Where's Mateo?

Usually when I wake up I call for someone to get me out of my bed. If Momma or Poppa don't respond right away, I can count on Mateo to come in my room and keep me company or at least give me some books and a few toys to pass the time until our parents wake up. Well, this morning I called and no one came. I heard Poppa say he would be right here, but 15 minutes went by and nothing happened, so I called him again. This time he came in right away, looking kind of sleepy. It was already 6:15, come on! But what surprised me was that Mateo was nowhere to be seen, or heard. I asked Poppa where he was and he asked me the same question right back (what's up with that?). Then it clicked.

Mateo had spent the night at Grandmaman and Papou's house. We brought him there last night for a two day stay. Today I got to watch the dragon movie I like and no one argued with me. Then I had cereal with Poppa. While he got ready, I played one of the Dora games on his computer by myself. That is something I can't do when Mateo is here.

Then the phone rang and it was my big brother. He talked with Poppa for a bit and then wanted to speak to me too! I was so excited. I asked if he had a good dodo, and what he was doing today. He seemed to be having a good time. We'll hear all about it when he comes home tomorrow.

Poppa picked me up from daycare and we shot a few hoops in the yard at home. I also got to see Josette's new cat on my own. She came to get me right out of the truck when we got home and Poppa came over a few minutes later. It is really big, and white, and not white. His name is Gringo and I could pet him without getting scratched. He's really nice.

I do miss my brother but I like doing stuff alone with Poppa and Momma and by myself also. We're going to pick him up tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait.

Still waiting

Three more days until school starts! Today Momma took me to work with her. I brought my lunch in my new Hulk lunchbag. She had a movie for me to watch and a few other things to keep me busy. I also went to a meeting with her. I sat and listened to blah blah blah and Momma secretly played a word game with me. By lunchtime I was ready to do something else so Poppa picked me up and brought me home, where he had some work to finish. When he was done he brought me to the beach. It was closed but we now how to get in by the lake. There were only a few people there. We swam out to the dock so I could jump in and do bomb splashes. The water sure isn't as warm as it was a few weeks ago. Mostly we played on the beach and made a big castle. I like building things with Poppa. Momma and Mikah came to get us and we drove to Grandmaman and Papou's house. I'm staying there by myself for 2 dodos. I didn't fuss when Momma told me about the visit a few days ago, but I sure made a stink when she started to leave with Mikah! I turned on the waterworks bigtime, just to make her feel guilty. Once she left everything went back to normal.
M a n i p u l a t i o n ! They think they know what I'm up to, but every now and then I throw them a curve just to keep them on their toes!!

Hey Calvin!

Omi is a having a garage sale today; whatever that is. She doesn't even have a garage. We don't get it. We're going to help and Calvin will be there too. Sounds like we'll have some fun!

Jordan!

School is just around the corner for me. Momma already started going back to work. Mikah started daycare, and I'm just waiting, and waiting. I went to work with Poppa for a half a day. That was fun because I could play games on the computer. After lunch he took me to Jordan's house and we brought him back home with us. We played for a couple of hours and when Momma came home, we all went to the beach and had a blast. He ended up staying for supper also. I only saw him once all summer, but we sure had fun that time, and today too. We won't be going to the same school so hopefully we'll be able to get together a couple of times before Christmas. He only lives 15 minutes away.

Road trip!

We're back! Momma and Poppa took us to see the real ocean and a way huge beach. Wow, was that ever cool! We did real camping there for 4 days. We went to a beach near Old Orchard, Maine. Both of us were so excited when we got to the beach the first evening that we couldn't stop jumping in the waves when we saw the water. It was kind of cold but so what! After supper Poppa made a fire and we had marshmellows. The next day Mateo went for a long walk with Momma along the beach looking for seashells. We had a picnic lunch there and then went back to the campground when Mikah woke up from his nap. There are 3 heated pools at the campground and we wanted to check those out too.

On Friday we went to the beach again and this time we set up closer to the rocks. Poppa took me exploring by the rocks. We only found snails but it sure was fun. As the tide was going out Poppa noticed a sandbar becoming visible way out in the water and said we could probably walk there through the water. I had to hold his hand tightly because the current was so strong it kept pulling us out. We finally made it to the sandbar. It was so neat! We were way out from the beach like on an island and no one else was there, except 1 kid who followed us and some guy who had the same idea as Poppa and got there first because he was exploring alone. Then a few people spotted us and came out too, so Poppa decided to hop over to the next sandbar. More strong currents but when we got there, wow, I was so excited! There were pools of water in the sand and I jumped from one to the next. We found a tiny crab that I put in my bucket and then I spotted a clam that hadn't dug in yet. It was huge and squirted me when I picked it up. I put it in the bucket to show Mikah and Momma. After a while more and more people walked out to where we were. Since we had been gone quite some time we decided to head back to our spot on the beach. It was getting cloudy so we went back to our camp and Momma took Mikah and me to the pool again. Poppa came too after his liquid refreshment.

