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This summer has really been the summer of Cars. Not only Keegan has been watching the video over, and over, and over again on the weekends, but he has been playing with his toys cars A LOT. Many people complain about these movies, because their kids obsess over some particular character…well we are counting our blessing. Since he discovered Cars in the Spring, he has been playing with them a lot, by HIMSELF. This means that we get a few minutes of independent play when we can actually relax and read or do whatever, without having to pay attention to him 100%.

It is not quiet, mind you, because I think this is physically impossible for him to do, just like he can’ t stay still. He needs to talk. We get many comments, all the time (some nicer than others) on how he expresses himself so well, how he asks so many questions, how inquisitive he is…all nice ways to say he is NEVER quite. Not even in the bathroom, or when he goes to sleep. And definitively not when he plays. It is actually quite funny: he makes up all these stories, and I have to say that the little TV he watches, fuels his imagination and stories.

He plays with his cars using all sort of other toys, building garage, or slides or whatever else. He races them, he hides them, he lines them up, and he takes photos of them with his camera…

this is what I find when I get home from work

some of his favorite ones…but where is Francesco?

recording the crash?

Despite my dislike for licensed characters stuff, my resistance was futile: he has Cars underwear, sock, shoes, pjcs, t-shirt, various books, stickers and markers. He even has a Cars 2 lunch box: after spending a long time looking for the perfect lunch box to buy, we went to Target and it was all over…I had to get that one. My favorite toy, though, is a large Mac: it contains 16 cars and has a handle, and this is where all the cars go to sleep at night. (-: And he is going to get a new launcher. garage, once he gets enough stickers, of course, that will hold 10 more. These are the kind of toys that I like…storage masked as toys.

We also found a way to use his new passion to our advantage. We made sticker charts to earn new cars. The charts have a road and he uses cars stickers to fill it. This has helped our nighttime routine quite a bit. We both win: he gets new cars, we get more peaceful nighttime. The only problem is that, since he jumped on the bandwagon so late, it is extremely difficult to find the cars he wants at a reasonable price, since it has been so many years since the movie came out. The charts also have the added bonus of instilling the idea that you need to earn your toys. Now if he sees something he likes he says: “can I earn stickers for this toy?” Nice.

“There is a lot of traffic on this road” is his usual comment

Now he is looking forward to the Fall, when the new Cars 2 video will come out. We thought about taking him to the movies, but he can’t stay still and quiet for two hours, and even at home he always wants to skip through videos, even his favorite ones. So we all agreed that waiting for video is probably best.

So, thank you Pixar. You genius idea of commercializing one of the oldest plaything for little boys has really worked out for us.

Independence Day is here! Wow, half a year has already passed, and I am glad to report that it has been a lot better than the last so far. Sure, there are still remaining construction related issues (thank you City), but nothing comparing to the stress of the past year.

Even Keegan has been  much easier: better sleeper, and way LESS tantrums (knocking on wood, touching iron, etc.). His vocabulary is increasing rapidly and his absolute non-interest in drawing and coloring continues. He has shown more interest and skills, so far, in math related games. He enjoys workbooks that are math related and has a good grasp of more and less (what is heavier, what is more, etc) which surprises me, definitely not the math genius. The other night he even did some basic math on his carrots. He knew he had to eat 5, so he said: “I have seven carrots, I will took two off and eat 5”. I was clearly impressed. Ok, so he gets it from his dad. Well, engineers make a lot more money than artists.

The long weekend started early: on Thursday we spent a beautiful afternoon in Mission Bay with Hannah, her mom Jennifer and her little sister Natalie. It was a perfect afternoon: sunny and breezy, but not hot. We finished up the afternoon with a nice dinner, and Matt reached us there.

On Friday, I left early from work to meet Keegan at school, just in time for his Bike Parade. All the kids, with their decorated wagons, tricycles and bikes go around the block to celebrate the holiday.

ready to go with Elliott

It is really fun to watch them go, struggling uphill, and flying downhill. I guess this year will be probably the last year we are using a tricycle: It is probably time for a real bike. Keegan knows, that, to get a bike, he needs to pedal on his own (he likes to be pushed when the road gets tough). And honestly, I think it is a little easier to pedal with a bike. So now my months of research start to find the perfect(ly looking) bike.

All together

After the parade, a sweet surprise was waiting for them: sorbet and lollipops.

triple K trouble: Kelsen, Keegan and (Mac)Kenzie

The long weekend was fun. We enjoyed some really good time together. Saturday, since there is no trace of marine layer, we headed to the beach. It was nice, and we got to play in the water and sand. Keegan had a nice long nap, while we rested and worked around the house. We even did a little yard work.

Sunday morning we headed to a park waiting for the Annual Church Carnival to start. It is really cool (and free). We went last year, and there Keegan discovered the magic of bouncie slides. They have all sort of booths, prices, free food and desserts and of course bouncies. We played some games, especially the fishing game, waiting for the bouncie to be blown up. We got enough tickets for a large one eyed leopard. He loves it. More bouncing and then, the highlight of the morning: a huge water slide. Keegan saw one the day before, so he was very excited. Even so, it took a lot of convincing, since he did not have his swim trunks.

