We're Back AGAIN, Lydia Has a New Brother and It's Xmas

Where to begin? I can't even begin. So we'll just pick it up here. 

Garnet (like the stone) Ace Colavito Matson, born December 18, 8:35pm, 7 lbs 4 oz, 20 1/2 inches. We call him the mellow fellow because he hangs out, sleeps and basically chills a lot, watching and listening to Lydia play all around him. He only cries when he really needs to be heard and he sleeps well enough that Mama and Daddy aren't absolute zombies. Garnet has a little dimple on his right cheek we're not sure where it comes from, but it's adorable. We all love him to bits, he is a perfect little brother for Lydia and completes our family. Happiness, happiness.

Lydia is a big sister. She has grown up so much in the past two weeks it is both dreamy and heartbreaking. It took a couple days for her to "warm up" to the idea that her little brother wasn't going to just be a bump in my belly, but an actual boy she had to share her mama and daddy with. BUT, she has become super sweet and very understanding. She loves to hold him, "I want to take him, mama." and she now even kisses him goodnight and goodbye all on her own. And somehow her sense of humor has flourished. She is a crack up and she knows it, entertaining us deliberately. She impresses us every second.

And we also had Christmas! We have no idea how it all fit in, but it was lucky timing, her many wonderful, loving grandparents, aunts and uncles a great distraction for Lydia in this transition.

There are so many moments, but I can't sort through them all right now so this is our update for this week and we'll keep it coming next week and the week after and the week after.

We'll probably have to rename the blog, get a new address to include Garnet, so stay tuned. I'll let you know if/when we get that sorted.

Love

Lydia Was Sick and Now She's Better

SO SORRY I haven't written. It's been a while and I won't cover everything, but...

Grandma and Grandpa and Lola visited. Lydia had a lovely time chasing Lola around, drawing and playing with Grandma and Grandpa (when Grandpa wasn't stuck in the bathroom with Chaunce re-tiling). She entertained us all as usual.

THEN, our poor baby was sick for a week. Tell me you don't want to cry when you see this droopy face. She was a great patient, sad and snuggly and sleepy. We watched a lot of movies, read a lot of books and ate a lot of ice cream. This is how kids get the idea to fake being sick, no?

And then it was Turkey Day. Lydia perked up for spending the day at Uncle Nick and Aunt Pink's. Great Grandma, MooMoo and Pink's friend Christine were all there AND Lydia had cats to chase!

MooMoo's friends put on a monthly brunch at their watering hole for kids to enjoy. They're called the Muffin Tops, they bring toys to play with, sing swell kids tunes and its quite sweet. Aunt Cathy and Uncle Rob met us there which was very lovely to visit with them. There was a little girl there, also 2 years old, so different from Lydia. She was super friendly and wanted to hold hands, dance, blow bubbles and Lydia just stood there staring at her. She was definitely impressed with her, but it was clear that Lydia needs to process things before diving right in. She has a little suspiciousness about her. 

A funny story I just adore. The other morning Chandler and I woke up to Lydia yelling "No Lola" - Lola being Grandma and Grandpa's dog. I went in to her room to see what was going on, I thought maybe she was talking to her stuffed dog that resembles Lola. Well, Lydia was asleep. When she woke up, she was still talking about Lola so I asked her what happened. Our conversation:

Mama: What happened with Lola?

Lydia: In dream.

Mama: Why are you yelling at Lola?

Lydia: Lola play my books.

Mama: And you don't want Lola to play with your books?

Lydia: No, no play with books. Lola sleeps on the floor.

At the Muffin Tops gig:

Deep Thinking, Chuck E Cheese, Bathroom, JUMPING

I know this will sound like a bragging mother, but I really, truly believe Lydia understands deep emotion. I was putting her to bed the other night and felt the need to elaborately explain how much I love her. She watched me speak, listened 'til the end and then just hugged me real tight, like she was thanking me or comforting me, reciprocating? 

Chandler spent the entire weekend renovating the bathtub/shower so Lydia and I spent a lot of time out of the house. When Chaunce was finally done for the weekend he took a shower and came downstairs. Lydia ran to him with arms wide open and said, "I missed you!". Are you kidding? This stuff is deadly adorable.

I washed some baby boy clothes in preparation for his arrival and brought the basket up to fold. Lydia said, "these are for baby brother.". She, of course, wanted to wear the clothes and Kempo and I explained briefly that they are for the little baby brother to wear and she placed the onesie on my round belly smiling.

OK, we went to Chuck E Cheese because it was raining and we had to get some energy expelled and it was a great place to meet up with Jess and Sadie (YAY!). I'd never been and if Lydia didn't enjoy it so much I'd never go again. I ended up with a headache from the madness of over-stimulation, but AGAIN, Lydia was amazed by all of it. Thank goodness MooMoo came along to chase our sweet Lydia around.

Some of the scene and Lydia's alternative bathtime. She really loves bathing in the sink!

If Lydia is awake, she's likely to be jumping... 

Or rolling around laughing...

Or being just sweet (and demanding, too, but I don't have pictures of that).

I think she learned this burping technique from Jess and Sadie. Lydia isn't quite as delicate as Jess, but she's trying.

Lydia's new shoes.

Wilson Farm, SADIE, Lydia's Closet And Outside

We go to Wilson's constantly. Lydia loves the barn - she even pretends to love the llama, which she is quite afraid of in real life. In the garden shop, they have a coy pond and a parrot. Then, I can do the produce shopping and we're all happy.

Chandler was in Minnesota visiting Uncle Thor, so Jess and Sadie came to keep us company. This was a really good thing for Lydia to be around our sweet, little, 11-week-old Sadie. Since Lydia is expecting her new baby, all the practice she can get sharing mama and gently hugging the little one is great! Sadie is such a good sport, too. She never complained, she was a dream! And Jess... She brought dinner (homemade stuffed peppers - YUM) and kept both Lydia and me entertained.

Lydia's closet has become a fun, secret getaway for her. Most of her toys live in there so she has plenty to do and when she's all set making her mess, we close the door! Genius.

It has been beautiful out! Lydia and I visited MooMoo and Gram and their little park in Cambridge where Lydia played and played. And, of course, did some deep thinking.

Lydia and I were talking about the clouds. I mentioned how fluffy they were and Lydia said, "Mama? I want to tickle them." That's precious. And sounds like fun.

Some barn moments. Lydia makes animal sounds and then says goodbye to all the animals.

Halloween and Election Week

What a week. 

In trivial news, Lydia truly enjoys any and all catalogues that are delivered to the house. She'll thoughtfully ponder each item and then decide whether she does or doesn't want it. If she wants the thing, she'll be sure to let me know, if she doesn't, a quick turn of the page. Here she fell in love with a dollhouse.

Just a precious moment at the park with Daddy.

HALLOWEEN! Lydia spent the day at Selene's with her favorite friend, Yasmina. The two girls dressed up (a cat and a giraffe) and went to a halloween party! Looks like they had a blast. SO much so, Lydia was all halloweened-out by the time we made it to MooMoo's to hand out treats to the Cambridge neighborhood kiddies. Lydia wanted nothing to do with her costume that evening. She was pretty scared by a spooky costume that came by the house so it took her some sitting and playing with Jess Moon to get past it and enjoy the little cuties that just kept coming. We saw a pink poodle, lots of princesses and a truly sweet Nemo. AND, little Sadie Moon dressed up for us, also as a kitty. A DOLL and I have no pictures to prove it.

And on Tuesday morning, the three of us took to a local school to cast our votes. Lydia was inspired!

I will attempt to post some videos later this week. I'm having some trouble uploading tonight.