OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!!

DEC. 28 @ roughly 7:00pm - This definitely deserves to be immediately posted because I am still in complete awe. After dinner tonight, Mateo and I went upstairs so that I could give him his bath. When I turned on the water to rinse the soap off of him. He was sitting facing the faucet because he likes to fill his little bucket with water. Then came...
Mateo: Off, off, ...
Me: Do you want Mama to turn off the water?
Mateo: Off.
Me (thinking): Is the water too hot? He usually says "hot" if that's the case.
Then he stands up and puts his finger on the word "OFF" to the right side of the faucet and taps its. And again repeats the word, "off."

OK. Is that just a complete coincidence or did he just read the word off? It was too deliberate to be a fluke though. I am still in complete awe and amazement with what occured during 30 seconds of his bath tonight. He is completely into learning the alphabet, but what a FANTASTIC SURPRISE : ) I am proud beyond words!

Como Te llamas Me llamo ......

A song we sing alot with Tato goes something like this, "como te llamas, me llamo ?" (Translation: "what is your name, my name is?"). We've taught him to respond to our song by saying, "Tato!"

Well, one day on our way back from Daycare, I break out our song. Unfortunately, he was not in a good mood to sing along but he managed to give me a little something.

Parents & Tots

Always with a truck.

His Amish gingerbread man.

Snacks...

... and more snacks.

Denise & Nate

Dec. 12 - I decided to take the day off today, so I could have a special Mateo & Mama day. We went out to Einstein Bagel for breakfast then to another PNN event. This one was Parents & Tots. We again met up with our friends Denise and her son Nate. We did two craft projects, had snacks, listened to stories, and sang songs. Lots of fun : ) He was so well-behaved the entire time too. That just means that he wasn't running around like a crazy kid. That was a nice surprise for me.

ABCs

Mateo has really gotten into learning the alphabet. He has a few alphabet books that he likes to pull out and point to the letters and ask "What's this?" I tell him the letter and he repeats it. I go through the entire alphabet that way and he does pretty good. We sing the alphabet song ALL THE TIME now and he's gotten pretty good at that too. He can sing A-B-C-D-E-F-G all by himself. Then we pretty much help him with the rest, which he happily finishes. Now he's really gotten into the habit of pointing at the letters on the pages of any of his books and saying a letter, whether he's right or wrong. He can recognize a few letters on his own too. The cutest thing is when we hear him singing the alphabet song. He scolded me one night when I joined in; he clearly wanted to sing it himself!

The Fat Man Cometh

Dec. 9 - Ric took a whole series of photos of Mateo, while he was sitting in front of the computer watching one of his favorite YouTube video cartoons. This one is our favorite because it is the ultimate in fat man faces. He has the rosey chubby cheeks, double chin, squinted eyes, and wide open mouth. We love this photo, especially since it makes us laugh whenever we see it.

We have lift off!

Dec. 5 - Mateo hit another milestone. JUMPING! Who even knew that that is considered a toddler milestone? I read about it and his Pediatrician update sheet had it on there too. So after months and months of "salta" (jump) he finally had lift off! Both feet off the ground at the same time. I think I got choked up when I saw him do it for the first time. He was so excited and proud of himself that he kept doing it over and over again. He would sometimes fall but he'd get back up and do it again. If you say, "salta" he'll start jumping and laughing. He does say "jump" himself and he's so proud. We are too : )

Breakfast With Santa

1. Santa making his rounds.
2. Not wanting to sit on Santa's lap.

3. At least he sat for this picture.

4. Getting his holiday treat.

5. Checking out what he got from Santa.

Dec. 6 - We're part of a social group in Plymouth called the Plymouth Newcomers & Neighbors. They do all kinds of events all year round. This annual event we attended with our friends and their kids was Breakfast With Santa. I assumed that since Mateo did so well last year that he'd be just as cool. I was wrong! He pretty much didn't want to have anything to do with Santa. I do have to say that this year's Santa was a little creepy looking. Even though he wouldn't sit on his lap, he did sit on mine while Santa talked to him and he Magna-Doodled. (Thank you to Nate for letting him play with your Magna-Doodle) Still, he was good enough to get his treat - TRUCK!!! How did Santa know?

Putting Up the Tree

Ooh, pretty lights.

Are we done yet?


Eww, prickly.

Nov. 29 - In 2006, we decided that it would be ultimately friendlier not to cut down our Christmas tree, not to mention the convenience, so we bought an artificial. We'd always gone out and picked out our tree, but I do have to say that Mister isn't so tempted to pee on the artificial one. Anyway, this year Mateo "helped" Ric put the tree up. He even learned how to very easily turn on the tree lights; it's one of the step switches. You literally step down of a dome and the lights turn on.

Phew!

Nov. 26 - Whoa! We really thought that Mateo was going to have to move into a big boy bed, much to my chagrin. He just kept insisting on sleeping on the floor. Then he realized that he could get out of his room and walk into our's whenever he wanted. Not good! It has been quite the unusual challenge for us to get him to go to bed at night. He'd normally just lay down in his crib, roll over and fall asleep. Not so much, for the past few nights. He's been waking up at 2:30am either crying or just showing up in our bedroom. Ric even went to Babies 'R Us to order the conversion kit (crib > toddler bed > full-size) but came home with new Elmo crib sheets in hopes that it would keep him in his bed. OK, so it didn't work, so it was back into the crib. After crying for A VERY LONG time, he fell asleep at 8:30p and we didn't hear from him until 7:15a this morning. Phew! I'm confident that we made the right decision to put him back into the crib until determined otherwise. Night, night Tato : )

Cover Your Eyes...

Nov. 18 - This morning I held up TWO different shirts for him to pick from and as I expected he picked the one with a truck on it. I had the camera close by, so I snapped a couple pictures of him for the heck of it. As it turns out the red-eye reduction light came on really bright in his eyes. I taught him that when the light is bright to "cover your eyes." He'll do this when I turn on his bedroom light in the morning, when the sun is shining brightly into the car while we're driving and in this case when a camera light is bright. The funny thing is that whenever he covers his eyes, he announces "Eyes, eyes,..." His verbal skills are progressing everyday, so it's so much fun for me to hear him try new words and expressions.

Another Monday Morning

Nov. 17 - Have I mentioned Mateo's new obsession with trucks? He truly can't get enough. As you can see in this photo that even while eating he needs to have one of of his trucks with him. I bought him a new truck book and he'll just walk around with it, decide to plop down wherever and flip through it. He'll point and yell, "TRUCK, TRUCK, TRUUUUUCK!!!" And when I ask him what color the truck his, his answer regardless of actual color is "RED!"

When we ask Mateo, "How old are you going to be?" He responds with "two." This time he was also showing us two. He's a freak about "2." He loves things in pairs and anything that has to do with 2. Just recently has he moved on to the number 3. Slowly but surely. He likes to understand the concept of the numbers and not just say the number. Por ejemplo, he will put his shoes together and say, "2." He will line up two cars and announce "2." He will hold up two fingers and yell, "2." When he has once sippy cup he looks for another, just so he can have and say, "2." You get the picture. Maybe it's because he knows his Mama was the 2nd born, which makes 2 the best in his world ; )

New Place to Sleep

Nov. 17-18: Mateo has been making it more and more clear to us that he no longer wants to sleep in his crib. Last night, I gave in and put down on the featherbed that was on his floor. It totally did the trick. He asked for blanket then waved at me and said, "bye-bye." That was it and he was down for the night. We crept in at 7:15 this morning to find that he had moved his way down but still was sound asleep - on his featherbed - ON THE FLOOR! He's found a new place to sleep.

Poor Mr.Quincy was kicked off our bed, out of our bedroom, and down to the first floor by Ric no less. I feel so bad, especially since it's gotten cold and Ric only heats the 2nd floor. I know he wear a permanent fur coat, but still... Mr.Quincy curls into a tiny ball to keep warm and now has a new place to sleep : (

Snowy Sunday

Nov. 16 - We got a big snow today. It was beautiful as long as you didn't have to be out in the cold. I wanted to bake cookies with Mateo but since our oven conked out on us, the plan was aborted. I'm sure we'll have other cold days when we stay in and bake cookies.

Mateo snuggled up with Mr.Quincy on the couch.

Time to break out the eskimo hat.

It's A Boy!

...No, not me. I wish though. Ann and Steve are expecting Baby Boy Griffin this Christmas. We threw them a little shower to share in their excitement and anxiety.

I got them a cake from Cake Nouveau in Ann Arbor, and this was the cool creation that Courtney came up with. I came up with the idea, Jojo sent her a sketch and description and Courtney did the rest. It was a huge it. This tasty dessert was pumpkin cake with buttercream. We served it with hot apple cider. Mmm, mmm, mmm... My parents' cat even thought the chicks (Ruari & Teagan) were real.

Mateo had his eye on that blue egg from the start. Did I mention that everything on that cake was edible. The chicks and egg were made of edible gum paste.

Yes, I did let him get in a couple of nibbles, but that I was it! I couldn't imagine what the night would have been like had he eaten as much as he wanted to. Eek!

He enjoyed the live music and watching Lolo & Lola Orca dance to their song, "Can't Help Falling In Love" by Elvis Presley but performed that night by Tito Ronnie. He has an incredible voice.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This Halloween we met in Sturgis to do some trick-or-treating with Ruari and Teagan. As you can see, Mateo and Ruari were farmers and Teagan was the chicken. Mateo was actually a dairy farmer, carrying around a milk bucket. Mr.Quincy was suppose to be his cow but can you believe that every cow costume his size was sold out?! I was totally bummed about that.
Mateo couldn't quite say, "Trick-or-Treat" but he could go up stairs and knock on doors. That is exactly what he did and he loved it! If someone didn't answer the door right away he would yell out, "Helloooo?" It was SO funny. One lady, said to him, "Well, I heard you the first time." He became a pro and loved collecting his treats and eating them WITH the wrappers still on!

