Music City!

In early December, we headed down to Nashville for a conference that Anita had. Mateo's Saba & Savta met us there to spend some time with their favorite grandson.

This gives you an idea of how cold it was:

Mateo had fun running around all bundled up. This is a photo taken right before he face-planted on the concrete. Ouch! You can see signs of the injury in the subsequent photos.

One of Mateo's favorite things about the trip was the swimming! The hotel even had a toddler-depth swimming pool.

Here are some photos of Mateo carousing with his grandparents in the hotel room.

Mateo had lots of fun in the mall with his Saba & Savta: they went shopping, rode the carousel, rode the mini-train and pushed around this nifty cart.

Quiz Time!

Mateo likes a lot of things. But one thing he REALLY LOVES is "minna." What is that? See if you can guess from the pictures below.


If you guessed MUSIC, you're right! The first thing Mateo asks for in the morning is to listen to music. He adores pianos, maracas, drums and anything else that can carry a tune or keep a rhythm. He even gets excited about headphones, even if they aren't actually hooked up to music (as is the case in these photos).

QUIZ #2: Do you spot anything familiar in these photos? Hint: Think "baby shower".


For those of you who participated in Anita's baby shower, you might recognize those beads around Mateo's neck. Each bead was given with a blessing at the shower and then made into a necklace for Anita to have at the birth to remember all of of her family and friends who support us and who welcomed Mateo. He recently discovered the necklace and has developed quite an attachment to it: he actually puts in on himself.

Vegas!

We headed to Vegas for a post-Thanksgiving visit to see Mateo's Gemma and Philpa. Aside from having a blast with them, there were two major highlights: the dogs (and learning to use the doggie door) and the children's museum. Here are the photos below.

Mateo continues his fascination with baskets.

A door just my size.

IN.

OUT.

Mateo with the fabulous ball machine.

Ready to blast off! (This was actually a "ride" where a person can pull themselves up with a pulley system. Mommy did the work on this one, though.)

His Life and Times

Looking cute in front a cabinet (Can I open the doors?)

Riding along in an automobile.

Basket rides: They can't be beat!

Oh, yeah!

Mateo is very interested in clothes: especially daddy's big shirts.

Mateo thinks he can fit into ANY size box. Really.

Cooking with Mommy. What messy fun!

Mateo loves to climb and sit. And to bring his dolls with him. Especially when he is running around half-dressed, trying to avoid putting his pants on.