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So, I guess my hopes of seeing a LOT of progress after I returned from my trip were quickly dashed. Insulation had been blown in and a front door has been installed but that was about it.

We have a door again!

We also ordered a nice security door to increase protection to our glass door. We saw it in someone’s house, so I knocked on the door and found out where to get it. I guess I have no shame.

And this will be our security door.

There were some issues between the demo guys and our landscaper and we basically lost more than a week. However, we are trying to catch up, even if there are still some kind of external forces conjuring against us. When we finally got the landscaper to start, San Diego experienced a huge heat wave…not the best when you are trying to make new plants thrive. As soon as we were done with that, the weather turned bad,  just as we needed to add plaster to the exterior walls: we lost three day because of a rare three days storm (with thunderstorms) with plenty rain. It rained more on one of these days than on an average October.

So where are we at this point? Well, I guess the more important step is that the code compliance guy came in and basically approved all the demo stuff and gave us the green light to keep on building. Yeah!

The hill is regrades and replanted…

…but we still miss a railing instead of the lovely plywood wall

The guy was actually surprised that we did demo everything already. Hummm, we had NO CHOICE: we could not build anymore if we did not. He was also, according to my contractor, very apologetic and said he was sorry multiple times. Like it helped. Do you know what can  I do with your apologies, Mr. city guy??? If you felt so sorry, you should have written a different letter. Now, we only need the approval of the landscape inspector and we are golden, and we can wait till final inspection for that. We would rather get it done earlier, though, just in case there is something wrong.

We also passed the huge “lathe and drywall” inspection, and we are now texturing the interior walls to get them ready for paint and also plastering the exterior.

we are getting plastered

we got walls and they are all textured

the view from the hallway, as you get upstairs

At this point this is starting to look like a house again. The walls, especially made a huge difference. I can’t say I see the finish line, but I start thinking about furniture and decorating.

Next step will be tiles and paint colors. The bathroom is waiting for some concrete coating to go on the walls, and then is tile time! They better not ruin my Toto toilet and my Kholer tub.

Tiles have been a a little difficult, as I fell in love with some accent tiles I saw in one of the IKEA store, and it took me forever to find them.

No designer I talked to knew where to find them, and the stores I visited did not have what I wanted. I resorted to write to IKEA corporate, and, believe it or not, they answered me and gave me the exact name and location for the tiles. It turned out they are available at Home Depot…I can’t believe I missed them when I went.

I am excited to finally start on the design details: lighting, paint color, furniture. It has been a long time coming.

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We have been now been back a few days, and as always the adjustment has been a little rough: Keegan sleeping has been horrendous, and he also started saying he did not want to go to school, which he always liked a lot. We tried to get him back to his routine and schedule immediately and we sent him back to school right away, and even took him to swim lesson the first day we were back. Definitely, thought, these were a lot of changes for him, especially because he found a new teacher at school. But he is getting adjusted: he still very much in a mommie mode, but after getting over the jet lag, he is back to his “‘normal” pattern of a few wakings each night.

As far as I am concerned, I really did not have the time to worry about my own jet lag, and got quickly back to my routine. I still miss everyone, but I am very grateful I had been able to spend two wonderful weeks with my family and friends, and that I was able to rest and relax. I got a lot of much needed sleep and was able to get back to my ideal schedule: late to bed, late to rise…Thank you to everyone for making us feel so welcome and of course to my parents for helping out and “babysitting” so much. I love you all.

We were gone a little over two weeks, and Matt says that Keegan looks and behaves a lot differently. Is this possible? Well, every trip to Italy brought big changes: the first time, Keegan, 9+ months old, got his first three teeth, all at once. During the second trip, Keegan started talking. Seriously, the day we left for the airport he started adding 6/7 words a day to his vocabulary, in both Italian and English.

What about this trip? This time, I think, the changes are a little more subtle, but still.

• He started, from one day to the next, his WHY/PECCHE’ (still some issues with rolling he R)? phase. Lucky us. He know asks why for everything, even if at this point it is somewhat easy to satisfy his curiosity. He does lock in at times, and he asks for the same whys 15 times in a row.
• He is looking for more independence. Not from mom, mind you, but in doing things. Especially potty time. He often went to the bathroom alone when he had to poop: he required privacy (nothing new) but then he undressed, climbed on the big toilet without the little training seat, took care of business, climbed on the toilet to flush (you need to twist the handle on these toilets), filled in the bidet, took a bidet, dried himself out, emptied the bidet, washed his hands, and got dressed again. The whole process took a LONG time, but still I was impressed. Of course his cleaning and bidet skills need a little refining, but hey I take everything I can get. Good thing we will have a bidet soon in the upstairs bath. Hopefully he will keep on doing it by himself.
• His motor skills (=climbing, jumping, kicking, etc.) are much improved
• His Italian is much better, especially after the weekend he spent with my parents. Now I really have to make an effort to keep it up, as I know it will fade a little in time.
• His spacial skills are very good. I am not sure if they improved, or if I admire them so much because I have none, but he has a very good sense of direction and recognizes things from different angles. He surprised me when, at  less than 2 he could recognize his room or ours from outside.
• I would not really like to brag about this one, but he started developing his bathroom humor, definitely NOT SHARED with any of us. It is a constant talk about poop, in all its variations. Of course he decided it was hilarious to do this in a crowded airplane. Not annoying at all.
• He is also obsessed with his boy parts, or private parts in general. I guess it is a boy thing and the beginning of a life long “love affair”, but we are at least trying to let him understand that there is a time and a place, and a crowded street it neither of these. We had lots of talks about “private parts” and what is appropriate to talk about in public, since he likes to list what private parts belong to the people he sees. Oh well, he will learn.

What did not change s his love for rough playing. He used any piece of furniture, and every human, to jump and climb, causing quite a few tumbles and quite a few bruises.

Any willing grown up is good for a ride

He also still likes to build and play with cars and little animals. Of course his grandpa was more than happy to indulge him and build garages, farms and barns for them.

Princesses (my old Barbies and dolls) were also part of his playing, mainly after they were undressed. And he discovered it is fun to dress and undress girls. I tried to remind him I want him to be an INDUSTRIAL  designer/ furniture maker, not a FASHION designer.

He did not betray his old love of trucks, though, and in Italy he had a field day, since there are construction zones at every corner. His favorite one is the cement truck (betoniera in Italian) and he loudly called it out every time he saw one come by.

He also really enjoyed the “sleep game”. Cruel irony! For as much as he does not sleep when he should, he likes to “pretend” to sleep, and I and all his animals have to join in. He likes to be “snug and cozy” under the blanket and to hide in there.

Watching him play and just go about his day, I often wonder what goes on in his little head. Wouldn’t it be nice to take a peek to see what is really going on in a toddler’s head?

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The second week started well: Keegan was very sweet and affectionate, if a little clingy, and I got to do some Milano shopping while he was playing with his cousins. Unfortunately I did not find much, but I always love a nice window shopping. I upped my social activities as well, and had two nice dinners with old friends, eating real pizza.

We also finally took Keegan to the Duomo, the symbol of Milano. I have a framed series of Duomo images at home, and Keegan had been looking at them, so we thought it would be a good time to show him the real thing.

Just like I did when I was his age, he loved to chase the pigeons from the square. I could swear I have the exact same picture from when I was 2. I was of course wearing a stylish coat and head scarf then.

He also wanted to go inside the Duomo, and he was actually really good. He kept quiet and did not run. He even quietly posed for pictures. Sometimes I forgot how majestic and beautiful the Duomo is.

On Wednesday we decided to go back to the Safari Park at Pombia, since Keegan enjoyed it so much last year, and he has been asking to go back to his favorite roller coaster for months. We left after lunch time, hoping he would doze off in the car, but it took him a long time to sleep, so he ended up getting less than an hour nap. No matter: he was as excited as he can be. Most of the animals were napping, but we still got to see zebras, giraffes, lions, tigers, etc. up close. Then it was time to party. The Bruco (caterpillar) Roller Coaster was of course the first stop…and the second and the third. We went back a few times. He never gets tired of it, but we dos, so we all took our turns.

We could barely pry him away, and only with the promise of more rides. So off we went to the Marry Go Round…

…then the giant slide.

This was my favorite, and if I did not have to climb all the way up, I would be still riding. I even took him up on a water roller coaster thing: not a brilliant idea, it turns out. I guess they could have some warning or age restrictions, but this is Italy, after all. It was a hollow boat, with no restraints, where you sit one in front of each other and climb up, up, up and then fall down in the water. The problem was that Keegan had to sit behind me, and could not see what was happening, and, without anything that would hold you, it was very difficult not to fall backward during the almost vertical lifts. Needless to say, Keegan did not like it, and after the first plunge wanted to get out. Fortunately there were only two. But he was very brave and did not cry. I guess next time I will go up alone.

After two or more round for most of the rides, we ended the day with a Parrot show. It was a little cheesy, but the parrots were very cool. Keegan loved them. By then, though, he was really tired, so we headed home, after a stop in the bathroom. Keegan was very proud of himself, because he had to pee standing up, like big boys: the only bathroom they had there were “Turkish style”, basically a porcelain piece on the floor with a hole in the middle. He was a little hesitant first, but then loved the fact he had to be naked to do it.

The next day, I did more socializing, and also took Keegan to visit my old friend Simona and his two sons. They have an amazing train set Keegan remembered from last year (he also remembered Simona had chocolate cake then), so we quickly set it up.

And while there was no cake this year, there were plenty of other snacks, which took the place of dinner.

On Friday, the weather quickly turned bad, so while we could not go outside as much, Keegan was enthralled by the rain, and thunderstorm. Living in San Diego, this was a real novelty, so he sat in front of the window and watched the lightning and thunders for a while. Loredana and Francesca stopped by to play, and they all got dressed up for the occasion.

After they left, there was more excitement: Naraiana and Samuele, Keegan’s cousins arrived for a sleep over. How fun to wake up in the morning and find them there. The weather was not the best, but we all had the chance to have fun. All fun that was of course videotaped and then watched in real time: Keegan bacame quite obsessed with watching videos and photos even as they were created.

I left in the morning for a last shopping trip to one of my favorite stores, Hi-tech a huge store that sells a lot of cool stuff, much from the States but also from Europe. I have found some really fun things, like My First Autoban for Keegan (a little back rolling car and a roll of tape, printed as a freeway), or the Daily Mood Calendar for Matt.

In the afternoon, since the weather improved somehow, we went to the Giardini Pubblici and had some fun on the merry Go Round and the little train, also known as the “longest little train ride in history”. It is a small track, but it goes around 6 times! Fortunately Keegan wanted to go by himself after the first two times (which means I still had to do 12 rounds on the damn thing). Such a big boy!

three generations

I was even able to squeeze in an Aperitivo with an old friend in this busy day. Sunday, our last day, I had to get packing: as always, no matter how many bags I bring, and despite all my good intentions, I always end up struggling with making everything fit, and under 50Lb. My sister and his family came over to say goodbye, and we brought the kids to the Bouncie house one more time. Keegan loved to have his cousins with him, so he could access previously unreachable areas. The place was packed (2 birthday parties) but he was still able to go wherever he wanted without wait.

taking a little break

When we got home we did our annual group photo…we did miss Matt, though )-: and we put Keegan to bed.

We had a nice, leisurely dinner, and then it was time for goodbyes and real packing. I cut down the number of carry-ons to 6, but that meant two bags to be checked.

The return flight went OK. It was difficult to carry all the stuff, and an Italian passport guy was giving me a hard time because Keegan’s last name is different than mine (you got to be kidding me!) but I got through it.The car seat really helped, and so did the DVD player. Keegan slept a few hours on the first flight. Then, fortunately we met an Italian girl, Valentina, that lives in San Diego, an acquaintance of mine who has a boy, one year older than Keegan. It was great because , not only she helped me with my bags, but Keegan had a playmate during layover. They were both over tired so they were jumping off the wall, literally, but at least there was not too much crying (aside from a timeout he got for kicking me…I still have the bruise). The layover was a little difficult: I had to get my checked bags in Atlanta, and had to walk a mile to custom and then re-check them…and remember I am also pushing a stroller and tons of carry-on. Fortunately Valentina helped me, and we went through it OK. More security screening (why do we have to do it twice is a mystery) and then a long wait. Fortunately, Keegan feel asleep the moment we were seated on the plane: it was now about 9.30pm, and I dozed off too. He slept all the way till we landed, then woke up and had one of his episode of extreme crying as I was trying to gather all our stuff and get off the plane. He wanted me to hold him…yeah, right. Not only we were the last ones to get off the plane, but it took us so long the gate door was already closed.

Anyway, we made it, and seeing Matt’s smiling face at the airport almost made me forget about all the stress and exhaustion. Keegan was a little shy, but he soon warmed up to him.  The house was clean and tidy (well, as tidy as it can be in the middle of construction), and beautiful flowers and a card expected me home. I miss everyone back in Italy, but it was nice to be home!

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Once again we are back from our Italian vacation. This year, only Keegan and I went, and so we were only gone for a couple of weeks. With the house completely under construction, we thought it would have been better to have at least one person home to take care of things. And with us gone, Matt had some sort of vacation as well, and three full bachelor weekends.

We left, bright and early, — or should I say dark and early (4am) to go to the airport. Keegan was very excited about flying. Even if we had to wake him up early, he got up immediately, with a big smile and said: “Good morning. We are going to the airport!”. Sometimes I wonder where he comes from: I could barely keep my eyes open and I don’t remember ever being this happy as soon as I wake up.

This year the carry-on madness got even worse: I actually had 1 piece of checked luggage and 7 pieces of carry-ons: my own carry-on and Keegan’s pirate carry-on bungee jumped together (and hooked to one side of the stroller), my bag draped around the stroller, his cooler bag with food hanging on the stroller, his penguin backpack inside the stroller, and the car seat in a backpack. Insane. I definitely went overboard. Next year I will cut down A LOT. Somebody actually asked me if I was moving to Italy. I did get many compliments for the organization, though, and some pitiful looks.

Of all things, though, I have to say that the car seat was actually the one piece of carry on worth the effort. Keegan felt comfortable in it, it was familiar to him, and he spent a lot of the time actually seated AND buckled. I had it on board for three of the flights and he slept on it too. The flights over were not too horrible, with a few exceptions. Keegan was a little tired and hyperactive at times, but after I got him to nap he was a lot better. During layover Keegan got to jump and run and play with bubbles, inspiring  comments from an other passenger on how active he was. In the second flight he slept more than three hours, so I could nap a little too. The dvd player helped too, but he got bored of it pretty quickly.

With all the stuff I had on board,we were the last ones, by far, to leave the plane, but that meant less wait for the bag.We arrived on time and my parents were waiting for us. Keegan was a little shy at first, pulling his stroller shades down, but he quickly warmed up to them.

getting his first hugs and caresses from grandma

They played games all the way home and once there Keegan immediately had gifts to open and chocolate to eat. We also had guests. My old friend Loredana and her daughter Francesca stopped by to say HI. After lunch, we all went to nap fr a few hours, and in the afternoon, Keegan’s cousins and my sister and her husband stopped by. It was time to tumble and jump and play on the furniture, and Naraiana and Samuele were happy to oblige.

Getting reacquainted with the grandps

The following day was mellow: grocery shopping, nearby park and basically resting. Keegan did not sleep much at night so we were all tired. Nothing too exciting, but, this is really what I wanted. After the exhausting and stressful life of San Diego, I needed to rest, and sleep. And between naps and my parent’s help, even with Keegan waking up a lot, I got more sleep that I usually do in San Diego.

On Monday we went to visit my sister and her children. Keegan loves hanging out with his cousin and there is always so much going on at their house. He played ball, jumped, run around the yard with the tricycle and even did some daredevil stunts.

driving the excavator

look ma, no hands

The only negative part of my sister’s house are the mosquitoes the size of an helicopter. They are also very aggressive; I got stung on my butt: they went through pants, tank top and underwear. Crazy. Keegan got a huge bite right on his cheek too. Poor guy. Of course it did not slow him down a bit.

