Growing Little Boy!

Mateo is growing by leaps and bounds. Every day there is something new! I love to watch him develop and learn. He loves to analyze everything. You can practically see the wheels turning in his head!

Mateo has started walking. He's not really good at it yet, but he's getting there. June 15th, he stood by himself and then took a couple tentative steps on his own. A couple days later, he walked across the living room. Just last week, he started pushing himself up to stand instead of pulling up on a piece of furniture first. He loves it. He gets so excited when he gets those walking steps going. He has a grin from ear to ear the whole time he's up on his baby feet. He KNOWS he is doing something new and neat....and I'm sure it helps that we are there cheering him on the entire time. He likes to do anything that results in cheering and clapping.

A couple of weekends ago we celebrated Independence Day. Last year was Mateo's first 4th of July, but he was in the hospital. So this year we made it special. We BBQ'd with some friends and afterwards went to watch the fireworks. Mateo did so well. He wasn't scared at all. Not even a flinch! He seemed to really enjoy watching them...he couldn't take his eyes off of them.

Mateo also started having his 1st year molars break through. He has 3 of them right now and I have a feeling that 4th one will be along any time now. He has 9 teeth all together. He has such a hard time with them until they break through. I've been giving him a toothbrush to chew on. It seems to have helped.

Mateo hasn't started talking yet (other than mama and daddy), but he is imitating a lot of sounds. He has most recently learned how to "roar" like a lion and "oo-oo-ah-ah" like a monkey. He's gotten pretty good at it.

Next month, we are planning a trip to Wisconsin. It'll be Mateo's first flight and I'm a little nervous. I don't personally like flying, so to be going with a toddler isn't exactly first on my priority list. But I know that once we're there, it'll be a lot of fun. He can ride tractor with "Papa" John and play with the kitties and meet his cousin, Dawson, for the first time. It's always a good time when family is around.

Memorial Day Weekend

This last Memorial Day weekend was so much fun. Saturday we didn't do much since Mel got called in to work. But Sunday, after church, we took Mateo to the Florida Aquarium. It was so cute. He seemed to really like looking at all the fish. He usually gets all excited with the little fish aquariums at Walmart, so we figured he would enjoy the floor-to-ceiling aquariums. He liked all the wildlife, but I think Mateo might have enjoyed just watching all the people there a little bit more. He is such a people person. He is very much the little observer. I wanted to take him out to the water play area, but it was so windy and looked like it was about to rain. So...maybe next time.

Monday, we took Mateo to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. Neither Mel or I have ever been there before. Apparently, this zoo was voted #1 in the country by PARENT magazine. It was fun though. Mateo isn't quite at the age to appreciate the animals or understand much about them...but again, he enjoyed "people-watching". I look forward to when he can understand a little more and get excited about all the animals.
It was so HOT that day though. I was sweating buckets and Mateo was drinking tons of water. At the end, they have a little play area with water bubbling up out of the ground. We put Mateo in the water to cool off a little bit. He seemed to enjoy that a lot. All-in-all, we had a really good time. Although, I think the San Diego zoo is better than Lowry. But it was still a nice zoo...next time we hope to be able to make some of the shows. Since it was a holiday weekend, it was pretty packed and we didn't feel like fighting the crowds for a place to sit or to be able to see what was going on. We just took our time walking around and it turned out to be a really fun, family day.

Birthday Boy Continued.....

The Saturday following Mateo's birthday, we threw a huge 1st Birthday party for him. We rented a shelter at one of the local parks and invited EVERYONE that had been so supportive of us and Mateo while he went through the rough spots. People who bowed in prayer regularly for us. People who sent cards and meals and thoughts and wishes our way. People who visited at the hospital and sat with us through Mateo's surgery. People who were fundamental in his medical care, therapies and development. People who just gave us a shoulder to lean on and cry on. It was more of a 'thank you' to these people than a birthday party for Mateo. We just wanted to celebrate with these people and show them that all their love and care and concern hadn't been in vain. Through all of this, Mel and I grew so much....in our faith as Christians, as friends, in our marriage...and we couldn't have made it through everything without their love and support.

The party was so much fun. We rented a bouncy palace for the kids and ordered a full-sheet cake with jungle animals on it. The monkey represented Mateo, so it had a little red heart drawn on him. One of our friends organized games for everyone and we had lots of food. A lot of people came to celebrate with us. It was a happy day. Mateo, of course, didn't know what to think of everything at first, but he warmed up after a few minutes. There were a lot of smiles, a lot of laughing. I wished my parents could have made it down for the party. They would have really enjoyed it. Mateo was exhausted afterwards, but it was a great day. One that I know I will not soon forget.

Birthday Boy!

