Our happy baby is back!

After 4 days of sick baby..... our baby boy is back. Today, saturday - Kaio's 7 months birthday - I was on duty - He woke up at 6am and I took care of him while Jason slept in. (we do this on the weekends so we can catch up on some sleep!). First he was a bit 'mowny' and I thought he would have another sick day. But, after I gave him his breakfast (which he gulved down) he was the smiley, happy, fun and amazing little baby! We played, laughed, cuddled, hugged and had a great time... when Jason woke up, at 8ish, he was expecting me to be exhausted from taking care of a sick baby, but instead I had a huge smile on my face and said - "our baby is back!"
It is amazing what a different baby we had this weekend!
We went for a nice long walk (with Vinny and Kaio) and had lunch (and some pints) at a pub!!!
Kaio seemed to have a bit of a food aversion after being sick (he associated feeling 'yucky' with the food) so we had to 'force' the food in his mouth (while he opened his mouth to cry or laugh) and once he tasted the yummy food he kept opening his mouth for more!

sick baby :-(

Kaio has been sick since tuesday. I have had to pick him up at daycare after lunch for the last 3 days. I am going to the Dr. again today. Although, if it is a virus infection then there is not much we can do besides ensuring he does not get dehydrated, is comfortable, clean and gets enough rest. It is just sad to see the happy, playful baby with a pouty face, throwing up and clearly uncomfortable. The only thing that makes him smile is seeing Vinny! I hope he improves soon since I feel very helpless and terrible in not being able to make him feel better!

Heart 'thief'

On Monday Kaio did the cutest thing: I went to pick him up at daycare and he was sitting on someone's lap, when I came and said hi, he opened a big smile, reached out both arms to me and gave me a big hug!!!!!!!!!!! So adorable - it's one of those moments I will never forget!
Last night we had a rough night. Kaio threw up a couple of time. The first time I was alone with him and he couldn't breath, turned all red and his eyes turned upwards. It was very scary! We thought it might have been the vitamins I had given on his empty tummy. I had planned to go out with some grilfriends for dinner and got dressed. When I was ready to leave and went to give him a good night kiss he threw up again. I couldn't leave! I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself knowing he was sick. He threw up another 2 times during the night (during his sleep) and was very cranky this morning. Poor little guy!

Lot's of firsts

This week we had a couple of firsts in Kaio's live:
- First full week at day care - he did really well. Everyone keeps telling me what a great baby he is (he eats all his food, he sleeps nicely, he likes to play, he doesn't cry much, etc)
- First serious cold - lot's of coughing, sneezing, stuffy nose, conjunctivitis - this one went hand in hand with the previous first!
- First time without mommies milk. Kaio is now completely weaned. On thursday, April 17th, I had to go to a meeting and leave home early, so I did not feed him and Jason gave him his breakfast (formula milk, cereal and fruit). I haven't given him the breast since then.
- First big bath with daddy - Jason was a bit 'affraid' at first but soon saw that Kaio was having fun and he is not as slippery and difficult to hold as a new born - I think both enjoyed the bath very much
- First rice cookie - I gave him a rice cookie and he chewed on it, bit off little pieces and 'asked' for more..
Kaio is sitting by himself so nicely. Oma gave him a nice toy that he can sit up and play with it He can push buttons and see lights flashing and it also makes a lot of noises. He loves it and it helps him to be motivated to sit up.



He is so cute when he grabs his feet and put them in his mouth!

First day

Yesterday was Kaio's first full day at daycare (and away from me!). In the morning Jason and I went together to drop him off. We handed him over to the daycare team and he was all smiles to them. I headed to work and was able to not call them all day and keep myself busy.... I went to pick him up at 5pm. When he saw me he smiled and came to my arms and gave me a 'monster' hug. SO ADORABLE! They said he had a great day. He played, painted, ate all his food, napped and cuddled with several people! I then went home to change, pick up Vinny and go for a walk. It was very nice to still enjoy part of the day with him. it will be nice in the summer to be able to enjoy the outside until later (it only get's dark at 10pm). At night he fell asleep on me while I was preparing his bottle, he was so tired from a busy day. Jason came home with beautiful flowers and we had a glass of wine to celebrate my first day back at work and Kaio's first day at daycare.
Going back to work was better then I thought. Things have not changed much (Same burocracy, politics, projects, people, etc as 7 months ago, when I went on maternity leave) and it is nice to come back to a job I already know and can easily execute. My manager is on holiday for 14 days, so it also has been easy to start slowely.