The next day he spent a lot of time with my parents, and I had some time off to see friends and just unwind. He played and demonstrated his musical skills by banging on the piano.

By Wednesday night, his sleep was almost normal. He only woke up briefly once or twice, and by then, my mom could get him, so I could sleep. We were all more rested and full of energy, so we spent a good couple of hours in what I can only call Bouncie Paradise. Right in the median of a large street, there is a permanent kids play area, with 5 huge bouncies, including large slides, and lots of other kids playthings: cars, motorcycles, tricycles, little house and ball pits. It was also somewhat inexpensive: for about 10$ you can stay as long as you want. Keegan LOVED it. He bounced and slid for more than 1.5 hours! His favorite was the giant slide, but all other bouncies received their fair amount of attention too.

ready

set

jump

Being a Wednesday afternoon, it wasn’t too crowded so there was no lines and he could roam the place undisturbed. He liked it so much we went back twice.

Of course, no matter how tired he got (he even told me his legs were tired) his sleep pattern was the same, meaning, multiple night wakings. Fortunately for me, my mom in also an early riser, so they both got up early together, while I caught some zzzzs. Thank you mom.

Every day there was something fun planned for the little guy. On Thursday, we went to visit and play with Lori and Francesca. Despite the age difference the kids really get along and the both tumbled on the grass, and chased each other, and we even introduced Keegan to his first official Hide and Seek game. While he kept on peeking as he was counting, he quickly got the hang of it.

testing out his somersault skills

playing horsey with Francesca

upside down with mom

On Friday, we went to the Giardini Pubblici, a large park in the city. We had a quick run (literally) through the Museum of Natural Science where Keegan enjoyed all  the stuffed animals (yes, kind of creepy). Then some time at the playground, a few rounds of the merry go Round and even a quick ride on the resident pony, since he is actually enjoying them now (see previous post). So much fun!

The weekend, however, it was mommie time. I decided to go away for a short weekend with Loredana, and Keegan spent the weekend with his grandparents. It was basically the first time I left him for this “long” so I was a little nervous. Keegan, to make things more difficult, had been really cranky and whiny since I told him I was leaving, and the weather forecast was rain, but none of this deter me.

We left on Saturday morning and took the 3 hours train ride. We went to Sestri Levante, where I spent all my summers when I was young. It was so weird not to have to worry abut nap times, and tantrums and potty breaks. Very liberating. We arrived with the sun, but clouds quickly came in. It did not matter. We were having a good time, and we did not let a few drops spoil it. The hotel was very nice, right on the beach, and after checking in we went for a nice lunch and a stroll on the boardwalk. There was some kind of celebration that weekend, so we look at various booths and did some shopping before retreating in the hotel as the rain grew more intense. It stopped early, though, and we went out for a nice late dinner.

The next day the weather was absolutely gorgeous, bright blue skies and no clouds in sight. We had a nice breakfast on the outdoor tables overlooking the ocean and the Baia Del Silenzio, taking it all in.

And then it was beach time! We laid in the sun and I even took a long swim. I miss swimming in the calm sea, looking at beautiful scenery. The water temperature was just perfect and the sea was somewhat clear.

We ate the unbelievable Focaccia and lots of other goodies, and strolled some more. We bought a huge Barbaforte balloon for Keegan (well hidden in a plastic bag), and slowly made our walk back to the train station. We were back just before Keegan’s bedtime. Keegan was very excited to see me, and gave me a wonderful welcome. It made my heart melt. We cuddled and he asked me ALL  about the trip, and I mean ALL. He was worse than a jealous husband. He shot a barrage of questions, mainly: where did you go? why? what did you do? And then what did you do? And after that what did you do? He wanted the full sequence of what we did, ending with his Why did you go to the beach? It was funny. He never asked me that many details about anything.

According to my parent, he was pretty good, and while he did asked for me a few times, he had a good time with my parents and his cousins. On my part, I had a wonderful time, and it was nice to take some adult time away. But it was also very nice to come back home and see him again. And the Barbaforte balloon was a huge hit (literally). He really liked it and his favorite thing to do with it, was hitting it, really hard. Is it time to get him a punching bag?

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