Temper Tantrums

So Mattea had her 1st full-fledged no-holds-barred public temper tantrum. I thought it was going to be coming soon and I was right. Today at Meijer we were getting a cart and Mattea ran up to the little cars with the cart on top. She was so excited to be in it and kept calling " mom, mom" for me to check it out. Well, little did I know that it cost $1 to ride. Knowing my daughter she would stay in it for exactly 10 seconds after I paid for it because she couldn't see me. So mom got another cart. Well Mattea didn't want to leave and when I had to grab her she started SCREAMING. Ear piercing spine chilling shrieking. You guys know me, my face was red instantly. I put her in the cart, she tried to climb out. I try to put her in the seat, she is kicking it. Mom is nowhere to be found. So what do I do? I head for the closest contained space- the toothpaste aisle, as opposed to the open area around the carts. There I finally wrangle (yes i do mean wrangle) Mattea into her seat and get her distracted with a SpinBrush. 10 seconds later I find mom hiding in the next aisle pretending not to know us, thanks alot Mom.

Mattea's 18 months old today!

These are some of her 18-month photo shoot! Nina crocheted the dress for Mattea.
Don't blame the photographer- I took a picture of them on my phone to put on here.

Mattea and Lily (aka white girl) on her half birthday!

I can't believe it's already here. It feels like just recently I went through all the struggles with her as a newborn and the fun joys of her as an infant. Her toddler days came early considering that she was walking on her own at 9 months. I love her independence but also love that she's still my baby and needs me when scary things are around (dogs, dark rooms, and strange noises). She will leave the house and get down the back steps by herself but always shouts "mom" because she needs help back up the step. She no longer wants to go down the stairs on her belly but much prefers to hold onto the railing (which she barely reaches on tiptoe) precariously getting through each individual step. She loves to dance and actually has some rhythem. Her best friend Lily though, dances like a white girl (Angi's phrase not mine)! Really fun to see them dancing together, Lily is hesitant an Mattea always goes to her and grabs her hand to join her. Mattea helps to set the table and brings JJ his beer. I am not a fan of this particular household chore but my dad gets a big kick out of it, especially since we used to do that for our opa.

Here are a few of her favorite things

raindrops on roses

whiskers on kittens :-)

ICE CREAM

shoes
Charlie
dancing
swimming

her nu-nu

Mattea came as a surprise but I couldn't have wished for anything more. I am proud to say that I am helping her to become the best person she can be and any stints in juvenile we will blame on her dad ;-)

Sappy Mom Moment

Before I was a Mom-I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom-I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom-I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom -I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

-author unknown

For Michelle and Katie

Your right my life has changed!!!!!!

Long Time

Raising the flag
Mattea and my god-daughter Sarah
Listening intently to Jennifer's phone conversation
Never too much sunscreen
Charlie wrestling Angi in the pudding.

So it's been a long time and lots has gone on. The 4th of July was great. Me and Mattea had lots of friends over and had a blast. We had mud wrestling, face painting, and liquor which made for quite the bash. Mattea is not one for big crowds and is not her usual self, hence the non-existant smiles in all the pictures. But she did start to perk up at the end of the night (the sugar high and lack of sleep could have also contributed) with lots of running around and dancing that ended in a face-plant into a mini-keg. Remeber we are German!

Saturday we went to the Independence day festival at Lawrence Park. Not too much for Mattea but there was a cover band and Mattea was dancing like crazy. Ohh and her JJ won her a stuffed dog at the water gun game. Mattea helped!

Sunday we went to Noura's 1st birthday party. We had a great time and Mattea loved playing with Noura's cousin David. She looked completely devastated when he had to go home, but she's resiliant and took comfort in the fact that Jack was still around and so preceded to dump cups of water on his head. Sorry little guy that what happens when your the younger one, but just think of all the ways you can get her back when your a foot taller then she is (probably next year). Noura loved her cake and I can't get over that it has been 1 year already.

So that was the end of the fun. Sunday night Mattea had her 1st nightmare, I think. She just started screaming and screaming and I could not console her. So we went downstairs and hung out for about 45 minutes and watched a family video then back to bed and everything was fine. Monday night I get home from work and there is a dog fight going on in our cul-de-sac so me and Mattea ran inside. I went out after it was over and everyone was fine, one of the dogs owners was with them, but we did not know who the dog who started the fight belonged too. Scary! Tuesday morning I discover my wallet missing and come to find out it was stolen and my bankcard was used to buy gas 4 DIFFERENT TIMES. Over $200 dollars-some people suck! What makes it even better is remember just 6 weeks ago my house was broken into and now my wallet is stolen from the driveway of my parents house in Geist. I swear I have a target on my head saying, Pick Me Pick Me!

Ok, I'm finally done.

Poop!

Funny story- We were eating dinner the other day and we were all just sitting around talking. Well Mattea was behind dad's chair kind of climbing on it. All of a sudden she has her diaper off and she is walking very matter of factly towards the diaper pail. We all chuckled because she held up the diaper like "don't worry guys I got this one." Anyways while we were looking at her she said "poop" (1st time ever) and at exactly the same time I saw something on her bum and mom looked down on the floor. You guessed it, no poop in the diaper but all over the carpet because she had first stepped in it (with shoes on) before walking to the trash can. To make things even messier she had had a ton of blueberries earlier in the day so it was a great purple color. Needless to say, I am thankful that she does not like getting her hands dirty.

Like Mother, Like Daughter