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Week 2 of the demolition. Of course, summer and the heat wave arrived just in time for the demo. Poor guys. They brought in the heavy artillery, and in a few short days they were able to tear down what took months, over the course of years, to build. By now we have became the cautionary tale of the whole neighborhood and beyond:this brought us lots of sympathy from neighbors and workers alike, but it still does not change the situation.

So we are trying to smile about it…This month, our calendar shows the following page:

“Mistakes: it could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others”.

How appropriate is that? By the way, the calendar is from the awesome site despair.com. So, these are a few snapshots of what our demolition derby looked like these past two weeks.

pool walls stacked on the front yard

Miscellaneous pool elements, Keegan’s toys and walls wiring

pool demo: the beginning. Concrete chunks filling the pool and burying my plants

Today, they moved in the big trucks. Unfortunately Keegan missed the excitement, but they did leave one dirt mover parked on our property for the weekend.

The funny thing is that the head demo guy, the one that never does any work and supervise, today had the balls to ask me:”so, what do you think?”, with this proud tone. What do YOU think, YOU MORON! It sucks, and I am very bitter about it. And how do you expect me to feel good about you destroying my back yard??? Then again, this comes from the guy who gave me attitude when I asked him to keep the area safe for Keegan.

Fortunately, most of the stuff will be gone soon: we rented a storage container, and we hope to fill it in this weekend. So, for a few months it will be out of sight out of mind.

On the positive side, construction continues: we have now wrapped the house, and once we have finished the demo we can start with the stucco. I have a long list of design decisions to make before my trip, and then I can “forget” about this for two full weeks.

Now, just for ending on a happy note, a couple of pictures of our little guy, goofing around.

It was Far West week at school, and all the kids were supposed to dress up as cowboys for a day. Of course the outfit lasted the time of the picture only, but it was still worth capturing. It was also the same week they had a real pony at school, and we will post the pictures soon.

Construction …and destruction continue. We are making progress, even if it is difficult to tell if we are on track or not. The good news is we see people working almost everyday, without having to call them. This is a nice change from some other contractors we worked with. It is also nice to notice that they try to keep everything as clean as possible, and to make it as easy as possible for us to live in a construction zone.

Two months in this is where we are:

• The basic framing is basically complete.
• We have a roof, almost completely shingled.

Keegan’s room

• We have windows, which is really weird, because we still don’t have walls, so they look like they are floating. Of course, the first day they installed the windows, it rained…in July! No biggie, as they are getting dirty anyway, but still.

• The house is starting to look like a real house, and we even have some compliments on the architectural details. They did made sure the addition would blend with existing house well.

• We also have most of the plumbing done, and the soaking tub installed. We decided to go with a full house tankless water heater, and it was installed, even if it is still not connected. it will be nice to get rid of that monster tank in the garage. And it is amazing how small the tankless is, and how stylish it looks.

• We have most of the electrical connections  in place and we have upgraded our electrical panel. We do have now recessed lighting in the living room. It is so amazing to be actually able to read at night!

We are now ordering our front door and passed one part of the huge inspection of all the plumbing, electrical and heating. This means we can soon start to wrap the house.

I guess, and I only speak for myself now, living in a construction zone has not been as horrible as I thought. maybe I am just relieved that we are actually building instead of waiting on the City, that I tolerate everything else better. Amazingly enough, the messy garage (which by now is our main entry) is what bothers me the most. Of course it will be great to be able to go from the kitchen to the bedroom using the hallway, but since we can use the kitchen, most of the living room, the sun room and all the bedrooms, construction is for the most part livable.

In the meantime, however, we started the demo of our backyard. We are still bitter and heartbroken, but mainly numb, and really want to get it over with. The deck has been truncated and the trellis has started coming down (and my plants are already suffering). The tiles stairs and the pool surround is a huge pile of concrete chunks. We have boards and debris everywhere outside. The pool is in pieces in our front yard. For the time being it will be in storage.

This definitely added some stress to the process, since we can’t really utilize the patio much, but we try to stay focused on the positive. Before my trip, we have to make many decisions (the fun kind, the design kind) so we can try to finish this project on time.

It will be interesting to see what progress will happen when I will be in Italy in September. I am sure Matt will keep me informed, but still, hopefully I will see a big change and I will be happily surprised.

What a busy weekend we had. This year, even without much fireworks, we had a great three and half days of fun.

The festivities started on Friday, when Tizi left work early to participate in Keegan’s 4th of July Bike Parade (=a super short ride around the block from his school with bikes, wagon or strollers). The kids created decorations and necklaces and got ready to start. Keegan was very excited: the tricycle was all decorated, he was wearing his patriotic t-shirt, and all his friends from school were riding alongside him.

Ready…

Set…

Go!!!!

Of course the excitement decreased proportionately as the road become more and more uphill, but with a little push from mom, he finished it off, a few minutes later. As a reward, there were popsicles waiting for the riders. It was a short day at school, so after lunch, we headed home. Between the change of routine and the workers that, obviously decided to start banging on the roof just today, it was hard to get him to sleep, but he finally drifted off.

On Saturday, our Hannah and Mila stopped by for a play-date. I guess their parents were “crazy” enough (or maybe curious enough) to want to come by even if we are in the middle of construction. I guess they found interesting to visit the skeleton of our future home. Fortunately, the heavy marine layer that has been very present disappeared by early afternoon, replaced by a pleasant sun. Not too warm, mind you, but enough for the kids to have fun in the pool. Keegan could hardly wait, and as soon as his friends showed up, they all jumped in the warm water. They had a very good time splashing an jumping around, and despite Keegan’s WWE maneuvers, nobody got hurt.

We even attached the hose to create a small waterfall. What a blast. After the water play, the kids started playing very well together (!), and the adults chatted and got the food ready. The little ones had their own little table, while the grown ups sat at the grill and ate some great food.

Happy 4th of July!

Hannah is trying to get hired by our construction crew (or maybe Caltrans)

After dinner, we moved inside, for more chatting and desserts. The kids loved the ice cream and the lemon cake, and so did we. Then it was story time! Dave “volunteered” to be the reader: by then the kids were so tired (it was way past their bedtimes) they listened and sat quietly and still…or at least as quiet and still a group of young toddlers can be.

It was getting dark, and so it was sadly time to say Goodbye. What best way to do that than a Group Hug???

By the time we got our little guy to settle in bed it was past 9pm! Of course, all the excitement and the running and jumping had absolutely NO effect on him, and he woke up at the same, ungodly hour the next morning. After Tizi took her early morning nap, it was time for more fun. While Matt rested at home, we went to play at a park, and at noon, we headed to a 4th of July Carnival sponsored by a local church. It was awesome…and totally free. They had popcorn, different game booths, but most importantly…a jumpee. Keegan was so excited and bounced up and down and down and up for more than half an hour. He only took a small break when the big kids came in.

