Mateo is ... PREGNANT????

Mateo is expecting, or so he told us!! He points to his belly and says he has a baby. Sometimes when we ask him the name of his baby he says "Nena" or yesterday he said it was "Nico". I think he got this from seeing a couple of my friends who ARE pregnant and he was fascinated with knowing they had a growing baby in their bellies. His imagination is precious!

We all know about Mati's fascination with cars and all modes of transportation, but I'm really surprised on his ability to distinguish three different types of cars, especially since NOBODY coached him on it!! These are: 1) Subaru Outbacks, which are "Mateo's car"; 2) VW Jettas, which are "Papa's car" or "Tia's car"; and the most surprising of all, 3) Toyota Hybrids, which he calls "Emile's car" or "Mamounette's car" (those are his paternal grandparents). I can understand how he picked up on 1 and 2, but to recognize Toyota Hybrids is really amazing!!! When Nico's parents were here in August, we went with them to pick up their rental car, a Toyota Hybrid. Mati must have seen the car once or twice - I guess enough to make an imprint in his mind!!

We've been getting quite a dose of "Yo solito" lately (I can do it alone). Going up and down the stairs is a solo affair now, as is eating - for the most part. He has started to show interest in putting on his shoes, but thankfully hasn't gone ballistic over not being able to do so. He is slowly becoming an independent little person, which is both relieving and saddening. Relieving because I certainly do hope he becomes a confident and independent boy but sad because I'm loosing my baby!!! He pushes me away (okay, only sometimes, but it seems like a lot of times to me!!) when I try to kiss him. Cuddling is almost a no-no now, except at night time, when he's tired or when he gets hurt! He is growing up, before I know it he'll be off to college .... (a lot of mama drama here!!)

Mateo went to his 2nd year check up with his doctor. I'm glad that his weight has finally picked up and he's now average (50% percentile) for his age, though his height remains above average, in the 75th percentile (weird, since neither Nico nor I are particularly tall people!). So, as any good mother, obsessed with the growth of her little man, I'm reporting vital statical information: he weighs 28lbs and measures 35 inches.

Have a good weekend and .... GO BEARS!!!!!

Gobble, gooble (Happy Thanksgiving)!!

Mati got a full dosage of the Ugarte family this Thanksgiving!! We had plenty of food, laughter and some of us even got grooving to vintage Michael Jackson (helped with the digestion)! After four days of so much attention, pampering and love, he's going to have a hard time going back to just me tomorrow!


Walking the GG Bridge


At the merry-go-round in Tilden Park


Chris doing some lunges with Nico!

Let's Party!

We had a wonderful birthday celebration for Mateo with lots of friends, food, cake and sunshine! This special occasion had a unique flair, with friends from our different walks of life partaking in the party (childhood friends, MBA friends, stay at home mom friends, Chevron friends). And for Mateo, his party was made even more special by having his Uncle Brandon and Tia Mercy, who did so many things to help us prepare for the party, like entertain and feed the little prince while Nico and I chatted away and made sure food and drink were ready to be enjoyed by all.

On this day, Nico went to the park bright and early - at 8am - to make sure we got the spot we wanted!! While he waited and in between The Financial Times articles, he blew up the balloons and started setting up the tables. Meanwhile at party central, I finished the fruit salad and the frittatas, prepared the cheese and pate platters, cut the bread, etc. I had originally wanted to make the cake myself, but after a fiasco attempt and realizing that baking a cake for about 40 people was going to be more complicated than I had thought (especially since, if you know me, I wasn't going to be satisfied with just a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, I'm much to gourmet for that!), I decided to outsource the whole endeavor to our favorite bakery, Masse. Nobody was disappointed. I had chatted with the owner to come up with a cake that would reflect Mateo's culinary preferences and his personality as a toddler. We came up with a Bavarian chocolate cake topped with a raspberry glace. They decorated it with white and dark chocolate balls of different sizes to reflect Mati's love for balls and also for the moon and anything space related! You'll see the pictures and agree that it was out of this world!

