First set of shots!

On Tuesday Kaio had his first shots (or as they call it here - immunizations).
First they did a full check on him. Everything is great. He is right on target with his weight - 5.4kg (=11.9lbs) and has not grown since 2 weeks ago (which makes him now right on the average height for his age, since previously he was bigger). The shots - I have given injections to many animals and some react more then others. Not even with the cutest little puppy did I struggle (with the exception of some 'wild' horses) I can honestly say that seeing that big needle go into Kaio's little cute baby legs (twice!!!) made me tremble and almost made me cry. He cried hard and it was a painful cry. I was able to sooth him by holding him tight against me and he fell asleep in 3 min! He slept all afternoon! When I was feeding him at 6pm he bursted into a painful cry when he was kicking his legs (he does this to help gas exit the 'other end' while he fills his tummy!) and, again, the only way to sooth him was holding him tight against me.
But the next day he was back to his normal self!
Kaio has been doing great. He is 'talking', smiling, following objects, touching and holding things, etc, more and more. He is very alert and it seems harder to get him to take a nap during the day. (it's like he does not want to miss out on anything!) - below is a pic of one of his favorite spots to take a nap - in his bouncy chair looking at his panda and frog before he snoozes off!)
Kaio has discovered his hand/fist. He puts it in his mouth at least a couple of times a day! Today he even spit out his dummy and put his fist in his mouth to sooth himself!

Pub life

This Sunday we went to a typical English pub for a typical Sunday roast! There was a soccer (or as they say here - football) game on TV. Kaio behaved very well and attracted some drunk guys that thought he was cute (waw, thanks!). He was just perfect until the entire pub got super excited about a goal their team had made. Kaio was breastfeeding and started crying because of the loud and sudden noise! I guess with time he will have to get used to that.
We had a very nice weekend and it's great to see how much Jason loves to spend time with Kaio during the weekend (even when he is fussy and crying). Kaio has become much more attentive and can follow objects and people easily. He stares at all kind of shaped and colored objects. He smiles all the time and recognizes our voices. However, he also smiles and does not seem to mind strangers!

8 weeks already!?!

Kaio completed 8 weeks yesterday. I can't belief 2 months have gone by since he was born!
We have settled into a nice routine throughout the day and night.
Even being super busy at work, Jason has been of immense help. In the morning, if Kaio wakes up before 7, Jason grabs him, changes him and takes him downstairs to play. This allows me to sleep in a bit. Jason loves it since Kaio is always in a great mood in the morning. I then take a shower, get my breakfast ready and take Kaio from Jason so he can get ready for work. Unfortunately, most nights, Kaio is already in bed when Jason gets home, however Jason is still giving the 10:30pm bottle and has some time to interact with his son (although Kaio just opens his mouth and downs his bottle without opening his eyes!)
Some interesting 'things' I have learned about Mr. Kaio these last couple of weeks:
- When he cries, instead of talking to him in a crying voice, I started smiling and talking happily to him, this made him stop crying instantly and start smiling (unfortunately it doesn't always work)
- He LOVES his evening routine. Sometimes he is tired and is crying around 6:15, but when I lay him down on his changing mat and put on the massage music, he stops instantly! He hates coming out of his bath and washing his hair.
- He still is eating very fast. (10 - 15min) if I try to 'force' more (by putting him more on the breast), he cries and does not latch on. When he does latch on more then he wanted, he tends to throw uo some milk.
- He is not a good burper. We try to burp him after every feed, sometimes you get him to burp but most of the times he just stares at the wall (when you put him on your shoulder to burp)
- He needs a 2 hr nap around noon, otherwise he gets very cranky and will not sleep the entire afternoon. He will cry until I swaddle him and put him in his bed for the night. (at 6:30pm)
- He hate putting on his coat. No matter how I try it (sitting on my lap, on the changing table, him sleeping, etc) he always gets upset. However, once we put our feet outside the door he stops and loves being outside. He also does not like his hat!
- Vinny has picked up on this and every time I pick up Kaio's jacket and he starts crying, Vinny knows that 50% of the time he is coming along and gets super excited!
- He now can stay in his playpen or vibrating chair for 30 mins... just 'playing' and staring around. (4 weeks ago he would only last 5 min in there)
- He started smiling at strangers (little social bee!). This of course makes anyone's day!
- At 5pm he will nap easily if I put him in his Baby bjorn and do my normal house activities (like making dinner, getting the house a bit organized and cleaned)
- He does not like to have a wet nappy. (however when he poops he seems to be okay in staying a couple of minutes in his dirty nappy!)
- He has several types of cries, there is one cry that just means he is tired and he'll be asleep in a couple of seconds. (I can let him 'cry himself to sleep with this one) Another cry means he is very tired, but he will not cry himself asleep. I will need to bounce his chair or rock him otherwise he will not stop crying. And the other day I heard his 'I am in pain' cry. It was heart breaking. He was laying with his belly on my chest with his head up (this is a new tummy time I have been doing to help him strengthen his neck muscles) suddenly he dropped his head right on my collar bone...
It is so interesting to get to know him better every day! He makes me smile and fills my day with joy!

