Motherhood, Italy, and Life

Flashback

2012-02-07T17:38:00.005+01:00

Audrey and I were going through some video clips of when she was young. We watched this one together three times, because she found it very funny. It reminded me how small she was, full of drool, and absolutely sweet (still is sweet!).

I may post more of these, as there are quite a few cute ones I didn't post, because at the time I wasn't sure how to post media.

Aversion

2012-02-04T22:06:00.001+01:00

The last three days Audrey has not taken her bottle. At first it started out by appearing that it was hurting her gums, and I do think that this is the primary cause. However, today she got angry at her bottle. She asked for it as usual after her bath, so I prepared her a very little bit, and she took one look at the bottle and pushed it away angrily. She then turns to it again apologetically, but then gets angry at it.

I'm happy this love-hate thing she has going on isn't toward breastfeeding. She has actually preferred this even more lately--wanting it more often.

I am sure it has to do with the new teeth coming in. She's been going through some fussy times, the poor thing. (And poor mom.)

On another note: Happy February :).

"Helping mom."

She looks angelic when she sleeps ;).

She sleeps on my lap so I can work. She still hasn't gotten down

In her toy bag ... Papa put her there :p.

Winter fun, part 4 (The iPhone version)

2012-01-29T10:25:00.004+01:00

I finally got the pictures off my mom's iPhone. She had some great shots. So I will take you through our mountain vacation once again, this time through my mom's eyes :).

Morning glory!

Alisa heading out to one of her morning snowboard lessons.

We three ...

Pretty mom.

First time Audrey wore her sunglasses. She had the appropriate cool stare.

Here are a few pictures my mom took while we were in the cable car going up to Snow Park.

Mr. Suave and his snowboard--riding in style :).

So handsome ... sigh :).

"You talkin' to me?"

It was breathtaking. The photos are beautiful, but they don't do it justice.

I love this picture of her.

And this picture of us. Here we are going back down.

These next few photos were taken on my birthday. We found this cute cafe. They had the most original menu presentation. I wish I took a picture of it (I thought I did), but you can see it on the right top corner of our table. It's a wooden piece carved into it. It had a cozy winter feel. They also had this huge TV where they were playing all these MTVs, which Audrey was determined to watch, and embarrassingly she would squeal at the most awkward moments.

Mom turned to look, but Audrey couldn't take her eyes off the TV ... thankfully
I was able to distract her from watching it for the most part :p.

Mom and Audrey.

We were returning to the hotel when we found this dog sitting, waiting patiently
for his master at the back of a four wheel motor bike. It was quite a site. There were
so many people gathered around taking pictures as well.

Mom and Audrey at the Vietnamese restaurant. Sam and I really enjoyed the
soup we got and have been taking about it ever since :).

Sam and Alisa may not be happy I'm posting this (sorry!), but here you can
get a glimpse of the food.

My cute little ness.

The street from our hotel.

On the way to town.

The restaurant that had a decently priced lunch menu, that
we ate at a few times.

They had hang gliding (?) done with skis, as then they would land on the slope
and need to ski for part of the way. Looked SO fun.

On the last day, we had lunch on this balcony, that had quite a few restaurants
and many skiers and snowboarders ... at the lunch hour. Pretty festive.

This was a man that Audrey bonded with. We sat in front of this store while
eating our lunch, and she would look over to him and babble, smile, etc. I think
she thought he was looking at her. It was so funny! I have no idea the point the
advertisement was trying to get across. Maybe "The snow may give you a funny
goggle snow tan, but veggies will give you a six pack."

Mom and Audrey again--so fun to have these photos of
her and I together. Here she's making her classic monkey face, heh.

Alisa before she fell asleep ... with her beautiful eyes and way cool hat that I want :).

We went again for the delicious brownie you saw at the beginning of our trip.

Brownies and cocktails :).

Sam making sure to get every last sip, heh.

At McDonald (where else?) on the way home (still in France).

Mom captured a video of Audrey dancing to the music that was playing, sadly the video was taken upside down. I need to figure out a way to turn it right side up. She danced the whole time there, no matter what she was doing. The funny part was that the speakers were next to this portrait of a grizzly bear. So she kept looking at him and smiling, hailing him, waving at him, and dancing away. It looked like she was approving of his choice of tunes.

She got her first itty bitty taste of ice-cream :). No major reaction.

Audrey bonded with Grandma on this trip. It was so sweet!

Rice over pasta?

2012-01-28T23:55:00.001+01:00

Since I'm in Italy, I probably should be posting pictures of the Italian cuisine I have learned in the last year. I have learned a little, but I am not confident to "show off" my Italian cooking while I live in Italy--at least not right now. It sounds pretty bad, but I think I need to learn and understand a bit more about Italy's cuisine before I do that.

Before moving to Italy I was confident with what I knew about Italian cooking, and now I am not sure it was really Italian, but perhaps the western's view of what Italian cooking is like. Still, all I learned about Italian cooking from my friends (who I considered--and still consider--expert "Italian" cooks) was indeed delicious. The dishes I learned just may not be actual Italian dishes you can find here (at least not in the north).

I don't claim to know much about Asian cuisine either, but I love cooking Asian. In fact, living in a place where it's unheard of to not have pasta with almost every meal, we have had an abnormal amount of rice meals. Don't get me wrong, we love our pasta, and we have plenty of that, but we also love Asian!

We will have at least one Asian meal a week, if not two. Thankfully, we have all the needed ingredients: soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, etc.

Here are a few pictures I have taken over the last year. Nothing spectacular, but just to show what type of meals we sometimes make.

This is the easiest of the "Asian" dishes I make: A chicken stir fry. The more
colorful, the more beautiful a stir fry looks, imho.

Sam's favorite: orange chicken. We have this every 2 to 3 weeks. Not a very
nice photo of this, but it gives an idea.

One of the latest dishes I made, which I thought turned out pretty Asian looking.
We found these noodles at Lidl, as there were having an Asian month--mainly
Thai sauces and noodles, etc. (I don't know much about Thai cooking, so I make
what I can.)

Again, I'm not Asian savvy. I'm actually not very good at any one cuisine, but it's fun to experiment and learn a few. Our favorites are Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian--oh, and of course American (whatever that is). "American" meals in our house usually consist of hamburger and fries, baked chicken, or some type of steak (if that is American).

As you can tell, I'm no real cook, but I hope to learn more about Italian cooking, so that next time I can post some pictures ... and maybe they will make you drool. And who knows, maybe by the time I master the Italian cuisine, I will be back in Asia. Wouldn't that be backwards?

(Note: This doesn't mean I'm moving to Asia. I was simply thinking how weird that would be.)

A few recipes Audrey likes

2012-01-27T17:26:00.003+01:00

I'm so happy! Today Audrey ate her fish ... and she liked it! I have tried fish mixed with some of her favorite foods--potatoes, spinach, pear, etc.--with very little success. She would only eat one or two bites and then be done. Since we bought fresh fish for her and it's in the freezer, I decided to try again. This is how I made her food:

I boiled carrots, pear, garlic together. Pureed it. Then cooked the fish in olive oil with a little lemon. Cut up the fish into little pieces and mixed it together with the puree.

Some other favorite mixes:

Chicken

Apple

Spinach

(boiled and pureed)

Egg yolk (almost hardboiled)

Yogurt

(mixed)

(Yuck! I know. But strangely she likes this.)

potato
pear
Spinach

Basically anything with Spinach, pear, or apple, she'll take.

And of course, good o'l banana and yogurt. (And once she ate avocado mixed with yogurt and seemed to like it. She wouldn't eat the avocado on its own.)

She's not extremely picky, but if she doesn't like a mixture or texture, she will take may be 2 bites and that's it.

This week, I will give her turkey as protein, hopefully brown rice for fiber (if Sam can find it), and I am trying to find a peach for her to try.

If you happen to read this and have another mix/concoction for me to try, jot it down! Thanks!

Actually here she finished eating and then we put on a video, so we could eat.
Sam sat her bear alongside her to "watch" the video with her ... heh.

A bit of culture?

2012-01-25T12:42:00.003+01:00

Sam showed this YouTube clip to Audrey when she was a few months old. She has been hooked to it ever since. Now that she's expressing herself more in dance, she loves bouncing up and down with the dancers. But what amazes me is how closely she watches it. She does not take her eyes off this video.

The first time I watched it, I was bored, but recently I have found myself watching it just as intently. I think it's to try to understand what is fascinating her so. Sam thinks that she bonds with the footwork, since she's been kicking her own feet almost nonstop from the time she could move them in my tummy.

Either way, I am happy she finds cultural dancing interesting and is receiving this type of input. I have also introduced Bollywood dancing to her, and she has been interested, though not as much. We have been thinking of what other type of cultural dancing we should show her. Any thoughts? :D

Winter fun, part 3

2012-01-25T00:45:00.001+01:00

This is the rest of the pictures I took on this trip. I thought I took a lot more, but it turned out a lot of them were of the dogs (I've got Audrey on my brains). I wish there were more, but happy that we at least of these for our memory retrieval.

The first two were taken on the night of my birthday. We ate out at a Vietnamese restaurant. By the time the food came, it didn't even cross my mind to whip out my camera, which from the picture below I see was in Audrey's hands, heh :).

Alisa having a little fun.

We had another afternoon at Snow Park, since we had such fun the time before.

A snap of the restaurant from a distance.

Audrey was in the carrier, and I was trying to capture her awe of the dogs.
However, she looked down and posed for the camera ... what a luv!

Without the goggles this time ... they were with Sam. It wasn't too bad.

Little guy who was trailing after his granddad--snow suite, sunglasses, and
pacifier. So cute!

They were twins ... how cute is that?

They were working on the igloos. When done, you could rent on for the night,
and have a whole Eskimo experience. For the daring!

Another from the base of the mountain--waiting for Sam and Alisa to come down.

Mom holding Audrey (sleeping), while I waited with camera
in hand. (I love this pic.)

It was taking some time, so I began capturing the things around me.

A "menu of the day" for the little restaurant in the corner. So happy skiers
could read what was available as they skied by. Smart they were.

The slopes were now bare, as all were returning home.

They did finally come, which I was able to film. Sadly, I got Sam, but I accidentally
hit "off" when Alisa was coming down :(.

On another day, we took some more shots of the slopes and town. We also found some new cute, inexpensive restaurants. All photos of these are on Mom's phone. I so need to get those from her, so I can show you the pictures she took. She took some good ones.

This man caught my attention because of how fast he was skiing down the
slope. When he passed by me, and turned around, I saw he was carrying a
toddler on his back. Oh my ... ! I imagined Audrey on Sam's back and I
didn't know what to think :).

Some other chalets ... the whole resort was filled with hotels and chalets ...
some looked so cute and some looked fancy.

By this day (which I think was the last day), the snow was
melting ... all days were sunny and it was quite warm.

My darling mother.

My very cool sis, dressed for snowboarding ... and very awesomely
catching on to the sport.

I love the face she's making, and you can see my mom in the reflection of her glasses.

After a long day, my sister fell asleep on the couch with her cool winter hat.

These are all the pictures I had taken. My mom has some more very cool ones that I hope to get, and when I do, I will just post them all on one post.

Mom and I were considering doing cross country skiing one morning, but we instead went for the Snake Gliss. We went to the top of the mountain with a group of 8, attached our sleds to one another, and went down the mountain. Of course, there was a good guide who bravely led us down. This was like no sledding I've every done--very thrilling and a whole lot of fun. We sadly left our camera and phone at home, thinking we may have damaged them. But it was silly of us to not have brought them. We missed out on taking some pretty awesome shots. Oh well!

Our time here came to end. The trip back went well and life is now back to "normal." Whatever that may be ... :). So glad we were able to visit this snow paradise.

Happy 9th, Audrey!

2012-01-24T14:11:00.000+01:00

Ladybug, sweet pea, munchkin, Abu--and the other nicknames you have picked up ... today you are 9 months. I asked if you could please slow down and not pass your baby stage too quickly. You're not listening to me :(. Oh well ...

Even so, we are enjoying you thoroughly. You continue to warm our hearts and bring much happiness into our lives. You also continue to amaze us with the things you learn or do. We show you something and think you're not paying attention, then a few days later, you're doing it. You're a little sponge.

I love your smile!

And your pensive face. It's all cute!

Toys are now for little babies. You're ready for the "big" stuff. You love crawling around and getting into anything that you can. You've become Mama's little tornado. Pulling stuff out of drawers, taking the laundry out of your basket, making sure all your toys are on the floor, pulling wires (when we forget to put them up), and shredding any napkins or paper you find. If I walk to another part of the apartment, you are right behind me. Sometimes you remind me of a little puppy.

You got the nickname Abu from your Aunt Alisa, who thinks you look
like this little fellow.

Speaking of puppies, you LOVE dogs. We went into Milano yesterday and in the course of walking to our destination, we saw many dogs. You were squealing the whole way there. I am sure you thought that Mama was taking you to some type of dog zoo.

Here are some of your recent favorite things:

Dogs, ducks, lions, sheep, and elephants--basically you like all animals, but these are your most favorite.
Baby Einstein's "Symphony of Fun," "Santa's Music Box," and "All About Shapes." I put on any others, and you protest.
Going out. You are very happy when you hear that we're going out and point to the door and wave your hand. You then protest when I begin to put your gloves and coat on (it's only for a few more months!).
Books: Anything to do with babies, animals, and colors.
Stuffed animals: your dog, your bear, and your polar bear.
To dance: You will turn on the music of your toys and rock out.
Roll balls all around the living room and apartment.
Singing songs--some songs you are copying motions too: itsy-bitsy spider, wheels on the bus, twinkle little star, and whole world in His hands.

Appreciating your stuffed animal collection.

(Here is clip I took today of you dancing at your activity table.)

I want you to experience new things, so we will see what more we can introduce to you. Yesterday, you loved riding on the train. The joy lasted only about 15 minutes, but I could see that you were fascinated with the experience.

The "hip" clothes Mama dresses you in ;).

I am learning how to work with you as you begin to form opinions or show your desire to do or not do something. Here are a few opinions you already have:

You don't like to change--your diaper or your clothes. Changing time is a time of frustration, for both of us, and I am learning how to deal with it, so that we can make this time fun and not so unhappy.
You insist on feeding yourself, even though you don't always do it correctly. I guess this is how you will learn, and learning you are.
Sometimes, you know what you want to do and you won't let me go until we go and do it, such as read a book together, roll the ball, or even watch something. You are learning to communicate and I am learning to understand you.
You hand me your spoon for more food and then when you're done, you twist your wrists. After that, it's no more eating--mommy has learned :).

Mama and Audrey going out shopping with Papa.

Lookin' cool!

You're handling your teething fairly well. Sometimes you don't sleep well or you get easily frustrated and fussy, but you are bearing this difficult part of growing well. You still only have three teeth on the bottom gum and it's obvious another one or few are coming in, but just not sure if it's on the bottom or top.

Vocabulary so far:

Ball (which is the word for most things, or anything that slightly resembles a ball).
Book (you don't say the k)
Mama
Papa
Go (you've only clearly said this word once when you were pointing to the door)
Bye (said Bei)
More (said Mua)

Words you try to say, which closely sound like ball, but since I'm your Mama, I know what you're trying to tell me :):

Spoon (said when you're hungry)
Bell (you look to the window and tell me about the Be)
Toothbrush (you love brushing your teeth with mom--you'll take your toothbrush and put it to the tooth paste and then to the faucet and actually do the brushing motion)
Video

You're learning about the word "no" and "don't touch." I am trying to not overuse these words and try other ways of teaching you what's not to touch. But already when I say "Audrey, don't touch," you wag your hand in a "no" motion, heh.

You are 9 kilos and fit well into your 74 to 80cm clothes.

We got her some bath toys, which liked, but still ducky was her favorite for
the bath.

"Which one of you wants to come into the bath with me?" (They all seem
pretty eager, heh.)

But all your learning doesn't compare to how much we love you and care for you. It doesn't matter to us if you would learn something or not. You're our baby and we are just so glad you're in our lives. As the lines to one of your (well maybe my) favorite book goes:

"I love all that you will be
and everything you are."
(Marion Dane Bauer)

She does this new thing where she pulls on her hair, which makes it stand up.
I then have a hard time making it go back down, need some heavy-duty baby
hair gel to help out :).

My little angel!

Where did Christmas go?

2012-01-24T11:15:00.000+01:00

I finally took my tree down today. It took me long enough. I wanted it to stay up for as long as I could get away with it, but there comes a time when you ask "What is the tree still doing up?" I asked this question to myself even when I knew the answer--that I hadn't yet taken it down!

So we now have closure to Christmas 2011 and are happy to wait for Christmas 2012 (take your time Father Christmas!).

The other day we walked to the nearby church where they had a huge Christmas tree, and Valeria (my niece) asks, "Where did Chrimsses go?" It went, but it will be back, we assured her. She was satisfied ... and so are we :).

Here's to 2012 (again)!

Winter fun, part 2

2012-01-23T11:34:00.001+01:00

This day was January 10th. January 11th was my birthday, but this day was nearly perfect in my books. So this year, I will consider January 10th my birthday.

The reason it was nearly perfect is because we spent it all together, Sam, Audrey, me, my mom, and Alisa. They may have not thought it as perfect as me, and I may have been ignorant of that fact, but I was happy and had a lot of fun, so did Audrey.

The pictures start out with Audrey watching "Twinkle, Little Star" and dancing to it. I just had to sneak these in, even though they don't really sync up with the rest.

Audrey slept for 2 1/2 hours that morning, as Mom and I strolled around and became acquainted with the town.

We met up with Sam for lunch at that cute lunch place I mentioned in my last post. Which I forgot to say, not that it matters: The American sandwiches also had meat, mayo, and ketchup--not only fries. You can't tell from the photo, heh.

Then we went up to "Snow Park." We took a cable car (beautiful ride--mom has those photos) and came to a type of ski paradise in this hidden part of the mountain.

This part of the mountain is where they kept their igloos and dog sledding activity. There were a LOT of dogs, which Audrey was thrilled about. She didn't really like the snow, but when we got to the part where all the dogs were, she laughed, tried barking, babbled, and would cry when we would try to leave. It was Audrey's little paradise. And they did all the things she loved, barked, howled, and ran. I took many photos of the dogs, for Audrey. I will post those in another post that will be dedicated to her.

Alisa trying to avoid camera facial recognition :).

My cute mother :).

Because the sun was very bright that day, I ended up buying Audrey a pair of cool sunglasses to wear, so that she wouldn't harm her eyes. She didn't know what to make of them and for the most part looked like (sadly) a little blind baby, not sure where to look.

At the same time, Sam lent me his goggles, which no one told me looked hideous on me until I saw the following pictures. You can laugh at me if you find it funny, but at least my eyes were safe ;)!

"Where do I look again?"

"Mom, what planet are we on now?" "I believe it's called Earth, sweetheart."

Lookin' good!

Showing me a bit of his stuff, since I hadn't seen him snowboard on this trip yet.
Was fun to watch. (It was hard getting any speed on a super flat area.)

Here we are standing next to a very normal human, or more like a very normal
human is standing next to a pair aliens who have lost their way.

"Hi little alien baby. This is called snow." Alien baby: "I must taste to understand
what it is."

"I quite like it."

All the snow was too much for her, we ended up at the restaurant,
where we enjoyed some coffee and hot cocoa--and where alien
baby had her choice of brew.

My mom and I enjoying a video she took of Audrey laughing and babbling
at the dogs. Must get this from her!

My cute sister Alisa, who ended up going down the slopes
on her own and down the whole mountain with Sam ...
very brave!

The cute cafeteria/restaurant.

Alien baby sleeping.

Alien mommy looking a bit less alien.

I love how a very tiny bit of her hair is poking out from where the glasses
pushed it. She looks so winter cool ;).

This is the slope where we waited for Sam and Alisa to come down. If you
look very closely, you can see Sam sitting down ...

More beautiful scenery.

"Snow, snow, snow .... I'll wash my hair with snow ... "

The end of this beautiful day!

Winter fun, part 1

2012-01-17T18:59:00.001+01:00

We arrived in Orcieres in the evening, when practically half of the cabin residents were also registering. The wait was long, but we settled in and then braved the cold in search of a place to eat. We found this cute little restaurant--five tables at the most (which could fit up to 4 people each). The decor was lovely. Husband and wife, it seemed. The menu had a few options, but Sam, mom, and I went for the hamburger and fries, heh. Alisa wasn't hungry, so she ordered dessert.

Sam wanted to highlight how raw they left the meat :).

Audrey was exhausted from our 5 hour trip.

The next day was filled with Sam getting his snowboarding equipment and ski pass worked out. Mom and I went out to look about and to inquire about snowboarding lessons for Alisa. I took pictures, but most of them were scenic, and most of these I think I already posted, but I'm too lazy to figure out which ones, so here they are again :).

This sandwich is called an "American sandwich." I guess because of the
French fries.

We rented this stroller. Turned out to be brilliant. It was perfect
for the snow and icy roads.

She loved being outside. As soon a we would go out, she'd fall asleep. Caught
up on a lot of sleep this way, as with the small bed we had (and no baby cot), we
all slept poorly.

To be continued ...

Fall in Italy

2012-01-15T14:15:00.000+01:00

I can't believe I missed posting these beautiful snaps of autumn here in Italy. It's been a while since I lived in a place that actually goes through the 4 seasons. So before I get into posting photos of our vacation in France, where everything was white and wintry, enjoy the beautiful colors of autumn with me :).

My beautiful sister and my adorable niece.

Yes, these are real! They were just hanging out in the park. I was too
"intimidated" to approach :p.

Halfway there!

2012-01-15T13:47:00.000+01:00

This morning I weighed myself and I have reached the halfway mark to my desired weight loss. It made me so happy that I had to share it with you :). My hopes have raised to 50% of losing the last bit, heh.

Now I just need to lose the tummy--it's still the trouble spot. (And is it too much to hope the breasts stay? Oh if only ... :)!)

A sneak preview

2012-01-11T18:50:00.001+01:00

I will post pictures and news when I return home (as the wifi at our lodge is in the lobby, and I don't have much time to get on line), but here is a sneak preview of Sam and Alisa snowboarding. It's not the best, but it's what I was able to capture as I waited for them to come down.

Sam had stopped to wait for Alisa, so he wasn't able to come down as fast as he would have liked. Hopefully I can film him another time and another speed.

And here are a few pictures of the gorgeous mountains.

Slash prices

2012-01-05T19:10:00.000+01:00

It's sales time here in Italy; some pretty good deals to be found. Did wee bit of shopping for Audrey and I--mainly for Audrey, but I scored a few things. I finally got myself a decent pair of boots (that I was eyeing before). I can now give up my worn out tennis :). I'm glad I waited on getting this pair of boots, as it was now a so much better deal than before.

Shopping with a kid, though, is tough. It will most likely be tougher when Audrey walks and wants to explore, but even now ... I could hardly look through the shops. She was happy walking around the mall, but as soon as I would enter a shop, she would protest. I had to distract her or just put up with her protesting. She would want me to carry her around, which made it even more difficult to look through racks. I feel bad for the shop owners who had to majorly tidy up after me :(.

The biggest tip I could give anyone who has a kid is to walk in a shop knowing what you want and make quick decisions! (Good luck with that, right? At least for some of us.)

Thankfully, shopping is not something I do often.

Twinkle Little Star mania

2012-01-05T00:38:00.000+01:00

I don't know what it is about this song, but my niece, Valeria loved/loves it and it's been a favorite of Audrey's since she was 5 months (yeah, long ago!).

Valeria was under the impression that this song was listed in the top 20, or at least was nearly as popular as Shakira's"Waka Waka." Once my brother Mike was trying to have her dance to some well-known songs, one of them being "Waka Waka," but Valeria insisted, "No Waka Waka." "What then?" Mike asks. "Oh, Twinkle, Twinkle Yitto Staw." (Oh you mean Jessie J's version?)

This YouTube clip has been both Valeria and Audrey's favorite for some time. I think more so for Audrey in recent times. She asks for it at least once a day, if not a few times. So we watch it once in the morning and once before reading our bedtime story or settling down to sleep.

It's very cute, and I highly recommend it for all kids. But I am wondering if Audrey borders obsession when it comes to this song. She has even gotten very mad when I have not replayed it at her request.

I have sung this song so many times that I can now sing it without thinking, as in, I'm singing it, but I have no idea that I am. It's become like a memorized motor skill, and I hope that one day it will prove to be useful.

However, on the way to visiting the girls' pediatrician, I heard Valeria's version of the song, which rekindled my dying passion for this sweet ditty. I felt bad for straying in my affection for this song that is high on my daughter's approval list, and I vowed to re-establish a long-lasting relationship with it ... for as long as my daughter shows interest :).

Valeria's version made it fun and reminded me that not all songs have to be sung in their original tune, and that it's okay to liven and mix things up. What a lesson :D!

Still, I do wonder what it is about this song that has made it the "Bohemian Rhapsody" of my daughter's generation?

I am glad though that it is "Twinkle Little Star" for now :).

Standing

2012-01-05T00:04:00.001+01:00

Recently Audrey has been pulling herself up to a stand. It went from wobbly effort to pretty good in just a matter of days. I've been impressed with her determination to do it, but have also had my heart jump from my chest a few times to see her attempt it in places where she could have fallen and gotten pretty hurt (or so it seems). I don't want to discourage her advancing, I just wish she had some sense of when not to try it ;).

Here are a few pictures taken last night and tonight of her standing. Quite a few from last night, because I captured quite a few cute ones that I just had to share :).

I had recently raised the side bar of the bed all the way to
the top, so I thought it would take her a while to figure out
how to reach to pull herself up. But it was a no-brainer
apparently, as I walked into the room to find her like this.

Then I began taking photos, which she kindly posed for :).

She began to sing her song that goes basically like this: "ahhhhhhh"

She fell on her bottom, so here I capture her technique of reaching to the top.

The tongue has been out like this for the last week or so. She's teething, and
getting a feel for her bottom three teeth.

I kept trying to catch her smile, which she would do after the camera flashed,
but this cute face was perfect!

Ah, there is a smile ... the goof!

After I put her PJs on, I put her on her mat, went to take care of a few things and came back to find her standing by the couch. She was determined to get her books, which she managed to do ... even the one that is propped up against the couch's back.

She's gotten a recent fascination for this book. It's really a great book for babies.

Papa took these last two tonight at around 11pm, after I had been trying to put her to sleep for 1.5 hours. She just now fell asleep at 12am. These days it's been so tough to put her down. She's been too excited by all she can do (methinks). I finally give in and put her down and she's off to find her "beh" (books) or "baw" (ball), or in this case use her new activity table to pull herself up into a standing position. What a big girl!

"Whose the stinker?" (Ahem!)

A couple more ...

2012-01-04T23:18:00.002+01:00

This was when she was in her army crawling stage, which didn't last very long.

Here is a cute one with her trying to get some food on her spoon as she feeds herself.

Hall of latest Audrey video clips

2012-01-04T11:03:00.002+01:00

Since these clips weren't uploaded to make their designated spots in prior posts, I will add them here.

This first clip was trying to capture Audrey's great love for her new hello kitty ball (7 months).

This next one is of her first adventure crawling down the hall (from the living room) to find Papa in his office (7 months, almost 8).

Here she is just being cute. I've been teaching her to say please by opening and closing one hand palm facing upward (I believe this is the sign language way), but by pure coincidence, she claps when I ask her to say please here (or maybe baby's just naturally clap when hearing please, har har) (7 months).

I went over to have lunch with my mom and we captured Audrey's excitement at seeing Mom's dog, Slate. She loves this little dog and it's a sure bet she will laugh at almost anything Slate does, so there's always a lot of laughing when we go over to the big house :) (8 months).

Psyched about vacation!

2012-01-03T22:33:00.000+01:00

We'll be going to France this weekend, staying for a week. We will be staying at a ski resort called Orcieres 1850. We found a super deal!

Will try to post pictures as I take them, but can't promise. I'm not so good with insta-posting. But will try!

Wish us luck, or better pray for us--that we are protected and have a lot of fun :D!

P.S.: I will see if I can get a lesson or two on snowboarding while I'm there. I'm keen on learning. That is, if it works out--specifically if Audrey is happy with Grandma, etc. My mom and Alisa are coming with us. It will be a blast!

Check out:

http://dai.ly/pBswMO

Whoa! New Year!

2012-01-02T09:58:00.000+01:00

Time is crazy like this. It forces you to enter a new year, even if you aren't prepared. It makes you a year older, even if you say "no, thank you" (or "pretty please not"). It also has you reflecting on all that you have done or have not done.

There are a lot of things it does and feelings that it brings, but ultimately, I am excited it's here. It always feels like it represents a brand new house to be used and worn (but still new!), or empty pages yet to be filled (meaning you can throw bits of the old draft in the trash if you like).

Some things it hasn't changed is the fact that I'm a mother to the sweetest little soul, sweetheart to a man who is a wonderful father and friend, friend and family to all the other special people I count blessed to know are in my life, and like a "sparrow" to the One who cares for me. It makes me feel brave as I walk into this year. Brave!

And for now that's all I hope to be.

Happy New Years to family and friends!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T18:09:00.000+01:00

I ended up posting all my Christmas photos on FB. They were just so many and I wanted to get something up fast without having to write something about it, heh.

Christmas went by so fast, it was a bit hard to capture--that's probably why all my pictures came out a bit blurry (weep!). But it was full of happy times and good memories.

Not exactly blurry; just a tad bit glowy :D.

The family was pretty busy, but we took time to enjoy each other's company on Christmas Eve, morning and night, and the night after with joyous sounds and lots of good food.

It was Audrey's first Christmas. One can't be sure what she's understood about it, but I'm guessing more than understood, she's come to recognize and appreciate the Christmas lights and all the Christmas "baw" that are on the tree.

She received five great gifts:

1. Fisher Price's Activity table (that makes lights, music, and animal sounds).
2. A fun train that makes sounds and music when it's pushed, comes along with blocks.
3. A mini "basketball" hoop in the shape of an elephant.
4. Soft blocks that come along with a dog, a cow, a chick, and a pig.
5. A toothbrush set (to clean her three new teeth)

She's still learning how to play with these toys. She plays better when with someone who can show her how to enjoy them.

I am so blessed to have had Christmas with my family, and I am blessed to have such a great family.

Papa and Alisa.

Mike.

Jesse and Mom.

Lara and Valeria.

I hope that all my family and friends had a fun and memorable Christmas as well.

Eight months!

2011-12-24T22:17:00.000+01:00

I may have mentioned this before, but she's hitting a few of the holidays: Born on Easter, 7 months on Thanksgiving, and then 8 months on Christmas Eve. And I know I've said this before: Time flies! She's getting so big.

Munchin' on an apple.

She now crawls very well and is getting faster each day. She's also getting more adventurous, so she's exploring the kitchen (when she can get in), under my desk, and behind or under anything in the living room. She still hasn't ventured down the hall into the other rooms yet.

What's that worried face all about?

I am stoked she's crawling, but it does have its downsides. The main one being that she will follow me everywhere I go, so if I go to my desk, she is right on my tail and will come to get my attention to pick her up--the same goes if I am in the kitchen, etc. I have built a barricade between the kitchen and living room with the dining chairs. We'll see how that works :D. (Update: It didn't work. She still managed to get around the chair and pull on the wires that were behind the chair, resulting in her baby blender breaking, weep!!)

Crawlin' toward the lady with the camera.

I miss the baby, baby stage, but I am growing to love her growing personality. She gets excited about so many things, which makes learning fun.

Right now she's still the most "intense" about books and balls, and she has a new way of show it. She'll yell out something that sounds a little like "eeehhh" every time she sees her favorite book or we roll her balls. She loves the "b" sound, and has a variation of that sound for all her favorite things:

*Baw: ball
*Be: book
*Be: baby (it has a different intonation)
*Boo: dog (the sound of the bark)
*Bo: bottle
*Bei: bye

DK's "Bedtime," her recent favorite. She'll turn the pages and make sounds,
as if she's reading it.

Other words she said are Mama and just the other day Papa (although she starts with the "b" sound BaPaPa). We also think we tries to say her name, as every time to sees a picture of herself she'll say "Ahhh." She's branching out into making other sounds too, so I'm interested in knowing what other words she'll learn. Her other favorite word is star and she tries hard to say it, but it turns out sound very close to ball. Heh.

Another pose for the camera.

She waves, she twists her writes to say "all done," she makes the arm circle for the "wheels on the bus go round and round."

She's just learning something new every day; it's hard to keep up. Right now we're into looking at books, singing songs, learning how to eat on our own, learning how to brush teeth, and learning what's not alright to touch (she goes for slippers every time!). Speaking of teeth, she now has three on the bottom, with the fourth cutting through.

I think she looks like her Grandpa Michael here :).

She is pulling herself up and stands pretty well, and already loves it when I hold her arms and help her to walk around.

The sweetest thing she has learned though is how to show affection. I love her smiles, her hugs, and when she leans her head into mine looking right into my eyes.

Here's to her 9th month. Can't wait for all it will bring!

PS:

Weight: 8.7 kilos (19.4 lb)
Height: 72 cm (28 in)

And she crawls!

2011-12-21T23:57:00.001+01:00

Tonight on all fours, moving her arms and knees in the crawling fashion, she moved forward. She's been moving forward on her belly, using her arms to get around, but now she's gone standard. I've got to finish baby-proofing the apartment!

Oishii, Desu Ne!

2011-12-19T23:54:00.000+01:00

Tomoko, Yoko, and Izu (as well as Ange and Deepa), I post this thinking of you :D!

We went to this new Japanese restaurant that opened in a nearby mall called Yoshi Yoshi. We didn't know what to expect because it's run by Chinese. It's the type that has a conveyor belt with little plates with one or two items (or a small quantity). For a set price, you can eat all you want.

Note: My Dad said that they probably regret doing this when we come, as the Italians won't be seen with so many little plates, but we had no shame :D.

Anyway, Sam and I loved it! We want to go again! We ate so much. By the end, we could barely walk. I practiced my Chinese with the lady owner. It took her a while to realize I was speaking Chinese, but after that she just talked with me, and then took Audrey for a while (all the waitresses were taking turns holding her).

My favorite was the shrimp. They had them both friend and in a sweet and sour sauce. I also really liked the oysters. The only sashimi dish they had was salmon on vinegar rice, which I ate a ton of doused in a lot of wasabi and soy sauce. I pretty much tried everything ... and so did Sam.

I wouldn't say that it was as good as one of the restaurants in Japan, but it was good enough. (I really, really enjoyed the one I tried in Japan, and that's why I was so excited to see something like it here.)

I am happy Sam really liked it. I wasn't sure if he would :). Here are the pictures:

On the ride there. This is to show off the new hat mommy
got her. She's adorable in them and wears them well, so
it's hard not to turn them down :).

She discovered the fun sound keys make when you shake
them, as well as their flavor, erps.

Sam scoping the conveyor to see what's available.

These were just a few of the many plates we devoured :D. I should have taken
more close ups, but Audrey wasn't making it easy for me to take many photos.
(Yeah, blame it on the baby, right?)

Audrey sat at the table and had her little meal. She usually
leans back to drink her milk, and since the high chair was a tad
big for her, she would slip out. So I had to hold her in place.

Sam wants to show all of you sushi eaters how brave he was to try a sushi
roll that had caviar on the top :D.

We really enjoyed the Japanese beer. Two types I would
drink in Japan. Next time, we'll only get one--as one was
enough for us.

This picture is especially dedicated to Yoko and Tomoko, from Sam.

If you're interested, here is a clip of all the different plates that went by on the conveyor belt. It was toward the end of the lunch special, so all of the good stuff was already gone.

Tidbites

2011-12-19T10:20:00.002+01:00

Audrey's second tooth cut through the day before yesterday. I think it's going pretty well considering. She has been extra clingy, a bit more whiny, and wakes up a lot during the night, but nothing too dramatic. Someone told me the other day that the hard part is when those molars cut through.

The last few days she has also been repeating two words. Her first word "Ba," which she sounds out better now (it sound more like ball), and then "Bu" or sometimes "Boo" that she says when reaching for her books. (She, of course, confuses the two now and then.) These are her two favorite "toys" right now. It's interesting how she practices these two sounds again and again.--These days it's been kind of like a broken record. But I'm so glad she's learning.

Oh, and she has said "Mam" or "Mama" quite a few times as well, but mainly when she's frustrated or is in need of something. Hrm. I guess that's what I'm here for ... too ease the discomforts and make things all better :).

In her hoodie ... all cozy for playtime.

This is currently one of her favorite books. She has learned recently how to
turn the pages on her own, which she does clumsily for now--but it's so cute.
She also tries to make sounds for the animals, but they all sound like "ahhh."

Her book and ball.

Oh and did I tell you she now does this? She does it in her bed, and now tries with the couch and the glass table (we have to move that table!). She's accomplished getting on her feet, but I haven't caught that on camera yet.

Here she was bouncing up and down on her knees.

Getting my attention in the morning.

Got my Christmas theme

2011-12-19T00:50:00.000+01:00

Although, Christmas has almost come and gone. Heh. We have a few weeks to enjoy it.

And while I'm at it, here are some photos of the cutie-patootie on a beautiful day in December where we enjoyed some fun at the park.

"Yes, you're cute!"

"When are we going home, Mama?" (She was so tired at
this point.)

"Fine, I'll post patiently for one more."

Mom and Audrey.

Christmas photos

2011-12-18T23:58:00.001+01:00

Here's a little peek into some of the photos we took of the munchkin. It was a LOT of work :p.

Free picture collage generated with Smilebox

Christmas template?

2011-12-18T21:12:00.000+01:00

I can't seem to find one that works for me or that I'm happy with, sigh! I really want my blog to get into the Christmas spirit, but it's lagging a bit behind. Just as I am with my posts. Grr!

Well ... a Merry Christmas month to you all. It's going by so fast. I'm trying to figure out how I can slow down the process of this year ending. Not too thrilled to pass through another January :D.

Now to try to put together a Christmas card and get caught up with some posts ... at least.

See you around.

Happy birthday, Jesse

2011-12-09T13:30:00.001+01:00

Jesse! I'm so sorry this is a bit late--at least it's still December :D.

Happy birthday, my dearest brother. I am so happy to be near this year, knowing our lives will take different roads soon.

You're such a tender soul, easy to talk with, fun, and you have a generous nature. I love seeing you and being greeted with some of the best hugs I've had. I know that whatever you put your mind to do, you will achieve it. I hope that this coming year brings you some of the happiest days of your life.

We're so blessed to have you in our lives, Jesse. You're one of a kind.--A good kind! If I had a drink in my hand right now, I'd toast to your health and happiness ;).

Let's do that delish dinner we've been talking about soon. Sometime in January, I guess?

P.S.: Here are the few pictures of the fun night we had out. (Need to get the better ones from Lara.)

The birthday man himself--check out that jug of beer :).

Playing Foosball ...

Against these two ... the Borroni brothers.

Hrm, I really didn't have that many photos. Lara, I need your batch :p.

Dear Audrey

2011-11-27T09:21:00.001+01:00

On Thanksgiving day, you turned 7 months. I was thinking how blessed Papa and I are to have you, sweet one. You're our special little girl. You are learning new things so quickly. I can't keep up. I'll try to remember the last month as best as I can.

The latest big news is that a few days ago your first tooth cut through. So far so good. You've been more frustrated, fussy, needing to put everything in your mouth, and needing more attention than usual, but you're handling it pretty well, considering the process. It's an excuse for you to sleep in our bed, as it's difficult to "kick" you out when you seem to be going through an uncomfortable night :).

I have noticed a few changes in your character:

You are more determined to get what you want. You put your hand in the direction of what it is you want and say "ah" again and again until I either distract you or give you what it is you want.
You aren't as easy to control (it begins now!). If you don't want to change your diaper or clothes (which is most of the time), you wiggle and give Mama a very difficult time. Mama's in a pickle with this.
You need more change and adventure. Doing one activity for too long gets old and you let us know that things need to change or else we get to hear how exercised your vocal chords have become.

These are things you have learned or are still learning:

You're not yet crawling, but you know how to get around. Your secret? You move backward. This morning, you turned your feet toward me and moved backward until you reached my chair. You're getting better at maneuvering around. (I think the floor is a bit too slippery for you to get on your fours, as you more easily do when you're on your mat.)
You pull yourself up to your knees in your bed. Next we will see you getting up to your feet, I'm sure.
Today I saw you more efficiently sitting up from a tummy position. You don't always do it and call on Mama or Papa for help, but when you do remember that you are able to do it, you do it very well. (For example, I turned a minute ago to see you on your tummy, and just now I turned and you were on your bottom. Hurrah for you!)
You express yourself so much more--both vocally and facially. You gibber to your books and toys.--What you're saying, I have no idea, but it sounds interesting :).
You're paying more attention to small things, which means that you've become interested in specks of dirt and most everything that isn't for you to play with, sigh!
You said "bah," which I jot down as your first word. You said this repeatedly one day and now it pops up here and there, not as often.
You clap your hands for "very good," "yay," and to songs that you like.

You favorite activities:

You still love music. You love to listen to music, watch songs that have been animated, and for us to sing to you. You still often sing to yourself.
You're getting better at sitting through one of your books, looking more intently at the pictures. You're keen on touch-and-feel books, and with the ones you have, you know where to go in order to feel the different textures.

Watching you now has definitely become more challenging, and I know it will only get more so. But I am just so happy to for each day I get to be with you. You warm our hearts so much with your cute voice and how happy you are. It's refreshing to see you greet each day with a smile on your face and so eager to go see your toys and do all that the day holds.

We love you little girl,

Your Papa and Mama

P.S.: You're just one cutie. I love ya!

Germany

2011-11-26T23:22:00.000+01:00

Guess what? In October, Audrey and I went to Germany and had a blast. Now I'm here to tell you all about it. It took me long enough. I will save some of the news for other posts, and here I will give a summary of what happened and all the fun we had.

First off, I want to thank Stef and Joykie for taking us in and being excellent hosts. They sure know how to introduce the German culture and food well. I enjoyed it immensely. Germany is a beautiful country, and the food was above my expectation. One thing I like about Germany is how organized it is. I mean, I didn't see the whole country, but the area I did see, I liked so much!

Here we are entering Germany through France.

Audrey enjoying a swing on her first park adventure in
Germany.

Mr. Cutes (Kai) at the park. I love this face!

Audrey's first train ride.

We took a trip to downtown Karlshue. The train turned into
a type of tram.

Dead center.

Interesting building in Dead Center :).

Joykie showing me around. Actually, we walked for some time to find a cafe
that Joykie wanted to try. It was SO worth it.

Kai at the cafe. We were all happy to take a break from our walking. By we
of course I mean Joykie and I :).

A menu sign on the side of the road, next to where we were
sitting.

Down from where we were sitting. You can see the type of tram/trains they have.
This whole street was shops--all types of cool shops. I spotted about 4 or 5 H&Ms
alone!

Another park adventure. Kai stopping for a snack. Isn't he cute?

This was such a lovely path. I wish my camera could have
captured it accurately. The people living in the houses in
this neighborhood are blessed.

River that runs on the side of the path. Wonderful autumn
colors.

On this particular walk, Audrey fell asleep leaning forward. Poor thing; she
was exhausted.

If I have time, I will post more pictures of our excursions.
This is one where we took a train to the top of a mountain.
There I could get a picture of the surrounding area (Black
Forest, some castles, and some of the cute towns and cities).

We had a picnic next to one of these old type of watch towers.
Climb to the top of this and you could see all the surrounding
watch towers. How they used to send warning of enemy
approaching. Picnic was delicious and it was a beautiful
day!

Black Forest.

One of the many surrounding pictures I took. I think this is where you can
see France. (I could be wrong.) But if you look closely, you can also spy a
castle :).

Audrey and Mama enjoying the sun, and the great company.

Stef and Joykie have this very cool, fun carpet. Audrey loved laying and
playing on it.

Catching another train to the zoo! Audrey waiting patiently :).

Here's the gorgeous Joykie and adorable Kai. I miss you!

Audrey was so psyched to see this dog on the train. She was calling out
to it, and when it came her way to get off the train, she thought it was coming
to her, I guess. Because when it went past her and off the train, she was
devastated. Was very cute! Gave me hope she may notice the animals at the zoo.

The seals were our first stop.

Look Papa, we were at the zoo!

This is to show you how beautiful this zoo was. It was not only a zoo, but it
had beautiful gardens, parks, walkways, and ponds. Absolutely gorgeous!

We stopped at the park, so that Kai could play. There were so many families.
Really a great place to go on a Sunday.

We then took the scenic route back to the gate.

Kai and Audrey a bit tired after a long afternoon.

The pond.

On another day we visited, with Stef's family. My goofy, fun friend
Joykie!

Mr. Cutes was tired.

The Schloss Favorite. The palace of Margravine of Baden-Baden: Franziska Sibylle
Auguste. Gorgeous place. Two facts about her summer house: Surrounding the castle there is not two of any one tree, and her palace is covered by pebbles that children went to fetch for her by the sea, which she then repaid each pebble with bread.

Very beautiful late afternoon.

Audrey and I in front of the Schloss Favorite.

One of the most fun restaurants I've been to. Because they brew their own
beer, you will have a different tasting beer almost every time you go, or some-
thing like that. Either way, it was so delicious, as well as the food!

Here is the child's "happy" meal we got on camera.

Joykie and my apple strudel that we got at the end. The deserts, cakes, and
breads in Germany are simply the best. If I were there, uh-oh!

There are so many more pictures to show. I may post more later. I hope to visit again, and when I go, I really hope to see castles. They have such awesome ones.

One year ago

2011-11-17T23:53:00.001+01:00

Last year on this day I arrived in Italy. Where does time go?

Happy birthday, Mom

2011-11-08T19:38:00.000+01:00

Mommy! In my eyes, age for you has stood still. You still look so good and have more energy than I have (I'm working on getting there ;)). I am so impressed and amazed with all that you accomplished this year. You have such initiative and innovation. You were telling me today how you wouldn't mind looking like, or being like, a certain someone, but I wouldn't mind looking as good as you do and being as hard a worker as you are when I reach the age you are now.

There is so much I love about you, but first and foremost, I love the fact that you're my mom. God couldn't have chosen a better mom for me. You were such a perfect mom for me and my personality, and then when I grew up, you became an important friend in my life--one who influenced me and made such an impact.

I need to end this for now as we are leaving now to come celebrate your birthday :D, but I will be back. I just want you to know that I love you and I hope you have an enjoyable birthday. Muah!

So mom, I'm back. Sorry it took a few days.

I can't find that picture of us walking on the beach together when I was around 4 or 5. It's one of my favorite pictures of us. I had you and dad to myself for the first 5 years of my life, which makes me feel special :). Of course, when Michael came along, I was thrilled to finally have a sibling to share my family with.

You have given all of us a wonderful life. Your adventurous, can-be-done spirit gave us many opportunities to see many countries, get to know the culture we were in, and to experience life in a fun and wholesome way. You instilled in us kids good principles, which I am very grateful for.

I still remember clearly the time when we were in Chicago. You were new to the States and could have used many of the understandable excuses to have just kept us home. But no. You were determined to take us to every museum, park, and fun learning center you heard about or read about. We didn't have Dad to drive us around, so we took the monorail everywhere. Even though this was many years back; I remember it clearly. It reminds me of the type of person you are: caring, determined, and just a whole lot of fun.

I love you so much and am praying for the adventures you are embarking on now. With your determination and good sense, I know you will be successful. Don't sweat the small stuff and don't let those bumps throw you off kilter. You've got it, now flaunt it ;).

Big hug and kiss for you, mommy. Always am and proud to be, your daughter!

First cold :(

2011-11-08T14:06:00.000+01:00

Even though her nose is stuffy and running like crazy, she still isn't acting sick. She awoke this morning with her usual smile and singing voice.

I just had a crazy night listening to her sleep; it kept me awake most of the night. She would wake up a lot, but then just lay down (because she was so tired) and go "ahh" over and over again until she fell to sleep. I think it helped her breath.

I finally got up with her at 4am to remove as many of the boogers from her nose as I could or that she would let me. It wasn't 100% successful, but it helped some. She saw one of her favorite books (DK's baby animals) and got all excited. So we looked at it together. She then laid down when I turned the lights off to show it was still sleepy time.

I wish there was more I could do to make her sleeping more comfortable, but we made it through the night. She's right now working hard to crawl forward but keeps going backward. I guess when you're that young, the energy just doesn't right now. And for now, mine is doing pretty good. Thank God :D!

This was taken yesterday. See how well she sits now? She moves so much
though; these days it's so difficult to take a non-blurry photo.

She looooves books. She will put them in her mouth, but for some time before
this action (which I am teaching her not to do), she will pat the book and talk
to it. It's the cutest thing :).

Here she is "talking" to the babies in her "Baby Faces" book.

Just so much fun!

2011-11-06T11:11:00.003+01:00

(Disclaimer: Some of the video clips may be a bit long and boring. I do not expect you to view them all or watch through it all. But I couldn't resist showing off my little girl and how much she's grown. And please, I apologize profusely for the unintelligible babbling I do and the horrible sound of my voice, especially when I trying to do something called singing.)

Sam and I have so much fun with Audrey. We love her sense of humor--that she can laugh at silly noises and faces, joining in on the fun. Her sense of humor shows in other ways too, such as when we watch YouTube clips of other babies babbling or laughing. And the other day, she laughed at herself on video. (Of course, probably not realizing it's her ... yet? Dunno. I think she does, but I can't prove it.) She even laughs when she does or is about to do a fart, erps. It's shamefully silly, but I love it :p!

Some other things we really enjoy watching her do or have fun doing with her:

She is one active baby--and this we watch. When we have energy we join in, but it's oh so tiring. She kicks and moves and wiggles constantly--at least it feels that way. She does a backward "crawl" on her tummy, and sometimes I turn my head from my computer to see her almost to the wall on the other side of the living room. This morning she turned on her tummy and started moving fairly quickly to the foot of the bed.

She "sings" songs to herself. I can imagine that when she puts her hands up in the air and moves her little fingers, she is singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Or when she shakes her head back and forth, that usually is the motion she does for "The Wheels on the Bus." She can get "lost" in her singing and will entertain herself with her little voice, which for the most part consists of "ahhhhhhh."

We enjoy listening to her do her baby babble. Her favorite sounds right now go a little something like "abth ba" or "pff ba." She often sticks her tongue out as if she is doing the th sound. She does this too when she eats, and ends up spraying the food all over the place. Grr :D.

She sweetly, yet heartily pats us back when we hold her and try to pat her to sleep. She will sometimes do this while "singing," which is what we do with her. (So nice to see her "giving back" to her papa and mama by trying to put us to sleep.)

In the morning we are greeted with smiles and lots of babbling and "singing." I love this new alarm. It actually makes waking up so much more enjoyable. No more groans and asking that question so many of us do when the early morning comes, "Whyyyyy?"

And here she is laughing at a video clip I was showing her of herself :D:

Happy birthday, Danilo

2011-11-06T09:58:00.000+01:00

Who is Danilo? He is the handsome Italian that my sister is together with, who is also partly responsible for creating this cutie:

This is when Valeria just turned one year (or around then).

And he's such a welcomed and happy addition to our family. He loves to joke and have fun and knows just how to liven up a situation, making sure there are laughs and everyone enjoys themselves.

The more I get to know you Danilo, the more I realize just how blessed Lara and Valeria are to have you. You are responsible, caring, and a good mixture of seriousness and fun. And an excellent Dad for my favorite niece.

I am hoping that within this year that you will find that thing you enjoy doing, and when you do I am sure you will ace it. I, and all of us, are wishing you the best.

Thanks for putting up with the rest of us ;).

The Australian Pub

2011-11-02T14:28:00.000+01:00

There's a local pub called "The Australian Pub." We went there to say goodbye to Stefan before he left us mid-September (he was visiting for a few weeks). I wanted to share this experience with you, because something out of the ordinary took place, and also because it's an all around great pub. We really enjoyed the quality of the drinks and hope to find an excuse to go there again some time.

Oh, and another reason why it's such a great pub is because they served us a decent amount of apperativo (foccacia and olives) with each round we ordered.

I don't think that the owner has actually been to Australia--at least that's what I remember. But he said he does have some Australian friends and he really hopes to go there some day. I think he just likes Australia, as I have no idea why such a theme would grace our small town in Italy :).

We had a few good conversations--mainly talking about "the good old days."
Heh.

Cracking a joke? :D

Stefan posing (not really) with all the Australian "symbols"
that they hung on their walls.

The good beer of Australia--at least that's what I remember a
good Australian friend telling me.

The other side of this section of the bar. It was the 10th and on the poster it
was announcing that a German band would be playing (no one well-known, I
don't think). We met the German man while we were there, but we couldn't stay.

Dulce, I tried one and I liked it!

Very nice Mojitos--for Sam and Stefan :D.

Okay, so this is the odd thing that happened. While we were there, the owner brings out this huge egg and tells us it's an ostrich egg. They then place it in this basket and put it on the counter on display. We found it very amusing and proceeded to take pictures of it. Stefan, wanted to show you how big it is compared to his fingers ... so:

Ladies and Gents ... let me present the ostrich egg!

Here's Stefan keeping it warm ... :D.

And then toward the end, they bring this plate out for us which they tell us is ostrich egg. We couldn't decide whether it was or wasn't, but I think we agreed it tasted a bit different than normal egg. It was a first for all of us:

It was pretty good.

And this is to show you that it wasn't the nicely displayed egg who suffered.

Happy friends. We miss you Stefan!!

Happy birthday, Alisa

2011-10-31T23:35:00.000+01:00

Alisa is one of the most giving people I have ever met. Ever since she was a little girl, she always thought about what she could get and/or give to others--on their birthday, for Christmas, or just because. I have never seen her splurge her pocket money on herself.

Alisa is what I would call mysterious. Or perhaps, a woman of contradiction ;). I haven't yet figured out who she is. She can be quiet, or she can be the life of the party. She can keep to herself or she can be the most outgoing and bubbly person around. She has a mood for almost every occasion, but one thing you can be sure of, it's always fun to have her around. I love to hang out and talk with her. I enjoy it when she comes over to my place and we snack and talk about fun stuff.

She's got a beautiful smile and a cute personality.

Alisa, I love you and am so happy to be around you now, and I so enjoy getting to know you better. I am getting to know an older version of Alisa and realizing you're not that little girl anymore. I sometimes forget, but then you remind me with the wisdom and maturity you show that you aren't that little girl anymore. But if you will let us, we want you to remain the baby of our family ... because technically that's who you are ;).

Thank you for being who you are: giving, sharing, sweet, fun, interesting, funny, cute, and gorgeous.

Here are some pictures that were taken that day. We first went to a coffee bar (of course):

The unsuspecting birthday girl (isn't she pretty?)
while Dad is playing with Audrey.

My intelligent, cute niece, Valeria.

The gorgeous Lara.

The fun and wise father.

The amazing, lovely, and cute mother.

The best friend and man in my life; he's goofy too!

My expressive and adorable daughter.

Pretty and sporty.

The baby has grown ... !

After having coffee, we wandered the streets of Vigevano, while Alisa was deciding as to whether she wanted to get a haircut or not. Meanwhile, this was going on:

Valeria was pushing her little buggy and posing well for
the paparazzi.

Dad keeping his granddaughter in good company.

Valeria was giving the camera her typical Valeria looks.

While Audrey wondered why I was behind that
black box when there was a baby to carry!

And Valeria resorted to knocking on people's door ... dolly
and her were tired and needed a place to rest.

"This waiting around stuff is booooring."

Alisa did get her haircut. Don't the bangs suit her?

This took place a day or so after. Lara aced another birthday cake, and we sang the song and enjoyed some delicious cake.

Black forest cake ... yum!

Have a sweet (and awesome) sixteen sis!

Happy birthday, Valeria

2011-10-30T19:57:00.002+01:00

So, I'm bringing you back in time to the happy month of September where two people who are very dear to my heart had their birthdays (aside from my very handsome brother, Simon, who I already wished a happy birthday to). I know I am terribly late with this, but it's been my intention all along to blog about this and post pictures. It may seem silly to "catch up" on news in the blog world, as after all that's what blogging is all about, to keep up with news as it happens. But I have so many excuses as to why I didn't do it then that I won't drag you through. I will just go ahead with this plan and try to be "on time" in the future.

This one here is to my darling, expressive, and clever niece, Valeria Brooke. I love this little girl so much. She's lively, funny, and has such an aptitude for learning. She is a smart one, this one. She picks things up so quickly and loves to share with you what she has learned.

She makes us laugh and keeps us on our toes. Valeria, I love you and am so happy to be here, to be a part of your life in some way. I can't wait to see you grow and get to know you better!

Lara's first fondant cake. Pretty good, no?

Guests of honor :).

The real guests of honor.

The absolute cute birthday girl.

Valeria and her friend ... chillin' and talkin' about the good old days.

Girls.

Evelyn the princess.

Almost every time I looked for Valeria, she was intently
trying to blow bubbles. So the next few pictures are in
memory.

There's my Sam, and Stefan was still here!

A lovely Loli and her cute son, Alessio.

My soon to be 16 sister, Alisa, and the gang.

Fun interaction.

Valeria on her second bottle of bubbles (addicted!) and
showing off what she learned.

Proud of herself ... and we are, too :D.

The gorgeous Claire.

"Um, not sure what you want me to do here."

"What a curious little flame." (It took her almost forever to try to
blow it out.)

And it took forever to get all the kids to sit together for a birthday picture, heh.

These are only a fragment of the pictures taken that day, but I hope you get the idea of what a lovely party it was--a real princess party.

Dear Audrey

2011-10-28T15:46:00.000+02:00

Six months! And I'm loving every second of it. I can't imagine you being any older. I love your gummy smile, and the fact that you're this small. But I also cannot wait for all the fun we will have and the things we will learn together as you grow older. Right now the things I look forward to the most is hearing you say your first words, seeing you crawl (even though I have no idea how I will keep an eye on you then), and seeing you enjoy learning new things.

Some recent things you have learned to do:

Sit up for longer on your own. You still wobble and fall after some time, but you're doing better each day.
You pull toys toward you, and like to choose from the lot what you want.
When you're on your belly, you're already all over the place. I don't know how you do it, because you sometimes manage to get across the mat onto the other side without rolling--just on your belly!
You are starting to listen and enjoy reading books together, other than just wanting to stick the book in your mouth from the get-go. (When you get bored, you will opt for tasting it.)
You are using hand motions to communicate with me--mainly to get me to sing songs you like to hear.

Some of your recent favorite things:

Favorite songs: "The Wheels on the Bus," "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "If You're Happy and You Know It," (specifically the clapping part), and "Listen to The Animals."
Favorite things: Dogs (you especially go gaga and laugh at the small ones); children (your face lights up whenever you see children--face to face, in pictures, or on a video); food (you really like to eat from your spoon).
Favorite foods: Squash, apple and carrot mixed, and yogurt.
Favorite activities: Singing songs, taking walks, looking at books, swimming (mommy takes you to an indoor swimming pool where you like swimming with cousin Valeria and playing with the balls).
Favorite books: "Baby Animals," "Baby Faces: Peek-a-boo."
Favorite places to be: In mommy's arms (this is number 1 and where you would spend all of your time if you had your way), in your highchair, on the mat on the floor, in your crib (but for a shorter amount of time--mainly to watch your mobile).

Some fun things we do together:

Laugh: You're learning how to force a laugh, and together we end up laughing for real--because it's just so funny ;).
Dance: Mommy does silly jigs all over the place, and you are content to right now just shake your head furiously.
Learn: We read our books, do our flashcards, and I tell you about the world around you. You seem to be enjoying this more each day.
Walks: You love it when we go out. You sit contently in your stroller and babble. When you get bored, mommy sings your favorite songs.
Play: We play on your mat together. You do well playing on your own, but you really enjoy it when mommy or papa play with you.
Visit: We visit your grandpa, grandma, aunties, uncles, and, of course, your very fun cousin, Valeria. We are learning how to go to them and not worry when mommy is not around. You especially like to watch Valeria play.
Swim: Yesterday, you did a new frog-like move in the water. You discovered that this helped you to get to the other end of the pool (where all the little balls were) faster. You also learned you could lay your head back on the ring and splash your feet. I think you'll be good at swimming.
Travel: So far you've been to France, Spain, Andorra, Switzerland, and Germany. Lots of traveling for a short amount of time.

As you become more aware of your surroundings, there are many things you like, and, of course, you are learning other things, too. Like that there are things you are afraid of, things that make you unhappy. I don't like it when things make you unhappy (sometimes it breaks my heart), but if you didn't learn about these things too, then you wouldn't be able to enjoy this thing called life to the fullest, and learn to appreciate all the good that surrounds you.

My biggest worry as your mommy is that I will fail at being a teacher. Teaching you what's right from wrong. Teaching you how to live life well and how to enjoy each day. Teaching you that there are good things, but that there are bad things too, and how to overcome and push through when something unhappy comes your way.Teaching you about Jesus and about love, and how these two important things can make your life more beautiful. Of course, there are your abcs, your 123s, and all the educational stuff that I want you to learn, that you need to learn.

Being your mom is a bit overwhelming, as you can see, but I love every minute of it, and I will just take these things one step at a time and try not to worry about them too much.

My number one priority and desire is to just enjoy you, enjoy who you are, and who you will become.

From mommy, who is so proud of you. I love you, Audrey Liv.

PS: You're around 69 cm and 8 kilos.

We set up the highchair

2011-10-21T10:23:00.001+02:00

Audrey looks so tiny in it :). It's very convenient. This morning I sat her in there with toys while I made breakfast and wrote this post, etc. This will be an important chair for some time. So here are a few pictures in honor of this new chair and new moment and first try:

I'm proud of my little girl

2011-10-20T22:29:00.005+02:00

She's sitting up so well. She still gets wobbly and can't remain straight for too long, but she's getting there. And you can tell she's proud of herself too. It's a big achievement, so I don't blame her! She now brings toys to her, and is showing interest in not only toys, but everything around her--the tags on some of the toys, the bits of plastic that fell near her due to my opening a bag and not picking it up (erps), or whatnot.

She is also a budding dancer. Everyone has some dance in them. Will she dance well? I don't know. But she sure has fun shaking her little head when music comes on. I sing her songs and if I dance, she will sit there and shake her little head from side to side. She also does this move when turning on the music on her bouncy chair.

She has also done a motion from her favorite song "The Wheels on the Bus." She raises her arm up high and in some uncoordinated way makes the motion for "around." Today she was throwing her arms high and bringing them down when I was jumping up and down for "the riders on the bus go bumpity-bump (or up and down as I usually sing it)."

She's 6 months next Monday. Quickly leaving the baby stage and entering a new era, where she will sit, teeth, crawl, pull herself up, learn to feed herself, and walk. My oh my! So much to look forward to, but for now, I want to enjoy and love her as she is--small, sweet, and full of laughs.

Also, just have to share these cute pictures of her sleeping after our trip shopping:

"What's going on? I'm so sleepy"

Back from Germany

2011-10-18T10:45:00.002+02:00

And so behind with posts. Argh! :D

Blogger has come up with some new nice looks (see dynamic views), but with that template it seems you can't add widgets to the side bar. I hope that changes, as I like this new way of blog display.

We are doing well. It's getting cold; we're gearing up for the long winter. Brr. I am not too keen about winter days, but we'll make the most of it.

Little drummer girl

2011-10-07T00:10:00.002+02:00

Audrey loves to bang her hand on most everything. She attempts to grab something first, but if she can't, she'll settle for patting or banging on it.

The other day we got her this floor mat so that she can play with her toys near me while I work. She did not like the texture. First she cried. And then a day or two later, she would try to pick as much of her body up from off the mat. Until ... we showed her that it was excellent for banging on. Now she loves it! She will pat it and kick on it, and has started to roll on it. (So happy she warmed up to this.)

Here is Papa showing Audrey how the banging is done, and Audrey being a worthy contestant.

Seeing things for the first time?

2011-10-06T09:41:00.000+02:00

Something interesting I've noticed about Audrey is that in the last week or so it's almost as if she has "opened" her eyes for the first time. She notices and studies things and then decides whether she likes it or not. Before she would observe, but she didn't have much reaction. A few times she showed fear about certain things, but aside from that (and deciding when something wasn't comfortable), she seemed to "accept" things as they were. Now she stares at the different objects in the room or in her surrounding and either wants to lunge out and grab, or turns to me and looks a warily, or shows utter dislike for something.

For example, she always did well with unexpected loud noises, but the other day I turned a machine on and she looked at me in shock, lips started quivering, and then the tears flowed*.

We have this baby device that projects pictures on the ceiling and plays music at the same time. She has always "noticed" this but never showed real interest in it. Last night, after bath and story time, I decided to put it on while we laid in the bed and cuddled. She looked at it warily, turned to me with a face that said, "What the heck is this?" and then the lip began to quiver. I then held her closer and explained what it was with a voice that I hoped was exuding reassurance, but she turned and saw where it was coming from, and began to make the noises she makes when something is bother or scaring her.

I watch her and I find that she is having this type of interaction with almost everything. It's fascinating! I hope I can help to introduce everything to her well, helping her to have the right reactions to them--showing her that they aren't as scary as she might think, and then with those things that are dangerous, that they are more dangerous than she thinks, heh.

*It's amazing how fast her eyes tear up. Sometimes they begin before I hear the cry. She just needs to make either a hurt, offended, or shocked face, and her eyes are watering.

And here are more pictures of little miss waterworks herself, just because:

"Fish isn't all that bad."

Two of her current favorite things, the hit and play board (in the back) and
her toes.

"Carrots are good for you! (That's what we tell mommy.)"

"Hey, it's me. Chillin' on my bloppy. Care to join?"

"Mom, I'm a little busy at the moment."

"It's much more interesting when Uncle Mike tells the story."

Too bad this didn't capture her excitement of holding the balloon. She was
eagerly shaking it around. Also, she held on to that balloon for most of the time
at the mall.

Vacation: A look at Saint-Lary Soulan

2011-10-04T00:48:00.000+02:00

So here's why our trip was worth it: It was because we were visiting Saint-Lary Soulan! It's a very beautiful, quaint town, and also a popular ski resort in the winter and a vacation spot in the summer. The view was breathtaking. The mountains gorgeous. Nice, nice weather! It wasn't too hot, but cool enough to give us a break from the heat wave we were experiencing in Italy. Anyway, I loved, loved, loved it. Such a nice vacation spot. So glad we did it :). Here are some pictures of this beautiful place:

Woke up the first morning and starting clicking away. This was the view from
outside our window.

That morning Sam, Audrey, and I took a walk. They have so many sports
shops around, full of outdoor gear, such as hiking, cycling, skiing, etc.

This is the town's center. A cute little part. Within the park is play equipment
for kids, as well as a merry-go-round. The building held some sports facility as well.

I would say that aside form the cute buildings, what makes
this town very pretty is the flowers they decorate the streets
and parks with.

A cute little cafe.

Part of this building was for official use and the other part was a restaurant.
There was usually some type of crepe menu outside of the restaurant.

Down the street toward our apartment.

I liked the look of this little restaurant. On the menus of most of these restaurants
were Tappas. I guess because it's so close to Spain.

The road away from our apartment. These pictures don't
do justice to the colors. I lose a lot of depth when taking
a picture with my camera (even though it's very good!).

This was the building where the cable cars were.

The cable car took you all the way up this mountain and a bit beyond to a ski
resort located there.

Busy town.

They had this area for kids. All these bouncy thingies were blown up each day,
and deflated in the evening.

What a cute building for a sportswear shop :D.

The side to our apartment/hotel.

Returning after a walk.

A pretty building next to the town's church.

More pretty flowers.

Tourist information center. How pretty is that. They also organized day care for
parents who wanted to take time off without the kids.

I love this picture for some reason. Maybe because it reminds
me of a castle. And I just love castles.

The bread shop we would buy our baguettes from each morning. Notice all
the fun stuff it sells? Wines, hams, cheeses, jams, etc. Great, expensive place ;).

The town square's fountain.

And I will end here with another picture of beautiful flowers.

Hope you enjoyed these. There are more pictures of the surrounding area which I will post in upcoming posts of our vacation. Until then ... au revoir.

Dear Audrey

2011-10-02T16:30:00.000+02:00

You are five months now, and these are the thoughts that arerunning through my head:

“You are getting so big too fast.”

“What happened to that small, delicate baby?”

“She’s so smart.”

“She’s the most beautiful person I have ever seen.”

“I couldn’t have asked for anything better, or anythingmore. She’s perfect.”

You mean so much to me. I look at you and can’t help butsmile. Your personality warms my heart. You enjoy life--you smile, laugh, and express your love many times throughout the day. You are also a foolish little pumpkin. You laugh at very silly things, especially when mom or dad makefunny faces or sounds. I love snuggling with you, making you laugh, and beingfoolish with you.

Here are some other things you enjoy:

When we sing you songs. Your current favorite is“The Wheels on the Bus.” When I sing this song, you will stop whatever you’replaying with or doing and listen to it intently.
Your toys. They don’t keep you entertained fortoo long, but when you see them, they make you happy and you make sure to stickeach and every one of them in your mouth.
You love your bath time and kicking your feet inthe water. You make sure that I know when bath time is near. If I don’t followthe evening routine of bath, fun, and bottle or nursing, you get fussy and letme know that something is missing.
Your feet and toes have become your newfavorite. You hold on to them, put them in your mouth, and then take a break to“sing a song.” It’s your new type of babbling. You make a sound that comes outas if you’re singing to yourself.
You enjoy banging your hand on differentsurfaces: the table, pillows, the bed, books, the mirror, etc.
Speaking of mirrors, one of your favoriteactivities is to stare into the mirror and smile, laugh, or just look.
You like going around with mommy in her arms orin the carrier and watch her do the dishes, cook, or clean.

It’s amazing how you already have so much personality. Somethings that stand out right now about your personality:

You don’t like to be alone.
Being comfortable is very important to you. Youlike comfort with what you wear, your surroundings, and in textures that youfeel. If you don’t like it or if you are uncomfortable, you make sure mommyknows.
You have figured out that mommy and papa’s faceare the ones you know the best. You now cry when others, aside from papa, takeyou away from mama.
You have the cutest voice that mama has heardand you aren’t afraid to use it. Sometimes it gets screechy, but we put up withit, because we know you are discovering your voice and the sounds you can make.But other times mommy tells you that it’s enough and things have gotten tooloud. You seem to understand.
You love to laugh. You often try to find areason to laugh, and will try very hard to laugh. Sometimes it’s very forced,but at least you’re trying.
You enjoy children. When we go out and we runinto a small person, you light up and sometimes laugh. You will intently watchthat small person until they leave your sight. This also goes for small dogs.
You like to eat and you do it so well.

Some other interesting things about you:

You are 68 centimeters.
You weigh 7.1 kilos.
You are learning to sit up.
You now roll around from back to tummy, tummy toback (something you now do very quickly).
You are eating applesauce, carrots, and ricecereal. You favorite right now is when mommy mixes the carrots and rice cerealtogether. (Mommy will soon start you on another veggie.)
It seems that naps are against your religion. Youwill go to sleep, but mommy has yet to learn how to keep you asleep during theday. Some days you do better than others—like if you are very tired.

Last night you kept me awake (thankfully you don't do this often). You woke up every hour full of kicks and a lot to say. Today, I am tired and on theverge of cranky, but each time I look at you, I melt, forgive, and feel blessedto have such a beautiful daughter to go through my days with. I love you.

Love, Mommy (and Daddy)

Vacation: Italy-France

2011-09-26T23:42:00.000+02:00

No pictures of Italy. We left around midnight, so all was dark, and since Audrey dropped to sleep right away, I decided to take some shut eye. So we started off like this:

I making sure that Audrey and her lovey were tucked in and ready for a long night. Unsuspecting, I took a picture because I thought it was the last time I would see this cute duo before early morning light (maybe around 6am). I have made a lot of wrong assumptions in my life, and this is one of them.

Also had to take a picture of Sam driving. He was set for the long haul, red bull and all. It was very brave of him. How nice! So I take my pillows, make myself cozy, and I fall into a deep sleep. At 2am, this is what I see:

Well, this wasn't exactly at 2am, but she was just as much awake. She also decides that then would be a good time to make a smelly, which she never ever does around this time. So we need to make a stop.

Around 3 or 4am we crossed over into France and Sam pulls over at a rest stop and says that he needs to take a snooze. He is not going to make it. Wonderful, I think. We all shall take a snooze. But I am wrong again. No matter how much I walked around with Audrey, nursed her, or tried to hypnotize her into a state of sleep, she wouldn't relax. She was so hyper and active (so maybe hyperactive? :)). She had a lot of fun trying out loud shrieks and sounds, making it her duty to entertain not only me (Dad was fast asleep), but also the other sleepers who had parked in that rest stop. The sweet thing.

So mom tries to keep her quiet with the pacifier, and she gives me this face:

Yeah, well. It's really late ... erm, early, and we need our sleep.

"What do you think, Dumbo? Should we give in to sleep?" "Well, Audrey, I am feeling a little sleepy myself." Thanks to Dumbo's gentle prodding, she finally fell back to sleep around 5am or so, and we slept until 8am. Sam ended up driving a couple hours more, and parking and falling asleep with us until 8.

We then stopped for coffee. My first coffee in France, along with tasting the "real" brioche. The coffee was so-so, but I loved the pastry. I also really enjoyed sitting at the auto stop and watching the French people and listening to French. It's a lovely language, and the people are beautiful.

We then got back into the car and it was play time! The rest of the journey went a little like this: Play time, cry time, eat time, cry time, cry time, play time, cry time, sleep time, eat time, cry time,etc. Time flew! I kid. I actually thought it stood still for some time, and wondered if II looked out into the distance I would see a great battle with Joshua holding out his arms, asking for the sun and moon to stand still.

Thinking about it, though, now that it's been a month, I don't remember the sad times (and I'm sure she doesn't either). Instead, I remember what these pictures tell me. That we had fun, and that we experienced something fun as a family. I almost miss it! But shhh, don't tell the full memories that are hiding behind the happy, light memories. If those were to awaken, I would be re-traumatized. I will never do this again! I will never do this again! But I'm sure we'll do it again.

"Are you sure you want to do it again?"

So along the highway way (hee), I take some time to take a few pictures of France. There wasn't much to see from the highway, except that one time there was this awesome, and I mean, awesome castle. But during that time it was Audrey's cry time, so I missed taking a picture of it. Weep! Oh well. I remember it still (for now), and hope that I can one day visit it.

Instead, I catch these very cool electric windmills (at least that's what I think they are called). Pretty, no?

Also while in the car, I took the time to take a picture of myself. I do this not because I'm vain, but because I feel that if I don't, there will be no proof that I was ever in France, or anywhere really. Sam was definitely there, check. Audrey, yep. But Sonia ... we're just not sure. So I do this:

Yes, that's me. I was in a car in France. Can't you tell?

Here we have Sam fiddling with the phone's GPS. We actually needed to make a stop to have someone look at it. I couldn't because Audrey was crying and he couldn't because he was driving. So we made a "quick" stop to have it fixed by someone real nice and helpful. Sam did that while I looked for a bathroom to change Audrey, but instead got distracted by a really nice baby shop full of wonderful baby delights.

Soon we were on our way again, and there were moments when Audrey looked like this (see below), and it brought such relief to me. In fact, I was so delighted, I made sure to hardly breathe around her. No sounds.

And this photo collection could not miss out on this very great picture of Red Bull and coffee, as well as applaud the man who drove us during this 17 hours journey, sleeping only roughly 3 hours or so. You did an awesome job, Babe.

I was very bored on this trip so ended up taking pictures like this as well. I took pretty much every angle of the inside of our car, finding anything "artistic" I could. Not many made it to this album. At the time I felt like I was tapping into a very artistic side of me, but after viewing the photos again, I realized the sad truth: I was bored, definitely bored. But this one deserves to make it into the album. One, because I think it's pretty, and two, this mobile has been one of Audrey's favorites.

We finally made it to the Saint Lary area. Here we are entering this cute, remote ski resort way up in the mountains. You cannot believe how sweet it felt to know that we were nearing the end of our journey. I remember looking at the GPS and it saying 9 minutes, and feeling like those 9 minutes were like 9 more hours. I just couldn't wait. By then Audrey was asleep. Finally!

And, for all my ski and snowboarding friends and fanatics, I snapped a shot of this as we were whizzing by, thinking of you. I didn't know that there would be many ski signs throughout the town, and so desperately took this one to make y'all happy, hoping it would bring back very happy memories to y'all :).

Then there was this last photo. The only one that survived blur, objects blocking my camera, and whatever else that ruined almost every other scenic photo I tried to take.

After a long ride and patience, we made it! And let me tell you, it was worth it. I will show you why in an upcoming post.

This blog isn't dead...

2011-09-25T22:25:00.000+02:00

I am so behind with my posts. I have a lot of updates & photos to share--birthdays, vacation, Audrey news, etc. I'm adjusting to Audrey becoming more active and needing more attention, while also keeping up with work. Some things are old news but still worth posting about. Will be back soon!

Hello Kiki ...

2011-09-21T09:10:00.001+02:00

The cousins in their one piece "Kiki" PJs. Lara came over for some sister time, and we decided to take pictures of the girls. Valerie was busy drinking her milk for the night, and Audrey had no idea what was going on, but looked like she was trying to "go with the flow." What angels :D.

Kiki (as Valeria calls it) was her first cartoon or brand attachment. Now she is really into Cars (the Pixlar Cars), mostly Lightning McQueen. Audrey's only attachment right now is anything she can grab and hold tightly in her hands.

"Ah, hel-lo, can't you see that we Kikis over here are chillin'."

"Moms can be so embarrassing. How do you do it, Valeria?"
"I just drink my bottle and act real cool about it."

"Like this?" "Yeah, just be cool." (Who does find a cool Kiki adorable?)

"Right, whatever. Let's find some other entertainment, Valeria."

First few bites

2011-09-20T09:08:00.001+02:00

I started Audrey on "solids." I say put quotations on solids because what I have given her hasn't been too solid. I started her on applesauce, but it seems that she finds the sweetness of applesauce too sour. Since it didn't seem she enjoyed it all that much, I moved on to rice cereal and it's been a real hit. She enjoys this very much. Next, I would like to begin on a vegetable, trying either carrots (to replace the vitamin D I have been asked to give her) or squash. (If any of you mothers have other suggestions, please let me know!)

So far, I have only been giving it to her mid-day. I wanted to give it to her in the morning for "breakfast," but I have the gym at 10 or 10:30am, so it's a little difficult. But it works well to give it to her mid-day, as it's around the time she goes to sleep for an hour or so, and it seems to help to settle her.

So far, it's been a teaspoon only. I would love to hear suggestions from BTDT (been-there-done-that) moms. Any tips, or suggestions on what to move on to next, how slow/fast to go with amounts, etc. Of course, I know she may not like the same things your child liked, but it's nice to see what options there are.

I need to be quick, otherwise it does not please her highness. She also insists
on holding the spoon. She will then let go when she realizes she's not getting anymore.

"Will you hurry up, mom?"

"That's what I'm talking about."

Happy birthday, Simon

2011-09-11T10:51:00.000+02:00

(Birthday is the 10th and now 23)

Here's to my handsome, caring, fun, funny, witty, entertaining, always-there-when-you-need-him, excellent musician, great-friend brother, and much more. I haven't seen him for a few years, and we all, as a family miss him. (Come see us soon!!)

He's a lot of fun to hang out with, and knows how to put most anyone at ease. Not only that, he makes a great brother, as each of the rest of us sibs can attest.

I couldn't find a recent picture of him that I didn't know if he wanted me to post, so I decided to post a few of his baby pics to remember just how cute he was. Of all my brothers and sisters, I took care of him the most. For a while he was "my baby." I took him often as Dad and Mom were extra busy around that time. This time holds a lot of good memories.

I miss you, bro. Hope to see you soon!

Why the change of title

2011-09-10T15:12:00.000+02:00

My blog didn't turn out to be all primarily about motherhood as I had originally intended. I also include pictures of our experiences in Italy and our life, visits, etc. I did say at the beginning that this is what this blog would include, but it seems that I post more about Audrey and our life here in Italy. For the time being I will continue with this style of posting (which is a bit random), but I also hope to write more about being a mother, etc. So "Motherhood Confidential" is not dead ... just on standby.

Fun with Stefan and Sabine

2011-09-09T14:43:00.000+02:00

So we had Stefan and Sabine visit for two weeks (Stefan for longer). It was SO nice to have both of them around. I had a girl to talk with and Sam had a guy to do manly stuff with ... like play backgammon and tennis. It's made me realize how important it is to have friends (and family) around.

I was going to post these in installments, but since some time has passed, I have shortened the amount of pictures (ahem!) and will share with you most of the fun we had in this one post. That's not to say we didn't have more fun, but these were some highlights.

One of the first things we did was take them to ~~our~~ my favorite bar in Vigevano. A bar (in Italy) not only serves alcohol, but it's a place where you can go to get your morning (or any-time-of-the-day) coffee. They also, sometimes, have ice-cream and as is the case with this one, they have a lunch menu.

The well-designed, deliciously, lovely coffee.

Along with some scrumptious (what they call here) brioche.

It may seem like it's early in the morning, from the expression on their faces,
but it was around 11am or so.

They are humoring me. I took a few of these, heh.

The guys.

The gals.

Me and the bubs.

Some lyrics written on a pillar that we found on our way
to the car, which Stefan found fun :p.

All of this was too tiring for the munchkin.

That following Sunday, we were able to go to the Pista (where my parents work) to ride on the go-karts (the adult kind) and eat true Italian pizza. It was such a fun evening. They convinced me to also go-kart. I was a bit shy, as the last time I did this, I drove ... ultra slow. This time I went just a tad faster than that ... but still! I am glad I did it, though, even if I looked silly :p.

Dad also joined us, and helped to set the standard as to what was a decently fast speed. Sam was the runner up, then Sabine, and then Stefan, with Soni quite far behind (ooh, I just noticed that all of our names begin with S ... how nifty is that?).

We look like astronauts :).

Ready for take off!

Stefan very cool-ly starts us off.

Sabine is next.

Sam waves and Soni nervously keeps her eyes on the road
and both hands on the wheel.

"Racing" made us hungry for a hardy meal. Here we are with Dad and Mom.

First we had apperativo--salami, proscuitto, and spritz.

Then came the pizza ... this was Sabine's.

Stefan very happy with his, which was very yummy. If
there's ever a "next time," I will order this one.

Picture shots of the restaurant at the Pista. Note the cool picture boards on
the top.

Dad manning the bar.

Vincenzo making more pizza. He really makes them tasty.

Some Foosball after dinner.

And quality time with Sabine.

On another night we went to one of our favorite restaurants in the area--a Chinese restaurants. I just realized that I don't know its name. But, yes, it's one of my favorites. The four Ss, with my Mom, Dad, and brothers, Mike and Jesse. It was delicious! There was a lot of laughing and lively conversation.

Not as good as the "real" stuff, but we like it!

One of my favorites dishes. Another of my favorites is duck with moshrooms
(as said on the menu).

This is chicken with ginger.

Our feast.

All good things come to an end. We were satisfied.

Sabine liked.

Mike, Jesse, Mom, plus Dad's arm.

A very thought-provoking conversation, obviously not too provoking for me.

"Mom" feeding Audrey her bottle while mommy catches up on eating.

One night Marky visited us! We went bowling until 10 or 11pm, and then went home where Marky cooked us a delicious seafood pasta. The boys then got into a semi-intense, friendly poker game (no pictures of this, sorry!). Bowling was fun. Some of us started out good and got lousy at the end and other of us started out lousy and got good at the end. But never mind that, we had a ton of fun--so much so, that we went back the following week. I think Sabine had more pictures, but these are the only ones I can get a hold of, and they aren't that good.

Michael getting ready for his turn.

Marky at one of his many strikes.

Sabine sending the ball to down the few pins that were left after the first hit.

Stefan ready to attack the pins.

Sam in super action.

There may be more pictures we took, but I haven't yet collected all of them from Stefan and Sabine. I will end here with two pictures of a yummy meal we had. It was similar to the one we had with Angela--simple but so yummy: chicken salad, salami/proscuitto/speck mix, melon, brie, baguette, and good Bonarda wine.

Sam, Sabine, and Stefan went to Venice. If I can get some of those pictures, I may post them, so you can see how interesting and beautiful Venice is.

That's all for now.

Getting serious about exercise

2011-09-08T16:35:00.000+02:00

I joined the local gym. Yes! I am so happy about this, and very grateful to Sam for taking Audrey during my exercise time. (Thank you, handsome!) I've signed up for three months (until the end of November), and I hope to see results by then. I think I will. Here's why.

The trainer set me up with the treadmill. The velocity was actually quite pleasant and I thought I would have a pretty good time with it. Not hard at all, I thought to myself. As he was helping other people, he would watch me, and after a few minutes came up and made it go just a tad faster and said something like, "Now that's better." And it was. I began to sweat, my heart was pumping faster, and by the end I was out of breath.

This means he knows how to get you to push past your limit. He does his job well!

At another point in my life (Joykie you may remember this), I would have muttered out loud or under my breath, but not this time. It felt so good! I was very excited about exercise and left the gym in such high spirits that lasted the rest of the day.

Today he made me do 15 minutes on this one machine that works a little like the Sunny Twist Stepper, except that it was fancier and looked a bit more like a crosstrainer. The feet motion work more as if you're skating. It nearly "killed" me, but I loved it!

I am psyched about this, as you can see :). Hopefully, soon, pictures of me will show a more fit and healthier Soni.

4 months!

2011-08-26T15:49:00.001+02:00

In just the last few weeks Audrey has made so much progress in her development. I enjoy watching her grow SO much. It's both amazing and exciting.

*She is now nearly 68cm (shot 4 centimeters since our last doctor visit at the end of July). Stefan and Sabine got her outfits that were 74cm, and I was sure she would wear those next year around 10 to 12 months, but now I'm thinking end of this year.

Enjoying the pool once more.

*She grabs more efficiently. She's still slow at it, but gets better at it each day. She likes to have something dangling in front of her; she will grab it and let go, grab it and let go, etc. During one of her baths, I had the soap bottle over her as I waited for the soap to travel down and pour a little on her tummy. She slowly went for it with both hands, by the time she got there, I had moved it. Her face showed bewilderment. It was cute.

Thank you, grandma, for this new toy. It's my new favorite.

*She quickly rolls over from back to tummy. This is such an amazing achievement, but sometimes hard to deal with when changing her diaper. When on the bed, I hardly have time to place the clean diaper under her, she has already rolled away. She also now rolls away after she's finished nursing. This isn't helpful for when I'm trying to put her to sleep, heh.

This was one way to keep Audrey comfortable in the heat. As you can see, she
was a happy girl.

*Yesterday she rolled from her back to tummy. She's only done this twice, and needs more practice, but it's something new she's learning to do.

So sweetly asleep.

*I have put her on her tummy and placed her toys a little farther away, and she has managed to scoot forward to get them.

*She is able to turn her head at sounds or people talking much faster. Stefan and Sabine have been visiting us, and each day when I bring her out of the room, she will look around for them, ready for a smile or laugh. (She will miss you, Sabine!)

*She's such an active, wiggly baby. She already wiggles herself out of my arms. I have to be very careful when holding her with just one arm. (Arg, I thought this started at a later time in their development.)

*She had her first taste of applesauce yesterday. She did well, I think. Of course, made the usual what-is-this-foreign-substance-you're-putting-in-my-mouth face. We'll see how it progresses.

*She has also learned how to play with her toys more efficiently. She enjoys ring toys, toys that make music, and soft toys. Here is a picture of a board that when you press the animals, they make animal sounds and music. She's learned to turn it on with her feet.

And did I mention she's growing so fast? I went through some of her clothes today and found some cute outfits she hasn't worn and won't be able to. Weep!