HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!

Kaio is now 1!!!!
He had a great long birthday weekend!
On Friday, his actual birthday, I took the day off and we started the day with lots of hugs and kisses from mommy and daddy (and Vinny).
Kaio and I then went to pick up Oma, Tante Karo, Ana Julia and Lucas from the station. Kaio's first reaction when he saw Oma was a big smile, but then, with everyone looking at him, trying to say 'hi' he became a bit shy. However, after 10 minutes, he was on the tube playing 'peekaboo' with Lucas and grabbing some of Ana Julia's toys.
We spend the day doing some touristy stuff and trying to get Kaio to open his presents. (He loved the paper wraps of his gifts....) At the end of the day we met up with Daddy and went to have dinner at a local restaurant. Kaio is eating so well and pretty much everything!
We finished the evening with some cake! We gave him a big piece of chocolate cake and he LOVED eating it with his hands. This was followed by a bath with his cousins, which was a lot of fun.
On Saturday, we all went to the Aquarium. I thought Kaio was to young to enjoy it but he absolutely loved it. He loved the fish swimming around in the big aquarium and banging on the glass. There were some really cute moments of him hugging Ana Julia and smiling at her! After a fun lunch we had to say goodbye to the cousins, who went back to Belgium but also loved every second of being with 'pipi Kaio'.
On Sunday we invited several friends for a birthday party. I was a bit unorganized and did not order a cake, so on Sunday morning Oma and I went to Chelsea to find a nice birthday cake. (we ended up getting 2!) We then spend some time preparing yummy finger food and decorating the house (Kaio loved this part, specially the balloons). We had a 'safari theme'. It was a great day, lot's of sun, friends, babies... We had 13 people and 7 babies. It was so nice to see the babies play together (they ranged from 8 months to 2 year olds). It was a great day and Oma was SOOOO helpful and allowed me to enjoy the day instead of running around to ensure everyone had food and drinks.
Kaio completely loves Oma and kept looking at her for approval and going up to her with his toys. Oma is absolutely great with Kaio and we will miss her so much!
Kaio has been playing with his new toys. He has 'discovered' cars and moves around with them. He is also able to hold a cord and pull a little dog around. It's amazing to see him play and entertain himself. He is not that interested in TV and prefers to play with Vinny (he goes and lays on Vinny in his bed)

Mommy with new hair...

This week I decided to take control of my hair and had it cut. Jason took care of Kaio and I came home after 1 hour. Kaio stared at me and did not really know what to think of it: that 'different' woman had mommies voice but did not look like her. After a couple of minutes he understood it was me and gave me a big hug. His reaction was priceless!
On friday we went for another check up with the pediatrician. Kaio has put on 400gr and grew 2 cm in 7 weeks. He is still in the 2% of boys, but the Dr. said he will be on the small side but that he is healthy and progressing/developing normally. We also got to the reason why he has been refusing his bottle this last week. He has a cold sore on his inner lip which hurts when he puts the bottle in his mouth.
In the afternoon we met up with some of the antenatal babies. They are all doing really well. One of them started walking this week, the next in line to walk will probably be Kaio since he already stands by himself and can walk easily holding one finger. Kaio also plays very 'nicely' with the other babies, something he probably learned at daycare. Some of the other babies, who have not gone to daycare, tend to play rougher and not share with other babies. Kaio gives toys and shares with most babies.
He has been a lot of fun (as always) and can play with us, with his toys and also goes about exploring 'the world' (mostly cupboards, the computer, the garbage, etc)
Our new place has a nice garden and we got some outdoor chairs. It has been great to sit outside with Kaio. He loves to look around, see the birds fly by, chase the butterflies, touch the plants, etc. Let's hope we get some nice days before the winter arrives!

Busy busy..

Waw, we have been busy! We moved (which was a nightmare since our landlord had promised several things that did not happen), I am still settling into my new job/commute and have had a couple of business trips and we had no internet access at home, etc. But everything seems to be normalizing now. Kaio continues doing really well! I had a one (SUPER LONG) week business trip in Barcelona. It was the longest I had been away from Kaio. Although I was very busy, it was very difficult for me. When I left for the trip, Kaio was a bit sick (fever) and it was not easy for Jason to have to 'run the house' and handle a sick baby by himself. But he managed very well! It was so cute when I got home. He was already asleep and I briefly woke him to put on his sleeping bag. He opened his eyes and saw me, he opened his eyes wider and smiled, a second later he fell back asleep! He seems to be a bit 'traumatized' by my long absence since he has been very attached and cries when I leave him. However, he will have to learn that mommy will go, but I will always come back! Kaio will be 1 year in 10 days!!! It is so hard to imagine that a year ago, I had just started my maternity leave, I had a huge belly (I recently was looking at some pictures) and was anxiously waiting for Kaio to decide to join us in the outside world and now Kaio is almost walking! He can easily walk several steps with holding on to one finger and seems to be more adventurous in going from one piece of furniture to another or to us. Kaio moved to the next room up at day-care. He is no longer in the baby room! he still is very independent at day-care and very easy going. (although he is constantly climbing on things and bumping into things). It is cute to see him react to the other 'classmates' and carers. Kaio loves going to restaurants. He seems to enjoy the attention strangers give him (and since he is so cute, he gets lots of it)Kaio is currently refusing his milk. We have been adding formula into his desserts (he loves yogurt) and ensuring he gets diary products. I am hoping to upload some new pics this weekend.