Friday, December 31, 2010

Another year goes by....


I am still amazed how fast this year has gone by. I still remember at the end of last year, 2009, we were adjusting to being a family of 4 and also organizing our move to Brazil. It was very hectic but I do remember looking at my 2 kidlets (Kaio was 2 and Josefine a couple of weeks old) and thinking how great it will be taking a year off with them. I confess that there were moments I thought of going back to work (because I felt a bit insecure not having a income, which was unfound and Jason helped me through it) and there were days I felt all I did was run after Kaio, change Josefine’s nappies and fed them both, days that I wasn’t able to take a shower or even get out of my PJs due to being so busy with them, there were some long nights when both kids were sick and there was the ‘dealing’ with Kaio’s terrible twos! But then there were the days that I spend all day with a smile on my face in seeing my kidlets play together, there were the great moments where we would spend hours playing together, exploring the city, taking baths, going to swimming classes, reading books, picking up Kaio at school, going together to the store or mall, going spend the weekend at Oma’s, ah… so many moments… amazing moments. I have absolutely no regret in taking this year off with them and enjoying them fully.
We have such a great kids and they bring so much joy in our life. Every moment with them is just absolutely priceless!


We had a great Christmas. The kids got several toys, including 2 sets of Lego’s. (one for each) and now they spend hours playing with the 4 sets they have. It is amazing how Josefine plays with the Legos by looking at Kaio. Kaio can spend hours playing by himself, creating his own stories but often he asks – “vem brincar comigo” (come and play with me). Kaio has been so loving and polite. He often, very spontaneously, says – “voce ‘e o amor maior do mundo” (you are the biggest love of the world) to me, Josefine, Jason or Oma! He often grabs Josefine for a big kiss or to give her ‘carinho’ (she mostly is happy with it, but recently she has ;learned' to "complain" and pushes him away - although this is only 20% of the time!). He also tries to stop her from crying by giving her some of his food (when she is impatiently waiting to get her food) or a toy for her to play.
Josefine has mastered sign language (she says food, water, more, all done, bird and milk). Today we were in the store (more precisely in the tool department, away from food) and Josefine looked at me and did the food sign. I then realized I had forgotten to give her a snack and she was hungry! Kaio was as well and did the food sign to see if it worked for him too, clever boy! She is saying some words, like ‘agua’ (water), ‘mano’ (brother, referring to Kaio), ‘dada’ (daddy), ‘mama’ (mommy), and Oma. Last week she started ‘dancing’! (obviously this is beyond cute) and starts shaking her shoulders when she hears music or we say ‘dance’. She continues eating well and now we have to be careful what we eat in front of her, otherwise she does not want to eat her own food. This week she stopped eating her food and gesticulated (very eagerly) she wanted some french fries and corn on the following day!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Kidlets!

Josefine is becoming such an amazing toddler! She waves 'bye-bye' when someone/anyone says 'Oi' (Hi) or 'Tchau' (Bye). She does "Muuuuuuuu" when we point to a cow or when she sees any animal that looks like one, she also goes "uauauauau" when he sees a dog or any animal that looks like it.
She gives kisses (with her mouth open) to anyone. This week at swimming she 'kissed' all her baby classmates.... Very cute!
She has also started mastering the signing language. The same one Kaio did very well and helped us to understand him before he could speak. She does 'food', 'all done', 'birdie' (she does this when she sees a bird or hears one) and 'milk'. She started 10 days ago and hasn't stopped since!

Kaio has become a much easier toddler (touch wood, but I think the terrible twos might be getting behind us!) and he understands the situations, he is more patient, he cries less and is overall a total joy! I think he also has fully taken on the 'bit brother' roll and is very protective, sweet, patient and proud of her. Of course, he also knows he can easily take toys from her, place them away from her reach or persuade her take another toy! He is doing really well at school and has been sharing, spontaneously stories about his classmates and his day at school. He loves to spend time at Oma's house and he has even spend some nights there. (and opted to stay there when I wanted to take him home!)

Thursday, December 09, 2010

1 year!!!

Our little girl is one today! She is not a little girl anymore, she is a proper toddler. She is a sweet, smart, precious, interesting/interested, beautiful baby girl!
She is a great little sister to Kaio and is an amazing daughter to us! She makes us all smile and we giggle together! She has gone from 3.3kg to 9.4kg and from 54cm to 74cm in 12 months!
Josefine has brought us so much happiness, she has completed our family perfectly!
HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY JOSEFINE MAIA!!!

We had a very nice day, she woke up in a great mood and we sang happy birthday to her. She looked very happy and started clapping her hands too! I was going to take Kaio and her to a park before lunch but she decided to take a 2 hr morning nap! When she woke up we went to have lunch and she feasted on french fries and some pieces os steak (she loves to chew and suck on them and then spit them out). In the afternoon Oma, Josefine and I went to find her a nice birthday cake and we had Oma, Opa and titia over for some cake and champagne.
Kaio was extra nice to her (letting her play with toys, hugging and kissing her) because it was her birthday!

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

"Olha s'o" (Kaio)


As mentioned before, Kaio has been chatting a lot and sometimes I get dizzy with his constant 'blahblahblah'. It is absolutely adorable and amazing in how well he has taken Portuguese! It's also very funny when he imitates us, like when I reprimand him he says - "nao faz assim, eu nao vou te dar um presente" (don't do that or I won't give you a gift) or "Nao comeca Josefine" (don't start Josefine) or "mamae, estou muito feliz contigo, tu esta te comportando muito bem" (mommy, I am very happy with you, you are behaving really well!)
Recently he has started saying "minha maninha tem um barrigao/bochechao" (my sister has a big belly/big cheeks) to other people, he then inflates his belly and pushes it forward and says he has a big belly too!
Kaio continues to eat very well, he loves his veg and fruits but has also acquired a sweet tooth and loves sweets!
Sometimes he likes to pretend he is a baby (like Josefine) and crawls on the floor and asks for a bottle of milk. He does not express jealousy towards her though!

BAAAAA (Josefine)


Josefine has been kissing us for the last couple of weeks. It's very cute! We ask her for a kiss (or a beijo) and she opens her mouth and places it on our cheek. It is mostly followed by her saying "BAAAAAAA" (I think she is trying to say beijo!) She also gives hugs!
She has been very attached to me and some days she follows me around in the house and clasps on my legs when she gets me! She has been very firm on her legs and can easily stay for 30secs without support. She also walks fast when you give her two fingers to support her.
Luckily she is no longer constipated and seems to eat everything we offer her. She also does not like pureed food as much, she prefers pieces in them (so she can use her 5 teeth to bite on them!) And to make Oma proud, she loves french fries!
One of her favourite activities at the moment is to get my wallet and empty everything that is in it, follwed by trying to put everything back. It's cute and very entertaining, although I have lost a couple of credit cards in the process ;-) Another toy she has been enjoying is lego. She sees her big brother play with it and tries to fit the pieces. If the pieces are together she loves to take them apart.
I still can't believe she will be 1 year soon! I started my maternity leave on the 27th of November of 2009 and am so happy and grateful I have taken a whole year off with my little kidlets!