The Journey of Our Little Man

getting tato ready for bed

2009-08-12T20:32:00.003-04:00

para nena

2009-07-28T21:36:00.002-04:00

A New Cousin for Tato...

2009-06-19T14:42:00.002-04:00

On June 17, 2009 at 11:30 in the morning a healthy MAX JAY SCATTON made his grand debut into this wacky world. He was born 7 lbs 2oz to Ric's little sis Marybeth and her husband Jaime. Everyone is doing well. We are SO excited for them and cannot wait to see everyone - hopefully soon. Tato has been coming home from school saying, "baby, baaaby" over and over again. He must know!

Happy Birthday Papa!

2009-06-19T14:31:00.004-04:00

JUNE 16 - Ric turned 30-something today and as a little surprise I arranged for our good friends (l-r: Rob & Stephanie Clark, and Tim & Denise Petrosky) to meet us out for a nice dinner at Andiamo's in Livonia. OK, so I thought it was a nice surprise until afterwards Ric told me how tired he was and thought that I was taking him out for an intimate dinner at The Melting Pot. He said that he had a great time nonetheless and that he was surprised! I could see that he enjoyed himself and I can't believe I was able to finally surprise him : 0 HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPITO! Next year is a BIG one! I should also mention that it's Ann's birthday today too. Lots going on in June.

Mad-town in May

2009-06-19T14:13:00.003-04:00

SURPRISE! Happy Birthday Tita Jojo

Indulging in some yummy carrot cake birthday cake.

Ice cream & carousel ride at Ella's Deli. Tato loved the carousel SO much that he blew a gasket when he had to leave.

The clan of kidoodles after breakfast at Bluephie's.

One more pic before our drive back to Plymouth.

MAY 28-31: We visited Jojo & Zach in their hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. Ric had never been before but we all knew that he was going to love it. We were able to visit our good friends Tonya & JJ and their kids who moved up there. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to see our other friends Mindee & Jeff, and Pat & Alison. We'll make more time next time we visit. Hmm, I think we know more people in Madison than in Plymouth. Anyway, Mom, Ann, Jojo and I did the Race for the Cure 5K walk together. We celebrated Jojo's birthday, which was a fun surprise for her. And of course, we ate A LOT, played Scrabble, and watched HSM3. For as much as we did, we still didn't seem to have enough time. BTW Ric loved it so much that he wants to move there!

Shortest Parade on Earth

2009-06-19T13:44:00.002-04:00

MEMORIAL DAY 2009- We got up and got out to see the downtown Plymouth Memorial Day Parade, which we were told was pretty short. How short? We had not idea. In the almost 8 years we've been living here, we've never gone to one. Well, after walking for 15 minutes, waiting for another 15 minutes, we finally got to see what could only be described as THE shortest parade on Earth. I believe it lasted about 10 minutes and that's only because there was a hold up. It was still neat to finally see. From what we were told, the Labor Day Parade is much better. I do have to mention that Tato did get candy. I told him to wave at the people in the parade and they'll throw him candy. He thought it was the neatest thing.

Bagel Day

2009-06-19T13:37:00.003-04:00

MAY 17 - When I ask Tato, "What's your favorite?" He answers with "Bagel Day." His teacher told me that the kids love bagel day at school and he is one of them for sure. Just don't try to take away his bagel before he's finished or else you'll get a very upset Tato.

Construction Zone

2009-06-19T13:27:00.003-04:00

MAY 15 - This afternoon's activity involved taking an old toy and reusing it in another way. In this case, Tato chose to go up, when the blocks are actually meant to slide down. I was pretty impressed with his steady hand and getting all of those blocks stacked without knocking a single one over. He even took time to admire his own work.

Mother's Day

2009-06-19T13:10:00.002-04:00

Ric down in Florida visiting his Mama for Mother's Day Weekend.

Me and Tato celebrating Mother's Day Weekend with mi familia in Michigan.

Talk much?

2009-05-24T22:11:00.003-04:00

Mateo's vocabulary and sentence formation seems to be improving more and more each day. I'm amazed that at 27 months old, he knows the names of so many objects.

This afternoon Ric asked Tato: "Do you want to rock?"
Translation: Do you want to play Rock Band 2?
Tato: "Yah, Papa. Rock!" in his cute monster voice."

He proceeds to walk over and as he's grabbing the microphone he actually says, "microphone."
Then he grabs the drumsticks and says, "Mama, drums."
I just couldn't believe that he knew and could pronounce microphone.

As we're playing, I'm encouraging his singing. He says, "I'm doing it!"
When the song is over he says, "One more song." or "Another song.

Those 20 minutes were just so cute and precious. And he didn't want to stop.

A Day Out with Thomas

2009-05-02T15:16:00.002-04:00

05|02|09 - The Greenfield Village in Dearborn was hosting two weekends of "A Day Out With Thomas." Yes, THE Thomas! I don't know who was more excited? We couldn't wait to see his reaction when he finally gets to see Thomas live. The Village was packed with kids wearing their Thomas The Tank Engine clothing and parents toting around TTTE backpacks and balloons. Well, when Thomas finally came around, tooting his horn and all, Tato just kept pointing and saying, "Thomas, alla, Thomas,..." No yelling with excitement just repeated words, probably in disbelief. He even got to meet Sir Topham Hatt. We also ran into one of his classmates from school. What an awesome day it was for the 3 of us and the nice weather helped too. Since Ric purchased a Family Annual Membership, we look forward to going back again and again and again.