But once he tried once, trunks or no trunks, you could not stop him. He was sliding up and down  for more than 40 minutes.

I finally took him home, exhausted, around 2pm. Amazingly enough, he did not have a long nap, but we got him to bed early.

Matt had been working on the pool, so we were both pretty tired by nighttime. We relaxed in the newly connected jacuzzi: it felt nice to be able to soak, after more than a year of watching it sitting there as a huge paperweight.

On the actual 4th, we finally blew up the dinosaurs pool from last year: he has been asking for it for so long… He spent most of the day in and out of the water, jumping, diving (don’t ask…I know it is only a few inches, but you go tell him) and splashing around, on a beautiful, sunny day.

We even inaugurated the new soccer goal, with annoying sounds effects. He had fun kicking the ball and hearing the loud GOOOOAAAL. And check out his technique!

Water guns were also brought out for a fun battle, since it has been very warm all day. The super friendly neighborhood cat Yogi stopped by to say HI. This is friendliest cat I have ever seen. She immediately comes over and rub against your leg even if she never seen you before. And she love cuddles, being pet and and being around people. She behaves more like a dog. Keegan loves her, and he is very delicate with her.

We had dinner outside, overlooking the canyon and listening to the various birds, and the squawking hawks. So beautiful.

After Keegan went to bed, we relaxed, and watched some of the Seaworld Fireworks from upstairs…at least the ones that were tall enough toe above the trees.

What a fun weekend! We really can’t complain too much of not having vacations or not going anywhere, since San Diego provides us with so many great opportunities.

I know some of you may think that is always Spring Time in San Diego,  and that we don’t really have seasons here, but there still is something special about this time of year: longer days, warmer sun, baby hawks and lots and lots of flowers everywhere.

Spring Time also means we have more time to play outside after Keegan’s nap. So we take full advantage of this longer days to visit our favorite places, the Zoo and Seaworld, as well as neighborhood parks. We play stomp rocket, soccer or baseball. Soccer is still the favorite game, though.

One of our favorite parks, is the South Clairemont park, next to the Skate/Bike park. There are the obligatory slide structure, but also a huge, flat field, which is ideal to play in, or simply run in, maybe on daddy’s shoulders.

Being a neighborhood park, sometimes we met some of Keegan’s friends from school, that also live nearby.

Having a snack and goofing off with Van

If the weather was not nice, we found some fun activity to do. We got to tour an ambulance and a fire engine (which is different from a fire truck, I guess). Keegan had fun pretending to be a fireman and a patient: he even got his blood pressure taken.

goofing off on the fire engine

Hello… Can you hear me?

And if nothing else is going on, a “pic nic” outside school at pick up time will do.

Spring also means, Mother’s Day. We had a mellow but pleasant one. We started the celebration with Keegan’s school party. Tea and cookies were served under a tent outside, and silly dance games were played. It was just nice to see all the kids showing off their moms.

Keegan with MacKenzie and Van and their moms

An horrible pictures of us

Saturday, we had a date night planned, but our sitter got sick, so we ended up building IKEA furniture instead for Keegan’s room.hat a parent’s way to spend Saturday night (it still beats rolling up coins). At least I felt we accomplished something. The room is almost finished: we will have pictures soon.

On Sunday, Matt’s prepared a delicious brunch while I took an early morning nap, and he helped Keegan prepare a sweet card for me. Keegan also gave me his gift: a pretty jar of multicolored sand. I also picked up approximately 400 prints of pictures from 2009 and 2010: I finally got caught up, well still need to start on 2011. Watching all the images, and how much Keegan has grown in the past two years was very heart-warming, and I felt very blessed indeed to have such a wonderful little man in my life.

The warm and fuzzy feelings helped a lot, because he was not exactly on his best behavior that day…but no matter. And since he is three, I still get to dress him with clothes I like, even matching outfits in my favorite colors (a trend started when he was a baby).

One other fun activity we did this Spring was to “raise” and then release Painted Lady butterflies. I have been wanting to do this for a long time, and Keegan have been hearing about caterpillars and butterflies a lot, both at school, and at home, with our fun Hungry Caterpillar book and magnet set.  So we got a habitat for them, and ordered some larva.We were lucky: all 10 caterpillars turned into beautiful butterflies.

It was an amazing experience for all of us…I would say more for me and Matt, but Keegan enjoyed it as well. They arrived in a sealed jar, and we watched the caterpillar wiggle and eat till they became chrysalises.We even borrowed a great book that details the transformation.

getting ready to form a cocoon

a translucent chrysalis

That’s was the tricky par: transferring them to the little pop-up container and hang them there. After a little over a week, they started coming out of the cocoon and we had the chance to watch them and feed them. It was really fun.

We fed them sugar water and oranges…and they seemed to appreciate the bounty.

How many can you count? Can you see all 6?

