Matti was an angel (of course). She actually slept until 7:30am on Saturday and then 7:45am on Sunday. It was amazing. I have not been able to sleep in for a long time. I felt so rested.
She had a wonderful time. We had her pictures made on Saturday afternoon in her Carolina Cheerleader uniform and also had a fall picture made. Here is a picture of her in the uniform right before we left to go to Ann Katherine's photography!



On Sunday we dressed her up in a Halloween costume and made a few photos. She did not like the hood on her head at all. It was very difficult to keep that on. She kept wanting to pull it off. She was a good sport through all of this.

10 Months and Cruisin

Matti has had several things happen over the past couple of weeks. We FINALLY have two bottom teeth which I have not been able to get a photo of because she will not be still long enough or she will cover them with her tongue. They popped up out of nowhere. I have a feeling she is getting ready to cut the two top teeth pretty soon. She is drooling more than usual and every now and then she acts like it hurts to put pressure on her gums.
Matti also has been crusing around the house holding onto funiture. Just this weekend she has been getting very brave and letting go of the funiture and standing by herself, only for seconds until she finds out she is not holding on to anything then she plops down on her bottom. She also will test her limits and cruise from one piece of furniture to the next taking one giant step without holding on to anything. It will not be long before I have a walker in the house. She crawls so fast I am almost afriad for her to walk because I know it will be full speed ahead.
Matti has also started saying Dada finally. I think Matthew melted this weekend when she said dadadadada. It is so funny because you can see her face and she is trying so hard to get that d sound out. That I will have to get on video soon.
Sleep habits are still great. Matti sleeps through the night, but is up before dawn. Bedtime for her is around 7:30pm and 8:00pm. She is completely exhausted by then. I have tried to keep her up a few mintues long trying to see if she will sleep a little longer in the am, but it does not work. She simply is just ready to go at 5:45am. I have come to deal with that. Now, she wants to play as soon as her feet hit the floor. No more exersaucer for her. It has gotten boring to her because she is so mobile. Although I have been putting her in the pack n play more with a bunch of toys just to get a break and catch my breath. She seems to be okay with that for short periods of time. I usually can get about thirty minutes of freedom without her pulling on my legs.
Matti also had her first school pictures made a few weeks ago. She did such a great job. She smiled really big almost like she knew she was posing for a picture. I will hopefully have those soon to pass around.
Another short note, Matti's teacher at school tells me every day how Matti is the class clown. They call her a comedian. She keeps the class and her teacher in stitches. I would love to be a fly on the wall for a whole day at school to she what she gets herself into. I think she is like her Aunt Kiki (Erika) who always has a punch line!

I have a short video of her pulling all the tupperware out of a kitchen cabinet. I left one cabinet just for her to play in. This seems to keep her occupied for a while.

Videos and Pics

This goes with the post from yesterday. Here are a couple of videos and pictures.

Crazy Hair Day at school. I took this right before we left for school.



Matti taking a bath like a big girl!



Here is a cute one of Matti and Aidan sharing puffs!



Matti having fun at bath time:



Matti playing Peep Eye after her bath:

Hugs and Kisses, sweet baby girl

Matti has really started expressing her feelings over the past few weeks. She expresses when she is mad, happy, or feeling like she wants to cuddle. She has started crawling up in my lap to read a book or just cuddle.
Feeding time is a whole new experience now. She has been taking eight ounces of formula every feeding and eats four to five bottles a day. Last week she started trying to feed me. I always feed her in a quiet room with dim lights. I just hold her and she will just feed herself. Sometimes she will pull the bottle out of her mouth and try to put it in my mouth. When she does this she gives me a big milky smile. It is so sweet.
She also has started giving everyone kisses (Open mouth and a bunch of slobber). She will grab your face with both hands and just plant her mouth on your cheek and hold it there for a few seconds. When she pulls back she is so proud of herself. She just giggles and smiles and does it over and over. She also Eskimo kisses with her father.
She has really started crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything. She is also starting to cruise around the furniture a lot more. She is so hard to keep up with. I usually put her down in the kitchen floor while I do bottles or dishes and open a cabinet full of Tupperware. She loves to play in the cabinet for a little while and then she hangs on my legs the rest of the time.
Bed time is wonderful these days. Last night we Matti got hungry earlier than bedtime for a bottle so I gave her a bottle at 6:30pm and she finished every drop. I was worried this would cause her to get up earlier than 6:30am, but she slept straight through. I also worried that I would have trouble putting her to bed without a bottle, but that also was not a problem. After her bath I got her dressed for bed and rocked her for a few minutes with her sleep CD playing in the background. I also hummed a few tunes for her. We stared at each other and cuddled. When she seemed relaxed I put her down to bed. She stayed down and practiced saying Dada and baba to herself. Before I knew it she was fast asleep. Wow-bed time has definitely taken a turn for the best (Knock on wood).
Bath time is really fun now. She likes to play with her toys and splash around in the water. I usually suds her up and then turn the water on as I drain the bath water so I can rinse her. She tries to grab the running water and puts her toys under the running water. I just sit there while she plays for several minutes. She usually looks up at me laughs, squeals and splashes around.
Matti also has been playing a lot of peep eye with us after her bath. She likes to take her towel and cover her face. She will wait until we say "where's Matti" and she will uncover her face and just belly laugh and do it over and over again. I will have to get this on video. It is so cute.
On the downside, Matti's leg was a little boys lunch yesterday. I went to pick her up and received one of the dreaded incident reports to sign. She was bitten on the lower leg and there were teeth marks still present, but the skin was not broken. This little boy is a known bitter and it is impossible for the teachers to stop every bite from occurring. Luckily he will be out of her class at the end of the week. Other kids have been bitten a lot more than once so we have been very lucky.
Once more thing I wanted to add-I took Matti grocery shopping last Friday and I finally just put her down in the cart instead of using the carrier. She had the best time. I tied a balloon to the cart and she played with that the whole time. People were walking up to me talking about how cute she was. She would smile and them and laugh. One man passed us and smiled at her and she ended up blowing a huge raspberry at him. He just grinned at her and kept going. She was hamming it up! She did look cute. We had put her hair in two ponytails for crazy hair day at school. She was a doll. I will have to post the pic later on today.

