tizimatt.info

I don’t care what they say…dry heat or not, 110+ degrees is H-O-T!!!!! We just got back from Phoenix, and of course we did not expect a cool weather, but did it have to be the hottest temperatures on record since the 1856? We had highs of 109 (43 Celsius) on Friday, 110 (43 Celsius) on Saturday and 113 (45 Celsius) on Sunday! And the lows were around mid 80s (28-30 Celsius). Crazy! It felt like walking in front of a gigantic blow drier.

So, why did we do something this crazy, leaving our perfect weather city to go in the desert in August? Well, Matt’s Corean Hight School had a 20 years reunion, and Matt thought it would be nice to see some of these people again. I was game too, because we have not left San Diego in about a year. And overall, I guess we had some good times: as far as I am concerned, it was nice to do something different.

We staid at the Arizona Grand Hotel, a beautiful resort hotel, which I am sure could be enjoyed more in a better season, with an older kid. (-:  However, it was really wonderful and for a fraction of high season price, I am sure. So, it was a little reminder of our past life BK (Before Keegan), and we enjoyed the luxury. The hotel has been through a major remodel, so everything looked new.

the lobby, overlooking the golf course

The trip, however, did not start well. We left on Friday afternoon, after a mad dash to get everything packed and ready, and after picking up Keegan at daycare. We were hoping that if he had his nap he would have been in a better mood….and he was till we got to the airport. It was crowded and packed, and he did not like that, nor he wanted to get inside the plane. We sat in the last row, hoping for free seat, but the flight was full. So, we were stuck with Keegan in our “lap”: he did not stay still 1 minute. The windows entertained him for a little while, but overall it was very difficult. The flight left late, so we got in late. We hit turbulence on the way down, and while Tizi was trying hard to keep control and not get sick, Keegan lost it and threw up…fortunately, we had a bag ready, so we did not get too soaked. Everything smelled bad, which is not ideal, if you already feeling nauseous. Since we left late, there was no gate available, so we had to wait another 15 minutes on the tarmac, with our wiggly worm.

When we finally got out, we had to get our car, located a good 15 minutes away, set up the car seat in 105 degrees, while Keegan, by now tired, hungry and cranky was whining. We left the airport after 7 and could not find the hotel….so we got there after 8pm. Keegan was still awake, but did not have any dinner, and we were trying to get into the room asap.

Being a resort, we had to get to the room with a golf cart, and of, course, as we get in the room…there is no crib. So we requested one. By now it is 8.20. After 15 minutes, we try to call, anyone, and after trying 4 different extensions, with no answer, we finally get the Crib service: a crib is on our way…in another 10 minutes. The crib turns out to be a Pack and Play kind of thing, and the housekeeping guy, can’t get it to stay open. So, off he goes for another crib. 15 more minutes, and he comes back with another Pack and Play he can’t set up. By now it is 9pm and Keegan is begging for sleep, holding his sheep and saying “Nanna, nanna”. This NEVER happened before.

So we set up the pull out couch, and tried to fill the gaps between mattress and frame as good as we can. By 9.15 he is finally in bed. Matt and I are sitting in the bathroom (we thought we got a suite, but we were wrong. I guess all suite hotel means that your room has a couch) not to wake him, eating cheerios and Nutrigrain bars and drinking beer, wondering what we were thinking: by now the reception was over (it started at 6) and we were so stressed that we felt it was an absolutely waste of time and money!!!! Fortunately, there was a bright light at the end of this tunnel. One of Matt’s friends tracked us down and called our room, so Matt could do some unwinding by the pool, catching up with old buddies.

I took a nice bubble bath, read the paper and promptly crashed by 11 in a wonderful, pillow top mattress. The relief was short lived: Keegan woke up at 2.50 , then 3.15, then 4.15, then 4.30 (at which point, Matt went to sleep with him) and then 5.30. We cuddled with him a little in bed, and rested and by 7am I was out the door with him to get some food and to let Matt sleep a little.

Amazingly enough, I felt a little better about the whole trip. The Hotel was beautiful,  with a 18 holes golf course and a Water Park reserved for Hotel’s guests. By the way, can you believe there are people crazy enough to play golf in 110 degree weather? That early in the morning, the weather is bearable, so we took a nice stroll around and went for breakfast: we were both really hungry. After breakfast, we went playing in a fun fountain. Keegan loved it…got all wrenched, but it did not matter. The photos are awful, but I forgot the camera, so I used my phone to capture the event. He was having so much fun.

We got back around 9, and then it was Matt’s turn. They got back quickly, because promptly fell asleep. During his 2 hours nap, we just relaxed and rested. I had the brilliant idea of getting coffees, so I could not sleep, but it was fun to have pillow talk and some rest, in the cool room.

After Keegan woke up, we went to have some brunch. I got to meet one of Matt’s friend and to enjoy some jummy food. After lunch, off to the water park. It was amazing, and even if we could not really enjoy it all that much, we had a good time. Tizi got to ride in the freefall slide: so much fun. I have not gone down one of those since I was 17. It was still AWESOME! Matt and Keegan watched from below. I went down the one that is partly covered.

More fun in the fountain for Keegan and mom: when you are wet, you really don’t feel that hot! Matt head off for his dinner at 6, after some playing and book reading. Keegan and I stayed in the room for more playing and some dinner. Going to bed was a little difficult. Keegan did not want to go to sleep, and when I finally convinced him, he was lifting up his head every few minutes to make sure I was still there.

After he finally got asleep, Tizi ate some room service and got asome wine. We had In Suite movies, so she got to see Shrink, which is still in theater, while munching on cobb salad and an incredible Creme Brule tart to die for. A real Tizi Night.

I still managed to go to sleep somewhat early, which is a good thing, even if the coffee did not make it easy for me to sleep: Keegan woke up again multiple times (12.30, 4.14, 4.30) and we ended up getting him in bed with us and we finally crushed for an hour, till 6.30. We went for a yummy breakfast, and off we went back to the water park, and this time played in the toddlers pool, so Keegan had fun splashing around. I took one more free fall slide down and went back packing. Keegan feel asleep as it was time to leave, so we had to wake him up. This did not help his mood.

