When we departed, we felt quite conflicted. Our hearts are happy with the love we have for our boys, yet they ache for their mommies.

To Mommy Stacey and Mommy Sara – We are very lucky to be raising such wonderful, smart, handsome, funny, witty, active young boys. We cannot begin to thank you for the gift that you have given us.

Matteo with Mommy Sara

When we got home, and I was taking him out of his car seat, he said, “Want a piece of meat?” Interestingly enough, Woody says this line to Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story, but of course, the line is “Want a piece of me?”

When I replied, “No, I don’t want a piece of meat.” He responded with, “Want a piece of cheese?”

The following day we celebrated with 21 of Matteo’s friends and family, including our very special guest, Mommy Sara. She joined us around 2pm, and stayed till about 8pm. We cannot begin to express our gratitude for her willingness to maintain contact. Sadly, Grandma Kathi and great-Grandma Dot (aka GDot) could not join us; both were sick. Interestingly enough, we almost cancelled. For most of the week leading up to the party, Christopher had been ill.

So what’s new? Matteo is still mastering going to the toilet. He has been quite the trooper! His verbal skills exploded with full-on sentences – still waters run deep! The other morning, from his crib, we hear, “Daddy, my nose is leaving!” Poor thing had a runny nose.

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Matteo is doing very well with his potty training. He wears pull-ups every day and sits on the toilet or stands next to it to do his business. Though we are quite pleased with his progress, he is still working on mastering the poop part. Sometimes we make it, sometimes we don’t.

Matteo turns two in a couple of weeks. Has it really been two years? In May, Christopher turns four. Time certainly flies…

Christopher seems to have hit a milestone of his own. He no longer throws a fit when we go to school in the morning. Of course, now that I write this, he will regress. Ugh. Seriously, though, he has been very mature about it.

Here is a recent family photo…

I hope we are on our way to a daytime diaper-free household.

Woohoo!

Of course, as a proud parent, I had to capture the moment. Gotta love the iPhone…

She couldn’t have been happier.

Mommy took lots of pictures during our visit. Mommy sent this picture to us.

Visiting with Mommy

Christopher also was excited to see Mommy Sara. Since he hears about Mommy Stacey and Mommy Sara all the time, I think he was excited to be able to see her in person and be able to put a person to a name and/or photograph.

We really hope Mommy Stacey calls soon to set up a visit.

We put together a compilation of his three acts in one video. It’s a bit long, but it is worth watching to see our superstar if not the costumes!

Monte Tavor the Musical from Mike and Michael on Vimeo.

All the while, I kept thinking of the time Grandma Kathi was caught for shoplifting at a local store in Gilroy. Like our situation, she was shopping with a little one, one of my nephews. Sadly for her, she did not realize what happened; the store security did, however. They did not believe her when she explained the situation. She did not have to do any time, which is great ’cause I don’t think she would have faired well in the pokie. The Gilroy Dispatch posted a blurb about her “theft”. For a 911 dispatcher, she was mortified. Her colleagues and family thought it was hilarious.

With Christopher fully potty trained except for night-time diapers, we won’t start training Matteo for some time; however, it is nice to see that he has an affinity for sittin’ on the pot. Another positive note – both boys wear size 5 diapers, which means we only need to buy one size of diapers rather than two. Yay!

Getting a feel for the potty