Sick baby

Kaio caught our cold or already got his first bug from the nursery. On thursday he started having some pus on his right eye and he started coughing. On friday he had pus in his left eye as well and more sneezes and coughs. I took him to the Dr. whom said he probable just rubbed his nose and then rubbed his eyes, which caused the eye infection, she prescribed Kaio's first antibiotics (drops for his eyes) He absolutely hates having the drops in his eyes and by the third drops he already recognized the bottle and started screaming.
Today we went to have lunch and Kaio had his lunch at the restaurant. I made a new puree. I used cauliflower and broccolis and he clearly wasn't happy. Every time the spoon went to his mouth he started crying, so after a while I just decided to give him his dessert, strawberry yogurt - the first bite was difficult to give (since he was expecting more caulicolis) but then he kept opening his mouth for the sweet stuff. I then started putting the caulicolis mix between two spoonfuls of yogurt so he would eat more of the savory, well, we have a smart boy - after 2 of 'sneaked in' bites he started not taking anything!!
Tomorrow will be his first full day at daycare, his back pack and dummy (with initials) are ready... snif... Jason has been so great through this all. He knows this is hard on me and has been extremely sweet and supportive. Yesterday he prepared a bath with aromatherapy and a glass of wine, he has been taking cranky and sick Kaio in the am so I can sleep longer, he makes my chai latte in the morning and just a great and supportive hubby and daddy!

Pictures from Belgium

1) With Lucas in the grocery store
2) Kaio, mommy, Ana Julia and Lucas
3) 4 generations - Kaio, mommy, Oma and Moeke
4) Kaio and Lucas playing
5) Kaio with Ana Julia after the bath together
6) Having fun in Belgium
7) Kaio, mommy, Oma, Ana Julia, Moeke, Karolien, Omi and Lucas (It was Omi's 60th birthday dinner)
8) Kaio and Moeke (she is 89!)

Settling in

Today was Kaio's second settling in session at daycare. Yesterday I spend 1 hr with him at the nursery. He looked around, stared at the crying babies and played with the new toys. They also wanted to have him paint while I was filling out some forms, but instead of painting he grabbed the piece of paper and put it in his mouth! Today I left him for 1 1/2hrs (by himself). He had woken up early today and hadn't taken a morning nap, so I thought he would be cranky. When I came back, he was sleeping (even with other children playing and screaming around him) and they said he had played nicely, drank some water and giggled a lot! I was very relieved it had gone so well. Tomorrow I leave him for 2 hrs and monday, April 14th, it will be his first full day! It will probably be much harder on me then on him. But, I am hoping to be very busy at work. After being gone for 7 months, I will have plenty of catching up to do.
Here are some pics
1) Still using the silly hat
2) Vinny and Kaio watching mommy cook
3) I love to talk while eating
4) Kaio in the big bath
5) Kaio with mommy