Check Please!

2009-05-02T15:00:00.004-04:00

03|13|2009 - Today was Tato's 2-year check up with Dr. Newcombe. I was very eager to find out how much he had grown from his previous check-up at 18-months old.
Here were the results: LENGTH * WEIGHT
24 mos: 36 in./90th percentile * 34 lbs/95th percentile
18 mos: 34.5 in/95th percentile * 29 lbs/80th percentile

We certainly have a healthy, happy, growing boy on our hands.

HSM 4?

2009-05-02T14:41:00.003-04:00

03|22|09 - I wish that this picture didn't come out blurry but it still cracks me up. When Ric left for his Sunday bike ride/race, I put in High School Musical 1, while I cleaned up and Mateo played in his playroom. It kept me entertained and Mateo really does love the music. At one point when he heard Vanessa Hudgens' character start to sing, he got up and raced to the TV, grabbed the Rock Band microphone and started singing into it! NO JOKE! It was so cute to see. I'm venturing a guess that he might have a crush on Vanessa/Gabriella or be a future star of the HSM franchise. One thing is for sure, he has good taste; she's half Filipino too : )

IKEA Incident

2009-05-02T14:33:00.002-04:00

03|21|09 - Today we went to the IKEA close to our house to look for new office furniture. Since we were there around lunch time we decided to eat at their upstairs cafeteria. The kid's meal came with a chocolate milk which normally isn't a problem, however it was a mini milk Chug bottle. I got up to look for a straw and when I returned this is what I saw! OMG! What happened? Ric let him drink straight from the bottle and it poured all down his front : 0 He's was wearing the brand new t-shirt I got him from Barcelona. It is TOTALLY ruined! Oh well, what can I expect from a 2-year old, right?

PEACHES!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-02T14:24:00.002-04:00

1. The clenched fists of excitement.

1. The facial expression of excitment.

3. The physical response of excitement.

What does Tato like to each more than canned peaches? I really don't know because he'll pretty much each anything. However, he gets EXTRA excited when he knows he's getting peaches. All of a sudden no other foods exist in his little universe.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

2009-05-02T14:17:00.003-04:00

03|15|09 - What a wonderful surprise! Beautiful mid-March weather in Michigan : ) It was an absolute must to take advantage of it and head over to the neighborhood park. It was no surprise to find it teeming with other parents, kids, and dogs. Mateo can be such a little daredevil though. He'd watch the bigger kids climb up the jungle gym using the 0pen arched "ladder" and had to do the same. I was way more nervous than he was of course. He only slipped once and I was there the whole time with light support just in case that would have happened. Phew! Makes me nervous just writing about it.

BCN/ROM

2009-05-02T14:08:00.005-04:00

This the photo Ric texted over to me on my birthday.
It brought tears to my eyes.

Trevi Fountain - Rome, Italy

Parc Guell by Antoni Gaudi - Barcelona, Spain

02|27 - 03|08: What should have been a birthday trip for both Mateo and I along with Ric and Mom, turned into a girls only vacation. Although, I missed my little man SO much, we had an amazing time and hope to return with all the guys next time.
I'd like to give a special thank you to Tia Nena and Lola Mary for coming out to Plymouth to visit with Ric & Tato for a few days while I was away. From what I heard a great time was had by all. We hope to see you soon. Thank you again.

More Cake

2009-05-02T14:04:00.002-04:00

02|26|2009 - Later that night we had our own little family celebration with a Hokey Pokey Cake from Whole Foods. It was yummy. If we could just get Mateo to blow out his candles. He's not to sure of the concept just yet, but he did enjoy the cake.

Guess Who's 2?!

2009-05-02T13:50:00.002-04:00

FEBRUARY 26, 2009 - It was 2 years ago this day that Mateo Valeriano Orca Lung came into this world. Every day since then has been a true blessing. Yes, even the tough days. Today was a extra special because he a room full of classmates and teachers to celebrate with him. Towards the end of the day, Ric and I brought in mini-cupcakes to share with is class along with a box of Thomas The Tank Engine Pockey (his all-time favorite treat) to give each one of his friends. To my surprise the teachers had a birthday crown for me as well, since my birthday was just 3 days later. They all sang Happy Birthday, licked the frosting off their cupcakes and headed out to play. One of his teachers Miss Mary told me that he had been telling everyone all day that he was "2!" It was a great day! CUMPLEANOS FELIZ TATO!

Delinquent!

2009-05-02T13:47:00.002-04:00

Yes, yes! I know that I deserve a tongue lashing from some of you. I'd even deserve to have my blogging license revoked if there were such a thing. However, just before and ever since my return from Europe my world has been crazy busy to put it mildly. Things have been going well, no worries there. Just a bigger territory and a new company policy of no uploading pictures onto the company laptop, which takes away some good blogging opportunities. My apologies, but I'm back to make it up to you...

ABCs and 123s...

