an invitation

I wanted to find a fun way to invite :

Oma, Opa

Guedo, Teta

Mouli, Karine and Maika

Nadine, François, Charlie, Élisabeth,

Joanne and Elias 

to your FIRST birthday party and I thought I would invite you here since I know that you all read my blog.

So we will celebrate one week after Mateo's birthday.  Mark it in your calendars : May 24th at 2PM.

It will be very simple : cakes - lots of cakes!

baby walking

So I made up my mind : I will write on your blog Mattie until you learn how to walk.

I needed a time frame to help me with my decision.

How much do I have left?

One month? Two? Three?

I don't know...

Let's wait and see...The longer the better I guess.

Mommy went shopping for shoes today.  

Now I know what type of shoes you need : flexible sole but support at the ankle.

Did not boy anything yet - they were 80$! 

But at least I know your shoe size - you are a 4.5.

a day for pictures

've been so busy lately.

today is beautiful day - sunny - let's take pictures of Mattie.

I need a fresh new bunch.

Ciao!

an important night

Last night was a very important night in our life.

Mat went to bed without the boob - his very first time since he was born.

I cannot believe it.  Almost 12 months!

Mommy went to a concert and Daddy put Mattie to bed - without any crying!!

OH MY GOD!

I called M at 9h00 just to see how things were going. 

I was expecting M not to answer because he would be in Mat's room trying to calm him down. 

 I was expecting M being a bit fed up and discouraged.  

But no, M was celebrating : he was having a scotch on a week night! 

To celebrate our boy who finally went to bed without his mother's boobies!

Wow - we were so happy...

But now, on a more sad perspective : does that mean that breastfeeding is really over for us?

Will Daddy put Mat to bed again tonight?

Or will mommy say a formal farewell - one last night?

olio

multilingual our son!

his first word was hola in Spanish

and now he keeps saying olio - oil in Italian.

I should have known that he would be a language lover.

Bravo Mateo!

pa...pa

he has been babbling for months now...

but now when he sees M he definetely says pa-pa...

so endearing.

we can't wait to hear more words.

it is so exciting to see your child growing and learning.

what will I do?

still don't know Mattie if I will continue this blog after your birthday.

my plan was to write during the first year and the first year is coming to an end...

Mommy likes writing about you but maybe she will change her blog slightly.

I also wanted to create a blog on creative journaling.

I also wanted to start taking more pictures again.

I now know that I cannot have too many projects at once.

It does not fit in my schedule like it used to B.M. (Before Mateo).

I remember Claude telling me a few times in the last fifteen years : "Wow, you do SO many things in one day."

Well I still do a lot of things in one day, but not the same things anymore.

Let's wait and see what mommy decides to do.

lights

the past months have been a bit hard since Mat has been waking up at night and leaving me and daddy quite tired.

But I think things are getting better.  He is waking up only once or not at all.  

That means happiness.  

Makes me think of colours.

summer

This morning, I went through Mattie's clothes! 

Out with the winter clothes.

He wore shorts today!  Mommy bought him a few cool new t-shirts.

We sat him in the grass.  He did not move - he was intringued by the texture of it.

We also swang together in the hammock.  Fun.

pizza

All this food talk gave me an idea of another post : Pizza.

Why pizza? What is the link with Mat?

When I was pregnant, I used to look at all the men - babies, toddlers, teenagers, young men, men, older men...and I was wondering if they could look like my son.

I imagined Mat's features so many times...

I would always tell M : Look, maybe Mateo will look like that....

M thought this was very weird.

And one day, we went to one of my favourite restaurants (Botega) and I fell in love with the boy who was making the pizza.  He was maybe 16 and so handsome.  He was short (like me) and had dark features (like M) and I stared at him many times during the evening. I loved his fun t-shirt and his baseball cap. I just loved the energy that came out of him.

I thought it was so cool that he was so good at playing and shaping the pizza dough.

I thought : Wow! I would like my son to do this kind of job when he is a teenager.

I don't see pizza the same way anymore.

It's fun to imagine crazy scenarios like this.

Oh, I almost forgot : pizza is also M's favourite food!

yes, cakes!

I bought one of Jamie Oliver's recipe books a while ago and I have been dreaming about the last section in his book about cakes and desserts.

I told M last week : I would really like to try all these cakes.