The Phoenix airport experience sucked even more than the San Diego one. The friendly TSA people had to open EVERY bottle I had for Keegan, hold a strip on top of it, drop some liquid on it and wait to see if it changed colors. The sealed bottles were swabbed too. This is annoying enough when you have time, but when you are late, is dreadful. Of course the gate was at the opposite end of the airport, so here I am running, with Keegan in my arms, and my bags trying to make the flight…we did make it with 2 minutes to spare…I thought I was about to cough up a lung!. The trip was uneventful: we had an extra seat this time, and Keegan was as agitated as ever but we had more space now, and especially no delays and no turbulance. We were home by late afternoon. YEAH!

Keegan was so  tired he crashed at 6.45 and slept non-stop till 6am! Don’t worry, we have no illusions…in fact, today, he was back to his 5am wake up call.

So, all and all, while challenging,  we were glad we went. We did have good times, and Tizi did enjoy her alone movie time. However, we are not going anywhere for a long time…till the Italy trip that is. Tizi will leave with Keegan at the end of September. Honestly, I am not sure how I will survive the trip alone…Any suggestions, advice, prayers, vodoo, witchcraft is always appreciated.

This is hardly breaking news, but since we were talking about his progress as we approach his 20th month, we would be remiss if we did not mention that, no, not even at 20 months, we are getting a decent night sleep. 8 hours is still a mirage…and we are going to bed at 9.30mp!

After two miraculous weeks of 6/6.30 am, our ephemeral hope was destroyed when his wake up call crept up to 5.30 am. At least he was not waking up crying and he seemed quite awake and ready to go. It took us a few weeks to get adjusted (or better yet, resigned), and just as we accepted the fate we could not change, he stepped up the ante. New wake up time: 5 am. He also threw in a few 4.40am calls, but we drew the line. He is going back to bed, or at the very least, he is staying  in his room, like it or not, till 5.30 am or so. I would have never thought, in a million years, that 5.30 am would be a wake up time to hope for.

How is that for irony? Matt and I are both very late sleepers, and definitely NOT morning people. For years we have marveled at the fact that we were so well matched in our sleep patterns we did not mind “wasting” weekend mornings sleeping in. And, sure enough, we get a baby that NEVER liked to sleep, and always needed to sleep relatively few hours.

By the way, isn’t sleep deprivation considered a torture method, cruel and unusual punishment for prisoners???  (-: I guess at this point, we need to post a picture or two of the little guy in his cute moments, to remind us why we are doing all this and why it is all worth it. So there, isn’t he adorable?

Keegan in his big boy chair

Oh, my, those are big shoes to fill

So, here we are: tired, and in semi zombie state till the weekend, when we can at least catch a couple of extra hours of shut eyes, in turns. Nobody has an explanation. We do have a small theory: since after we get him from his crib, we take him in our room for milk, and books and cuddles (so we can at least stay in horizontal position for a little longer), he may like this so much he wakes himself up to start the fun earlier. Well, we will not give up. After we come back from our trip to Phoenix (yes, desert in August: we are crazy this way), we will try some other plan…suggestions are always welcomed! And yes, we have tried to move his bedtime to later, with no results. Wish us luck!

As we are approaching Keegan’s 20th month, we have noticed a real increase on his ability, and desire, to communicate. While he will not win any record for number of words or clarity, he has really increased his verbal, vocal and sign vocabulary.

He is also imitating sounds and words a lot better now…so we are really in trouble now. I am expecting cuss words to pop up from his mouth any day.

Before listing all his words, noises and sounds, we thought to give you some eye candy, and post some pics. We also need to issue a warning. Probably this long post will bore most if you to tears, so after the pictures, feel free to skip it. Seriously, no guilt: we imagine that maybe Tizi’s parents will be interested in details about his talking ability, but is hard to phantom that anybody else will.

Keegan has been a lot more social, (YEAH) so it is more fun to take him to visit friends. Here is at Barbara’s house, playing with Stella (about 6 months older) and Roberto (about a year younger). He was excited about the pool and the swing that hung from a tree, and he had his first taste of the Savoiardi cookies: you know, the ones that go inside a Tiramisu. he was dressed in italian clothes for the occasion.

check me out, in my Armani clothes (grandma’s gift)


with mama…but I really want to get in the pool

Barbara with Stella and Roberto (and Maunel, studying in the background)

Keegan’s fake smile, playing with his blocks

So here is the list. The words with an asterisk are pronounced basically correctly. The other ones, with pronunciation in parenthesis, can be understood only by mom and dad, without a Keegan-English Dictionary. Also, much to Tizi’s dismay, most of the words are in English. However, he still understands both languages well, so we have hope.

Words

* Mamma (repeated at least a couple of hundred times a day…we will count it one of this day. One weekend we counted 65 times between 5.30am and 9am)
baba/papa (papa’)
* pappa (food)
* bye
* hi
* mine (it actually uses this also for saying By Myself)
* no (with and without the wagging finger)
* yeah
* cacca (poop)
* cracker
* bubbles
* nanna (sleepie time)
* go
* eye
* hat
* uova (eggs)
* giu'(down)
* nonno (grandpa)
* nonna (grandma)
* cheese
juice (juuus)
pool (pooo)
broom (broo)
banana (nana)
book (bo)
coccodrillo (coco) Crocodile
coccole (cocrle or something like that) Cuddles
baby/Keegan (tada)
ball (ba/pa)
outside/inside (tide)
help (helpup) with accompanying sign
potatoe (tata, from patata)
Hannah (nna)
Ms. Isela, his daycare teacher (ella)

and as of today…please (peas)

It is funny to notice that he pronounce nonno and nonna differently, even if they are the same word, with different ending vowel. Nonno is pronounced with a close O, almost like gnonno, while nonna is pronounced correctly. It is also funny to notice that when he learns a new word, he repeats it continuosly, regardless if he means it or not. So, nowadays is a constant: “cacca” (regardless if he has a dirty diaper),”nonno, nonna, giu’, uova”.

Whatever he can’t name, he use the pointing and the “eh” grunt, which is frustrating for all involved, especially because his pointing skills needs to be refined. However, he also makes quite a few noises, in imitation (and I am not taking about body noises).

