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Once again, this year we decided to grow our butterflies. Keegan really would like a pet, so that was my concession. (-: We only got 5 this time, but it was still very fun. One of the caterpillars was much smaller than the others, so we ended up having and watching butterflies for quite a while, almost two full weeks.

Once again, they arrived in a cup, filled with food. And once again they did not do anything but wiggle and eat (and poop, as Keegan promptly added). They changed skins multiple times and finally hung upside down as chrysalis. This is when we moved them in their mesh habitat and waited.

Finally, within a week, the first 4 emerged as beautiful Painted Ladies butterflies. We enjoyed watching them flutter around, and we fed them sugar water and fresh flowers.

We waited day after day, hoping the last, little one, would emerge, but to no avail. They were in their pavilion for so long (almost a full week) they started to mate. It was interesting explaining Keegan what they were doing. We settled on” they are kissing and getting married”. Keegan noticed that, together, they formed a heart shape.

Finally, worried they would try to lay eggs inside, we released them in the front yard. This time they were ready, and flew right out. One one needed a little help, and Keegan was happy to lend a hand.

It was a pretty sunny day, and we had many plants in full bloom: it was as if we brought them to a Las Vegas All You Can Eat Buffet, and they lingered a while, flying from flower to flower.

Keegan smiling next to “his” butterfly, enjoying the jasmine in the garden

Keegan was a little sad, but we still had one left. And sure enough, just as we let the others go, the last one came out of her chrysalis, and we got to enjoy it for many more days.

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2012 brought an unusual amount of special anniversaries: our 10th year wedding anniversary, my 20th year anniversary since I arrived in USA, and both of my parents will be celebrating round numbers birthdays. So, since my mom always wanted to go to Hawaii, my dad felt this would be the best year to do so to celebrate together all this big dates. What an amazing gift!

WARNING: this is a mammoth post (2233 words at last count)! Feel free to skip to the pictures.

Even if we only had less than three weeks to plan it, and we were not even sure we could leave due to Matt’s health, my trusted travel agent found us a great package for 5 nights in Maui, at an amazing condo-resort, Honua Kai at North Kaanapali on the West coast.

We packed in a rush the night before, and we left by sunrise with a direct flight to Maui, ironically from Alaskan Airlines. Thanks to our trusted DVD player, Keegan was good during the flight and even we had the chance to enjoy a movie or two. We landed early in the morning (Maui time). We were greeted by the wonderful, warm, and drizzly air of Hawaii. Keegan was excited and a great help, carrying his pirate suitcase and penguin backpack.

We immediately went to rent a car, well, a minivan. For as much as I despise them, it did come handy, with 5 people and lots of bags.

We stopped for a satisfying junk food meal: Keegan’s — and my parents’ — first McDonald’s fare. Of course he loved the nuggets, fries and shake.

Since it was too early to check, but it was also Keegan’s nap time, we had the brilliant idea to drive west passing for the rugged north shore (follow the link for a great article describing the trip). We knew it was twisted and narrow, but we would have never imagined it would become a 1 lane, 2 way of traffic road, over soaring cliffs, without any guard rail to protect you from the abyss.

In fact, as we discovered on our return, most rental companies forbids you from driving that road, and that there have been plenty casualties there. Well, nobody warned us, and the maps were not very useful. I did wonder why no sites or guide mentioned that route.

So, we started the grueling, and nerve wracking 2.5 hour drive. Matt was nothing short than AMAZING. Despite the less than 5 hours of sleep, and the long flight, he maneuvered that mammoth like a pro. This also meant he had to back up, TWICE, on a curvy, almost dirt road with no protection. I stared straight into the abyss, and it was not fun.

On the plus side, half of the road was two lanes, and Keegan slept the whole time.

The view was indeed incredible, and in retrospect, I am glad we got to see it. We only took one photo, as we did not dare stopping since we did not want to wake Keegan up.

