Family

Mattie had so much fun in Charlotte. He finally got to meet his Uncle James, and he saw his Aunt Julie and Aunt Ann, as well as Grammy, Grandpa, Great Grandpa, and Great Grandma. He loves everyone very much and will miss everyone very much. He is sad to be leaving, but knows he will see everyone again very soon.

Mattie is sooo going to miss Charlotte weather! It is so nice to be able to go for walks (especially with Uncle James and Lexi). I know we both aren't ready to go back to all the cold and snow!

The approach

The walk down. You can see "Salmon Steak to the left us. The river was completely snowed over, although some water spots showed through.

Some times It is nice to eat Ice.

I got a little bit thirsty once this cave was found to rest in...

Salmon River Falls

This is the first thing that you see walking into the gorge... This feature is 300' wide and @140' tall. It is currently closed to climbing, but there are a bunch of established lines on the main falls WI3 to WI5

Salmon River Ice

This was a WI5 That really was a nasty pillar @130' So nice!

But I want to play...

Mattie has a fun game of crawling up to Great Grandpa, talking to him, wanting to interact with him, and then he'll go back to playing. He'll check every now and then to make sure he is still there watching him play, and if he feels he isn't paying attention to him he'll talk to him to get his full attention.

Mattie LOVES playing with his Uncle James. I am amazed as to how quickly Mattie has warmed up to him! He is as comfortable with him as with people he has seen his whole life! He crawls towards him and reaches for him to pick him up. He even reaches for him while in my arms!!!!

Uncle James!!!

Mattie loved meeting his Uncle James this morning. He took to him instantly! Within 10 minutes he let him hold him, and is already reaching for him! I have never seen Mattie take so quickly to a stranger! Well, we all know James is a natural with kids. Mattie is out right now with Uncle James and Grandpa on a "guy trip" to Home Depot, per Uncle James' request. It's nice to have a morning to relax!

Mattie had a warm bath, got on his warm suit, snuggled with his blankie, and read his new book all while trying to stay up to meet his Uncle James, but to no avail. He is anxious to wake up tomorrow and spend plenty of time getting to know him!

Mattie and Grandpa had fun eating lunch together today. Mattie plans on getting in a lot of bonding time with Grandpa this weekend. Who knows, he may even help him paint the living room today!

Ewww...Sour

Mattie went out to lunch with Grammy and Great Grandpa where he tried a lemon for the first time. He definitely did not like it! He made the cutest "sour lemon" face when he tried it, and then after a little bit more inspection, he threw it on the floor.

Twins!

"Grammy, why are you wearing the same outfit as me?! Of course, nothing beats cuddling up in warm sweats after a long day of working/playing."

Stamps!!!!

Grammy let Mattie play with some of her new stamps this evening. He was so excited! He really just wanted to eat them and shake them, but after spending time straining to get them off the end table he acted like he had found gold when he finally had his hands on them.

"Look, Grammy and Grandpa have a fun step too!"

Mattie will go up and down this step all day long, just like the one at Jazzy and BB's house. He even adventured up the big stairs this afternoon. He made it up six steps before he was done (of course I was right behind him-hence no pictures).

"Must get Grammy's laptop!"

Lexi's Recovery

Lexi was visiting Aunt Julie up in Raleigh, escaped, and got hit by a car. Thankfully, a family was driving and saw it happen, stopped, and by luck brought her in to the very same vet clinic that Julie worked at. She was touch and go for a little bit. She had numerous surgeries in the following weeks to try to save her leg.

Here is Lexi back in the end of November when she had to wear a huge cast, and we weren't sure if she was even going to keep her leg.

This was in the beginning of December when she had pins in her leg to keep the bone together. You can see just how swollen her leg is. At this point we still didn't know if she would be able to keep her leg.

Yeah! Here she is now, and as you can see her leg is looking a million times better! She still limps on it a little bit, but overall she is doing fantastic!