Then it was pop-corn time. After the jumpee, we headed to the star attraction: a huge inflatable slide! Wow: he could not have enough. He was not afraid or hesitant at all, and immediately climbed up and jumped down. He obviously got that from mom…he is already saying he wants to jump from a parachute “if only bigger”.

It was hard to pry him away from it, but after more than half an hour we had to leave. Once again, he was WAY past his lunch and nap time, so we went home. After a quite afternoon, and average nap, our neighbors called and asked us if we wanted to go grab a bite to eat. So we headed with Sharon, Joon and Jada to a semi empty Chili’s and the kids had some fun. He is always happy to see his buddies.

After Keegan went to bed, again around 9pm, (and again, this did not affected his wake up time at all), Matt and I went upstairs and caught a glimpse of some fireworks. Unfortunately, even with a second story, you can only see the highest ones: too many trees are in the way.

Since the 4th of July was on a Sunday, we all had Monday off: one more day to celebrate, and for us adult, one more day to get an extra nap. In the afternoon, we met up with Krista, Eric and Torin at the Liberty Station Playground and Park. It is a great place: huge green fields, two playgrounds, bathrooms, and lots and lots of space. The boys, big and small, kicked the ball around: soccer mania has hit…and by the way: Go Netherlands! Krista flew a beautiful kite, and we all just chilled…literally it was pretty cold. I am not sure what is this “summer thing” people are talking about. Most of the country is sweltering, but here in San Diego, we are freezing! No sun, drizzle and low temperatures.

After some fun playing around it was dinner time. Keegan really got spoiled: he loves restaurants and got to have dinner out twice this weekend. We went to the relocated Corvette Diner, a fun place, styled like a 50’s diner, a la Happy Days. The food was as good as I remembered, and the atmosphere was really fun. The kids had fun, and Keegan even ate lots of food. Not very healthy, mind you, but still food.

What a great tail to a great weekend.If you count the playdate with Kenzie at Mission Bay on Thursday, Keegan got to see all his favorite friends!

For Tizi, the best was yet to come, as her school is closed for Summer break the whole week. She had grandiose plans of getting lots of stuff done and getting caught up on things…but of course, Keegan had other plans, and on Thursday, he woke up with a nice fever. Well, I guess I had two days, right? At least he compensated with being very affectionate and cuddly (if a little clingy).

So, all in all a wonderful weekend and a great beginning for the summer season, in spirit at least. Now we are just waiting for some sun and some warmth.

In the last post I wrote about how much Keegan has grown, and about all his accomplishments. Now is time to show some of the fun he is having, just being a little boy.

He has been going to the same daycare/preschool since he was about 5 months old, and one thing we really enjoy about this place is that is a small school and everyone knows each other, teacher and kids alike. And this includes parents as well: I can’t never sneak in and observe him, because a few kids, as soon as they see me, start screaming: “Keegan, your mommie is here”.

This also means that now that he is in the preschool part, he plays with all the other kids, even if they are older and he knows all the teachers too, so graduating to the next class is less traumatic: in fact is something he is looking forward to. He knows that, as soon as he is completely potty trained, he will move to the Green ‘Gators room, and he can’t wait. I don’t know if this was the incentive, or the fact that MacKenzie already moved up, but he started pooping on the toilet! Now, he is still not 100% accidents free, but he is very close. Like we hoped, the first time it happen was somewhat of an unplanned event, but after that, Keegan lost the fear. In fact the first thing he told me afterward was :”it is not scary to poop on the toilet”. So we are keeping our fingers crossed and hope this transition will happen soon.

Keegan loves his school, and often he does not want to leave when I pick him up. All the teachers are very nice, and he seems to learn quite a bit, besides having a whole lot of fun. His best friends are as always Mackenzie and Kelsen (whom he has the love/hate relationship with). He also plays with Elliott a lot. These are some pictures that were shot at school.

A rare sight (for us): Keegan reading on his own

Finger-painting with Kenzie

Playing dress up with Kenzie, Kelsen, and Elliott

The three Musketeers: Keegan, Kenzie and Kelsen

He still enjoys his swim lessons, and he is beginning to feel more comfortable with his teacher, Courtney. Last week, he started swimming using his arms, spontaneously, deep jumping (with a little help), and spent more time under the water. Let’s hope this trend will continue.

Two and a half years…so when do you stop counting months? Anyway, we thought it would be a good time to give you an updated snapshot of our little guy. Six months after his birthday, we can honestly say that the “terrible twos” have arrived: more whining, tantrums and power struggles, but all and all they are better than I have expected (knocking on wood, touching iron, etc.). I still like this age a lot better than the “ones”.

Keegan is doing great, and it is amazing to see how much he has changed in just 6 months. We took him for a check up visit, so we have the most recent measures. He is still on his curve: 25% for weight (12.7 kg/28 lb) , 50% for height (90.5cm/35.6 in), and 25% for head circumference. The doctor found him well, and well developed. Despite his standard height, finding clothes that fit him is a real challenge. 24 months are usually a little too small, while 2T are usually gigantic, especially lengthwise. Even more surprising, Italian clothes are even bigger and longer, like Italy is a land of giants, right? So non of his clothes really fit him: they are either too big or too small.

Isn’t he stylish, with his made in Italy clothes?

What’s new with him? Well, the biggest news is that he is now starting to potty train: the teachers at school decided to try to let him wear underwear a couple of weeks ago, and he has been doing great so far. Very few accidents, and he usually asks us to go pee.He even used the big toilets in public bathrooms, at the doctor, at Target, at friends’ house, etc…but he draw the line at the porta-potty. His reason: ” they are yucky and smelly. Too much paper and doodoo”…and who can blame him? Now, as far as poop…we are not so lucky; Nothing worked so far: we tried bribes (M&Ms and stickers), we tried peer pressure (“all your friends are potty trained and are moving to next class”), we tried to let him stay in his underwear so he will get dirty and get grossed out (he could not care less, while mom, on the other hand, is the one who is TOTALLY grossed out by the cleaning up) and we even tried to buy him a small potty. Nothing. He refuses categorically. Oh well, it will happen. We are just hoping it will happen accidentally one day…

He still likes to read books, or even better, to listen to us reading him books, and he now repeats some of the words on the page. He was given the language and comprehension test at school, and supposedly he scored really well. He was able to clearly pronounce all the letters (except R) and he can understand a story and “retell it”. He was given a test for 3 years old an up. His vocabulary is increasing rapidly, and while English is definitively his first language, he is pretty fluent in both, and knows pretty much the same words in both languages. He may even start a simple Spanish class soon. He is very interested, since his teachers at school speak some Spanish to the kids.

