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!

Family Vacation in France

June was a month of family vacations - first to Orange County to visit my family (including my grandmother who was visiting from Mexico!!) and then to France to visit Nico's. It was great for Mateo to bond with all his family members, especially now, as he starts to know who they are and remember them.

I'm having some technical difficulties in uploading the pictures to the blog in chronological order, but the important thing is that they are here:

Our stay in France was marked by rain. In this case, we sought refuge at the Trocadero Aquarium, where Mati had TONS of fun touching the fishes.
Mateo discovered pigeons in our trip to France. At the Place des Vosges, scaring them away.

At Notre Dame
Visting Paris with a baby was a compromise - we had to pack in fun activities for Mateo during the day. One morning we went to the Jardin d'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne. It was a sort of mini amusement park with lots of mechanical rides, a hands-on art museum, playgrounds, etc.
Mati was impressed by the size of the Eiffel Tower.

After the rain ... the puddles!!! Splashing away and having fun with the rocks!

We made progress with potty training. He now lets us know when he needs to poo as well as pee. Now he only needs to learn to hold it, so we can make it to the potty in time!
Nico and I took a romantic escapade to Rocamadour and to St. Cirq Lapopie. Mati stayed behind with his grandparents and behaved extremely well - he didn't even cry!

Another Paris shot
Before taking off, Mati was already fast asleep. We had a great trip, both ways: very well-behaved and napped wonderfully. As to the jetlag ... what jetlag? Mati wasn't affected by it AT ALL, unlike his parents!
In Bergerac the day of the Fete de la Musique. Mati is playing with his truck in the square.