Old Friends, New Friends

Tilly demonstrating her 80th percentile height.

The drive home from Santa Barbara was a pretty long drive, so we decided to take a break in the middle.  Luckily, one of our old friends just happened to live almost exactly half way home in Lemoore, CA.  I went to school with Greg Boggs in Washington (he's the reason Leia and I are together... so technically the reason Tilly exists!) and since we haven't seen him for several years, we wanted to stop in and see Greg and his wife Allison.  Actually, a bonus reason to stop was so we could meet little Edward Boggs, who was born less than a week after Matilda.  We didn't even know they were expecting an addition to their family until after he was born, and we were super excited that Tilly would have a new friend so close in age.  We had a short visit, but it was fun and was a perfect way to break up the drive (even though little Eddie slept the whole time!).  Check out all the pictures of the two new friends from old friends on the post page.

Tilly Goes to the Beach

While in Santa Barbara, Tilly got to go to her first beach. The pictures were so cute I decided they needed their own post on the blog. We can't wait until she can walk on beaches all by herself. Okay, we can wait... she's growing up way too fast!  "Read more" below or click here to check out more pictures.

 

Tilly Goes to Santa Barbara

After the wedding, Marmy was nice enough to invite Matilda on her honeymoon.  Of course she needed adult supervision, so we tagged along on her first road trip.  The drive to Santa Barbara was long and we ended up stopping halfway.  Tilly's first overnight stay in a hotel was at a western themed Day's Inn with crappy air conditioning and 11 flies.  The next day we stopped in Pismo Beach and then continued on to S.B.  Once there, Tilly enjoyed her first hot tub (not actually hot), her first baby sitter (Marmy), her first pier (with seals!), and her first beach!  Check out all the pictures of Tilly enjoying her trip to Santa Barbara.

Loving her first road trip!

Pismo Beach on the way to Santa Barbara.

Marmy's Wedding!

Matilda looked amazing in her little dress and big bow socks, as she got all dressed up to be the flower girl in Marmy Spillman's wedding (with a little help down the aisle from Aunt Louise).  Tilly is such a chill baby, we expected her to be a pro at sitting quietly through a wedding.  And, everything seemed to be going great until 2 minutes in, when everybody laughed at a firetruck siren and Tilly decided to protest the rude outburst during a wedding with her own little outburst.  Eventually, she settled down with a bottle, but feeding a baby one handed while trying to be the wedding photographer was interesting.  She spent the rest of the night happily being passed around to family and friends.  "Read more" to check out the post page for more great photos of Tilly's first wedding!

Tilly Goes to Portland

Tilly Loves Airplanes!

Today was a momentous day for little Matilda. She had her first trip to the airport, her first run-in with the TSA, her first trip into a bar, her first airplane ride, and her first trip to another state. It was quite the day, and it almost didn't happen. On the way to the airport, mom and dad realized they forgot the all important birth certificate (which is only needed to prove she's under two years old or you have to buy a $200 plane ticket). As we approached the airport, Southwest's phone support said there was no way to fly without it and we had to prove she was under two (even though she's not even 3 months and clearly not 2 years old!). Since we did not have time to go home and back, I called bs and the nice Southwest desk clerk totally helped us out.

Then on the way through security, they told me they needed to open Tilly's factory sealed formula bottles to test for dangerous chemicals, explosives, and exotic birds we might be smuggling out of California. I politely said, "Um, no. There's a reason they're sealed. Once you open them they go bad dumb dumb." Then they said we could take them on the plane, but "someone has to get patted down." I then said something close to, "That makes absolutely no sense. How does a bottle of liquid equal a pat down?" She said "it was policy," and I thought she just made it up on the spot after I pointed out how stupid she was to open sealed formula. After a heated debate of me calling them out on a bs policy, I finally submitted to having my entire body thoroughly inspected for whatever I magically carried through the metal detector and might be planning to use to ignite the formula. I wanted one of the ladies to grope me, but I knew the "same-sex groper" policy (unlike patdown for formula policy) actually exists. My suspicions were confirmed on the return trip, when Leia (traveling alone with Tilly) was able to take the formula right through security.