Mateo turned 1 year old on April 29th. It was definitely a day to celebrate. Mel stayed home from work. We decorated the house with streamers and tons of balloons. When Mateo woke up, we went into his room singing "Happy Birthday to You!". He thought it was funny. Then we brought him out and he played with the balloons for awhile. He seemed to think the decorations were pretty cool. We had to go out and do some shopping for his party that he was having a couple days later and then when we got home he went down for a nap. Once he woke up, we took him to get his hair cut. It had gotten pretty shaggy. He did great for it. I was worried that he would cry, mainly because he hates it when someone he doesn't know messes with him. He is usually pretty bad with the doctor, so I assumed it wouldn't be much different with a hairdresser. But Mateo watched Mel get his hair cut first, so maybe that helped. Sadly, with every chunk of hair she cut off, he looked less 'baby' and more 'little boy'.
Once we got home, he got to open his gifts. We bought him a little blow up pool and a book about God that came with some children's bible songs. Mateo loves music, so I thought it'd be perfect. Then we lit the candle on his little cupcake, sang happy birthday and gave him his cake. He didn't even eat any of it. He smashed it with his hands and then threw it all over the floor. But it was fun for Mel and me while we laughed and took pictures. And then....it was all over. Over much too quickly. He was now 1 year old and it was time for bed!

Doing so well!

Mateo is definitely doing well, as far as develpement goes. We went to his physical therapy appointment, where his therapist said that she just can't justify seeing him once a week anymore. He has come such a long way in such a short period of time. He's almost walking! So, she moved him to only once a month.

His speech therapist also said the same thing. About a month ago he went from twice a week with the speech therapist to only once a week. Then a couple weeks ago, she decided he really only needed to be seen once a month. So I am very happy to know that Mateo is doing so well, that he no longer needs weekly therapy!

And he IS doing so much! He "talks" all the time. Of course, I have no idea what he's saying, but he just jibber-jabbers all day long. Sometimes, it sounds like he is singing. LOL I think he has started trying to copy certain words that we say. I'm not sure, because its hard to make the words out, but if I say "Yummy" it sounds like he is trying to repeat it...even if it comes out sounding more like "Muma".
The cutest thing I have found him to be doing so far is throwing kisses. And when he throws kisses to people, he says "MUAH!". I love it. He could do that all day and I'd be in heaven. :) He is just learning so much. Before long, he really will be talking! (AND walking, Yikes!)

Easter

Okay...I have a lot to catch up on, so I will have to post a few seperate blogs so they don't get so long! We have been so busy ever since Easter. Mateo had a lot of fun for Easter. We went to an Easter Egg Hunt on March 28th. It was an absolute blast! We got Mateo his own little basket and then carried him around to a few different eggs. He knew enough to pick them up, but it was a whole other thing to get him to drop it into the basket. He preferred to just throw them! All in all, he collected about 5 eggs and smiled and laughed the whole time.

After that, Mateo got to play musical chairs. Mel carried him around the chairs....they made it 1/2 way through before they got "out". Still fun :)

For Easter, which was April 12th, we had a quiet day. When Mateo woke up, his basket was all laid out for him in the living room. I don't think he knew quite what to think at first. LOL He got bubbles, blocks, a stacker, and a variety of snacks. Mel thinks I spoiled him a little too much...but they were things that were age appropriate that I had wanted to buy Mateo anyway, so I figured I'd just get them all at once for Easter. Mateo had no problem grabbing the blocks and flinging them all around the house. He sure likes to throw things! After that, we went to church, came home and just had a nice quiet day. I look forward to the days when I can hide Mateo's Easter basket around the house and we can watch him hunt for it!

Mateo has learned a TON of things since my mom and dad left last week. He is waving bye-bye now. He started clapping yesterday...and he is so funny when he does it too. He has to bang his feet on the floor at the same time :) He has also started hugging things. He hugs his little bear...his blankets...his pants...it always makes me laugh. I like it the best when he hugs ME. He also has started shaking his head "no". Whenever he is touching something that he shouldn't (like TV cables) I always say, "no, no Mateo, no touch" and I shake my head no at the same time. Well, he has started shaking his head no now whenever I do something he doesn't like. Usually its when he is done eating and doesn't want anymore food. I am just so surprised at how much he has learned in one week!

He also had his first play date today. A girl from church has an 8 month old little girl that came over today. As soon as she came through the door, Mateo was so excited! He was clapping his hands and squealing in delight. When she was set on the floor next to him, he had to touch her face and arms and legs...he was just so entranced by her. If she tried to crawl away, he would either follow her or else grab her shirt and pull her back to him. He even hugged her a few times. It was really funny and very cute. He definitely enjoyed himself and was worn out by the time they left. I look forward to exposing him to more play dates like that.