Videos

I'm pretty sure I also said I would never put videos of my kid up, but, hey, I think these 2 are pretty adorable. The second is about a week or 2 ago (when he wasn't sick!) and the other is from last night.

6 months ago...

I was told that they were getting the delivery room ready. An hour later our (then) little Mateo joined us and made us a little family.

Where has time gone? 6 months sounds so old, but thankfully he is still a precious baby who looks often like an angel.

I wanted to have him a half birthday party, but did not really think about it until Friday. Maybe I'll still come up with something.

Mateo is a SUPER happy, smiley baby. And that is not just a biased mama saying it. Everyone says it. I am so thankful! He is a pleasure to be around and is always making us smile with his smiles.

He's a big boy. The last time I weighed him he was right at 20 lbs. He wears size 9m-1year. His BIG accomplishment (LOL) is that he has 8 teeth. They just keep coming! I think this helps his learning to eat big-boy food. He seems to enjoy the sweeter stuff more than broccoli or grean beans. Go figure.

His hair is starting to come in and I think it makes his head look like a skunk. He has a line down his head of where it is growing.

He has beautiful brown eyes with equally gorgeous eyelashes. Right now his face is pretty scratch-free. Yay! I think we figured out how to deal with his eczema and to keep his nails SHORT.

I am amazed at how much he can now 'play.' I set up his foam tiles with toys and a play mat and he is very content to play there. He reaches for all the toys and does a series of rolls, scoots and turns to get what he wants. He knows how to pull his vibrating toy and to hit others to make music. Right now he is fascinated with his hands. It is so funny to watch him watch them. Any fabric makes him happy. I give him his burp rag or my scarf and he twirls it around, rubs it on his face, EATS it. *as I'm typing he is next to me with his shirt*

His sleeping habits should probably not be written today. It was another rough night, but thankfully not as rough as Saturday night, which I deamed the most annoying night of his life. He was awake 6x between midnight and 7. It is frustrating because I know he CAN sleep through. He did on both trips and a few nights here. Hopefully by 7 months we'll have something more positive to write about this topic.

What do I eat?

I am pretty sure I swore I would never put a video of my child eating, but whatever. This humble pie I can swallow. I know my family likes to see what is happening in the little guy's life and food is a bit part of it! And that is also why I have a separate baby blog, for those not interested in these little details of life.

After being up 5x in one night, I was ready to try anything, so I had a few samples of baby food, so I gave him carrots and that night he slept through! Since then we are convinced that even a little bit of 'solid' food is helping him sleep better. He can go anywhere from 5-10 hours without a feeding. Yes, oh, yes!

Why do I start with carrots and not cereal? Because that is what they do here. I never thought a thing about it and it worked, so I'm happy. I have now added apples and bananas. I bought pears to introduce this week, but mostly he has veggies.

http://www.babycenter.com/404_which-should-i-introduce-to-my-baby-first-vegetables-or-frui_1417817.bc

http://www.babycenter.com/404_is-it-true-that-its-best-to-introduce-babies-to-vegetables-f_10323719.bc

I plan to make my own baby food. So far what I have made is acceptable to Mateo. I use my Beaba Babycook (on loan from my SIL) and steam up those veggies or fruit, then blend them and put them in ice cube trays, then store the cubes in a container.

Bumbo Disaapointment

I had heard great reviews about the Bumbo chair, so I wanted to try it out. I was happy that I found it 2nd hand (in my choice color, turquoise) for only 15 euros, instead of buying it new for 50. I later saw it for 10 euros WITH the table, anywho...

I was excited for it and had some adorable photos of my little man it in the first time he tried it, but his neck was not strong enough. By the time his neck was strong enough, he was too big for it. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I had to really squish his legs in to get him in and he just did not seem comfortable. I decided it is probably because he is pretty big for his age, that it did not work out for us.

Anyone else have experience with this? Here is my favorite picture of him in it :) Maybe it was worth buying just for the photo?