The winter arrived!

The last two days we have been 'stuck' at home. The weather has been very typical for England - rain and cold! This made it a bit more difficult to put Kaio to sleep for his naps, since I was just putting him in his pram or Babybjorn and going for a walk if he was fussy to take a nap. But it is helping me to understand him better. He has a small window of time that he is tired but not fussy yet and when he is tired and upset (which makes it harder to put him to bed). If I put him in his bouncy chair (or sometimes his playpen) when he is in the first stage, he plays a bit and falls asleep without complaining, if I miss that 'window of opportunity' he becomes very irritated and more difficult to settle. He also needs a long nap after his 'lunch' and to allow him to sleep more then 30 - 45min he needs to be swaddled and in his crib. If I don't swaddle him, his arms wake him up! It's funny to see him sleep and his arms just waving around, until he hits himself in the head and wakes up crying!
Kaio and I have started to have some nice 'chats'. When he sees me, and is not too tired or hungry, he smiles and I start talking to him, he then 'talks' back. They are the cutest 'oohs' and 'aaahs' ever!!! he does this for several minutes and you can see he responds to my words (if I stop talking he also does!)
Below are some pics of his happy face (although we have not been able to capture the real smile and giggly Kaio). The first one is him smiling at Jason, afterwards he giggled, it made Jason's week!

Citizen of the world!

Last week we obtained the brazilian birth certificate and applied for his passport.
Yesterday we went to the US embassy and he became an American citizen. We also applied for his passport and social security. (this was sooo easy compared to all the 'pain' I have gone through to get my greencard and will go through to get my citizenship!)
Next week I will be going to the Belgium embassy to get his Belgian nationality.
Kaio will have more nationalities than anyone in our families!!! All these passports are necessary to travel and live in the several countries we want to go to. For example, for him to live in the UK with us, he either gets his Belgium nationality or we would have to apply for a visa (which costs around US$800!). To go to Brazil, it's much easier to have a Brazilian passport. Also, for him to become a Belgian I had to get a letter from the Brazilian embassy to say if he was or not a Brazilian. (it's a long story, but Belgium has not made it easy for him to obtain that nationality!) That letter alone would cost the same amount as getting a passport.... so... we got the passport!
Well, later on he can decide if he wants to renew and continue with all these nationalities....
Kaio is now 7 weeks. He is such a adorable baby. The other day he was feeding and staring at me, I smiled and talked to him and he opened a big smile back at me... with his mouth full of milk.. it went all over our cloths!!! He is getting so big and has the biggest cheeks!!! His eyes are starting to be a bit more greener.

Poem (send by grandpa Steve)

Sent straight from heaven up above
Came an angel for me to love
To hold and rock and kiss good night
To wrap my arms around real tight

To cuddle & nurture and watch him play
To kiss his boo-boo's all away
To keep him safe and warm & count all his toes
To hold the tissue for him when he blows his little nose

To laugh at his jokes, to clap as he sings
To tell him all the joy in my life that he brings
To clean up his play dough, to pull his legos apart
To pin up his drawings and tell him it's art

To watch his first day of school on the bus all alone
To fight back the tears as I make my way back home
To applaud real loud when he's in his first play
To help him with his homework at the end of his day

To adore & cherish and watch him grow
To guide and teach him all that I know
To see him through good times & help him through bad
To share in his happiness and cry when he's sad

To hold him close and be by his side
To watch him through life as my heart fills with pride
To help him with decisions, the best that I can
To know that someday he'll be a fine young man

Latest pics

On the weekend Jason has time to update the pictures, so attached is the link to the most recent pictures:

http://www.jasonandannelies.co.uk/Kaio_Oct_Nov/index.html

It includes some older pictures (when my mom was here) and some very recent once (taken this weekend)
I love the 'explosion' picture, the pouty face one and the cutest is him sleeping, smiling (and drooling) on my lap and the one sleeping on Jason's chest.

working on our sleep time 'routine'

Kaio has been a fairly easy during the night. (Mainly thanks to the help of my mom in the early days.) Currently, on a normal day (5 - 6 days a week) we have the following 'routine' (give or take 15min):
- 6pm: I start preparing everything for his bath on the living room dining table while he plays in his playpen
- 6:15pm: I start his massage, with special 'baby massage' music - The duration of the massage depends on Kaio's mood, but recently he has been enjoying his massage a lot and I do it for 15 min to avoid him getting too cold
- 6:30pm: we start his bath. He loves his baths! (just doesn't like his hair being washed) He had gotten into the habit of peeing right as we lowered him in the bath, which made me have to change the water. However, Jason had the brilliant idea of lowering his feet in the water with his diaper on. After 30sec we remove the diaper.. and sure enough, we have a full diaper!
- 6:45finish his bath - - Dress him (he does not like to be taken out of his bath)
- 7pm: Take him to his room and feed him.
- 7:15pm: he goes asleep without fussing and is vast asleep until we wake him at 10pm for his bottle.
During the day he takes several naps, however at around 4pm he becomes fussy (they call it the witch hour, which varies for each baby!). Kaio gets really tired but does not want to sleep. The last couple of days we have either let him fall asleep on us, or have taken him outside (he easily falls asleep in his pram).
This routine has allowed me and Jason to catch up, have dinner and spend some time together.
The only problem with this routine is that he wakes up between 6 and 7 in the morning to start his day. (which on weekends is a bit hard!) My plan this week is to get him to go to bed a bit later so he sleeps longer in the morning and it will allow Jason to see him when he gets home from work (Jason get's home at 7ish, when Kaio is in bed already). We'll see how it goes!

Feelings...

Today I was looking at Kaio sleep and had a melancholic thought! On one side I want him to grow fast. So I can see him discover his hands for the first time, take his first steps, run, say 'mommy' for the first time, etc. On the other hand, I am loving this tiny little baby and want to keep this moment forever!!! When I look at the pictures taken right after he was born - he has gotten so big already. It seems he grows by the day, which is great, but also sad to know he will never again be this small little guy that I can carry with one arm!
He seems to be looking at me more. And it seems to sooth him when he is in his pram and about to cry. I also have noticed that when I smile he has started to smile back some times!! It's adorable!
Today we went to Jason's office to have lunch with him and to show Kaio to his coworkers. He was very well behaved and only started to cry when we were leaving the building! Such a good boy!
Yesterday afternoon I met up with some of the girls I did my ante-natal class with (we have been meeting up every week). It is so nice to see all the little babies growing up. We all met when we had huge bellies and now have all these babies. There is one girl that shares the same birthday as Kaio. It is great to share stories and schedule different activities together! (in two weeks we are going to attempt to go to the 'big scream' - which is a movie theater that allows babies once a week. Should be interesting! You go, expecting to watch little of the movie, but your baby is also allowed to cry without people judging you!)

6 week check up

Today was Kaio's 6 week check up! He is doing great. Here are the latest stats:
- weight - 4.92kg = 10.85lbs - which is right on the average of boys his age.
- Height - 58cm = 22.8inches - which is above the average of boys his age.
- Head circumference - 38cm = 14.96inches - which is also right on average of boys his age.
He still has that lump on his head, but the Dr. said not to worry and keep an eye on it. If it grows or changes in texture we should go back to the hospital. The lump does not seem to affect him.
I also had a check up and it went fine. (I still need to go back on friday to do some blood work and check on my iron levels.) The Dr. said I can start working out and do everything I did pre-pregnancy. I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight already! Breastfeeding is indeed demanding on our bodies! The Dr. said I need to continue eating well and regularly so Kaio can continue to grow and perform as he has been! (I have no problem in continuing to eat peanut M&M's and ice cream!)
Our street is full of babies.. of all ages! Yesterday we had tea (such an english thing) with one of our neighbors whom has a 2 year old and another baby (both boys). The baby was born on the same day as Kaio. his name is Rafe. Another neighbor also joined us, she has twins (also 2 boys). It was great to get to know them and hopefully start having regular 'play dates'. It's also great to exchange 'baby stories' and hear that some feelings and behaviors are normal (like the occasional urge for a glass of wine at the end of the day, after Kaio has gone to bed, is very normal!!! Even though they have more reason since they both have two children...)