2009-02-24T21:34:00.002-05:00

I'm so proud that Tato has mastered his ABCs, 123s, and colors before the age of 2. Ric and I don't know what the average age of a child is when they learn these things, but regardless, it's a point of pride for us. He's always shown great interest in books and learning the alphabet, but not really the numbers. I figured that would come much later, but I was sorely mistaken. What felt like in 10 days time this month, he had learned his numbers, colors, and shapes! He even knows "oval" and "rectangle." I find it incredible that he can even attempt to say "rectangle" at this age.
Sure enough, wherever we are, he shouts out a letter, number, or shape that he sees. One night when he was washing his hands after dinner, he announced, "H-O-T. HOT!" I couldn't believe it! Maybe they taught him that at school but man, was I impressed at that moment and continue to be.
My only concern is that his love of "Thomas and Friends" totally takes over. The little man LOVES "Thomas and Friends" so much that when he wakes up in the morning he asks to watch "choo-choo trains." To balance things out, we have him watch an educational video before choo-choo train videos. He has to end the evening with a book, even if it is a Thomas book. However, we only keep learning books upstairs in his room, which thankly doesn't bother him at all.

Bilingual Fun

2009-02-24T21:19:00.003-05:00

Tato is nearing the end of his 3rd session of Bilingual Fun classes. It's been such a joy to see and hear the progress he has made. He's really picked up on the context of the words, which is amazing to me because he's so young and hears English 97% of the time.
* He calls Ruari and Teagan, "chicas." That had us laughing all weekend.
* He sleeps with his Oso (teddy bear), Mono (monkey), y Rana (frog).
* He was playing with is oso and saying "Oso, salta!" (Translation: Bear, jump!)
* When you ask for a "beso" he gives a big kiss.
* He knows quite a few verbs: salta, corre, camina, besame, abrazo, arriba, abajo, vuelta, baila, escucha, busca, aplauda, and possibly others that I'm not aware of yet.
* When he's looking for something, he puts his hand upto his forehead when you/he says, "busca."
* He asks for "pollo" and "agua" at dinner time.
* He says, "hola" and "adios."

Everyone says that kids are sponges at this age and Tato has proven to be no exception to that wonderful rule. Everyday is new and exciting : )

POLLO!!!

2009-02-24T21:12:00.003-05:00

Jan. 23 - After the Hands-On Museum, we went to Chipotle for an early dinner. We were so early in fact that we were the only customers there for a few minutes. We sat Tato down at the booth closest to the cashiers and went up to order. While I was waiting my turn to order, Tato stood up and yelled, "MAMA! POLLO, MAMA!" Anyone and everyone could hear him clear as day. I couldn't help but break into a huge, proud smile. Then I heard it again, "POLLO! MAMA, POLLO!" As the lady working the counter put it, "that is the cutest thing." It really was! Tato was reminding me to order him "chicken." I was so proud that he used his Spanish word appropriately. Later, that same lady brought him over a sticker for such good use of his Spanish. The only embarrassing part was the decibel level. Man, is he one VERY loud boy! I couldn't imagine him any other way. Te quiero my corazon.

An Afternoon At The Museum

2009-02-24T21:02:00.002-05:00

My little engineer in the making.

Buttons and wheels... enough said!

Even with the smock, he was soaked!

Jan. 23 - I wanted to take Tato to the Ann Arbor Kid's Hands-On Museum yesterday but we got yet another very cold and snowy day, so we took him Sunday afternoon. It was a lot more crowded that I thought it would be but it wasn't a bad thing. Kids enjoying a learning environment, bring it on! This was his first trip to this museum, so his attention span was that of a gnat until we got to the water works in the Toddler Room. He was splashing around and going from station to station. He also really enjoyed playing house with another little Asian girl. When I asked him to put the dishes in the sink, he cleared the entire table! It was very cute. We know he really enjoyed it because he didn't want to leave.

Muchas Gracias Abuelita

2009-02-24T20:58:00.002-05:00

Jan. 23 - Today I let Tato open up his first 2nd Birthday present. It was from his Abuelita. Loads of fun books in both English and Spanish. And there were a few surprises for Papito as well. Ric was pleasantly surprised to find some old bed linens from when he was young. Thank you Abuelita the boys loved their surprises : )

Beep! Beep!

2009-02-24T20:49:00.002-05:00

Jan. 21 - We have a new family outing...going to the mall. We drive 10 minutes over to Laurel Park Mall in Livonia, have an early dinner, then walk the mall. Well, Ric and I walk. Tato oscillates between running very fast, to holding our hands. We'll go to the book store, do some window shopping, and just spend some family time together. This particular evening, Tato discovered these stroller/cart/car things that you can rent for $5. He loved it so much that he would climb in, close the door and pretend to drive, even though he was going nowhere fast. The toughest part of the night was getting him out without making a scene. Beep, beep!

Happy Birthday Lolo Charlie

2009-02-24T20:41:00.002-05:00

Another amazing creation by Courtney Clark of Cake Nouveau.

Check out her other cakes at www.cakenouveau.com
SURPRISE!

Make a wish...

February 7 - Tonight we surprised Lolo Charlie with a party and a SUPER FUN garden birthday cake. Flavor? CARROT CAKE of course and that so happens to be his favorite flavor cake. The individual veggies were all edible. She even put rows of edible "dirt." YUMMY!!!

2009-02-24T20:35:00.002-05:00

Jan. 28 - Now I know what you're thinking, but we had absolutely nothing to do with it! I swear! Just this year we've had to bring up Mr's cage because in his old age of 13 and his condition of chronic hepatitis, he has been making a mess in the middle of the night. So we're back to caging him during the evening. Tato had never seen the cage before, so he would observe Mr. get in and lay down. One day, when we were down in the kitchen, I turned around and found Tato IN THE CAGE. I'm going to say that he was just checking out the comfort and to see what the big deal was ; ) He hasn't gone back since.

