Meet Mateo

This is Mateo. We waited for a very very very long time for his earthly presence to bless our lives. After a miscarriage (which happened in the middle of Tino's 3rd birthday party), I had issues getting pregnant again. The infertility specialists couldn't come up with any particular diagnosis . . . other than "secondary infertility". Once I finally did get pregnant (about one week before the scheduled artificial insemination), I had to do daily injections of this icky medication that helped the pregnancy to be viable. Finally after 20+ weeks, the pregnancy looked like it was going to be successful so I didn't have to do the meds anymore. On December 11, 2003 Mateo Douglas Ramirez entered into our lives. And our lives have not been the same since.

Mateo is a very very strong spirited child. (I think he needed this strong spirit to be able to survive the medical secondary infertility odds that were stacked against him). Anyway, he keeps me very busy. Who needs a full-time job when you've got Mateo as your son???? He is ALWAYS up to something new. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. The above picture is one of his creations for an acceptable outfit for the day. Yes, that's right I told him to go get a shirt on (three different times). So this particular morning he took me literally. And was trying his darnedest to put three shirts on. This is what he came up with. And yes, he was ABSOLUTELY right. I did tell him to put a shirt on . . . . three times. And won't his voluntary pre-kindergarten NEXT YEAR be pleased to know that Mateo already knows that 1 + 1+ 1= 3.

Lately we have been having issues in our house. Lions and tigers have been writing on the walls AND on the furniture. I thought for sure it was Mateo because he ALWAYS has a crayon, marker or piece of paper within arms reach. But he was insistent it was the scary lions and tigers. I told him to go ahead and let the lions and tigers know that I was going to throw ALL of his markers, crayons and art supplies in the garbage can if lions and tigers kept writing on the walls. He promised me he would convey the message to them. Fortunately, graffiti has ceased within the confines of our home. And Mateo's art supplies did not have to be thrown away. NAUGHTY LIONS AND TIGERS!
Mateo has been having ISSUES with his curly hair. So on Sunday morning, he decided to "pull" (translation: CUT) his curls out. ALL OF THEM. So now he looks a little bit like this.

I cried and cried and cried on Sunday morning after Mateo's haircutting incident. Cristian had JUST taken Mateo for a haircut on Wednesday and it looked SOOOOOOOOOO cute. Obviously Heavenly Father thinks I need to improve in the patience department. I don't know WHAT I am doing wrong as a parent, but Mateo always seems to be at least a couple steps ahead of me. Maybe one of these days I will learn to catch up with him. Until then, I will look into those big brown eyes and MELT every time I look into them. I will also remember that we waited a very very very long time for him to join our family. I will also TRY to forget about the little bumps in the road and all the lions and tigers and alligators (another story for another day) that come our way.