9 Month Wellness Check up

Matti went her her 9 month wellness check up on Friday. These appointments really do come around fast. It is hard to believe I have a nine month old now.
Matti's appointment went well. She is 19 1/2 pounds (I over estimated her weight by a long shot) and is 28 inches long. She is in great health. She received one shot, which was her Hep Shot. She took that well. She cried for a brief second and that was it. It was a lot easier than the past visits. The doctor checked her bottom gum and she definitely has two teeth on the verge of erupting.
Matti is babbling up a storm. She laughs and pays attention to everything we say. You can see her try hard to say something other than ma, da, ba, etc. She squeals and dances when any kind of music comes on. This weekend a couple of times she has been in the middle of playing and a TV commercial will come on with music. She stops what she is doing so bounce up and down and clap to the beat. It is so funny to see her do this.
She also loves to crawl around the house and explore. It is VERY hard to keep her still these days. Toys just do not interest her. She likes plastic soda bottles, bowls, plastic containers, etc. I took everything out of her diaper bag and filled the diaper bag full of things she could play with and she loves to pull everything out of it. I will put it all back in and she will pull it all out all over. She spent at least twenty minutes yesterday playing with a saline bottle. She inspected every inch of the bottle.
She is also comparing items. Matti would have a toy, hold it up in the air, put it on the floor, crawl around with it, pull up with it, put it on the table, pick it up again, put it back down on the floor, etc. She would do this over and over with the same toy. It is almost like she had OCD.
Also, tantrums have started all ready. Lord, I thought this was only when they got older. A few times this weekend she screeched at me and cried a terrible cry. At first I thought something was wrong, but I soon realized it was what I have been dreading. TANTRUMS! Probably the worst one was when I took her upstairs yesterday to give her a bottle and put her down for a nap. I let her carry her bottle as we went upstairs. I took the bottle away to change her diaper and she grunted and cried LOUDLY-so loud Matthew came upstairs to see what was going on. She bowed her back, kicked her legs, and thrashed her arms. All I could think was, Dear Lord it is me all over again.

Cry it Out!

Many things have been happening over the past couple of weeks.
We have been very busy and sleep deprived lately. Matti has had us up six to seven times a night for the past month or so give or take a few nights. Matthew and I have been getting an average of four to five hours of sleep a night for almost a month now. It all came to a head last weekend when I was visiting with mom. Matti would not sleep at all. I was so tired I could hardly enjoy the weekend. Last Sunday night Matti was up about every hour on the hour crying and wanting to be held and rocked. I would pick her up, rock her until she was asleep, and put her down. She would wake up immediately and start crying again until I would pick her up. Sometimes as soon as I would pick her up she would be right back asleep again. I knew this was separation anxiety or she was dependant on me rocking and holding her while she slept. I made sure I covered all the bases-dry diaper, bottle, illness-everything was normal. Finally about 3:00am I gave up. I was completely zonked and Matti even giggled one time when I walked in her room. I finally realized I had to let her cry it out or I was not ever going to sleep again. I picked her up once last time, kiss her face, and told her it was time to go nite, nite. I put her back down and walked out of the room. Matthew was sitting up in our bed (you can see her bed from ours in her room) and I walked downstairs, turned on the TV monitor, went outside on the deck to drowned out the crying and watched her as she cried. The more she cried the more I cried. It was terrible. My heart was breaking. 45 minutes passed and finally Matti put her head down and fell asleep. I could not believe my eyes. Quiet. It is something I have not heard it a while. By then I was wide awake, but went back to bed. By 6:00am I knew there was no way I could work on Monday. My eyes were swollen and my head was pounding. Matti went to school and I slept pretty much all day on Monday. Matthew even came home from work early. The next two nights were wonderful. No night wakening at all. A couple of nights she did wake up and we did the cry it out method and she was asleep in twenty minutes with less crying and then this past Sunday night it took 10 minutes with a small amount of crying. Then tonight it took five minutes with about 2 minutes of crying. Wow, it really does work. She even sleeps later in the morning and takes longer naps during the day. She has been so pleasant. She is usually ill all day and rubbing her eyes. She has not been getting the sleep that she needs which was worrisome to me. Now I think our problem is solved for now. Cry it out really does work, but it is not for the faint of heart. It does suck!!!!!
Now onto milestones..
Matti has been really doing well eating her finger foods. She eats very ripe bananas pieces, carrots, peaches (cooked), apples (cooked), Cheerios, Puffs, etc. I am still having a hard time with the meats, but I am not worried. Feeding time has been fun. I can put food on her tray and she pretty much feeds herself. I usually clean the kitchen and have conversations with her. I still want feeding time to be special. I will usually sit down with her and show her how to do things. It is so fun to watch her as she learns more and more everyday. Her bottles have decreased to four, 8 ounce bottles a day, but she is still getting the 20-30 ounces that is recommended for her. She is a little over the average -32 ounces. She is a hungry girl. She has started eating three meals a day with a morning snack and afternoon snack. I also give her 2 ounces of apple juice mixed with water at lunch.
Matti is pulling up on everything. She has even started to "Cruise" a little this weekend. She really loves to explore the house now. She is such a ball of energy. She gets so excited sometimes she just squeals and almost jumps right out of my arms. She is also clapping and will dance if there is music on. It is so cute.
I am a little worried because I have witnessed her climbing into her toy box tonight and all I can think about is her climbing out of her crib. Boy, I am really paying the price now!!!! HA
Matti also loves to babble and carry on baby talk conversation. She says mama, dada, bye bye, and bah bah. Sometimes she even makes up her own baby sounds that really crack me up. She will run all these sounds together and you would think she was speaking a foriegn language. The funny thing is she will make eye contact when she is taking to you and expect you to anwser. She is so serious sometimes.
Bath time is now a hassle. I finally had to give up using the sling because Matti kept rolling over so now I put a little water in the tub and let her play. It is harder to wash her but at least her face is not in the water. She is going to be a little fish. It does not matter if I dump water on her head to rinse her hair it simply does not phase her.
We are finally getting teeth. I feel lumps on her bottle gum. She is gnawing on everything. I am wondering if she will get both bottom teeth at the same time. I guess we will see within the next few weeks.
Well all that said, I have one funny little Daycare story to tell. The other day I dropped Matti off and school and as I was putting her things away I saw her and another little boy named Abraham standing at another little girls crib (which that little girl was in her crib sleeping). Abraham kind of stood back, but Matti had pulled up on the crib, stuck her hand through the rail, and pulled the poor girls paci out of her mouth. Matti started chewing on it (Yuck) and Abraham looking all innocent just walked away with his head down like he knew they were going to be in trouble. I am sure I will get many calls from school about this child. She is already into mischief.
I have a few clips and pic's.



