Never Seen Before

I just scanned in all Mateo's portraits for his photobook. Here is one we had done in November.

18 Months

It was Mateo's half birthday yesterday. I thought of having a party (same story as his 6 month birthday), but just didn't get around to it. I was even thinking of making cupcakes or a cake, but this cold killed all movitation.

Here is his updated weight/height. I was sure last time we measured he was 87 cm, but I can never do it as precise as the doctor.

12.8 kilogram = 28.219 lb

85 centimeter = 33.464 in

He seems to have a longer upper body and shorter legs. In general he would be a size 86 (which matches his height), but pants that size are too long, so he is still mainly in 80 and even a few 74's. His tops are 86/92. So he is actually right now, seemingly, normal.

His feet grew finally, so he is wearing 21's/5, but I think Crocs must run small, because he is wearing a 6 and 7 from there.

Mateo gave me hugs this week! He is NOT a cuddly guy, but I am trying to 'train' him to give hugs. I put his arms around my neck and talk to him. He finally left his arms there and was hugging me. It was so sweet.

This morning I said "Where is your baba?" and he repeated "Baba," So that could be another word he can say.

The throwing issue is a *little* bit better.

He copies so many things that we do. I laugh all the time at what he notices and how he tries to repeat it. Yesterday, for example, his toy rolled uner the the couch, so I took the broom and stuck it under to push the toy out. Later in the evening, he was laying on the ground, sticking the broom under the couch.

A very good part of this imitating phase is that he likes to 'help.' So when we clean up, if he sees me putting things away, he starts putting things away. When I unload the dishwasher, he takes things and puts them in the cabinets or hands them to me and when we put the laundry on the heating to dry, he takes all the socks and puts them on the heater for me.

His hair is finally growing!

Baby's 2nd Christmas

It was fun to see Mateo experience Christmas this year. I put up some lights in the living room thinking he would enjoy them, but he paid them no attention. About 2 week ago he finally noticed and now when he walks in and they are off he screams and points until I turn them on and then he runs to the other ones and grunts until I turn them on also.

In his chair from Gma/gpa

Christmas morning, breakfast with Auntie, Uncle, Cousins

Gent Christmas Market with cousins

Christmas Eve at Auntie's, with Oma/Opa

Family Christmas-Dec 16-he got a cleaning set, so he can stop stealing mine!

Sweater from Auntie G-arrived 2 days ago.

Another sweater from her, Duplos from American realatives

17 months

Mateo turned 17 months right before Christmas, so his post is once again delayed.

He received this t-shirt from his Canadian relatives. I love it! He was singing and later I gave him daddy's microphone, but I didn't get a photo of that. This is a typical face of his. He loves to 'sing' when he hears music and when he knows we are watching him. We are his biggest fans of course.

Words
Mama, baba (papa), dag (day/bye in Dutch), kijk (look), uh-oh

He responds very well to "num-num" and "bye-bye." The first he will go to his high chair or come from whatever he is doing and the 2nd he will head to the door and try to find his shoes and jacket.

Eating
He is still a good eater. Not a fan of cheese, but he eats it sometimes. Mandarines are his favorite. I wonder how many he would eat if I let him have as many as he wants. Thankfully they are small and healthy. I think he eats about 4 a day. 

He is doing very well feeding himself. We are getting to the point where he prefers to do it alone, rather than me doing it.

Something we are having a little problem with is that he likes to throw his things and as soon as he is done or not getting enough attention he starts throwing his food/spoon/dish, whatever he can find.

Throwing
I figuring this should be a paragraph to itself, because it is something we deal with all day. Maybe he will be in the MLB some day and I will remember these times. Whenever he is frustrated, he picks up the first things his hand finds and he hurls it across the room. He broke a vase at our aunts this way and a few dishes at home.

He also likes to throw for fun. If he sees us toss something in the laundry basket, he wants to toss something also.

This means he is a fan of balls. Daddy likes to play with him inside with balls, but it is hard to teach him what is ok to throw and what not. Today Mateo was throwing his ball at my frames and cheering when he hit one. Of course, if I say more, the more he wants to do it...

Sleeping
That wonderful morning nap is almost over. I think 5/7 days he just has 1 nap,  which means evenings are more challenging. He normally sleeps 12 hours a night and normally sleeps through (besides the past 4 days of course).

Other
What I love to watch/hear is Mateo imitating what he sees or hears. It is so cute! I love watching him hang out with his cousins, because he learns so much and tries so hard to do what they do. I think he will be like his daddy and good with music/languages, because it seems that he is pretty good at mimicking sounds.

Today

Today it snowed! Mateo loved watching it from the window. I let him go play on our balcony. He seemed to like it, but eventually wanted to come him. I know I am biased, but I just think he is adorable!

He threw up yesterday for the first time. Unfortunatly while being babysat! I didn't have to clean that up, but had enough work in the evening when it started coming out the other end. Tomorrow I will take him to the doctor to make daddy feel better.

16 months

We had special visitors for Mateo's 16th monthday. My aunt and uncle! She took these lovely photos.

Mateo happened to have the night before this photoshoot one of his worst nights ever. He didn't fall asleep until after 3am. Mommy and daddy were NOT happy about this. The week before he was up for 2 hours in the night and November 2 he was up many times in the night. I said that was his 2nd worst night, but now he has had 3 of those in a month. The rest of the time he has slept through and had 2 long naps in the day. Hard to know the causes for those restless nights.

He is a climber. Today he discovered how to get on the kitchen table chairs. Next step is on the table I am sure.

The little man says something that sounds like 'dag' (bye) when he waves. I think he says something like 'dada' or 'baba' for 'papa.' It isn't clear what he says, but he has a certain sound for his daddy. Particularly loud when he sees daddy coming off the platform at church.

15+ Months

In his special Hebrew onsie. It says "righteous". The cute jammies are from grandma.

Today was Mateo's check up and shots. He weighed 11.8kg/26lbs and was 85.?cm/33.5in.

This past month Mateo not only spent the night for the first time away from mommy, but his first time was 13 nights in a row! How his mommy enjoyed that *wink* Mateo had a great time with his cousins, auntie and oma. They took great care of him. I am sure he thinks their houses are much more exciting than ours. Mommy was truly able to enjoy her trip in Israel. It is crazy to think of doing it with a baby or child. I kept telling myself that I needed to enjoy every moment, because who knows when I would have such an opportunity again.

What are Mateo's newest tricks? He amazes me every day with what he knows. He seems to have grasped the questions, "Where is your head?" and "Waar is je neus?" (Translated: Where is your nose?) He knows how to turn the internet and phone off, normally when I am in the middle of something important. He knows it is a great way to get attention. He has started copying our sounds, which can be pretty funny. Growls, screams, grunts, whispers, sneezes. He loves waving hi and bye and now adds on kisses; it doesn't matter who he is greeting. I think he picked up from the little boys he played with to make "brm, brm" sounds when he drives his cars around.

The little guys is full of bruises. It comes with learning how to walk. Plus, it seems the terrible 2's are creeping up on us. Mateo knows how to throw tantrums when he doesn't get his way or is told "no!" Often he then starts flailing and banging his head on things. I try to lay him on the carpet and ignore him, but sometimes he still hurts himself from it.

 Yesterday was a big day in his little life. We bought his 'first' pair of shoes. I guess I should say I bought for the first time shoes for him for his current size/need.

Stones & Bones size 22/6