The World According to Mateo, Part II

Some more pictures by Mati ...

The hotel grounds at Paipa

The jacuzzis

Surveillance cameras, aka "The police is watching you ..."

Self-portrait

A random family eating at a restaurant

Hmmm, what would you know ... it's raining!

Mati shows his moves...

Mateo has been taking dancing classes for a couple of weeks already..You will see him dance the famous "cocodrilo move", the "campana move" and dance with his friend from school, Isabella...enjoy!

Paipa

We had a relaxing three-day weekend in Paipa, a town about 200km north of Bogota.  Our hotel was nestled along the shores of Lake Sochagota, had a little farm, a pool, horses, a park and an activity committee that organized lots of games to keep Mati extremely happy and not wanting to return to Bogota.  We milked a cow, swam, walked, threw rocks in the lake, ran around - all without stepping foot outside the hotel!!   We were blessed with sunny skies and warm weather so we managed to come back with a little tan!! :)  

A very serious reader

It has been confirmed that Santi is clearly on the road to becoming another thumb sucker!!

In case anybody had any doubts ...

Santi's first (tasteful) nude ...

Both asleep on the way back ...

O Christmas Tree

Mateo has been enjoying watching all our neighbor's Christmas trees through our various windows.  He gets excited seeing the lights and the decorations and is slowly understanding the concept of Santa Claus (a wonderful way to get him to obey!!).   Initially I had no intention of buying a tree since we won't be spending Christmas here, but to please Mati (and Nico), off I went to our local supermarket to buy an incredibly overpriced fake tree.  When I got home, we brought out the decorations, played Christmas carols and indulged in watching Mateo decorate the tree.  

Another first this year was laying out the nativity scene.  Nico's mom gave us the nativity that had belonged to Nico's grandmother, so it has a huge sentimental value for us.  Mati was very careful in placing the pieces, even kissing them to show us he understood they were delicate!  

It's beautiful to see the holiday season through the eyes of our little ones.  It has brought out the inner child in both of us!

While Mati plays tennis, Santi snoozes

Nice cap!! GO BEARS!

I'm 3 months!!!

Santi is as cute as ever!!!  Last week he turned three months (already??) and he's a chunky, happy, little doll.  He's always smiling, very patient and absolutely loves bath time.  Even though I mentioned in an earlier post that he was napping and sleeping through the night, we are back to square one ... well, almost.  He's not a good napper, at most he'll pull an hour here and there; at night, just as he's capable of sleeping from 8pm to 9am, he can also break up the night by waking up at 3am or 4am or 5am or ....  Consistency, as you can tell, is NOT his forte.

Here are his vitals:

Weight: 5.4kg (he gained a full kilo!!!)

Lenght: 61cm (he grew 3cm)

Santi is now more aware of his surroundings and of his brother's presence.  He'll squint his eyes when he sees Mateo coming (because Mati  usually  pokes him in the eye or squeezes his nose or simply gives him a kiss) and constantly turns his head in the direction of where Mateo is.   He also chuckles and is very ticklish.  His eye color is still undefined: not blue nor green nor brown ... it seems like a combination of all!

I started Gymboree classes with him and he has been loving it!  It's adorable to see a three month old fatigue after watching a rainbow parachute fly above his head, dancing with Gymbo the clown, having his feet and hands massaged and watching bubbles!!! (This is the only time when Santi will nap for two hours straight!!)  

Enough talking ... here are some pictures of my smallest cutie! 

Do I look like my daddy or what????

Mateo's Birthday Cake

Mateo celebrated his birthday with yummy cake (vanilla cake with Nutella and strawberries in the middle) and all his classmates.  As per the school policy, parents' aren't allowed to participate in such a special occasion (can you tell I was annoyed???), so all I could do was take a picture of the cake and enjoy the fact that Mati came out of school super excited and happy.  

The World According to Mateo

These fine print from artist Mateo Bossut-Ugarte are available for sale.  Each masterpiece comes signed by the artist himself.  Please call to inquire about availability and pricing.

Office

Playroom

Trash in a puddle 

I guess this male obsession starts early!

Clouds

White horse

Happy 3rd Birthday!!

Oooh, another year for Mati ... and the changes have been huge!! No longer a passive little observer, he's now very assertive (NO! Mine! Vete! - get the drift???) and expressive (read as: lots of tantrums, explosive crying, physically assertive). As parents, we are shocked at the changes , trying to find a way to deal with them, and find explanations for them (could these be delayed TERRIBLE TWOs, jealousy over Santi, school, are we spoiling him), but regardless, we are very happy with our Mateo. He's still a darling and very affectionate ... of course, only when he wants to be ... and seeing the world through his eyes is such a joy!

I took him in to the doctor last week and he's growing very well, despite his constant eating strikes, which still continue. He weighs 13.600kg and measures 97.5cm.

Other progress reports:

1. He's doing an amazing job at swimming: he's learning freestyle!
2. He LOVES school - after this long weekend, I told him we were going back to Bogota because he had to go to school and he was so happy, he ran to the car!
3. Still talks and talks and talks ... the Energizer Bunny of Speech. And he still sings a lot.
4. Hello independence! Mati has starting wanting to do a lot of things on his own, like getting dressed, jumping, doing a lot of little tasks.
5. Imagination galore! The other day I was giving him his bath and he was splashing water all over. I asked to please not splash because I could slip and fall with Santi. He answered: "Mamita, it wasn't me. It's Dory and Marlin (from Finding Nemo) who are splashing, they are swimming away from Bruce!
6. Observative - he notices EVERYTHING!! If I paint my nails, I change a painting, nothing goes unnoticed.

Here are some pictures from our trip to Villa de Leyva.

Trying out the camera we gave him

Story time with Daddy

The Plaza at Villa de Leyva

We thought that some beers might calm Mati down a bit ... (JK!)

Checking out his pictures

View of the village from the hotel

The hotel grounds