Relaxing at Nana's



Rough Day. Matti completely passed out while playing



Matti drinking out of her sippy cup

Phases

Okay so Matti has now entered the fussy phase. She is teething really bad, gets frustrated if things do not go her way, and has been moved up to the next class in school so she plays a lot harder. By the time she gets home from school she is so fussy. She will not take a nap longer than 30 minutes at a time. When I have her all day on the weekends I put her down at least four times a day just so she can have some rest, but at school there is too much going on and she cannot get any rest because she wants to play. Yesterday she had one ten minute nap. In her new class everyone crawls around. There are no entertainers, excersaucers, etc. There is a hugh toy box that the children crawl up to and pull out what they want to play with. This class is a little more structured as far as eating times, snacks, naps, etc. I am still trying to get used to the different teachers. They are great, but change will take some getting used to. I loved Matti's teachers before. Matti seems to be transitioned well. She has not cried, but has significantly deceased her bottles at school. She usually has 18 ounces of formula between 9:00am and 3:00pm and the past week she has ended up only have between 7 ounces and 10 ounces between those times. She is getting at least 24 ounces a day. She is taking an 8 ounce bottle at night and a 6 ounce bottle before school in the mornings. Of course, she has two meals a day that consist of fruit and oatmeal and then veggie and cereal at night. I am just concerned about her getting enough formula. We thought it may have been the class change, but they sent her over to her old teacher to try to feed her and she still was not interested so either it is the teething or she is just not hungry. As long as she gets the recommended amount of formula a day I will not worry.
I have been very nervous about giving Matti finger foods to try because of the fear of her choking. I have tried to give her finger foods a few times with various puffs and cut up pastas, but she was not interested. I went to pick her up at school yesterday and apparently she was stealing Cherrios from the other kids so they gave her a few and she ate them. She also took away a little boys graham cracker and tried to eat it herself. I guess I have been trying the wrong finger foods. I guess Cherrios will be a good start. I have to see this for myself this weekend.
Matti has improved drastically using the sippy cup. She has finally figured out to tilt the cup to get a drink from it. I usually give her a cup of water after school because she does not get another bottle until 7:30pm or so-right before bed. She mainly likes to teeth on the spout, but likes the cool water in her mouth.
She has starting sleeping through the night again, but is up at 5:00am sometimes. I guess I just have an early riser. She will usually go back to bed with me until 6:30am on the weekends if she is up that early or during the week I put her in the bed with Matthew and I and she will rest with Matthew while I get up at 6am to get ready for work.
Matti is becoming more and more social with other babies these days. It is so fun to watch her. Today when I dropped her off I put her down with two other little girls and she crawled over to them and starting swating hands with one of the little girls. They just giggled and cooed. It was so sweet. She is not shy and as for worrying about mama leaving-well she does not even watch me walk out the door when I say bye. She is too busy and having too much fun.

So Big.....

The other day I read Jenn's blog and she had a statement about how songs have a different meaning when you have a child. I completely agree. I was traveling to Winston to work last week and the song "Arms Wide Open" by Creed was playing. I have never really listened to the words, I just know I liked the song. As I was listening and singing along tears started streaming down my face. I thought of Matti and how much love I have for her. Sometimes I just sit at night and rock her knowing that if I put her down she would be off to sleep in her crib, but now that she is so mobile she does not want to cuddle as much so I just sit back enjoy watching her sleep, stoke her hair, kiss her face, and tell her how much mommy loves her. It is amazing how much love you can have for a child. She melts my heart!
Now on to less mushy things-
Matti has continued to keep Matthew and I busy by crawling. She wants to explore to whole house. We cannot keep her still now that she is mobile. We just follow her around and let her take it all in. Last night she was in the kitchen, sitting in the floor watching me make her bottles so I reached in the cabinet pulled out a old metal bowl and a wooden spoon. She really liked playing with those. She would bang the spoon on the bowl to make noise and then of course chew on the spoon for a while.
Here is a few clips of Matti crawling and exploring. A few were cut short due to keeping her safe from popping her head.


Matti decided to crawl through her Entertainer!






Matti has been pulling up on everything. You can even sometimes hear her straining to grunting to pull herself up. She is starting to also learn how to get back down without falling. We have had a few times where she has tumbled over and bumped her head or popped her mouth, but for the most part she has great balance.

Here is a clip of Matti playing in her toy box.



Matti still does not have any teeth, but she seems to be teething. She is drooling more, refusing more bottles, and tends to pull her ears a lot. I wondered about a earache, but she acts if everything is okay and does not seem sick. I read ear pulling is most of the time contributed to teething. Hopefully we will have some pearly whites soon. I cannot imagine what she will look like with teeth.
I really have never seen Matti interact with other children until yesterday when I dropped her off at school. Normally, when I take her in her class I put her in the entertainer, but since there were too many babies in her normal class I had to take her next door to the 9month - 1 year old class. Some of the children in there Matti knows from her class. Shana one of her friends was sitting quietly in the floor across the room. Matti noticed her right off and I put Matti on the floor she crawled straight over to Shana and started babbling, giggling, and patting Shana on the leg. Shana is not much of a morning person and looked and Matti and started crying. I picked Matti up and took her over to the toy box and let her choose a toy to play with so she would leave Shana alone. It was so cute to see her interact though. It made me tear up a little. My baby is growing up.

Here are a few pictures.
Nana and papa built Matti a swing-it really puts her to sleep!!! I guess mommy and daddy will have to put one up for her

Here is another pic of Matti and her fuzzy friends!

Matti peaking out the window at Dada mowing the yard!

