and blog #2

it was a busy night! made sure that this one was coming out also :
fourmirose.blogspot.com

new blog #1

you can follow me here : http://tanivi.blogspot.com/
a blog on journaling - if it interests you...

and new blog #2 should be coming soon.

saying good-bye

Saying good-bye is never easy...but I feel it is now the time for it...

I want to go on with other projects that have been tickling my mind....and I am writing a new book (for primary this time!).

When I look back, I realize that I wrote quite a lot of pages.  I wrote 329 posts ! I will cherish this home-made book that I printed out. (I will have to make a copy and give it to someone just in case.)  

A lot of people have told me : My God, you spent so much time and so much energy on it....but I don't feel that way at all...I have always written at the end of the day, as a way of unwinding....It never felt has something I had to do...I just wanted to do all the time!

For my reading fans, don't worry, I will come back for sure...but I don't know exactly when and how...Come back once in while to check for my new blog....

This picture represents well how this last year has been.  An explosion of new emotions! Having a baby changes you in many ways.  You appreciate life so much more and realize how fragile equilibrium is...

Before saying farewell I want to thank my lovely husband M.  Your support to write this blog has been great and I know you will miss reading it from your office in the basement...And without the great camera you bought me (you always buy me great gifts in the end!) this blog would not have been the same.  (Personally, I never like to read blog which don't have pictures...)

Thank you for being in my life.

But most of all, I want to thank the Universe, God, the Stars (whatever you want to call it) for having put little wondeful, beautiful Mateo in my life.

Ciao

Mommy Tan

mommy in NY

Would never have thought of taking a picture with Donald before...but I knew you would like this...

Mommy had a great time and thought of you all the time!

Daddy had a good time with you too!

a great Sunday

We went to visit baby Angela for the first time last Sunday. (Congratulations! She is so tiny and looks so much like Jeff!!)

Surely a girl you will kiss in a few years Mat.  Uncle Jeff is already worried...

Sandra looks amazing - almost no sign of a belly anymore and it was only a month ago !!!

The baby room is wonderful and so is their house.

They just bought a new boat and we went for a ride together.  

We had a wonderful afternoon.

Without knowing it, I dressed Mateo for the occasion - see on the back of his t-shirt : Out to Sea!

walking

no picture yet to prove it but Mateo is walking!

that means I will stop writing soon...but I have an idea for a new blog...

details will come...

a list of nicknames

I realized not too long ago that Mateo has many nicknames.

While I just have Tan or Tani, he has :

Mat

Matito

Papi

Pops

Papino

a new picture to make me dream

One day...

If flickr.com is not in your favourites yet, put it now!  

thinking...

I love to blog that's for sure.

I've always like to journal my thoughts, plans and emotions.

Writing your life makes it more intense since you live it twice.

Journalling is very private but blogging is so different since it is so public.  This brings a discipline to my writing.  Family and friends read me and that's why I want to write all the time...

What fun it has been to write about Mateo.  It is so easy to talk about the things we are passionate about...

I have said that I wrote this blog for Mateo but actually I wrote it for me.  It was so interesting doing it and such a great hobby and a great way to relax at the end of the day.

I thank M for buying me a great camera to capture the great moments of this past year.

I thank life for having put Matito in my life.

I still don't know when Mat will read this blog.  Will I wait until he is 18? I doubt it.  I don't think I will be able to wait so long before giving it to him.  Will I make him read it after a big fight we will have when he will be a teenager? At 12? 14?  When will it be the best time? I don't know. I just hope he likes it...

jojo and mateo

they look alike!

laughing his head off

silly things make him laugh

our small family

happy!

what did he see?

I don't know...

Looks scary...

and summer is not even finished...

baby shoes cost almost more than my shoes and they don't last that long.

Oma sent it to us

We received this nice picture from Oma when we were away.

What a smile!

Thank you so much mom and dad for babysitting! 

while we were gone

This is one of the pictures that we had on my camera while we were away.  I think we looked at it 2o times!

Mateo eating corn-on-the-cob on his own!

a letter

It is 5h30 PM.  The sun is still shining on my body but the heat is bearable now.  

I have a notebook and a pen in my hand.

I have always liked to write letters to friends when I am away on holiday, but this time around, I decided to write to you Matito.

Dear Mateo,

Just wanted to tell you that Daddy and I are at the beach.

We hope you do not miss us too much.  Had you noticed that we were gone? 

Not an hour goes by without us mentioning your name and talking about the great things you do.

We are so proud of you.

We can't wait to see you!

we are back home!

Mat, we missed you so much!

You cannot imagine!

We had a great week in the sun but life is much better with you!

I don't know if we will leave you again for a complete week.  It is too hard.  Next year, you will be old enough to come with us...

Last night, when we arrrived we were so excited to climb up the stairs and admire you in your crib.  We were dying to bite you and wake you up.

This morning, at the first little movement in your bed, we went to see you and I think you were surprised to see us.

We spent an hour cuddling in bed.  It was so fun - felt so warm.

We plan to kiss you all week - whether you like it or not!

honeymoon

Dear Mateo,

Mommy and Daddy are leaving for Punta Cana tomorrow. 