5 months-here and gone

Someone had their month-day when we were on vacation. Thankfully I had his outfit with (2nd to the last time he wore it *sniff*) and I forgot his friend in Washington, so mom brought it out with her. If I remember correctly he had 4 teeth when this photo was taken (now he has 7!) He weighed 9 kilos and was 70 cm when we got back, so that equals 19.84 lbs and 27.56 in.

As you can see, Mateo gave himself a nasty owie. Auntie, Grandma and Great-Grandma were babysitting him and he majorly scratched himself in his sleep. It took about a week to heal, but he has no scar!

The beginning of December Mateo had his first try of 'real' food and it was a success! He slept through for the first time in Belgium that day. Progress! He slept really well the 2nd America trip as well, which his mommy and daddy were very thankful for.

Mateo makes us smile all the time. He is a ham and thinks everything is funny. Of course we like to interpret his actions to show had 'advanced' he is :P We are sure we can hear him saying words. He can roll over now and is learning how to sit up. He really can play now, which is nice, but we definatly have to keep an eye on him. No more leaving him on the bed or couch.

Off we go again...

*Mateo more facinated with the paper, than the gifts*

Below *Someone asked if the bear is special. Yes! It is, it was given to me from my grandpa for MY first Christmas.*

I just finished unpacking and here I need to do it again (as in NOW, what am I doing on here?!?!). BUT I am NOT complaining. This time we are taking Mateo to meet an oma, great-great uncle, his only great-great-grandparent, cousins of my mom's I've never met, plus he gets to see grandma and auntie again! What a spoiled guy.

Today I was in amazement at how much he is changing. I know it sounds cliche, but he is growing so fast! Today I stuck him on his play mat and in a few minutes he was off of it by scooting, rolling and pushing. I kind of thought I was silly when I set up the play corner last week, but it was just in time! I would prefer he roll around on the foam tiles, than on the hard, cold ones.

He is a very

active guy, who is starting to talk all the time. So many happy gurgles and conversations. He laughs and smiles at everyone, really the charmer.

His 3rd tooth came in on his cousin's birthday last week; I think #4 will be here soon and #5 not long after!

Finally this month we will have something new to write on his calendar for the "Food" line. He started with carrots :) Yes, a healthy little fellow.

I have said it before, but I know about baby stuff in 'Belgian' and 'Dutch' terms. Here they start the babies on vegatable puree between 4 and 6 months. Eventually they add in fruits or cereals. My conclusion of why they introduce veggies here first is 'worst first.' Also I have heard that a lot of the baby food in America has unhealthy addatives (salt, sugar, lalala), but here it seems healthier, so I think that is why they are easier about starting them earlier. *Doesn't he seem to be enjoying them?*

I had planned to EBF till 6 months, but after having 2 nights of him up 5x to

eat, I wanted to try AND the first day he had carrots was the first day he slept through (in Belgium, in America he figured it out without the carrots). I don't know if it was coincidence, but every day he has had carrots, he has slept like 5-8 hours! A few days were too busy to spend the time to give them (wow, that sounds so selfish of me!)

I am going to try to make my own baby food. It seems easy enough with this babycook (steams and blends veggies). I am borrowing in from my SIL (story of my life).

*I just love this, yesterday I looked and he had fallen asleep holding on to his toy. BTW, these are his Baby's First Christmas pajamas. He has worn them since Thanksgiving, because I was afraid they wouldn't fit at Christmas. They are 9m.

4 months

Looks who turned 4 months in America! Thankfully the monkey was with us for some fun shots. I will try to do the calendar ones tomorrow. Monkey was accidentally left, but he will be returned in time for 5 month photos.

This was a month full of firsts for our little guy! Before our long journey, he ended up going to the doctor again for an ear infection. We go on Thursday for his check-up and shots. I think he weighs 20 lbs and is 68 cm. He is wearing 6-9M.

Mateo really changed on our trip. He is became more talkative and interactive. His first tooth popped out October 31 and his 2nd November 4. His hair started to grow and he is almost rolling over.