Noises:
cow
pig
monkey
snake
bee
cat
dog
lion
walrus
fish
train
cold
dirty (basically a raspberry with his hand on his mouth)
uh-oh
wow
gnam (for something jummy)
heartbeat (pa-pam, while hitting his chest)

And he also uses signs, some from the ASL (or at least his interpretation of it), some he or we made up;

Signs:
milk (closing and opening his hand as if milking a cow)
more (one hand against the other. Always used with words)
finished (shaking hands in the air)
bye (waving)
airplane (hand in the air)
tarzan (banging his chest)
driving (pretends to steer a steering wheel)
tree/tall (hands up)
cold (bringing his fists on his chest with bend arms and shaking them saying BRRR)
help (moving up his fist on a flat palm. Always used with words)
please (rubbing his chest with almost a rotation)
thank you (moving his hand from his mouth outwards)
i don’t know (like an adult would do it: hands on his side, perplexed face)

So, here you have it, give or take a few: our talkative little guy. Of course we didn’t include his own language, which we don’t understand ourselves. What would words like “beechiebah” or “mamore” mean?? We wonder if the other babies understand it.

Independence day! 3 day weekend! This year  the holiday fell on a Saturday, so we all had Friday off. It is so much nicer to have Friday off instead of Monday: you enjoy it so much more as it comes at the end of the work week. In Tizi’s case, it was also the end of her class and the beginning of her summer break (1 week). So, party on! Well, at least party as parents of a 19 months old can.

The weather has been beautiful and warm, and on Saturday, after our traditional “sleep catch up ritual”, we went to Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve: it is a beautiful collection of mostly short hikes overlooking the ocean in La Jolla. We explored the visitor center first, where we could see many stuffed animals. Keegan was particularly fascinated by a giant crab. Then we headed down a pretty easy trail, and Keegan wanted to walk almost the whole way down. A born hiker! Matt was very proud.

Of course on the way back uphill, he did not mind to get a ride on the backpack, but who can blame him?

Lost in meaningful thoughts while staring at the Ocean

Keegan even got to see a real train in the distance, the Coaster, and it has been repeating “choo-choo” since then. It is amazing how he hears trains even far in the distance now.

In the evening, once Keegan  went to bed, Tizi and Matt had a nice romantic evening and dusted off the projector to see Benjamin Button. We forgot how nice it is to see movies on a “big scream”…which of course reminded us that maybe we should hang the real screen we bought months ago…but this is another story.

On Saturday, 4th of July, we decided to avoid the crowds and we kicked back at home. Plenty to do here. Keegan discovered the flashlight, and had a blast projecting light everywhere, on the ouch, himself, the ceiling, and trying to chase it around.

He is now getting more and more excited about the computer. He is dragging the chair over from the kitchen, so he can reach it, and loves to play with the mouse. He has actually already mastered the click and drag, and the double clicking. This can actually be dangerous: on Saturday, as he was playing around and practicing his mouse skills, he managed to dial ALL my Skype contacts. Fortunately, since most of them are in Italy, only one of them was actually connected at the time, so I have found myself in an unexpected Skype conversation.We have all heard of Drunk Calling: I guess we could call this Kid Calling. Accident or not, it was nice to chat and catch up.

yes, he is right handed and yes he is using a MAC

In the afternoon, we filled the baby pool and the water table and splashed around. Then we set up the grill for some yummy dinner. The stores are obviously open to my surprise, so we were able to get some fresh meat…but we forgot the propane. So we ended p using the camping grill…oh well, everything still tasted delicious.

4th of July’s spread!

Of course Keegan did not even want to try the burger or salad, and was quite happy with his rice and pasta. He was definitely more enthralled with the holiday spinner than the food. And he did enjoy the dining “al fresco”. He can now say “pap-pa” together with the food sign when he is hungry. And he can definitely distinguish between papa’ and pappa, and he pronounces them correctly.

We put him to bed at 8pm: we have tried to see if moving his bedtime of half an hour would give us half an hour more sleep in the morning. After trying for a full week, I can say the experiment failed. He still wakes up at 5.30, regardless. Even when he wakes up super early, around 4.30, and we got him to go back to sleep, 5.30 is still his wake up call. We even thought we may have forgotten an alarm set in his room…no,this is just our little cricket. So, we will move his bedtime back to 7.30, so he can get more sleep, and we have a little more time for ourselves.

No fireworks this year: the trees are blocking the Seaworld’s show, but we could hear it. This was not too big of a deal: we will go see them next year. Besides, Tizi started feeling pretty sick, so she went to bed early anyway.

Sunday was another fun day: we went to Balboa Park to check out the Koi fish, the Green house and play in the grass.And more fun and games back home.

It turns out Tizi had a bad flu coming: fever arrived on Sunday and she did not really feel any better till Thursday. We are talking about sore throat, fever, achiness, headache…the whole deal. Nice way to spend a week off! Of course, she was not able to tackle half of the items in her to do list, but at least now she had something to blame. And, no it was just a nasty, regular flue, and not swine flue: after spending all morning at the UCSD urgent care center, and getting two huge swabs shoved up my nostril till i cough and my eyes teared up, (I am for the brain the nurse said, jokingly?) she know that for a fact. So, what was the doctor’s advice? Ride it out, and take three prescription-strength ibuprofen a day for the pain. Well, now that it is time to go back to work, I feel good again. I guess it was better I did not have to drag myself  to work, but still…

Anyway, we still managed to have a great holiday weekend and we were grateful for the extra day we got to spend together.

…or at least this is what the calendar says. As you may know, early Summer in San Diego is not the best season. The weather is very unpredictable, and we endure May Gray and June Gloom, or endless gray skies. This year, it has been particular relentless, with the sun peeking out late afternoon, if ever, and we even had a thunderstorm! But hey, we are still living in Paradise, and we are not sweltering. Plus the weather did not stopped us and we had a lot of outdoor fun anyway.  We took advantage of every sunny day and more.

We took Keegan back to SeaWorld: while it was not the right day for playing in the water, we had a blast in the toddler play area, climbing and crawling and running around. We went with our friend Jennifer, her husband Dave and Hannah: poor Matt was stuck at work.

I am the king of the world

peek- a-boo!!!

We checked out the tide pools again, and we even dared to take him to the Shamu show. Tizi was a little nervous, but it went great. of course, while Hannah watched the show intently, sitting quietly on her daddy’s lap, Keegan would not stay still a second. He was on my lap, then he wanted down, then the wanted to sit next to me, then back on my lap, then down, then he started banging on the metal backrest in front, and then back on my lap. He did love the show: he was clapping with everyone else and doing the Shamu sign the trainer was encouraging us to do, and of course dancing to the music and squealing in delight. He was a show all in itself.