We will miss you so.  You can't even imagine how much!

It's only when you will have children one day that you will understand how much parents can miss their children...

We plan to have a lot of fun, to get out of our routine, to read, to take some sun, to take some pictures, to eat lot of food (mommy likes buffets!), to hang out, to sleep in (yeah!)....and of course to talk about you and how great you are.

We will think of you all the time.

You will have a great time with your grandparents. 

Love you so much

maman et papa

sometimes we're serious, sometimes we're not!

posing. again.

discovering the taste of chocolate!

thank you Gustavo!

our family and Oma

love the composition of this picture!

he just got a new plane from Geddo

now, more expressive than that : impossible!

three cousins hiding in a box

these two love each other!

mat and his first car

the young one wants to play

and the old one wants to sleep!

playing with tupperware

leave me alone Mom - I'm busy!

the poser

so I don't forget

a few things to share about Mateo (he will be 14 months in a few days)

1) out of 7 nights, he sleeps 3 the whole night through - the other four, I end up sleeping is his room on a mattress on the floor

2) he wears size 21 shoes

3) he loves liquid yoghourt 

4) he is more attracted to boy and men than girls - you should see him with Daddy, Opa, Zouzou, and he is completely in love with Charles-Alexandre

5) his voculary words are : ehhhh, teden, pepe, mama and papa

6) he loves to look at books and to be read to

7) he cannot go to sleep without his dog Caramel (that he chews to death!)

8) at night time, he wants to be only with me - daddy don't even try to come into my room!

9) he reacts to every child we see by saying ehhhhhh

10) he loves music and knows every button on every toy he has that has music and dances to it!

11) he initiates games himself : He looks at us, then crawls super fast, takes a pause to look at us and then expects us to run after him.

12) he can imitate the sounds of lions, dogs, fish, cars, planes and helicopters.  The one that he can't do although we keep repeating the sound is : cats! But that's okay (m and I we don't like cats at all!)

...that's all I can think of for now...

nectarines

Mateo always surprises us with different foods that we think he won't like but that he tries and loves!

The other day, he did not want to eat anything so we tried to give him some of our lunch : a tuna spread sandwich (with ginger and green onion!) and he loved it! 

We couldn't believe it!

And tonight, at Zouzou and Lily's house, he ate half of a fresh nectarine - opening his mouth wide like a big boy!

Guess what mom is buying at the grocery store next time.

your mom the crazy one!

we have a problem!

I am guilty I know.  Since Mat is born I have been biting him out of love (like on this picture I found!).  I have been biting quite hard.  Mat has never cried.  So I continued biting.  I couldn't stop.  It was too good.  His whole body is a candy! 

But the problem is that he learned from us and he also bites!  When he is happy or excited he bites us in the leg or in the neck. It's okay if he bites only daddy or mommy (and he bites Oma too) but I wouldn't want him to bite other children...

m misses m

Papa is away in Florida for a few days and he is thinking about Mat a thousand times a day I am sure.  If he listened to himself, he would call at least 10 times a day...but you can't talk for now Mattie...

Soon, you two will have the talks daddy is so longing for...

a passion for engines

Matito loves cars, fire trucks, motorcycles, buses...

Every time he sees one his eyes become so big!

And he imitates the sound of the motor.  We find it so funny.  

He is a real boy!

This is to prove that from childhood there are already huge differences between boys and girls.

our man

starting to get a tan this little bugger.  His hands are darker than mine!

we tried

We decided to go for drinks at Vince and Mariette's house the other night.

We thought we could put Mateo to bed there but, oh boy, our plan did not work well.

Mateo was wondering what the heck he was doing lying on the floor.  

He just wanted to play.

Juliano was not sleeping either and sneaking out of his room!

So we decided to let him stay with us until 10 and we were sure he would fall asleep - which he didn't of course!

At 10h30 he was still wide awake watching our wedding video!

We finally left, he fell asleep in the car after crying for a while and then woke up again once we transferred him in his bed!

What a night!

I think he finally fell asleep at 11h45!

Not a good idea we had.

But hey, we tried!

how does this thing work?

shall I have hamburgers or steaks tonight?

Mateo following the footsteps of his dad!

not by you mommy.

mateo is not a big eater.

occasionally, he will surprise us and eat a lot but most of the time, we have to serve and try many things before he decides to swallow a few bites. You should see the table at the end of the meal (M and I call it the "buffet"). 

his favourite foods are bread and yoghourt.

but last weekend, we discovered that he eats better if a child feeds him.

he was eating everything Juliano was giving him : chips, crackers...

and here you see him eating chocolate ice cream fed by princess Alexandra!

Oh well...

We'll have to hire a child to come and feed him...

I don't take that many pictures anymore...

but I found a new cool toy on my computer : THE camera!

my new cabana boy

Mateo loves to do all the chores around the house.

When I vacuum, he follows me around and wants to grab the stick.

When I wash the floor, he wants to grap the mop.

When we planted the flowers, he wanted to give a hand.

Let's hope it stays that way...

Wouldn't it be great that he likes to do the dishes!

playing hide and seek

Coucou Papa!

who's the craziest?