We let them go on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Problem was, they did not really want to leave. They enjoyed the free food I guess. So, we had to actually put them on our hands and get them out. It took a couple of days, but they finally all flew away. We bid farewell to each of them.

bye bye butterfly. Fly away…now!

One more spring baby we had the fortune to enjoy: our usual hawk came back again this year. It settled in a nest almost completely hidden, but right in front of our house. With a binocular and some luck we got to observe the babies grow into juvenile, and they sometimes used our house and railing as a resting perch while they were learning how to fly.

taking a rest (and a dump) on our railing

So, all and all a fun, busy Spring. We are looking forward to Summer, and to a hopefully warm and sunny weather to compensate for the gray and cold summer of 2010.

… so we are really behind with this blog thing. This year has been very busy so far, between work and the million house related things…And we thought we were done with all that.

Anyway let’s try to recap. The week after my parents left, it was Easter already. The festivities started with preschool party in the morning, where a Easter Bunny dressed magician showed up and did tricks. I was so sad I had to miss it (NOT): Good Friday and Easter Monday were my only two days off in the Spring, alone, so I wanted to take advantage of the time to catch up with stuff.

doing some magic

wow, a real bunny (and not a weird old guy in a bunny suit)

On Saturday, I took Keegan to the nearby park Easter Celebration: there was an Easter Eggs hunt, a bouncie, a little firetruck rides, the Easter bunny, face painting and balloons artists.

Keegan did not really understand the idea of the eggs hunt, when there are tons of other little kids running over each other and scrambling to get some eggs. He just stood there, so he ended up with only 1 egg: it still got to exchange it for candy, so he was happy anyway. And plus, there were PLENTY more eggs awaiting him this weekend.

anxiously waiting for the hunt to start…

Of course he happily jumped on the bouncie and we were lucky to meet one of our neighbors, with her little one, Markus, a few months younger than Keegan. The two get along really well, and I dare to say that Markus is even more rowdy than Keegan, so there was a whole lot of wrestling, jumping, bouncing, bonking, and whole lot of laughter. This helped a lot, since we ended up being in line for the “balloon artiste” (yes, this was on his name tag) for more than half an hour. It was worth it, though, because he got a sword, a helmet and a belt, that lasted for weeks.

There were the obligatory pictures with the Easter bunny, and just a lot of playing in the sun.

Ok, is this just me or this bunny is absolutely creepy???? It is almost scarier than Frank from the movie Donnie Darko (by the way, still one of the best movies ever!)

Markus, Keegan and the creepy bunny

On the actual Easter day, after my early morning nap, I hid all the eggs and the basket in the yard, and had a good time watching Keegan discovering them all. We had to help him bringing in all the loot. I may have gone a little overboard, but he was one happy camper, between all the toys, the large Italian chocolate egg  and the candy.

He got the Leapfrog Scribble and Write he asked for, Froggie catch mitts, and the Cars he got for his birthday, which he did not remember at all. The gift that keeps on giving. These helped fuel his new passion for everything Cars related…and it is a good timing too, since the new movie will come out in the summer. Now playing with his cars is one of his favorite games…AND he can actually play with them alone for some time.

After the hunt, we called my parents and he opened their gift while talking to them via Skype: he was excited to get little Playmobil guys to complete his skate park set (also a gift from his nonni). Grazie nonni!

He easily crashed for his nap, but woke up early (too excited). He was so tired, though, he went back to bed and I had to wake him up. We spent the afternoon at Krista’s house, and had another fun hunt with Torin and their neighbor. They had a great time playing together and we, the adults, enjoyed some relaxing time.

Chasing each other, running and roughing each other were favorite games, but playing with Torin’s great train track was also a favorite.

It was a great Easter weekend, and I had a full day off on Monday to extend the fun. It was only fitting: after all, Easter Monday is a holiday in Italy.

So, we have not been writing for a while. Too much to do, too little time, blah, blah, blah. Anyway: all is well here. we kept busy with working around the house and my parents’ visit (more on future blogs). Of course, we have still not moved in the new rooms, and we still have mostly empty closets, and boxes in the garage. All in due time: we are setting up weekend schedules, and try to tackle one thing at the time. Keegan especially is in no hurry, since empty rooms means he has more places to store toys and play.

Case in question: his huge, inflatable ball, proudly sitting in what will be Matt’s cave.

Among all to do lists we had to add some unexpected item, that took priority. Matt’s truck finally kicked the bucket, after 12 years and more than 165,000 miles. Honestly we were hoping to wait till the summer, but when the mechanic said that the wheels could come off at any time and it would take more than $2000 to make it safe, we need we had to get something else, and quick. Amazingly enough for us, we managed to get our new ride in a couple of days. So we are now proud owners of a Honda Ridgeline. I am very excited about it, because it is still a truck (hello IKEA trips) but it has finally 5 seats, so we can all fit in comfortably. No more squeezing in a jump seat or inside the Mustang. Hopefully this will lead us to take more road trips.

