Matteo goes to Gymboree

It's hard to believe, but when Sebastian was 16 months we started Gymboree with him right after moving to Melbourne. Now, 1 year later, here I am starting with Matteo at the same age and with the same awesome teacher. The boys have such different personalities, I couldn't wait to see how Matteo would react to everything. It was just as I imagined. He dove right in and didn't stop until he dropped from sheer exhaustion. =) He just took one look at all the fun play equipment and took off running. (It took Sebastian about 3 classes before he'd even leave my lap to participate in anything...) Amazing how different children can be!

They had his favorite balls hiding in the tunnel.

So wish this photo had been in focus, but it still captures his excitement so I had to post it anyways...

VIDEO - Matteo at Gymboree
(Click here if the video does not appear below.)

I remember thinking when I did Gymboree with Sebastian how I couldn't believe that parents wouldn't make their kids do the activities as the teacher instructed. I could always direct or ask Sebastian to come over and do what we were supposed to do. Um, yeah....not Matteo. If I tried to redirect him he would just run from me or scream. I mean, I did cut him some slack since it was his first time there, but oh boy!

PS - the theme was "hard and soft" which is why you hear me talking about it and you also hear the teacher talking to Dario - it was his turn, not Matteo's.... =)

Focus, focus, focus....

After he jumped in the parachute.

Love collecting all the balls. He also doesn't really like to clean up too easily....we'll have to work on that one too. =)

And of, the wonder of bubbles! Love this! We can't wait for a year of lots of Gymboree fun!

Grand Cypress Mini-Vacation

This weekend we went on a getaway. It was FABULOUS! Paul had earned a free night at the Hyatt from his traveling in the past few months and we decided to use it at the Hyatt Grand Cypress near Disney in Orlando. I had done a meeting there for work (before kids) and we knew they had an awesome pool we thought the kids would enjoy.

Sebastian was already in vacation mode as we drove to the hotel.

They both LOVE hotels. They are such good little travelers. We had a great room with a pool and Disney Parks view on the 10th floor. This is important because we wanted to be able to watch the Disney fireworks later that night! We let the kids snack as we waited for Nana and Papa to arrive before we lathered everyone up to go swim.

Matteo's moment of excitement when he saw the pool. He is running, as you can tell! The kid loves the water.

VIDEO - Sebastian on the Water Slide
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Love this picture of Sebastian and Daddy when they came off the slide. Believe it or not, Matteo wanted to go on the slide so badly that we finally broke down and took him. He was laughing with glee the WHOLE time. I got one video, but unfortunately it did not turn out. =( They had so much fun. We also recently all got new pool/beach hats to wear in the water. The kids are doing great with keeping them on at all times, yay!

A sun-kissed little guy.

We went to Ale House for dinner with Nana, Papa, Corey and Sarah. While we waited for our food, the balloon man offered to make Sebastian an animal. He choose a gator! Good job, Sebastian!!!

Sunday morning we went to Mass at the Shrine. The boys did great and we even enjoyed coffee and donuts after. It really is quite a sight what you see in a "touristy" church sometimes...ugh. But hey, at least they were there, right?! The last time I was there Sebastian was months old, so it was neat to go back.

After church we went back for more pool time. It was such a recharging weekend. We all just played, no work. Can't wait to do it again sometime!

Playing in the Rain and well....just playing!

Most afternoons when Paul gets home from work, he finds us outside playing. Paul will usually change and then come outside to play while I go inside to make dinner. So last week, I was busily cooking away for my family when I heard rain and saw my three boys standing soaking wet on the porch. But they didn't stay there for long After they made sure there was no thunder and lightening, they headed back out. Sebastian LOVES to play IN the rain...

Out they go...Matteo wasn't too sure about the whole bit...

It's raining!

Daddy and Sebastian playing airplanes in the rain.

Matteo loves to wear these car slippers and walk around the house in them. So funny.

Reason #101 that I love nursing a toddler. Those milk smiles are priceless....

Where's my silly boy!?! =) Muah!

My boys love putting random toys in this toy blender. Here they are blending a plastic pig and matchbox car as they ooo and ahh in excitement. I don't think little girls do this....

They are both very interesting in coloring these days. Matteo is starting to really get the hang of crayons. It's so cute because whatever motions Sebastian does on the paper he tries to copy. We now have artwork from two little boys!

