What the?

March 24 - Mateo had his back to turned to me as I was packing our things in the morning to head back home to Michigan. When I turned around and looked down, this is what I found! I have no idea how he found this coffee cake, but he certainly appeared to be enjoying it. There were crumbs everywhere! He's lucky that Tia Nenita loves him so much. Sorry about the mess. What else can I say? Tato is an eater.

Thank You Easter Bunny!

After Easter Mass, Mateo got a nice surprise...

The Easter Bunny delivered lots of cool stuff for him this year:

* a super cute book of boy poems "Dirt on My Shirt"

* Ric's favorite, "A Bug's Life" on DVD

* the CD by Alexa Ray Joel

* organic bunny graham crackers

* froggy slippers

* froggy doll wearing bunny ears

Although, I think his favorite was the 29 cent fake grass - figures!

Easter Buddy

Mateo did so great at his first time with the Easter Bunny.

He looked right at the camera and smiled : ) Yay!

You can't read his t-shirt from Tia Nenita, but it reads

"Si, Se Puede

Obama '08"

It seems that Obama supporters just keep getting younger.

Easter 2008 in PA

The next LL Cool J because the ladies really do love him.

Hanging with the dudes.

Opening presents.

Dinner at Lombardi's.

This Easter we drove out to Pennsylvania to spend time with Ric's sisters and stepmom. We had so much fun watching him run around Tia Nenita's livingroom, make a mess of the grocery ads, get his first pair of Stride-Rites, meet the Easter Bunny, and give lots of love to everyone. We hope to see everyone again soon. A big thank you to Nena and Brad for their gracious hospitality. Also to Marybeth and Mary for our special Anniversary lunch while our tire was being replaced. Ric missed the Knotty Pine but we enjoyed the Booty Bistro.

Handy Manny

March 17 at 9:30am - It's time for Handy Manny.

According to Or, it's his favorite cartoon because it's the only one he'll actually sit and watch. They pile the couch cushions on the floor and settle in for an episode.

Return from Denmark

He's definitely a lover and not a fighter! Check out his tongue. Eek!
The kidoodles love Lolo

Ninang with chubby Teagan.

Ruari in rare form, or is it typical form? It's tough to distinguish.

March 12-21: Auntie Nina came to visit from Denmark! We had lots of fun and look forward to seeing her and Uncle Thomas in Disney very soon : )

Typical Tato

This is Tato in his "typical" fashion:

* eating a banana

* sharing snacks with Mr.Quincy

* crawling through the Tato Tunnel

* walking around with things that he shouldn't have

However, there is one thing missing - reading : )

Is It Naptime?

Feb. 28 - Apparently Mateo had a particularly tiring day.

As you can see he could hardly make it to his crib.

1

March 1 - Today Tato celebrated his FIRST BIRTHDAY at home in Plymouth. So many were kind enough to brave the snowy weather to be with him on that special day. (His actual birthday is February 26th.) Thank you to everyone for the greetings and the gifts.

Big Boy Toothbrush

MARCH 2, 2008 - Mateo has officially been 1 year old for 5 days now and has graduated to his "big boy" toothbrush. I knew it wouldn't be a challenge to get him to brush his teeth because he always enjoyed the little fingertip brush. However, could anyone guess that the biggest challenge is to get him to STOP brushing his teeth? OMG! He would not release the kung-fu grip he had on his new Dr. Seuss toothbrush and cried REALLY loud when I finally got it from him. His toothbrushing skills are really adorable though. He even knows to move the toothbrush back and forth across his teeth. Pic 2 shows him reaching for the back of his mouth that isn't even occupied with teeth yet. Maybe he's so good at it because he loves watching Ric and I brush our teeth and just naturally caught on. Who knows but it's cute : )