Over the River and Through the Woods....

My new favorite picture of Mattie:

Tonight Mattie and I escaped out into my parents backyard, which happens to be some picturesque woods. We had to make a little pit stop to the doghouse, because its a perfect sized playhouse for Mattie (don't worry, none of the dogs like it or use it). It was Mattie's first trip into the woods, and she is at that stage now where she loves trees, birds and anything new. She has grasped the "Grab everything as quickly as I can and shove it into my mouth" concept and she made it quite tricky to get in some cute shots, but I did manage to get a few. She loved the pine cones and the crunchy leaves, but didn't like that annoying thing that kept on taking pictures of her. You would think by now that me snapping pictures every other minute, well, she would just go with the flow. Oh no... now she is getting to the point where she is like "Listen here, I will smile or look up whenever I feel like it and no stupid squeaky noise that you make to get me to do it will work, so save your breath" Yet... I still try. One day she will either thank me or hate me for taking so many pictures.
I am looking forward to this spring and summer to take a lot more outdoor shots of her. The woods in the backyard make really nice shots as the sun goes down. Tonight was a perfect night, chilly enough to keep the bugs away but warm enough to enjoy some fresh air after dinner. I get my pictures while I can, because as soon as she is mobile, there will be no controlling where she sits and stays for a picture.