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It is tough being a toddler, but someone gotta do it, right? Between playing, eating, goofing around, running, climbing, throwing the occasional tantrum, making weird noses, and chasing mom and dad around there are simply not enough hours in a day. Maybe this is why he resists his naps!

Jokes aside, not counting the constant cold and the teething, Keegan is healthy and happy. We are posting some images just to give you a glimpse of his life as a toddler.

His eating preferences vary daily, and now he LOVES apples. Yes, the same fruit he refused to eat before: now he loves it, at least today, especially if he can eat it biting it off.

He is quite proficient at washing his hands, and most times, after changing a poopie diaper, he will go to the diaper pail (too bad he can’t actually drop the diaper in there), and then straight to the bathroom for washing his hands. He enjoys climbing on the step stool and playing with the running water.

You can’t be called a toddler without some goofing around. Keegan thought it was hilarious to explore both of his nostrils at the same time (instead of eating, mind you)…no, he did not pick any winners.

At his new daycare room they have plenty of art time, so we tested his skills at home with some washable -we hope-, no toxic – we REALLY hope, since he proceeded to put them in his mouth right away-, crayons. What a masterpiece! And I guess he is not left-handed like mom after all.

Some of his favorite games right now are pushing and pulling toys around, especially the wooden ones that make such a fun noise, throwing balls over handed, stacking cubes really high, and then knock then down, shape sorting, and of course boxes and lids and filling and emptying container. He also loves when we sing to him (and his daddy’s Tarzan interpretation). And if he LOVES being outside, either in the yard, the street, the playground or anywhere else. Good thing we live in San Diego, and can enjoy outxdoor time most of the year  (sorry for rubbing it in).

And right on time, he is showing some major jealousy, so every time mom sits with daddy, he comes right over, make sure we are not too close by pushing us apart and sits right in the middle for a group hug.

I can’t believe is Easter already, but here we are. The first week after the grandparents left went OK. We are definitely back to normal: no more sleeping in till 8am for Keegan. In fact he started his random schedule again, which usually means WE are not getting any sleep. We had in order: a 6am wake up, a midnight wake-up with him (and us) staying awake till 3.30am, another wake up at 4.30 and 5.30, and then the next day a midnight and 1.30 and then 5.30 wake ups…and of course, while he sleeps fine at daycare, he does NOT want to nap at home. We tried again the crying out method on saturday, and guess what, he cried 2.5 hours, and no nap. So once again, it is back in the car and he fell asleep right away…We definitely need to find a way for him to nap, since he is very tired. We can try to get some kind of cot, like they have a daycare, so maybe it will help. At this point we are open to everything. (-:

Anyway, this too shall pass.

Easter, while still did start with a somewhat sleepless night, turned out to be a very fun day for all of us. The weather was once again beautiful and sunny, so we started the day with a small Easter hunt. Matt hid some colorful eggs filled with treats in the yard, and we got Keegan out there to find them. We did not do anything too elaborate, but he had a blast. “He” made a small basket at daycare, so he was  ready to go, and he quickly got the hang of it.

let’s store them all in the basket

I have found another one

He was such a thrill to watch him and to hear him shriek in delight, especially when he started shaking them, and he realized that there was something inside…and something edible at that.

hey, they are making a fun shaking sound

what’s in there?

Yummy Strawberry Puffs

yummy!!!

enough, let’s save the loot for later

It was so much fun! After both mom and Keegan had a nap, it was off to the playground. He did have a good time, climbing stairs, going down the slides, playing with the sand, and petting doggies. He even crawl though the tunnel, something he usually does not like to do. Then is was time for more playtime at home.

We hope all of you had as fun as a Easter Day as we did.

Sadly, the time has come to say Arrivederci again. The grandparents left for Italy last week…just in time for the biggest earthquake in Italy in 30 years. Fortunately they are not in harm’s way, and thank you to all of you that expressed concern. Neither they or anyone in their direct circle has been affected.

We had a wonderful time, and spent many days enjoying each other’s company. We all miss them a lot. Keegan has been occasionally pointing to the door, waiting for them to show up at any time. He has been looking for their car, and its keys, since he had a lot of fun playing in it, and pretending to drive it…oh- oh, are we in trouble?

I am getting the hang of this driving thing

For us, it has really been a treat seeing how well they get along, and how much fun they had together. It could have been a simple stroll in the neighborhood…

…or a shopping trip in mama’s mothership: Target…

I love this shopping thing… check out my mug

Making mama proud: Keegan is a Target lover already

… or simply playing in the yard

man, this is a REALLY big ball

or enjoying an old-fashioned passtime as  paper dolls (and grandpa is a master at it)…

…no matter what they did, they had a ball. Unfortunately, the last week, has been spent tending to Keegan who got sick, and was out of daycare for 4 days. We are very grateful for Grandmma and Grandpa that took such god care of him so we could still go to work. It was nothing serious, just a combo cold-cough-fever-teething thing. He was well enough by Friday to enjoy one last day with his best playmates.

We are looking forward to seeing them again soon, possibly in Italy. Thank you again for everything  you have done, and see you soon on Skype!

…and Easter is around the corner. While the calendar says it is indeed spring, the first few days has been quite unpredictable: some sun, some rain, some warm days, some cold ones, lots of wind…I guess this is what spring is supposed to be. We still took the chance to take Keegan out as much as possible, even if it is our yard or a quick stroll around the block. And when you do walk around the block, you may meet some interesting fellows. Like a friendly gentleman walking a lamb!

Let me give you some background: for the past few years, we have noticed that, around Easter time, one of our neighbors up the block had a cage with one or two lambs in his garage. We could not believe it: we are living in the very definition of suburbs, at least the 60’s idea of it, so keeping wild animals as pets is not really standard.However, we saw it enough time to know we were not hallucinating. The lamb/s always disappeared after Easter. Well, so what is a rational person supposed to think?????

I guess we can add this to the “never judge a book by his cover” series. On Wednesday, we had the chance to talk to the guy and his lamb, Daisy. it turns out that he is a photographer and every year he gets a lamb from a farm around Easter time and bring it to different schools to take pictures of the children. After Easter he returns it to the farm….and we don’t want to know what happens after that, nor we want to ask.

So, on Wednesday, our friendly neighbor, was kind enough to bring Daisy the lamb around as he saw Keegan playing in the front yard: what a treat it was for him (and for Tizi as well).

Keegan, meet Daisy

The little lamb is only two weeks old and she was very friendly as well. Keegan was somewhat perplexed at first, and Daisy did not know what to make of him either.

Grandma, are you sure about this petting thing?

well, I feel safer with mom

But after a short while they slowly warmed up to each other…maybe a little much. After 20 minutes, the lamb was running away begging for mercy, as Keegan was chasing her and patting her on her butt.

Hi there!

let’s play catch

Of course we had to film the whole thing, it was too funny. Tizi even learned something new: lambs jump, and it means they are in a playful mode. Also, by three weeks they are basically teenagers, and never listen. We tried to convince our neighbor to let us hire Daisy, as a weed eater, but we got shot down: I guess that weeds don’t sit well in their stomach, literally, and even if lambs love them, weeds make them sick…oh well it was worth a try.

Are you sure we can’t hire her to eat our weeds??

By the way, yes, we will eventually take care of the front yard. We want to actually eliminate the grass and replace it with some local, drought resistant plants, but we have other projects that take priority. So, for now, we will have to rely on random lambs and Matt’s lawnmower to keep weeds under control.

Once again, while the grandparents are around, Keegan is going through some big change. Nothing stratospheric, mind you, but after almost 5 months of quiet he is finally sprouting new teeth. Not one, not two, but three: two top front ones, and a top molar! We honestly didn’t noticed the first two, as his sleep has been erratic plenty times before without reason. I just put my finger accidentally into his mouth and felt them. While at first I was not too thrilled about losing symmetry, with the new top tooth, she was relieved to see that the other top tooth is about to poke out. Relieved till this morning that is, when Keegan woke at 5.30 crying and could not be soothed. Oh well, hopefully it will be over soon.

The weather has been good, and we have very warm forecasts for the next few days, so Keegan has been enjoying lots and lots of outdoor play and walks with grandma and grandpa. This a great thing because he absolutely LOVES being outside, and he will clamor to go outside as soon as we get back home from daycare.Tizi on the other hand has been enjoying a few hours of free time each day, and just at the right time too, as she has been somewhat buys at work.

goofing around in Mission Bay

how did this got on my head?

slides are still Keegan’s favorite

Keegan has also increased his vocal repertoire, as far as animal noises goes at least. He now grunts for piggie, makes “mmmm” for cow, “oh,oh,oh,oh” for monkey, “awooo” for cat, “ssssss” for snake, “ah, ah, ah” for crows (or any other bird), “awoooooo” for dog (we must have hounds in the neighborhood). No much more progress in talking, even though he can now say “mama, dada, nana (for banana)” quite well. His signing has improved as well, both in quality and consistency. Milk, more (referring to anything, not just food), food, and all the others we mentioned already, and now even “shhhh” (hand on his mouth). Of course he also has lots of other ways to let us know what he wants.

Finally he has kept on eating more and more food, and more and more on his own. He is now quite good at eating with a spoon, even dipping it himself. And tomatoes have made a triumphal return. He finally likes pasta!!! Tizi is excited about that.

We have another week and a half with the grandparents and we are all planning to enjoy every minute of it. You don’t need to tell Keegan twice. He is having a ball with them, his favorite playmates. He plays all afternoon, and laughs out loud, and squeal in delight at all the games grandma and grandpa are inventing for him. It does not hurt that they are bringing lots of gifts, big and small. We will definitely had to hide some when they leave, and rotate them. For now though, is great to see him light up and play with them.

having a laugh with grandma’s musical book

Tizi and Matt are also enjoying the extra free time. Saturday we had our first night outside the house. Grandma offered kindly to sleep over so we went to a funny comedy show at 4th and B and then stayed the night at the Sheraton Hotel at Symphony hall, in a nice king suite, with awesome view of the city. We were even upgraded and got a wonderful free breakfast buffet. By the way, the Sheraton restaurant is the place where we first talked about/decided to get married in 2002.

The best part of it, though, was the chance to actually spend time together, as a couple, without worries, and really only focus on each other, without being interrupted. And let not forget the chance to get a nice night of sleep. Even if we were not able to sleep in till 9/10am straight as we used to (we still got up earlier) it was wonderful not to have to get up right away, and just lie down and talk and cuddle with no rush. Plus, we got back home early enough not to miss the little guy too much. Seeing how happy he was when he saw us really was touching: it almost compensate us for the perennial lack of sleep… almost.

So thank you grandparents for such a great gift!

our little angel

Another Well Baby Check Up (another grueling 3 hours experience…as soon as he gets 2 we are changing doctors). Keegan is healthy and well developed, and he actually showed more patience than mom and dad during the eternal wait to see the doctors.

These are his measurements:
• Weight is exactly 23 lb (10.2kg) >> 25–50 percentile
• Height  is 30.1/2 inches (77 cm) >> 50–75 percentile
• Head circumference of 14.5in. >> 25 percentile

So he remained on his growth curve, after the big jump last time. he seems to hit all the developmental milestones, except for talking and we never tried scribbling, so we are not sure about that.

These are milestones he was checked for :

• he walks fast and almost run
• he stacks objects on top of each other. His record was 5 before collapse.
• he responds to simple commands (when he wants to)
• he self feeds, and use utensils (he can, but only when he wants to)
• he picks up objects while walking without falling down
• he waves bye
• he holds out arm or lifts a leg to help us dress him
• he points at body parts when asked (again if he wants to)
• he matches lids with containers
• he imitates us somewhat
• he points
• he walks backward

Other things he does:

• he finally started signing back in a clear way! it only took 9 months!!! He now clearly signs for milk. He also knows how to sign for More, and Finished, but he does not use them consistently. He makes up his own signs as well: lifting his arm to indicate trees, and one arm to indicate he wants up on the couch; shakes his head to say no; bangs on the fridge or his high chair when he is hungry; rubs his hands together when we tell him to go wash his hands; clap his hands or feet when asked.
• he enjoys washing his hand. He gets up his little steps, and helps out.
• while he is not really talking, he says “nanana” for banana, dadad for dad, and mummmmm for mom. He also started grunting for pig: of course of all animal sound we have been doing he has to pick the pig. He also makes a distinctive sound and put his hand on his hear for telephone.
• his understanding increases every day: he now sits down when asked, and also when we mention it is time to put our shoes on.
• he is throwing balls…or anything else in his hands
• he getting a lot better at shape sorting. His favorite toy right now is the Shape Sorter Hyppo: not only he gets to sort the shapes, he gets to press down a button that eject them out from the mouth. Of course he enjoys the pressing the button more than shape sorting, but still…

• he has learned to open doors. Fortunately, some of our handles are higher than others, so out of his reach. We also got some handles lock, just in case
• he is slowly eating more foods. We are cautious in saying it, but he has started getting more chunky foods and self feeding himself more.
• he has started walking backwards and sitting in between our legs when he wants to be read a book: I guess they do this in his new daycare, and he may like that a lot
• he still quite the daredevil. He enjoys standing on the coffee table, and crowd diving: this keep us on our toes, because he dives regardless if there is anyone there to catch him or not. He loves to climb and go up and down stairs.
• he still loves books and keeps on turning pages on his own. He has been doing this for a long time now, and it makes it difficult to read to him.
• he is starting to throw tantrums when frustrated, usually when we stop him from doing something dangerous or take a way a toy (or not take him outside)”
• of course he more and more interested in his penis, now every time we change him
• he “dances” when he hears music, especially the banjo sounds from his leap frog table. Well, he bend his legs and goes up and down, but hey, he is a white boy, and white boy can’t dance, right?

In other news, he is getting adjusted to his new daycare. He has not been crying the past couple of mornings when we left him, and he seems more involved. I saw him interact with the other kids more when I pick him up, and they told us that he loves to eat. He has been eating a lot more there and different foods: he probably likes to eat with all the other kids: they are so cute, sitting together at their little tables, with their little chairs. He must enjoy the social eating: we really need to make an effort to share some meals together.

The new schedule is more structured, and maybe he likes the predictability of it. They do art, and music and outdoor play, and so far he has been sleeping a couple of hours each afternoon. In the weekends we have some trouble keeping him up till 11.30/12. On Saturday he feel asleep at 9.30 on his high chair (and of course, bad parents as we are, there he staid till he woke up  an hour later). His night sleeping is still a little off, but it seems like the daylight savings change helped, and he has been sleeping a little longer in the morning (maybe because it is darker).

So, all and all he is a healthy, happy toddler, and we are deeply grateful for that. Plus, isn’t he adorably cute?

We made to the 15th month already…and what a beginning to the new month that was: grandma and grandpa arrived from Italy, and Keegan moved to the bigger kids room and changed his daily nap schedule.

Bye Bye Infant room…I’m off to the big kids room

He is actually is taking all in stride. The first day we took him to the new room it was harder for us (or should I say Matt since he has the unpleasant task if dropping him off) that Keegan. Of course he cried, and of course he was super clingy, but the teachers said he did OK, considering. He played and ate all his food…in fact he wanted some pieces of the pizza the other kids were having…we were not aware of Pizza Monday, I guess. When I picked him up, he was sleeping!!! He took a 2.40 hours nap. All the other kids were very nice and friendly, Matt said, and came over to greet him, despite his tears.

Once I took him home, another surprise was waiting for him: grandma and grandpa were home! He was of course not sure what to make of them, and very shy and he kept running to mom, but it took him less than one hour to warm up to them, and start playing. Mom had to be in the room, at short distance, but he let them grandparents hold him and play with him. They have the magic touch: they know just how to handle him. Before we knew it he was running around and giggling and laughing and playing all sort of games.

playing with grandpa

I hate posing for pictures, but check out my super cute Superga shoes

Each new day he got friendlier and friendlier and learn top spend more and more time with them alone, without mom present. After a week we are up to more than an hour, without complaints: well, who wants to complain when you have two playmates that spend every minute just trying to make him laugh, play with him non-stop and indulge every whim? It will be a rude awakening when they leave as mom and dad definitely do not give him this much attention. It is great to see them together, though. And mom is finally starting to have some time for doing her own stuff (or just relax).

And let not forget the awesome home made Italian food we are getting every night. Or the cool toys and gifts they are buying  for all of us. Or the babysitting so we can go out on date nights. We don’t know how is getting more spoiled, us or Keegan..

The time has come: Keegan will move to the bigger kids room, the Ladybug room, starting on Monday. While this is an exciting milestones, we are not too excited about the timing. It feels like he did not have enough time to transition, as he only been over there a few times, for an hour or two at the time, and now, all of the sudden he will be in a new room, without his beloved teachers, and his best buddies. As strange as it seems, it looks like he really bonded with one of the kids, and he is entertaining long conversation with him. It will be sad to separate them. He has been sleeping in a cot and not a crib for the past few weeks, and he seems to be doing OK with that.

Also, the schedule is quite different: all the kids sleep at the same time, between 11.30 and 2.30. He has been doing a single nap before, but he usually not very happy about it. Also, this means that lunch is at 11 am, while we prefer it to be around 12.30.  They do provide snacks, but we can also bring our won: which is a good thing, because they were offering corn dogs the other day!

However, his teachers seem to think he is getting bored over there: which probably means he is getting into trouble. I know that they transitioned many kids so they must know what they are doing, but still, we are a little nervous. When I came to see the new room, of course, Keegan would not let me put him down, and one other kid that moved a few months ago, run to greet his old teacher, like he missed her.

We know he will be fine, and at least three of the kids used to be in the infant room; also, he may learn to talk more, being with the older kids, and may learn new skills, like sleeping on his own and eating more and he will do more age appropriate games and activities. I guess they have art scheduled every day. Plus he will be good for him to learn to deal with change (hopefully he will be a lot better about that than mom and dad)…still we are nervous. Maybe this is more about us than him, and it will be harder on us that him.

To make things more complicated, Monday is also the first day Keegan will see his grandparents again: so we have two big changes happening at the same time. Fortunately they will still stay at the apartment at the beach, so at least his sleep routine will be the same.  And we are sure that the doting and extra attention will help as well.

So we are keeping our finger crossed as we approach this big milestone. Good luck little man!

After the warmest January we could remember, with summer-like temperature, we are now back into winter time. A series of storms has been hitting San Diego, and while we are still blessed with temperatures not lower than 40/50, it has been a bummer to be indoor, especially with Keegan. He is getting a little of cabin fever…and we are not too happy either.

Tizi has been trying to take him out as much as possible, even if it is only a quick stroll in the neighborhood or a grocery store run: he enjoys the diversion. All of us have also been dealing with a nasty cold: stuffy noses, low voices and heavy coughs: it has been two weeks and we are still not out of the woods.

So we are longing for sun again…yes we are spoiled, and we have no rights to complain…we know that, but still… So, dreaming of warmer days, we went to finally get a backpack carrier: better late than never. We are looking forward to do some hiking: it has been a while. We are hoping Keegan will cooperate. He did not seem too crazy about it when we tested in the yard, but I am sure he just needs some time to adjust to it. He did enjoy being able to pull daddy’s hair, though.

pulling daddy’s hair is so much fun

I am not too sure about this contraption: let’s signal to the plane for help

Some new things in Keegan’s life: he has discovered how to turn on the TV, and he is quite fascinated by it. As you may know, we are not usually watching TV when he is around as we are trying to limit his exposure as much as possible  so the TV is a mysterious and intriguing thing, and one of the few things that captures his undivided attention. He seems to be interested by the same shows that daddy likes: Modern Marvels and the like. He has also started enjoying drinking form a straw and recently had his first Jamba Juice smoothie, just like mama’s.

His attention span is still quite fickle, so we are also turning to old school toys, such as wood toys and the one and only Slinky: it is amazing to see how classic toys never go out of style, and still capture the imagination of the newer generation.

what does this thing do?

pretty cool!

Not much progress to report in the tooth brushing or eating: he is still very erratic in his eating habits, and while today he ate tomatoes and pear chunks once again, he still prefers smooth foods to chunky. Could it be the texture? So for now we are still putting everything in soups and mixing fruit, strictly pureed, in yogurt…waiting for Grandma and her miraculous cooking. Tizi’s parents will be here for a month starting in March. We are looking forward seeing them, and showing them how much the little guy has grown in these few months.

I know we are not counting months anymore, but hey, Keegan is 14 months today… we will take any excuse to celebrate him. Plus, he loves the Happy Birthday song: they told us that every time he hears it at daycare, as babies turn one, he starts smiling and laughing and clapping his hands… He does not realize it is not all about him.

So what’s new? Not too much. Some happy notes: he now knows how to sign “Washing Hands”(he rubs his hands together) and he is starting to give kisses. For now he is simply making the sound and puckering up, somewhat, but it is a start. He is also biting a lot less. He seems to understand more and more everyday:he recognizes when we are telling him we are going home, or when we are going out for a walk or outside in the yard. I guess it is time for mom and dad to stop cursing. This will not be easy (-:

He recognizes Matt’s truck’s noise and when he thinks he is coming home he runs toward the door; he knows how to wave goodbye, even if he not always timing it right. And he seems to associate the computer in the living room with calling Grandma and Grandpa with Skype, as he starts waving at the screen.

He now really enjoys playing at the playgrounds (lucky us) and getting in the way of everyone, and of course sliding down. We bought him a small climb and slide for the yard. Another excellent find from Craigslist ($25): we had to drive all the way up to Escondido, but it was worth it. Those things are expensive, and from experience, he will get bored with it soon. Plus he slept all the way though. He seems to like it, even if for not more than a few minutes at a time, and he is getting the hang of it.

 Check me out: I am on top of the world

I can climb all by myself

I am all ready to go

no activity is more important that signing for EVERY passing plane.

He also loves to climb, and now he really enjoys being on the couch, or side tables…good thing he has learned how to get down, after a couple of spills: not head first, but feet first.

Keegan is also really set in his ways…already, and very stubborn (someone suggested he is taking after mom… Tizi says she is determined, not stubborn, and that it is a great quality to have). This brings us to a slightly less positive note: a lot of things are still a big struggle with him.

His sleep is a little more erratic, but he is still sleeping at least through 5/5.30 am, and usually 6/6.30. Naps are a hit or miss: some days he takes two 1.5 hours naps a day (Sunday) others he only has a 30 minutes nap the whole day. This means that he still fights us for every nap, and we solemnly observe the rule: Never Wake A Sleeping Baby (even if we have to let him sleep in the car, inside the garage). Sometimes, when he skips is afternoon nap, he so exhausted that he can fall asleep anywhere…like in his high chair.

Of course  I don’t need an afternoon nap

And the other two big battles: eating and brushing his teeth. He refuses to open his mouth so it is impossible to brush his teeth. We tried to show him how to, to let him try, to give him a finger brush, to play with the toothbrush…nothing worked. We have  few other tricks up our sleeve, but no guarantee they will work. We will take him to a dentist soon, and hopefully we will get some better ideas.

Food is another fun issue. He is the pickiest baby in the universe (again, is he taking after mom? Is he taking anything bad from dad????). He does not like most food. Matt has been cooking delicious meals for him and he snubbed them all. We tried all sort of toddlers recipes, to no avail. His favorite food so far: soup, as in broth, with anything in it (we even tried tortellini and he ate them, with the broth); cheese, pretty much any kind; yogurt, even the disgusting plain one (he ate the yogurt, and spit out the fruit chunks); eggs, with anything in it; pureed fruit (he would not eat most of the fruit in chunks); pineapple; bananas; bread; cheerios and similar; cereals with milk. Oh yeah, and all sort of sweets mommie is eating. In fact, he comes and begs for food ANYTIME we are eating something. He is smart, though: when we try to eat healthy food in front of him, he will snub it.

As you can see no much veggies here. He ate tofu chunks last week, but it may be a fluke. He used to love tomatoes, but that has passed as well. So he does not like chunky foods, he rather eat purees, and being fed (lazy bum)… all we can do is to pack nutritious stuff inside his soups and eggs and hope he will learn to eat more.

He is definitely growing though, so we are not worried, just frustrated. Dinner time is a pain.

Last positive note: the weather keep on being summer-like, with no humidity…which cause quite a few static “problems”. (-:

In fact there has been more days in a row with  temperature above 70 (about 15) in January that it has been last July (4 only).  I know we will be paying for it later on – water rationing is on the horizon for this summer- but we are enjoying it nonetheless. We went to the zoo on Saturday with Krista, Eric and little Torin and we had a great time. Did not get any decent pictures because it was super crowded and when we set the little creature free, he did not stop a second…so here the best we got.

running around at the zoo

So we thought this day would never come, but it is here. NO MORE BUSH! (at least till Jeb decides to run…). Jokes aside, it is wonderful to have a new President, especially such an inspirational one, that brings with him the hope of change and a new beginning as well as a good knowledge of the English language. Like most everyone else, we are hopeful and excited to see his days in office. Even as memories are starting to fade, we can’t forget the past 8 years of incompetence, fear and repeated assaults to civil liberties. Yes, Barak Obama has to live up to unrealistically high expectations, and yes he will probably fall somewhat short, but this historic election has already accomplished a great feat: after a long time, this country feels united and is looking forward to a new start.

It is difficult to express the palpable feeling of euphoria; and maybe we feel this way because for the first time the candidate we both supported actually won, and we feel that our beliefs are finally represented. Will he be a great president? We don’t know, but we surely hope so. At the very least, we think we will probably not have to feel embarrassed by his ignorance and gaffes. (Tizi hopes the same could be true for the Iitalian prime minister…what would happen to mini-Bush???).

Thank you to modern technology, Tizi was able to see the inauguration live, streaming over the internet (Matt had to listen to it via radio…no streaming allowed at his work). It was very emotional: the whole school, classroom by classroom was connected (which explains some of the choking up of the stream). We also Ti-voed, to see it later, without rush and we made an exception to our “no TV” rule for this special occasion( of course Keegan’s interest lasted only a few minutes, but still he participated to the historic event). Even Keegan got caught up in the excitement. He was banging at the TV and saluting the 44th president on this historic day…

what is going on here?

Who’s that guy?

hail to the chief

O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA!

…or was he just pointing out to an airplane? By the way, just to clear any misconceptions, the one below IS his way to signal an airplane (or any other flying object) and no some sinister political gesture. How do we know? He stops in the middle of anything he is doing when he hears a plane, point to the sky, and generally turns in the direction of the noise. What a weird kid…

nobody moves…an airplane is flying by!

And yes, we are the only people in America that still have not upgraded to at least a flat screen TV, let alone HDTV or Plasma…but honestly we probably watch 10 hours a week if that…and we still have the projector for movies.

Beside signing airplane and “I am done”(both pulling on a real or imaginary bib and waving his hands), there is no much more communication from his part, yet; however his understanding has increased: he now understands also yogurt, bread, monkey (he gets his stuffed monkey), Gongolo (one of the 7  dwarfs spelled in Italian, also a stuffed toy), tent (as it refers to his frog tent), say “ciao”, food, come here, not in your mouth (but he does not obey to this one), push, pull and probably others we don’t notice yet. Most of these are spoken in Italian, but he understands some English as well.

Now the holidays are officially over: Tizi’s birthday was on Saturday. It was great to have a whole weekend to celebrate. It was definitely different form any other birthday, since there is a little guy that take all the attention, but we had a great time. The weather continued his beautiful streak, so once again we had temperatures in the 80’s (26+Celsius). No worries all of you in the rest of the world, struggling with cold and snow. Winter is scheduled to arrive in San Diego as well this week, when rain will bring temperatures back to the 60’s (18 Celsius) where they belong.

We started the day well, with Keegan sleeping in till almost 7am. Tizi spent most of the morning on the phone with well wishers. It is a sign you are getting older when all your calls come in before 10 am. In the old days NOBODY would have dared calling us before 11 am! We spent some time at the beach, that was of course really crowded. We took a walk, and then played in the sand. Keegan loved walking around in the sand, and chasing seagulls around.

 Pacific Beach in January

At night time, we had our babysitter come over: it is really surprising to see how Keegan is now in a different phase. For as much as he likes our babysitter, who is wonderful, and he is familiar with her, this time it took a good 15 minutes, before he let her hold him. So, while his worse separation anxiety symptoms are gone for now, he is still super shy when it comes to other people. He did cry a few minutes when we left, but not much. It was soon time for bed anyway.

Tizi and Matt had a great dinner at Island Prime, a beautiful restaurant on San Diego Bay, overlooking the water. It was nice to have some time for ourselves, and Tizi enjoyed the undivided attention. Back home, it was gifts, cake and presents time. Matt bought a beautiful watch from Teno, one of Tizi’s favorite brand. Good thing there is an amazing jewelry store across from Matt’s workplace. Sunday was another relaxing and hanging out day. And today, Monday, Tizi’s getting another birthday gift: it is Marting Luther’s King Day, so her school is closed, while daycare (and Matt’s office) is open…which means 6 hours of free time!!!!!! While having a little guilt for feeling this, she thoroughly enjoyed her day off. And when she picked the little guy up, Tizi got one more surprise:the coolest birthday card. Looking at his foot and hand prints it is amazing to see how much he has grown…

2009 has started with beautiful weather. It is also unseasonably warm, with highs in the mid 80’s over the weekend. We took advantage of this beautiful sunny days and took Keegan to Mission Bay at the playground. Granted, he is more interested in walking everywhere than playing with the equipment, but while swings don’t really do it for him, slides are a big hit. We let him slide on his own this time, with mom or dad catching him as he went down…most of the times anyway. It was hilarious to watch him turning his scared look into a huge grin once he got down. Matt thinks he is a scare-devil, a thrill junkie like mom. Tizi can’t wait to take him skydiving! Just kidding, but zip lines are a fair game.

yeah, this is not really doing it for me

now we are talking…I hope they will catch me at the end of the ride

Another fun event: Keegan had his first kiss on Saturday. And from an older woman! He was kicking back in the tunnel underneath the slides, playing with the sand and minding his own business, when this cute, 18 months old French Canadian girls walked in, looked at him, and very deliberately bowed down and planted a big, wet one on his lips…for a good couple of seconds. Ah, those French women!!! Sign of things to come???

Tizi and her mom were just bowling over with laughter, while Matt missed the whole thing. Unfortunately we could not record this for posterity and blackmails. Keegan seems more perplexed than anything, but he was grinning a lot afterward. Of course another girl brought him quickly back to reality by throwing sand in his face. I guess she was jealous.  Keegan the heart-breaker (-:

He also got the chance to wear his awesome checkered Vans, (gift of Aunt Mary) which  elicited a few positive comments. Hopefully he is not a future Jeff Spicoli!

who is the coolest dude around?

We started the year with a mellow, warm day. Heavy fog rolled in in the morning and afternoon, but otherwise we had a sunny day. We all woke up early: we had a nice breakfast all together, and then aunt Cinzia, uncle Sandro, and cousins Naraiana and Samuele got ready to leave. They had quite a drive: all the way to Death Valley. They wanted to get an early start, so they leaft before 10 am. It was sad to say goodbye, but we are happy we had these days to spend together.

I am ready to play…wake up mom and dad!

The rest of the day was quiet. We took a nice drive up the coast, which was quite beautiful, with the afternoon  fog rolling in, and the surf crashing on the beach. A nice way to test the new car seat: fortunately, Keegan seems to like it quite a bit. He gets very excited when we put him in it, probably because he can now finally see outside the car rear window. Thanks to its deep recline, he also likes taking naps in it, so it is a win-win situation. did I mention it looks awesome in Tizi’s car?

enjoying some sun on our deck

with mom, overlooking the canyon

climbing on furniture is fun

The house was very quiet, and even Keegan noticed it. And finally after he was in bed, we had a nice, romantic, new year celebration, just the two of us. Happy New Year! “Let’s hope it is a good one, without any tears”.

Matt had to go back to work on Friday, but Keegan was very very good. He woke up at…drum roll…7am, and he was in a good mood all day, despite being cooped up home most of the time. The weather really deteriorated, it was gray and cold, and even drizzling. Dad came home early, so we could enjoy a long weekend of family time. And enjoy we did. Keegan slept till 7am every day, and he was in a great mood overall. We set up our frog tent in the sun room on Saturday, since it was gray and rainy, and we had some fun in it…especially Tizi. She loves that thing. She actually drove to two different stores to find it. It is awesome. Fortunately Keegan likes it too.

the uber-cool frog tent

Saturday was sunny again, even if a little windy, so we celebrate Keegan’s 13th “birthmonthday” by going to the beach for some fun in the sun. Keegan slept while we lazily strolled on the boardwalk, but he was ready to play when we got to the sand. He was walking everywhere, particularly enjoying climbing up sand dunes.

We are grateful we had such a good start for the new year, and we are definitively counting our blessings (with all the necessary knocks on wood, to avoid jinxing it), especially after having a close call on the way to the beach. As we were preparing to turn left with the traffic light green for a couple of minutes inour direction, someone came flying through the intersection from the left, running the red light and almost hitting us and another car. Thank God Matt had such good reflexes and slammed on his breaks, and we didn’t have anyone behind us, so we were all OK. But if the car would have arrived a few seconds later it would have hit the driver side where both Matt and I were…it was a big scare, but again made us grateful for all that we have.

In other Keegan’s news, he has been sleeping till 7 am every day since Friday and he has been a good eater as well: he ate tofu, lots of tomatoes, chicken soup with pasta(homemade by daddy), pineapples, some spinach, mozzarella cheese. He does not like melon, for some weird reason, and he would only eat past in a soup. He even started drinking his morning milk from a sippy cup. He is not too happy about it, but it is a start. He only gets one bottle, before bedtime, but other than that he is using his cup, with or without the sippy top. We are cutting down on formula as well, replacing it with cow milk that he seems to tolerate quite well, so far.

Finally, he seems to understand us a lot more. Besides the meaning of NO, milk, food, he now seems to understand some simple phrases. For example, if we tell him to bring us a book to read together, he would go to the books’ box, pick one up and bring it to us. Or if we tell him it is bath time, he will light up and walk to the bathroom. It is really exciting to see.

During the whole vacation, but especially in the past three days he was a “perfect”, happy baby, even playing on his own for a while.

…we thoroughly enjoyed this stage as temporary as it may be, but of course we missed him a lot as we both got back to work on Monday.

“So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year is over and a new one has just began” (well we have been listening to a lot of John Lennon, lately, so you will excuse the citation). Well, what have we done? Lots and not much at the same time. This past year has gone by so fast, and i can’t believe how much our life has changed in 12 months…looking at the pictures for our greeting, it is amazing how different Keegan looks now from when he was born.

2008 has been a good year, and exciting one and we are looking forward to 2009, with more adventures. New year’s Eve was pretty mellow. We didn’t have our usual get together with friends (next year guys), but Tizi’s sister and family where spending the last day here, so we just had a family day. Matt had to work, but Tizi and family went for a nice walk on the bay. Keegan was again quite good, taking more than an hour nap in the stroller, and playing around (well, walking around is more like it) in the park.

cousin Samuele

cousin Naraiana

We took the time to take last minute pictures, of course, including the mandatory family shot. Amazingly enough it only took one take, and extreme photoshopping was required.

all together

After all kids were in bed, we had a nice, leisurely dinner, with good wine, traditional cakes, and lots of talking. It was nice. I guess life as a parent really transforms you: Aunt Cinzia and uncle Sandro went to bed at 11, while Tizi napped on the couch till midnight: only Matt  lasted awake the whole time. At midnight, Tizi and Matt opened the champagne and toasted at the new year, and then proceed to bed promptly at 12.30. What a party!!! It was good too, though, because Keegan started the new year just like he ended the last one, waking up around 5.45am.

Tizi and Matt started 2009 cuddling the little “monster” in the big bed and playing around: is there any better way to start a day? It is a rhetorical question, of course, but despite the sleep deprivation, it is awesome to get started listening to Keegan giggle. It makes it all worthwhile.

So, happy 2009 everyone: we hope it will be a prosperous year for all!