The Newest Little Orca

2009-02-24T20:30:00.002-05:00

Jan. 26 - I was in Chicago for a doctor's appointment and was happy to finally meet the newest little Orca*Griffin. Introducing Ruari and Teagan's baby brother DECLAN KOHL ORCA GRIFFIN, born Dec. 29, 2008. He was 8 lbs 3 oz at birth, which is just an ounce shy of Tato's birth weight, but he seemed to be at least a couple pounds lighter by the time I got to meet him. Now Tato has another little guy to pal around with : )

Ushering in a New Era

2009-02-24T20:21:00.003-05:00

JANUARY 20, 2009 - Today was a big day in U.S. history and we made sure not to miss it.

Even though it was a very difficult last minute decision not to go to Washington DC for the Inauguration, it was still amazing to watch on TV. As you can see, the process seemed to run a bit long for both Ric and Mister ; )

Fresh Face

2009-02-24T20:17:00.002-05:00

Jan. 18 - Just a few shots of Tato fresh from a much needed bath. He actually enjoys having lotion or petroleum jelly smeared on his chapped chubby cheeks. Now he just says, "cheeks, cheeks."

I have returned!

2009-02-24T20:14:00.002-05:00

FEBRUARY 25, 2009 - MARDI GRAS, FAT TUESDAY, and most importantly the day Ivy returned to her blog posting duties! I greatly apologize for the hug gap in posts, but I have been SWAMPED with work and then I misplaced my camera. That latter caused me quite a bit of anxiety. Happily, I return to posting the latest on our little man...

Mmm, Cookie

2009-01-26T01:05:00.006-05:00

Jan. 10 - Today was another unusually big snow day in the Plymouth area, so what better thing to do but to bake up warm sugar cookies! Yes, I started with the break-apart kinds for Mateo's first go at it. I didn't want to seem to ambitious ; )

I tried to show him how to arrange the cookies on the cookie sheets and he clearly had his own idea. He was so proud of himself and why shouldn't he be?

After waiting 15 very long toddler minutes of baking time and another few minutes of cooling time, it was time for some decorating. I frosted the cookies and Mateo did the sugar-shaker decorating: blue, green, yellow, orange, pink and purple. He got the hang of it right away and loved it.

Ta-da! Decorated sugar cookies a la Mateo. Now was the time to taste the fruits of his labor. He had a cup of milk to wash it all down with but all he really wanted was cookie after cookie. I have to cut him off and as you could imagine he got quite upset.

Today was a great day for being "stuck" in the house. Mateo and I had an absolute blast from baking and decorating cookies to taking a long walk out in the evening snow, while Ric was on snow duty. I must say that this was one of my most memorable days with my little man. He's growing SO fast.

Too Much

2009-01-26T00:46:00.002-05:00

Jan. 8, 2009 - Ric always says that he's going to give Mateo big kisses until he can no longer give him big kisses. Mateo is such good sport - most of the time. He allows his Papito to give big kisses, but when he's not in the mood, he not-so-gently shoves him off and yells, "NO!"

Ovaltine Please!

2009-01-26T00:38:00.002-05:00

Jan. 7, 2009 - A goofy smiling face is what I like to see during mealtime.

Here's he's just enjoying his cup of Ovaltine. "Pass the Ovaltine please!"

Lunch with Papito...

2009-01-26T00:22:00.002-05:00

Somehow Ric always seems to upset Mateo during mealtime.

Clearly, Mateo was much more content once released from the clutches of his high chair.

OK, he really does prefer sitting in his high chair when it's time to eat.

Jan. 4, 2009 - While I was out running errands, Ric and Mateo spent some "quality time" together.

Where are you?

2009-01-26T00:13:00.002-05:00

Jan. 3, 2009 - Mateo got tired of playing with his Mega Blox, so he took the bin that they were in and played peekaboo over and over and over and over, etc... again.

HAPPY 2009!

2009-01-25T23:56:00.002-05:00

January 1, 2009 - We hope you all had a wonderful New Year celebration. We wish health and happiness throughout the year. Mr.Quincy partied a bit too much, so his rest was well deserved.

M.I.A.

2009-01-25T23:53:00.003-05:00

I deeply apologize for being delinquent in posting updates to Mateo's blog, but our PC hasn't been all too cooperative. In other words, it broke during our Christmas break. One of Ric's co-workers was kind enough to "fix" it, but it's still not 100%. However, he saved us a bundle ; ) You will see that my picture selection is limited, but I couldn't go on any longer without a posting.

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

2008-12-28T19:21:00.002-05:00

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 ......

2008-12-17T20:04:00.002-05:00

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

2008-12-14T08:36:00.003-05:00

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

2008-12-14T08:21:00.003-05:00

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

2008-12-14T08:02:00.003-05:00

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!

2008-12-14T07:57:00.002-05:00

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

2008-12-14T07:46:00.005-05:00

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

2008-12-14T07:36:00.003-05:00

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!

2008-11-27T13:39:00.002-05:00

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...

2008-11-18T22:41:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-18T22:29:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-18T22:09:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-18T22:00:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-11-18T21:40:00.002-05:00

...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!

2008-11-18T21:28:00.003-05:00

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

2008-11-18T21:20:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-18T20:22:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-21T23:04:00.005-04:00

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

2008-10-21T22:44:00.005-04:00

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...

2008-10-21T22:36:00.004-04:00

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...

2008-10-21T22:32:00.005-04:00

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

2008-09-29T23:55:00.002-04:00

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.

Baby Hair Gel?