Standing up

There are a few things I forgot to mention in my last blog post. Mattison does so many things I cannot keep up with everything.
A funny story-I was getting Mattison ready for bed on Saturday night and I always get her dressed on her changing table, which by the way is getting very hard to do these days. She is constantly squirming, rolling over, and trying her best to play with the Vaseline, wipes, or whatever she can get her little hands on. I have tried giving her toys, but they do not seem to work she usually ends up throwing them in the floor and then rolls back over toward the wipes, Vaseline, etc. She wants everything she is not supposed to have. I always put Vaseline on her bottom at night to keep her butt dry and once I apply it I have literally seconds to get her diaper on or she will roll over. I must not have put the lid on the Vaseline very well because she evidently stuck her hand in the Vaseline and proceeded to rub her hair. She was so quick and I was concentrating so hard on getting that diaper on I did not notice. She tends to rub her eyes and her hair when she is very sleepy. She did not look any different to me because she had just had a bath and her hair was still damp, but already combed. On Sunday morning when I reached down to pick her up I noticed her hair looked wet, but with further inspection I realized it was caked with Vaseline. She looked like a greaser all day on Sunday. It was really kind of funny. I wish now I had taken a picture.
Also, on Saturday morning I noticed music coming from Mattison's room about 7:00am. I went in to check on her and get her up for a bottle and realized she had figured out how to cut her Lights and Motion Jungle crib attachment on all by herself. Now, she does this every morning while she waits on Mommy to wake up. (I think she has done this by accident, but I have showed her for several months how to cut it on by pressing the bird).
Now on to more recent news. I picked Mattison up from school yesterday and the teacher said that she pulled up in her crib. They watched her grunt and grimace until she was up and then she started shaking back and forth rattling the crib squealing Maaamaaaa. They usually put her in her crib when she gets sleepy and she will usually put herself to sleep, but now that she is standing up she only wants to stand and does not want a nap. They do not have time at daycare to rock her down (I do that at home to get her down for nap) so they are going to have a time with her. Last night I had to put her to bed around 7:30pm because she just acted so sleepy. She slept fine until 1:15am and I heard her crying mama and she sounded very close to the monitor so I went to check on her and she was standing up looking around her room. I had to rock her back to sleep which took about five minutes, I then put her back down and she slept the rest of the night.

My Daughter the Vegan!

Well, as the title shows I think Matti will be a strict vegan for a while. I have posted in the past that she has eaten everything I have offered to her as far as veggies, fruits, cereals, and oatmeal. Well, we tried giving Matti stage II turkey, which to me smelled like dog food fresh out of the can, and she gagged! I would have gagged too. I tasted it and it was okay, but the smell was horrible. I tried to give her another bite to make sure she did not want the turkey and she gagged before I could even get it to her mouth. She had a serious YUCK face going on. She will not get anymore meat for a while. I will just stick with veggies, fruits, and cereals. If she ends up not liking meat she will be the first Marion child I know that does not like a big thick juicy steak!
In other news, Matti has started trying to pull up on everything. I thought that was not supposed to happen for a while. Crawling/scooting around lately has been terrifying enough, following her around to make sure she does not get into anything she is not supposed to. Trust me, toys do not interest her at all. Shoes, carpet fuzz, hair, Daddy's big screen, photo albums, and toy box, but not the toys.
She is already a handful and we are just beginning.
Sleeping has gotten much better. She is asleep by 8:00pm and does not get up until 6:00-6:30am. No more late night wake up calls for now. We anticipate this will not last.
I am posting a short video of Mattison pulling up on her father without any assistance, just a safety net.
Hope you enjoy!

7 Months Old

It is hard to believe that I have survived seven months of motherhood! I absolutely love being a mother and it makes things even more wonderful because I was so blessed with a sweet (and I have to say) beautiful daughter!
Matti has been pretty much by the book on all of her milestones. There is not on thing she is lagging behind on. She is pretty much a "text book" baby. If she is not doing something one week by the time I read about it on Sunday night in my "Week by Week" baby book, she seems to perform that task a few days later leaving me with my mouth wide open in shock.
She is such a busybody. I have been told by Matti's teachers that she is quite fond of the NEW baby boy in her class. I guess you could say she has her first boyfriend. She smiles at him a lot and always wants his paci and wants to rub his little head. Oh mercy, we are in trouble already. She must get that flirty side from her dad (HA). She is now waiting to move up into the 6-12month class at school and I am really going to miss the teachers she has right now. I hope a spot does not open anytime soon. Matti rules the roost in the class she is in right now because she is at least a month older than her fellow classmates.
Finally the past couple of nights Matti has made it through the night without waking after midnight. Last night she only woke up twice (once around 10:30am and again around midnight) to find herself trying to sit up and she could not figure out how to lie back down. I went in her room to find her partially sitting with her eyes closed, crying. All it took was a hug and about a minute in the rocking chair and she was fast asleep. I did however buy a cheaper, but more absorbent brand of diapers trying to find one that would keep her clothes dry all night and Huggies no leaks are wonderful! She has not been wet the past two mornings.
I have to tell you one more thing before today that I find so amusing and it is something that must be video taped to prove how funny this actually is. Matti is so determined to stay awake at night that after her bath, rub down with lotion, soft sleep music in the background, and bottle Matti starts rolling her head (Very Fast), kicking her legs, almost singing mmmmmaaaammmmmaaammmmmaaa and baaabaaabaaa, and in the middle of all that she will screech really loud trying to keep herself awake. I end up getting so tickled at her I have tears running down my face I am laughing so hard. The whole time she is doing this she is looking up at me like touching my face, clinching one hand inside the other while throwing her arms up and down, and bowing her back. Most of the time I keep rocking and ignore her or if it gets really bad I just smile and tell her other babies are going nite nite too and it is time for Matti to go Nite Nite as I laugh harder under my breath. She does this for exactly five minutes each night (I have actually timed it a couple of times) and all the sudden she passes out cold with no movement or mumbling. Limp as a dish rag! She is going to be something else to put to bed as a toddler I am sure. I will have to get in shape because I having a feeling "bed protesting temper tantrums" somewhere in her future. (That will also be a trait she inherited from her father) HA!
Matti is the light of my life and is so full of energy-I hope this old mom can keep up with her as she grows. She has already taught me so much about myself and made me a stronger person. I hope I can be a good roll model for her and someone she will look up to as much as I look up to my mother.

Seperation Anxiety or Teething?

