two

I remember hearing my uncle compare his youngest daughter to the last french fry in the box; she was a special treat at the end.  That's exactly how I feel about Mattie.  When I found out we were having another girl I thought "I got this, just another Jilly."  But Mattie is definitely not another Jilly, she has her own funny, sweet personality and I'm so, so happy she's ours.  Happy Birthday cute girl.

Some things I want to remember about our newly minted two-year-old:

+ She's a scaredy cat.  Things she's afraid of include but are not limited to: my blow dryer, the lawn mower, the blender, the vacuum, hand dryers in public restrooms, all bugs and all pieces of dust that could possibly be bugs.  She says "cary!" and covers her face with her pudgy little hands.

+ Mattie is an entertainer; she loves to make us laugh.  She'll put on my shoes or Jilly's skirt or her sunglasses (always upside down) and say "Tada!"

+ She can easily sit through a whole movie (not something to be proud of, but does make my life easy) and especially loves Dora, Frozen, and Minnie Mouse.

+ She still loves yogurt smoothies and would eat "yogret" for every meal and snack if I'd let her.  She also loves marshmallows, scrambled eggs, chicken nuggets, fruit snacks, and M&Ms (she's the picture of healthy eating.)

+ She loves to play with babies, swing at the park, blow bubbles, and do anything Jilly is doing.

+ Mattie loves clothes, especially "pitty desses" and jammies, and she changes at least 5 times a day.  She asks for piggies in her hair nearly every day and always requires a bow.

+ Mattie has turned into quite a napper and can sleep for sometimes 3+ hours.  Because of this, she usually isn't quite ready for bed when Jilly crashes at 7pm.  One-on-one time with Mattie is so rare that I loves these evenings we spend together.

+ Mattie is still completely devoted to her blankie + paci, and will stay that way until I get much braver.  

+ Mattie is super chatty and we finally can almost always figure out what she's saying.  When someone coughs or sneezes she always says, "you okay?"  She is the only person who always calls her sister "Jillian" instead of Jilly.  The other day Bryan said to Mattie, "When did you become so spunky?"  And she told him "I not punky!"