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!