He is still very active, and never sits still. He loves jumping and kicking the ball. He has been going to swimming lessons. We went to a different school this year, and he seems to be enjoying it more (maybe just because he is older). After about a month of “parent and me” swimming class,  he graduated to his first swim class without me in the water. He did well…a little shy maybe, but he did not cry. (-: While he is not yet able to actually swim, he knows how to hold his breath and blow bubbles under the water which is a great step toward water safety. To encourage his swimming skills, we have been playing in the water a lot. While he is not too fond of the big pool — too cold— he LOVES the small, blow up one we bought. And since the weather has not been that great or warm lately, we ended up filling it up with warm water from the garage: so he spends literally hours in there.

The hat and the glasses lasted exactly 3 minutes before being tossed in the water

Some other milestones:

• He has known most common colors (yellow, green, red, blue, orange, brown, black, white) since he turned two, so now we are working on more sophisticated colors: light blues (azzurro) tan, magenta, etc.
• He walks on tip toes
• He has been “counting” (or better yet, memorizing a string of numbers) till 12  in Italian and English (and some Spanish) for a while: he is working on actually counting objects. He can count till three/five so far
• He recognizes many letters of the alphabet
• He speaks in “long sentences” and uses past tense, plurals and some prepositions. He links multiple sentences together. He can retell an event, somewhat
• He is asking “W” questions: Who and What? He is especially curious to know what things are for, and what we are eating, if he sees us chewing
• He is interested in Spanish and wants to learn/hear new words in any language
• He loves to “dance” and sing. He sings familiar songs, or make up the words for his own creations. He hums too.
• He starts playing pretend games. He especially likes to pretend we are going to Seaworld or at the pool
• He started understanding how to play with simple puzzle with cardboard pieces.
• He can recognize most basic shapes. He can sort by color and shape.
• He can put on (and unfortunately off) his pants, underwear, socks, and some shoes. With help, he can put on a shirt
• He enjoys being naked, immensely
• He has bad dreams: which means he often wakes up in the middle of the night, and needs comforting. Yeah, like we needed his sleeping to get worse!
• He gets up from his crib without problems. And yes, he will get his own bed as soon as construction is over, so we can actually fit a bigger bed in his room. He does nap on a full size bed, though, and he only fell off of it once.
• He expresses affection openly. He shows affection for familiar people spontaneously…and he really likes kisses from girls.
• He can identify boys and girls, most of the times.
• He can push the pedals of his tricycle by himself, but he is not too interested in it
• He wants to do lots of stuff by himself, so we are constantly hearing “I need to do it”
• He can draw circular shapes and lines
• He knows his full name, how old he is and can show it with his hand. He also knows the street where he (and Jada and a couple of other neighbors) lives, as well as his city (San Diego) versus the city and country where his grandparents live (Milano, Italy). In a couple of books he can point out the general area of USA and Italy. He also knows he lives on earth and not on another planet. (-:
• He has a good memory: he recognizes streets and remembers things that happened a few months before (he is better than mom on this one)
• Two other things he does better than mom: kick a ball and using 3-d/spacial skills. Since he was 2 he can recognize from outside the house, even with the blinds drawn, mom’s bedroom or his own bedroom…I still have issues with that
• He can stack cubes in tall towers, as tall as he is.

He is still quite the social boy. This means we still have no breaks, and that he requires constant attention, but it also means that he is enjoying playing with other children. He is generally quite good (for a toddler) at sharing and waiting his turn, which makes for pleasant playdates and quite a lot of adult conversation. He is still better with one-on-one interaction  rather than large gatherings: he becomes a little shy when there are a lot of people and children, and needs a little time to warm up.

One of such fun events was Torin’s birthday party. The whole yard was a kid’s dreamland, with a water table, the bouncie and a huge slide/swing playset.

There were kids of varying ages, but Keegan mainly played with the guest of honor. These two really get along well, despite their 6 months age gap. Of course he loved to play, but the pinata was definitely a big hit (no pun intended). None of the little guys was able to smash it, but they had fun trying. And of course, it was even more fun to grab the candies that fell out of it.

Then, it was time for cake, or cupcakes. Keegan enjoyed his chocolate one, while mom feasted on the jummy Nutella/banana/nut dessert that Krista prepared. Adult food and beverages were also available to make it a really great party.

We dove home with an exhausted but happy toddler that night, and we really marveled at how much he has grown and is becoming more and more his own little person everyday. He already has his own favorite sentences, and typical expression and his own sense of humor. We are grateful to have him in our lives, terrible twos notwithstanding.

Father’s Day weekend, 2010 edition. It was a lot of fun, and we made sure daddy had a very special weekend…or at least we hope.

The celebration started on Friday: Matt was able to leave a little early from work, so we both joined Keegan at his preschool’s Father’s Day pic-nic. There was some good food and dads participated in fun water games. I am sure glad we did not have to do this at our Mother’s Day celebration!

Keegan played with water, and had a blast splashing his friends. He did not have quite the same fun when they splashed him back!!! We tried to explain to him that getting wet is part of the fun! Not too many good pictures of father and son…so this is the best we could manage.

On Saturday, Tizi and Keegan spent a lot of time together: we played, went to the grocery store and to the large playground in UTC, trying to give daddy a little break. Unfortunately he had to do some work as well, but still he also got to enjoy some relaxing time, alone.

On the actual Father’s Day, Matt took the first nap shift, at 7am, and Keegan and Tizi watched the second World Cup soccer game of an unimpressive Italy. We were all ready: we got our flag out and rehearsed our cheers of “Forza Azzurri”. Keegan got it down. He was so cute, waving his flag around. Even more impressively, he watched the whole game. This is the kid who can’t stay still for a minute, but he sat on my lap for the whole first half, trying to encourage me and reminding me that “they are trying”. The second half was a little more fragmented as we dealt with laundry and preparing daddy some muffins. One big lesson Keegan learned from it, though, is that “we don’t pull shirts” and pull players down when playing soccer (especially in the goal area). The penalty kick impressed him, even if I still can’t convince him that the goal is NOT a fence.

Forza Azzurri!

After the disappointing 1-1 we got everything ready for Dad. And by the way, yes, I am very distraught about Italy being eliminated in the first round…but we will be back in 8 years to win it again. Historical data indicates we only win every 12 years, so here it is. I called my parents, and we commiserated together on Skype.

Keegan “made” Matt a paper tie and a mug full of candy, and mom got a few more things for him. When Matt woke up, we celebrated with a nice brunch and muffins. And of course we gave him our cards: Keegan decorated his with stickers and stamps.

After our brunch, we all took a nap, and spent a “quiet” afternoon at home. Keegan played in the pool and splashed around and we enjoyed our time together. Keegan is really very lucky to have such a wonderful, fun, dedicated dad (and so am I). And we can’t say it enough: thank you for all you do, Matt.

We just wanted to post an update on our construction. We passed the first two inspections and we are now working on the framing. I think this is probably the more exciting stage, because this is when you really see something growing from nothing. Last week, the stairs were completed, and we can now go upstairs and check out how it will look like: the rooms are now set and we can look outside the “windows” and start imagining how it will be.

It is great to get home and see dramatic changes from one day to the next. It makes you forget about the noise, and dust, and dirt  and all the other inconveniences. The pictures were shot a few days ago, and while lot of work has been done since then, it still gives you a rough idea of how it will look.

we got stairs!

View from one of the canyon-view bedrooms

Of course, Keegan is fascinated by all the construction and loves to go up and down the stairs. He knows we are building HIS room, and he is very excited. Maybe a little too much: it is very difficult to get him going in the morning, because he wants to stick around and see what the workers are doing. Their schedule is great: they start early in the morning and they are usually gone by midafternoon, so generally, we have the house back to ourselves by the time Keegan gets home from preschool.

Inside the future “man cave”

You gotta love those stairs

Of course the curse has not been lifted yet: the pool and everything else, still will have to come down in a few short weeks and, we just found out, our inspector, the one our contractor knew well and that was mellow and easy going, just passed away, poor guy. This means that we are not sure who will inspect us now, but hopefully this will not cause too many delays or too many headheaches.

Anyway, we are trying to stay focused on and “enjoy” the progress…and let’s hope to be done by the end of the year.

Finally, the beginning of Summer. It has been a little chilly for San Diego, and we have not been able to enjoy warm days, so Memorial Day Weekend was a welcome surprise. Not that it mattered too much to us, since we decided to go for the full heat, and celebrate the unofficial start of Summer — and the first three day weekend— in blazing hot Ranch Mirage (Palm Springs). I guess we figured it would not be as hot as Phoenix in July (see last summer) and we found very good rates.

Since Keegan has never been a great traveler, especially when it comes to sleeping, we had a “dry run” about a month ago, and spent a night at a hotel in North County. The hotel had a pool and he spent lots of time in it, even if the water was chilly. He has been taking lessons and he is really enjoying himself. He is pretty good, learning to blow bubbles underwater, and, while he is fighting it sometime, he is overall enjoying being in the water. The night went well, and thanks to the “magic” clock, he sleep pretty well, and till the yellow light came on. Then he started wandering around till he found us. Of course we chose a suite, so we would have a sleeping area semi separate from Keegan’s couch. The next morning, after the mandatory pool dip, we went to Queen Califa’s Magical Circle, a garden sculpture garden by Nikki De Saint Phalle. It is really cool, and he enjoyed climbing and jumping on the sculptures.

It was a good experience. So we were emboldened to try for a three day trip. Emboldened but not crazy, so we still looked for a hotel with  pool and a suite.

We reserved a “villa” at the Westin villas and Spa, and made sure there was a pool, Keegan’s new obsession. It was basically a condo: a 1 bedroom apartment with 2 fireplaces, 2 TVs, a full kitchen, dining area and living room with a queen size pull out couch. In the bedroom, there was a king size bed and a large jacuzzi tub, plus a full bathroom. A large balcony with BBQ completed the package.

Now, all this goodness almost DID not happen. The night before our trip we called to check in on our reservation, because they did not mention Keegan, and on the course of the call we realized that the reservation has been set for next year. How this happened is a mystery: we tried to replicate the error, but the website did not allow us to reserve a year in advance, so it may have been a computer glitch. No matter…we panicked. of course I complained and asked for a manager, who sounded unflappable. After, of course, telling me they were completely overbooked, they found “miraculously a space: same accommodations as we reserved. Now, I am grateful we did not have to scramble to find something else at the last minute, however, was the “we have been completely booked for three months” necessary?

Anyway, we climbed in our nice rental car and drove away. it took Keegan a little while to settle down and fall asleep, but then we were golden. The trip only took less than three hours, and Keegan woke up in time to enjoy and marvel at the wind turbines. We arrived shortly after, and we were greeted by a balmy 95+ degrees weather for the whole weekend.

The place was amazing, even if all that lush landscaping definitely looks out of place in the middle of the desert. And I’ve never seen so many water features in one place as in Rancho Mirage. Every establishment, big or small, MUST have its own water feature. Pretty crazy.

looking down from our balcony

Keegan loved the “pond” with its duckies and sprouting water

The  the moment Keegan has been waiting for all week: pool time! While we could use all the amenities our resort shared with the hotel, we mainly stayed in the resort’s pool. Keegan loved the toddler wading area (about 1 foot high) because he could play and splash without any help. After a couple of jumps in the big pool, he decided the small one was what he liked.  We sat and played in the warm pool till past 7, then we had dinner and settled in. Keegan fell asleep easily, and Matt did a quick store run to get a stroller and some food. We then watched a nice movie and relaxed and crashed early.

Keegan slept the whole night: he loved the hotel! Bright and early, after a quick breakfast, we went to the Living Desert, a small zoo dedicated to animals that live in desert or African areas. They also had a huge model train, and Keegan was fascinated.

We saw giraffes feeding on branches, and bulls, and petted goats and sheeps…and promptly left around 11, before melting down.

Back at the hotel, after lunch, we all crashed. Well, it took mr. Keegan a while to settle down: the two of us could not keep up with him, manically running from one side to the other of the apartment, opening one door as we closed the opposite one. It felt like a giant game of whack-a-mole.

He finally crashed, and so did we…for three solid hours! Perfect escape from the hottest time of the day (almost in the 100s). We had to wake up Keegan at 4, and it was difficult. The prospect of sending more time in the pool, however, got him motivated. And back to the pool we went. We bought a couple inflatable toys, so he had a great time floating and splashing around, while some dj were organizing the “do you know this tune?- 80s edition” on the pool deck. How relaxing!

Matt BBQ some jummy dinner, and then our little hero went to bed; so finally,  it was adult time! Some adult beverages, a nice jacuzzi, movies…you can’t ask for more.

check out the jacuzzi tub!