Mati held up very well and was incredibly happy. By the time we got home at around 3pm, he quickly fell asleep. He woke up with a big smile on his face and said "Api berday."

Thanks to everyone who came by to celebrate Mati's second year - your company meant a lot to us!

On This Day ...

On Nov. 16, 1933, the United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations. President Roosevelt sent a telegram to Soviet leader Maxim Litvinov, expressing hope that United States-Soviet relations would ``forever remain normal and friendly.''

On Nov. 16, 1873, W. C. Handy, the American composer known as the "father of the blues", was born.

And ...

On Nov. 16, 2005, Mateo Emile Bossut-Ugarte was born in Vancouver, British Columbia at 8:28pm. HAPPY, HAPPY Birthday to this little boy who has made our introduction to parenthood so easy and enjoyable!!! We love you so much, Mati! - Mama & Papa

Mateo and Emile

A video from September where Emile teaches Mateo one of his classic moves ...

Mushrooms

Mateo doesn't like mushrooms. During dinner last night, he did a meticulous job of separating the mushrooms from the carrots and potatoes. If a piece went in by mistake, out it came quickly with a "No champinones" comment and a nod of the head.

"Ti o Teet!!"

Mati's second Halloween was pretty much a repeat of the first. He got dressed up, this year as a 70s disco star, he went trick or treating (ti o teet), and was oblivious to the whole celebration. Major differences: this year he ran from house to house and he showed lots of interest in some Halloween decorations, like the carved pumpkins and some machine that made "scary" noises. The night could be summed up like this: Mati just wanted to run wild, while the adults (Nico, Tia and Tio to be precise) wanted the candy and chocolates. So poor Mati had to go from house to house getting his family their sugar fix!!!

Exciting news everyone: Mati is potty trained! He is no longer wearing diapers (except at nap and bed time)!!! I still have to constantly ask him if he wants to go or I'll take him directly if I see that his face is starting to get all serious or he starts to do the typical "I'm holding it" dance. We've had a couple of accidents, the worst one was on Tuesday when he peed on the floor of the cheese store!! He was so aware that he had done something bad that he stayed still the rest of the time we were there, so in a way, it was a blessing in disguise(?)!

Finally, Mateo now wants to WALK EVERYWHERE! He rarely uses the stroller anymore and the hills are no obstacle for this little guy! I have to buffer in extra time when we go places by foot because he doesn't let me strap him in. Along the way, he asks, "What's that?" or "What mami doing?" or stops to smell the flowers, look at the mushrooms growing in the dirt, run through the fallen dry leaves, look at the moon and the chimneys, wave at trucks, try to open the doors of EVERY car parked on the street, chase after squirrels or cats ... ALL GOOD STUFF!


Mati and Liam, his only French buddy.




Mati had a BLAST at Baker Beach last Sunday. He chased after the waves, until he fell in the water, and was super excited to be so close to the Golden Gate Bridge!

Mateo & Gymbo

A recent clip from earlier this month.

Mateo meets Bladium Bunny

Yeah for Mami and Papi!!! We finally figured out how to load up our videos!! We have so many, it's hard to choose, but I think this one is so endearing, gentle and innocent that I had to share it - a child's love is a wonderful thing! ENJOY! (This video dates from August 25, 2007.)

Mr. Inquirer

Mateo started off this week displaying huge amounts of curiosity as he bombards us with questions, questions and more questions in ALL three languages! He points his index finger at something, asks "What's that?" and then repeats what we say.

M: "What's that?"
P: "This is a sweater."
M: "Sueder, yeah ... Mami cold."

And so this type of exchange goes on all day long! Strangers are also victims to Mateo's curiosity about the world around him. We were at the checkout stand at the grocery store and Mati had a gallon of milk right next to him. A really nice man was behind us and while I was loading the groceries into my cart (saving the Earth, one bag at a time!!), Mateo started asking him, "What's that?" as he pointed to the cap of the milk jug. The man was a real sport and answered ALL of Mati's pressing questions.