And then he answered : Stop saying it - and just do it! Try them! Do it!

So, it got me going...

I want to celebrate Mat's birthday with many cakes.  I know it is a silly idea but I like it. His birthday theme is not Diego or Baseball : it is CAKES!

When I was growing in Germany, we always had a choice of many cakes for afternoon coffee.

I remember always choosing the dry coffee cake and sometimes something with fresh fruits. These are still my favourite cakes although I also like chocolate cake.

I have never been a great baker since I tend to change the recipes a lot.  I always find there is too much sugar or butter.  But I have learned the hard way (meaning : nobody eating my cakes!) that a cake recipe must not be changed !

So I decided to try a few cake recipes with Nana because she is a great baker and food lover. And because she had the greatest kitchen : a lot of space, a lot of counter, and a great oven!

So this week, we are trying :

- Lemon and Poppy Cake 

- Carrot and Mascarpone 

- Super Chocolate 

- and Cheesecake  

Hope you like them Mat!

first bike ride

Yesterday, uncle Gaby came by to bring us this baby bike seat.

He had bought it for Alex and Junior but never used it!

M has been wanting to go for a bike ride since I was pregnant and we finally went today!

It was fun to be in the late afternoon fresh air.

Mommy was happy to pedal on her retro red bike again.

I am not sure Mattie liked that much since he was silent for most of the ride and then he got fed up and started crying.

We pedaled super fast to come back home.

Thank you Gaby ! We will use it a lot - anyways, more than you. :)

thinking...

Almost one year ago, I was at the hospital.

What an amazing trip it has been..

I don't feel the writing does any justice to the experience.

There is no way to put any of it into words adequately.

a few great moments

1) The first few seconds you came out of my belly.

2) My one on one time with you when I breast feed.

3) Your first giggle-out-loud you had with daddy.

4) The first shower you took with daddy.

5) Your christening. You were so adorable.

6) Your feet in the sun in Mexico.

7) The first time you ate a full bow of fruit puree at auntie Nadine.

8) The first time you crawled.

9) When I see you interacting with other kids.  You laugh all the time.  It is so endearing.

10) Your first sounds.

11) How happy and excited you are when you are in grocery cart.  You look around everywhere.

12) When we are all together in bed in the morning.

...

happy birthday

11 months!

one month to go...

I'm so lucky ! I get to hang out with this dude every day.

because one is a big number

So the first birthday party planning is starting in my head...

How in the world can this be?

Mattie turning ONE already in a bit more than a month!

Where did this past year go?

Dominique, you will have to give me a few ideas : you are the PRO.

my top model!

the face he makes...

when we say no.

Quite stubborn this young man!

another haircut

Mat is not even one yet but he is already up to two haircuts!

The only thing that bothers Mommy : 15$ plus tip for a cut that lasts about 5 minutes...

We'll have to find another place.

a very proud dad

M is so in love with his boy.

M could watch him all day long.

The other day, he told me : "Mat is like the best movie.  I can watch him  forever."

m and t - a booby story

I was supposed to stop breast feeding last night.

I could not do it.

Do I have a good reason?

No.

Well ya, i do.  I am afraid of how nights are going to be if I don't give Mat the boob before he goes to bed.

Maybe I am worrying for nothing?

Will I breast feed again tonight?

Yes.

Why?

Don't want it to stop right now.

Will I try to stop this week ?

Yes.

Because I want to stop before having another baby.

It is so hard to stop something you love to do.

I told my mom this week that if I have another baby, I would like to breast feed for two years!

Because I know that, I will never have the chance to breast feed again ...

Feeling my baby next to me - in unison.

That is so sad.

what mommy is dreaming about

-dancing

- being in the sun

- have a little time by herself to relax

That is the plan we have daddy and I this summer - without Mat.

I don't know if I will get through a week without him - I think I will miss him too much... and talk about him all the time...and compare all the babies at the beach to sweet Mattie... and then cry...

Let's see how it goes.

cry baby

This blog is 99% of all the great things Mat does...but today Mat was a brat!

  

When he did not get what he wanted, he cried and cried and screamed.

We finally put on Baby Enstein (God bless the person who invented these DVDs says daddy) to calm him down ...but we are still burned.

Mommy is going to bed at 8h30 tonight - which she rarely does.

Good night!