Say Cheese!

Since my last post, we had some professional pictures taken. A friend of ours that lives in Midland is a photographer and came into town, so we took advantage of the opportunity to FINALLY get some good pictures taken of Mateo. We went out to the Fort Worth Stockyards to take the pictures, and we got really lucky that they turned out. Although it wasn’t that hot, it was so humid and very nasty out. But the pictures are amazing! We are so happy with them. This past weekend was also an exciting one, because Juan’s parents, sister, aunts, and cousin came into town to visit – some had never met Mateo. They made a long drive to get here, but were able to get some good bonding in with Mateo. He had so much fun! He loves the ladies, and was giving out kisses left and right! Mateo is doing great, and becoming more and more mobile. He is starting to climb things now, and shocked us tonight when he showed us that he knows how to get down from the chair by rolling onto his belly and sliding down. Just like his BFF, Cole, Mateo loves playing with the door stoppers now, and opening (or trying to open) all the cabinets.

Aunt Letty and Cousin Ashley

Aunt Martha

Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Edith

BFF Cole playing with door stop

Mateo playing with door stop

10 Months...

Can you believe that Mateo will be 10 months old tomorrow? It's amazing how fast it goes. Mateo's favorite things now are:

• Trying to stand on his own. But he does not want help trying to walk anymore. For awhile, all he wanted to do was hold our hands and walk, and now he wants nothing to do with that.
• Saying "nana" - I will tell him to say "mama" and he says "nana" instead.
• Eating big boy food - He is very interested in eating whatever we are eating. Although he hasn't quite caught onto it yet. He chokes too often, and scares all of us, so we are very careful what we give him.
• Sitting under his bouncer instead of inside of it
• People watching - Mateo is so interested in watching other people when we go out. This is great for us, because it keeps him distracted.
• Cuddling - Oh, he loves to cuddle now, and we love it too!!! After his bottle at bedtime, he turns over and just wants to be held. It is so cute! And he tucks his hands under him like he is trying to keep them warm!! Juan and I fight over who gets to cuddle each night.
• Biting - This is not so good. He is biting, and biting hard. And I have the bruise to show it. We were cuddling one night, and he turned his head and chopped down on my arm. Ouch! We are working on this one.
Here are some recent pics.

He loves standing at this table. He got this from his cousin Holly.

Mateo likes to sit under his bouncer now.

He always loves to ride his horse.

Mateo got a new toy today - a pop-up tent. He loves it and had so much fun crawling through the tunnels and playing peek-a-boo.

Playing peek-a-boo with daddy in his new pop-up tent.

Happy Fourth of July!

This weekend was a busy Fourth of July weekend, starting Friday night with Mateo's first real haircut, and first real sucker. We went to Sports Clips, where Juan normally goes, and didn't think it would be as traumatic an experience as it was. I will start by saying that Mateo doesn't really like anybody near his face or head, and so when she put the towel and smock around his neck, the fit started. We ended up having to bribe him with a sucker, and that only allowed the lady to get the top cut. When she got out the clippers to do the sides, he made it clear he wasn't going to have any part of that. We felt so bad, that we gave up, and I trimmed the sides when we got home. That was all in preparation for family pictures that we took in the Stockyards on Saturday morning. The weather kind of cooperated - at least it wasn't raining, although it was super humid and hot. Mateo did really well, considering the weather, and the new environment. We are excited to see how they turned out. For the fourth we went to Aunt Cindy's lake house and Mateo finally got to meet his second cousins on my side. And today we spent the day at home and had some fun swimming.

Look at those teeth! He has five in and the sixth one is coming through now.

I was trying to get a good picture of Mateo's shirt that says "Born Cool."

This is the beginning of a fit, something new for Mateo. Of course, he is attracted to all of the things that he shouldn't be messing with - cords, electrical outlets, stairs, etc. He will start crawling towards something he shouldn't be messing with, and when he sees us coming for him, he puts it into overdrive to try to get to the bad stuff before we get to him. When we get in his way, he has started throwing little fits - and the bottom lip is what starts it all.

After the bottom lip, then he throws his arms up in the air, throws his head back, and collapses in your arms. This won't be cute for long!

This is Mateo at Lady's house, playing with old toys from when I was a kid ( a long time ago!!). The haircut makes him look much older.

Mateo loves the Gerber puffs - they look like cheese puffs.

He loves to be in the pool. This evening he was just lounging in his raft, very relaxed, and he let us lay him down so that he was flat on his back.

Splashing!