Two more

Hallelujah!!! Finally two more teeth!!! One right next to the two in the bottom and a molar in the bottom as well!!! I didn't even know he's teething!!! No temperature, no fussiness, maybe some extra saliva but other than that just a generally good mood. I found out by feeling your gums every day in search of THE TOOTH. :) I'm so proud of you 'cause you're so strong and healthy.
So, at 17 months and 2 weeks total no of teeth: 8
Still a while to go 'till the mouth will be full!!! LOL

Little Blake

I know that we, as parents, and especially me, as a mom, a first time mom, we tend to see our kids as the BEST ones, the NOBODY is like you ones etc, which, generally is true, 'cause they are unique and so different, BUT, when most of the people around me tell me how smart, outgrown, unbelievable for his age Bryce is, I try to keep my grounds, look around and be realistic for what it's to come.
I know Bryce is special and I'm not saying it just because I'm his mom (trust me, I was born and raise in Romania, where we don't appreciate something just because that's the trend, you have to work at it), so even my little Bryce worked at it to impress me: first time when he started crawling at 5 1/2 months then developing skills and knowing what to do with things; he challenges himself every time we go to the park and takes on with no fear all the big, tall toys made for older kids, he puts the two and two together, makes connections, he talks a lot but still in his own language (which is cute).
So, that's how we get to the core of this story. You hear about those little toddlers who say all kind of things and you more or less believe it. That's until you meet one of them in person:
Yesterday, while we were playing in the sand this little cute, fair hair, blue eyes little girl comes to us and says:
"Hi"
Bryce looks at her and smiles while I answer back:
"Hi"
And then I ask her:
"What's your name?"
She says :
"Blake"
Although I completely understand the name, I just thought that maybe I just didn't get it so I looked at the nanny and she nods that's the name.
I continue my dialogue:
"How old are you? "Two"
She nods "No"
Then she says
"One - Seven"
I'm thinking to myself:
"17 months?? OMG, she's like fluent in English.
And then she confirmed it to me how fluent she was.
Perfect English in everything she told me or I asked her to tell me.
"Cup, sit, brown, fingers, red, spoon etc", I was just blown away.
Both of the parents were working, breastfed only the first 3 months and she was taking care by a nanny who barely spoke any English
Later that afternoon, I met this cute 8 years old boy who was fluent in English, French, Russian, Japanese, Spanish. Such a well spoken young man. I started speaking with his mom (a Russian) and asked her when he started talking being a bilingual kid. And she answered me " Later than the other kids. I thought I was doing something wrong". But she was not, as it turned out, the boy is absolutely fluent in 5 languages. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!
So, when I got to be all by myself and reflect a little bit I kind of realized that all kids are different and so unique. That, you, as a parent, are here to guide them and support them but that there are so many things inside of them that will concur to whomever he will be in life.
And as long as your feet are deep in the ground and you look around and recognize the best in others, you will be able to channel his goals to greater achievements.

Foodo-maniac

I don't want to jinx it but for the last 4 days or so he has a completely attitude towards food. It's like he had a revelation: I know what food means and what it is for.
He asks me for food by pointing towards the pantry. And I don't have to give him necessarily something from the pantry, I generally open the fridge and hand him some fruits and he's super, uber duper happy. Then, when I tell him we're preparing to have breakfast or lunch, a smile appears on his face and he's heading towards the sink to wash his hands preparing for the meal. In the morning, he's devouring all the oatmeal plus some fruits. When I ask him if he wants some more, he now shakes his head for yes. He doesn't know to do it for "no" yet, he just cleans his hands for the sign of "gata"= all done.
He's kind of done with his straw cup and loves, loves to drink from his little cup. Plus spoon and fork, of course. The watermelon is so delicious when served with the fork.:)
Like probably many other toddlers, he still does not love vegetables. He eats them though from all the soups I make for him (especially the carrots).
Blueberries remain his top choice. He could eat them forever. He likes the yogurt but not too much the cheese. He likes chicken, beef and salmon.
Hmmm...I hope this food mania lasts for longer.

Funky Gavroche

I know this blog is all about you and your future brothers and/or sisters.
But, just in case this little project will develop into something bigger or will just stay as little as it is now, I just thought would be a good thing to record it here. After all, you were and are my inspiration. :)
So, why Funky Gavroche ? Well, "funky" because I love to do cooky and chic styles, I love to dress you a bit unconventional and out of the ordinary. Gavroche - because, just to keep it simple, is for "the brave, little tots" out there.
The name of the website is in place. It's not ready, papa is working on it. Plus grand ma' will help with the logo, taking some nice picture and grand pa' will do the music.
Meanwhile, we've ordered the labels, and I'm still working in finishing up the designs. So far, I have 3 dresses, one skirt, 2 vests. I'm planing in starting with a 10-12 pieces mini-collection.
The plan is to launch a little on line boutique somewhere at the beginning of March and maybe to go into some stores as well.
As I mentioned before I don't know how this will evolve. But what I know for sure is that I do what I do with a lot of passion and so much love.
I will keep you posted as I go.
Below, a sneak peek into my collection:

Finding solutions

It's interesting to watch how his little brain is at work. He's like a little engine during day time, working and absorbing and working some more.
What I particularly admire at this point is his ability of coming out with solutions to solve problems:
- I remember this one: we have a little trunk by the wall; he sometimes likes to climb on it but other times he just likes to drop little books or pens behind it; after that, he wants to have them back so, instead of calling for my help, he takes a toy with a long handle and tries to shovel it behind and rescue the books fallen in there; Sometimes, the handle is too big to fit-LOL-but the intention counts.

Edit: another example: buni Myrna gave him a little bottle and some little fish crackers. He looked at every fish and put every each of them in the bottle, with the slimmest part facing down.

Changing schedule in 2011

First of all, the most pleasant one:
- he wakes up around 7:00 am in the morning and plays in the crib by himself for another 30 minutes or so, which gives us a little bit more time in bed in the morning (Sweet)
Second of all:
- less milk at night - from 400 ml to 500 ml, a drop of 250 ml from the previous 750 ml a night;
- only 2 little milk bottles a day (200 ml before his morning nap and another 200 ml for the afternoon nap)
Other than that, active and healthy all day long. :)

Farewell 2010-Welcome 2011

It's really unbelievable that a whole year went by.....just like this!!!
Lots of stuff happened in 2010, let's highlight some of that:
- papa's double nomination for Outstanding VFX at the VFX Awards and Emmy's (way to go papa, we love you 'cause you're so talented and hardworking)
- lots of traveling: Santa Maria, Solveng, Sofia (Bulgaria), Torch Lake (Michigan), Catalina Island, Ottawa, Montreal;
- my mom visited for the first time;
- Bryce's first time at Disneyland and the Wild Animal Park;
Fot the end of the year, we went to Northern California, Los Gatos, to celebrate New Year with buni Myrna and Dan, Lauren, Curt and Jake plus the doggies.

Farewell 2010 -welcome 2011!!!