Belgium

This past week/end we went to Belgium. Kaio behaved really well in the Eurostar, he slept, ate, smilled at everyone and loved the changing facilities. Oma was waiting in Brussels for us. When we arrived at Aunt Karolien's house Lucas and Ana Julia were eagerly waiting for 'baby Kaio'. Lucas is 4 and is a sweet boy, Ana Julia is 2 and knows what she wants but was also very sweet with 'pipi Kaio'. The both loved playing with him, holding him, seeing him eat and they also took a bath together (when I was bathing Kaio, Ana Julie saw it and started taking of her cloths, when Lucas saw Ana Julia in bath with Kaio he did the same - it was ADORABLE!. Kaio also adored Nonkel Peter (Karolien's husband), he loves children and even took care of Kaio while we went shopping (this is when Ana Julia got really jealous and started screaming, which then scared Kaio whom started crying and it ended up in us rushing home to find Kaio sound asleep and Ana Julia happy to have her daddy all to herself again). Jason played with both toddlers and had a lot of fun (eventhough they don't speak the same language, they got along really well) he can't wait for Kaio to grow older and also play with paper airplanes, make paintings, talk, etc.
We also saw Omi, Nonkel Richard, Jan, Fanny and Moeke. Moeke kept saying what a beautiful and well behaved baby Kaio was. She had a hard time understanding that Kaio was my baby (she remembers me as a teenager and found it hard to understand I had a baby!)
Everyone admires how well behaved and easy going our little one was and also how smiley, social and beautiful he is! (I have to agree with everyone on this one!)
On saturday Oma took care of Kaio and Jason and I went out with some friends, it was very nice. On sunday we had lunch at Lesley and Toon's house. Their daughter, Noor, loved Kaio and was also very sweet to him - she took care of him while he slept, made him a painting, hugged him, took him on her lap and 'played' with him.
It was a fun weekend and hope to go back this summer.

Weight...

I went to weigh Kaio again. Three weeks ago he had dropped from being in the 50th percentile to being a bit below the 25th percentile. He weighed in at 7.25kgs (=16lbs) which is still a bit below the 25th percentile. I am a bit concerned since he started so well and now seems to be putting on less weight. However the health advisor and the Dr. said not to worry. He is adjusting to his solids, he is a happy and smiley boy (and he does smile a lot every time we get him naked to weigh in front of the health advisor) so there is nothing to worry about and just see how he progresses with time. He seems less interested in the bottle and very interested in solids so they have advised to mix a bit of the milk with his food. I have started giving him some vitamins to make sure he gets all the necessary 'stuff' he needs to thrive!
Kaio is such a happy baby! He smiles and giggles to everyone and seems to be mostly in a great mood. His teeth (no, no appearance yet) have been bugging him (= lot's of drool, restless sleep, painful and sudden cries, etc), but, luckily it is not the entire time and it seems to bug him more during the afternoon and at night!
Tomorrow, Wednesday, we are going to Belgium. Kaio and I are taking the Eurostar and Jason will be coming on Saturday. Oma has been in Belgium for the past 2 weeks. My grandma was briefly hospitalized and Oma is taking care of her. We are also going because it is my aunt Marieke's 60th birthday on Friday. it will be nice for him to meet my family and friends in Belgium.

Almost spring

The weather was nice this past weekend, not too many clouds and relatively warm. Kaio is able to follow planes in the sky. When we are outside, he hears the planes and looks up (I have pointed them out a couple of times) and follows the planes flying over our heads. He also has discovered that banging two toys together makes noise! Every time he does it he looks and smiles at me! (he seems very proud of his achievements) He has been sitting very nice, he is able to sit upright, by himself for 30 seconds and then he starts leaning forwards or sideways.
Kaio continues to sleep and eat very well! this week we tried tomatoes, broccoli and blueberries - he ate all of them without a fuss! He is not drinking that much milk anymore. I need to check with the health adviser if that is okay since he seems to have enough after a couple of oz. of milk!

6 months

Yesterday was Kaio's 1/2 birthday!!! I just can't believe he was born 6 months ago! Time really does fly when you are having fun. It's great going out and about with him. He is much more predictable and in a nice routine that I can plan outings around them and make sure he is on track on his daily schedule (of feeding, napping, changing, etc) and he is a happy camper.
Today 10 of the 12 babies from the NCT group (ante natal classes) got together to make foot prints... it was great. The babies also got to 'play' with each other. It was clear that the girls were more social, the 3 boys pretty much looked around and let the girls touch their faces and legs! Kaio seemed to be bigger then the girls but the smallest of the boys! Kaio behaved really well and seemed to enjoy the company of the other babies. I hope he feels the same when we start daycare in 3 weeks.
Below are some more pictures:
1) Kaio loves his jump & go... he does not jump that much in it yet but he loves the toys and looking around while in it!
2) Kaio and I with daffodils... it's supposed to be almost spring!
3) Smiling in his playpen and on his belly! (after he rolled over from laying on his belly - he has mastered this and is able to entertain himself by rolling over and playing with toys at different angles!)
4) Sitting in his bumbo....