2008-09-29T23:45:00.006-04:00

Sept. 26 - Ric & I have gotten into the habit of wetting down Tato's mop before dropping him off at school because his hair is so extra unruly in the mornings. Photo 1 shows him enjoying his breakfast with his hair groomed. Photo 2 shows him less than an hour later, in the car, holding his favorite shoes. I asked Ric if I should take Tato for a hair cut before his school pictures on Oct. 8th, and he said 'no' because he wants his hair to be as naturally Tato as possible in his pictures. So it'll be more of Photo 2 for his first set of school pics. Need I invest in baby hair gel?

BTW, he loves these ecco shoes so much that he'll take them off and just to hold them even while he's eating finger snacks. One shoe in a football hold, the other hand feeding himself.

From School To Pool

2008-09-29T23:37:00.002-04:00

Sept. 10 - It was one of those days - again. I don't really understand how fun it is for someone to be soaking wet in a pool while fully dressed, shoes and all. However that being said, I am a first-time mother and there are plenty of things that I don't understand. Well, from what I gather that's not exclusive to me or to any other parent who has one or more children. He's just faster than me. He sees that pool and can't resist. I will go in and take off his shoes but aside from that I say, "have at it!"

Check-up

2008-09-29T23:25:00.003-04:00

Sept. 8 - Today was Mateo's 18-month check-up with the pediatrician. We love his pediatrician because she's so casual, calming, and encouraging when it's all necessary. Plus her office gives the best print out at every check-up with stats, diet, milestones, safety, vaccinations, etc. for your childs current age. I live by those things!
This trip was the first time he weighed on a medical scale instead on one of those baby scales. Ooh! He could do some damage on one of those things for sure! The stats that morning were as follows:
Age: 18 months and 2 weeks
Height: 34.5 inches / 95th percentile
Weight: 29.8 lbs / 80th percentile
(this doesn't seem right to me. how big are baby boys these days?!)
Head: 19.5 big inches / 95th percentile
He's progressing really well in all areas and on track to be 6' tall. He won't need to return until he's 2 YEARS OLD with the exception of getting a flu shot. It's so hard to believe that he'll be 2 years old is less than 6 months away already : }

Fall Fest

2008-09-29T23:16:00.003-04:00

Sept. 5-7: Plymouth Fall Festival was in town and we all had a great time. Well actually, Ric and Mateo had the great time. They went on the rides, played the games, danced to the music, played in the fountain, etc. While I was the one photographing the moments, ordering and delivering food, etc. My life as a sherpa can be quite unrewarding sometimes. Can someone tell me when Mommies start to be the ones photographed with her child? Hmm...

Quiet Time

2008-09-19T21:18:00.002-04:00

Tuesday, September 16 - My colleague Jodi gave me some MegaBlocks for Tato that her son Kolin had outgrown. He was uber-excited when I poured them out onto his playroom floor. He squealed with excitement, then covered his eyes with his hands, and then quickly pulled them away in complete disbelief that all of those toys were his. Then the stomping of the feet started. He was just gushing with happiness. This bought quite a bit of time to prepare dinner. After a little bit while I noticed it had gotten quieter, but I could still hear him talking. I peered around and saw Tato sitting on the end of the sofa closest to me reading a Spanish book that his Abuelita had read to him when she was here in July. I dared not to disturb him because he loves reading his books. A hardy THANK YOU to the Fettigs for passing it forward.

Groovy Buddha

2008-09-19T21:03:00.002-04:00

We were hanging out at home on a hot day after school. I still had this onesie for Tato to run around in and he decided that he'd much rather chill on the sofa and play with a pacifier holder. Hey, whatever keeps him entertained.

TATO in action

2008-09-07T13:55:00.004-04:00

TATO in Hazleton PA

2008-09-07T13:51:00.002-04:00

Our EngiNERD...

2008-09-03T16:00:00.002-04:00

We were always so proud of the good, honest work Papito has done at his 11 year with Ford Motor Company. Now others will see just how great he truly is because on Oct. 9-12 down in Houston, Texas, he will be honored at the Hispanics in Engineering Conference. Ford has only had a handful of these Luminary Honorees come from their company and Papito will forever be one of them. I am SO overjoyed with pride, even though he remains his humble self through it all. He will also be honored next Monday, Sept. 8 at Ford World Headquarters by the Group Vice-President of Development. This is truly a wonderful honor and recognition for all his great work.

As much as I want you all to send him congratulations, he would be absolutely mortified with all the attention, as he was tentative about even going to any awards ceremony to begin with. I just wanted to express my love, joy, and pride. CONGRATULATIONS PAPITO : )

Last Day in Classroom 3

2008-09-03T00:28:00.002-04:00

(OK, here he's using his right hand, but he eventually switches to left. I'm hoping for another lefty in the family.)

Aug. 29 - Today was Tato's last day in Classroom 3. It was so bittersweet, but we're excited to be moving to Classroom 5. We will miss Miss Janice, Miss Heather, Miss Margaret, and Miss Karen. Thank you for all you've done to help him develope and grow in just 3 months.

The Hef

2008-09-03T00:22:00.002-04:00

Aug. 27 - No I don't dream of my little man becoming the next Hugh Hefner, but he did seem to look like a mini Hef in his new bath robe.