His desire to talk is more intense nowadays - he is making more and more 3 word sentences. He not only talks to me and Nico, but also to his stuffed animals. He'll carry out simple conversations with them, tells them what they need to do (i.e. pick-up) or what he'll do (i.e. a soup). He is also singing more when he's alone, especially the "ABCD" song. This afternoon, after I put him down for his nap, he sang it to himself, which is absolutely adorable since he doesn't know all the letters, and when he finished, he congratulated himself with a "BRAVO" and clapping!

Nico and Mati had a hilarious conversation the other day in the bath. I guess the topic was spurred by Mateo's ice cream truck, which happened to be in the bathroom.

M: "Ice cream. Mamounette."
N: "You have ice cream with Mamounette?"
M: "Yeah."
N: "Yes, you ate a lot of ice cream with Mamounette. Do you eat ice cream with Mami?"
M: "Noooo. Tia."
N: "You eat ice cream with Tia?"
M: "Yes!"
N: "What do you eat with Mami?"
M: "Soup."

Finally, Mateo really likes the mechanics of opening and closing doors! He'll just swing them back and forth and try to turn the knobs. Despite having a child-proof home, he managed to lock himself in the bathroom the other day and started screaming frantically. Obviously, the scare didn't teach him not to play with doors!!




Meeting Clifford the Dog at the Bay Area Children's Museum

His new way of eating raspberries.

Mateo's First Sleep Over

What would you know? He's not even two and Mateo had his first sleep over on Saturday! Mati apparently had some fun times with his Tio "BRAAANDONNNN" and his "Tiiia". Well, of course, they had him all happy eating ice cream and people watching ... who wouldn't be happy? He put up no fuzz when they gave him his bath or put him to sleep in the Porta Crib (which is getting too small for him), much to my relief! In the meantime, Nico and I went to the Mana concert ... talk about transporting myself back to my high school years! I nearly forgot I had had knee surgery 2 months earlier and did some baby jumping! We had a great night ... that type of fun had been almost forgotten! It was also refreshing to wake up without hearing "MAMAAAAAA", but it was much to weird to go to bed seeing his bedroom doors open and the little guy not in his bed :(

In other news - Mateo is going through an "internal-conflict" stage. Here's what it sounds like:
M: "Eat no"
P: "Are you done eating?"
M: "Eat no"
P: "Okay, I'll take your plate."
M: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Eat YES!!!!!!!!!!"
P: "Oh, you want to eat?"
M: "Eat no"

or

P: "Mati, do you want to go to the park?"
M: "Park no"
P: "Okay, so then what do you want to do?"
M: "Park"

Needless to say, this deciphering game gives me headaches!!!

But, I'm really proud of him as he continues to make leaps in his language development. The other night he was saying what to me sounded like "No vo". He said it again and again and I told him I didn't understand. His face became serious and I could tell he was processing some information in his mind. He finally said in Spanish: "Pared, no" - he had translated what he had been saying ("No wall") in English (as in, I can't touch the wall with dirty hands!)! He is translating between languages more and more to communicate his point across when we don't understand him.

I am also amazed at his memory! What is it with little kids? Why can't I have his memory skills???? I'll be reading a book that we hadn't read in a while and he'll fill in the last word of most sentences. Similarly, with songs!

Finally, the pictures above are from my birthday dinner, which my family hosted for me. It was great to spend it all together - this was the first time in 16 years!!

I You!

My precious little meatloaf has said I love you ("I You") for the first time! Ironically, he said it in English, the language we use the least to express our loving emotions to him, but probably the easiest for him to express this feeling. It is endearing to have such an affectionate son - he'll hold our heads and rub his nose against ours (and all those he loves, by the way!), caress us, pat our backs when he hugs us, etc. He even likes to give other toddlers at the park hugs and kisses and dogs and cats as well!! With all the changes toddlers go through, I hope this aspect doesn't go away anytime soon!