As for the house, well, there is still so much t do: the yard is priority #1, We have been working with a landscape architect to come up with a comprehensive plan we can slowly adopt for the whole house. We are also setting up new concrete pads for our jacuzzi and pool, and try to figure out where to place them. For now, the yard is half a jungle, half wasteland, 100% depressing. It is so bad that gophers peek out and scurry around with impunity. They are eating some of the weeds, to be honest, but also make a huge mess. I feel like I am inside an eternal rerun of Caddyshack.

gopher are kind of cute, but still…

Then we will need to get furniture for the upstairs rooms, and the living room. And of course the outdoor furniture as well. The garage is almost cleared out: still a few things to seel, a few things to put away. And we finally ordered blinds for 2 of the upstairs rooms. My goal would be to have most of the more pressing item taken care of by summer time, so our house can really be ready for guests. Anyone flying to the West Coast?

I will soon post images from our wonderful three weeks with our parents, but in the meantime here are some pictures of Keegan during the past couple of months.

trying to inspire his musical career

A big boy seat…love it! I can actually use the front passenger seat now

Our wonderful morning ritual: milk, books and cuddles. It almost make waking up at 6.15 am bearable, ALMOST.

Another ritual: watching some TV with dad on weekend mornings, all bundled up with some friends (while mom is napping).

Keegan is very fascinated by little babies: here is with Natalie, Hannah’s little sister.

Really, 1 lucky boy on St. Patrick’s Day (also 150th anniversary of Italy’s Unification)

…well, we still have a few cosmetic fix-ups, and then we need to decorate, put furniture in, re-landscape, etc. but the major construction is over. We should have our final green light and walk-through in not more than two weeks (we hope), which means no more lock box and surprise visits by random workers. We are obviously looking forward to it, and while we will have more work to do, we figured it would be nice to post some pictures of the basically finished house.

The entrance needs some rugs and plants but out new mailbox is in. We also had to replace our garage door, that decided to break down completely last December. It does looks nicer with windows in it.

We also finally got our adjustable awning put in, so our plants can recover from the scorching the suffered when the trellis went down. I like the warm glow it gives to the office and to Keegan’s room.

The bathroom upstairs needs curtains, towels (and final tiles sealing) but all the cabinets and hardware are in. And the bidet works. (-:

The stairs need a couple of steps replaced but they turned out nice.

We moved the guest room (Asian Room) upstairs…oh that was fun!

Now Keegan can finally have a room to call his own, with a new bed, a new chair and a lot more space. He loves his swivel chair:he likes to hide in there. We all know, though, that the chair purchase was mainly small compensation for me: since I can’t afford a real egg chair or bubble chair for myself, I got the IKEA chair for Keegan.

As for the bed, despite some request for a “car bed”, immediately vetoed, we bought a convertible KURA bed from IKEA. It is a tween size, so it can last for a while, but what I liked the most is the fact you can flip it over to convert it in a bunk bed.

The new bed in Keegan’s room

Despite being so excited about his new tent bed, the new sheets and blankets, he actually slept in it great, without waking up once. This is the only picture I have in which he does not seem constipated…it is now impossible to take a picture of him without him trying to “smile”: closing his yes, and clinching his teeth like he really, REALLY, has to go, right now!

With all the problems we had with the city, the chance of updating and remodeling our master bath in the near future are basically zero, so we gave it a small face lift, by changing the vanity, sink, faucet, mirror, adding some hardware and adding a nice new cabinet. And since we lost our window, we added a solaTube in both our bath and Keegan’s: what a difference it makes. Once again, IKEA to the rescue.

Of course, now I am still busy researching furniture, yard designs, window treatments, etc, so we are not really done, but it beats worrying about what the city will have to say. And by the end of it all, I am sure we could call IKEA and ask them to move their show room to our house: we will probably have at least 1 IKEA piece in every room. (-:

So, how do we feel about being at the end of the tunnel? I think Keegan’s face tells it all…Ecstatic!

Happy New Year everyone. So it is finally here. 2010 is no more, and a new year has just begun with the hope of more happiness and less stress. We rang it in in the best way. Our friends Krista, Eric and Torin came over to celebrate this new beginning. It was really fun. Keegan and Torin had a blast bouncing around the inflatable bouncie, which bravely tried to stand up to their wild rumpus…but it did spring two leaks. Oh well, it was getting too small anyway. Then it was time for cars and trains and any other toys they could get their hands on.

We nibbled on appetizer, while master barman Eric kept the drinks coming.

next drink please!

Then we had a nice dinner, while the kids were “eating” at their own little table.

We easily  got them to settle down a little just before bedtime. Tv is always a great help, and here they are mesmerized by the little short before the Incredibles movie. It is 4 minutes long, but they loved it. In fact, Keegan loved it so much, it is now one of his favorite videos for weekend mornings.

I swear we did not drug them.

Amazingly enough, both of them went to be somewhat easy, leaving us plenty times for dessert, drinks and good company. We cheered to the new year watching the standard countdown and New York ball drop — and making the usual Dick Clarck’s jokes — and got our fill of “champagne”. What a great way to start.

can you tell we are happy it is 2011???