Plymouth Play Cafe

2008-09-03T00:13:00.002-04:00

Aug. 27 - Today after work we took a trip to downtown Plymouth to spend some time burning off some extra energy at the Plymouth Play Cafe.
Tato and Papito had a lot of fun climbing around and sliding down the tube slides. Afterwards we had dinner and ice cream. Mmm... ice cream : )

New Camera

2008-09-03T00:10:00.002-04:00

Aug. 26 - We got a new camera! Hooray! I'm so happy to report that we are now proud owners of a Canon Power Shot SD1100 IS Elph. I've been eyeing this camera for a very long time and when I busted our Fuji, well that was a perfect reason to get this one. What else does that mean? New pictures to chronicle our Tato.

I Stand Corrected!

2008-09-02T23:59:00.002-04:00

Aug. 25 - My bad. Class 5 = Class 4. Class 4 = Class 5. We still are SO proud of him for all he's learned and accomplished in Class 3: learning to feed himself with a utensil (where he favors his LEFT hand, yay), sitting in a big boy chair to eat instead of a high chair, etc.

In that same timeframe he also learned FOUR distinct things in Spanish Class (forgive the missing tildes and accents):
1. Donde esta tu nariz? (Where is your nose?) He points to his nose.
2. Adios. He waves and says, bye-bye.
3. Arriba. He puts his hands UP in the air.
4. Quieres mas? (Do you want more?) He signs for "more."

Whoa!

2008-08-25T19:09:00.003-04:00

Sorry, I'm still left with a broken camera and our old 3.1 "mega"pixel Kodak EasyShare has been with me in Panama for the past week. Basically, still no new pics of our Little Man. However, today was full of fun surprises.

It all happened this afternoon when we got home from school. I again had to chase him around the inside of my car to get him out. He was quite amused. When I finally got him out he made a beeline for his still-filled swimming pool and well you can imagine what came next - floop! Right into his swimming pool fully dressed ; ) At that point, why make him get out? He just stood there laughing at himself. Then he got out, walked up the stairs to the back deck and waited to go inside. Once inside I read the letter we received from his school. To my surprise he was being promoted to not the next class but to the class beyond that! Whoo-hoo! He is set to begin in Class #5 on Tuesday, September 2nd and we need to meet his new teachers. The letter stated that it was due to development and the secretary explained to me that the teachers discuss and decide which students move up at the beginning of each school year. I was so proud but at the same time concerned. What if they made a mistake and he's suppose to be in Class #4? I just want to make sure that he's where he is suppose to be and that it's best for his development. I'm going to confirm with his teachers tomorrow morning.

Lastly, tonight after dinner Ric wanted to go down to the park. No big deal. Since Tato had been stripped out of his soggy clothing since the pool incident, and just finished dinner, I needed to take him upstairs for a bit freshening up. When we were done, we walked out of his room to find Ric standing at the top of the stairs ready for some park fun.
Tato took one look at him and said "Night, night."
Ric: No, we're suppose to go to the park first.
Tato: Night, night.
Ric: Isn't it too early?
Me: Um, he's telling us what he wants, so I say it's time for night, night.
Tato (to Ric): Bye-bye. Night, night.
Ric: Ok : (
I walked back into his room and what did Tato do? He pointed to his curtains. He wanted them shut. I closed the first ones then he turned and pointed to the others. I was snuggling with him for a bit but he kept leaning towards his crib. Talk about knowing what you want and going for it! Hmm, Class #5 is starting to seem right on the money.

By 7:00p all I could think of was WHOA!

TGIF

2008-08-09T13:48:00.004-04:00

Missed Photo Op

2008-08-03T23:46:00.002-04:00

AUGUST 3 - I can't believe that I didn't have time to grab the camera. We were in Sturgis this weekend for my 15-year High School Reunion - eek! This morning I had to leave early to catch a flight out of Detroit for my business meeting in DC. As I was loading up my car, Ric put Mateo on his tricycle. And for THE VERY FIRST TIME TATO PEDALED ALL BY HIMSELF! I'm not talking one or two pushes of the pedals. I'm talking making his way across the driveway on his own chubby man power. It was SO exciting. I really did almost shed a tear. Lolo, Lola, and Tita Jojo were also there to witness the momentous occasion. I just can't stop smiling : )

Excuse Me Driver...?

2008-07-30T21:34:00.002-04:00

July 30 - When we got home today, I unbuckled him, and away he went. He would not allow me to get him out of the car. He slid down to the floor of the back seat and sat behind the driver's seat (I was on the other side)bv. I decided this is a good opportunity to unload the car. When I checked on him, I found that he had climbed over the console and into the driver's seat. With melted Peppermint Patty on his face he had a blast pretending he was driving. He even went as far as honking the horn - twice (sorry Carl), pushing the button to turn on the stereo, then turning the knob to change the volume. He also had fun turning the knobs to adjust the A/C, trying to turn the steering wheel AND he even tried to adjust the rearview mirror. It was all SO ADORABLE! The last picture was of him letting out a big, "Oooo Wooowwww!"

Morning Routine

2008-07-30T21:29:00.002-04:00

July 29 - This is what it's like when we're getting ready for the day.

Big Bite

2008-07-29T19:54:00.003-04:00

July 29 - Accident Report: A classmate BIT MyTato today! I couldn't believe it! Miss Janice said it was completely unprovoked, but before anyone could react, this little vampire clamped down on Tato's shoulder. They followed procedure to ensure that Tato wasn't bleeding, etc. Uh, OK, but who is this dracula? Apparently, this is an ongoing issue and now his parents are in big trouble with Sister Joyce. Ooh, you're gonna get it now! No one likes to be called into the Principal's office, especially when the principal is a nun! Miss Janice said that Tato is such a nice boy that he waves and says "bye-bye" to each parent as they drop off their child ; ) That sounds about right to me.

