What I've learned...the series continues.

It seems the one thing that's flourishing with Mateo is his talking. He's now added "here you go" and "all done" to his list of statements. He's saying "Hi" all the time, to everything and everyone (including our two cats, whom he's not always so nice to). My husband and I swear we've heard him say other things, like last night we both thought he said "bye, dadda" (what I heard) or "night, dadda" (what my husband heard).

He's turning into quite the lazy bones. For a child who used to get up anywhere from 4:30AM to 5:30AM every day, this is really odd for both my husband and I. On Saturday he slept until 6AM and on Sunday until 6:30AM. I haven't been able to sleep in two days in a row since before he was born, and even then it was rare because I was having difficulty sleeping (this is coming from someone who gets up at 3:50AM, weekdays). On the days he goes to daycare, we've been having to wake him up at 6AM, and it takes forever to get him to respond to us. Naps are just as bad, but since we usually take the opportunity to clean up the condo or take a nap ourselves (or I do because I love my sleep), it's not so bad. On Friday when I woke him up, after rolling around and moaning and groaning, he told me to "go."

He understands "let's go wash your hands" and will run to the bathroom. When he's getting his teeth brushed, he'll tell me when he's "all done" and I have to tell him no, no you're not. Bossy little thing.

I feel 100% comfortable leaving him sitting on the couch, watching a favorite show, but only when I know he's in the mood to just sit and be still. You can see the living room from our kitchen, so I often take the chance to clean up the dishes or make dinner while he's sitting on the couch with a favorite blanket over his legs, sippy cup within reach. Yesterday he was watching The Wiggles while I was cleaning up the kitchen, and he turned to look at me and gave me the biggest smile and then turned back to his show. Melted my heart, I tell you. I love the freedom, and I know he loves the independence.

He tells stories while looking at his books. It's not often he'll allow me to read to him, so usually he sits on my lap while turning the pages of a favorite book, blabbering on and on about what's going happening.

He loves to act the silly goof, most recently running around with a jacket hood on his head.