The next morning, Keegan continued his streak, waking up at 6.30. A great start indeed. Again, we began the year with cuddles and stories and laughter, and even a cool sun outside the window. It is indeed a great way to start.

Happy New Year everyone!

We had a mellow day. I took my usual nap, then called my parents. They sent us a second round of pretty cool gifts, so Keegan got to open them on New Year’s Day. He really liked the book, little car and especially his oversize keyboard. Combining jumping around and music: what is not to like?

He had an epic nap that day, and waking up after 4 did not leave much time to go anywhere, so we stayed in, playing with the new toys and just having a mellow good time. All and all a wonderful first day. I felt very optimistic (or maybe just relieved) and I am looking forward to a much better year, I hope.

May 2011 bring all of you happiness and joy.

Christmas time is always pretty hectic, and definitely not one of my favorite time of year. Call me Grinch, but I really don’t care for holiday music much, and hate all the stress associate with it, the rushing, the crowds, the 4 months holiday decorations in the stores…having a little boy at home, though, definitely made it better. This year however, it has been a very stressful time, because we had to deal with lots of house issues, challenges and financial hurdles all the way till the end (we signed mortgage docs on the 22nd, and everything was finalized on the 30th).

To make things more fun, it rained the whole week before Christmas. This year, which was supposed to be a very dry, la niña year, has been one of the wettest year in history. It even rained three days in a row, non stop. So, all the fun Christmas activities I planned to do with Keegan had to be postponed. No matter, we were still able to have a fun Christmas time.

The season actually started early, right after his birthday party. The next day, to be exact. One of his buddies from school, Van, was hosting a fund-raising party at his house. And what a party it was: there was real snow in the front lawn, lots of wonderful raffle prizes (and guess, what, I did not win any of them. Surprise, surprise), craft stations, cookie decorating stations, lots of food and music, and even Santa Claus, sitting in a pool house. Keegan loved the snow: even if he was a little perplexed at first, he soon joined  in a snow ball fight: the kids against the inflatable penguins.

The weather was beautiful and warm, so we just played in the sun. We ate lots of cookies, did some crafts…

…and got our picture with Santa. As always, for as much as Keegan likes Santa, he is shy when it comes to sit on his lap. A quick round of high-fives and a candy cane helped.

It was a great party, that led to an epic nap. After the nap we went to buy the Christmas tree, a table top again, and the Christmas holidays season and countdown was upon us. This year we also got sucked into the Elf On a Shelf craze. Keegan was  really misbehaving right after his birthday — probably he got too much attention then — so we thought we needed an extra incentive to calm him down. Enters the Elf. This is a book about a little elf sent by Santa to report back on his assigned child’s behavior. The book actually comes with the elf in question, that you get to name. The elf itself it is a little creepy looking — Matt compared it to Chuckie— and the illustrations not that great, but whatever works. Keegan loved it, and it was a nice incentive to behave better.

This year Keegan could hardly wait for Christmas time, and he was constantly mentioning toys he wanted…mainly everything he saw in the millions catalogs that arrive at our house. To stop the greed wave, we really tried to talk to him about Christmas as a time for giving not just getting. We made an effort to donate foods or toiletry in grocery stores bin when we were shopping together and we even donated some toys to the Toys For Tots organization.

We also made it to the parade Of Lights Event this year, in a rare and unseasonably warm Sunday in the middle of December. It is a very nice San Diego tradition: every year many boats decked out with lights and decorations will slowly parade in the San Diego Bay. Many of them also have loud speakers playing holiday music, so it is a very festive event. We got to see the show from the beach, so Keegan got a chance of play with the sand when he got bored. The festivities started with fireworks, and Keegan loved them. It was his first firework show (usually they are too late for him) and he had a blast (no pun intended).

The Christmas, or should I say Holiday party (they sang a Hanukkah song, even if Hanukkah was over by then) at his school was on December 23. This year they had an afternoon party at his own school, and it worked out a lot better. When we arrived the kids were signing holiday songs, the same same songs Keegan has been singing non-stop at home for the past month, at the top of his lung. And now that is showtime…he is barely opening his mouth, but at least he is vigorously shaking his bell. After the performance, Santa Claus AND Mrs. Claus showed up. They were great, especially compared to the pitiful Santa in cheap polyester suit and obviously fake beard that showed up last year. It must have been true what I have read on the paper: many high-end Santas were jobless this year, and slashing their prices.

They sang songs, joked and posed for pictures.

Keegan looked more perplexed than anything else, but I thought they were great.

In fact when it was time for pictures, he grudgingly posed for a group photo, but then he went on to play with his friends and did not want to sit on Santa’s lap. Good thing we had a nice shot from Van’s party.

I like this little Santa girl more…

The party was on the last school day, and it kicked off our long holiday. Both of us had the whole week off, so no real vacation for me. (-:  Fortunately Matt took some time off (in part for nursing a bad cold) so we had many fun times together.

On Christmas Eve we headed over Krista, Eric and Torin’s house for an impromptu evening celebration. Two other children were there and Keegan and Torin were their usual, wild selves.

I love this picture: it is hard to tell if they look angelic or if this is the expression of someone who has been up to no good and tries to fake innocence. What do you think?

They played well together, which meant lots of adult time for us. We munched on delicious food, drank even better cocktails and opened gifts. Keegan loved that part.

Since it was Christmas Eve, we did move his bedtime a little later, but before leaving, we made sure he was all ready for bed. Wearing his PJ he settled with Torin for a little playful bonding time and then it was time for goodbyes.

Once again, we spent the rest of Christmas Eve wrapping and setting everything under the tree. As always it looked magical when we were done.

Christmas morning started well. Keegan slept till 6.30!!! Merry Christmas to us! To be honest, he had been sleeping “late” for a few day before that; it may have been the cold weather, the rain, or a growth spur…whatever it is we savor it, as we already know it will not last. Of course he got up almost right away, after his milk, and run to see if Santa has come. And then he immediately tore into the presents.

He could not wait for the evening for his stocking: he dove right in.

While we did try to keep the number low, we still ended up with a huge mound of wrapping paper, ribbons, cardboard boxes and assorted toys. As always, it looked like a tornado ripped through our living room.

Right afterwards, we called my parents and did a festive Skype session. My sister and her family was also there so we had the chance of wishing everyone Buon Natale. Keegan was a little shy (too many people) but it was nice to see everyone.

Then it was time for my last gift: nap time! A glorious two hours nap. Keegan also had a very nice, long rest, along with Matt. Once we were all awake, we headed out to watch the Light Displays in Clairemont. Because of the rain, we were unable to check them out earlier, but even if some lights were out, most of the street was still lit up and pretty great. We had a good time strolling around.

We put Keegan to sleep with some difficulties: he was way too excited. Once he finally crashed we had a nice, romantic dinner for us, and spent some quality times together.

Once again, Christmas was over in what felt like an instant, but we had a great time indeed. Even if we are little sad to be away from family during the holidays, we are very fortunate to spend our Christmas with friends and our wonderful little guy.

Having a birthday also means getting a check up. So, exactly a week after the big day, we went to see Keegan’s doctor. It has been a difficult week, with lots of tantrums and lots of pushing boundaries, with the apex the night before: an epic meltdown at bedtime that meant going to bed without books or cuddles.

That seemed to work, fortunately, so he was very well behaved at the doctor’s office. I can’t really say the same for me, as I was getting very irritated by the long wait. This time he got seen both by a resident doctor and our usual doctor. As a fist thing, he had to take an eye test. Just a regular test, with symbols instead of letters. He has perfect 2o/20 at this point. Of course we don’t really have much hope he will keep it, but hopefully it will last a long time. Then they gave him an hearing test: they placed headphones on him, and asked him to clap when he was hearing a whistle. He did well in this test too, showing not only a good hearing, but also good comprehension and ability to follow directions. They also gave him a gown for the first time: a gown that would fit a 10 years old. He kept him on long enough for a photo and then he was running around naked.

Everything else got checked too: he is in good health and at a good development state. We talked about the fact he is “double jointed” (Hypermobility) just like me, and what sports would be good for him. We are leaning towards contact sports, like wrestling or martial arts…unfortunately he is still too young for that. He still on the 50% for height (approx. 95 cm or 37 in) and up to an incredible 50% for weight at 31 lb (14 kg). Amazing! Maybe we should put him on a diet now…just kidding.

The worse part of the exam was the blood test. While last time it did not phase him, maybe because he did not know what it was, this time he was scared and cried a lot. Fortunately it only lasted a minute or so. We are checking for lead: our house used to contain lead based paint, and when the drywall was cut open, some of the dust spread so we want to make sure he does not have elevated lead levels. We have not seen the results yet, but no news hopefully is good news.

So, what can we say about our 3 year old?

• He really likes languages, at this point. He often asks us how to say something in one language or another. He also still enjoys his Spanish class a lot
• He also likes water and swimming. He is learning how to swim alone. Now he can jump underwater and swim alone for a few seconds, come back for air and go under again. He is not moving very far, but at least I feel better knowing he knows how to come up for air
• He is getting more and more interested in puzzles. He still not excellent at it, but he enjoys trying (and getting some help finishing them up). He likes to play with them in the new under the stair storage closet. We are tryng to explain to him that it is not his new hideaway…

• He is more physical than ever. He loves to jump, and he is quite fearless, and likes to run and wrestle. He still craves physical contact all the time. At this point, we are full of “battle” scars
• He is still very social: all day interaction at school is still not enough. He wants more and we try to plan after school activities and playdates as often as possible.
• He is showing some interest in reading, asking what some words say. He recognizes the whole alphabet, and recognizes the letters in simple words like Vons and Taxi. He is starting to recognize letters sounds and what letter a word starts with
• He  still likes books a lot
• His favorite toys are trains and balls (soccer balls, jumping balls, throwing balls), but he is also enjoying playing (banging) with tools like his toy power drill or the hammer

• He likes music, dancing and singing.
• He is still very intense, in good and bad. He squeals with joy and screams in anger
• He knows how to roll the R
• He can dress and undressed by himself, with few mistakes. Still working on buckles, zippers, etc.
• He likes pretend play and dress up. One of his favorite activities at school is dressing up like a tiger and running around growling

So, he is a wonderfully active little boy, and it is amazing to watch him grow and develop into his own little person, so similar to me but also so different.