So I grabbed some images from the aforementioned article, showing some of the views we passed on the way.

Seabird Sanctuary

Kahakuloa Head (see map)

Nakalele  Blow Hole: finally a two lanes road! (see map)

Honolua Bay (see map)

click on the map to see it full size

The funny thing is that we ruled out driving the Hana road to kill time because we thought we would have been too tired for it…and then we found ourselves on a much harder road.

We finally made it to the Condos, by 2pm, just as Keegan was waking up. We had to wait almost an hour, but fortunately we could sit in the beautiful outdoor lobby, and watch at the ocean or explore the resort-like grounds. We were all tired and cranky, especially, ironically, Keegan, who was the only one who got a two hour nap, and it was not easy to entertain him.

Finally, we were allowed into the apartment and all I can say is WOW!!! It was three bedroom three baths, but this does not even start describing it. Two of the bedrooms were master bedroom, with a huge tub+ shower bath, and all rooms had king size beds. The kitchen /living room/dining room was immense. There was even a washer and drier. The whole place must have been a 1,000 sq. Incredible!

the kitchen: can I have one like this at home? Please?

the non-master bedroom (or Keegan’s room)

The balcony was overlooking the courtyard and had a full ocean view. In fact, the main image on the resort’s site could have been taken from our room.

We rested a little, then we headed to the beach, which was steps from the hotel. We learned that this particular beach is actually a wonderful snorkeling spot: how convenient is that? It was drizzling, so we saw the first of many beautiful rainbows. (even some full double rainbows, man)

Finally Keegan was in a good mood, so he jumped in the water and played. He even checked out the pools. After a great dinner at the Hotel restaurant and grill, we all crashed out very early: there are three hours difference, after all. Of course, sleeping was a challenge for Keegan, our “born traveler”. He acted out and did not want to go to bed. Then he proceeded waking up at 3.30am (Maui time), and after an hour of attempts we gave in, and let him get up. We set him up with the DVD player and went back to sleep for another couple of hours.

When my mom woke up, Matt and I left and went grocery shopping and rented snorkel gear. We were finally ready for 5 days of fun at the beach! So we all headed out to the ocean. It was sunny and beautiful. We did some snorkeling: it is amazing how close the reef is!. Even Keegan tried his gear on.

Not that he would really try to actually snorkel, mind you, but hey, baby steps…It was amazing: I missed Hawaii. After the beach, we explored one of three swimming pools; Keegan’s favorite one was the largest one that featured 2 small grottoes with waterfall, and most importantly a water slide.

He was excited to be barely high enough to be able to use it. Even I tried and I have to say it was pretty fun.

on the lanai (balcony)

After lunch we all crashed, even Keegan (even if with some difficulties). He woke up cranky, and after a few minutes, he simply retreated to our bedroom and crashed out again. So cute.

We planned some fun activities for the next few days and reserved our spot for a zip-line tour. So exciting. I was surprised Matt wanted to do it, since he does not like heights as much, but he was excited too.

We went to the beach late, played and waited to watch an amazing sunset.

We had a mellow evening, and enjoyed the fresh night air from our lanai (balcony).

The night went better, and Keegan woke up at 6. We again set up the DVD player and we got a couple more hours of sleep. After a quick trip to the beach, we headed to Lahaina. It is a nice, tourist town (nothing to do with the rowdy Lahaina bar in Pacific Beach). Right in the middle of the town, there is Banyan Tree Park, named after the famous, huge tree.

Keegan’s picture of us

After a quick tour of the court house, we headed to the docks. We scheduled an hour on the Reefdancer Boat, a glass bottom boat that would take us to the reef.

On the way, we got to admire the coastal view.

Once we got to the reef, we could watch the fish, and divers were swimming by the windows showing different specimens: our favorite one was the octopus.

Matt and I even spotter a sting ray floating by. After the boat ride, we were starved and stopped by the closest restaurant, where Keegan had his fill on fries and chicken nuggets.

After a well deserved rest, Matt and I went off on our own to do some snorkeling at Black Rock. In retrospect we should have just walked from our hotel…when we finally made it, it was raining, but sunny, so we still got into the water. This weather actually gave us a wonderful rainbow, and it was great to come up to the surface and watch it arched over the mountains. We saw amazing fish, and a sea turtle.

That night, Matt and I had a date night, and we went for a romantic dinner in the same resort we stayed last time we were in Maui, before Keegan was conceived.

The next day was a beautiful sunny day, with no trace of rain. So we went to the beach first for some play in the sand.

Matt and I left around lunch time and went to our zip-line adventure. We chose the canyon zip-line, since it was the closest one and offered nice views of the coast. It had 8 different zip-lines.

getting ready for the first zip-line

ready, set, go

now is Matt’s turn

a couple of the zip-lines

After a few of the lines, we stopped to have lunch at a beautiful vista, where we could admire a 360 panorama.

It was really a fun adventure, and really not scary at all. I would definitely do it again next time I am in Hawaii.

When we got back, Keegan was still sleeping. When he got up, we  went to do some shopping with my parents and had dinner at the famous Hula Grill. The food was great and they even had hula show.

we had to buy at least one flower lay

a romantic shot…maybe not romantic but a cute one.

The next day, the last full day, it was a little cloudy, but this did not stopped us or Keegan. He brought some of his favorite toys with him, and he lined them all up ready to play.

Soon, another rainbow appeared and with it the sun.

We spent most if the day in the water. We started at the beach, and did some snorkeling right there. It was a great day: we saw lots of different fish, and turtles. Amazing. Then moved to the pools and tried a new one as well as one of the hot tubs.

After lunch, Matt and I went for another snorkeling adventure, at Holowalu, on Highway 30, Mile 14. The view was amazing: lots, and lots of fish, and I followed and swam with a couple of turtles. It felt like being inside a movie. The reef was really close to the surface, which made for great snorkeling, but that also meant we got stuck in a few inches of water. It was a little scary, especially because we got separated, but we were able to come back on shore. What a great spot for our last snorkeling adventure.

When we got back to the condo, there was still time to play on the beach with Keegan and my parents, and of course to take some postcard-like pictures.

Matt and Keegan did some amazing building

What a magical place: we will miss Maui.

We spent the evening packing, but we had more fun before we had to catch our flight. The next morning, we left around 9 and we took the easy road toward the airport. As always Keegan was full of energy and ready to go.

We stopped for pictures at a viewpoint on the way to Maalaea Bay.

Our destination was Maui Ocean Center. What a great aquarium! It was nice to get to see all the fish we looked at while snorkeling up close (and not foggy or blurry). I even got to take a picture of my favorite fish. This fish is very elusive, so it is convenient to get it in a tank.

We also saw a pretty cool octopus that was moving graciously around. fascinating.

We saw also plenty of other ref dwellers, but no Dori or Nemo: there are indigenous of Hawaii.

What? no Nemo or Dori? Well, at least they have Scar.

Keegan listened to an informative talk about sharks and we watched turtle feedings.

Another great feature of the aquarium was the tunnel tank: a tunnel is dug inside a huge tank containing all sort of sharks, rays and other fish. Contrary to the one at Seaworld, you can actually sit and watch them slowly swim by all around you. Magical.

Unfortunately, it was soon time to go. Even in Maui the airport experience is not a pleasant one. The computers were down, so it took even longer than usual, but we finally got on board. The flight went well. Keegan watched 3 whole movies…we were too exhausted to argue.

We arrived in San Diego in the evening, and I have to say that, at least on the way back, Keegan did not suffer the jet lag too much.

So it has been an incredible trip, and getting back to our normal life was not easy. But I know that the wonderful memories of Maui will accompany us for many months to come. We are deeply grateful to nonni for this great present and we did treasure every moment.  We really needed this vacation after the stressful months we had.

MAHALO!

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Well, this 2012 is really intense. It fells like we have not had a break since it started, which explains why, again, we are really behind on our blog. For archival purposes only, I will backdate these posts, even if it is really July.

My work has been really intense, since I had to create three brand new classes since January. Then my car broke down, for good, so, heartbroken, I had to spend two weeks looking for an immediate replacement: it is not easy to find a manual transmission car in California. I finally settled on a VW GTI, and so far I really like it.

As soon as I got my new car, Matt got sick, and we spent the following couple of months between doctors and exams. Fortunately everything is back to normal, and after a big scare, Matt is healthy (and very trim).

Right on the middle of all this craziness, my parents came to visit. We were very happy to see them as and they really helped us out a lot. As always we were glad we could have much time together and they spent a lot of time with Keegan, giving us a needed break, and also provided a much need distraction from our worries.

This time we all went to pick them up at the airport, and Keegan was soooo excited. They stayed at the apartment at the beach once again, so we had the chance to visit PB quite often. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating, with grey and gloomy days, but it did not matter. We still got the chance to spend time at the beach and play around.

looking down at the pool, on a gloomy afternoon.

Plus, in the few sunny days we had, Keegan had fun swimming in the apartment’s pool. He really showed off his swimming skills, resistance and underwater swimming skills.

He also did a few jumps, before we realized there were signs everywhere forbidding it. Ooops. Keegan was very worried a policeman would come and arrest him. I like his healthy fear of authority and respect for the rules. Hopefully this trait will not change when he reaches puberty.

Keegan warmed up to them immediately and he even started practicing his Italian, which I had a little neglected. Of course he got really spoiled with excellent food (well, we all did), lots and lots of undivided attention, and, needless to say, plenty of presents. It started with many books, mainly the written Italian version of his favorite movies and some new ones. Then he finally got the one present he has been dreaming of and asking about since December : the Batcave, which is basically a doll house for boys. He was very excited, since he did not expect it till his next birthday. And obviously, since he is 4, he really did not play with it all that much.

His favorite toy present turned out to be a Buzz Lightyear figure that could talk and open its wings. This was totally a spur-of-the-moment gift from Nonno, and what a hit it was.

A few days after their arrival, we got to celebrate my mom’s birthday, and an important one at that. I had a nice lunch with them at the beach, then they spent the afternoon with us and we celebrated with muffins and gifts.

nonna wearing the new earrings

looking at the Let’s Make Art creative inspiration book

Besides of course enjoying their company, i nonni always give us the wonderful gifts of time: so, even if they were still jet lagged, they had Keegan  over for a sleepover ( or so he likes to call it) at the apartment at the beach even a couple of days after they arrived. We had a classic date night with dinner and a movie. It was great to be able to sleep in the morning without any worries. We really missed it.

Of course, Keegan had a blast with nonni: he stayed up a little later, played and played, and even got to swim in the jacuzzi, since the gloomy weather made the pool too cold.

Up to this day he talks about his sleepover at the apartment.

The second weekend we had a whole 24 hours for ourselves: we started off with the Cirque Du Soleil latest show, TOTEM.

Even if it was a last minute thing we had excellent seats, and we were lucky enough that no one was sitting in front of us. As always the show was great, even if I still think that O is my favorite one.

Since we were in Del Mar, we went for a romantic, sunset walk along the coats and then a wonderful dinner. And once again, the luxury of uninterrupted sleep is priceless. Thank you nonni!

Priceless was also watching Keegan and his nonni play around and laugh so hard it would echo everywhere. Or listening to the creative stories they are always ready to create to entertain the little guy.

Or hearing familiar Disney stories in Italian.

iPad picture

Keegan taking a picture of his nonni and mom

During their stay, Keegan also had another treat: a Legoland field trip with his classmates: daddy took him since i had to work, and it looks like they had quite a good time.

One of the most remarkable things about this particular visit was the extraordinary gift they gave us all: 6 days in Maui! More on the next post.

After our wonderful trip, we got to enjoy my parents for a couple of more days in our house before they had to leave and go back to Milan. We were all sad to see them go, but we had wonderful memories to keep us company till the next time we see each other. Come back soon, we miss you!!!

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2010 is here and we want to wish you all a wonderful new year. May it be full of happiness and joy, and lots of fun.

Our 2010 started well. We rung in the new year with our friends Krista, Eric and Torin. By now, the 6 months gap between Torin and Keegan is really not very noticeable, especially because Torin is as tall and big as Keegan, so play dates are a lot more fun.

They arrived in the late afternoon, and we were actually able to stay up till midnight! It was Keegan’s first “night time”play date, and it went great. Again, the bouncie did come to the rescue, providing lots of entertainment for two very active little boys. Again, no much fighting, which was great: they even swapped their toy cars and played somewhat together.

bouncing with the cars

It was really interesting to see them play together: definitely a different kind of playing than when he is with one of his girlfriends. Nothing outrageous, but definitely more high energy.

no figthing, but lots of “parallel”play

We were even able to have a wonderful dinner all together: the kids sat through the whole meal, playing with each other, and making the most obnoxious and loud sounds they could come up with. It was hilarious.

They both had a later than usual bed time, but by 8.30 they were both crashed out, Torin in his pack-and-play, and Keegan in his room. So, it was adults time. It was really nice to kick back, chat and drink.  Television shows are lamer and lamer each year, but we did need an accurate countdown.

almost 2010 (proof we were in fact awake)

We were even able to see some fireworks, which were so loud that they woke Keegan up. So we cheered at the new year under a beautiful full moon, a blue moon at that, in the warm San Diego evening.

The first day of 2010 started exactly like the first day of 2009. I could have written the same text as I did last year:

Tizi and Matt started [2010] cuddling the little “monster” in the big bed and playing around: is there any better way to start a day? It is a rhetorical question, of course, but despite the sleep deprivation, it is awesome to get started listening to Keegan giggle. It makes it all worthwhile.

The only difference was that we were actually grateful of the 5.45am wake up, (more on a later post), after so many 4.30/5am wake ups. See how your perspective can change?

After an Tizi’s early morning nap, Keegan had a play-date with Jada. Our neighbor Sharon stopped by late morning, and again, the bouncie was the star. I tell you, it was money well spent. Besides some arguing about books, again all went well. Keegan is definitely a social boy, and loves to have friends over. He also tries to boss them around, to no avail.They had so much fun, Keegan went to sleep later than usual, and he was so tired, he DID NOT FUSS at all, and slept two full hours.

jumping is more fun with some milk

hamming it up in the bouncie

And with these, we promise, we will conclude our bouncie pictures series.  You would think we are getting paid to advertise it…are you listening Jump-o-lene?

The rest of a the long weekend was quiet: a walk to the juice store (Keegan’s new favorite), a bike ride on the bay, lots of playing with new toys, reading books, and riding around. We even got to go around the block with Jada and her big wheel. Keegan is doing well, but still getting the hang of pedaling and steering, so a ride around the block takes quite a long time.

check out my new wheels and my hot girl

The end of the weekend also meant, going back to work and daycare. All and all it has been a great vacation: Keegan has been really good, and we thoroughly enjoyed the time spent together. We are very grateful for our healthy, happy little guy. So, invigorated by these days off, we are going back to reality and to our normal life.

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Wow: the holidays came and went really fast. We had a great end of the year, even if we did not go anywhere…or maybe BECAUSE we did not go anywhere. After all, we did not have to fight the crowds at the airport, or face delays, extreme weather or enhanced security. And we could simply have fun in our beautiful, warm city. Keegan’s daycare closed on the 23rd of December till after the new year: good thing it was the same time I had off.

He had a great last day:  they organized a Secret Santa gift exchange, and he got a great firetruck, with lights and three different sounds from MacKenzie, together with some candies. He was excited and played with it non stop for the following days. We did a few last minute errands: post office, visiting the neighbors, checking out holidays displays…

Christmas eve was a flurry of activities, mainly more last minute errands for me: Matt had the day off, so we spent some time together as a family. We went to see the Christmas lights again, and after putting Keegan to bed, we got to work: I had Keegan’s gifts to wrap and Matt had a tricycle to build (plus wrapping Tizi’s gifts). We tuned in to the 24 Christmas Story Marathon and morphed into little elves.

ready, set, go!!!!

The hardest part was to decide what gifts to give him: I did not want to overwhelm him with too much stuff, especially since he still had lots of new toys to play with from his birthday. So we settled on the Little Talking Broom, two emergency vehicles (we saved the firetruck for later), the magnetic Let’s Build Book (to get him used to the idea of construction), the Tickle Monster Book Set, two books from Italy, (the alphabet book, and a puzzle book), and of course the tricycle.

Matt is almost done with the tricycle

I went to bed by midnight, and Matt did not make it to bed till 1.30…This is the life of procrastinating parents.

All the gifts, minus Tizi’s (still to be wrapped)

Keegan woke up bright and early, as usual, but he did not quite realized it was Christmas morning, so we got our usual cuddling time before dashing to the living room by 6.30am. It was so much fun: Keegan was so excited about the presents, and loved to open them and distribute them to us. He liked everything, and immediately started playing with the new toys.

Hopefully he will like sweeping long enough to b able to help us clean

It all happened so fast we did not have the time to take many pictures. By 7.30 it was all done….and Tizi went back to bed: a most welcome Christmas gift.When I woke up, Matt went to take a short nap, and I called my parents. Keegan wished them Merry Christmas and Buon Natale via Skype and we had our digital family get together. I cooked (!!!) breakfast, and we all had brunch together. After Keegan’s nap, we went to Mission Bay for a bike ride since it was a beautiful sunny afternoon. Again, we rode about 15 minutes, then Keegan wanted to play, i.e. run up and down the grassy hills,then we rode back. It was wonderful.

When we got back, we opened our stockings: Keegan did not get any sweets, since he does not really crave them yet, but we got an awesome bootie. He did get a couple of little play things, including a screaming monkey, a tambourine and his favorite Twinkle Twinkle Little Star book, that mom had to sing over, and over and over again.

We did not quite make it to have a big dinner together, so when Keegan was sleeping, we had our own adult dinner and crashed pretty early. What a great Christmas. My Christmas of course, was not over yet, as I still had to finish wrapping the gifts for Italy, and write the New Year cards, and ship everything…for the new year.

The calendar really helped out this year: because of Christmas being on a Friday, as well as January 1, Matt had two long weekends and we had plenty of time to spend together. We had a mellow weekend: we played with the new toys, we tested out the new wheels, and we played at different parks. Now he mainly likes to kick the ball or play in the sand, so it does not really matter where he is, so the Clairemont community parks will do.

first tricycle ride

The following days were heavily scheduled: mom was really worried that Keegan would get bored, driving the both of us crazy. As a first thing we got the bouncie back from storage: it has been  a big hit on Keegan’s birthday, so we figured it would have been entertaining him more on his days off. And we were right: he has been bouncing in that thing quite a bit, alone or with his buddies. Fortunately it fits in the sun room, so we don’t have to drag it in and out.

We started the week by visiting the New Children Museum. We had discounted tickets, and we spent a couple of hours there. Keegan had fun jumping on the inflatable horses, and playing around the Rain House and inside the Trojan horse. He was so tired he fell asleep in the car.