My Day in Charlotte, as told by Mattie and Mommy

"Good Morning! I know I just woke up, but that's the best time to play!"

Even though Mattie had a busy day yesterday of flying and entertaining everyone in the airport and on the plane, and he didn't go to bed until two hours past his bedtime the night before, he was up at his normal time rearing to go.

Aunt Ann had to fly back to Chicago this morning, but not before Mattie posed with her and Grandpa. Notice that there is NO SNOW in the background. It was a beautiful 60 degrees out today!

"Lexi, come and play with me!"

After spending some time playing with Lexi, Mattie ate his lunch, which included Cheerios and turkey.

"Lexi, come share my lunch with me."

Right after lunch, Mattie went with Grammy, Great Grandpa, and Mom to visit Great Grandma.

"Hmm, where are the Sunday comics?"

After visiting Great Grandma, Mattie was hyper and wanting to get into any and everything he could get his hands on.

"Great Grandpa, hurry up and assemble my new toy!"

"Look at me! I can walk! (well, when I push my new activity walker)"

"I hate this bathtub and I don't want a bath; get me out now!"

Mattie usually loves his baths, but for some reason he wanted nothing to do with it tonight. He cried and screamed the whole time, all while trying to get out. He was so tired and worn out from his busy day that he went to bed about 30 minutes later. That concludes Mattie's first day in Charlotte!

Aunt Ann with Mattie's cousin Rosa (8 months)

Mattie's twin cousins Greta and Maria (4)

Greta, Maria, and Rosa are the sweetest girls! Mattie met them back in November, and they all got along great!

Snow!!!

The speck that you see is our mailbox completely covered in snow
We took this picture really fast so Mattie wasn't too cold (I know, it looks mean because he doesn't have his coat on). You can see how he would just be completely swallowed in the snow it is so deep.

We got almost 30 inches of snow in the past two days, and that was on top of all the snow that was already on the ground. I am so ready for Spring!

I See Me!

It's a little hard to tell, but if you look in the fireplace you can see Mattie's reflection. He loves looking at himself and laughing while bouncing up and down.

Music Man

I don't know why, but Mattie is a little bit afraid of the piano. I'll hit a key, and he'll look at the piano, then give me a look of uncertainty. He'll try to hit a key himself, and if it makes noise (sometimes he doesn't hit hard enough) he will crawl onto my lap like he doesn't know what is happening. I don't always understand why he is afraid of things. About two months ago he was afraid of wind chimes for about two weeks, now they don't bother him at all.

My Little Monkey Butt!

Mattie is such a happy little man! I just love being able to play with him, see him smile, and hear him laugh! The last couple of days has made me realize even more how happy I am to be around him all the time! (I know, I'm being sappy, but I can't help it!)

"Mom, just because you don't feel well doesn't mean I'll stop playing!"

"Look what I found!"

The thing I hate most about being sick is that I feel like I miss out on "Mattie time". I hate not being able to play with him, especially when he comes to me, climbs on my leg and says "mama mama". At least I am finally able to get out of bed and move around with out getting sick, finally after three days! The only thing I plan on doing today is playing with my son!

Cage Time

Mattie thought it would be fun to play inside of Jazzy and BB's cage. Normally he just inspects the outside, but yesterday he decided to crawl right inside to see what it was all about. Julie, he did this all on his own this time :) .

Okay, so I know I've already blogged about this step, but Mattie learned how to climb it today. Once he figured out he could climb the steps, he did it constantly all day, and even went down twice (of course scaring Mom, even with me being right there with him while he did it). Now that he knows how to get into the kitchen, he tried all day to make a dash for the dog food that he has been trying to get for ever.

Mattie and Sasha

Mattie really likes animals. He enjoys when Sasha comes around him, sniffs him, and even when she licks his face. Sasha is completely fascinated with Mattie, it's cute to watch.

Making Music

Mattie loves playing the guitar! He really seems to like any type of music actually, maybe he will be a musician....who knows?!