After having my privates grazed in the fight against baby formula, I decided to drown my sorrows with margaritas. Thus, Tilly enjoyed her first bar. Then she loved her first plane ride to the great state of Oregon! Click "Read more" below to see how much Matilida loved traveling!

Stuffed Friends

Tilly's first (and still favorite) stuffed friend was Harold the Bee.  She also has a mysterious relationship with her miniature stuffed African animals that came with her pack n' play.  Of course, we wanted her to expand her circle of friends so we introduced her to Icebat, the friendly Uglydoll.   Check out all of the photos showing just how much she loves all her squishy friends.

Thai Food Dinner Date

This wasn't Tilly's first time out at a restaurant, but it may have been her first to a fancy restaurant with her best friend Vivienne.  Tilly really enjoyed the view of the bar and the smell of Thai food at KetMoRee.  She made a "stinky/squishy" face when she saw the bill, so we might not go back there for a while.  More pictures on the post page.

Who you calling a boy?

Who decided only boys could wear blue and grey stripes?  Frog, bug, and dinosaur outfits don't really come in pink, so Tilly occasionally enjoys her "boy" clothes.  And, she's only been mistaken for "a cute little boy" a couple times.  Still undecided on how or even whether to correct people, but the best is telling them "his" name's Matilda.

Things I've learned you should never do.  Never ask a woman if she's pregnant unless you see her waddling into the delivery room, and never call a baby he/she unless you just changed their diaper.  That being said, click on "Read more" for more pictures of our "cute little guy."

First Walk in the Ergo

We've played with a few different baby carriers, and Tilly has definitely decided that she loves her new Ergo Baby Carrier.  She still likes to snuggle down in her Moby wrap occasionally, but the Ergo is soooooo comfy. Here's some photos of the first walk in her new ride and the resulting sleepy time.

Pink Bunny!

Tilly loves her Trumpette socks, and now she really loves her new bunny shirt.  It even has a cute white tail on the back.  Now Tilly just needs to figure out how to roll over so she can show you her bunny tail.  Click "Read more" below to see more pictures on the post page!

Blanket Ball and Harold

Way back when Tilly was just a little baby, she was the cutest and coolest baby west of the Mississippi. By the time she got to 8 weeks, she decided it was time to step it up a notch and become even more cool. I dropped a blanket on her tummy and she got excited. So of course, we balled it up and "blanket ball" began. She loved it so much we decided to introduce her to Harold the Bee (originally named "Busy Bee," but Tilly liked "Harold" better). She had some interesting words for Harold before beating him in a staredown.  Since their original meeting, Tilly has discovered she has fists and has taken to punching Harold and tearing at his eyeballs.  Isn't that cute!  Check out the short snippets below!

Grandma Matern Visit

Two weeks ago (on May 20th), grandma Matern made her second trip down to see the monster.  Matilda had a great time, and enjoyed her third trips to Noodles & Co. and Pinkberry.  Grandma even took her to Trumpette to get a really cool pink leopard hoody and of course more socks!  Check out more pics of Tilly and Grandma on the post page.

Marmy Spillman Visit

Two weeks ago (on May 14th), Grandma Spillman made her second trip down to see how much Tilly has grown.  Tilly greeted her with smiles and coos like a good little 6 week old should!  Tilly also really enjoyed her trips to Mikuni's, Noodles & Co., and Pink Berry... as did grandma.  And her trip wouldn't have been complete without Tilly's first trip to REI.  See the rest of the pictures on the post page!

Once a baby...

Since we were all once little bundles of joy, we thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane and see what we looked like as babies. Surprisingly, we looked just like Tilly. Who would have guessed!

Mother's Day

Being new to this area, Tilly really wanted to explore the history of her Sacramento area homeland. So for mother's day we decided to surprise mom with a picnic in old Sacramento. Tilly enjoyed the old wooden sidewalks, the classic brick buildings, and the lowrider Cadillac with hydrolics. Who knew that Sac had such diversity back in the day.  See more pictures here.