Jennifer, Dave and Hannah

SHAMU!!!

And he quickly learned the name Shamu: he has a little rubber killer whale he plays with in his water table, and he recognizes it as Shamu. The water table has been a success…not only with Keegan, but also with the neighborhood bees: they would not leave it alone, landing on it, drinking the water, and being the pest they are. Of course Tizi must muster all her courage (she does not like bees at all) and try to shoo them away…in vane. However, when the coast is clear Keegan manages to get completely wet, head to toe. Well, the fact he is trying to climb IN IT, is not helping.

I am having so much fun, I don’t mind having a hat on

Sometimes we simply strip him down to his diaper, while we were getting warm, dry clothes. Now  you can understand why we try to put him in onesies all the time: as soon as that barrier is removed, here go his hands: pulling up[ his shirt, and then first stop: the belly bottom, an endless fascination. Then the hands  move south, to an even more enduring fascination…in fact, he likes his private parts so much, then when we put his diaper on, he says goodbye to them.

He actually has been much more social in the past couple of weeks. He still takes his time observing what is going on before jumping in, but  he has been a lot better. he even started playing right away, no matter how many kids were around, when I took him to a friend’s daycare party. Amazing. On Friday, we went to visit Jennifer and Hannah, and Lena and Mila were there for a fun backyard party. We had the baby pool, and the cool slides, and of course building block, that he is really really liking as of late. He had fun in the water, and even tried some chips and salsa. He liked it, even if he was a little surprise by the spicy taste.

 learning how to share

check out the hottie in the pool with me. I can’t believe it!

He also enjoyed playing with their cool dog, the most  mellow dog I have ever seen. She was just lying there, waiting to be rubbed. Keegan realized that, and was all over her. He was keep on saying “cracle” (coccole or cuddles) and out his head on her back and pet her. Too cute.

In other news, he has been eating more and more with utensils: he is even managing a fork, most of the of the times, as long it is not one of those toddlers one. whoever invented those, never had to use them with a toddler. They are so dull, they don’t pick anything up. We use plastic forks…and he is loving it. Check out his fake smile. We even dared giving him a ceramic place

In other news, Tiz and Matt celebrated their 7th anniversary (wedding number one). We had just had a night out a few days earlier to see the Offspring concert, so we didn’t want to get a sitter again,so we had a nice romantic evening at home. We got some yummy pick up food (outback steakhouse, we opened the awesome wine that Cinzia brought us for Christmas, and spent some time with each other. It was a nice time…and no trace of the 7 year itch yet. (-:

Matt’s second father’s day was nice and mellow. Keegan and I tried to let him know how much we love him. Matt got a nice card with his handprints and a cute picture of keegan sticking out his tongue. Unfortunately, Keegan did not give him the same gift he gave mom on her day, and woke up bright and early around 5.30 both days. Well, by now we pretty much resigned ourselves that he is an early riser, and there is nothing we can do. Well, we still hold on some glimmer of hope that one day he will start to sleep till 6.30, but at this point is not looking likely.

We have developed somewhat of a ritual, so we get a little more rest. We pick him up and bring him to bed with us: he is drinking his milk, and we  rest a few more minutes. Then we read books in bed, or he plays with some of his toys. One of his favorite is the floating boat with the building blocks that the grandparents bought him. He especially like building really tall towers, and then smashed them down them down.

look how tall this is!

After about an hour of stalling he is usually ready to have breakfast and play with all his toys, so one of us get up, while the other sleep, and then we switch. Yes, the whole morning is gone this way, but at least we catch up a little with our sleep.

Father’s day weekend was not different. On Saturday, Matt actually got some ME time while Tizi entertained the little guy. We went to Costco, which he really likes, and we went for a nice long walk, and of course we played in the yard. At night, since Tizi can’t really cook, Matt had sushi night, with a nice glass of wine. On Sunday, the sun came out, so we had lots of fun in the pool. Keegan enjoys the water, but he like even better sitting on the pool lounger.

I am styling!

And he is such a great helper, that he gave daddy a hand cleaning up the pool afterwards…check out his towel/cape!

Of course we did some story time, one of Keegan’s favorite activities: he now loves to go through the First Words book  and point out all the things he knows, while looking around the house for the corresponding object. If he does not the word, he simply associates the object to one of us: for example, a convertible and the telephone are “mamma”, and the pick up truck and the broom are “papa”. It is pretty funny, and it is great to see how much he learns.

All and all, it was a quiet, but fun weekend, with my two favorite men. Matt is a wonderful father, and he is the person that can make Keegan laugh the loudest:he always comes up with some kind of game for him. and it makes me happy to see the bond the two of them share. They will soon do guys only stuff and leave mama behind (wishful thinking?) We started them off by taking him to Home Depot, the manliest place of all…well Tizi likes it too, but still. Check him out looking at brushes like a pro.

It is wonderful to see them together. I am fortunate to have such a great partner to share the joys of parenthood with.

We just wanted to write a post just to give all of you that haven’t seen Keegan in a while a little glimpse of his life right now. Maybe it is just an excuse for posting some cute pictures.

As we mentioned in previous posts, he has started developing quite a personality. He is still very smiley, and most of all is SO excited about life. He seems to have inherited “the loudness factor” from mom: he will let you…and the whole neighborhood know if he is excited (or upset). There is nothing better than watching him screech in delight, while doing his goofy happy dance (unfortunately it is impossible to describe…we will try to get it on video). His whole face light up, and his huge grin almost shows all of his 10 teeth.

