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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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