Big Pig

2008-07-28T15:23:00.006-04:00

July 28 - Last night while I was doing the ironing, I decided to adorn one of Tato's plain white t-shirts with an iron-on. I had a few sheets of iron-on transfer paper in the office, so I picked this clip art of a cute big-headed pig and voila! Quite cute if I do say so myself. Oh, and I know what you're thinking. What's up with the baby toupe? Yes, he's probably due for his first haircut.

Picnic in the Park

2008-07-26T21:22:00.007-04:00

July 26 - Since Ric is down in Mississippi on business for a week, we met Lolo, Lola, and the Griffs at the PAASM Summer Picnic at Ramona Park in Kalamazoo. PAASM is the Philippine American Association of Southwest Michigan. Tato indulged in some yummy pansit and brownies. Nice combo, huh? But his ultimate all-time favorite thing in the world was there - an Uber Playground! I mean, this playground had stuff I've never seen before. That being said, the only thing he wanted to do was to go up and down the slides. Over and over and over and over and over, etc... again! I'm still not completely healed from my bike fall last Saturday and after chasing, lifting, and carrying Tato around today, the healing process has certainly taken several steps back. Ouch! However, it was all totally worth it to see his chubby face light up with shear happiness ; )

Going for Walk

2008-07-24T19:31:00.002-04:00

I ran to the top of the stairs to grab the camera and when I got back down, I found Tato walking Mr. around the house on his leash. He knew exactly what to do.
Today was hot and sunny, so not only did we have lots of sunscreen on, but also a hat and sunglasses. Safety first!

When we got home, I closed up his wagon for the day, but apparently he wasn't ready to head inside. He climbed right back in and chilled out with a box of raisins and his sippy. I eventually had to drag him into the house because it was just way too hot to stay outside any longer.
July 24 - This was his attempt to put the sunglasses on by himself.
Oh, so close : )

Clase de Espanol

2008-07-22T19:43:00.004-04:00

July 22 - Tonight Mateo's Bilingual Fun Class was full of wonderful surprises. When it was time to put the toys away, he stood up and helped put them away. So cute. When we said "adios" to the toys, he proudly shouted, "bye-bye!" and waved. OMG! He knows that "adios" means "bye-bye?" When I told him "sientete" he sat down - every time! When we were doing an exercise with colors, Senora Jennifer asked him what color he had in his hand and he loudly and proundly announced, "VERDE!" Her eyes just popped out of her head with astonishment. I was totally speechless and quite the proud Mama. I'm beyond thrilled with how well and how quickly he's picking up Spanish. After class Senora Jennifer commended him for doing so well this evening. In the words of Mateo, Ooh, Wowwww! (Sorry that the tildes and accents are missing.) At home when we ask him "quieres mas?" he uses sign language for "more." Muy bien Tato.

Biketime Bonding

2008-07-20T23:30:00.004-04:00

This is Tato's hot little Chariot.

We love it and still can't believe how lucky we were to have found one at REI's Garage Sale. We took his helmet off for the last mile home because it was SO hot out, plus his Chariot has an aluminum roll cage, like racecars. So cool!

My new bike is to the far right. I love it!

Big hugs to Ric for buying and building it up for me.

P.S. 'bout time!

Ric informed me right before my maiden voyage that everyone falls when they first use clip-in pedals. I swore that no matter what kind of rites of passage cyclists have, I will NOT fall! Would you guess? I freakin' fell! Ric called out too late that he wanted to take the left fork in the dirt road and to avoid hitting Tato's pod, I jerked my handle bars - too far.

I scraped my right leg, took two huge chunks out of my right palm, and jammed my handlebars into my left chest - Ugh! I seriously thought I broke a rib or two. I opened my eyes to Ric standing over me, asking me if I want him to call an ambulance. Mateo was getting upset, so Ric had to position him so that he could see me, albeit lying on the ground. I am happy to say that I'm healing quickly and quite nicely. (Pictures were post clean-up, so all blood was washed away.)

Teething Pains?

2008-07-17T00:34:00.003-04:00

As it turns out, Mateo's fevers weren't a symptom of his teething, but a symptom of a virus. We didn't find out until Tuesday afternoon when he came home with his face and back covered in a red rash. So Wednesday morning Ric took him to the doctor, who diagnosed him with Fifths Disease / Roseola. It's a "common" childhood virus that is fairly harmless. He really had the toddler ickies for about 5-6 days. It really was pitiful to witness. Although, I did enjoy all the cuddling. Happily, he's back to his usual jovial self : )

STILL Got The Ickies

2008-07-17T00:24:00.004-04:00

Still too weak to walk, he crawls.
Trying hard to sit up, but...
...nope.
Contemplating his next move...
...Ah-ha! He crawls over to his cool new toy. Yes, he literally played in this position. He would push the buttons to get the toy to play music and move. It was so entertaining that he fell asleep! I checked on him when the music stopped and found him in this position just sound asleep. Poor Little Man was so beat down that I carried him upstairs for some R&R in his crib.

The Fever Broke

2008-07-17T00:22:00.002-04:00

Yay! His fever finally broke long enough for him to enjoy some of the beautiful summer sun. Although he was avoiding that sprinkler off in the distance like it was the plague.

The Ickies Continue...