He is also very “determined”: he thinks he knows what he wants, and there is no way to convince him otherwise. This is why we have given up, for now, to make him nap at home on the weekends. Mr Keegan has NO problems napping at daycare. In fact he requires no help whatsoever, except a small back rub. At home, however, it is a totally different story: we tried everything, from rocking him, to laying down with him in a big bed, to letting him cry: and our “determined” little one proceeded to cry for 2.5 hours, with no sleep. So now, with our doctor blessing, we are either let him nap in the car or in the stroller. Both of those methods, usually, got him to sleep withing minutes and for a nice solid couple hours. So, yeah, we are “bad parents”, but hey, he needs sleep and we are exhausted: remember, he wakes up most day between 5 and 5.30 am…

Mr social butterfly, the little baby that would smile at everyone and let anyone hold him, also managed to turn into a shy little boy. he is still very interested in everything that is going on, but he usually rather watch from the sidelines for a while before joining in. And we are talking about ANY situation, including daycare. Every single morning, he plays the shy guy when we drop him off, even if he knows the place very well. In fact he is really excited about being there. He is running happily in the building till he gets to his room, and shy guy appears. When other kids or adults are around, he needs some mommie’s, mainly, contact to feel OK. Again, this is pretty normal for toddlers, even if not everyone goes thought separation anxiety quite as much.

Of course we are trying to arrange as much social occasion as possible…so mom can also have a better social  life. We like to go play to the Mission bay playground, and sometimes a little friend from daycare, MacKenzie, joins us there. Keegan is usually very excited about it:he is showing off and prancing around to impress her. They like to slide together.

Last week, we went also to a fun 1 year birthday party. Our friends Krista and Eric’s little guy. It was a lot of fun. We even managed to have a little adult party first, because most kids were napping: Torin in his crib, and Keegan in the car down the street with dad. Keegan pulled the shy/mommie cards but after about an hour was OK: I bet it was the delicious, homemade chocolate/nutella ice cream sandwiches.

Torin enjoying his birthday cake

When he felt comfortable, he was all over, playing with the birthday boy- he was the only other boy after all– and all his toys and climbing on the slide.

 Dude, show some respect: kiss the hand if you want to play with my slide

The highlight of this playtime? The jacuzzi dance. Guess who initiated it? Little detail: their jacuzzi is not in ground like ours, but it didn’t matter. We had both kids dancing, and jumping on the cover like mad men. It was fun though, and no accidents were reported.

Even after all this excitment, keegan still had energy to spare, and he decided to runup and down the driveway a few time. Who needs toys, when you have an uphill driveway?

Some of his favorite games/toys right now (beside dancing and sweeping on the jacuzzi cover):

• chasing and being chased
• songs and music
• sand
• pushing and dragging noisy toys
• his busy ball popper
• books!
• blocks and shape sorters
• throwing ANYTHING
• balls, small and big

• loud noises
• ringing the doorbell (and pushing any button)
• splashing water

He has started enjoying stuffed animals too, the softer the better: he likes to rub their soft fur on his face.

the teddy bear that grandma brought him when he was born

So, while on some days we feel like the “terrible twos” have started already, overall we are very excited about this chapter in our little guy’s life and we are enjoying watching him change and develop in front of our eyes.

We made it to the year and half mark. It is hard to believe…especially because we are still dealing with sleeping and eating issues. Shouldn’t we be over that by now…at least the sleeping part? (-: We must have upset the sleep gods (big friends of the water gods that are already NOT on our side).

Anyway, the big day, actually the whole “birthday” week, did not start in the best day. Keegan was very cranky, waking up super early, before 5am, and just not happy. On Tuesday he was particularly fussy: so much so we actually circled the FUSSY option in his daily daycare sheet. And sure enough, just after 8 we got a call to come and get him, as he had a fever. Matt is sure they called usall because we wrote fussy…I did see how they measure the temperature and it definitely not precise. In either case, he was miserable. We think it was teething since he was drooling quite a bit, but no new tooth emerged. Matt got him, and then Tizi came home at around 10.30. Keegan got a quick nap on daddy’s lap and he felt better. Fortunately we had a check up that afternoon, so with a signed doctor note, we were able to get him back to daycare the next day. And honestly, he was fine, even if he kept on waking up early, so he was more tired than usual. He did even got a small present: the Busy Ball activity center, now one of his favorite toys. We actually bought it a few months ago, but forgot to get batteries for it…ooops.

check out the drool spots

The check up went well. We didn’t wait quite as much, even if Keegan was more cranky as I had to wake him up from his car nap. The doctor found him well. He did not gain much in weight, so he is down to the 15% but he is still 50% for height and 25% for his head circumference. The magic numbers are:

23.3 lb (10.5 kg) in weight and 32in (81cm) in height. He is right on schedule with anything he is supposed to be doing right now, so we are happy.

Some of his milestones:

• he stacks tall towers of cubes, even if he still enjoys more knocking them down
• he feeds himself with spoon and forks (sometimes)
• he drinks from a straw, but he does not like it much. He prefers to drink from a real grown-up glass, and he is really good at it: almost no spills. He likes orange juice quite a bit.

• he points to most body parts: he is learning knees, neck, tight and ankles right now
• he imitates us, even noises. He tries to feed us.
• he is more vocal: he added “tate”(potatoes or patate in Italian) , “cocco”(coccodrillo or crocodile for his wooden dancing croc), “cacra” (coccole or cuddles), “tai(d)” (outside), “my” for mine (a words he uses more and more),”papup” (help up) accompanied by the help sign, and the sound for heart, “gackle” (coccole or cuddles),”pap pap”, while hitting his chest. He also uses a variety of sounds to make himself understood.
• he is trying to communicate more: besides the help sign, in the past couple of days he has been doing the I Love You sign, especially after one of us makes it first. He may not fully understands its meaning, but he definitely do it with intent. Sometimes he even blow a kiss afterwards

I love you mommie

I love you too daddy (check out the Cheerios’s explosion!)

• he lets us know clearly when he is bored with a place by saying Bye Bye and waving repeatedly
• he blew his first bubbles: the wind helped but he still blew them all by himself
• he takes toys apart and puts them back together, and puts lids on and off containers
• he “brushes” his teeth. He still will not let us brush them, but he likes to try to do it when mom is doing it. He must look at himself on the mirror, though
• he “dances” to music or when asked
• he likes to help. He enjoys helping mom to put on sunscreen, and sweeping outside…from the jacuzzi cover

should I do the floor too?

