Where has the time gone?

I honestly can't even remember much of what has happened since I last updated, but I figured it was time to write *something*. Hmm... now what shall that something be? Well, let's start with Mateo, shall we? He is 17 months old (will be 18 months on the 21st of August). Where has my baby gone? He recently rode his first "racehorse." I think he has a natural jockey position, don't you?

He is Mr. Talkative lately. He likes to repeat the letters of the alphabet after me, and he loves to spin in circles until he's so dizzy he falls down. He still loves balls of any sort - bouncy, soccer, etc. He still won't eat macaroni and cheese, but he does like tacos, veggie burgers, and most of all grapes. He also loves the freedom of being near-naked (diaper only), and he loves to brush his teeth. His abuelo will be so proud! :-) Feeding himself yogurt is also a fun task and makes for a great yogurt mustache. He's pretty good at using his fork and spoon, though after a short while he resorts back to fingers. He can also drink from a cup, but he plays too much with it, so we reserve that for outside.

Here are some of Mat's favorite words:
"Pithel" - Pixel; "Pithel" - Marley (Yes, he calls both dogs "Pithel."); "Push" - Pudge, our cat. "bapes" - grapes; "ka-ka" - cracker; "eat" - eat; "pees" - please; "jess" - yes". "boop" - book; "baby" - baby; "mine" - mine. "di" - sí (yes in Spanish); "bing" - ven (come in Spanish). He says more, but those are his most common words.

He also knows 13 body parts, the "belbo" (elbow) being his favorite. He does the hand parts to "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and rocks to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." He can follow simple commands, and demands at least 3 times a day to go "side" (outside). He loves to be outdoors picking up rocks, squishing bugs, and splashing in the water. Recently we brought out the Slip-N-Slide. I think that Rafi and I enjoyed it way more than he did! This kid is a natural born swimmer, though. He already knows to kick his feet when in deeper water, and he's not afraid to put his face in the water either. Before the summer ends, I'd like to teach him to blow bubbles.

Let's see.... what else is new. Well, We've had some visitors. My mom came and stayed for about 4 days - which is ALWAYS marvelous. So nice to go shopping with someone there to entertain Mat. And Rafi's brother came for a weekend visit, too. We didn't do anything too outrageous with him (shopping, eating, etc.), but I think they enjoyed playing FIFA most. Previous to both of those visits we were lucky that Rafi's dad was in town for business, so we were able to have some good times with him. While he was here we all drove to San Antonio to visit Rafi's Tía Stella, Uncle Frank, and cousin Gloria. We had a great bbq lunch and watergate salad. Thank you for having us over!

In the realm of home improvement, we finished ripping up tile and installing new floors, only to have a flood (leaking fridge) and have to rip up the new floors and reinstall even newer ones. Yeah, that was fun. Good times... But it's all done now. Our dining table leg broke, so we invested in a "grown up" set. Yay! We really like it. It's from Crate & Barrel, and we hope to have it for a long time. It also has a leaf, so it will extend to seat 8-10 people.

And last but not least, we have a water feature in our backyard! Aside from the blistery hot weather, it's been really nice to sit on the patio under the ceiling fan and listen to the waterfall. We still lack some more landscaping around it and in the backyard, but we'll get to that this fall when the plants won't turn crackling brown. Here's a photo for your viewing enjoyment. Take a mental photo, close your eyes, and make a soft "shhhing" sound to get the full effect. ;-)

Okay, eyes open. I've got more to update. Lsat month we had two births in our family - baby birds! We noticed a mama bird kept dive-bombing us and our dogs when we went outside, and soon after we noticed the nest in our tree. Eventually the fledglings were flung down onto the ground below to practice flying, so we had to be very cautious and keep the dogs inside. We're glad they made it!

One last thing. Due to my lack of posting I have forgotten to post this photo of our friends Nion and Tina during their birthday party. Their birthdays are one day apart, and they are sisters-in law! Anyhow, this is the flip-flop cake I made for their party. I learned a lot with this cake. Buttercream frosting will sag if there's too much on the sides. Don't use more than two layers of cake - the three layers I used resulted in WAY too much frosting. And lastly my original coral frosting color turned pink with time, so I need to remember that the colors deepen. I still enjoy making cakes, as I learn something new each time I do one. Lately I've been playing with gum paste, though I need lots more practice before I do anything for show.