Nice weekend!

This past year, the summer in the UK was terrible. Lot's of rain, cold and very little sun! (which was great since I was pregnant!) However, the fall has been great. Lot's of sun and gorgeous weather! It has been great for me to take Kaio outside and enjoy the beautiful London parks (the colors of autumn are just amazing!)
This weekend it was so nice outside, that we went to explore some parks both days. On saturday we had a nice picnic in Clapham Common and sunday we went hiking in Wimbledon Common and shopping in the village!Kaio likes to go outside. In the morning he loves to com along with me when I let Vinny out. He looks around and seems to enjoy the fresh air! Sometimes he gets really tired but fights to go to bed, so when I take him outside, he falls asleep instantly and wakes up when we come back home!
He is smiling more every day and seems to find his fingers more often to sooth himself! (he still loves the pacifier though!)

All Smiles

(the picture above is not of his smile... we have not been able to capture that on camera yet.. this was just a 'surprise' face he had a couple of days ago!)
Kaio had been smiling while sleeping and in the last couple of days before he has some gas or right before he start crying. However, yesterday evening, I was holding Kaio and Jason came close to Kaio's face and talked to him. Kaio looked right into Jason's face and opened a big smile (and it was not followed by a fart or a cry) It was absolutely adorable!!!!
For the first time Kaio has wet his crib sheets. He tends to have a major 'pee' during the night, which sometimes wets his cloths, but this morning it went all the way through his cloths and onto his sheets. It may be time to switch to a bigger size nappies!!!

We made it!

Today is our second day together, by ourselves! We had fun yesterday and Kaio was a darling!!! We met up with some friends with babies that are around the same age of Kaio. He was the only one that was awake during the entire lunch... and quiet, just looking around! We also went to the grocery store to pick up things for dinner and a nice chocolate cake for daddy, since he has been so helpful and we miss him already!
Kaio is sleeping well during the night, but not so well during the day (he needs to sleep more!). I noticed that he easily falls asleep in my arms (specially after feeding), but the moment I put him down he starts crying. So, today, I am going to let him cry it out in his room. I just tried it for the first time (it's 11am) and he was asleep in 5 min! Overall, I have been trying to put him in his crib when he is drowsy so he can then fall asleep by himself. Which works perfectly after 7pm, but not during the day. I am loving to get to know this little guy better.. he just amazes me every day!!!!
Jason is now feeding Kaio at his 10pm feed and it allows me to go to bed at 8:30 - 9pm (if I didn't get a chance to take a nap during the day!). Our little routine has been working perfectly:
- Kaio feeds, baths and goes to bed before 7pm (Jason gets home around that time) - this happens fairly easily most of the days, since he is so tired by 7pm
- Jason and I have dinner and hang out a bit
- I get ready for bed at around 8:30
- Jason feeds him at 10pm (he does it so silently that I don't even wake up!) - we have a chair in Kaio's room so he does not have to come in our room to feed him and Kaio goes straight into his crib afterwards. We also use dim lights so he does not get fully awake!
- I wake up during the night (mostly at 2 and 5 am) to feed him (also in Kaio's room, so Jason does not wake up)
- Kaio wakes us up to start his day at 6:30 - 7am
- Jason entertains him so I can take a shower, start laundry, take Vinny out and have breakfast (all in 15min!)
- We start our day of fun together... which is somewhat unpredictable, but Kaio feeds every 3 - 4 hrs and in between he either:
- 'plays' in his playpen
- sits in his vibrating chair
- 'plays' with me
- we go for a walk (in the pram or Babybjorn)
- sleeps
- cries
- has his nappy changed
- sucks on his dummy
But whatever it is he does... he is CUTE!!! (he is also cute sleeping...)