Baby Steps is still technically in October, but Matty really wanted to acknowledge his calendar birthdate (April 4th) this year and I couldn't say no to him. :) All familiar characters are Janet's. The mistakes are mine alone.
Chapter 56
Matty's POV
Sometimes before I wake up Mommy and Daddy, I just lay in my crib and look past my toys, through the ceiling, and I picture the biggest, bluest, sky I can ... and hope that's what we see when it's bright enough outside to walk Pup-Pup. He needs to potty a lot and he can't do it inside like we can. Also ... I sometimes wonder why Mommy doesn't just get diapies for him like she does for me. I think she must really like walking or being outside as much as I do ... and that's why she doesn't get Pup-Pup any.
Today is the day I was born, which is the same day Mommy says her life changed. I don't know exactly what she means, but I think it involves me because I get cuddly-feelings inside whenever she says that to me or to Daddy.
Daddy says his life changed when he met Mommy, but I think that's kinda the same thing, because he wouldn't be my Daddy without meeting Mommy first. Whatever they mean, I'm just glad I got them as my parents. Not being able to talk so good isn't so bad. I hear all kinds of stuff since grown-ups think I don't understand what they're saying.
I smiled to myself since no one can see me unless Mommy or Daddy are looking at the baby monitor they always have with them. Mommy's really funny ... she says Daddy has a Mama-monitor so he'll always know she's A OK, too. See ... I do pay attention to what big people are saying. When they think I'm too busy chasing Pup-Pup around the kitchen to listen to them talk, Auntie Val and Auntie Woo will tell my Mama that being a mom is really hard. They tattle on themselves and say their kids make them crazy, and that sometimes they rethink their smarts on having so many of them.
I know they love my cousin-kids so I don't think they mean anything bad by that ... not like that doody-head Joyce Barn-butt. She calls kids really bad names and says she's neeeever having one of us unless IT comes with a paycheck for the whole time it's alive and she has someone around to raise 'the thing' for her. Like anyone would want her for a Mama? Or want a daddy like that More-ugly guy. If he comes near my Mama again, I'm gonna kick him even though Mommy reminds me that trying to hurt other people is never the right thing to do. I know Daddy would do way worser if someone tried to hurt Mommy.
I put my hands together like I see Bibi do when she wants to talk to someone who isn't Santa but is always supposed to know what I'm doing and also hears what I say. If I didn't live here with my Mommy, Daddy, and Uncles, somebody watching me all the time would be really scary and I'd go right up to him and tell him to stop. But I like Santa so I shouldn't be scared of Bibi's version of him. And because I feel so safe here, I even talk to him now. With all of my family protecting me, I know noooobody can hurt me. Daddy and Mommy and alllll my Uncles won't let them. So my head's full of talks I have with Bibi's Santa-man about him helping me protect all the kids from people like Barn-butt and More-ugly.
When I was done talking in my head, I rolled onto my side and said hi to Pup-Pup. I agree with Mommy, he's a goofy puppy. Since he knows I'm up ... his wet, black nose is now poking through the crib bars, so I kissed it and stayed still so he could give me a good morning kiss back. He and Daddy know when I'm awake faster than just about anybody, but Pup-Pup usually sleeps right by my crib so he gets to me a few seconds before Daddy or Mommy do.
They NEVER say I make them crazy, or that taking care of me is too hard and they need a break from doing it. Everyday with them, to me, feels like the busiest, funnest, happiest, play date a kid can have. I laugh, I run, I get a little snack from everyone ... Hah, hah! I had to laugh at the rhyme I just made.
Not only do I play, I even help Mommy and Daddy do their jobs. My Mama lets me call people for her. She points to the numbers I need to press with my finger, and if I can be a little quiet while she talks, I stay sitting on her lap and she colors with me until her call-meeting's done and we go do something else. I don't know what Mommy and Daddy do exactly, it seems like something different everyday, but I do know that bad guys are scared of them, which means my parents are the good guys.
"Is my little man pretending to be asleep?" I heard Mommy say. "I thought for sure I heard a 'Hi, Pup-Pup' and possibly a little boy-laugh right after."
I can tell even without looking that Daddy is with her. Unless one of them is out chasing a bad guy, they're never far away from each other ... or me.
I opened my eyes really big, trying to surprise her since she thought I was sleeping not just thinking.
"Boo!" I shouted, with a happy giggle afterwards.
That caused Pup-Pup to stand up like a person and put his front feet on my crib. He turned his blue-freckled head and gave Mommy and Daddy a puppy-smile over his shoulder.
"I knew it!" Mommy said. "You were awake all along and were trying to scare Mama."
Pup-Pup ratted me out by saying 'He was!' with his bark before he put all four feet back down on the floor.
"You're a hard woman to rattle, Babe," Daddy told her. "You have to give Matty credit for attempting to."
"I do. Our son gets all kinds of credit."
See what I mean? They are always happy to be with me and never once made me feel or think they regret having me. I feel really sad for all the little boys ... and girls too! ... who don't get to have Mommies and Daddies like mine. I think about them a lot when I sell my ice cream downstairs and put the money from it in my helper jar. I also think about Mommy and Daddy a lot, especially on the day I was born, because I feel all the way down to my bare toes that they're soooo happy that I was.
"Are you ready for your big day?" Mommy asked me, picking me up as soon as I stood and stretched my arms out towards her for a hug.
I like my bed and all, my room too because my Uncles painted it special for me, but when I really wanna play ... it feels like that place Mommy and Daddy put the bad guys they catch. I tried climbing out all by myself once, but Mommy caught me (she sees everything I do even when she's not in the room with me ... just like Santa and Bibi's guy does). She looked so worried that I'd get hurt (I won't! If Daddy can run down a super-tall Ranger wall, I can climb over a crib wall without falling. I was going to be really, really careful!) I had to cross my heart in front of Mommy and promise her that I won't do it again so she won't be scared no more.