Random Fun Kid Videos

Just some random videos from the past few weeks I haven't found the time to post. For your viewing pleasure!

VIDEO - Matteo Sings
Matteo lives to "sing" songs. We only got the song partially, but you can still tell what he was trying to "sing." The kid loves music!

VIDEO - Sebastian Genuflects
I think I posted this picture, but here's the video to go with it...



VIDEO - Backyard Water Play




VIDEO - Busy, Busy Matteo

The Rocket Project

Sebastian (well, and Matteo too, I guess) both love rockets and all things space. So for month before we even moved back to Florida we have been talking about giving them a space themed room. My mom happened to give them these adorable matching rocket pajamas and I immediately knew they'd be the inspiration. Mostly because it was simple enough for me to paint on the wall! And the fact that it was adorable was a big plus! =) As most of you know, I am very ambitious and even creative, but I wouldn't say that I have much artistic talent. So I went about this very slowly and step by step so that my perfectionist self would be happy with the results. So here is the Rocket Project journey!

Traced it out on giant paper from our move. I measured the shirt and multiplied everything by 4x to make sure I kept the scale too. (Did I mention the perfectionist side of me??) =)

Cut out all the parts.

Taped it all to the wall in the right location.

Traced all of it in pencil.

Just starting out! I didn't actually intend to get to the painting phase that day, which is why I'm wearing a white skirt. But once I got going I didn't want to stop for anything, so I didn't change.

I had a very excited little audience. This is his new bed by the way. It is so cute, more pictures of that at some point later. It's like a miniature bunk bed!

Tip and body of rocket done.

Engines ready!

It wasn't even done, but boy were they already excited!

Trying to make the fire part look cool!

Looking better!

Windows and name stripes left to do...

And now they're done!

And the finished product! The last detail was writing their names in on the name stripes. It looks sooo cool!!!!

A close up....

Two very happy and excited boys with their rocket bedroom. Now we can put up all the cool glow in the dark stars!

More Firsts!

After his busy first day of school, we drove to Orlando to go to Sebastian's buddy Michael's 3rd birthday at Sliderz. It's one of those big warehouses with inflatables and fun slides to jump on. A kids dream, right? Well, not Sebastian's. He is very frightened of them. But we'd been talking about it and I was so proud of him yesterday. He told me he was scared and I told him it was okay to feel scared. That we didn't have to do anything he didn't want to do yet. So slowly, over a course of about 30 minutes he went from refusing to enter the area, to me carrying him around, to him walking with me holding his hand, then sitting and FINALLY jumping on the inflatables. I was so proud of him. It just reinforces how even though he's little, he is certainly entitled to his own fears and feelings and I'm so glad that we gently got to a good place for him to enjoy it. So, after that discourse, here are the pictures!

Running!

Matteo had a BLAST. Even more than his brother I think. And he was running on a 45 minute nap all day. Needless to say, he fell asleep in the car and slept all night.

We all loved the big slides!

The best shot I could get of Elias, Sebastian and Michael. Emilio and Owen couldn't make it.

And our last "first" was going to the dentist on Wednesday morning! We have been talking it up and everything was going great until they wanted him to lay down. Then he freaked. But, after I laid down and they showed him all the tools and everything, he was okay with it. I could barely believe my eyes. He laid down, opened wide and they cleaned, flossed, scraped, wiped and checked his teeth, no problem. Wow. He is growing up. I still can't believe it.

Flossing.

When the cleaning was finished he got to pick a new toothbrush. He took this very seriously as you can see from his expression... He picked a Cars toothbrush.

Dentist checked him out and it was all good! Looks like he got Mami's good teeth - hopefully!

Reading stories with Papa!

Best picture ever of Papa and Matteo. So adorable.

VIDEO - Matteo says "Cheese"
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So Matteo is not a huge talker, but since his picture obsessed Mami is always making him smile, he's got the "cheese" part down. =)

Today I also started the boy's room Rocket Project. Yes, with capital letters. You see, I am very ambitious and creative, but not exactly artistically talented. So I took my moms advice and made a giant pattern of the rocket I am going to paint on the boy's room wall.

I taped it to the wall, traced it and started painting it today. I am so excited because it is 95% done and looks amazing! But no peeks at the finished Project until it's completely done, so expect a blog post dedicated to the Rocket Project very soon. It's so cool!!!!