Priceless..

Kaio's first Easter was cold!!! We had a very relaxed 4 days weekend..... It was Kaio's first snow experience - he loved looking at the white flocks coming down! We went for a walk in the park with his new hat:

Pictures from Brazil

Here is a link to the picture album Jason put together:

http://www.jasonandannelies.co.uk/Brasil%202008/index.html

Isn't he the cutest ever!!!!

Solids

Kaio is doing great on solids. We have gotten into a nice routine and he is eating 3 solid meals a day, 2 breasfeeds and 1 formula feed:
- 6am - Kaio wakes up and I breastfeed him in our bed - he falls back asleep after 5 - 10 min and I put him back to bed. he then sleeps until 7:30 - 8am. Yesterday morning I left him in bed with us, when he woke at 7:30 he was very shocked in seeing us next to him when he woke up, but after a few seconds he was all smiles! We don't want to make it a habit though.. we'll see if we can resist!
- 9am - expressed or formula milk, yogurt or cottage cheese with some 'baby cereal'. Sometimes I may mix in a banana (especially when using cottage cheese) to sweeten it up a bit
- noon - 3 - 4 oz of a savory meal - I get 2 frozen cubes of meat (chicken or beef) and one of vegetables (carrot, parsnips, spinach, courgette, swede or sweet potato), sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top of it and warm it slightly. He then gets dessert which is normally some yogurt (strawberry, raspberry or apricot) He also takes a few sips of prune juice in a little transition cup.
- 3pm - breastfeed. This will become a formula feed once he starts daycare.
- 6pm - 3 oz of savory meal (just like lunch) followed by a bigger dessert. (1/2 avocado with 1/2 a banana mixed with a bit of cottage cheese or yogurt)
- 8pm - night time formula. I just recently started giving him formula for this feed instead of breasfeed.
In between some meals I also give him a specially 'baggy' with a piece of fresh fruit in it. He sucks and bites on it and gets the juice out. He really likes that.
He is doing really well with eating and tends to eat better at home - less distraction. Around the last oz of his savory meal he starts grunting and making 'poopie' faces. It is hilarious! He is making space inside to eat more... he has been very regular! (average of 5 poops daily!) I love feeding him and he is improving by the day in swallowing.
On thursday I had lunch with some girls from my antenatal class, all babies started solids, but Kaio and I have been much more 'adventurous' in our feeding by trying different flavors and textures while they are still at giving plain carrots or sweet potatoes.

Good bye!

Grandma Anita and Aunt Carrie left today. Kaio loved having them stay with us. He love grandma's "mooshes" and tall Aunt Carrie holding him (he got a better view then being helf by mommy....)
Yesteday Grandma Anita treated us to a High tea. We ate for 2 hrs and Kaio behaved really well. We were at a nice hotel that had an aquarium and Kaio loved looking at the fish and the beautiful flower arrangements.
Kaio is now eating 3 solid meals a day:
- Breakfast at 8am - mommy's milk + cereal
- Lunch - noon - four ounces of pureed veggies and meat (ever day it is a mixture) followed by a little pot of yogurt
- dinner - 6pm - 3 ounces of pureed veggies and 4 ounces of fruit (his latest favourite - avocado with banana)
He is still being breasfed 3 times a day on top of his solids.
This week I changed the day I am going back to work - I am taking an additional 2 weeks off. I am really thorn about returning to work. I really want to but I don't want to miss any minute of Kaio's live! He is growing and changing so fast. I want to be next to him when he crawls for the first time, I want to be there to sooth him when he cries, I want to be there when he discoveres a new toy or learns a new 'trick'. But I also want to continue my career.