It's hard keeping your promises when you want to do something really bad. That's probably why not a lot of people do it. But if I want to be like Daddy and my Uncles, I have to have good manners, not lie, always take care of Mommy and Julie, and keep my promises. I thought I might want to be a pilot, or maybe an astronaut, but now I wanna be just like them! They do important stuff and help a lot of people everyday. Which is something I don't get ... why anyone, like my Grandma Plum, are afraid of them. No matter how long I think about it ... I can't come up with a reason anybody would be.
My Uncles are the nicest, strongest, caringest, people! They always play with me, they answer all the questions I have even if I can't ask them the right way, and they never talk to me like I'm a baby, they even let me hug them as much as I want and as hard as I can, even Uncle Hector who whispered to me after I was born that he'd always be there for me and my Mommy and Daddy. He swore on his own Mama that he'd keep that promise to me forever. I don't remember him not helping us, so for a thank you ... I always make sure to share my snacks with him. I have to be much more gentle hugging Mommy because I might break her if I hug her as hard - or as much - as I love her. My Mama says being a man like my Daddy and Uncles is the best goal to have ... and she don't even know my plans for what I want to be. That's how good she is at knowing what I'm thinking!
"I's have a birffday," I stated, shaking my head at how much I still sound like a baby.
How can I protect people when I sound like an itty bitty baby, not a Big Bossman like Daddy? Learning to talk better is another one of my goals, along with being like my Daddy, Mommy, and Uncles.
"You do," Daddy told me, covering my head with his big hand, messing up my hair in the way that makes me laugh and gives me that cuddly-feeling again.
I may not be like him yet, but Daddy loves me just how I am right now, so I'm not gonna 'squawk' as Uncle Lester would say.
"You're lucky," Daddy continued, "you're going to have a day like Mama had. You get to spend time with Pup-Pup, your Uncles, Bibi and Papi, along with us, and Julie's arriving in a few hours. She was allowed to take a half-day of school off in order to come see you."
"That's how much all of us love you, Matty. Julie wouldn't miss school for just anyone. She only does it when she or someone she loves is sick or if it's something for you."
Bibi calls my Juuu-Juuu 'One Smart Cookie'. That description involves cookies, so I know it's a good one! I think Julie's super-de-dooper smart! And I get proud that she's my sister. I know she doesn't like missing school, she says going there helps you get even more smarter. I'm skeptical about that, but I try to keep my brain open about everything I don't know nothing about yet. Mommy says that's how you learn. So maybe school isn't the only thing that makes you smart.
"I wuvs Jubie much big."
I give up! Looks like I'm gonna be a baby until someone makes me not one anymore. I tried to make my mouth not pout so Mommy and Daddy won't see that it bothers me that I can't talk like they do. I don't want them to feel bad that I want to be bigger.
"She'll be happy and smiling really big when she hears you say that again," Mommy guessed. "Now, let's get you a new diaper and some breakfast, and then we can get busy celebrating you."
I should tell her that my diapie is as dry as a desert, but I like the look her pretty face makes when she realizes I saved them a diaper ... one they can use for Pup-Pup!
I laughed so hard at my own joke, my mouth almost got stuck. That's something I have to be careful about. I'm a happy boy and all, but I Do Not want my face stuck on smile forever. Mommy pays extra special attention to Daddy and my Uncles when he or they look the most serious. So not laughing all the time is okay, too. It means they're feeling something different than happy.
"What's going on in that cute Matty-head of yours that's so funny?" Mommy asked me.
How do I tell her about doggy-diapies?
I didn't have to try to explain ... Mommy figured out all on her own what I'd been laughing big at when we got to my changing table, which I think I'm too big for now.
"You knew you didn't need a diaper-change and wanted to surprise Mama again, right? You can be a tricky little boy when you want to be."
I am and I'm not. I was trying to surprise her, but also ... I like using my potty chair. I can't be a Big Bossman if I can't use the potty room like one. I don't have the hang of it just yet, but Daddy's been helping me know what to do.
"Okay, then ... after a potty chair pitstop and a hand wash, we can have breakfast in our pj's like all the good days start," Mommy suggested. "What are we making for your special one?"
She and Daddy know I like helping them do stuff ... like cooking food and calling their client-people. I may look and sometimes sound like a baby, but I'm much, much, MUCH, more than that.
"Minnamon snails," I answered.
They are one of my favorites, but I noticed how Uncle Cal smiles when he sees my cinnamon roll snails, like they remind him of something really good ... and I wanna make my Uncles happy whenever I can, since I know Mommy will want to share them. Daddy will only take a bite or two outta one to make me or Mommy happy, and she'll want them used up faster than a speeding bullet so she won't eat the leftover ones all by herself.
"That's going to take some time," Daddy reminded me.
"I's nose," I told him, nodding my head against Mommy's cheek.
"We can get started on them," she told us, "and while they're rising ... we can get dressed and take Pup-Pup for a walk, or you two can play in your amusement park/backyard for a bit if you'd rather do that. When they're done baking in the oven, we can bring some snails down to the Uncles on duty. Does that sound like a good start to your day, Matty?"
"The Bestest!"
I already know the biggest gift I ever got ... was getting to have the bestest family in the whole wide world!
A/N: I'll likely continue Matty's birthday in a later chapter when April rolls around again in the story, and I'll write Matty's actual birthday party. For now, he's clearly happy just anticipating it. :)
