Fun sunday...

Today, both me and Kaio did not change into our cloths and stayed in our PJs all day long! The weather was awful and we had a great time playing around.
We also watched Kaio's first full movie (1:20hr!) - Milo and Otis. (a cat and a dog adventuring around). We had some popcorn (his first) and Kaio was able to pay attention throughout the entire movie, laughing when it was funny, worried when they were in danger and wanting to play 'baby cat' afterward.
Close to bed time, Jason and Kaio rocked out on some Rolling Stones classics! They were dancing around and playing 'air guitar', 'couch piano' and 'spoon trumpets'! It was hilarious and Kaio kept asking for 'more musica please'
We had a really fun and laid back day! (Although Vinny was missing!)

Getting ready...

One week to go before the due date of baby nbr 2. We are ready! We have rearranged our room (with a moses basket and baby items), we've set up the play pen in the living room, we've washed all the baby cloths and have set Kaio's expectations!
Kaio is excited, although initially he kept saying - "baby out, Kaio hold" he now says - "baby out, Kaio airplane!". This is because recently we sent Vinny to Colorado by airplane and Kaio said he also wanted to go on an airplane. We had to explain to him that first the 'baby had to come out' before we would also go on an airplane...
Kaio's communication skill have improved significantly, which is great for when the baby comes and he will be able to express himself better and avoid frustration. Sometimes we do have difficulties understanding what he is trying to say, since he learns words at nursery and we actually are not expecting him to know them! (ex. tiny, over here, clean up)
He is also starting to pronounce his name better. Before he would call himself - Dado, and now he says - Daio!
Some pics:
1) Kaio made a train with our pillows and then sat his 'friends' in a row as his passengers (I 'helped' him a bit with the idea after becoming tired of being his passenger!)
2) Kaio still loves his instruments and he used this tube as a 'trumpet'. He is also very creative with pianos and guitars, using sticks, hangers, etc

"This is a...."

Kaio came home one day from nursery and started grabbing random items and saying - "This is a bus. This is a 'tampa' (lid). This is a car. This is a doggy" etc... We both laughed out loud as he was really. funny! He has been saying 4+ word sentences and several words he knows how to say in English and Portuguese. He knows his colors really well and is getting better at counting too.
A couple of weeks ago, Kaio was having a couple of 'moments/tantrums' and I thought - "welcome to the terrible twos!" However we have found different ways of avoiding these 'moments' to happen and he has been so much better. One of the key things, as silly as it sounds, is to reason with him. Get down to his level (on your knees) and explain things. He really seems to 'get it' and snaps out of any bad mood or tantrum he might be having. Another very useful way is to set expectations. When he is playing we tell him what will happen in a couple of moments, like 'Kaio in 5 minutes we are going to take a bath' and let him play for a while and repeat it 3 and 1 minute before bath time. He reacts really well because he is not caught by surprise, which would sometimes frustrate him and lead to crying spells.
At nursery they also said Kaio has been very easy going and not as aggressive (he would sometimes hit other children when they would take his toy or wouldn't give him the toy he wanted.)

Fun personality

Kaio's personality is shining. He really is becoming a little 'boy' with tons of energy, happiness and very spontaneous and creative. He loves to run around and sometimes walks to or from nursery (1km!), at home he also just loves to run from one side to another in the living room. Lot's of energy!
He also loves to dance around or just start jumping and imitating animals or make silly noises! He is very creative in getting toys or other objectives and coming up with a 'game'. Just now, he grabbed one of his teddy bears and is pretending it is a baby and holds it like one, he then put it on a pillow and started petting the back and wishing it 'night night' and told me to be quiet (finger on his mouth and saying 'shhhhhh'). Last week Jason thought him how to catch a ball and he is really good at it (after 4 -5 attempts he got it!) He was very excited about knowing how to catch the ball and then throw it to us to catch is back)
Books are still a big favorite and he can spend a long time looking at pictures or us reading them to him. Sometimes he even gets our books, catalogs and magazines to look at. At the moment, one of his favorite books is my pregnancy book with lot's of pictures of babies and parents. Looking at the illustrations of the babies in the belly he says - 'baby inside, sleeping! Shhhh!'
3 weeks for baby nbr 2!!!

Fireworks

On the 5th of November it is 'bon fire' night in the UK and there are fireworks everywhere. Over the weekend we decided to try it with Kaio and took him to a fireworks display outside of London. There was a little amusement park we went to before hand, which he enjoyed and went a ride. However, when the fireworks started he panicked a little bit. We held him close and started showing him the different colors, which calmed down. However he only really relaxed and seemed to enjoy it once I covered his ears and he could not hear the noise. The day after he kept talking about the 'loud drums' and the different colors he saw.
Kaio is speaking a lot. Both languages and very clear (at least to us). He also understands what we tell him or when we read stories. It is also much easier to 'reason' with him, and he understands well that he first has to do 'x' before he gets 'z'. For example, he needs to finish his yogurt before mommy reads a book. It's also been great that he understands timing a bit better. We tell him things like - "you can play for another 5 minutes before we go and brush your teeth". It helps him get 'mentally' prepared for certain situations and avoid frustrating moments.
He has really become very polite and says 'please', 'thank you' and 'sorry' when it is expected.
1) Kaio being silly
2) Kaio kissing the 'baby'
3) Kaio (and daddy) enjoying a ride in the amusement park
4) Kaio and daddy before the fireworks
5) Kaio afraid of the fireworks