We can’t believe our munchkin is now closer to a toddler than a baby. It is pretty crazy. She is truly showing her personality – and it is certainly a strong one! A few notes about Miss Mattie this month.
-The biggest news this month is that MATTIE IS OFFICIALLY MOBILE! Watch out world…or every decorative accessory I had in my house ….here she comes! She is crawling all over the place. She started at the beginning of April with a few steps/crawls here and there and then took off the second week of the month. She skipped the army crawling and went straight for the big bucks. Now she is really cruising. We have baby-proofed our living room, but we will have to move quickly to finish the rest of the house. I constantly wonder why I spent time or money decorating this house in the first place.
-The other HUGE news is we have a blossoming friendship. Mattie and Macy are FINALLY on playing terms. Mattie has been anxious to build the relationship from the start. However, Macy has wanted NOTHING to do with the child - I mean nothing. Since she arrived, Mattie has been a major irritant for the poor dog. I couldn’t sit on the couch next to Macy, while holding Mattie, without the dog jumping down and running away with obvious disgust. But (dramatic pause) earlier this week, all of a sudden, Macy decided to change her tune! I guess she came to the conclusion that we were not going to “return” Mattie, and that she better make amends. Here is how it started:
Mattie was sitting on the floor playing when all of a sudden I watched with surprise as Macy voluntarily and cautiously approached Mattie from behind. She sniffed Mattie’s hair a few times, licked the back of her shirt, and waited. Mattie turned. They stopped and just looked at each other for a minute. It was like Macy was sizing Mattie up, giving her one chance to NOT reach out and pull her hair. Apparently, Mattie passed the test. Macy then went and picked up one of her toys (a stuffed reindeer that is almost the same size as the dog), brought it to Mattie, and dropped it in front of her. Mattie squealed like it was Christmas (appropriate since IT IS a reindeer). She immediately picked up the toy and then an hour of playtime commenced. They played tug-of-war, fetch, and Mattie chased Macy all around the room. I was beside myself. (Thank goodness I had decided to put Macy’s toys through a vigorous wash cycle the day before. I had seen Mattie eyeing them and knew it was not long before the child decided to expand her teething options. I am thrilled at how well the toys washed and how clean they are (I was ready to introduce a few to the trash but thought the poor dog had been through enough. I guess I will add them to my regular wash routine since it appears the two may actually be happy playmates). Well, sorry for the long story. But, if you have been at my house you have seen how much animosity this poor dog has toward the baby. In fact, we are pretty sure Macy has been trying to strike deals with all houseguests to smuggle her out in their bags. It is really funny because Macy adores all of our neighbors’ kids and even Mattie’s playmates (other babies). But not until this week was Macy even willing to look at Miss Mattie. I'll post some great video proof soon.
I guess it proves……..OLD DOGS CAN LEARN NEW TRICKS!!!!!!! (lol – I mean I had to, right? It was just too easy). Ok, on to other updates…..
-Mattie has been able to support her weight standing for several months, but she is quickly gaining confidence to stand while holding on to the coffee table on her own. She walks holding on to your hands, but she prefers to STOMP. It is actually pretty funny. She seriously stomps one leg and then the other like a country dance. We just need a base, a fiddle, and some boots for our own little “ho-down.” She is starting to pull herself up and has made it to her knees. She is pretty close to standing....
-She loves songs. She has been in love with “Happy and You Know It,” “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” and “Splish Splash,” since she was tiny, but when music plays of any kind – she is SURE to SMILE. We blast the ipod during her bath and will soon have to start filtering our music choices….less gangsta and more sesame street. (Jeff is going to die when he sees I actually wrote out “gangsta.”)
-Mattie can now clap, give "high five" and sometimes waves.
-Still jibbers and jabbers but does not say MAMA!!!! The kid is driving me nuts on this one. She says Dadadadada and dad like her life depends on it.
-Mattie continues to sleep through the night….most of the time. It seems like once or twice a week we have a night where she wakes up in the middle of the night for no reason and needs a little help falling back to sleep. And by help, I mean we rock her for a bit and then let her cry a bit. It is really hard now that she is sitting up in her crib. We just watch her pitifully sit there and cry and try so hard not to fall asleep. Her head bobs and eventually she falls forward on her face with her head between her legs…..she eventually wiggles to a more comfortable sleeping position. Don’t call CPS yet…She is a wiggly sleeper. She is constantly on the move around her crib. Every time I wake up at night she is in a different place and sleeping in a different way (back, side - my favorite sleeping on her stomach with her arms under her and her legs pulled up with her booty in the air).
-The reflux is SO much better. Mattie is still on medicine and we can tell the acid gets to her sometimes, BUT the puke fest is OVER!! She still occasionally spits-up, about 2-3 times a day. However, it is not debilitating. We are taking her everywhere and it is FANTASTIC!!!! We are now really enjoying taking Miss Mattie to dinner, for walks, and shopping. We feel like a new family and our credit card has suffered. We've set some new limits for ourselves, but are enjoying the new freedom of clean cloths and fresh smells!
-Eating two meals of fruits, veggies, and cereal a day and loving it. She has milk in the morning, at night, and twice during the day. She is still nursing. However, due to her short attention span and inability to be still, this is becoming a major challenge. She has started on puffs and other toddler type treats! She really just wants to be like her boyfriend Josh and is trying to keep up with him!
-She naps 2-3 times a day - usually for 1-2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon.
-Crazy active. She still does not snuggle. She wants to be constantly jumping, moving, bouncing…she wants constant action! She is also quite stubborn and strong willed. If she is happy, she is thrilled, but you mess with her and make her mad...it is all over. She wants what she wants when she wants it! I anticipate a little bit of a challenge on our hands as she continues to grow!
-Still LOVES to be outside and likes to go for walks in her stroller. But she is still not happy in her car seat for more than 20 minutes.
It is beyond crazy that this little girl is so big. We recently went through all of our pictures to clean up our files and work on some Mother’s Day gifts. We were shocked that it was so hard to remember how small she was. Thank you to our Lord for this unbelievable gift and to our friends and family for their love and support. We are so thankful this little gal has such great people to love on her. We think she is pretty dam cute (it makes it ok if I spell it that way, right?).
I posted some of her 8 month pics earlier - but here is one of my favorites:
