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These three weeks, as always, went by really too fast. Once again we found ourselves having to say goodbye to everyone. We did have a nice send off, though.

On Sunday, Matt’s birthday, we had a nice lunch with Tizi’s family: her parents and her sister’s family were all there to celebrate and to say bye bye.Tiz’s mom prepared a wonderful 3 course lunch with some of Tizi’s favorite food (spinach and besciamelle tagliatelle, and green pepper filet mignon, and fruit cream cake and gelato). Keegan missed most of it, as he slept though the majority of it. He did wake up for dessert, though. Call him stupid! So he got the chance to eat gelato, and cream covered blueberries. Not bad.

happy birthday dad

He also got the chance to play some more with his cousins and spend some time with aunt and uncle.

our little pianist

We took the famous group photo, among many technical difficulties and many cameras (so the results are not the best…). And then, just like that, it was time for them to leave…

Tizi with mom and her sister Cinzia

The rest of the afternoon was spent between packing and saying goodbyes to friends. We actually managed to get everything done reasonably early, so we were able to catch some zzzz in preparation of a long trip home. And long it was. And stressful. Ironically, the solo flight was easier than the return, when there were two of us. I am not sure why, but a combination of scheduling, length of trip (it is always a few hours more when you fly west. Something about the winds…), general crankiness, maybe the sadness of leaving.

So, here is a lengthy description of our painful fight…feel free to skip it, but this maybe will explain why we really don’t travel much with Keegan.

Anyway, we arrived at the airport bright an early for our 10.45am flight. No much line at check in, but we started with our first surprise: Delta decided to change our assigned seats (I guess they switched airplane) and, surprise! we are not seating together. Not even close. Fortunately Matt thought about checking it AFTER we left the check in line, so I went immediately to complain.The agents in Milan were super nice and apologetic, so they not only seated us together, but they also put using the bulkhead section, so we would have more space. Unfortunately they could not switch our seats in Atlanta, but they said they place a note in our reservation and to talk to the agent there.

The flight to Atlanta was not too bad, considering. The bulkhead seats allowed us to have more space for Keegan to get up and walk around…or for Tizi to sit on the floor as Keegan enjoyed her seat. We played, read books, did multiple poopie diaper change in the cramped airplane bathroom, did lots  of eating…basically everything but sleeping. He did feel asleep the moment we sat down on the plane and slept for about an hour and then fell asleep again as we were landing…but the whole 9 hours in between he was wide awake.

We also watched some photos of Keegans friends on the iPod. We were trying to get him all excited about getting back to his old life and it seemed to be working, as he was constantly repeating the names Yadira, Isella, Titti, Hannah…

We landed on tine in the huge Atlanta airport: it took us more than 15 minutes to reach the gate after landing! We had a long layover, which was a good thing since we had to clear immigration. So, with Keegan sleeping on his stroller we started clearing security; now US residents get the same treatment as visitors: full fingerprints and iris scan…so pleasant. Then we grabbed our bags,  and we had to dig through them because one of them was beeping…we really did not want to get our bag blown up! It was just the baby monitor, but still…then, after custom, back to security screening. Why do we have to do two screenings, since we never left the airport is beyond me, but here we are, trying to pass all of our crap through again, waking up Keegan to get his stroller through x-ray….and his car seat back for multiple screening…

I really would like to know is all this extra screening EVER resulted in finding something suspicious or dangerous, because at this point it only seems to be inconveniencing people that have done anything wrong.

Anyway, once we cleared everything and Keegan settled back down and fell back asleep we went to the gate to change our seat assignments. We had about 2.5 hours before the flight, so we thought there should not be any problems. We were  wrong. We showed up at the gate which was already showing our flight number on the board and the agent asked us if we were going to San Diego. When we said yes, she barely looked at us and said: “5.55”. Is that some kind of cryptic Delta message? What is that supposed to mean??? With a very annoyed tone she said she will not even look at our flight till 5.55.  So we went to grab something to eat and tried to rest. It is about 10pm for us at this point. So we wait and then we come back. The attitude did not change. Despite being there an hour before departure she said there was nothing she could do, the flight was completely full and all seats assigned. Showing her our reservation with our seats together and explaining our situation did not even make her look at us. No apologies, no attempts to be helpful. I have to admit that at this point I am pissed, and not very polite, since it is THEIR screw up, once again, and she was not willing to help us in any way. She sent us to customer service if we wanted to talk about it. We did, and they were even less helpful, telling us that it was the agent responsibility to re-seat us. So we went back, and still more attitude. So we are waiting to board, hoping some kind soul would switch seats. In the meantime, at least 7 stand-byes get seated!!!!! And they are all in our area of the plane: one of them gets the seat next to me!!!! How is this possible, if there are no seats? Shouldn’t we have precedence in seat assignments? Obviously not.

Chuck this one to DELTA AIRLINES SUCKS!!!!!!!!!

So we got in tired, cranky and pissed off. Fortunately Matt and I were in front of each other, and he had an aisle and I had a window, so we could easily switch the middle seat with the window. Still we were not happy. And guess who else was not happy? Keegan. He woke up as we got him off his stroller, and never fell back asleep again…so we had a 5 hours flight in a small, crammed airplane, with a kid who is awake in the middle of the night, super cranky and that only wants mom, who is also at her wits’end, and very tired. What a fun flight. Sleeping was basically impossible since it was Monday Night Football and everyone was watching the Charger losing its game on the tvs and hollering in disapproval.

Fortunately, we did not have too many crying fits, just because I was able to walk with him up and down the aisle, but I was basically in tears:tired and frustrated. Keegan was saying “mama, mama, mama” non stop, and now wanted to sit on my seat, and could not understand why he could not seat in my seat. Matt tried to distract him and give me breaks, but nothing was working.  The only quiet moments we had was when we popped in the Underwater Adventures DVD: then he would sit, transfixed, for about 10 minutes at a time…and then he was bored again.

Fortunately, even this flight came to an end: we landed on time, and by the time we got to the baggage claim, all of our bags were already out. We got a cab, and we finally made it home. Keegan was very excited to be back and took all his toys out and looked around, getting re-adjusted. Putting him to bed was not easy, nor keeping him there: he woke up pretty much every hour.

I was trying to let him cry out a little while I was doing dishes in the kitchen (Matt was out for a Milk run), when all of the sudden his cries became less urgent, but also somewhat louder, and then stopped. I turned around and … SURPRISE!!!!… Keegan is in the hallway, with a surprised look, staring at me. Holy cow! Now he can climb out of his crib. This is just great. Could he wait for another week or so? Noooo. And he did not even fall, or struggled: just like that, he was out. Oh joy! That made our nights even more complicated…but this is a different story.

We comforted ourselves thinking that, no matter how difficult the trip and the adjustment time was we got to spend lots of time with family and good friends, and this made it all worthwhile.

So we end this lengthy post with some good memories:

At the park

Keegan took a shower, just like the big boys

Keegan is starting early: he is ogling hot women in the Armani catalog, and showing his approval

We have found this butterfly on the sidewalk when we were going out for a stroll. It was probably dying for the cold; it did not move for hours, so on our way back from our walk, we picked it up.

Keegan was fascinated by the colors

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The last week of our vacation started out well. The weather had improved, and even as the temperature dropped, the sun returned. So, we took advantage of thatand spend lots of time outdoor.

On Sunday, Keegan spent the whole day outside. In the morning, the granps took him for a walk in a nice park; at lunch time, mom and dad took him for a walk in the neighborhood, hoping he would fall asleep (in vain); and in the afternoon, we met up with one of Tizi’s best friends, Loredana and her family for yet another park. Keegan loved it. Not only there was lots of places to run and some small hills he could climb, but Loredana’s daughter Francesca loved to play with him, and so they had a blast in the playground and all around the park.

We even had pit stop for ice cream. Keegan is now well aware of what gelato is, and as soon as you mention the name, he starts smiling, saying YUMM and rubbing his belly. Who can resists? He got to slurp down a HUGE ice cream cup, the “famous” Coppa Tiziana (Tiziana’s cup) I remember from my own childhood. Except I don’t think I ate the whole cup when I was not even 2! Check out the size of that thing!

Loredana, Carmelo and Francesca

Oh well, I guess that we suspended our food rules in Italy, and Keegan got to eat almost everything he wanted: this included gelato of course, but also tons of focaccia bread and pizza, and regular bread, and delicious Italian cookies and croissants. Good thing that Grandma was also cooking him a delicious vegetable soup he loved to ate almost every day. He even ate olives! And of course, he overdosed on milk. Man, that kid will have bones of steel. It must be his absolute favorite thing in the world: he just sit there, content, drinking from his cup, and playing with his left ear.

The rest of  the week has been a whirlwind of activities for Keegan: more time with his cousins, more playgrounds to discover, more walks to be done. He feel in love with public transportation: buses, trolley and especially the subway: we could  pass by a stop without him saying: “choo-choo. Inside! ” We took as many subway trips as possible, and let me tell you, it was NOT fun for us. Milan is not very kid friendly, so most stations don’t have escalators (let’s not even talk about elevators) and you are dealing with many ramps of stairs, carrying your stroller. Not fun. This is why you don’t see too many young children on the subway. I do have to say I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the time, someone (mainly new immigrants) gave up a seat for me as I was carrying Keegan.

 on the subway train, on a windy day

even Italy gets ready for Halloween

Matt and I became very familiar with all the snack bars in the area, we took Keegan for walks almost everyday at lunch time. He usually fell promptly asleep in his stroller and to increase the chances of a longer nap, we would stop and grab some lunch outside. It was actually very nice and gave us the chance to spend more time together. If we were not successful, we tried other methods: lullabies, sleeping with grandma, laying on the big bed…anything but putting him in his bed, which he can’t stand. When all failed, I have found myself one day stuck on the couch for an hour when he passed out on me. We know better than waking him up, after all the efforts to get him to sleep. So, here another one for the “Keegan’s Sleeping Places” collection. Don’t I have another image exactly like it…when Keegan was three weeks old????

Tizi revved up her social life, getting to meet high school friend she has not seen in 20 years (ah the magic of Facebook). Matt stayed home for this one, and it was great to see what everyone has been up to. It was weird how it did not feel like 20 years has passed. Anyway, I will spare you the comparison pictures; let’s just say we all look exactly as we did in high school, just better. (-:

Franco, me, Tiziana and Luigi

Matt joined me for other social events, like an awesome dinner in the trendy center of the city with an old friend. Yummy tartar filet and great wine and limoncello. In that occasion I discovered that the Porche Carrera actually seats 4 people. I would have never guessed. And honestly, the back seat is way more comfortable that the jump seats in Matt’s truck.

We got to do some shopping, Tizi more than Matt: one morning, as she and Loredana hit the town and its shops, Matt, Keegan and the grandparents went to The Natural History Museum, repeating a family tradition: I guess it was one of my favorite places to be when I was little. Keegan had fun running around and watching stuffed animals. Yes, a little creepy, but that is the best you can do if you live in a city, right? And I guess I still find it somewhat fascinating. It is really well done, and the scenes and settings are well thought out.

what the heck is a “cefaloco”? It looks like a deer to me

We also added some cultural events: we went to check out a Frank Geary Exhibit. It was very interesting, presenting plans and models from his projects from 1997 on. And we got more date nights. I guess an advantage of living in a city like Milan is that there are so many places to go. So we got our fill of great food, awesome home cooked meals, drinks and shopping. What else can you ask for?

Well, to be totally honest we really wanted to go somewhere a few days, to see something different, maybe to the mountains or even the beach. I love the beach in the fall/winter. However, seen how difficult it has been for Keegan to get adjusted, we really did not have the energy to deal with one more adjustment(=night wakings, crankiness, etc.. ) After all, it was supposed to be a relaxing time for us, so if it would have brought us more stress, why going at all? Oh well, next year we will do it for sure. We will plan it in advance so we can back out, and hopefully, by then, Keegan will be a better traveler.

As always when we go away, he seems that Keegan had a huge developmental growth. We started losing track of how many new words he has been adding. We guess he probably added about 40+ new words in these three weeks alone and most of them in Italian. And he is adding more and more everyday. My favorite one is probably “honey”, that he usually repeats after I say it to him: is he mocking me? Most importantly, he is really trying to repeat most sounds he hears, and often times he succeeds. Hopefully he will not lose all there new Italian words, and I will make sure to reinforce his Italian.

He is also got better at his motor skills: climbing, running, walking backwards all improved. Check him out walking on rope bridge and walking over obstacles.Yeah, yeah, big deal, I know. But this is a big progress for him, and he was damn proud of it too.

He even started using the big boys swing: still not a big fan of swings in general, but he seems to have fun on this one.

We even saw his first real jump (feet off the floor), and his signing has improved as well. I bet they will be very surprised at daycare when they see him and notice how much he has grown.

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Welcome to Italy Matt! The day has come: Matt’s arrival in Milano. We left for the airport bright and early:  no need of mechanical instruments since we have our natural alarm clock, who decided to wake up at 5.20 since Tizi has been out late the night before.

Matt’s plane was 1.5 hours late, but fortunately, Keegan was easily entertained. We even found some sort of kids playroom (no toys, mind you, but lots of brightly colored furniture) and Keegan spent the time running around.

It was great to see Matt, and we were all happy to hug him and kiss him.

welcome to Milan, daddy

catching up with daddy and Keegan’s favorite books

On the way back, Keegan fell asleep in the car, and that has been his only nap all day, so he was extra cranky all day… unfortunately this was a trend that continued in the following days. We are not sure what happened, but our happy, sunny Keegan of a few days before has changed into a whiny alien, just as the weather has suddenly cooled off, and the sun has been replaced by dark clouds. Could the two events be related? Not sure, but all I know is that the night wakings started again, and the whining increased significantly… fortunately, grandpa and grandma were still his favorite playmates, so we could get a little break, and take morning naps and afternoons rest. Maybe, for as happy as he was to see daddy, it was another destabilizing event for him. Not sure, but all I know is that, between Matt’s jet lag, and Keegan’s crankiness, we had a very mellow week: we just did not have any energy left. We still found time for fun, of course.

The next morning, October 5, was our Wedding Anniversary (wedding number 2): 7 years! If there is something called “7-years itch” we surely have not felt it. Are we maybe too busy with our  little hurricane? Just kidding. It seems impossible that it has been so long ago, it feels like yesterday and we are still grateful every day we have found each other.

That morning we woke up with the smell of a freshly baked cake: Tizi’s mom made this great rose shaped cake for us. Keegan of course wanted in the action, and ate quite a bit.

bleary eyes and jet-lagged but still celebrating

On Thursday,  we all piled up on Grandpa’s car for a trip to a Safari Park, that is only an hour or so away (and Keegan slept the whole way up). The sky was gray, and being midweek, we basically had the whole place all for ourselves. It was fun. The park is divided in two sections: the safari park, where you drive around a loop and the animals move freely around you and your car; and the amusement park section, with more traditional cages and displays and also many rides targeted to the little ones.

All of us really enjoyed the safari park: it is interesting seeing emus, zebras, giraffes, lions, tigers, etc. so close. Maybe a little too close…one of the tigers basically licked our car window! And who really needs to see a zebra’s butt this well?

After the safari drive, it was already lunch time so we took a break eating yummy sandwiches: think lots of cured meats and cheese. Keegan enjoyed trying a little bit of everything, but mainly chomp down on focaccia bread.

After a nice lunch, we headed towards the rides part. There are many rides, and he enjoyed them all…well, maybe he was a little perplexed on the water ride, but other than that it was all good fun.

Keegan loved running in the aquarium, and checking out the reptiles and of course trying out some rides. We went to a caterpillar roller-coaster, and to the Lion King carousel, and also, Tizi’s favorite thing: a huge bumpy slide. It was actually set up for adults, and no kids under 4 was allowed, but since there was no one checking (you must love Italy), we gave it a try. It was not really too steep, and Keegan loved the thrill. We already know he will be a big adrenaline junkie! Since there were hardly anyone in the park, we got to go on the rides without waiting, and sometimes we have them all for ourselves.Mom was usually the designated ride person, but daddy and grandpa also got in the action.

The next day, mom and dad got a day off. We left the little guy with the grandparents and went to Torin. Yes, I know, not a very exotic location, but it has been really cleaned up for the Winter Olympics of a few years back, and it really nice. We walked on old streets, lines with luxury shops, and see all palaces and castle, and ended up at Mole Antonelliana, the city symbol, now hosting a large Cinema Museum. We took the panoramic elevator to get a beautiful view of the city, and the river Po. It was sunny and warm, and of course we forgot our camera…oh well.

We then visited the cinema museum: it is really very well presented, if a little light in content. A great experience we recommend to anyone: it really puts you inside the movie experience. We had lunch in the trendy cafe, and we left n time for going back to the train station…and for a nice thunderstorm. It was great to have some time all for ourselves, to chat and just do whatever we wanted without worrying about nap times and lunch times and whining. Even the train ride gave us the chance to relax and read… except when Matt got stopped by the train police (yes, there is really a Poliza Ferroviaria, or train police): not only they asked him for his ID, which he fortunately had with him, they checked it thoroughly, even calling someone to check his entry stamp.I could not believe it was happening. Did we land in Switzerland without noticing it? With all the illegal immigrants they have in Italy, they are “harassing” and American tourist? Funny! Little scary as well, because, I did not have any document on me that proved I was Italian, but I guess they took my word for it.

Keegan was a little angel with the grandparents, or so they said. After all, he reserved his worse behavior for us: I am not kidding. When he was alone with grandma and grandpa, he was a perfect child, but as soon as Matt or I joined in, the crying, tantrums and whining started…I guess we had an excuse to leave him with the granps more often.

We got the chance to have a few afternoons, as my parents took Keegan to see his cousins: they live in a remodeled old farmhouse, with an internal yard, that has been restructured to include 4 apartments. All the families that live there have young children, so it is a great, communal life. Keegan loved to see all the older kids and to play with them.

We also went out a few nights, either with Tizi’s friends or alone. There is a cute bar right below Tizi’s parents apartment, which, while is a nuisance when you are trying to sleep, is very  convenient when you want a cocktail and are too tired to go anywhere fast. Good and cheap too.

Fortunately, as the week approached its end, the weather started improving, with colder temperatures but also sunnier days, and Keegan’s mood seemed to improve too. The last week, he returned the happy boy we all know, and his whining dramatically decreased. His sleeping somewhat improved, no more night waking, and most importantly, he did not call out for mom when he woke up: so, while grandma was getting him up and giving him his milk and his breakfast, and playing with him at those early hours (5am), we could get a little more sleep.

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So, here we are at last: Milan, Italy. The dreaded trip has come and gone, and it is now time to enjoy our vacation. First things first: our long trip.

As you all know, Tizi was extremely worried about spending many, many hours on a plane with Keegan alone. Door to door the trip took approximately 22 hours. However, the trip went amazingly well, beyond our wildest dreams. Yes Keegan did not sleep much, but he did not fuss, which was paramount. There were no meltdowns, at least no Keegan’s meltdown. More on Tizi’s meltdown later. Just to give you an idea, this was my carry on luggage: a car seat, folded inside a backpack (23lb); overflowing diaper bag; carry on bag, full of books and toys; thermic bag and a plastic bag with Keegan’s food. stroller and of course a squirmy 22 moths old. Hard to see in the photo, but to make it work, I had a large, sturdy hook on the stroller, so I could attach the carry-on and the food bag, while the car seat was on my shoulder and the diaper bag across the stroller top bar: I did get some compliments for the efficiency!

Security was easier than expected: one of the TSA lady actually helped me through it, while another guy was testing the food and liquids (quite a different scene from Phoenix).  Keegan was in a great mood, and he started the day spilling 4 new words: dark, dog, people, down. We got to the gate about 30 minutes early: of course there was no empty seat, which meant 5 hours of Keegan on my lap. At least I had an aisle seat this time.

The guys next to me were very nice and Keegan was great: he played, walked down the aisle, ate some food, read some books…I honestly don’t even remember what we did on the flight, since it went so smoothly. We landed early in Atlanta right around his naptime and he fell asleep in his stroller shortly after touching down. Not the ideal situation, as I wanted him to play around and run, but at least I had some time to call Matt and reassure him, and to have some lunch.

Now, you may remember that last year we flew the same route, and in Atlanta, just before boarding, Keegan had a massive throw up, and we had all the drama, and fear of losing the flight. Well, Atlanta may not be our lucky town after all, because we had a drama of other sorts this time.

We arrived at the gate early and as soon as an agent showed up, I approached and asked him if there was an extra seat. The guy was a total moron, and unfriendly to boot. He told me he did not know, it was too early, he could not tell me, etc. So I asked him to change my aisle seat for an aisle in the bulkhead, so Keegan would have more space (plus it is a great barganing seat). The idiot took forever, could not do it, had to ask for help, and finally printed the tickets. As boarding approached, I noticed a woman with a young baby fighting with the agents at the counter for quite a while. For some reason I felt uneasy about it. Sure enough, as most people have boarded already, the agent approaches me and tells me that my son is too old for the bassinet – which I NEVER asked for- and that they will have to move me to give my seat to this other lady. The problem is that they don’t have any more seats on the aisle and have to place me somewhere in the middle seat.

You can imagine what happened next: I was so upset I could not see straight. I definitely went a little overboard, but the thought of a 10 hours flight with Keegan on my lap, stuck in the middle seat was terrifying…and it was all THEIR mistake. I told them that, in multiple ways (many including not very nice words) and all they could offer me was to fly the following day. Then I had a total meltdown, feeling powerless. Finally, the agent said that there were two people that had not shown up yet, so there may be a chance I could get a second seat: and so it went. So, I was basically the last one to board, I got two seats, and was able to put all my stuff under the seat, for easy access. So, all is well what ends well.

The second flight ended up leaving the gate an hour late, for an electrical problem (just what you want to hear before crossing the Atlantic), but being close to nigthtime I did not care. Keegan did not sit long, but he had the extra space he needed, and between some new toys, books, and games, time went by. I did not even need to use the DVD player I brought with me. Keegan kept on adding new words: eat, walk, apri (open), chair, five (as in Gimme five), acqua (water). It must have been his words day.

At nighttime, I tried to put him down, but you could see he was very uncomfortable, tossing and turning, and running out of space. Of course, my car seat, that I brought on purpose in case there were an empty seat, was in the cargo, since nobody knew till the last second if I could have the extra seat.

I barely got any sleep, but the relief of no tantrums was so big I almost did not care. I also did not care that the entertainment system did not work, but I can imagine how happy the other passengers were about it…This is not the first time it happens on these flight, so I can say with confidence: DELTA SUCKS!

We finally made it with 20 minutes delay.

My parents were waiting at the airport and Keegan immediately recognized them and greeted them. In fact he was calling for them as soon as they were out of sight. He did not need any adjustment time at all with them.

We crashed as soon as we got home, but after two hours, Keegan decided he had enough and woke me up with a loud: “no nanna!”. We had the first visitors: my sister and her kids, and went to bed early. As expected, the nights has been challenging, between the jet lag and the new environment, with multiple night wakings, but after 3/4 days, he was sleeping more or less through the night.

Tizi spent the first week, despite the lack of sleep, reconnecting with old friends, even some old high school buddies, that she has not seen for years.

with Simona, restoration specialist and friend since preschool

with high school buddy Tiziana (see, it is not that rare of a name)

It was great to catch up and spend time together. Keegan was happy to spend time with the grandparents, and they were even happier to oblige.

The weather was nice and sunny, and somewhat unusually warm. Keegan enjoyed the attention, and seeing so many different people. He loves the craziness of the city, and its thousands sounds. He is particularly attracted by motorcycles, cement mixers and the sounds of the many emergency vehicles.

He got to ride on the bus and the subway, and immensely appreciated both experiences. He has been at his best behaviour for all my friends, even enduring an hour long lunch while he was not eating. He took long naps in the stroller (nothing new here), and enjoyed Italian playgrounds. It is interesting to notice how different they look: the structures are made in wood, they usually have more climbing surfaces than stairs, and the slides are stainless steel…No matter, he enjoyed them all.

He of course had to try the Italian fountains as well (check out the Milano emblem on it) and getting all wet.

At the public park, Keegan had his first Merry go round experience. He never showed much interest till now, and I have to say he is somewhat ambivalent: he enjoys it for a couple of rounds but then he wants to get off. He picked a couple of different rides, but we could no dissuade him from riding the pink car.

He even got to play and interact with other kids, in a house setting, and he did very well. There was a huge train model set up, so all the kids played together without
fights. Keegan’s favorite part was the draw bridge and the annoying beep it made: he must have activated it a thousand times.

He is still on a roll as far as his language skills. Two, three words combos are now the norm, and he is adding lots of new words every day, many of those in Italian. We got sor (star), carta (paper), albero (tree), beech(beach), dita (fingers), tita (matita or pencil),titzza (pizza), go, vai (go in Italian),move, door, qui/li’ (here, there), and my favorite one: sasore (ascensore or elevator). He knows more colors too: green, red, white, black and more names: tiza (Cinzia, my sister), Loi (Lori, Tizi’s friend), uele (Samuele, his cousin). Now it is getting really dangerous: we need to be careful on what we say, as he is repeating everything.

Of course, for as much as he has been enjoying the new adventures, Keegan has not forgotten his old friends: the DVD with pictures from this blog has been running on constant rotation on Grandpa’s big screen TV. He is so happy to see all these familiar faces.

We had been counting down the days to Matt’s arrival: Keegan has been crossing out the calendar, and we were all excited for Sunday to come to see daddy.

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