Leo goes for a BBQ, takes a nap

[Cue my Jeremy Clarkson voice] Tonight: we go to a BBQ, Kriss eats an italian sausage hotdog and Leo takes a nap...

"Soon I'll join you older kids up there!"

Joking aside, we had a great time at a BBQ organized by our friends Julie and Andrew on their rooftop, which despite the crazy DC heat was bearable thanks to a light breeze. Leo had a good time chilling next to the other babies (it's too much to say that he actually played with them), and then after a yummy bottle took a nice nap on the lounging chair.

If you don't have what you like, you like what you have...

P.S. If we ever think again that Leo is turning blonde we should look at the top picture and the baby above Leo - now that is blonde!

Leo chats over Skype with Nana Stamenka

"Ah, I see you've had a new haircut!"

The iPad is cool in many ways, but one of it's best uses is it's ability to bring people really closer together with Skype. And that is something Leo can really appreciate, as he tried to reach out to touch Nana Stamenka's face!

New pictures: Leo in Croatia

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Leo with his great-grandparents Maja and Slavko

Leo had a great time in Croatia. We started off in Zagreb where he met his aunt Nevena, great grandmother Maja and great grandfather Slavko.  He also met his auntie Dasa and his cousins Vanda and Bubac who are also expecting a baby soon. He was a charmer as usual but we chose to visit Zagreb on a few of the hottest days ever so we just couldn't wait to get to the seaside.

Strolling towards the beach

Once there, it felt like the vacation really began. The grandparents took turns watching Leo and so we had the chance to hit the beach on our own a few times.  We all got tan, including Leo who we tried to keep out of the sun as much as we could but he enjoyed his walks so much that we couldn't keep him locked up inside all day. He even put his toes in the Adriatic but didn't seem to like it much yet. We'll see next year!

Leo's not quite as fond of the ocean as he is of warm baths at home...

"Shoes? What shoes?"

Of course no vacation would be complete without a (mis) adventure, and this time it happened to us when we went into Krk (the town). Ignoring all the warnings of dark skies and dropping temperature (not to mention Davor telling us: "it will rain" :), we took Leo for a stroll on the small streets of the old city. Once the downpour began we had to rush for cover - one part of the group (w/ Leo) took refuge in a tiny cafe, which was more crowded than a NYC subway train, while the other hid in a store and looked as a river ran down the street...

"I love flying!"

"Who's a big boy?"

The sea, the good food, and the extra hands helped mommy and daddy relax and Leo seemed to be in a very good mood most of the time!  We literally saw him growing before our eyes. All of a sudden we had a little boy and not a baby anymore. He started being more interactive, grabbing noses and hair and earrings and anything that he could. He also became more cuddly and loved being kissed (Nana stamenka knows just the spot!). He giggled out loud when Babcia Lucyna played peekaboo with him and when Nono Davor threw him in the air (while the rest of us held our breath!).


Leo also met our neighbors in Punat, Zvonka and Darko, who gave him lots of nice presents, including a bear that sings in English and Italian. He will be adding one more language to his list! Ciao a tutti!

Leo: "Now it's my time to ticket you!"

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New pictures: Leo in France

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Working hard to steal Nana Stamenka's thunder

Where do we start? I guess let's go chronologically - just after arriving in Paris (and I mean just, like 3h later) we went to Nana Stamenka's goodbye party at UNESCO. Talk about about a deep dive for little Leo - straight away he was the center of attention, working hard to steal his grandma's thunder :)

Glamorous

The next day we went to Dieppe for the wedding of our friends Caro and Alex. It was, for the lack of a better word, exquisite - little church just a stone's throw from the ocean, beautiful French ceremony with a mix of gospel (!), reception on the grounds with some of the best champagne yours truly every had, the newlyweds having their first dance to Party Rock Anthem. The little guy was a bit overwhelmed by all this and gave his grandparents, who were taking care of him in the evenings, a hard time the first night, but by the second night all was good an he snoozed like, well, a little baby.

Back in Paris, Leo hang out with his great-grandma Mela and uncle Damjan, getting to know his family. He was especially fond of Damjan playing the guitar - we now know where we'll send him for music lessons! Of course Paris being Paris we could not do without some shopping and cafe-hopping, both of which the city is perfect for. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to do all the things we would have liked, but that's what happens when you want to be in three places over the course of one vacation. Hopefully next summer little Leo, who by then won't be so little anymore, will get a chance to spend more time in the city of love and crepes!

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New video: Leo and Tea have a chat on the plane

The little guy's become really rather chatty of late!

Back in DC!

"I'm really happy to be back!"

As they say all good things come to an end, and so it is true of our vacation - after a great and excitement-filled two and a half weeks we're back in DC. First impressions are that of exhaustion after an 18h trip, disappointment it's all over but also relief that the trip back went smoothly and, so far, it seems we did not leave anything on the plane/taxi! :)

After coming back home we wanted to crash immediately but we did not want to put Leo to sleep out of fear that it'd accentuate his jet-lag. In the end our exhaustion won over and we put Leo to sleep at 6:30pm (ourselves we were in bed by 8:30pm), but apart from a 3:00-3:30am awake period he slept pretty much until 6:30am. The only one who did not sleep was your's truly, but that may have something do to with the F1 race that was sitting on my Mac begging to be watched ;)

P.S. We flew back on the new "Super Jumbo" Airbus A380, but I have to say I was disappointed to find that it does not feel all that big, the economy-class seats must have been made deliberately to look like they're from the 70s and the only standout feature was... the water temperature regulation in the bathroom :)

Still having a ton of fun, but it's almost time to go back :(

Leo & Co. are still having a ton of fun in Punat, but unfortunately the time to go back is almost upon us... Tomorrow we'll go back to Zagreb and then on Sunday we'll fly back to DC via Paris. Not exactly psyched about the flight with connections, hopefully Leo will be the angel he's been over the last week and sleep nicely on the plane!

Leo gets his first taste of the sea in Croatia

Leo finally got his first taste of the sea, though at the tender age of 5 months it's not quite the "deep dive" you'd expect of the older kids. Still, the first time is always meaningful, plus by this time next year we expect him to be swimming circles around us so it's important he starts early! ;)

Leo enjoying quality time with Nana Stamenka

Leo loves playing peekaboo with Babcie Lucynka

Happy 5th Monthday Leo!

As our little Shrimp gets another month older, bigger (wiser?), we continue to enjoy our holidays in Croatia. It's been great so far, with warm (but not crazy warm) temperatures during the day, nice cool breeze at night, lots of wine, seafood and other favorites - in short, all-around paradise :) Leo's been really enjoying it too, loving the company of family and making new friends, while amusing us with new developments such as grabbing things with one hand, trying to crawl while on tummy time and generally being more attentive of his surroundings than ever before.

Anyway, back to the point: Happy 5th Monthday little big Leo!

Leo tries solid food... and kinda likes it :)

Leo has been showing all sorts of interest not only in our drinks, but also in the food we eat each day, so we finally decided to offer some to him. We got a jar of Carrot baby food (did not want to make it ourselves in case there was some hidden magic to making baby mulch :) and tried it on the little guy. He liked it... but then got tired after just one spoonful. We would have finished the jar for him (it expires pretty quickly), but unfortunately it tastes like... not much nothing at all :) Still, we'll keep trying and see how he likes other things like bananas etc!

Leo meets his great-grandparents in France and Croatia

Leo got to meet his great-grandparents this week: Pra-Baka Mela in Paris and Pra-Baka Maja / Pra-Deda Slavko in Zagreb. Unfortunately, Pra-Deda Slavko is recovering from a bruised hip after falling in a hospital, so Leo took a little trek with his Mama i Tata. Needless to say they all loved the little guy, leading to some unexpected tears :) Unfortunately he'll have to wait until Christmas to meet his other two great-grandmothers in Poland, but by then who knows, maybe he'll already run to meet them!

Leo's newfound love of glasses and "adult" drinks

Leo has a newfound interest in anything we drink - bottled water, water in a glass, beer, champagne... any liquid we put close to our mouthes he finds interesting. And not only that, once we tried offering him some he actually took it, though not having much experience more than half ended up on his bib! The solution? - today we got him a sippy-cup, theoretically it's "6+ months" but since he's showing so much interest we can't imagine it'll hurt.

All aboard for Zagreb!

