Dear Mateo

 Mi querido Mateo,
I can't believe you are 7 months old tomorrow. Everyone had told us how fast time goes when you have a child, and although I don't understand how, it does fly by a whole lot faster than I have ever experienced.  And well...I guess time does fly when you are having fun!

And you Mateo, mi papasito, are soooo much fun!  You are such a happy baby.  You are constantly smiling and we can make you laugh so easily.  You are independent and love to play on the rug with your toys or in your exersaucer.  You love mama's iphone and papi's remote for the tv.  Your favorite toy though is a camera that tia Jenny bought you for Christmas.  I have learned the words to all 5 songs it sings (much to the dismay of your papi) and your eyes light up when I do so.

Your favorite book is Brown Bear Brown Bear, although Donde Esta mi Ombliguito? and Pajama Time come in a close 2nd and 3rd.

Oh, and you love Titi.  You intently watch him when he walks by; he always makes you smile.  You are a great napper and do so often with your papi by your side.
 
You have physically changed so much!  Your face has chubbed up and you also have a double chin.  You legs are fat little sausages and I want to just eat them up! Your hair is growing in, your lashes and eyebrows have filled in darker. Your eyes are a striking blue.  You are going to be such a lady killer. A latin lover, no doubt.

Not only have your looks changed, but you have hit some milestones this month.

• You sleep sin swaddle! Just after you turned 6 months, your papi and I decided to stop swaddling you.  Once you started to roll over in it, we thought it was time to stop.  We also wanted you to be able to soothe yourself.  It was a rough month on the sleep front, but with a little bit of crying, you have mastered it.  You love rolling around in your crib and changing positions numerous times during the night.

•  You are eating solid foods.  You leaned into the spoon with an open mouth and didn't spit anything out.  So far you have eaten boring rice cereal, sweet potatoes, avocado, mango, green beans, banana, watermelon, cantelope and probably a few other things that your papi has snuck you behind my back.  He likes to do that kind of stuff. 

• You are wearing cloth diapers

• You said "da".  Twice.
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• You started crawling  You may have seen this video already, but here it is again.  All I have to say is thank god for the Flip camera.  It's so easy to catch everything!

• The same day that you started crawling, you stood up in your crib. Yikes!
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• You now sleep in your own room. A couple nights ago, your papi moved your crib into the nursery.  We were sad, but you are still close with the video monitor!  Funny enough, from the night you moved, you are back to sleeping like "normal."  I guess you like your room!

• You are climbing on everything!  In a matter of days after first pulling yourself up in your crib you are now pulling up on anything you can get to. Boy, are we in trouble! 

Te queremos mucho!
mama y papi