• surprising enough, he says Yeah much more often than no. In fact he never really said no, he just shakes his head. Unfortunately, he does not always mean it when he says yes, but he ALWAYS mean it when he says no. He looks like Tizi when she first learned English: there was a lot of smiling and saying yes even if she did not have the foggiest idea of what other people were saying
• he kicks balls around more
• he points to objects when we name them and makes connections between a photo in a book and the corresponding object in the house: such as the picture of a monkey and his stuffed monkey
• he dumps objects in containers, including throwing things in the garbage
• he follows two-steps requests…and he is usually putting his toys away when asked (or pick the food he is still throwing on the floor)
• he opens more doors

less fun milestones:

• he has temper tantrums when frustrated, which unfortunately happens quite often.

an expression we have become quite acquainted with lately

• he is still going through a big separation/stranger anxiety phase…
• he is very shy in social situations, even if if they are not totally unfamiliar to him. Other kids or other people in general intimidate him. He seems to be better with older girls (4+) but otherwise, he likes to stand and watch from a distance…for quite a while before approaching the situation
• he is definitely a toddler when it comes to food: picky and finicky…which explains his little weight gain. He enjoys playing more than eating

We also finally took him to see a dentist: I know some of you may think: what? he has 10 teeth! ( and we thought that too: in fact we did not add him to our dental insurance). However, after being reprimanded twice by our doctor because we had not taken him to see a dentist yet, we caved in. I have to say that the experience was less painful, for mom of course, than expected. The office is small, stocked with cool toys, and we DID NOT WAIT at all. The doctor was nice and quite gentle, and even if Keegan cried, he was pretty still and opening his mouth, contrary to some of his best exorcist interpretations that he reserved to his regular check up: screaming, thrashing from side to side, requiring 3 adults to get to see inside his mouth… It seems that everything is OK, no cavities, and nothing to worry about for now.He has a little bit of an overbite right now, but with so few teeth is hard to tell. I guess we are due in 6 months again…

So, overall Keegan is a normal toddler: it is amazing to see how strong his personality is already…We enjoy watching him become more and more his own person every day.

here he is: our super cute (if we can say so ourselves) toddler

It is supposed to be almost summer, according to the calendar, but of course, being San Diego, we have been living with grey skies since May. May gray and June Gloom are definitely not just an expression. Anyway, we still had the chance to go outside and play around with our little guy, enjoying the sun, when it breaks through in the afternoon.

Lots of water fun. Keegan is fascinated by all sort of water. However, being the cautious little guy he is, he is also timid and somewhat reserving his judgment, most of the times. We have been exposing him to all sort of water activity in the past month of so. Of course there was the swim lessons: he did not learn much, but definitely enjoyed himself, and gain a new admiration for the Hokie Pokie Song, that we sang at the end of each class. See, he is already a real Hokie! Go Virginia Tech.

He had is first visit to SeaWorld as well. It was a quick stop, but we bought a Fun Card, so we can come back anytime for free.

The now have a great toddler area we did not have the chance to check out. We did spend most time in the tide pools: he loved dipping his hands in the water, and touch the cool starfish. Can you tell someone was having fun? We took him also to see the sharks, the turtles and the penguins, but nothing could beat the star fish.

We went back to the  beach as well, and this time we tried to re-introduce him to the ocean, after his traumatic first encounter last year: well, he did not go that much better this time. Not huge waves, but the water was freezing cold, and he (and mommie alike) did not like that a bit. He had a lot of fun playing on the shore and jumping on the pools of water there, but the waves did not fascinated him at all.

He still loves loves loves the sand, though. He makes castles, with some help, and knock them down and he enjoys getting his feet buried under the sand. Once home, one more water experience: the shower. He has watched daddies many times and he was curious about it, so we gave it a try. He was enthralled: I would not say excited but curios. He liked placing his hand under the shower head and getting wet. Not too thrilled about water in his ears, but he thought it was fun to be in there. We should also mention that he has been quite fascinated by how mommie and daddie look different from each other when naked. He finds that hilarious.

Last weekend it was finally mostly a sunny day, so our brand new solar system could actually warm up the pool to a nice 88 degrees. So it was pool time for all of us. Again Keegan was more excited about dipping his hands in it that actually playing in the pool, but it is his first try: we have learned already he needs some time to “absorb” new experiences, and we have the whole summer. We bought new water toys and we will be practicing some of the lessons learned at the swim classes…assuming the weather cooperates.

What do you mean I have to wait? I am all dressed and ready to go.

let me in, let me in, let me in

this floater is kind of fun…

but you can’t beat being in mommie’s arms

We have one more water surprise in store: we got Keegan a small water table to splash around. Judging from how much he loved splashing in the fountains in Balboa Park we think he will like it. And talking about Balboa park, he loved watching the Koi fish in the pond with daddy.

May 10: Tizi’s second Mother’s day. It was a great one…at this point mainly thanks to Matt, but still.The extended weekend started out with Keegan waking up at 6.30(!!) without crying (!!!!!!!!) on Friday. Which meant we had 9 hours of sleep. It felt nice!

It also happened to be Teacher Appreciation Week, so they had a nice lunch prepared for us at work after class. Later in the afternoon, there was a Mother Day Tea event at Keegan’s daycare. Since it was at 3.30, Tizi got an extra hour for herself, which is a gift in itself.

The tea was a cute event, but maybe geared more towards older kids: they had tables set up outside, where mom and their children could have muffins, cookies, teas and juice and the kids could run around, and play with bubbles. However, Keegan did not really want to have anything to do with it: maybe there were too many older kids for him, and he is definitely not the kind of kid that likes to sit down. So, we ended up visiting next door with his old teacher and in his old room (and toys) with one of his buddies that only recently moved into his bigger kids room. It was a lot quieter, and Keegan loved playing with his old pal Eric (who should be moving to his room in June) and running around. Tizi enjoyed quiet conversation with the other mom and the teacher.

Keegan “made” a nice big card, with foamy stickers and his hand-prints. Very cute. The challenge was keeping him from pulling all the stickers off and eating them. Anf of course, trying to get him to pose and smile for the camera…not quite as easy as last year.

On Saturday, Tizi met with two other mom friends, Jennifer and Lina, and their little girls, Hannah and Mila. It was really fun to see them, especially because it has been a little while. The kids played on the playground, not exactly together, but still, and the moms chatted and got all caught up.

The three musketeers
 

And check out what a difference a few months make! These two pictures collaged by Lina (thank you) are taken about six months apart. They all grew so much.

Yummy pasta lunch! |

One thing we have noticed latley, is that Keegan enjoys feeding other people. We could  see it as he likes to share, but we are not that deluded. He is not that generous. In fact he has started defining what it is his by using the word “ma”. However, he gives away his food when he does not want it himself.  So, he insisted in giving Hannah his apple: maybe he was trying to impress her. And he was quite insistent.