2008-07-17T00:14:00.003-04:00

If you need me, I'll be right here.
Did you say something?

Oh so pitiful.
Day 2 of feeling icky. He woke up with a fever and didn't even have enough strength to walk, so we spent the morning in bed waiting for the Tylenol to kick in. My guess is that all of this has something to do with his molars were coming in. Hmm...?

The Ickies Begin...

2008-07-16T19:44:00.002-04:00

Mama, I'm not feeling too hot...
Blah Ugh! I can barely keep my eyes open.
JULY 4th - This evening Mateo starting feeling icky.

Poor Little Man seemed miserable, but was such a trooper

to go out to Klinger Lake to watch some fireworks.

We hope you all had a fun, safe, and healthy 4th of July.

Bathtime

2008-07-16T19:37:00.003-04:00

JULY 3 - We're all at Lolo & Lola's house in Sturgis for the 4th of July weekend. This means two definite events will take place:

1) Steve will cook ribs and 2) Lola will give all the kidoodles a bath!

This weekend was not exception!

(To my Bacc cousins and Ann: Remember these days on Wilson Ave?)

Super Duper Star

2008-07-16T17:11:00.002-04:00

JULY 3 - Today was red-white-and-blue day at school.

Tato rocked it out in style!

Abuelita

2008-07-16T17:05:00.003-04:00

Tato was very attentive while being read to in Spanish.
Off to a good start because Bilingual Class begins July 8.
June 30 - July 6: Abuelita Graciela (Ric's Mom) came to visit.

We all enjoyed having her here and look forward to her next visit.

First Trike

2008-07-01T22:34:00.006-04:00

Ric found this Kettler tricycle on Craig's List for a rock bottom price.

Now Tato has his first bike or in this case, his first trike.

Getting some professional assistance for proper fit and form.

Safety first. Always wear your helmet.

In his case, a giant chicken helmet for his giant noggin. I love it!

My favorite trike picture of My Little Man.

Big Boy Words

2008-06-30T00:40:00.008-04:00

Tato is quite the little chatterbox, more than half of which we don't understand but he's developed a vocabulary that we're so proud of :

- BABA: baby talk for "pacifier" of course. When we were waiting at the doctor's office the other day, a newborn started to cry while Tato was sipping his milk. He took the sippy out of his mouth, pointed, and said, "Baby, baba." The mother turned around and said, "Yes, she does need her baba." Good words : )
- BABY: I think this is an obvious one.
- BYE-BYE: he says this with a limp wrist wave. He's practicing his open and close hand wave.
- CAR: we were brushing our teeth one morning and he looked out our window, down to the driveway, and saw my car. He stopped brushing and said, "car." It's stuck so far.
- CRACK: the abbreviation for "cracker" I told Ric that we need to correct this on fast or else Sister Joyce (Director of St. Mary's Child Care Center) will start wondering.
- DOG: I think this one is obvious too. He calls "hey, dog."
- DOOR: I'm not sure how this word came about in his vocabulary but he uses it correctly.
- GO: when it's time to leave, he runs to the door and calls out, "go."
- HELLO: whenever he hears a ringing sound, he calls out "Hello?" He even walks around with his play cell phones and starts chatting away. He begins every conversation with "Hello?"
- JUICE: probably because it sounds a lot like "shoes" because he only drinks milk. However he does sign (language) for milk.
- NANA: banana
- PAPA: sadly "Mama" is a rare occurence.
- SHOES: a new favorite word and object of his. He loves counting his shoes.
- SIT: when he's standing on his picnic table seat, he smiles and repeats, "sit" because he knows he's suppose to be sitting and not standing. Typical.
- TATO: he says his name A LOT. He'll even pat his chest and repeatedly say "Tato"
- TWO: I'm trying to teach him to count and evidently "two" has really stuck. He even holds up his hands and tries to count his fingers. It's SO cute.
- TREE: he loves trees, so I wasn't too surprised when he started saying the word.
- UP: this means both up AND down.

So for those of you who are curious about his daily progress, his vocabulary has been a big part of it. It's amazing to hear and see him grow like this. He understands so much more than we thought a child does at this age. Really he's pretty much right on track. I asked him where his Retro Rocket was and walked into his playroom, pushed a button on his Retro Rocket then brought it out. Amazing! We're loving it : )

16 Month Old

2008-06-30T00:33:00.003-04:00

June 26 - Tato's 15-month check up, came on his 16-month birthday. I was anxious to find out how much he has grown. Here's where he stands: 33 inches tall and 27 POUNDS! Need I mention the size of his head? Let's just say that it remains in the 95th+ percentile for size.
Hey, there's a big brain in there.

Running Season

2008-06-30T00:21:00.002-04:00

It's time to break out the running shoes and the jogging stroller! We love to head out to a local park to do some family trail running, Mr.Quincy included. Tato loves to break the silence of the woods by screaming out loud or yelling, "Tato, Tato, Tato,..." all along the trail. This weekend, Ric scored an awesome new hybrid cycling/running trailer. Pictures to follow soon...

Music In The Park

2008-06-30T00:14:00.002-04:00

Music In The Park has started. This means that every Friday night during the summer, the residents of Plymouth converge on Kellogg Park for live music, dancing in the streets, and family picnics. This also means ice cream at Dairy King, and that's Tato's favorite part of the evening.

Rolling

2008-06-30T00:11:00.001-04:00

Tato loves pulling his rolling backpack around, even though it's empty, he still enjoys it. My little man is growing up so fast.