It is hard to believe Keegan is already three, but sure enough his birthday came and went. And what an event that was: for days afterward we paid with extra tantrums all the special attention the little guy received.

This year, Keegan has been really anticipating this day. He had learned early in the year that his birthday comes in December and that he would be three then. So, there was no way to let it go unnoticed.

Of course, for us, the hectic preparations started way earlier, but for him, the festivities began the day before, when we went to Von’s to buy a festive balloon, some goodies for his preschool party, and to order a birthday cake for his real party on Saturday. After much pondering, Keegan chose the train motive, with a Thomas train on it and some writing. It wasn’t actually too bad: fresh strawberries inside a marbled cake. He even got to taste two different frosting: of course Keegan picked the sweetest of the two.

On Friday, his actual birthday, we started the day by celebrating him and letting him open one gift from his grandparents: it was a fun puzzle book. We got him to pose in his new favorite jacket with his birthday balloon…he does not seems excited but trust me, he was bouncing off the walls. He just does not enjoy pictures.

Then, we sent him to school with chocolate chip muffins and grapes to share with his class. His new teacher, ms. Joanna, made him a crown, and I have been told that he got to hear the Happy Birthday song all day long (sorry everyone). One of the other teachers sent me the pictures of the party in progress.

I picked him up in the afternoon: Matt was already at home, since he had to meet some garage door guy, so it was a nice surprise for Keegan. Of course, the first thing he wanted to do was to open presents. We tried to limit the number, since we knew he would get more toys the following day, but he still lots: a build-yourself biplane (since we saw many at the Air Museum); a wood train set; and a small helicopter- hauling truck. I nonni sent him a couple of books, a set of paper place mats that convert into paper airplanes and and RC motorcycle. Wow, he is a lucky little guy.

can’t wait to open the presents…

my new wood train is pretty cool

Please note our plastic wrapped new carpet…and good thing we had this too, because I immediately spilled OJ on it

We ate pizza for dinner, one of his favorite foods and a little chocolate cake. We blew up the candles and took the obligatory pictures, and then back to play with the new toys once more.

Getting him to sleep was not easy: between the sugar and the excitement he woke up a few times that night. The next morning it was showtime!!!

The party has been the biggest stressor and the biggest unknown…literally. We sent out invitation without a site, since we wanted to have the party outside. Our house is still not 100% done and we had invited about 15 children: there was no way they would fit in our house. So, we checked the weather report religiously, and everything looked fine till the Monday before, when all weather reports showed rain for that day. Of course we panicked: we had no plan B, and it was too late to rent anything. So, we waited and hoped, and fortunately the chance of rain was reduced to 20%, so we took our chances. We rented a nice combo bouncie with a slide, and we headed to Liberty Station Park. It was the perfect location, with huge grass fields, a close by playground and open bathrooms.

Matt left early to pick up the cake and meet the set up guys, but I could not get the birthday boy out of the house: so he was actually late to his own party. He was so excited when he saw his bouncie and his friends!

It was definitely a good call! All the kids (and there were 12 of them) had a great time. We also brought some bouncing balls, so they had small races.

All the kids wore themselves out.

Thank you Krista for climbing up the slide to take this shot!

Keegan was so tired and cranky by noon, that he did not want to eat any pizza or cake!!! Fortunately, everyone else was hungry, since we had a lot of food.

a tired and cranky birthday boy

However he got a second wind when he saw on his best buddies from school, Kelson, arriving: for some reason he never got the invitation so we were not sure if we could get hold of him.

Kelsen and Elliott on the field

Impromptu soccer matches (and relative fights) ensued, and then more bouncing and running around. Keegan “tried” to take a nap, by laying down in the grass, but did not last long. Most kids were gone by 2pm, except for Hannah, so the two of them got some more jumping in. They even got me to jump. Man it is hard work… But the slide is fun!

Hannah and her baby sister Natalie

Then they took turns with the awesome Stomp Rocket she brought him.

We also got some party crashers: but we could not say NO. It is hard to see a bouncie and not being able to go in.

Keegan and I finally left around 3pm, while Matt had to stay behind waiting for the guys to pick everything up. Keegan fell asleep as soon as he hit the car seat, as expected. It was easy get him to bed and he had a nice nap. I did have to wake him up as it was getting late and he was obviously a little out of sorts:he bounced so much, he ended up throwing up all over me. Fun times. He was also still tired. Not too tired for opening the presents, mind you, but still. He got to unwrap them all, but we had him choose 4 and put away the rest. We did not want to be overwhelmed. He got so many cool toys!

