Rock On

Everyone warned us to get as much sleep possible before Matti arrived. All the sleep in our lifetime could not prepare us for what was to come. We were waking up every 2-3 hours to feed her. This would be the hardest month but we weathered the storm and made it through.

For a newborn, I was amazed by our little peanut's physical strength. From the moment she was born, she was able to lift her head up and turn it side to side. She's completely alert. At a month old, she was extremely observant of her surroundings. She followed every movement, even with her crossed eyes. J. was worried there was something wrong with our little girl. Everyday he'd ask about 10 times, "Do you think there's something wrong with her?" not realizing babies couldn't focus on anything for a while. She was, and still is, quite the yawner too. I guess being a baby is a lot of work. Being fed, cleaned and kissed all the time. Full time job for the Tinger.

We seldom call her Mattingly. Instead, we call her a million other names: Matti, Ting-Ting, Ting, The Tinger, babygirl. Ting-Ting derives from her Chinese name: Ting-Yun (婷恩) which means graceful gift. My parents took part of my name (Gar-Yun:嘉恩) and gave Matti hers.