Where to begin. Lets see- Matti will be seven months old on Thursday.
Matti has been such a good sleeper up until last Tuesday. We have been up and down with her every night for a week now. It is just like it was when she was a newborn. She usually goes down around 8:00pm every night with little problems and usually she sleeps until I wake her up the next morning for a feeding which is around 6:00-6:30am. (I am really spoiled) Last Tuesday night Mattison woke up several times. The first time she was completely soaked by 11:30pm and we had to change her diaper and clothes. Luckily her bed was not wet. Then she woke up several times just crying. This went on for several nights. This past Thursday night Matti woke up wet again and crying. She would not go back to sleep. I rocked her, fed her, changed her diaper, -we tried EVERYTHING she would not go back down. Finally around 4:00am I put her in the guestroom with me so I could get some sleep before work on Friday. We at first thought she might be teething because she has been drooling a lot lately and biting hard on everything, but still no teeth and quite frankly I do not even feel anything on her gums. Matthew says he does, but I have yet to see a glimmer of white. Last night, Matti woke up again around 12:30am and I fought with her for thirty minutes. She was swinging her arms, swatting at my face, rolling her head back and forth, and crying really loud (It was not a cry of pain). I was too exhausted to fight her anymore so I took her straight to Matthew while I made a bottle. I ended up not even giving her the bottle and just put her down beside me in the guestroom bed and fast asleep she was. I do not like sleeping with her, especially now that she can crawl around, for fear she will fall off the bed or I will roll over on her. What happened to that baby who slept through the night?
I can tell you that she is trying to crawl on her knees more now and she is starting to pull herself up into a sitting position. I discovered she could sit herself up by placing her in her crib on her back while I checked on laundry and I heard her laughing and cooing. I looked around the corner to find her sitting up swinging her arms around and laughing! She was so proud of herself. I was in complete shock. She just learned how to sit unassisted two weeks ago. How could this be?
She also has learned to blow raspberries which she does constantly. She blows them so much we constantly have to wipe off her chin. Since she has learned to do so many things we are wondering if she is trying to practice them in her sleep and it eventually wakes her up. She was really good at soothing herself back to sleep, but here lately that is not the case. Sometimes we find her on her knees face down sleeping like she is "sleep crawling". All I really know is that Matthew and I are exhausted! I guess you do pay for your raisin as the old saying goes. HA. This leads to me think, okay, is my child teething, having separation anxiety, or too busy learning so many things she cannot sleep, or all of the above? I still cannot let her cry it out! I remember being scared as a child and that feeling is horrible so I do not want Matti to feel that way right now. I just want to hold her, rock her, kiss her little head, and hear her breathing against my chest. The selfish me wants my eight hours of sleep at night, but who can resist the sweet little face of a baby looking at them just wanting to be held and protected. AWWWWWW I am a sucker!
There is not much news to report other than Matti learning to get in a sitting position by herself.
We did however put her in her blow up pool on Sunday. She had a great time playing. She did topple over once and her face went completely under, but it did not phase her one bit. You have to really watch her because she tends to do this in the bath tub trying to get a toy or just drink the water. I have to be very careful with that. We cannot take our eyes off of her. I am happy though that she is not scared of going under. I was such a fish I am hoping she is the same way. We might just have a little swimmer on our hands, who knows!
I have a few pictures and one clip of her in the pool.

Busy Matti

We had a wonderful 4th of July in the mountains. We arrived on Friday evening just in time to see some fireworks. Matti actually got to see them for the first time. It was beautiful. She acted so interested in them.
On Saturday we had planned on going to Grandfather Mountain, but it ended up raining and storming all day so we stayed indoors and caught up on some rest and relaxation. Matt's Dad, sister, her fiancé, and his boys met us on Saturday evening. We grilled out steaks, which were great and just hung out. Matti showed off her scooting/crawling skills for us. We were amazed. We did not realize she had gotten so good at it over the course of the week. She is also sitting much better and longer unassisted, and mumbling Mama all the time. I feel like we miss so much because we do not see her during the day. On Sunday, it rained and stormed all day so we napped and watched the Tennis tournament. It is almost a ritual for Matthew who has watched the tennis tournament in the Mountains over the 4th for several years now. It was hard for us, especially Matthew to leave on Sunday night. It was an end to an era for him and his sister. They spent many great memorable times there and I know it was hard on them. I know Matthew was happy he got to take Matti and show her around.
Matti has really started doing a lot over the past few weeks including sitting well, crawling/scooting, mumbling a lot of different sounds-such as Mama, ba, and sometimes she will throw a da in there. Dada is ready for that. She is squealing more and seems to get really excited when Matthew or I pick her up. She gets so excited that she almost flips right out of our arms. She is just a little mess and is already getting into everything. Matthew and I have said “No, that is not for Matti to play with” over and over a million times and she goes right back to getting into sticky situations. I guess it is time to baby proof the house.
I have been so emotional about the whole thing. I got an email from the Baby Gap with the cutest little girl in pj’s smiling in an ad, which made me realize that my baby is not such a baby anymore. She is growing up so fast. I ended up shedding a tear or two.
Also I am posting a picture of a portrait that Matthew's Mother did of Mattison. It is gorgeous. It is so special to Matthew and I and I know Mattison will treasure it always.
Here are a few clips and a pic of the portrait.

Happy 4th!

A quick post to wish everyone a Happy Fourth of July. We are headed to the mountains this weekend for rest and relaxation. We are hoping to take Matti to Grandfather Mountain if the weather holds up.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

Tryptophan

Okay, question-Does rice cereal and green peas contain Tryptophan? I have a great video of Matti eating her rice cereal and green peas on Thursday night. Check this out:


I was laughing so hard I was crying. Poor little thing.

Energizer Bunny!!!!!

Matti usually sleeps through the night with no problem, but this weekend was another story.
Matti has learned to do so many things that when it is time for bed and I know she is completely exhausted she will sleep for an hour and wake up scooting around in her bed crying. Saturday night and Sunday night were long nights. It reminded me of when she was a newborn all over again. She just could not get settled, but she was so tired as soon as I would pick her up she would fall back asleep only to wake up an hour later doing the same thing. It is almost like her body just does not want to stop practicing. I am hoping since she returned to school today that she will be tired enough to sleep tonight. Mommy is exhausted.
Otherwise, Matti has been wide open since Saturday morning. Screeching and squealing and laughing at everything. She is constantly making noise. When we try to get it on video she completely freezes. I will have to sneak up on her and catch her in the act so I can post her babbling. Matthew and I were just amazed at how much energy she has. It is non-stop. All we can do is laugh and giggle at her.
I have a video of her on all fours trying to crawl which is now a little out dated and I just took it on Friday. She is now trying her best to lunge forward and has done it on several occasions. Matthew watched her on Sunday while I got a shower and he said that she pushed herself up into a tripod seated position, but quickly toppled over. She is just doing things to fast!
One of the videos I took had me cracking up. I put Matti in her crib so I could get her trash out and clean up her room a little. I walked out of her room for a second to put the trash outside her door and when I walked back in she had pulled her bumper pad down and was peeking through the bars on the crib smiling. I quickly ran and got the camera as I was laughing hysterically and caught it the second time around.
I hope you enjoy. I hope to get more little clips to post for you soon.