HEY, look at me cutie! Do you want some apple?

Here you go!

Sunday was a really good day. Keegan woke up around 6, again with no crying. After the standard cuddles and reading in bed, Matt took him outside, so Tizi could get a couple more hours of sleep. Once she woke up, she of course called her mom (and dad) and we had a good Skype conversation. It was the first time we video called since they left and Keegan was excited and confused at the same time. He has been talking with grandma on the phone in the past couple of months…seriously: she sings to him or talks and he responds to her, either by repeating some animal sounds, or sending kisses or even mimicking some song. It is very cute to see. Skype, however, was different. He recognized them, and waved at them and smiled, but he still could not understand why he could not touch them.

Matt started cooking and Keegan went in the driveway and grabbed mommie’s newspaper and brought it to her.

Isn’t this pampering or what? Yes, he now recognizes our “stuff”, and he identifies it by saying mamma or baba. He has also become quite the helper. He now imitates a lot of what we do: this is the only way we get some minimal teeth brushing, for example.  In the morning, after his milk, when Tizi and Matt are getting ready, we all brush our teeth together.

Matt prepared his excellent breakfast, so we all ate together. Keegan was falling asleep in his chair, so we thought we had a shoo-in. Alas, no way. As soon as we got in the room, he started crying and screaming, and nothing soothed him, except us holding him and rocking him. So back to the car we went. We should have known better, and go straight to the car.

We drove to pick up an inflatable house with lots of balls (another Craigslist find), and then drove to sunset Cliff to park: at least we had a nice view. We brought a game to entertain us.

He woke up pretty soon, so off the zoo we went. This time we brought the backpack instead of the stroller, and I have to say he enjoyed more than usual. He was in there for more than an hour, without fussing. It was fun to see the animals from up there for once.

Back home Tizi and Keegan had some yummy strawberry cheesecake ice cream, with graham cracker. What do you think, did  Keegan like ice cream? This is a toughie!  He was a little surprised at first by the cold stuff, but then he could not have enough. So he got his own bowl. We don’t usually give him sweets, but it was Mother’s Day and Tizi really wanted to eat some ice cream in peace…which is not possible with Keegan around, as he begs for food (wahoo, he is fetching the paper, begging for food, whining for attention…do you see a pattern here? Hey, is Mother’s Day, so I can be mean if I want to. Come on, now, we do LOVE our little puppy…I mean little boy).

Then is was Ball Time! We poured some balls in the baby pool and let him go wild. He had a blast, and didn’t even throw them all out right a way.

And when he was done, he helped us putting them away, and he brought them inside. I am telling you, he is really helping. We even get him to help us bring his toys inside at bedtime!

Lately we have also noticed that Keegan is trying to communicate and talk a lot more. We started introducing more signs, but he also tries to repeat words. He even tried to say  “coccodrillo”(with limited success, but hey, it is a tough one). He says “bro” for book (libro), “ma” for mine (we think), and he says his second full word: “cackers”(for crackers). It is funny that when he is learning a word he repeats as a question, as if it was not sure it is the right word. He has also started saying “Baaa” and waving for BYE or ciao…It looks like , while he is understanding Italian slightly better, his words are mainly in English. We think because it is a little easier, but we are still hopeful he will speak both fluently.

One more big event on Mother’s day: we trimmed his hair for the first time. It was somewhat emotional…he has been bold for so long, that it feels weird to thing he now needs a haircut. Tizi was not too excited about this, but it needed to be done: they were down in his eyes. He did not like this much, but it was quick. It is amazing how a small trim make him look so different. Even the teacher at daycare noticed and mentioned he looks so much older. I don’t know about older, but definitely different…we will post an after picture soon, so you can see the difference.

After Keegan went to bed, Matt had one more surprise up his sleeve. He cooked an exceptional filet dinner, and  we had a beautiful romantic time, with the sweet smelling lilies and tulips he bought for me, and a good glass of wine. We played the Baby Smarts game, and we realized, that even after 17 months, there is still lots we don’t know about babies. (-:

I am really blessed to have such a wonderful hubby and son. They made my Mother’s Day a wonderful one. Thank you to my two favorite guys!

With summer approaching, we finally decided to take Keegan to swim lessons. The signs were all there: he really enjoyed playing in the baby pool we set up in the yard a couple of weeks ago, during the heat wave; he has been really enjoying washing his hair (something he hated for quite a few weeks), or at least getting water dumped on his head; the weather is getting nicer, and we are planning on FINALLY getting solar panels for our pool.

So, we thought it was time. We didn’t quite have the courage to take him to the heavy duty water safety course for babies, a real water boot camp. The idea of having Keegan tossed in the water concerned me a little.  To get an idea of what we are talking about about, check out this video:

We didn’t completely excluded the idea, as it is important he understand how to float if he gets in the pool accidentally, but we wanted a softer approach to begin with. So we enrolled him in a YMCA water class. The goal is to make the babies comfortable in water, and not afraid. The class is only 8 lessons, twice a week. It is not the best time, because it is pretty much around his dinner time, but we have managed so far, with big snacks.

The class is small, 5 babies, ranging in age from 15 months to past 2 years, and we are using a small, heated (87 degrees) pool. Parents are in the water too, and there are songs and small exercises. Keegan seems to like it so far. He, like most of the kids, does not necessarily want to do what the teacher would like, but he does not mind being in the water. We even got him underwater, and he liked that. He also loved when we dunk him in the water from the edge. It is fun.

In other news, he is talking a little more now, almost real words. Beside using the sign, he now says “MO” for more, and he says “PA” for ball (palla in Italian), and his favorite now, “BOBBLES” for bubbles (bolle di sapone in Italian), his new obsession. He really likes them. And he likes saying the word. he would say it in the car, or for no apperent reason. He likes to repeat it, with a crescendo…bobbles, bobbles , bobbbles, BOBBBLEEEEESSS, almost in a frenzy. We have to get a video of that. So I guess we will have to buy some automatic bubble maker, so he can make them himself. He is also “talking” quite a bit, in his own language of course. It really does sounds like a language, with sentences. It is so funny. We even have conversations…so, he is more and more a little boy now.