This second night was a little more eventful (Keegan woke up a couple of times), but still good. Check out was late, at noon, so we had a full morning of splashing and playing in the water, before heading home.

Reading his favorite books in our dining area

Once again we headed home right around Keegan’s nap time. He was so exhausted he actually asked me to take a nap, instead of going to the restaurant, as we promised. We hit a little bit of traffic on the way back — it was Memorial Day — but it was not too bad. Keegan slept most of the time, and woke up only because the car stopped (i.e. super crabby kid). By the time we got to San Diego, he was in full meltdown, because he NOW wanted to go to the restaurant. So, since we all had skipped lunch as well, we had one of my earliest dinners (or latest lunches) on record: 4pm.

It was a nice way to finish the weekend and this month of May. With construction starting up again and the weather, hopefully getting warmer, may Summer 2010 be a lot better than the Winter 2010.

We have briefly mentioned in some previous posts that we have been going through some stressful time lately trying to remodel our home. We are adding a second story to our home. Or at least trying to…if the city will ever let us.

We weighted a lot of pros and cons, and at the end we thought that in this economic climate, remodeling was the way to go.We really did not want to go through an exhausting search- it took us almost 6 months to find this house and I looked at over 100 houses – and assuming we could find a bigger house we could afford, we did not want to go through the hassle of moving. Plus we would have probably take a big hit as far as selling price. Moreover, we love the house and its canyon view and at this time, construction company are really looking for work, so materials and labor may be cheaper. The catch 22 of all of this, though, is that no banks are lending money: so it took us months to find one who did and to prep all the necessary paperwork. We started the exploratory process in march of last year, and we signed loan docs in December!

By the beginning of March, we thought we were on our way to start our huge project. Our contractor called at the end of February and said they wanted to start in a couple of days, because all the construction plans has been approved, and we were only waiting on a brush management plan, that should have been a formality!  So we had a hectic few days, trying to get everything boxed and moved, to rent a storage space, and get organized. We also went around talking to our neighbors, letting them know of our plans…and it was a good thing too, because jack hammering started bright and early.

We decided to build two small bedrooms (Keegan’s room and a playroom) and an office for Matt and a bathroom, adding about 600 sf. We are not sure how long it will take but we hope to be done by the end of summer. We will be building over the living room, kitchen and some of the garage, so our bedroom are intact. They also assured ous that they should be able to build above us, without ripping the ceiling, so most of the house should be somewhat usable, dust aside, for most of the time. The only drawback, is that we are not able to go directly from the kitchen to the bedroom, since this is where the new footings and the stairs will be built. Good thing we live in Southern California, so we can easily go around that by using our patio.

A nice plywood wall has been built in our living room, and two zippered plastic walls separate the kitchen from the bedroom. It has not been a big problem so far, and fortunately we are at work for most of the noisy part. Keegan seemed to be enjoying the diversion, and he was taking it as an adventure. Hopefully it will last even when the novelty factor wears off. And I guess I can say the same about us.

So, at first everything seemed to work out. Then, our luck turned. The city took a special interest in our project, and a whole series of rounds of discussions and meetings took place. I will spare you all the pitiful details, but this is what happened:

1) After our plans were basically approved, some wonderful person at the city decided that he needed to have a second look and found some violations. We were not called in to explain, nor he came over to the property to inspect.
2) The city called code compliance to record some alleged violations according to some obscure ordinance that applies to steep hills.
3) Their vacation schedule prevented us from having a specific answer about this violations for more than a month and a half
4) They sent us a complaints letter that made no sense at all
5) They set up a meeting with us — finally— to discuss the issue
6) They required a new plan to be submitted, and the removal of basically everything we have in the back yard, regardless if it has been there for more than 15 years. This includes the deck, the trellis, the spa and the pool.
7) During the whole time they held our permit hostage, and no work could be done till this is resolved

So, we have been living in a construction zone, with no construction going on. How fun! Keep in mind that our project has NOTHING to do with the back yard. They just require a brush management plan regardless of what work you do, as an overreaction to the recent fires. They are going overboard in the interpretation of the laws and regulations, so if you live in a canyon area (about 70% of San Diego is), you can’t do basically NOTHING to your own canyon land. And who said that California is the land of freedom?

As you can imagine this has been extremely stressful and disheartening: we were trying to make our house better, and we will end up taking away lots of his amenities. At this point we have no choice. Construction or not we have to take care of  this or face a fine. We only hope the extra space will make up for it.

So, after almost three months of delays, uncounted phone calls and emails from our contractor, a meeting, and multiple modifications and resubmitting of the plan (and guess who is paying for all this?), we are finally starting again. The final permit finally arrived about 10 days ago, so we immediately got and passed our first inspection, and we are moving along. Of course, we still will have to tear down our beloved “back yard”, pool, spa, deck, retaining walls, trellis and all…and let’s not forget the re-vegetation part!

We are however trying to focus on the positive, and simply wish a carload of bad karma to the nice, hardworking people at the city, that for some reason decided that our project needed to be used an an example.

It is now June, and we are hoping that the “curse” that has been dogging us for the past 3 months — starting with the hit and run damage on my parked car — is finally over. We will keep you updated with more photos as we move along.

Here’s to a happier second half of 2010.

It is hard to believe this is my third Mother’s Day, but here it is. And what a great weekend it was. As you may know, we have been having a difficult time lately, and have been very stressed, so this weekend was all about relaxing (for me at least).

We started it off with a preschool Mother Day Tea Party. The children made a big Moms poster: each kid brought in a picture of mom, and “wrote” some things about her. Apparently I have a blue nose and green feet, and Keegan loves me because I am funny.

Keegan also presented me with with a cute bag as I showed up, containing the cutest frame. Ohhh, I did melt a little. The tables outside were all set up with flowers and jummy dessert.

Keegan he is enjoying his brownie a little too much: don’t bother me, I am eating

The kids played and and danced and run around, and moms (and the occasional dad) socialized.

jump around…

It was fun. Of course MacKenzie was there, so the two little ones got some dancing and playing together. And look, they even got their nose picking synchronized.

not the best picture, but what a cute frame

The weekend was all about me. I started it right with my nice three hours morning nap and then some playing around while Dad got his well deserved rest. Keegan gave me an early present: an epic more than 3 hours nap. And he only woke up because he fell down the bed. Oooops. Well, he sleeps in a tween bed, but it has never been an issue before. And yes, we immediately ordered a bed bolster, so this will not happen again.

