Laredo or BUST!

We made our first plane trip to Laredo this past weekend for Mateo’s baptism and birthday celebration. We flew down on Friday morning – Mateo did well on the flight down, but got a little antsy toward the end being cooped up on such a small plane. He only cried for a couple of minutes, but it felt like an hour! On Saturday we had Mateo’s baptism. It was a nice private ceremony in a beautiful church with a lot of loved ones around. We had a nice lunch out with everybody and then went home to relax for awhile before the birthday celebration. Mateo had his own little cake to dig in to. He was reluctant at first, but finally got the hang of it. The cakes were delicious! He got to open all of his presents and play with his Handy Manny piñata. Mateo got to meet a lot of relatives for the first time, and spend some quality time with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Edith. Mateo developed quite a love for Grandpa Ortegon while we were there – we were all getting a little bit jealous of the connection. At one point Mateo even fell asleep sitting in his lap, which hasn’t happened with anybody since he was a few months old. He was also drawn to the men in the family, which in the past he has gravitated toward women. It is interesting how they change as they get older. We all had such a good time getting to see all of the family and getting spoiled! Enjoy the pics!

Exploring the airport

Eating Cheerios waiting to board

Mateo's Godparents - Joe and Jackie

Grandma and Grandpa

Aunt Betty

The ice cream truck. Mateo will probably never see one of those up here.

Looking at his Handy Manny banner.

Wearing his new Handy Manny outfit to match his birthday theme.

Cousin Joe

Aunt Letty

Aunt Martha

Great Grandma

Great Grandpa

Cousin Johnathan

First trip to Taco Palenque - the best restaurant ever!

We were in Laredo - I had to put a sombrero on him

Juan's parents have a lemon tree in their yard, and these are the GIANT lemons on steroids that they grow. They were the size of grapefruits!

We got lucky that Mateo didn't get scared while we were singing to him. Most of the time when they sing at restaurants Mateo starts crying.

We bought Mateo some maracas at the import store - they are like giant rattles. He loves them!

I filmed this video of Juan and Mateo during naptime. I was stuck because Mateo fell asleep on my arm laying in bed, so I had nothing better to do than to video naptime. It was so cute, because they were both snoring, and Juan would squirm and then Mateo would squirm. And they were both laying with their hands behind their head.

Mateo also waved "Bye Bye" this weekend. He's only done it once before when he waved "Bye Bye" to the dogs. But this time he did it more than once and I got it on tape! He also gives high fives now and claps his hands when you say "Yay!!" So cute!