A few of the best from MONTH 2

Being presented at church...Our little blessing from GOD

Silly little bug! :D

Like father, like son!

Smiley boy!

And now 2 months...

A few of the best from MONTH 1

Here is a small collection from MONTH 1...enjoy!

The day after he was born- sooo tiny! :D

Already home...and soooo gorgeous!


Supporting Brasil...tongue out at the ref!

Three Lions...

With Doggy

1 Month ALREADY!

Our Little English Boy!

Our little English Boy!

We finally decided to go ahead and register him at the British Consulate and got his British birth certificate and passport!!

Just completed his 4th month

Rafael has just completed his 4th month of life and is changing so much every day. He talks non-stop, laughs, giggles, smiles, complains when he doesn't like something and already knows who is who...if someone who he doesn't know is holding him he will give me a look to make sure that I am not going to leave him alone...it is amazing how they already know. He also loves to see his Daddy when he gets home from work!! At the beginning of 4 months he began to sit up (obviously with support) but falls to the sides...however he has been perfecting it and is getting a lot firmer, not long until he is sitting by himself! He still loves to stand up and jump. He loves watching the tv, especially discovery kids and also listening to music!! He is sleeping right through the night from 21:30 to 6:00/30, wakes up to feed and then back to sleep until around 9:00...fantastic little boy! He continues to love his baths and we have already found somewhere to start his swimming lessons when he is 6 months...the summer is coming and I am sure he will love it! At the end of August we had Grandpa's birthday party and of course there was a nice cake and we sang happy birthday. At his 3 month weigh-in he was weighing 5,685kgs and measuring 61cms...today he had his 4 month checkup and was weighing 6,565 and measuring 63cms, so the Dr was very pleased with his development! For the past few weeks he has been perfecting his control of his hands and already take his dummy out and throws it or passes it from one hand to the other. Just after his 3 months his teeth are starting to move under the gums, so EVERYTHING goes into his mouth and he dribbles all the time...poor thing, they must annoy him, because his gums are really red and sore, but he hardly complains!! Great Nana is arriving in two weeks and bringing a supply of teething bonjela...YEAH FOR GREAT NANA! We had a few weeks where Rafael was having problems with constipation so he has now started to drink orange juice with papaya...he makes a really nice mess and his initial reaction was funny, because he hadn't had anything but milk for the first three months, but he is used to it now and enjoys having his juice, especially on the really hot days. Rafael also went to first wedding and was very good...didn't cry once and looked very smart!! On Sunday night we took him to his first football game at the Maracanã stadium to watch Flamengo play! He was even filmed by a tv station and was the centre of attention!!!
Great Nana, Great Auntie Barbie and cousin Emily are all coming in a couple of weeks to meet Rafael and we are sooo excited. We are going to fly to the north of Brasil and spend just over a week there with them and then a week in Rio. Rafael will be going to the beach for the first time and also the swimming pool...so I am sure that will be a lot of fun and I will be sure to put up photos!!! Anyway, now I have got this blog going I hope to update it more often and put up some photos!!

Into his 3rd month

Ok, so...Rafael is now in his 3rd month and we have just had his two month checkup and he is now weighing 5,005kgs and measuring 57cms. He is gaining perfect
weight and growing exactly what is expected, so we are very pleased! Unfortunately he was under the weather for a couple of days having a slight temperature
and being somewhat grumpy. He must have got a bit of a cold, but seems to be better now. The Dr prescribed some medicine and also some Vitamin C and so he
should be 100% in no time.
Thankfully his colic has improved, which apparently is normal...it should disappear altogether at around 3 months, and also the Gripe Water that
Paulo Joaquim and Dora brought from the UK has helped lots...I wish they sold it here in Brasil (Thank you PJ and Dora). The Dr was very pleased with
how Rafael is already so strong trying to hold his head up and also kicking his legs and trying to jump up and down! If you hold him standing up he will
jump and jump on your lap (although be warned the jumping may make him sick!) hahahaha! He is very good when we visit the Dr and doesn`t cry when he is
undressed and prodded and poked at! I am attaching a photo taken at the appointment showing his 2 month weigh in!
As I mentioned last month he continues to be a really smiley boy, and loves having conversations...the more you talk with him the more smiles and giggles
you`ll get! The vibrating chair and activity mat (courtesy of Fisher Price) continue to be his favourite toys and more than ever he is paying attenion
to the flashing lights and moving animals and also the music- his mobile is also a great help at night when he is lying in his cot! He continues to sleep
through the night and is overall a very easy and content baby! He loves going out for walks in his pram and falls
asleep - how, I will never know because the pavements in Rio are not known for being so smooth! They are certainly
not made for prams, but it doesn`t seem to bother him! We had a very quick 3 month party as we were rushing out to my godson, Daniel's 6th birthday party.
We spend most of our weekend with Rafael at Nana and Grandpa's new house in Guapimirim and so he is being spoilt rotten by my parents who adore spending
time with him.

