Videos

I have not posted anything in a while. Matti has changed so much over the past few months. She is really talking a lot and making some complete sentances as well as still saying a lot of things I still do not understand. She is definitely a little girl now and I miss that baby so much. She is so independent. She wants to do everything by herself. We started having some sleep issues again. For a while she was waking up having nightmares and talking about monsters, but that has seemed to stop for now. She was waking up several times at night calling me for. Finally she has started sleeping through the night again, but calls me to her room several times before she falls asleep.
I signed her up for a gymnastics class through daycare that is on Mondays and she absolutely loves it. She loves to dance around the house. She especially loves to listen to music, sing, and a combo of playing her piano and sing. I think I just may have a little actress on my hands. She loves to tell me she is a "Rina" (Ballirina) and she will run around the house kicking her leg in the air with her tutu on.

Here are a few videos of Matti over the past few weeks.

Playing Piano and singing



Matti playing in the snow this past weekend



Matti dancing around in her tutu she got for Christmas from her Auntie Jenn...she loves it

First kiss

Well, it has already started Mattison received her first kiss from a little boy on her preschool class. I went to pick her up and her little friend Colin came over to give her a goodbye hug. He grabbed her and hugged her tight and planted a big kiss on her cheek
Mattison looked surprised and I felt my heart melt. It was so sweet, but she is growing up way too fast!

2nd Birthday Party Hello Kitty Style

The past few weeks have been a little crazy so I have not been able to post.
Mattison had her 2nd Birthday party this past Saturday. She was so excited. I almost believe she knew it was a party for her. We told her all week that she was going to be having a Hello Kitty party on Saturday. We explained to her about birthdays and sang Happy Birthday to Mattison for a few days to get her used to the idea. She woke up very early on Saturday morning. She seemed very excited when she woke up like she knew something was going to take place. I had the house decorated with Hello Kitty decorations and once I picked up her cake and she laid eyes on it she said "Mattison's Hello Kitties firfday cake". She wanted to eat it right then. I had to tell her we had to wait for every body to come. She then relpied "Every body comin, eat cake". It was too funny. She sat at the table and stared at the cake for a long time.
Once people started to arrive she was a little shy in the beginning, but once Emma and Aidan came the party started for her. She played harder than ever. She loves when other kids are around to play with.
The party went smoothly and we managed not to have any meltdowns considering Mattison takes a nap EVERY DAY at 12:00pm, but I could tell she was running on fumes. They had pigs in a blanket and fruit salad for lunch and then Hello Kitty Birthday Cake with ice cream. Mattison even blew out her birthday candle by herself.
When we sang Happy Birthday to Mattison as she stood in a chair and smiled the entire time. After cake and ice cream we opened way many gifts. Mattison seemed to know what she was doing opening her gifts. It was so funny watching her open toys and opposed to clothes. All kids are interested when they receive toys, but when they open clothes they just toss them to the side. I could not help but giggle. I remember doing the same thing when I was young. She would grab and open her presents herself. She got a lot of neat gifts. She received a Hallmark "Twas the Night Before Christmas" book from her Papa Hawks who read the book on a recording of his voice. She loved it. She also received several Dr. Suess books and Hello Kitty coloring book from her Grandmommy Newton which we have really enjoyed. Her Aunt Debby and Cousin Jenn got her a baby doll and a whole bunch of cookware/bake ware for her kitchen which she has also enjoyed. Aunt Kiki and Uncle Kent got her the cutest Hello Kitty Suitcase with little trinkets inside which really fascinated her it also included hat, mittens, and some socks which are adorable. She is so girly these days. Papa David got her a Swingin with Snoopy 2009, which was really cute and she put it in her room to play with. Aunt Pam and Uncle Scott got her a really cute Pink Adias Jogging suit. It is precious. Nene and Papa also bought her a Carolina Cheer leading Uniform and Carolina Jogging suit of course her Daddy loves that! They were also precious. Her cousins Emma and Aidan and Auntie Donna got her a lot of Hello Kitty sticker, coloring book, Hair bows, necklace and ring, etc. She loves all of those and has tucked them away in her Hello Kitty Suitcase. Nana and Papa Marion got her a baby stroller and some coloring/activity books, some flash cards, etc. She received so much that I know I am forgetting to mention things, but Matthew helped her open gifts as I tried to take pictures so I had difficulty finding out who got her what. Matthew and I almost forgot to give her our present until some people had already left the party. I felt horrible we did not bring it down until the party was over, but we got her a children's easel so she could draw, color, and paint. She seemed to like it.
By bedtime she was so wore out she made it through her bath but as soon as she got her PJ's on and crawled up in my lap to read I made it through two pages of on of her new books and when I looked down at her she was fast asleep. I could not put her to bed immediately. I just looked at her and stroked her hair as she had the most peaceful look on her face. I just wanted to rock my baby as much as I could. I do not get a lot of chances to do that anymore.
Now, we just need a new house with a play room for all the wonderful toys and gifts. In reality I need to sort through a lot of her old things and either sell, store, or give to charity. We have Christmas coming up so I know there will be more toys.
I can't believe that I will have a two year old in the house this week. She is just an amazing child! I am so proud of her and love her very much.
Now, I cannot wait to see her face Christmas Morning when she sees her things from Santa.