While we are still working  through the pile of toys we accumulated in the past few months — and the grandparents definitely helped in that department — and slowly revealing a new thing every few weeks, Tizi went to a parents’ swap meet last week and ended up getting a few fun things for dirt cheap. She got some really cool books including a music playing, pop-up Old McDonald book. Keegan loved it, and guess how long it took him to destroy the pop ups? A whole 2 minutes! Well, it is recommended for 3+ years, but he enjoys playing the song and hearing the dog bark. Tizi also got a rocking giraffe. It is the cutest thing ever. Keegan is not quite that taken by it, but he will go on it for a few minutes. He also thinks it is a weird looking cow, so he moos every time he approaches it.

He’s still going through his separation anxiety, especially from mom, who can’t even go to the next room without causing tears. And, more surprising, he has become very shy. Every time there are other kids around, he initially hangs on to us, even if is the same kid at daycare that he sees every day and that always comes over to hug him in the morning. It is very surprising to us, since he has always been quite a social baby, and he is still very interested in other people…just a little shy. We are sure it will be a phase, and we will try to put him in as many social situations as possible.

So we are happy to report that all is well, and following the expected path. Now, we are looking forward to summertime and more fun in the sun.

It is tough being a toddler, but someone gotta do it, right? Between playing, eating, goofing around, running, climbing, throwing the occasional tantrum, making weird noses, and chasing mom and dad around there are simply not enough hours in a day. Maybe this is why he resists his naps!

Jokes aside, not counting the constant cold and the teething, Keegan is healthy and happy. We are posting some images just to give you a glimpse of his life as a toddler.

His eating preferences vary daily, and now he LOVES apples. Yes, the same fruit he refused to eat before: now he loves it, at least today, especially if he can eat it biting it off.

He is quite proficient at washing his hands, and most times, after changing a poopie diaper, he will go to the diaper pail (too bad he can’t actually drop the diaper in there), and then straight to the bathroom for washing his hands. He enjoys climbing on the step stool and playing with the running water.

You can’t be called a toddler without some goofing around. Keegan thought it was hilarious to explore both of his nostrils at the same time (instead of eating, mind you)…no, he did not pick any winners.

At his new daycare room they have plenty of art time, so we tested his skills at home with some washable -we hope-, no toxic – we REALLY hope, since he proceeded to put them in his mouth right away-, crayons. What a masterpiece! And I guess he is not left-handed like mom after all.

Some of his favorite games right now are pushing and pulling toys around, especially the wooden ones that make such a fun noise, throwing balls over handed, stacking cubes really high, and then knock then down, shape sorting, and of course boxes and lids and filling and emptying container. He also loves when we sing to him (and his daddy’s Tarzan interpretation). And if he LOVES being outside, either in the yard, the street, the playground or anywhere else. Good thing we live in San Diego, and can enjoy outxdoor time most of the year  (sorry for rubbing it in).

And right on time, he is showing some major jealousy, so every time mom sits with daddy, he comes right over, make sure we are not too close by pushing us apart and sits right in the middle for a group hug.

I can’t believe is Easter already, but here we are. The first week after the grandparents left went OK. We are definitely back to normal: no more sleeping in till 8am for Keegan. In fact he started his random schedule again, which usually means WE are not getting any sleep. We had in order: a 6am wake up, a midnight wake-up with him (and us) staying awake till 3.30am, another wake up at 4.30 and 5.30, and then the next day a midnight and 1.30 and then 5.30 wake ups…and of course, while he sleeps fine at daycare, he does NOT want to nap at home. We tried again the crying out method on saturday, and guess what, he cried 2.5 hours, and no nap. So once again, it is back in the car and he fell asleep right away…We definitely need to find a way for him to nap, since he is very tired. We can try to get some kind of cot, like they have a daycare, so maybe it will help. At this point we are open to everything. (-:

Anyway, this too shall pass.

Easter, while still did start with a somewhat sleepless night, turned out to be a very fun day for all of us. The weather was once again beautiful and sunny, so we started the day with a small Easter hunt. Matt hid some colorful eggs filled with treats in the yard, and we got Keegan out there to find them. We did not do anything too elaborate, but he had a blast. “He” made a small basket at daycare, so he was  ready to go, and he quickly got the hang of it.

let’s store them all in the basket

I have found another one

He was such a thrill to watch him and to hear him shriek in delight, especially when he started shaking them, and he realized that there was something inside…and something edible at that.

hey, they are making a fun shaking sound

what’s in there?

Yummy Strawberry Puffs

yummy!!!

enough, let’s save the loot for later

It was so much fun! After both mom and Keegan had a nap, it was off to the playground. He did have a good time, climbing stairs, going down the slides, playing with the sand, and petting doggies. He even crawl though the tunnel, something he usually does not like to do. Then is was time for more playtime at home.

We hope all of you had as fun as a Easter Day as we did.

Sadly, the time has come to say Arrivederci again. The grandparents left for Italy last week…just in time for the biggest earthquake in Italy in 30 years. Fortunately they are not in harm’s way, and thank you to all of you that expressed concern. Neither they or anyone in their direct circle has been affected.

We had a wonderful time, and spent many days enjoying each other’s company. We all miss them a lot. Keegan has been occasionally pointing to the door, waiting for them to show up at any time. He has been looking for their car, and its keys, since he had a lot of fun playing in it, and pretending to drive it…oh- oh, are we in trouble?

I am getting the hang of this driving thing

For us, it has really been a treat seeing how well they get along, and how much fun they had together. It could have been a simple stroll in the neighborhood…

…or a shopping trip in mama’s mothership: Target…

I love this shopping thing… check out my mug

Making mama proud: Keegan is a Target lover already

… or simply playing in the yard

man, this is a REALLY big ball

or enjoying an old-fashioned passtime as  paper dolls (and grandpa is a master at it)…

…no matter what they did, they had a ball. Unfortunately, the last week, has been spent tending to Keegan who got sick, and was out of daycare for 4 days. We are very grateful for Grandmma and Grandpa that took such god care of him so we could still go to work. It was nothing serious, just a combo cold-cough-fever-teething thing. He was well enough by Friday to enjoy one last day with his best playmates.

We are looking forward to seeing them again soon, possibly in Italy. Thank you again for everything  you have done, and see you soon on Skype!

…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.