As soon as we got him to calm down, dad took him out for some guy time (= mommie gets two hours to herself). So, what did I do with this wonderful 2 hours??? I organized the Keegan-related papers that have been accumulating in my room. How exciting is that? And even more sad, I really enjoyed it: it is nice to see the top of my cabinet again. Keegan and Matt went to the park and at the store, where daddy bought some beautiful flowers. Keegan took all the credit by dragging inside this huge bunch of gladioli that were bigger than him.

Matt has really an amazing taste: he picked three separate bouquets of flowers that fit perfectly together. What a wonderful hubby! We relaxed together at night, getting ready for the big day.

The next morning, once again I got my beauty rest, while Matt and Keegan played and set up the table. When I woke up, we called grandpa and grandma to wish her Happy Mother’s Day. Then Matt and Keegan got my card all ready, and we got brunch all set up. We all ate together at home, to stay away from the crowds. Keegan even wished me “Happy Mother’s Day” throughout the day. How sweet.

happy mother’s day mommie…but enough pictures already

Once again, Keegan rewarded me with a 3+ hours nap, and then we all headed out for Mission Bay playground to kick the ball and play with the sand. It was so fun. I did not want the weekend of celebrations to end…and it didn’t. The following day, when I got back from work, Matt left in my room a wonderful gift certificate for a spa. And, man, do I need some relaxing!

Thank you to my wonderful boys for making my Mother Day so special. I am so lucky to have you both in my life.

Spring has arrived in San Diego…a little wetter than usual, but still glorious, so we are trying to take advantage of it. Bubbles games are back as well as drawing with chalk on the driveway. Will Keegan be the next Madonnaro? Well, maybe if he focus on the pavement and stop drawing on himself first…

Flowers are blooming everywhere and the air is filled with their sweet scent. This year, dad and Keegan went to frolic at the Carlsbad Flower Fields, while Tizi was at a design conference. They had a special kids day, so he got to pick some, and ride on a tractor and participate in the excitement. He even met up with his friends Mila and Hannah. Here he is, beaming among the bright blooms.

Easter came early this year, and Keegan really enjoyed it this time around. Easter never meant too much to me (besides eating lots of chocolate) but it is definitely a lot more fun now that Keegan is old enough to really have a blast. And a blast he had. He actually had a 4 days celebration! He started with his Easter party at school…on good Friday. Of course, the real meaning of Easter is somewhat lost here, but hey, what can you do? The Easter bunny made an appearance, bringing with him a real bunny: Keegan loved to pet him…but I bet he liked the egg hunt even more. With his handmade basket he caught some colorful eggs and ate the treats inside. He was still really excited when I picked him up, so we went to Mission Bay to burn off some of that energy.

The next day he was still full of unburnt energy, so I took him to a nearby playground, and to our surprise, the Clairemont Egg Hunt was in full swing. They had bouncie houses, art and crafts, a simulated firetruck and of many colorful eggs. Despite all his excitement, though, as soon as he was given the green light for the egg hunt, he stood in place, hugging my leg. I guess the sight of all the other kids running for eggs was a little intimidating. He did enjoy the firetruck ride and the bouncie, though. I guess this was the first time he actually jumped in it, and could not get enough of it. We were even able to squeeze in some sand play, before collapsing. At home he was so tired, he would not eat, and he took a glorious 3.5 hours nap.

On Easter Sunday it was time for the real celebration. We placed lots of eggs on the front yard, and hid his basket behind the trees. He was so excited! He kept on running around, squealing (yes we are working on that) with his monkey basket—don’t ask, he picked it himself— stuffing eggs inside.

And he could not believe there were also presents waiting for him.

We lugged everything inside, and it was time to check out his eggs. Not quite as fun as the ones from daycare, since they only contained cheerios, fish crackers or cereal puff (no candy). He loved his basket, though, with a giant set of Mr. Potato heads, balls, flying airplanes and small trucks.

check out all these cute eggs

The most fun, though, was throwing the fake grass around, mainly on mom’s head.

Did a tornadoes went through the house?

After all this fun, we Skyped the grandparents: Keeegan was even able to wish them Buona Pasqua in Italian. He was happy to see them.

One more lunch refused (maybe is the two molars he has been growing) and straight to bed. All this excitement wore him down, and once again, we had a nice 3.15 hour nap. He woke up just in time to get ready and go for some more Easter fun at his buddy Torin’s house. We were all sitting in the car, ready to go, calling Krista to let her know we were on our way, when the car shook. We though Keegan was kicking his seat…but nooo. It was an earthquake. A big one at that. It measured 7.2, and the epicenter was in Baja California, near Mexicali. It lasted quite a bit. Keegan was totally unfazed, and after a quick check to our walls, we were on our way. Living in California really makes you somewhat immune to earthquake, unless they are huge and right in your town. So, it made an interesting conversation topic, but not much more.

When we got to Krista’s and Eric’s house Torin was waking up. And soon enough, both the kids were out in the yard picking up more eggs, and jumping on the bouncie and goofing around. So much fun. Keegan was still passing on M&Ms, which made us both happy: I ended up eating his discards.

We spent a wonderful afternoon relaxing and chatting and enjoying a wonderful Easter dinner of braised short ribs, and green beans, mash potatoes, cucumber salad (thank you to Krista’s mom), cake, chocolate eggs, champagne, wine…do I need to say more? The kids were hilarious: they play so well together. They even have fun playing the potty game: pretending to go on the potty, pants down. Not that they really like to use the potty in real life, but it is a start. What a great celebration!

Keegan was exhausted, but did not fall asleep in the car, surprisingly. Of course, even if he went to bed about an hour later than usual, he was up at his usual 5.45am time.

The next day, Keegan realized he did not open all his eggs from Torin’s house: so it was Easter all over again. He also realized that M&Ms are not only little colorful rocks, but they are edible as well, and they are delicious. And just like that, he was addicted. We had an immediate breakdown that afternoon, when I refused to give him more than 10! He kept on asking for “more treats!”. While Keegan was at school and dad at work, Tizi enjoyed his last Spring Break day— out of a total of 2—, under a gloomy and rainy sky. No matter: a day off is always a great thing. To finish off our Easter celebration, grandma and grandpa’s Easter package arrived. There were cool gifts for everyone. So, when Keegan got back home, there were more surprises in his basket. Really a very long celebration.

So thank you to everyone who made it special! Happy Spring to everyone.

I know we have been lagging on our blog. We have been going through a lot and we have been quite stressed, mainly in regard to our construction project, and we are still not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (-: But we will defer this discussion to another post.

We wanted at least post a few pictures of our little man, who has been quite busy lately. he has become more and more social, and he is enjoying playdates and hanging out with his friends, or other kids in general immensely. This is good for us too, as well, as we enjoy the company of other parents-friends.