Thirty days

I made it! I actually blogged every day this month and really enjoyed it. It was nice to document what Mattison has been up to everyday. I hope to continue if not everyday at least every other day.
Nothing really new to report today except I received the first of Mattison Christms gifts today. I knew I would be excited this year, but when I opened the box to see a shiny pink tricycle a flood of Christmas memories took over and I was even more excited. She said again today that Mattison wants a pink bicycle. I can not wait until Christmas morning arrives and to see her face and get her reaction when she sees it. I know it will be priceless!

Talking a lot

Mattison let me sleep in until 8am again this morning. When I get her out of her bed in the mornings she has started asking to come get in my bed for a snuggle. It is so nice to have snuggle time on the weekends. Sometimes in the middle of the day she will stop whatever she is doing and say Mattison get in mommy and daddy bed.
She is constantly chatting and is doing a great job with her vocabulary. She says three to four word sentences and we understand about 80 percent of what she is saying. When she watches TV or looks at a book she likes to talk about and describe the story. She also likes to pretend to read books to me. She tries to tell the story by the pictures. It is so sweet.
This morning she caught me right before I got in the shower and said Mattison shower. So I told her to get undressed and she could have a shower with me. She really has a great time doing that. After our shower we got dressed and I put her up on the bathroom counter and dried her hair with the hair dryer. She played in my makeup bag and smiled and stared at herself in the mirror.
We were all lazy today and I am sure Mattison will be more than ready to see her friends tomorrow.

Home Sweet Home

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and really enjoyed visiting with family. Mattison loves being at Nene and papa's house. Mattison was so tired from chasing Enrique around she ended up sleeping until 8am this morning. We took Mattison to have her Christmas photos made. They turned out great. She is getting harder to snap pictures of because she does not like to be still. We got back in Raleigh around 6pm. I could tell Mattison was still tired because she was very clumsy tonight. She is now snuggled in her bed sleeping. May be she might give me an extra hour of sleep again in the morning.

Santa Claus

This morning Mattison when Mattison woke up the first thing she said to me was "Where Papa and Nene". I really think Mattison truly loves it here at Nene and Papa's house. She loves running and playing in their house and exploring new territory. She was so wore out by nap time she slept for almost three hours. When she got up from her nap I had decided to take her to see Santa Claus at the Mount Airy Mall since I knew the crowds here would be much less than in Raleigh at the Mall. Me, Nene, and Nannie Anna piled in the car with Mattison and headed to the mall. Mattison of course will not ride in a stroller at all so the stroller was a great way to carry all the purses, coats, and diaper bag as we shopped. Mattison had a field day at the mall. We shopped at Belk and then headed up to Santa which there was no one in line to see him, but Mattison did not like him one bit so no picture were made. She did however, sit on my knee in front of Santa staring at him like a deer caught in headlights. He ask what she wanted for Christmas and I told Santa I think Mattison wants a bicycle (Which she has talked about nonstop for a while now)and Mattison said in a very quiet whispering voice "Mattison pink bicycles". I told Santa that Mattison had been a good girl this year and Mattison said "Good girl" so Santa told her he would make sure she had a pink bicycle on Christmas morning. That was about all she wanted to do with him. At that point she was finished and ready to go. We headed to Kmart to check out the toy deals and of course she was all over the place. Nanna Anna, Nene, and I were needless to say worn out after this trip.
Once we returned from our shopping trip we had a nice family dinner. Mattison really enjoyed eating at the table with everyone. She joined in on the conversation and had everyone cracking up at her. She is such a comedian.
Aunt Lindsay came in around 7pm with Enrique and Mattison chase him around for two solid hours saying "Enrique where are you" and "Come on". She loves the little pup.
Mattison went to bed around 10pm which is very late for her. I think she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She has been running full speed ahead most of the day.
Tomorrow we go get Christmas pictures made. I am very excited about it. I hope she does well consider we are getting them done at her usual nap time.