About to leave Paris for Zagreb, all loaded up on the plan, Leo even got a shiny green tag :)

New pictures: Leo's 20th week

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Leo's 20th week was a great one. It started off a  bit rough, with Leo's first cold. But after some quality time with mommy and daddy and lots of kisses, Leo beat the bacteria out of his system and was as goo as new.


We had several walks and picnics in the park, trying to squeeze them in between thunderstorms and fireworks! Leo is also loving tummy time more and more which has been really fun.

Violet and Leo keep Cheryl busy and are getting to be so cute together. The week ended with preparations for our trip to Europe. Poor Leo could not imagine what a long trip he was in for! First Paris, then Dieppe, then Zagreb and finally the seaside - Punat!

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New video: Leo loves playing with Nono Davor

New video: Leo, Tea, Kriss and... Barbra Streisand

Just dancin' around, entertaining the baby and the camera :)

US, France, whatever... after a warm bath Leo will sleep like a baby anywhere!

Leo loves when Uncle Damjan plays the guitar!

New pictures: Leo's first plane trip

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Leo's first plane trip was great! Our flight left at 11 PM  which is later than Leo's usual bed time but he didn't seem to mind. He was excited by all the people, lights, and new experiences! He slept most of the flight in his little bassinet. Unfortunately Kriss and I could not sleep much. 

When we landed in Paris we waited for a very long time for his stroller to arrive.  After we got out of customs and were happily riding home looking forward to a nice long nap, we realized we forgot a bag with his medication and one bottle on the plane! And so we went back to the airport and after over an hour waiting in different lines, we finally gave up. Theoretically someone was going to physically look for our plane because their system was down so they couldn't locate it in the computers. Traveling with a baby definitely entails much more preparation and thinking than traveling alone. And with no sleep, the parents were not in the best shape to think about everything. But minor gripes aside the flight was much better than we expected, and we look forward to the rest of the trip!

P.S. Our first stop after the airport (after a shower) was UNESCO - more on Nana Stamenka's fabulous retirement party in the next post!

Leo is ready for his first Eurotrip!

"Being part-American I have to represent in Europe!"

And so the day has come, today we're finally going on our well-deserved vacation in France and Croatia! And no, before you ask, we're not yet fully ready or packed, but I've still got 3 hours to finish packing :)

"Mommy, don't forget about me!!!"

The joys of picnics in Logan Circle

When the weather is nice and warm (but not hot) it's great to go out and have yourself a nice picnic in Logan Circle, our neighborhood mini-park. The grass is nice and green, the birds chirping, you can pick up a salad from Sweetgreen just around the corner - perfection :)

Leo is more interested in his feet than the camera, which is a rarity given what a little Narcissus he is!

And if you're really adventurous, then you organize a Sunday brunch in the park - everyone contributes something yummy, you yourself bake some French Toast*, bring pre-made mimosas in orange juice cartons and we have ourselves a party!

"Well officer, at least I can assure you the baby bottle does not have any champagne mixed in!"

*thank you Ruti and Bryan for the recipes!

New pictures: Leo's 19th week

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"This looks yummy!"

This week we finally decided to take a risk and went out to a restaurant with Leo in the evening. And it turned out to be a big success - the food was great (Tea's been wanting to go to 'Posto' for a while) and Leo behaved himself until the very end, when Tata needed to step in and lull the tired baby to sleep.

This week we had another batch of visitors: Jon came in with a visit while in town at a conference, while Mrs Garbely come to DC all the way from the West Coast. Leo had a great time meeting them (as he usually does with new people!), especially when Mrs G kept kissing his feet sending the little into crazy laughter :)

Also this week Tea found an Ergo carrier on sale for half the price, so even though it's meant for babies a bit older, Kriss went and got it before someone else scooped it up! As you can see, although he was surprised at first, Leo found it to be very comfortable as did Tea, who found the other carriers to be taxing on her shoulders.

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Recently found pictures - Mother's and Father's day presents

In a first batch of pictures that we rediscovered we have Leo's messages to Mama and Tata for Mother's and Father's day. The little guy gets "A" for effort but only "B" for his mastery of the Serbo-Croatian and Polish languages :)

He also got the presents just right - Mama got a certificate for her favorite physical activity... hot stone massage at Tulsi Spa, while Kriss got a Tata-mug and a membership for the DC Road Runners club, which he's been loving!