We had a few birthday parties: I guess late winter is birthday season, and it seems that there was a new birthday celebration almost every week at school. We had three parties back to back. The cool thing about them was that they were held in indoor playgrounds, so the kids really had the chance to run free and play. And with the really bad, rainy weather we had it was a perfect way for the little ones to unleash some energy.

We started with Jada’s party: Keegan loved the place, and immediately run off to jump in the ball piut or down the slides, without looking back.

We were happily surprised to see that, considering how shy he had been, and we enjoyed some adult chat with our neighbors. There was of course plenty of jummy food and cake, and Keegan managed to sit right next to the birthday girl (and her cake).

The following week, it was Elliott’s party, a friend from school. It was held in a smaller place, and a lot of keegan’s classmates were there, including Kenzie: that made for a fun experience. Unfortunately we did not have a camera,but we will try to get some pictures.

Next up, it was Rozelin’s party, another friend from school. Rozelin is also Yadira’s daughter, and you may remember that Yadira was one of Keegan’s teacher, and I have to say, one of his favorite: Yadira was the first three syllabus word he learn, and one of his first words in general. Agian, the party was held in a great playground, and Keegan had fun with another friend from school, Clhoe.

Again there was yummy cakes and food, and here they all are in a group photo. Yadira and her Husband are on the right, while Ms. Marlena, another one of his school’s teachers is on the left holding Ivan, the son of Ms Isella (another of keegan’s teachers), who is in Keegan’s class. By the way, Elliott is the last kid on the right. So, are you confused yet?

All these birthday celebrations made Keegan even more eager of getting to his own birthday again, to blow candles on a cake, and even more importantly, to get “lots of presents”. He does know that his birthday is in December, after Torin’s, Mila’s and Hanna’s, but of course he really not sure what December is.

His language skills are really improving by the day: in the last couple of weeks he said his first, complex sentence: “No kick the ball in hallway, because (emphasis on because) it’s all closed”. He can distinguish between Italian and English, and often repeats the same thing in both languages, back to back. He also started singing a lot more, mainly the usual suspects, but also songs we have no idea what they are. He likes to “read” books, remembering what words go on what page but he still loves hearing stories from us. he has a little more patience, and would sit for the whole story, if it is interesting enough. He is also a typical boy. We were reading the awesome,The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig a book that flips the classic tale of the three little pigs on its head, when we got to a page where the bad pig uses dynamite to blow up the concrete home of the three little wolves. There is a big explosion…and guess what? Now this is the only page he wants to see, over and over again, repeating loud BOOOOM sounds.

I see action movies in his future…

Fortunately, he also has more delicate moments: he has recently learned to say I Love You and Ti Voglio Bene ( he has been using the I love you sign for the longest time), so now he likes to express his affection, and comes over to mom and dad, gives big hugs and kisses, and he says it with conviction. How sweet. He has also learned that mommie is happy when he gives her a kiss, so he would often come over expressing his love after he has gotten in trouble, or made us a little mad. And it usually works (-: Not stupid, eh?

He has been showing his likes and dislikes with his friends too: he has a new good friend a school, Kelson, a friendship defined by all teachers as a ‘love-hate” relationship: they can’t stay apart from each other but they fight and steal toys from each other all the time too.

He is still really good friends with Torin, Kenzie, Jada, Mila and of course Hannah. We try to see them as often as we can, since he is enjoying their company so much. We will post a video of Keegan and Torin dancing to the Beatles music, that is just adorable.

We have a couple of adorable pictures of Keegan and Hannah, though. We went to a small Engineering fair (no, dad was not trying to push him, we just happened to be there to get a haircut), where “he” made a cute aluminum foil boat and let it sail in the fountain.

And then, hand in hand, we took our little guys to lunch. Aren’t they adorable? they are obviously enjoying it as well.

So, as you can see Keegan is really becoming his own person, and we are enjoying this process…well, we could do without whining, but it comes with the territory.

Hopefully we will have soon some good, or at least definitive news on the home front to update you with. In the meantime wish us luck.

In the past couple of months, we noticed Keegan coming out of his shell a little bit, and becoming his own little person more and more. It has definitely been exciting to witness this transformation, especially for Tizi, because that meant Keegan is a little more independent and less needy. He is actually playing on his own more and he is also looking for daddy quite a bit more, giving mommie a break…plus it is great to see these bonding moments, right? And I can honestly live without the hundreds of “mommie, mommie, mommie” a day. Talking of which, we have seen the funniest video-promo for Family Guy, showing EXACTLY what Keegan used to do. It is even a Facebook group. And I swear he did do it more than one time.

He is still very affectionate: in fact, he often run towards us to bear hug us, or calls for “huggies” (not the diaper kind), and he kisses us much more. Of course he is happy to share his affections with his friends too.

His favorite games are still kicking the balls around and reading books…or better yet listening to books. He is starting to “read” them too, flipping the pages and reciting the words he remembers belonging to that page. it is quite entertaining to see…and amazing, as he remembers quite a bit! He is getting more interested in drawing, stamping and coloring as well as riding tricycles or mini bikes, both at home and school Sand is also still a big hit.

It is nice to see him also playing with his stuffed animals: Shamu is of course his all time favorite, and he brings him to sleep with him. But he has lots of them, and often take turn hugging them and taking care of them. He likes feeding them too.

While we are still sleep-deprived, we still do enjoy the cuddling ad snuggling in in the morning, and he loves playing in the big bed. Now that is “cold”, he loves to snuggle in, and to feel “nice and cozy” as he says while he settles under the soft duvet (who wouldn’t?).

He likes to spend more and more time with dad, playing all sort of games, but mainly kicking the ball. Another fun game they play is the tickle game. Daddy reads him the Tickle Monster story, and uses the fuzzy gloves to tickle him like mad: he loves it.

Growing up also means that while he still have his shy moments (he now know even say it: “Me be shy” when he does not want to say Hi to someone), he is getting more and more social, and really craves spending times with friends. Even if he is at daycare everyday till 3pm or so, which he LOVES, he still wants more. So we are arranging as many playdates with his best friends as we can. Plus, at this stage he seems to get along well with kids he knows, and there are not too many fights or arguments. It also means more social interaction for mom and dad too: yeah!

We are getting to see more of Torin as well. Even if they are 6 months apart, Torin is definitely at a very similar development stage, especially for motor skills, so they play great together. It is especially good to have them eat together: Torin is a great eater, so Keegan eats more when he is around too. And they entertain themselves making funny noises, or tackling each other.

Valentine’s Day Weekend was  also a three day weekend for Tizi and Keegan, so we headed off to Seaworld with Krista, Eric and Torin. It was so much fun. We saw penguins, otters, the pet show and of course Sahmu. We even got to feed the dolphins.

The grown ups were WAY more excited about it then the kids, that started to cry. No matter. I got to pet a dolphin! And then we wathced the Pets Rules show, with all sort of critters, which we all enjoyed a lot; Keegan liked they played the same music (Are Your ready For That) that plays in his Valentine’s Day card. He loves to dance to that, and he opens and closes and opens and closes the card to infinity…

By the way, thank you Krista for the photos which I stole from your blog. (-:

Despite falling asleep, Keegan got a second wind and ate a huge amount of food, including sausage. I will cal it the Torin Effect.

I can also notice that Keegan plays tougher with boys, so we had an extends GOODBYE session with plenty of hugs/tuckles going on. Fun times. (-:

bear hugs

see you soon Torin

Our little boy changes in front of our eyes…we will post more pictures and updates soon.

Valentine’s Day time again. While I agree that Valentine’s day is a cheesy marketing holiday, it is always nice to take some time and tell your loved one how much you appreciate them. And, here in the States, Valentine’s day is also very much a kids’ holiday. I am still learning the ropes as far as these things so I am never sure about what I am supposed to do or prepare. Oh well.

Keegan’s daycare closed early because of the holiday, but they had the chance to squeeze in a small party. They had decorated a shoe box and collected all their goodies inside. he got little cards, play-doh and bubbles. In all truth, though, he did not seem to care much at this point.

On Saturday, we had a nice Valentine’s Day party at Lina’s house. Hannah, Mila, and baby Liam and their parents were at hand to celebrate (and sneak in some Olympic games watching). We all had a great time. After some warming up period (on Keegan’s side) the kids played together wonderfully. We brought our jumpie, so the kids got to hop around. They were also dancing and singing along to their favorite tunes.

It is so much fun playing with Hannah and Mila

I am dancing, and dancing and dancing around

They even spent time in Mila’s room sharing toys and playing quietly ALONE for more than 20 minutes!!! It was great, and the adults got to talk and relax and enjoy some good food.

Keegan has been more interested in drawing, so here he is, donning the cool heart shaped glasses — the same ones he refuses to wear at home — creating his masterpiece.

He seems like a real artist…

Saturday night Matt cooked a wonderful dinner, and we enjoyed a romantic evening together.

On Sunday, while Tizi caught up on her beauty sleep, Keegan prepared his card (and so did Matt). He helped setting the scene by spreading pink, red and white M&M’s on the table, and setting the beautiful flowers on the table and the balloon Matt got for both of us.

When Tizi woke up, we exchanged cards and little gifts. I know it is not really a gift giving holidays, but we bought this fun talking dog that can be personalized for your child, and I figured this would be a good occasion as any to give it to him. He also got a cool booklet from Winnie the Pooh and a musical card, he picked himself out at the store.

Look at all the goodies…

what would that be? A talking dog!

He seemed excited, and he liked the bear.  Hopefully it will keep him entertain him for a while. The rest of the day was quiet. We called the grandparents and saw them via Skype, so Keegan could wish them Happy valentine’s Day too. We enjoyed beautiful weather and high temperature of 75 and above, and were even able to sneak in some romantic times, just the two of us, when Keegan was sleeping.

So, it was a great weekend, and thank you to both of my guys for making it so special.

Sooo, we may, MAY, have some sleep progress. As you all know, we have been suffering through Keegan sleep issues for a long time, since birth in fact. I know you are tired of hearing about it at least as much as we are dealing with it, but the most frustrating thing is that they don’t seem to improve as he gets older. After an excruciating couple of months when we battled with jet lag, guests, and simply regular life that translated in multiple nights wakings, super early wake ups (as in 4, 4.30am), more sleep training, crying and just overall crankiness, especially on our part, we decided to try something new. Enter My Tot Clock. It is an over-sized, sturdy clock, whose face changes color depending of the time of day, mainly blue during sleep time and yellow when is time to wake up.

The idea is that Keegan will not be allowed to get up till the yellow light comes on. Of course you set the wake up and bed times, and you can dim the night light to nothing as well. You can even set to have lullabies playing and wake up music, or story telling, but we do not use that feature. It has settings for timeouts (red light), positive reinforcement (green light) and naps. You can also override any setting, and manually start any routine.

Taking advantage of Keegan’s fascination with clocks, we began using it during the Christmas break and I have to say that we had some moderate success so far. Nothing as drastic as the site’s testimonials, but success nonetheless. First of all, now Keegan knows that he is supposed to wait for the yellow light. When he goes to bed he says “yellow light on awake ” or “luce gialla up” or something to this effect. It is a big difference from before, when we could only tell him he was too early, which of course meant nothing to him. Also, he often stays in bed till slightly later (we are still in the 5.30/5.45 range, but it is a start, and much better than 4.30/5). We had been creeping up the wake up time, little by little, and we are now at 5.40am. Hopefully we will be able to move it closer to 6 am, eventually.

There are of course set backs; there are still times when he wakes up a little earlier, but at least now we have an enforcement measure: we are not picking him up till the yellow light comes on, no matter how much he cries or how many times he calls out mama or Tiziana…oh yes, if after a while, if I don’t answer his calls, he starts calling me by my first name. Maybe he thinks I am not quite certain he is referring to me when he calls out mamma. What a weirdo. Not that he ever calls out for daddy or Matt.

The clock also helped with nap time. Again, for a LONG time we decided not to fight his preference for stroller or car seat naps. We were simply too exhausted to deal with it, and with the blessing of our doctor we enjoyed his 2/3 hours naps strapped in into some sort of seat. However, with winter coming, we really wanted him to get him used to sleep indoors, in a bed. So, with many days to reinforce his behavior during the holidays, we started putting him to bed in his room, in the big bed. Again, we used the clock, which has a setting for naps, and stood our ground. The first day he cried more than half an hour, and we had multiple escapes, but the next few days got better. Now, while still resisting, sometimes crying and escaping from the room a few times, he naps in his room. We don’t always get two full hours, but it is a start.

So, is this a miraculous clock? Not quite, but we did get some improvements so far (hoping that they will stay even after the novelty effect worn out, and when construction will begin). Most importantly, Keegan accepted the clock as part of his sleeping routine and he is excited when he waits till the light comes on.We are also really hoping it will be more and more effective as time goes by. When Keegan will be older, we can even use it to teach him to go play on his own in the morning and not to wake up up till the yellow light is on, maybe set to a comfortable 9/10 am…one can always daydream, right?

For now, we will wait for our morning call: “mamma, yellow light!!!”