Mateo is 3! 2011 was a busy year! He started a new preschool and we are amazed by all the things he has learned. He knows the names of 10 kinds of dinosaurs, his colors, he knows a lot of numbers by sight and can sing so many songs.

He loves cars, dinosaurs, animals and horses and idolizes his sister. He hates to eat. Its a constant struggle to get food in him, but he keeps growing. He is one of the tallest kids in his class.

We just got back from 2 weeks and I am happy to report that Mateo can now speak some Spanish!
It was really bothering me. Matilda at his age was very good but Mateo was exposed to less Spanish and thus did not speak any Spanish at all.
A few weeks with his cousins fixed that!
Here are some pictures.

A ride at Puerto Adventura

Lots of swimming with is favorite cousin Marina

Visiting a run down castle

I’m on a boat!

Cool shades

Naked swimming at the beach!

Spring was awful. It was either cold or raining. We spent a lot of time inside reading books and watching his favorite shows like Dinosaur train, Yo Gabba Gabba and Team Umizumi. Here is a video of him reading from some books.

Mateo sings ABCs from Mateo Aguero on Vimeo.

Mateo knows his animals from Mateo Aguero on Vimeo.

Summer is going great. Mateo has become a champion swimmer. He can swim under water already!

We are struggling through the “terrible twos”. Mateo is extremely stubborn and has to do things his way. Like his sister, he has to pick out his own clothes. His choice every single day is his bathing suit — he wears it to school every morning. Looks like this:

Puzzle from Mateo Aguero on Vimeo.

His diet has really deteriorated. His favorite meal used to be rice and broccoli. Now he eats only chips, cake and ice cream. Occasionally, we can get him to eat some meat, rice, pizza or pasta, but its rare.

I guess he is doing ok because he is growing and thriving. Here is a recent pic of him.

Mateo spent his 2nd birthday in Spain with his cousins. He had a blast and got tons of presents!
We spent the day in Barcelona. Here is a pic of him in Plaza Catalunya.

Mateo talks like crazy now and can make complete sentences. He can also sing the Wheels on the Bus, Farmer in the Dell, Old MacDonald, Bah Bah Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle Little star and the Hokey Pokey.

Its hard to capture him in photos because he is always running. But here are some good recent ones.

Mateo’s first school photo! The photographer was great. A huge success!

Mateo really enjoys playing with toys. His favorites are small plastic animals. In this picture is his favorite horse.

He also loves taking care of his “baby”. He found some old bottles and ran over to feed one of Matilda’s dolls.

I posted new photos of Mateo on Flickr

More here

Mateo looked less Asian than Matilda when he was born. I often thought that he strongly resembled Pablo’s side of the family. But right now, he looks JUST like my dad, down to the Army haircut! I have to stop dressing him in green.

I forgot what its like to have a toddler. Toddlers are explorers, escape artists and generally looking for trouble.

Mateo is exhibiting problem solving skills. Snacks are out of his reach? No problem!