(A pictures says a thousand words.)

My little Huckleberry Finn : )

True buddies. The funniest thing was that Ruari freaked out when Mateo took his boots off and was outside without shoes. She knows that is a n0-no and kept calling out to Ann, "Tato, shoes! Tato, shoes!"

School Party

Fri., Oct. 31 - Today Tato and his classmates celebrated Halloween by getting dressed up in their costumes, parading around the hospital, collecting treats, then having a pizza party. Since Ric wasn't going to see Mateo this weekend, I ran in a snapped a few pictures of him enjoying the festivities. The only thing was that, as soon as Mateo saw me, he got up, pushed his chair away from the table, ran into the bathroom and washed his hands. He thought it was time to go home. I felt so bad when I had to leave because I knew I must had just confused the little man.

The Great Pumpkin Caper

Thur, Oct. 30 - Downtown Plymouth was holding their Annual Great Pumpkin Caper, when most of the downtown retailers stay open and give out trick-or-treats to the kids. There's a costume contest in Kellogg Park too. I knew this year would be a challenge because Mateo is 20-months old and a challenge to keep in one place. He's quite the mobile toddler.

TaTo meets the Papa John's character. I think it reminded him of Disney.

Uh, oh. He's heading for a meltdown (it's dinnertime.)

Cool hats, ladies.

Patiently waiting in the long line for his dip into the candy bowls.

OK, so he was suppose to be Richard Simmons for Halloween, but it got too cold.

So, I dressed him up in what appears to be 80's jock wear. That was until a girl passing out candy pointed that he looks like the big brother from "The Goonies." I couldn't help but laugh and whole-heartedly agree.

Lil' Pumpkin

Oct. 19 - Today we took Tato and Mr.Quincy to the Plymouth Orchard & Cider Mill to pick out our pumpkins. Unfortunately our camera battery was dead and Ric took video on his cell phone, so this picture was taken the following day at home.

Tato enjoyed the little farm animal section and walking through the rows of pumpkins. He especially enjoyed watching the "train," which was actually about 5 or 6 flatbeds attached to make up the wagon ride. He is totally obsessed with trains. We shared some fresh cut apples, but since the orchard was PACKED to the gills, we didn't get to see everything. Anyway, when we made our way to the pumpkins, he rushed over and kept trying to pick them up. He knows he's a strong little man, but those giant pumpkins just weren't budging. He kept trying though.

I grabbed a little 3 lber and handed it to him. He was so happy to be able to carry it around in one hand. He grabbed the stem and walked around until he got to the next pumpkin of interest. When we got him into his car seat to head home, he insisted on holding it in his lamp all the way back.

"First" Haircut

Oct. 20 - I picked Tato from school today and Miss Mary came over to tell me that he had been rubbing his eyes all day because his hair kept falling in his face. She said that she tried brushing it back but then had to resort to using hairspray to keep it out of his eyes. None of which worked. I had a feeling she was trying to gently tell me that he REALLY needs a haircut. I told Ric and we decided that since it was too late to take him to a barber that we'd just do it ourselves. When I say "we" I really mean Ric will do the cutting and I will do the picture taking. We cut his hair while he was preoccupied with eating dinner and it worked out really well. There was no fussing. I just wish he was that same when I try to clip his nails. Argh! Anyway, you can see the cute result of his haircut. His hair is still wavy but no longer falls into his face.

Yo Hablo Espanol...

Monday, October 20 - Tato has been doing SO well in Spanish Class lately. Tonight his profesora gave the activity of making ranas (frogs) jump (salta). As soon as Tato heard her say "salta" he jumped. It was SO cute. Senora Jennifer and I looked at each other in astonishment. When she told him to "tira" (throw) he would throw the toy. When she would give the command of "poner los juguetes en la bolsa" he picks up the toys and puts them in the bag! Amazing! He doesn't speak but he certainly seems to understand the words. I bought him a book "Mis Animales" and when I pointed to the mouse and said "el raton" he blurted "raton." How fun is he?! Muy bien Tato : )

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY...

Hi All,
I apologize for the big gap in his entries, but we've all been VERY busy here. Ric attended the HENAAC Conference in Houston, where he was honored, for what he hopes is the last time. I started my new territory for work, which has me driving all over God's green earth! We hope you've all be doing well...

Tato and Da Ladies

Sept. 26-28: Tato spent this past weekend in Chicago with 2 cousins, 2 nannies, and 2 grandparents, while Ric and I were at 2 different weddings in 2 different states. Or and Rin, took Tato and the little ladies went to the park for some outdoor time. While indoors Tato and Ruari, fought over toys, watched cartoons, and fought over toys some more. He also ate lots of fried dried beef from Siam Noodle, kept Lolo & Lola awake with his crying and gave warm sweets hugs to his cousins. I know he had a great time even though he wasn't feeling well and missed his Mama.