Leaving :-(

Today we are leaving Brazil! We had a great vacation and we´ll miss everyone! Kaio has gotten so used to everyone spoiling him and I will miss having several pair of hands helping.
Kaio is eating at least one ´meal´ a day. He seems to prefer sweet things (just like his daddy, he has a sweet tooth!) and his favorite seems to be papaya. He also has gotten into a nice schedule/routine and I am hoping he will continue like that once we get home. Kaio loves the garden. Oma did the ´plant therapy´every morning, taking Kaio around the garden and letting him smell and touch different plants, herbs and flowers. We had several barbecues for different groups of friends for them to meet Kaio. He behaved really well and everyone loves him! (and from my own experience, it is not difficult to love this little guy!)
Kaio is playing so nicely. He grabs toys easily and is entertained by them for several minutes. Some toys, very rarely, he puts in his mouth, although he prefers the dummy and his fingers to suck on! He is a pro in turning over and he loves to sleep on his side. He also loves to 'grab' our faces and touch our nose, mouth, cheeks and eyes. Below are a couple of pictures:

Eating very well!

Kaio started solids 10 days ago. He has been doing so well on them. He normally gets around 70ml of expressed milk with rice cereal mid-morning and a fruit juice (papaya, apple or orange) with rice cereal in the afternoon. I have found out that he prefers his food a bit chunkier (harder) then the milkshake consistency I started with. He eats very fast and really well. The first couple of spoons he normally makes a funny face, but then he just eats away. Yesterday we were at the mall and we sat to have a refreshment. I had a pineapple juice and he seemed very interested, so I gave him a couple of spoonfuls, he loved it!
Here in Brazil, people love children and we have been approached by several people to hold him, talk about him, etc. Yesterday, at the mall, we went into a store and all employees (all women) stopped what they were doing to gather around him. He was all smiles and he was the center of everyone´s attention. One of the ladies held him, initially he was fine and smilling, but when he saw Jason and realized he was not being held by his daddy, he started crying.
Yesterday, Jason and I had our 4th date without Kaio since he has been born. We went for a nice meal and drinks while Oma took care of him. It was very nice!

Mid-vacation

Kaio recognized Jason when he arrived. It was adorable to see him look at daddy and open a big smile. (Oma was preparing us and saying that at this age they may not recognize people... she mentioned that when Karolien was 7 months and she went to Belgium for a month, when they returned to Brasil, Karolien did not recognize dad). But when Jason arrived, Oma held him at eye level, behind the glass, and Kaio looked at Jason for 5 seconds and then opened a huge smile. When Jason finally was able to hold him (after picking up his luggage) Kaio was all smiles to daddy, and he has been ever since!
Kaio has been in the swimming pool a couple of times. He loves to ´step´in the grass and look at the flowers and plants in the garden. He is also able to look and follow birds flying in the sky.

Daddy arrives today!

Jason arrives today in Porto Alegre. We are anxiously waiting and I am very curious to see Kaio´s reaction when he sees daddy again!
Today Kaio rolled from his back to his tummy! (at 6:15am). He wanted to look at one of his toys and he threw his legs first, laid side ways for a while and then turned his upper body. He seems surprised every time he rolls from one to another but is able to entertain himslef for more time after he rolls to a different position.
Kaio has been having some kind of pain... we first thought it was ear pain, but we now think he is teething. He is drooling and chewing on his hands and some toys much more then before!

Soon to be reunited...

(guest writer)As I sit here in London, packing to get ready for my journey to Brasil, I've been transferring some pictures from the camera onto the computer. Last weekend London had beautiful weather - sunny, and around 15 degrees C. Because their bags were packed and there was a bit of time to kill before heading to the airport on a warm winter day, Annelies, Liesbet, Kaio (and myself!) took a stroll through Wandsworth Common. Here are a few nice pictures from that fine London afternoon
Also, here is a picture of Kaio displaying his mastery of sucking on his fingers :)

Finally, I'm very excited to go to Brasil today! It's very difficult to describe how much I miss little Kaio and Annelies. This has certainly been the longest we've all been apart since Kaio was born. I'm bummed that I couldn't see him flip over for the first time this past week...but now Kaio has had more practice doing it and hopefully wants to show off to daddy! :) And now, only 24 hours of traveling and I'll be down in Porto Alegre! (and I've heard that there will be a churrasco (barbeque) waiting for me; I can't wait!

Lots of love,

-Jason

Rolling over.. eating solids.. such a big boy!

On monday morning I left Kaio on my bed for a couple of seconds so I could get his cloths. I put him on his tummy and when I turned around he was on his back, looking at me! He rolled over for the first time without me seeing it!! I put him back on his tummy and slightly turned to close the drawer... again, I looked at him and he was on his back! So for the third time , I turned him to his tummy and did not turn away... and he did it! He threw his upper body first and then his legs! So cute! Unfortunately he has not done it since. He is turning to the side (to look at his toys) when laying on his back, so soon he will be rolling around!
On tuesday we started some solids. I mixed rice meal with my breast milk and Opa gave him his first spoons. He first accepted it well but then he noticed that it was not ´mommy´s milk´and he started crying. On tuesday pm we also gave him several spoonfulls of mamão juice (papaya), which he really liked - he has daddy´s sweet tooth! His facial expressions are priceless -he frowns his forehead and licks the spoon. I make ´yummie yummie´noises and he smiles, he spits a bit out but swallows the majority!
Kaio is adating really well. Yesterday we also went to have lunch and left him with Teresa. She has worked for my parents for almost 10 years and is great with children. I have to confess that I was a bit nervous since we were going away for 2 1/2 hrs, but when we returned he was taking a nap and Teresa said he behaved really well. He always smiles when he sees her.

BRASIL!!!

We arrived in Brazil on sunday. It was a long trip (24hrs in transit) but Kaio behaved very well! He slept well, played nicely, smiled at everyone and was a perfect little traveller (several people complimented how wel behaved he was during the flights!)
When we arrived in Porto Alegre, Oma, Opa and Ward were waiting for us. Kaio opened a big smile when he saw Oma, so I left him with them while I went to retrieve the luggage. When I came back he was crying with tears and all. Opa had taken him from Oma and he did not recognize him and started crying. Throughout the day he would cry every time he saw Opa, however the next day, after a good night of sleep he was all smiled to Opa.
It has been very hot and Kaio has been sweating a lot. I started giving him some extra tea so he does not get dehidrated. It is so cute to see him sleep naked (with his nappies on!). He loves to look around and explore this ´new world´.
He also has been sleeping really wellduring the night. We put him to bed at 7:30 and he sleeps until 4am, eats and then sleeps until 7:30. I have been getting some good nights of sleep.

More shots

Today Kaio got his 3rd round of immunizations. This time he got three shots. It, again, was heartbreaking. He cried at each shot, just to allow me to sooth him and then get another needle in his leg! But just like with the last set of shots, he was not much affected.
Kaio has been such a joy (as always) but now he pretty much smiles every time he sees me and we can make him giggle very easily. He loves being lifted high in the air and then come towards our face. He also when you suddenly come eye to eye with him. He first 'jumps', surprised, but then giggles.
He is very close to sitting up and rolling over. He is also very interested in everything around him and follows people or cars passing by. He also notices Vinny often and follows him when he walks around. (at home and in the park).
Kaio is almost back to his night schedule (sleeping through the night). Jason feeds him at 10:30 and then he wakes up at 6 for a feed and sleeps again until 7. He is now feeding every 3 1/2 - 4hrs and is eating less since he gets very distracted while feeding)

Ambitious?!!?

This past saturday we overestimated our little guy a bit. We went to a traveling fair in the afternoon (we are looking into some trips) and from there we were planning to go to a nice restaurant to celebrate Jason's promotion. We decided to do this because Kaio was so good while we were in Dublin and we were able to go have dinner every night with him asleep in his pram next to us! Well, we got the timing wrong and he actually woke up when we got to this really nice restaurant. We sat down, I grabbed him from his pram, we ordered water, looked at each other and knowing we would not be able to enjoy our 3 course meal since we would be rushing and having to alternate holding him between us, we just ordered the bill (of the bottle of water we had).
We got take away, went home, put Kaio to bed, opened a nice bottle of wine and celebrated over candle light. It still was a lot of fun! So, thanks to Kaio we actually didn't spend a lot of money on a nice meal (always looking at the positive side of things ;-)

So talkative

Kaio has been making so many diferent noises. Often we leave him in his playpen (where he has several toys hanging above him) and you can hear him 'chat' and make all kind of noises from the other room! When we go and stand above him, he opens a big smile and starts talking to us! He seems to have so much to say. He also loves listening to us. Sometimes, when he is crying I place him in his bouncy chair and start reading out loud a book or newspaper and he almost instantly stops crying and listens very atentive. When I read parts of the book, looking at him, he opens a huge smile!
In little over a week we will be flying out to Brazil. We can't wait. Kaio loves being naked and kicking around... which will be possible in Brazil since it is nice and sunny! It will be so nice to see Oma and Opa again (he has changes so much since the last time they saw him, 3 months ago) meet uncle Ward and all my friends in Brazil. Well, even with 3 passports, we may still have some hick-ups going to Brazil. Brazilian law mandates that any brazilian child under 12 years, when travelling with only one parent, should have a 'authorization letter' from the absent parent. To get this, however, we need to go to a notary, to the consul, etc etc and we don't have time to do this. We can't use his US passport, since he would need a visa for that. (which also takes time and is expensive) So the best option is to travel with his belgian passport since it does not require a visa!!!
Just like his mom, he is already facing dificulties regarding his nationalities (as he also is experiencing dificulties with his name!)