10 month's routine

7:00 am (approx) - waking up
8:00 am (approx) - breakfast ( it normally consists in fruits, yogurt, cereals, toast w/ different spreads)
10:00 am (approx) - morning nap (somewhere from 45 min to 1 hour, maybe even more)
12:30 pm (approx) - lunch ( all cooked, family made and all family eaten food- no more exceptions except not too salty);
3:00 pm (approx) - afternoon nap ( usually more than 1 hour)
7:00 pm (diner) - either fruits or some other light family diner;
10:00 pm - off to bed for the night sleep ( some 2 waking ups during night time for feeding purposes)

In between naps and meals, just a whole world to discover: playing in doors and out doors and having fun.

Da-da

Tonight, for the first time. Very clear, pointing towards his daddy. :) Imagine the joy in his father's eyes and heart!

Thought of the day

I'm amazed by how much my baby is progressing not only from week to week but from day to day.

Little shoes for little feet

I remember I've had discussion some time ago with a very good and dear friend of mine from Romania, whose little girl is one month younger than my son. At a certain point, we came across the subject of little shoes and as I was showing her the kind of shoes I was buying for Bryce, she became a bit amazed by their softness and told me how doctors in Romania would advise moms to buy very stiff shoes for the little feet.
I've quickly googled some article where the contrary was stated and yesterday, while I was reading my amazing Baby Book by Dr. Sears, here is what I found:

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A BABY SHOE
By Dr. Sears

The Sole. As a general guide, the earlier the stage of walking, the thinner and most flexible the sole should be. Before buying a shoe, bend it in your hand to test its flexibility. Then watch your baby walk. The shoe should bend at the ball of the foot as your baby takes each step. Whether to get rubber soles or leather shoes is a matter of which is the most flexible. The rubber soles on some snickers are thicker and stiffer than leather soles. Also, rubber soles tend to be more grounded, whereas the flatter leather soles tend to provide more stability.  Avoid stiff shoes for young feet.  If you have difficulty bending the shoe in your hand, leave it in the shoe store.  Your baby will have even more difficulty bending the stiff show with his feet.  Stiff soles may catch on the walking surface, causing a nasty fall.

The Counter (Back of the shoe).  To ensure proper fit, the counter should be firm.  Try this test. Squeeze the counter between your thumb and forefinger.  If it feels too soft, it will weaken with wear, causing the shoe to slip off.

The Heel.  Beginning with your baby's first shoe, a slight heel is advisable to help prevent dangerous backward falls.

The Top and Sides.  The throat of the shoe (the area across the top of the shoe just below the laces) and the sides should crease easily when your baby takes a step.  If they don't, it means your baby's footwear is not flexible enough, and the foot can't bend naturally while baby walks.

Construction.  Stick with natural materials - leather or canvas - that breathes, letting air get to babies perspiring feet.  Avoid synthetic materials, such as vinyl, which don't breathe.

Selecting a good shoe fitter is one of the most important steps in buying your baby's shoes.  A qualified shoe fitter measures both feet while baby is standing, looking for flexibility at the ball of the foot while baby walks, and checks for toe room and heel slippage.  And don't forget to consult the walker.  Let baby test stride the new shoes around the store.

Almost walking

I've decided to write a post about this stage and not wait until he will really walk all by himself just because there are some interesting things that happen with him that are worth talking about or rather more, writing about.:)
From the very first months, mobility wise, he was kind of precocious baby, by 5 months he was basically crawling so his development took us by surprise.:)
As the mobility develops, Bryce also displays some very strong character features: perseverance, willfulness, stubbornness.:)
Now, applying these character features to the subject of walking, these are the results:
-he never liked the walker (he felt kinda of constraint in it);
-on the other hand, he's kinda of enjoying the pre-walker as he will just pick it up and start walking with it throughout the house;
-when it comes to us helping him walking, there are 2 situations:
        a) he loves it (especially when me and my hubby are by his sides)-he always enjoys when both of us are playing and entertaining him;
         b) he hates it (there are moments when he seems to say " I will figure this walking all by myself so, please, leave me alone.":)
- he stands with no support for about 10-15 sec;
So far, we really applied a very indulging and laid back kind of parenting. We didn't want to impose or force anything on him:
-that's one of the reasons I chose BLW, I wanted to give him the freedom to choose how much and what he would eat;
- since he became mobile, he pretty much wondered around the house how much he liked it and wherever he liked (there are no gates, nothing to make him feel closed or confined) and under our "clin d'oeil" supervision he just has the freedom to discover a whole new world;
- we never let him cry at night just to get him used to sleep through the night without our help, we just thought it was not natural and if he woke up that would mean he would need some sort of comfort from us or just the milk ( he will eventually sleep through the night, I'm pretty sure about it);
It is very interesting just to watch him develop and going through all these milestones but further more these notes will be a great help and information for his future siblings.

