Happy 17 Months!!

I celebrated little Mati's monthary at the park. He played in the sand, sat and sat on the swing until HE decided it was time to come out (after about 30 minutes!!), played basketball and kicked the ball around. I taught him to jump, although his version of jumping doesn't involving having his feet come off the ground. But he thinks he's jumping and seems to like it. [On a side note, Mateo has become so much more assertive in the past month. He doesn't just stand on the sideline and watch as other kids take his toys anymore, especially his ball. He grabs it from them and shakes his head no but never gets violent with them. If he can't pull it away, he'll look for me and start crying.]

To top it off, he ate half a pain au chocolat - actually, he only sucked on and eventually ate the chocolate and then handed me the bread (I had the other half, couldn't let him celebrate on his own now could I???). And finally, my handsome boy got a little bit of a makeover. I took him to the hairdresser. He was very patient and a good sport, he only complained by shaking his head no when the lady sprayed his head with water. (He didn't loose any of the curls!)

"I hear noises outside. Is it Papa? Papa?" No Mati, Papa is working.

Looking a lot like his Papa . . .

Stop taking my picture!! Evening meltdown ...

At home, he's become quite the dancer, especially to merengue and reggaeton. He spins himself around, shakes his head, moves his arms up and down and sways his hips. Ahhhhh, he's soooooo adorable!!! I've taken some video of him shaking up the dance floor but we haven't, unfortunately, found the way to upload it online! :(

Finally, we've been working on getting Mateo to stop sucking his thumb by simply asking him not to suck it. It has been working really (surprisingly) well, especially at the park or when he's playing. However, it's really hard to peel him from his thumb when he is painting, it's as if his creativity demands it!! And I don't dare ask him not suck when he's about to sleep since it soothes him. I'll see how much progress we make between now and after we come back from France. If he hasn't nearly completely given up the thumb, we'll have to take more drastic measures - like Tabasco sauce! (Just kidding!)