On Tuesday morning we met with MacKenzie at the park: he was so excited he squealed when he saw her. They played, and run, and climbed, and aside form one little meltdown and a couple of sand throwing episodes from both parts, they had a blast. Once again, he was so tired, he fell asleep in the car and slept 3 full hours. I finally got to ship my gifts: let’s hope they will arrive.

On Wednesday morning, Tizi got a belated Christmas gift: a morning off. Our wonderful sitter came over, so Tizi could enjoy some ME time. As an added bonus, Keegan did not cry at all when she left, so no guilt trip there. I went to the movies and checked out Up In The Air: i really liked it, and it was a great distraction. In the afternoon, my old college buddy Lidia stopped by: we have not seen each other in at least 4 years, so it was great to see her. Keegan got to do one of his favorite activities: grocery shopping! Matt got home early and met us at the store, so it was an easy trip.

And just like that, it was New Year’s Eve: Matt got home at lunch, and we spent the last few hours of the year getting ready for our play-date/ New Year’s Eve dinner.

2009 has been sometimes challenging, but definitely never boring: we are looking forward to a new year full of excitement and new adventures with our fiery little guy.

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

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

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

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

Keegan, meet Daisy

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

Grandma, are you sure about this petting thing?

well, I feel safer with mom

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

Hi there!

let’s play catch

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

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

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

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No real reason for this post: since we are quickly approaching Keegan’s first birthday, we just wanted to share some funny pictures of the little guy. We got a new car seat for Tizi’s car: after hours of researches, she was able to find a car seat that was: 1) safe 2) cool 3) and fit in her car. It is the same brand as the infant seat, the colors match the stroller (not that it matters) and the fabric feels very soft. The good news is that it can be use rear facing till 35 pounds, and it can recline while installed. It received many positive reviews from other parents (it is too new to be rated in the official books/magazines)It was not even that expensive…The bad news is that, since the seat stays in the car, daddy is getting a new car seat as well. He picked his: not quite as cool, but it gets great reviews, it is small, folds and it is supposed to fit in airplanes.

While Keegan seems excited about trying the new seat, mom and dad are not: lately, he mainly takes his naps in the car, and we easily move him in his car seat in and out of the car. With the convertible seat this is not possible: plus it doesn’t recline as much as the old one…so we will see. Notice how Keegan is sticking his tongue out as he is on his tippy-toes trying to reach the top: well, he learned from mom (who learned from Grandpa) that sticking your tongue out increases concentration and guarantees success. (-:

One of Keegan’s favorite things now is taking a bath. When we are walking to the bathroom is running over to the tub, and squeals in delight as soon as we turn the water on. he loves to splash with his fee, to play with his toys, especially the little squirters, and eat the foam and bubbles. He also enjoys standing up in the tub and reaching for stuff, so we need to be constantly on the lookout.  This particular day, he was having a crazy hair day, courtesy of dad.

Finally, since he is half Italian after all, he figured he should starting with some red wine: you are never to young to enjoy the health benefits of a glass of red wine, right? But, wait, what is he doing with Australian wine????

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…things are definitely different here. Some of the interesting differences I noticed, came in the baby food department. It is difficult to find ready made dinners in a jar, or veggies in a jar, but we have a full assortment of the most unusual stuff; any meat you can think of: rabbit, veal, beef, chicken, horse(!), ostrich(!!!!), ham, pork; you have to see to believe it, so I took some pictures. I am not sure what is more disturbing, the cute illustration of the animal (Mellin brand) or the pinkish chunks of meat in different sizes (Plasmon brand). I am sure the image needs no translation…

At least they do have quite a large assortment of fish,which is pretty much absent from most US stores. We could also find many cheese in a jar as well. And check out the cute pig illustration for ham!

While in Milan, we also had the chance to visit the official Chicco store: three stories of Chicco goodness. Pretty cool. We didn’t buy all that much, but it was fun to look.

one of the Chicco stores in Milano

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