6 Months Old

We have been really slack updating the blog. We hope to be better at updating because so much is happening right now. We have been so busy the past month I will do my best to catch you up.
Matti turned six months old on June 17th and has really started to show her little personality and has learned how to do many things.
We will start off with Matti's six month doctors appointment. Matti weighed in at 16 pounds and 12 ounces and 26 inches long. She got a clean bill of health, has a tooth that is about to erupt, and of course had her immunizations, which she cried so hard she got the "snubs" as nana Hawks would call them. I felt so sorry for her. It took a few minutes before we could even leave the exam room. When I would put her back on the table to dress her she would scream so I ended up putting her outfit on the best I could. It was not even buttoned. She finally calmed down once we left the office and we ended up having a great night. No pain or problems.
Since we returned from the beach a couple of weeks ago we really needed to start Matti on a bed time routine, which we sort of had a bedtime routine (bath, massage, bottle downstairs, sleep in bouncy seat until 10:30pm, bottle, then crib), but things have changed as far as her feedings since she started eating veggies and cereal. Cereal and Veggies seem to really fill her up so we lost the 10:30pm bottle feeding which has been wonderful. Now Matti's routine consists of cereal and veggie, bath, massage with lotion, bottle, then bed by 8:15pm. Matti has slept from 8:15pm until 6:00am every night since this routine was started. WOW!!! What a difference.
As far as eating is concerned we started her on cereal about a month ago and kept her on just cereal until she got the hang of eating then we incorporated veggies one at a time, and then fruit. She was eating one meal a day until we went to the beach. We started her on two meals one cereal and fruit in morning and then cereal and veggie at night for dinner. This seemed to fill her up. She had started staring people down as they would eat so I knew it was time to feed her more. We have not found any food that she does not like. We have fed her peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, squash, bananas, apple sauce, and peaches. Matti is also up from 5 ounces of formula a feeding to 6 ounces.
Aunt Pam, also advised us to start using a sippy cup with her. I thought she was way too young, but she took to that as well. (Thanks Aunt Pam) She now gets water with dinner (just a few practice sips) and on very hot days when she seems thirsty. We allow her to play around with it from time to time to practice or to gum on the rubber spout.
As far as milestones are concerned Matti has mastered rolling all over the place to get to where she needs to be. She started that the first few days home from the beach. She often will get stuck under the coffee table and she has figured out how to get out from under it by rolling and rolling. Also a big milestone that caused me to have "tears" is my little girly is starting to not only scoot, but she is up on her hands and knees rocking back and forth squealing and laughing now. I will do my best to get this on video ASAP! It is the cutest thing ever. She looks as if she is so proud of herself so we clap for her and the more we clap and cheer the more excited she gets and the faster she rocks!
On our family vacation to the beach was wonderful. We had such a great time visiting with family members, Matti meeting her new cousins, and getting reacquainted with family members she already knows. I was so excited about this years trip because of not only seeing the whole family, but Matti was able to get in the pool. I think she loved it. She kicked and splashed. She must have had deja vu of being in the womb because she actually looked like she was swimming. We had wonderful weather! I believe this was the best beach trip ever for me so far. All the little ones reminded me of when Jenn, Donna, and I were all little at the beach. I will have to dig up an old photo. Now our kids are all around the same age and get to experience the great times we had. Next year will even be better. Only 338 more day and counting. HA.
In other news, Matti's Aunt Erika (Matthew's sister) got engaged while we were at the beach and also celebrated her 40th Birthday. Congrats Erika and Kent. Matti is looking forward to having a Uncle and more cousins. We love you both!
I will post some beach pictures and I have a couple of pic's of Erika that I will post.
Hopefully I will have a video of Matti on all fours in a couple of days.

5 Months Old

Oh, how time flies! I cannot believe my baby is 5 months old already. I compared her newborn picture to her pictures now and I cannot believe how much she has grown in just a few months.
We had a great weekend. I put together Mattison's jogging stroller (she looks so tiny in it)which I intend to use to start walking again. I think Mattison will really enjoy being outdoors. I have been worried about all the pollen, but we have had a lot of rain lately so may be it is not so bad now.
Mattison is really starting to show her personality more everyday. I have a basket that I have been putting all her toys in and now when I put her in the floor she will automatically roll over, reach out, and grab whichever toy she wants. I try moving the basket away from her to watch her reaction and she gets frustrated trying to reach out and will pull her legs underneath her like she is going to crawl, but then she just ends up putting her face in the blanket and turns red in the face. Any day now I am expecting a scoot or may be a crawl.
Mattison also enjoys being very vocal if she is in her exersaucer or bouncy seat. I really think she likes the sound of her voice because it gets louder and louder.
She has a range of emotions now. Happy one minute and mad/frustrated if things do not work out her way. (Wonder who she gets that from). It is so fun to observe her and watch her play and study different toys and graze at her surroundings. She is so interested in everything around her.
Last night, was the first night in a long time that I did not get any sleep. Mattison was up all night long. She was not crying, but just wanted to play. She woke me up around midnight and of course I picked her up, changed her and rocked her back to sleep. As soon as I put her down her eyes opened and she had a big grin on her face. She started kicking and babbling loudly. I left her alone and went back to bed only to hear her crying so I repeated the same action-rock until she is limp and put her back to bed. Again this did not work. Time after time I was getting a little frustrated so I decided to feed her. She took in five ounces and was sleeping so hard her whole body was limp again. Still no success. She woke up as soon as I put her down. Finally around 4:00am she decided she had enough and dosed off. I forgot how hard it is to stay up with a baby. Working today has not been that easy with no sleep. It was okay when I was out on maternity leave. I could just nap during the day.
I am posting some pictures of Mattison I took over the weekend. I have also posted a picture of her when she was just a few minutes old so you can compare the change.

Updates

Mattison has suffered through her first cold. She has been sick for a couple of weeks and has had a persistent cough that sounds horrible. I took her to the doctor yesterday to make sure that there wasn't anything else going on as a precaution. The doctor got her weight which is now 15 pounds 3 ounces and checked her from head to toe. She coughed for him a few times (which I wanted him to hear how horrible it sounded). He said that she was very healthy. Heart, lungs, ears, nose and throat looked and sounded great. He asked me if she was in Daycare and for how long. I told him she has been in daycare for almost three months now. He looked at me and said "she has what I call Kennel cough". I know I had a puzzled look on my face when he said that, but he stated it is a cough that just has to go away on its own. Kennel cough is usually what dogs can get when they are boarded so I guess there is really no medical term for babies who have a cough that they pick up in daycare. Matti now seems to be feeling better and did not cough as much last night, which was a relief to me. I did notice almost all the babies in her class yesterday were coughing as much as Matti, but I still wanted to get it checked.
Other news, Matti has started saying Mama. Matthew and I thought it was just when she was crying it sounded a lot like Mama, until I woke her up on Monday morning to fed and change her. She was on the changing table and I was talking to her, telling her good morning sunshine and she whispered Mama. I know she does not realize that I am Mama, but I was shocked it happened so soon. Ms. Maynrose and Ms. Pansy her daycare teachers said she said Mama a couple of times yesterday. I had tears in my eyes. Things are going to fast-
Matti has started eating two tablespoons of cereal at night and really seems to like it. I have been working with her for a couple of weeks and we now have the hang of it. She likes to rake it off the spoon into her mouth and then smear it all over her face. She just opens that mouth and smacks her lips. By the time we go to the beach I will try her on a veggie, because I will have time to establish another feeding routine to suite her needs.
Well, the beach is fast approaching (15 more days) and we are so excited to see all of the new babies that have come into our lives since last years trip. It is going to be a blast!

Attachment to yesterdays post

I meant to post this yesterday and I forgot. Here is a short clip of Matti playing in her new toy.
Enjoy!

Weekend Fun

We finally got a chance to be at home on a very nice weekend. Matthew and I got a lot of house work done and Matti got a new toy. We have all been sneezing and sniffling due to the pollen so we decided not to take Matti outdoors to the park yet. She has been a little stuffy as well.
We bought her a activity center. Matti has one at school she loves to play in so I figured I could get more house work done if she was entertained and learning in the process. I have posted a picture of it. She loves it.
On Saturday morning I walked in Matti's room to find her sleep on her belly. I guess she rolled over sometime during the night. Then, on Sunday morning I walked in to find her asleep on her belly again. I was a little freaked out, but I read a lot about SIDS and when they can roll over the risk is greatly reduced. I am still not sure whether I should take her bumper pads out of the bed or not. I have posted a picture of her on her belly during a nap. I fed her and rocked her to put her down for nap and she automatically rolled right over.
We are so excited about our upcoming beach trip and I look forward to spending time with the family and all these babies.
I have posted a few pictures: Matti's new bathing suit and sunglasses, her new toy, and a outfit that Uncle Scotty bought her to wear. It makes her eyes look so blue.

Updates

It has been a while since we last posted. We have been out of town the past two weekends visiting with relatives. Matti got to visit with her Aunt and grandparents from Hickory and then we were off to Mount Airy where she visited with the Seivers family and the Hawks family. I have to say she was very well behaved.

Mattison has been very busy rolling over from back to front and loves being on her belly. Daycare says she usually naps on her belly now which is very good for her because of the flat spot on the back of her head. We had a couple of nights where we had to get up with her because she had rolled over on her belly in the crib and started crying. I felt like she was a newborn again, but I found if I rock her to sleep and put her down on her back asleep she will not roll over. I will not be as worried about her rolling over when she is a little older. I still feel like she is too little, but then again when she is on her belly she pulls those legs underneath her and tries so hard to move forward to reach for things so she is definitely stronger than what I think she is.
She has also learned how to get our attention by coughing a fake cough. She will squeal and cough until we look at her and then she will grin really big. I think she has learned this new trick from her friend Shana who loves to get attention from people. I guess you can say we have a little "Drama Queen" on our hands. Wonder who she gets that from? HA
I am still very excited about our daycare. Matti really seems to enjoy herself and has definitely hit a lot of milestones early. They have started putting her in an entertainer to sit up and play. The other day I went to pick her up and she was playing in the entertainer. She looked up at me and smiled and looked back down to play as if she did not want me to take her away.
It is so sweet taking Matti into her classroom in the mornings because she looks down at the little 6 month olds who are rolling around on the rug and she just smiles at each of them. She knows that they are her friends.
One of Matti's teachers has been teaching her Spanish already by reading books and singing songs to her. I am so excited about it. Matthew and I love the fact that this daycare really works with the children by reading, singing, doing projects, and they have outings that are educational for the kids. Of course, Matti is not able to participate in a lot of the activities yet, but in a couple of years she will get to plant her own garden, learn about animals, take tiny tumblers, Spanish, computer class, math class, and all sorts of things. We get a flyer at the beginning of every month telling us what will be studied for that particular month.
This month the four year olds have a pretend vets office set up where they are learning about domestic animals. It even has a examination room and pet spa so they can act out how a real vets office runs. It is just amazing to me what children learn now. When I was in preschool all I remember doing was playing in the gym or outdoors and learning a few songs along with my ABC's.
We are expecting to remain at home this weekend. It is supposed to be a beautiful weekend so I hope to stroll Matti to the park. I hope to have some pictures to share.

Matti and Daddy Playing

Here is a short clip of Matti and Daddy playing after school.

Preschool

When I dropped Matti off at school this morning her teacher told me that Matti kept rolling over unassisted from back to front in her crib all day yesterday. They would turn her back over on her back, but she would just roll back over on her tummy. I had to sign a release form this morning stating now that she can roll over they will put her in her crib on her back, but if she rolls over to her tummy they will not turn her back over (unless she has a problem). They said that she slept for two hours at nap time on her belly and seemed to like being on her belly. This is exactly what needs to happen in order for her head to develop properly. The flat spot actually does not look as bad as it did a few months ago.
Also, Matti has made a new friend at school. A little nine month old in her class has befriended her. They play in the floor and they say Matti imitates her actions. They coo and babble to each other during play time. They even held hands and feet for a while. It made me so happy that she is so sociable. I almost shed a tear of joy when I picked her up and the little girl waved and said bye-bye to Matti as we walked out the door. As much as I wanted to stay home with Matti I feel that school has become very important in her development. I am glad I toughed it out and found a great daycare for her. The teachers are wonderful and seemed to be very concerned about her well being.