Weight check

Today we went to check Kaio's weight. He is now 24 weeks. He weighed in at 7.02kg (=15.5lbs). It's less then 0.5kg gain since his last check, 5 weeks ago. The health advisor said it was normal since we started solids. Because we are only starting very basic solids, the calorie compensation for the breast milk is not sufficient (he reduced the breast milk intake and has not been able to compensate with the new food)/ She did advice me to start on more proteins (yogurt, meats, etc) to start increasing the calorie intake. But overall he is doing really well; he is happy, hitting the developmental milestones, etc. so no needs to worry.
We met up with some of the moms and babies we met at our ante natal class. It was great. Kaio was looking around, checking everyone out, playing with different toys.... when I laid him on the floor with another baby he tried to grab her shirt and interact with her, when other babies would cry or make other noises, he would stare at them... it was adorable. I also gave him his afternoon fruit and everyone was impressed with the quantity and speed he ate!
I took a bath with Kaio tonight (me and him in the big bath). At first he did not seem very sure about it (after our first experience in the big bath, where I, accidentally, made him swallow some water) but after splashing some water and playing with him he was all smiles and loved it!!! It was great!

New pics

We have been so busy lately and I finally got around in downloading some pictures from Brazil and Kaio eating his 'meals'.
1) Kaio with his 'transition' cup. He holds it really well and manages to get it to his mouth alone!!!
2) Kaio in his high chair eating prune puree, one of his favorite!
3) "What are you looking at?! It's not my fault mommy can't aim it right in my mouth!"
4) Kaio's 1st pool experience....
5) Happy family in Brazil
6) Oma and Opa with kaio
7) Mommy and Kaio with the beautiful flowers

Family in town

Yesterday Grandma Anita and Aunt Carrie arrived. Kaio was all smiles when he saw them. We spent the afternoon showing off his new abilities (playing with toys, rolling over, making all kind of noises and eating solids) I gave him his first banana meal. He loved it!!! It was actually the first time he cried for more and I had to rush to the kitchen to make another plate of food... (which he also finished very promptly) Grandma and Carrie were very impressed!
Kaio is now sleeping very well for 5 days in a row (fingers crossed it is here to stay) He goes to bed at 8pm and only wakes up between 5 -6 am for a 10min feed and he then sleeps until 7:30 - 8am!!!! It's been so nice for us to sleep and he is also in such a great mood after a good night of sleep.
Introducing solids has been fun and exciting! (he is now on 2 meals a day) He has been accepting it really well and the food goes in really well (apart from the spinach and with a big preference for sweets) but it comes out (on the other end) quiet smelly and with a different consistency! All the joys of a growing little baby!!! (can't wait to get him potty trained!) I have also started giving him a prune 'tea' to avoid constipation. I have introduced it in a bottle that has a different top on it to help him with the transition to a cup. He loves to suck on it and holds it really well.

Another growth spurt

We arrived well in the UK. Kaio did very well throughout our 24hr journey home. He had to sleep on the floor of the bulkhead aisle since the two only baby cots on board were given to a set of twins coming from Australia. Daddy made a comfy bed (he used 7 blankets and 6 pillows to make a 'nest' for Kaio) and he slept really well.
The first night back at home, Kaio was a bit disoriented and woke up several times throughout the night. But yesterday, the second night at home, he slept from 8:30pm until 7:30am without waking up at all!!!!! He woke up well rested and with huge smiles for mommy and daddy. He has also been sleeping more throughout the day and eating a lot. It must be another growth spurt.
Vinny arrived today and Kaio follows him all over. He smiles when Vinny comes close and smells his hands and face. It is very cute to see how Kaio is responding much more to Vinny then 3 weeks ago!
Yesterday we bought a food processor to make Kaio's meals. This morning I made his first 'puree' with it. I boiled potatoes, parsnips and carrots. After I pureed it, I added some rice cereal and Kaio ate 150ml. I also have been giving him a bot of water with a splash of apple juice, so he gets used to drinking water out the bottle/cup.
Today I went by the nursery and started making the arrangements for him to start on April 1st. It is going to be very hard for me not to be with him every day, all day. But I am confident that the nursery will be great for him!