That night we went to eat at the pier in Old Orchard. What a crazy place! So many people. I got to have cotton candy as a treat and then an ice cream cone for desert! The next day Momma and Poppa started packing up because we had to go home again. Mikah and I played with William, our new friend who was
from Québec, whom we had met already two days ago. The drive back was long but apparently we were very well behaved. I hope that means we can go again sometime soon!

In case you're interested

My personal net worth dropped by $0.01 this afternoon. I got my penny back (see August 14) but Momma didn't let me keep it. Mikah

It was a nice but slow day today. Momma gave me a Batman video game and I already know how to play it. I got 7 points. Mikah got a Mr. PotatoHead video game. These are cool because we can hold them in our hands and play them in the car when we go on long drives. Thanks Momma!

17 days until I start Kindergarten. I got a pile of stuff to bring to school, but nothing fun. It's just books and pencils and glue. Mateo

A penny saved (but where is it?)

We are both starting to learn the value of money, mostly change but hey, money is money, right? So here we are goofing around in Mateo's room and I find another penny. My piggy bank is all the way in my room and I don't want Mateo to grab it from me, especially because it is most likely his penny. I'm wearing a diaper so I don't have any pockets. Where can I hide the penny? I know!! I'll just pop it in my mouth and ... oh oh! Now, how am I going to get it back? Oh good, here comes Poppa. He doesn't look too impressed though, but he'll know what to do.

Huh? It will come out WHERE?!?!

Momma flipped out and called the Health Services to see what will happen to me. Poppa said "Feed him a quarter and see if he makes change." Funny guy! Apparently everything will be OK in a couple of days according to the nurse. We just have to keep any eye on my "coin return", whatever that is. Guess I won't be doing THAT again.

Saturday morning. What to do?

Hi! I'm Mikah, and I found Poppa's motorcycle helmet. It's good for racing too. My brother was sent to his room because he wasn't behaving, so I get to play with the cool stuff and he can't bug me - ya!

Previous to racing this morning (bright & early) ...
A round of street hockey anyone?

Then it was off to Mateo's soccer practice. I like soccer too but I'm still too young to play on a team. After soccer, Poppa said we could go to the go-kart track! Alright!! Momma came with us also. We had a great time. And when we got home - nap time again. Oh well, we'll still have the whole afternoon to play.

But what does it do?

Poppa, why are you writing all those words for me and Mikah? Can we play a game or color pictures on it? What's this? What does that say? What if I click on those letters? Why is it purple? I want to see Spider-Man on it, no Batman; a big one. Me too, Poppa, me too, a big one, OK? No I want to do it. Me. Let me Poppa!! Nooooo!! And the inevitable :'( I would like to continue but for reasons beyond my control, we'll carry on later.

We're sleeping now ...

Obviously it's passed our bedtime but we asked Poppa to sign off the day. We never made it to drawing those pictures. Instead, Momma had prepared an art activity for us: we made paper-maché masks! She's a teacher so she's home with us all summer - that's totally cool. Then we did a little chemistry experimenting in the kitchen. Mikah likes playing with food coloring and Mateo loves watching stuff happen when you mix certain ingredients; sorry - no receipies here! Nap time rolled around - yipee :( It rained most of the day so we were stuck indoors but we got to watch a movie and eat popcorn with Momma even though it wasn't that day before the weekend.

Be back soon!

Our first posting!

It is August 10, 2005. Summer vacation is winding down and it's raining today. Nothing special happening except that we've just created our first presence on the Internet! Since we can't yet read nor write, our Poppa is taking care of this blog for us until we get the hang of it. He knows a bit about this stuff and he's been introducing us to it as we get older. Editorial and creative input is still overseen by us, though!

So let's start with quick intros. My name is Mateo, and I'm 5 years old. And I am Mikah. I am 2.5 years old. We live in Sainte-Adèle, Québec, Canada. It's near Montreal. We have a lake with a great beach right next to our house where we have been going swimming almost every day this summer. Our attention span is still kind of short so we are off to color some pictures now and maybe Poppa can post them here later.