Wild animal park

One of the many things I love about living in LA is that, besides being a very family friendly and oriented city it also has lots of places to go with your little ones where entertainment meets knowledge.
After Disneyland which was such a fun and colorful experience, last Saturday we took our backpacks and put on our hats to land into another adventure: San Diego Wild Animal Park.
The idea behind it is that animals don't live behind bars but basically they provide for them bigger spaces and more freedom. For visitors, it is a neat experience too, as they get to see these animals more in their habitat. The park also provides a petting area where you can basically go in and become friends with the deers or get some honey and become a buddy with the parakeets.
It was very interesting to see Bryce's reaction. First time for him when he saw live animals (except the grand parents dog, of course) and a bunch of them and they were big and weird, too.:)
He was very, very amazed by the close encounters with the deer. Actually he loved to pet them. He also liked the parakeets and he was fascinated by their colors and feathers.
The other nice thing about this park was that they had a nice ride that would take you throughout the whole area and give you the chance to see some unbelievable animals and birds like the white and black rhino, Flamingo birds, pelicans, African vultures, giraffes, gazelles, big lions on top of abandoned cars, cheetah to name just a few.
All in all, if I would have to make a comparison between the two parks and what Bryce liked most, I can totally say that he just LOVED Disneyland there's just no doubt about it. I think that the Wild Animal Park is just a place that he will enjoy a lot when he will be a little bit older and will understand more about its habitants. :)
On the same note, Sunday, we went and visited the Griffith Observatory. What an unbelievable place and again such a great source of information and knowledge for when he is a little bit older. Beautiful sunset and you're just left with the feeling that we are so small in this Universe and we have so many things to learn throughout our lives.

More pictures here.

Dancing King

It is not the first time we've seen him very interested in music and dancing his but off on some rhythms. But  in this video, he's just making a perfect duo with his brilliant father. Love them both.

BLW - 4th month

The 4th month of BLW was by far the best one . It was like the revelation month as he suddenly would eat foods because he would understand what foods meant. And I truly believe he does. He's definitely into more cooked foods and flavors. He really enjoys flavors and I didn't hold back on anything. Having my mom with us, I've also introduced him to a lot of the Romanian traditional foods. So, this month, he tried: stuffed bell peppers (ardei umpluti), meat balls sour soup (ciorba de perisoare), chicken soup( supita de pui cu galuste), beef sour soup (ciorba de vacuta), cooked cababge (varza calita),moussaka (musca de cartofi), pizza, pasta with chicken, stake, carne asada, chicken wings to name just a few. 

He still loves the fruits especially the blueberries and grapes but generally all kind of fresh fruits and of course some vegetables.

We have a little video of this month. So, enjoy it!!!

10 months check-up

Weight: 20.1 pounds ( aprox 9,11 kg)

Height : 31" ( aprox 78,7 cm)

Bryce's first Disneyland adventure

9 months 3 weeks and one day. That's how old Bryce was when we took him to his first Disneyland's adventure.
Impressions:
- very cool.:)
- very excited;
- very interested;
- very happy;
- very aware;
On a short note: we got there around 11:00 am. He just woke up from his morning nap, ready to see this marvelous world. We walked around, got in some small, cute rides. He was so excited, he just didn't know where to look first. Around 1:00 pm we sat down and grab some lunch (I made a separate lunch box for him when we left the house with bananas and cereals) but I also gave him some french fries and tomatoes.:)
After lunch, he fell asleep and we launched ourselves into the space: space rides and so much thrill.
In all this time Bryce just hang up with grand ma' Rica. We got back and head up for some more adventures like : "It's a small world" ride, the "Fairy tale world" ride, "Alice in Wonderland" ride, The Mickey' world  "The Dumbo" ride, "the Jungle" ride and "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride.
Around 7:00 pm just in the middle of the "Pirates" ride, he finally fell asleep. We grabbed a little diner and headed back home.
What an adventure!!! And so much fun!! And I was so happy to see him so thrilled and interested in everything that happened around him. He didn't seem bored not for one minute. He didn't cry or fuss for anything!!! It was just a total SUCCESS!!!

Looking forward to the next one!!! Most likely next year!!!

Here are some more pictures to see.

Ma-ma

How is to wake up in the morning and hear your baby saying "ma-ma" for the first time????
PRICELESS!!!

Mommy's little helper

Whoever says that babies are making a lot of mess, you didn't meet my baby. He's such a helper, sorting the clothes for mommy to wash. :)

2nd Tooth

It's there. Very shy. But it's there, next to the first one. Down, in front. So far, we didn't have that much trouble with teething. Minor stuff. No temperature, no lost appetite. So we hope it will keep going like this.

Mr. Personality with capital P

This is my first baby, I know. So, I'm sure that probably most of the moms that read this post and have more than 1 kid will tell me that is nothing new but....boy oh boy...I'm just amazed that with every day it goes by his personality and his way of expressing himself become bigger and bigger.
For one:
- he is very, very annoyed every time he is not allowed to do something (ex: play with the buttons of the oven as he can totally reach them-lol, or when he opens the door of the shower and tries to go inside etc)
- he is also very, very annoyed when he can not reach something ( ex: my laptop that sits on the coffee table, my camera or blackberry etc)
- he is very perseverant ( he doesn't give up when he wants to accomplish something) - ex. : to open the door of the pantry or to reach for something that fell under the couch)
- he points to things whenever he is interested in them;
- he makes it very clear every time he doesn't want to eat solids ( he starts to throw them on the floor and takes off his bib);
- he's handing you things ( ex. my slipper to put it back on my foot);
- he's imitating signs and some of the sounds we are making;
- when he's doing something "wrong" he looks at you, acknowledges it and then continues with no regrets; :)
I just look at him amazed by this whole attitude and realize that this is just the beginning. I know for sure that the challenges of raising him and teaching him good manners are only one mile away.:)

Bryce and the swimming pool

The summer is here; not that we ever have winter BUT the real summer is here so all the J family and buni Rica went in the backyard and had fun in the swimming pool.
Bryce was just ecstatic. I knew he would love the water. And he did. Very hard to take him out of it.
Just watch this: