Baby Belgium is 1

Look who had his birthday! We had his party a few weeks early, but it was still a special day.

I feel like I should be posting about what our year has been like, but it is late and we need to sleep.

I don't feel like anything came much as a shock. I guess I had read enough to know what to expect.

What is still difficult for me is how long it takes ready to get out the door. Trying to remember everything that may be necessary. Yikes! It can take an hour to get to the grocery store...

Mateo went for his shots today. His measurments are 23 lbs (10.88kg) and 31.25 in (79.5cm).  He is a super crawler and stood yesterday for the first time alone. I think he is lazy in the walking department, but that is fine with me. He has 16 teeth-yes, you read that right. All the growth from his head went to his teeth instead of hair.

He already has a strong, but sensative personality. He is a very happy and social little man.

His first word was "pretty." He regularly says "yay" and something that sounds like "Leah." He is starting to imitate our words. So far only English ones <insert big smile>. We have heard him say "mommy," "my head," "all done" and "baaa."

Anything else you'd like to know? Just ask <wink>

11+ Months UNO party

I am behind on the 11 month post, but ahead on the birthday party post! We had Mateo's party when my parents were here, so it was a few weeks early. I finally put some of my Pinterest inspiration to use. Mateo is turning UNO.

This was the invitation. Notice him holding the 1's

 My mom made the chocolate-with-truffle-filling cake and decorated them both.

 My super talented neighbor whipped out this felt item for his shirt. 

She also let us use her yard, tents, dishes, tables, ETC!!!

 And the same neighbor made a delicious lemon cake.

 He was very interested in his balloon when it was present time, so he didn't seem very excited. He loved the Little People jail and these books with wiggly eyes. His mom loves all the cute clothes he received.

I think I said before I had him that I would never do a 1st birthday party. It seems the kid is either unhappy or sleeping, but Mateo behaved great! He woke up right before and was happy the whole time. He really liked people looking at him and to see all the kids.

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Child Labor

I mentioned he was crawling all over. I heard rustling in the pantry and saw him struggling with the swiffer. He then managed to get it out and I had to run to get my camera.

10 months

 What a photo session it was! Most were IN this playpen. And...my little secret...I put Twinkle, Twinkle on for him.

 Mateo is such a joy to have around! He always wakes up happy and ready to go. (takes after me-hehe)

His sleeping habits are slightly worse than past months, but we can still handle this. He has been waking up again at night, sometimes to eat, other times daddy can deal with him. Going to bed has become a challenge, since he learned to pull himself up. It is a big joke to have us come in and try to lay him back down. Today I decided to just let him play in his crib and eventually he'll fall asleep. I can hear if he's crying.

He crawls all over, chatting away. Now comes the fun part of starting to pull up on everything. #9 tooth came in and I see 2 more almost popping out. Good to eat the food he loves so much!

Mateo is 10.5kg/23lb and 76cm/29in.

Next 'monthday' is a special one. His grandparents will be here!

Sleeping like a baby

I just had to capture this moment. Anyone who knows our little man knows this is a rare sight. When he is around people he wants to be INVOLVED. Sleeping is boring. So many things to see.

M is a great sleeper, but it normally has to be dark and quiet. The only times (and those are rare) that he will fall asleep in my arms is if I am feeding him and like I said, rare.

This was taken last week. He must've been exhausted because after a few gulps he was out. And stayed out long enough to let me reach for the camera and he never stirred with the sounds. It was truly a precious moment.

9 Months

Our "little" man turned 9 month a few weeks ago. We did the photos on the day, but I forgot to blog. I am in awe of these photos that I see of kids who are sitting nice on their chair. I wonder how long it took for them to get that shot!

I read my post from 8 months and can almost repeat the part about his weight. He's still the same and you can see (even more now) that his stomach is flatter and his face is thinner.

Mateo is a very active boy. He now crawls all over. No boundaries. He is an explorer. Open the doors, grab the dangling keys, pull things off shelves and out of the cabinets, crawl under the tables and chairs, pull apart the play mat, eat the shoes.

His sleeping habits are pretty good. No complaints for me in that area. Normally he goes to bed around 9 and is up at 9 the next morning, then a 1 hour morning nap and 2 hour afternoon nap and an evening nap.

Mateo is quite sensitive to loud, sudden sounds. Often in church he begins to cry when we begin to clap. He is very scared of the vacuum and doesn't like the blender. Also yelling makes him cry.

He still loves his baths and dislikes getting dressed. My rule is that he wears whatever I put on him. If it is too big or too small, he just has to wear it that day. We both don't have the energy to change him again.

Favorite toys include his telephone, this lovely item that sings and has a million buttons and sounds, a magna doodle (he just likes to eat the pen and drag it around)

As you can see in this photo, M is beginning to pull himself up. We have since lowered the playpen, so there is no risk of falling. Now it looks like a jail.

He has 8 teeth and one looks like it has been coming for 3 weeks. It looked infected, but the doctor said it was fine.

His hair is slllllooowly starting to grow. When he wakes up I see little tuffs sticking out.

I started giving him most food that we eat. He loves it all. Spaghetti, scrambled eggs, FRIES (good, little Belgian), vol-a-vont, yogurt, quiche, lalala

AND he has a voice and likes to use it.