Mati is becoming quite a funny little man - funny from an adult point of view. For about a week now, he has been wanting to use his jackets at all times of the day, despite the weather conditions outside. The other day we went to the park and it was a fairly warm day, however, he wanted his jacket on. He started to play and despite sweat beads accumulating on top of his nose and his hair getting wet from the perspiration, he still didn't want to take his jacket off! My negotiation skills will certainly improve if he continues with this fashion trend!!

His appreciation of music has taken off. He'll ask for more of a genre of music or to hear a song again. But the cutest is to see him dance. He usually just turns and turns in circles, but lately has started to move his upper body and stompt his feet to the beat of the music.

Another new activity he is into is that of collecting: pebbles, leaves, acorns, anything on the floor that catches his eye. He'll put them in his pant or short pockets and then play with them at home, in the car or in his stroller. Such a boy!!

We enrolled him in a new class which has a classroom feel to it. Teacher Rosie leads about 7 or 8 toddlers in singing their ABCs, doing art activities, dancing, running, exploring nature or doing sports. Mati liked the class, especially as he is beginning to like hanging out with other kids, and was attentive to all of Teacher Rosie's explanations. We think his English will improve tremendously from this - he's already asking to sing the "ABCD" song! - which will be great for when he starts preschool next year.

Finally, a BIG THANK YOU to all the family members who have helped us taking care of Mati during my recovery. Mati has loved spending time with all of you and I'm very grateful for the help!

Oh Yeah!!

Mati has officially started to "speak" in English. His vocabulary is pretty limited but he loves to say "Yeah" and "No". We are slowly teaching him more words and encouraging him to embrace this third language, which he is doing very well. We are impressed by his ability to recognize the different languages he is exposed to. As soon as he hears Nico and I speaking in English, he'll start saying "Yeah", when he talks to Nico he'll switch to French and to Spanish when he talks to me. It is certainly wonderful to be young and have a brain that absorbs and processes EVERYTHING!

Mati continues his soccer classes and loves them! We are hoping to get some video of him playing and upload it on the blog, hopefully we'll come around to this next week!! He has also developed a love for toy vacuum cleaners (he is still a bit scared of the real one!). My mom made him VERY happy by getting him one and he goes around the house vacuuming here and there.

First Sentence

Mateo uttered his first sentence yesterday (Saturday, August 4): "Brandon mano vamonos." Translation: "Brandon, give me your hand and lets go."

We (Nico, Mercy, Brandon, Mati and I) were in our bedroom when Mati decided he wanted to go elsewhere and asked Brandon for his hand. Mateo took him to play with his train set.

Changes

Changes, changes and more changes - this has well characterized these past several weeks!

The first one was transfering Mateo to a toddler bed. Because his crib has been his comfort and haven, a type of zen sanctuary for so many months, I thought he was going to have a hard time giving up the security of his rails and bumper. Contrary to my belief, he adjusted well to the change and hasn't fallen out of the bed ... yet! We installed a bed rail just in case and put cushions on the floor, along the side of the bed, just in case he decides to get wild at night.

The second change has been harder for Mateo to get used to - my knee operation. Unfortunately, this has radically changed the whole family dynamics - I can't carry my little guy or play with him, take him to the park or do much of anything with him. When he first saw me with my crutches, I saw him coming towards me with the intention of hitting me. He then wanted only to be with me, in my arms, and cried when either my mom or Nico would take him away. But he has slowly started accepting the situation.

This leads me to the third change: the different care givers Mateo will have in the next 6 weeks! My mom took the first week, and probably the hardest one, since everything was so new to Mati (and me!). Not only did he have to deal with my knee surgery, but also with the Roseola virus, which made him break out in fever for three days and an itchy rash for another 3. He was without appetite and super sensitive. Luckily, his system supressed the virus and his happy self quickly returned. Eventually, he got used to mom taking him around town and would bravely say goodbye to me when they left home, but after an hour, an hour and a half, he would ask her to take him back home to see me. Unfortunately, his aggressivity has returned - he has been hitting other kids and my mom and his tantrums have escalated in frequency. I'm hoping that it's all a result of how the knee surgery has changed our daily lives.

