Travelling with the best!

Sleeping in the plane.  No tears!

Having a beer in the SUN!

with daddy

And another beer...

Moules au vin blanc

my baby <3

An obscene waffle.

View of Grand Place.

All in all it was an amazing trip.  Short and sweet!  Even though our luggage didn't arrive on time for me to be able to attend the 60th birthday of Jonas' uncle (the whole purpose of the trip), we had a great time.  We got to see family and enjoy a lot of what this beautiful city has to offer.  We even got to meet our friend Eva.
What I learned about this trip:

• Olivia is amazing traveling. She is super patient and as long as she has something to suck on, she will be happy through the flights. (Bottle feeding was more effective on take off and landing than breastfeeding)
• Always, ALWAYS, carry extra clothes in the hand luggage.  Especially if there is a party that is happening on the same date of the arrival. 
• Bring more than enough nappies and more than enough formula.  
• A blanket is always useful.
• Stick to your everyday routines as much as you can.  Even if you are away from home.

All in all, this was a great experience and our little cosmopolitan "pudding" (as her father calls her) was happy, smiling and charming everyone and didn't even realize she was in another country.

To the city of decadence...

Pierre Marcolini

As in tasty decadence!  We are off to Brussels this weekend.  I am so exited!  This will be our first real trip together.  

Our uncle is turning 60 and he will be celebrating it in Brussels, where he's been living and working for the past four years.  We've been there once before, for a very short time, but it was enough for it to win my heart.  And how could it not?  It is such a underrated city!  I didn't know what to expect then.  I went as a blank board, only to find a beautiful charming town, with the best beer, food and chocolate!  The whole place smells like chocolate and waffles.  It was really a charming place.  Too bad I didn't take any pictures!  Anyways, this time, I will have my camera with me and I will take lots to pictures to share.  

So this will be a weekend of decadence, with the best chocolate in the world, the best beer and great company.  A well deserved vacation for this mamma.

Just the thought of Pierre Marcolini washes away any anxiety I have about travelling in an airplane with a 5 month old!

This is where I live. This is my town

Kings of Convenience - Me in You from eirik bøe on Vimeo.

And who couldn't just love Kings of Convenience?
Have a beautiful day!

5 MONTHS!!!

 I can't believe it's been 5 months already.  I know each month that passes I start with sort of the same line, but I get amazed by all that we've been through.  There is nothing I can say that can describe exactly how I feel like, but LOVE is not a big and wide enough word.  Olivia makes sense.  She is whatever was missing.  She is ours, we made her, and she is a little person that thinks and smiles and reaches her arms for us.  She just is, and that is the biggest thing. 

Ferberizing.

I thought I would never, ever use such a method, but different babies require different things, so, here is another lesson learned on how things not always go as planned.
Yesterday we started applying the Ferber method on Olivia's sleep routine.  I cried as much as she did next to the door, but 25 minutes later, she was fast asleep, from 8pm to 7am this morning!!!!!!! I came to her room to pick her up an she was as happy as usual, so, we'll keep on trying it because Olivia is a happier baby when she's well rested and we are better parents when we have slept too.

Ps:  I tried this again today for her afternoon nap.  It took 15 minutes and is wasn't nearly as dramatic as the night before.  She cried a bit, whined a bit, but fell asleep on her own.  I am starting to like this Ferber guy!  

Solids.

 So we've officially started with solids.  She looooove's sweet potatoes!  For a week we experimented with a very "watery" mix of sweet potato, rice and oatmeal porridge and mommy-milk.  It went well for the whole week, she seemed as she couldn't get enough and got very upset when her 1-2 teaspoons where over.  Then, she got sick in the stomach during the weekend, so we thought it might have been the solids we were introducing.  She's OK now, but of course, us new parents were freaking out a little bit.  Anyways, I am very happy I have a daughter that likes to try new things and isn't afraid of new tastes.  I hope it stays that way!  

Do you have any recommendations for first solid foods for the kids? I would love to hear suggestions.