Holiday Visitors
The long awaited day is finally here: Tizi’s sister and her family traveled on Christmas day and arrived in Los Angeles, making the drive to San Diego the following day. They arrived around 10.30 am in a record 1.5 hour drive from LAX.
Of course we just put Keegan down for his nap, so the kids were a little disappointed they had to wait more to see their little cousin. Matt baked some delicious banana nut muffins, and we all settled in with some hot tea, set up all the gifts and stockings around the tree, and Nara and Samuele could barely wait to open them.
Keegan woke up shortly after, and he was, of course a little perplexed. His separation/stranger anxiety has been improving but it still took him a little bit to get used to the new visitors. He was quite shy, looking for mom and dad, but very interested and curious about the little cousins. He did not know what to make of his uncle, so tall, but in a couple of days all reservations were gone, and he was happily enjoying all the extra attention.
It was finally presents time: watching Naraiana and Samuele opening the gifts and getting all excited gave us a nice preview of Christmas to come. It was fun seeing them so excited. Keegan’s gifts were wrapped up in newspapers, since he didn’t really care either way: it all goes straight to his mouth.
It’s presents time, finally
check out the stockings
Everyone got many cool gifts, and Keegan was really spoiled. I have to say, though, we have a clear winner in the gifts category: the cheap cellphone from Target. He just loves it! Plus, since it can have a recorded message, his little cousins had a bast recording on it, so he can hear their voices even when they are gone. Now, will it stop him from taking the real phone? The jury is still out.
and the favorite gift is…the cellphone
Tizi also got some comic relief. Aunt Cinzia recommended a wonderful booklet, “Fai La Nanna, Bastardo”, roughly translated as “Go to sleep, you bastard”;while it does not teach anything, it makes sleep deprived parents laugh.
The week flew by. It was great having them here. We did some tourist stuff together, but they did quite a bit on their won as well: Keegan (and quite frankly Tizi as well) could not match their stamina. (-:
Together we went to la Jolla and Pacific Beach, in a beautiful and somewhat warm Saturday and we took a nice ride along the coast. Breakfast at Kono’s was mandatory. We took a nice walk on the beach and played in the sand. While they visited Cabrillo Point, we went home. They graciously offered us to babysit, so Tizi and Matt sneaked away to watch a movie, “Slumdog millionaire”: while not completely uplifting it was nice to have some adult fun.
crashing waves in la Jolla
The Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach
Cousin Naraiana is practicing her babysitting skills
Sunday was Seaworld for them, and a quiet day for us. We did some errands, finally installed the new car seat and ordered one for Matt’s truck. Matt cooked some excellent lasagna so we had quite a feast. On Monday Matt went to work: Keegan woke up very early, so were were quite exhausted all day. Aunt Cinzia, helped a lot, giving lots of breaks to Tizi and taking Keegan for a stroll. In the afternoon, they all went to Coronado, while Tizi and keegan stayed home. Keegan was a little cranky, and Tizi really was not feeling well, but fortunately, when the cousins came back, Keegan’s mood changed as well. Some rest and an ibuprofen did the trick for Tizi and the next day she was a s good as new.
Tuesday was zoo day. Another beautiful day in paradise: sunny and warm. We got there around 10, and stayed the whole day…well, Keegan and Tizi left around 3 but everyone else stayed till closing. Keegan was amazing: he LOVED being at the zoo. Compared to a few months ago, when he would not care too much about it, this time he was mesmerized by all the animals and people. He was quite in his stroller and fell asleep without fuss when tired, and slept about an hour and a half. Unfortunately he missed the pandas and the Koala, Tizi and Cinzia’s favorite animals. We are sure glad we have a zoo membership, so we can come back soon.
New year’s day was quite mellow. We spent the morning at home, and called the grandparents, and went for a nice walk in Mission Bay in the afternoon. Again, keegan was good: he fell asleep in the car, and slept through half of the walk. Then at the playground he wondered all over: definitely walking is is favorite game at this point. The weather was changing: thick fog was rolling in and wind was blowing. I guess it is a good thing it happened on aunt Cinzia’s last day.
I am ready to go
playing with his own shadow
walking is more fun than any play equipment
two sisters at Mission Bay
Keegan was excellent all week, except for the sleeping: he didn’t make it past 5, 5.30 in a good day, and it was hard to keep him quiet not to wake everyone up. We started taking him into our bed , after attempting to put him back to sleep, giving him some milk, and cuddle with him till it was time to get up. We all enjoyed this little ritual, and it really helped dealing with the early wake up. He was a lot better than last month when we had visitors, which made us feel better:maybe he passed the acute phase of separation anxiety. Or maybe just having kids to play with made the difference. All and all he was really very good, in a great mood most of the time, and always smiling and happy.
Even eating was a little easier: he ate a slightly larger variety of foods, and more and more finger foods. He now loves cherry tomatoes (in fact he can’t get enough of it) and mozzarella. he still not liking pasta much, but hey, 2 out of three is not bad. Pears and bananas are still his favorite fruits, and of course he would beg for any food the adults are eating, only to spit it out in slow motion if he does not like it. He has quite a sweet tooth, as he loves croissants.
We were all a little sad by the end of the day. The week flew by, and we will miss each other a lot. They will continue their trip to US visiting the Southern California desert and we will slowly get back to our routine. Matt is back at work on January 2, while Tizi and Keegan are back to their own daily schedule on January 5. We are however glad of the good times we spent together and are looking forward to seeing each other soon in a hopefully near future. Thank you for coming and have a good trip back.
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