The arrival of our baby boy- Rafael William

Hi Everyone,

A friend of mine sends an email once a month with an update of her little one, and so I thought it would be nice to do the same and share our experiences and memorable moments with friends and family. Since I didn’t do one at 1 month this one will count for the first 2 months of his life!

Rafael William Torres Bueno was born on Friday, May 22 (2 weeks early) at 14:06 at Casa de Saude Laranjeiras (Perinatal). It was a normal birth and relatively quick (although I would not say painless). He was born weighing 3,095kgs and measuring 46cms (although later we were told that it was probably more like 48cms). Those of you who know my mum will know that she works travelling around Brasil for a few months every year. On May 22nd she landed in Rio at 6:30am after finishing her group, at 7:00am I called her to ask her what contractions felt like…7:30 my water broke and we were all go to get to the hospital (totally not ready…I thought I still had 2 weeks to make the final arrangements)!! God is soooo good, because this was a moment that I wanted to share with my mum and I still can`t believe how it happened the very day she was back in Rio!

Saturday evening we were back home with our new arrival and our first night alone with him. The night was certainly memorable…we went to sleep at 5am…after changing 4 dirty nappies and trying to understand each new cry! Mum and Dad arrived the next day and gave us a couple of hours rest…they are more than a blessing!

At 2 weeks Rafael had his first Dr.’s appointment and was weighing 3,075kgs (babies lose weight before they start to gain it) and measuring 50cms. That night he choked and stopped breathing for 30 seconds, which seemed like an eternity!! It was the longest 30 seconds of my life and I cried for 2 hours afterwards. It was a very emotional moment, but thank God he is fine and it was only a fright! As I am sure everyone knows newborn babies just sleep, eat, poo, puke, cry in loop,so for the first month this was pretty much the routine! At 3 weeks Rafael went to Guapimirim (where my parents bought a new house to be closer) and since then has been almost every week and he loves it because Nana and Grandpa spoil him rotten! Unfortuntely little Rafael suffers from colic, nothing out of the usual and his daily exercises help lots. At his 1 month checkup our little package was not so little…he was weighing 4,140kgs and measuring 55cms!!!! He had put on over 1 kilo…we were very impressed! He is a very strong little boy and loves to kick his legs and try and hold his head.

At around 5 weeks Rafael started to smile…they say it is involuntary, but I have to disagree!! Rafael smiles when you talk to him and he already recognises my voice, which is priceless! He LOVES his vibrating chair (thank you Fisher Price) and it gives me time to get things done around the house (washing, cooking etc)- (I have a cleaner one day a week to help me out). Over the past 2 weeks he has discovered his hands and is starting to suck hand, fingers, thumbs, or anything that he can get close to his mouth! He is smiling more and more every day and sometimes you can even get a giggle if you are very lucky! He has also started making cooing noises and loves it when you talk to him! He is a very easy baby and will only complain when he has colic, which has improved significantly over the past couple of weeks! He is very stubborn (just like me) and will make it very clear to you when he doesn`t like something…he makes a grunting noise until you figure out what he doesn`t like! hahaha! He also loves watching the TV, and giggled quite a bit last week when he watched Dr. Seuss -The Cat in the Hat! It was hilarious to watch his concentration! He is also starting to enjoy both time and loves to stretch out his legs against the inflatable duck bath that we have in Guapimirim. This past week he has started to sleep through the night…which is AMAZING!! He will go to bed around 22:00 (after having his evening bath) and around 23:20 I feed him whilst he is still sleeping and then he`ll sleep right through until around 6:30/7:30!!! Yesterday he had his 2 month party and it was lovely to have Great Uncle Paulo Joaquim and Great Auntie Dora who are in Rio on holiday from London, Nana and Grandpa and Great Uncle Paulo Augusto and Auntie Fernanda celebrate with us! On Monday he is going to have his 2 month check up, so I will let you all know weight/measurements next time!!

Thank you to all our friends and family for their prayers, well wishes and visits! We are truly blessed and are enjoying every minute with our little baby boy!!

Lots of Love,

Jess, Giulliano and Rafael