Mateo is a Dancing Machine

So for those of you who have never heard of 'Yo Gabba Gabba!' it is a show that serious-minded adults don't get, but that toddlers appear to love as well as quirky musicians, actors and comedians. Our dear, quirky Mateo is no different and loves to dance with the characters.

"My name's Mateo... I like to dance!"

M&L Ride & Crawl

Friday tradition with Navita is Mateo and Lucia get to go to the mall and go on the indoor rides and run around and eat goodies. Needless to say it is one of Mateo's favorite days. Today was no different and he was a happy camper.

Mateo taking a pause from the rides to "smile" for the camera

Lucia isn't old enough to go on the rides, but lately she has seemed old enough to start the beginning of a crawl - not a real crawl, but more like a push.

"Hey mom ! Look at Me!!"

Sibling Love

This next series of images are some of my favorites of the two kids. They are fun and really highlights the special bond between the two of them. I can only hope they remain this close as they get older.

"Aggh...Lucia stop grabbing my face!"

" Oh that's better, nice and gentle"

"I love you big brother"

"I love you too little sister"

Spot Lucia

Now that Lucia is more active she no longer wants to be in the swing for too long or in the exersaucer for too long. She likes to do floor exercises and roll from back-to-front-to-back and reach for things that are just beyond her reach.

This camouflage makes it hard to find her in this sea of green, but if you look closely you can spot the chubby cheeks

M&L - Golfing, Playing, Visiting

Today's itinerary included some outdoor fun and some indoor visiting. It was an accomplished Saturday.

Mateo and John practicing their golf game on a tree in the park. They have the swinging down; now all they have to do is make contact with the ball.

After a round of golf they did some dangerous climbing...all in a days work

Later Lucia, Mommy and Papi went to go visit the church where Lucia will be christened, but on our way we stopped for a quick visit with Grandma Cons

Lucia Gets More Fashionable

Lucia scored some cool gifts today from her Tia Briseida. This girl will not be lacking when it comes to clothing.

Here she is posing with her new gear

Chillin' with Old & New Friends

When I come home from work I am always very excited and interested to find out what the kids did during their day. What did Mateo learn in school? What new things are Lucia doing? Who came to visit or who did they visit. Well today via notes on a board and pix on the camera we learned they had a lot of friends and what looks like a lot of fun with old friends and new regulars.

Everyone remembers Mateo's BFF from last year - Yes it's Luca! This was taken while they were in Mateo's rocket ship

Relatively new friends were also there - here is Campbell

And here is Finn

Campbell decided she wanted to join the boys on the inside of the rocket ship

As you can see today was a cool day and Mateo was "chileando..."

(P.S. Mateo is really fond of wearing these sunglasses to school every morning and has delighted everyone in his path on the way to school)

Lucia Sitting Up

For the past few weeks Lucia has been flirting with the concept of sitting up. Normally we prop her up with some pillows and she stays in place and then gradually gravity takes over and she end up on her face or side. Just recently she has been managing to keep herself up tripod style or with a toy. This is very exciting for all of us as this is a big step in her development and a sign that she is getting more independent.

Lucia sitting up and playing with her toys

The tripod stance

"I did it!"

M&L Got to the Science Center

So today was MLK Jr Day and everyone but Mommy had off so Papi took Mateo and Lucia to the New Jersey Science Center with Aba and Abu. Of course this was there first time visiting this place and I would have loved to see all of the cool things they did and saw, but Papi isn't as enthusiastic as I am about taking pictures, so...

This is the picture Papi took from his cell phone, so one can only imagine how the rest of the day went. Oh well

M&L Go to the Petting Zoo

Today we went to an indoor petting zoo with Aba and Abu. It was a little unusual for me because I am used to zoos being outdoors not in a convention center, but I guess New Jersians get creative when it is too cold outside. There were cows, sheep, donkeys, goats and even rides on camels and elephants. Mateo was more interested in the mechanical rides than he was the animals and Miss Lucia enjoyed the lights.

Papi and Mateo petting a donkey

Mateo feeding a sheep (for the first and last time of the day)

After Mateo got bored, Papi fed the sheep the remainder of the grains

Since Miss Lucia couldn't pet real animals she just chose to pet her toy bird

Mateo and Papi enjoying a ride on the carousel

After Mateo wanted to take a swing at trying to ring the bell with this hammer

After swinging he got to choose a prize. He first chose this big pixie stick and then when we were about 20 feet away he had a change of heart and wanted a stuffed puppy (the next bin). I don't think he knew that there was candy sugar in the straw otherwise I don't think he would have made the trade.

Mateo had a great time ringing the bell on this train ride

Next he went on one of his favorite rides - The Spinning Tea cups - Papi decided to outsource this partnership to someone else

Aba was the "lucky" winner

Mateo and Aba take another train ride

Mommy and Lucia watch

Next we headed to lunch where Lucia decided to suck on a carrot stick. Don't worry she didn't bite on it.

Lucia and Mateo discuss their day over a couple of carrot sticks

Lucia's Exersaucer Fun

Everyone is back from vacation and we are settling back into a routine. Now that Lucia is 5 months she gets into things a lot more and is definitely more active. She loves attention and will let you know when she is not getting enough of it. We have found that at the right time the Exersaucer can keep her distracted for the length of a meal.

We have taken to putting additional toys on the Exersaucer to mix things up (spot the rubber ducky)

Looks like Lucia found the rubber ducky

Smiley Lucia is satisfied

Lucia Before Bedtime

So we have some what of a routine down now with both kids. While Eddie gives Mateo a bath and puts him to sleep upstairs, I stay downstairs with Lucia trying to entertain her until it is time for her to eat. She is a little impatient at this time, so the best way to keep her calm is to walk around the living room with her Bjorned and then sometimes let her look at herself in the bathroom. Once it's time for her to eat I really load her up with milk and then put her to sleep upstairs when Mateo go into his room. I am not sure what we will do when she gets too heavy for the Bjorn, but until then we will use what works.

Lucia Bjorned and rocking a cool knit hat from Tia Jess

Lucia in the mirror

Lucia extremely satisfied and passed out after a big meal...whew

M&L - HAPPY 2010!

Happy New Year. I can't believe 2009 is over. It was a very good year for the Vielot-Gonzalez family as we welcomed in our precious new addition, Lucia. I can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for us. We can only hope it is half as good as last year.

We started out the new year visiting the Gracia side of the family in Hialeah.

Cousins Mateo (wearing his Superman cape aka Spiderman hoodie) and Alejandro race around the front porch

Here they are completely focused on "painting" the porch column (much to Abuelo Julio's dismay) with sticks

Aimara gets in some quality time with Lucia

As does Tia Mirta

and of course her Bis Abuelo (Great Grandfather) Julio

No your eyes aren't playing tricks on you - Mateo is holding an empty orange juice container and posing for a picture next to a 5 foot statue of Jesus which resides in Abuelo Julio's living room.

After a long day in Hialeah, we retired to Grandma's house where the kiddies munched on some snacks (Mateo on strawberries and Lucia on her feet) and watched some TV

Just because it is the New Year don't think we forgot that it also marks Lucia's 5th month. Happy 5 months chunky cherub!