Four Month Check Up

It is hard to believe Mattison is four months old. We have been very busy as usually over the past few weeks so we will sum it up for you.
Mattison and I visited with Donna, Chris, Aidan, and baby Emma on Saturday April 12th. Auntie Debby stopped by for a visit as well. I hope Matti and Emma are as close as Donna and I. We had a great time catching up. On Saturday night Mattison starting whining a lot which is unusual for her and she felt warm, but no enough for me to think she had a fever. Mattison was up a few times during the night which is also unusual for her. She has been sleeping through the night since she was eight weeks old.
On Sunday, April 13th she was fussy all day and I thought she might have started teething since she is constantly chewing on everything so I soothed her the best I could and let it go. On Sunday evening we noticed Matti had blisters on her hands and feet and a rash on her little butt. I really did not know what to think since she constantly sucks her hands and feet. On Monday I figured out my child had been sick all weekend and I did not even know it. She had hand, foot, and mouth disease that almost all kids get in daycare so by the time I figured out she was ill she was already getting better. I felt like a terrible mother not giving her any pain medication because from what I understand it makes their little throats very sore. Mattison has recuperated from that and seems to be back to herself again.
She has become more vocal everyday squealing and cooing at her mobiles and different toys. She has also started "swimming" when on her tummy. She tries to scoot to toys and loves to roll over with assistance from back to front and front to back. She is also started to chuckle a little more at Matthew and I, but still has not really belly laughed yet. She tries to hard to talk to us when we talk to her. She has also gone from four ounces of formula to five ounces of formula at feeding time. I think she is starting to go through another growth spurt.
Mattison is also becoming more aware of people that she does not see everyday. She is starting to cry with her grandparents, but I am trying hard to show pictures of family members and talk to her about all her relatives, but I know this is a phase that all children go through and eventually she will figure out who is family.
On Friday, April 18th Mattison had her four month doctor check up. Mattison is up to 14 pounds and 8 ounces and is 25 inches long. The doctor said she looks great. We have still been worried about her little head still being flat on one side, but it has not got any worse since our last visit and her doctor still says she will be fine and eventually when she starts to sit up more it will round itself out again. The daycare rotates her from back to tummy and she plays in a bouncy seat a lot more which I think takes the presser off her head. She also received four shots and an oral vaccine. She was such a champ. She only cried while getting the shots and as soon as they were over she stopped crying.
Also the doctor went over starting cereal and solid foods with us. I still do not think Matti is ready for solids yet so I will wait for a few more weeks. She is starting to watch us eat our food and seems very interested in what we are doing which is a sign that she might be ready, but she is still a little unsteady when sitting up with assistance. She is too squirmy in a seated position right now. We will definitely capture that on video for all to view.
On Friday night we traveled to Hickory to see Matt's sister and parents. We had a wonderful day shopping on Saturday. Mattison was such a good sport. We shopped for nearly six hours and she just rode around in her stroller and did not make a peep. I bought her a few cute things to wear to daycare and Erika bought her the cutest pairs of capri pants with a matching top by Oshkosh. I cannot wait to see her in them.
I have a clip of her first bath the "old fashioned way" in Erikas sink. It was so cute. I forgot her bath sling and did not trust bathing her in the tub because she gets so slippery so I decided to bath her in the sink.
I hope to post more often as things progress with Matti. She is such a great baby. She changes more and more everyday.

4 Months Old

It has been a over a week since my last post. I have been very busy playing and sleeping. My mom has been impressed with me on my tummy. I enjoy it more and more everyday. I have been practicing rolling over from back to front and front to back. Mommy usually helps me along and is trying to teach me how to do it. I think it is funny rolling around on the floor.
I have also enjoying playing with my feet and toes. I try hard to get them in my mouth, but I cannot quite get them in there yet.
I also suck my fingers constantly when I am sleepy and suck both hands when I am hungry.
I also love to stick my tongue out and lick anything I can get my hands on. When mom gives me a bath and washes my face I try to eat the washcloth and then when she rinses me off I try to drink the water. I am sure I will be a hearty eater like the Marion's when it is time to start cereal.
I am just into everything. I love to study books, look at pictures, play with my mobile toys, and listen to music.
I am starting to babble a lot and try to mimic what my parents say or do. I am especially a chatter box after school. I have conversations with mom and dad every morning before school and every evening after school. I am also very vocal about my toys. I like to squeal with delight at them. I usually catch my parents off guard when I do this and they look at me with amazement.
Mom and Dad bought me a pretty pink bouncy seat and I love it. It plays music when I kick and it has cute toys hanging across the bar for me to play with.
I am changing more and more everyday. I do new things and my parents just laugh and giggle at me.
I have a few random videos of me in my new bouncy seat and on my tummy.

Matti Laughing

Today was a big day for everyone. Mommy had a birthday, my new cousin/playmate Emma Katherine (she was a whopping 10 pounds) was born, and I decided to laugh out loud. I thought mommy's birthday balloon was funny.
I had a busy day at school. My teacher read a book of nursery rhymes to me while I was waiting for mommy to pick me up. The teacher was very animated. I listened and grinned as she read the book and acted out some of the parts.
I also really like the "Cow jumped over the moon" murial on the wall in my classroom. It also made me smile this morning. So I guess you can say "I had a good day"!
Mom and Dad are so silly sometimes. They try so hard to make me laugh and all it took was a balloon on a string to do the trick.
Here is a clip of me laughing this evening.

Is Mattison Rolling Over?

The past few days I have noticed Mattison rocking and rolling around on her back. I decided to get my video camera just in case and captured her rolling from back to stomach which is backwards from what she should be doing, which is just fine. It makes me a little nervous watching her do this because she still does not know how to lift her head once she is over so I am afraid she will do this at night and get in a jam that she cannot get out of, but on the other hand this is the only way she can learn to roll from back to front and front to back. I have attached a video of this for all to see. Please ignore the commentary-I am a nervous mother and do not want her to smother!!! HA.
Mattison is really enjoying Preschool. She smiles at her teachers every morning and is worn completely out in the evening when we get home. When I picked her up yesterday she was sitting in a bouncy seat with another baby beside her and they were playing, kicking, and doing a lot of cooing! I am so proud of her. She is such an angel.
We have finally settled into a routine and as hard as it was to go back to work, Mattison has adapted well and has made this transition much easier on us!

Mattison Grace has arrived.

My name is Mattison Grace Newton. I was born December 17, 2007. I was 8 Pounds and 2 Ounces and 20 inches long. I was born at 9:24am on a Monday morning.
Let me updated you on what has been going on in my life since I was born.
I am three months old now. I have grown so much over the past few months.
Everyone thinks I am a mixture of my parents. I am not sure who I look like the most. My Nanna thinks I look just like her!
I have discovered my feet and hands the past few weeks and I love to put them in my mouth. I have finally starting liking tummy time a little, but I get aggravated when I cannot get my hands on a toy that may be out of reach.
Yesterday was my first day of school. Mommy and Daddy both dropped me off. We all wanted to cry. I received a great report card at the end of the day and my teachers call me Princess.
This morning while mommy was getting me ready for my second big day of school I decided it was time to laugh out loud for her. My cousin Donna gave me a bright pink pull toy dog that I love. I do not go anywhere without him. I reached out to pull him and it was funny so I decided to laugh. Mommy had tears and just kissed my face.
I am so glad Mommy decided to start a blog for me since all of my cousins are already one step ahead. I have a cousin Carter who was born in January and my cousin Emma should be here by next week. I am looking forward to sharing a lot of memories with them.