The Best Moment is Now

Forever my energizer bunny, Mateo lives life to the fullest everyday! He is doing great at school, starting to read (!!!) and excelling in math (he is doing first grade math at times!). But his favorite "subject" at school is by far physical education. He loves Mr. Victor and thinks that all the games they do are the coolest. However, there's a caveat. In the car, Mateo mutters, "Tomorrow is going to be terrible. I hope it rains!" The swim module starts tomorrow and Mati is in heated fight with swimming lessons, don't know why.

He finally restarted his Occupational Therapy twice a week. It's a lot of car time and physical exertion for him (today he fell asleep in the car on the way back home at 5pm) but I hope it'll pay off down the road.

Otherwise, his imagination is still strong. He plays a lot with his fingers (either soccer or superhero stuff) when he doesn't have toys around or when he's supposed to be napping at school. He also talks to himself. For example, the other day he was coloring alone in his room and he was saying, "Wow! That yellow looks great! Now I'll try a green and see how that works out. Excellent!" I was cracking up silently in the hallway, I didn't want to break his inspiration. By the way, the finished product was beautiful!! He painted on construction paper with wax colors and it looks really cool!!

And let's not forget his fascination with soccer - that love is still going on strong! He is the eldest in the group of 4-5 year olds and he manages to score several goals during practice, so he feels he is God's next gift to soccer. He has the whole theatrics down perfectly: he scores, t-shirt goes up, arms up in the air, and he runs around the field. He certainly entertains the moms! Today he scored and as he is doing his celebratory run, he stumbles and falls. PLONK ... right on the cement floor. For 2 seconds he is flat on the ground, the coach comes to him, he gets up, face scrunched in pain, but he's okay ... he starts running around again, arms in the air, shouting, "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL". That's Mati for you!!! ADORABLE!

Warming up.

Mateoisms

Santi finishes doing his business in the bathroom and flushes the toilet. He is watching the "browns" twirling around and "going all away", when Mateo tells him:

"Santi, you know what I would do in Bogota? I would put my head in the toilet!"

Luckily I stepped in right then and there ... I don't want to think if Santi would have followed through with his brother's bright suggestion!

Santi-isms

Me: "Santi, you are NOT getting dessert until you learn to respect your friends, family and toys."

Santi: "Now???"

A Day in the Life of Santi

My chubby baby greets the day with a big smile … and a big hug for his brother. Always. He downs his glass of milk and then slowly proceeds with the rest of the food. He’s happy to go to school, much like Mateo, and lately, has been extremely proud of wearing UNDERWEAR to school. Yes, you read right. Our little one has been potty trained. Much in thanks to Abuelita Rosi for putting the time and effort to get him on track and aided a lot by the lack of diapers his size in this progressive country. It’s been three weeks now that he has been accident free at school or at home!! At home, he carries his stool to the toilet does his business and then carries it to the sink area and diligently washes his hands!! This makes him feel all grown up and not one day goes by without him saying, “I’m big, huh Mommy?” When I ask him how old he is, he answers “Four.” Please, never refer to him as Baby or “El Bebe” because he will let you have it, “I am NOT a baby. Me big!!” His preference in underwear: Lightning McQueen or Buzz Lightyear.

Big Santi has also started to sleep his nap with his buddies at school. Once a week, Santi stays over because Mateo has started Occupational Therapy at Santi’s school. So to avoid having Santi in the car all afternoon, he stays. And he loves it! While he says he wants to sleep there more days Mommy is just not ready to let go of her baby … I mean BIG BOY.

Lately, he has developed a habit of lining up cars … as he says, “Lots of traffic!” (Wonder if he’s been influenced by the traffic situation in Caracas???) And as I move around the house, I find these lines of cars here and there. I love it! As he lines them up, he concentrates and places a lot of care in positioning them just right. He’s a meticulous little guy!

But … little Santi is having “behavior issues”. He has a terrible habit of spitting (something his big brother taught him) and of pushing and shoving. At school he is constantly on the thinking chair because he fails to respect his friends and teachers. The other day we spent the afternoon with some friends. There were about 8 boys all together and Santi, who thinks he’s four, decided to hang out with the older kids, instead of with a fellow 2 year old. Somehow the play deteriorated and Santi was spitting on them and fighting against them. They locked him out of the room and then the 2 year old “comes out” and starts crying. I’m hoping he’s going through a growth spurt and will shortly outgrow this because making him sleep without Doudou is NOT making a dent in his behavior!

All right, enough said. Enjoy the pics!

Example 1: In Mateo's Room

Example 2: In the Kitchen

The master at work

HUGE traffic mess!!! He was VERY disappointed he had to pick up all the cars before going to bed that day!

The Lure of Los Roques

There's not much to say ... three glorious days in paradise!! For anyone who wants to come visit, more than welcomed anytime we are here!!!

P.S. Thanks to Papounet for some of the pics!

Christmas Shows - Mateo

Mateo's show was scheduled for January 28th, the Friday we were scheduled to leave for Los Roques. Since we weren't just about to miss going to Los Roques for the music show, the music teacher invited us to attend the last rehearsal show so that we would at least see Mateo in action. Well, let me tell you that I'm glad I didn't change our Los Roques plans! Mati didn't know any of the lyrics or rather, chose not to sing them that day. I was a bit disappointed in him because in the end, all he did was act like a clown. But oh well ...

Christmas Shows - Santi

Both CIC and ECA cancelled their Christmas shows because of the torrential rains in December and rescheduled them in January.

Santiago's show was first. To be his debut show, he did okay, but was overwhelmed by the experience. As soon as the music started playing, he stood up and started shaking his wrists, which had bells tied to them. But then his buddy Eydan started crying and Santi was overcome with emotion and was paralyzed. He was on the verge of crying. He pouted and looked lost but would rejoin the singing every once in a while. (Of course, at home, he doesn't stop singing!!) I cried like Eydan and enjoyed every bit of the show. Mateo came along and took pictures with his camera. He was thrilled to be part of audience and cheer on his brother.

The vedette

Pouting

Joining in the singing

Feeling lost again