Nico is taking the second week, which will be reassuring to Mateo but might upset him when he realizes the third week that he has a couple people taking care of him - my sister, who he absolutely loves, and a nanny whom he's never met! The fourth and fifth week, Nico's parents will be here to help us out, so at least Mateo will be back with family.

In other news - Mateo has started soccer classes. It is so darn adorable to see little 18 - 24 months old toddlers in uniform pretend they are playing soccer. The coach makes them run a lot - they do various drills of stop and go and shoot the ball into the goalie. They stay active the whole 45 minutes!

We are not making much progress in the potty training department. We have stalled and there's not much I can do now to make things move forward. I'll just wait until I'm back to normal and in full charge again!

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Lake Anza & Popsicle

Some additional pictures from this past weekend!



Ready to surf! Checking his posture ...

Remembering to bend his knees ...

Happy 20 Months!

Happy 20 months to Mateito!!!

What a little boy he's becoming! I've enjoyed all stages of his life, but I have a feeling the best ones are just around the corner. As he talks more and more and as the world makes more sense to him, we are bound to have funny anectodes to share! For example ...

At the airport in Paris, we rode a bus to the plane. But before the bus took off, we waited for about 20 minutes for other passengers to get on from other flights. To kill time, I was showing Mati the different Air France buses and reading to him where they were headed to - one went to Oujda (Morocco), another one to Beijing ... For some reason, Beijing stayed impermeated in his mind. The next day when we were home, eating dinner, he told me, "Vamonos!" (Let's go!). I asked him where he wanted to go. He answered: "Pekin, otobu" (translation: Beijing by bus). I told him we couldn't physically go to Beijing but that we could travel there by looking at pictures. Nico got home right at that moment and I asked him to show him some of our China picture books. So they both sat down and started looking at the images. Mateo knows Mao from our communist posters at home, but Nico pointed him out over and over again in the pictures. They also saw pictures of people on bicycles, of babies, of the Great Wall, of the country side, etc. The next day at a playcenter, Mateo is engrossed playing with little cars on the floor, when he makes a turn and sees a Chinese-American man sitting on a bench. He turns to me and with the biggest excitment you can imagine, says, "Mao! Mao!" as he points to the man. I started laughing but quickly told him that the man wasn't Mao - although they shared some physical traits. He differed in opinion and continued to say "Mao!!".

Mateo is also proud of knowing the colors and some letters. As we walk around town, he loves to point out the color of the cars, flowers and trees he sees! On Sunday we were walking home from having dinner and passed by McDonald's. Mateo was very excited not only to have recognized the arched "M" but also that it was "ru" (rouge - red).

Which brings me to my next point - he obviously mixes all three languages like a nice stew, but I've noticed that he is slowly starting to put words together. His favorite is "Mati, no" as he touches the blinds or anything else he's not supposed to, or "Te mama" as he brings me a cup for my tea.

He is starting to play more games of pretend, like cooking. I'll ask him to make me a tea and he gets a cup, grabs a spoon, mixes the contents and hands it to me (empty, of course). What is super endearing is watching him feed his stuffed animals, his cars, anything he loves ...

I think Mateo is more interested in other children now and constantly reaches out to them. He tries to hug and kiss them, although he is still far from playing with them and is entering the "mine" stage. His aggressiveness has subsided for the moment, so that's a relief, especially as he reaches out to other toddlers (I am still on high alert, though ... you never know!)

As to the pictures: My sister came back from Chicago with a whole baseball kit for Mati: a bat, ball and cap! Here he is practicing his batting ... and seeing if he can balance the bat with his mouth! Interesting enough, my sister taught him that when he plays baseball he has to wear the cap and actually keeps it on the whole time he plays!