Unwrapping toys is serious business

After more playing he ended up going to bed earlier than usual, with no fuss. Tired but happy. It is exhausting being the birthday boy!

It is amazing how, right after Halloween, time really seems to fly by. before we knew it Thanksgiving was gone, and the Keegan’s Birthday/Christmas/ New Year marathon began.

It was a nice one, though. We started the festivities with the Thanksgiving feast at Keegan’s school. Some of the parents brought food (no, not me of course…but we were not asked), and we all set up to lunch outside. Keegan even ate some of the food, which is remarkable. Just as for any holiday the school closed early, so we headed home for our nap. Amazingly, even if there were workers finishing up our carpets and tiles, Keegan easily settled down for his nap.

The weather has been unseasonably (for San Diego) cold, which was just “perfect”, since our heater was out and the technician could not come for at least 10 days. I guess cuddling under blankets made the holiday cozier.

On Thanksgving day we took it easy. In the morning Keegan and I met with our neighbors Sharon and Jada for a playdate at the Cadmen park, with a beautiful view of the bay. It was sunny, and chilly, but we had a great time.

hanging like little monkeys

sliding together

The kids played together very well, and to see them in the convertible toy car, hugging each other and kissing, gave me a “flash forward”…Brrr, not looking forward to the whole dating drama! But at almost three they are just adorable.

After a nice two hours nap, we played around the house, in our new carpets and tiles; this is something to be grateful for: new, clean carpets and tiles instead of broken down concrete and linoleum pieces.

Matt cooked a wonderful dinner, as always, with all the traditional food. It was a little hectic to get everything ready, take the pictures and actually sit down and eat with Keegan running around, but we did it.  Keegan “helped” daddy with the cooking, while I set the table and got everything else ready.

And we all felt really fortunate to have each other and very blessed.

The next day was even more hectic as we tried to get all packed and ready to go. We decided to spend two nights in a rented house at desert Hot Springs. The idea was to be in a warmer place, and possibly even to swim in the heated pool. The average temperature over there for November is 78. Of course, this being 2010, the year where every little thing is not going our way, we were in the middle of an unusual cold spell, so the average temperature was in the  low 60s. Goodbye swimming. The house, though was wonderful, and it even had a small yard for Keegan to run and play l. And best of all, the heater was working!

After a couple of false starts, we finally got underway around 1.30. Keegan slept a couple of  hours and when he woke up, he was so tired, he basically stared into space till we got there. I got a little nap myself.

We arrived  just before dark, so we kicked the ball around and ate some nice leftover. Keegan also took a long, epic bath in the nice soaking tub. Keegan loved “his surfer room”, and we really enjoyed how easy and convenient it was to rent a house instead of going to a hotel.

we really need to work on the smiling

In the evening, after getting Keegan to bed (which was not an easy task), we watched tv and did some internet shopping: it was black Friday after all. We mainly took care of Keegan’s birthday. One hurdle at a time.

Keegan slept pretty well, only waking up a couple of times, and the next morning he was ready to play. I took a nice nap, and then we all headed down to the Children Discovery Museum of The Desert. I liked it better than the San Diego one: it was huge and lots of things for children to do, even small ones. Keegan loved the rope maze, and painting on the car, an old BMW Beetle.

He spent time riding the police motorcycle, and “running” in the wheelchair, as well as making pizzas. We avoided the whole supermarket: honestly, we get enough lines in the real thing!

The museums also had a nice outdoor area, so we spent some times playing ball. We headed home for some lunch and a nice nap, and all of us got a couple of hours under the covers…Late afternoon was sunny but very windy: Keegan almost flew off the play structure! So, we went to the store and grabbed some food instead.

The next day it was already time to leave. Matt took a morning nap, while Keegan and I played. He showed off his newly acquired skill: rolling his R. It was a big surprise since we have been trying for a while now, without big success, and now, all of a sudden, here they are! He is still working on Rs that are inside words (such as Carta), but we will get there soon. I think Spanish class helped too. Now we have to start working on the GN and GL sound.

After packing everything up, we headed to the Palm Spring Air Museum. It was pretty cool: there were a lot of WWII planes and it was fun to get a closer look. Keegan especially liked the scary images painted on some of them.

The best part for him, however, was the children section, where kids could paint a plane, climb in the cockpit of a couple other and ride the vintage fire truck.

Prying him off was not easy, but it was already lunch time. So, after a quick stop at a family restaurant we headed back to San Diego. Keegan slept the whole way, so we had a very peaceful trip, and we made it home in less than 3 hours.

It was great to get away from the construction zone for a few days, and we had a really  good time. However the amount of packing and prepping involved for a simple three day trip may make us reconsider our Christmas plans! We really would like to take Keegan to see the snow, but maybe a day trip is all we need.

Wow: a post that will not include Keegan at all. I guess we are still people too, besides being parents: what a concept!

Since it has been a pretty busy, stressful year, and both of us had a BIG birthday celebration in the past few months, we decided to try to do some fun things together. I have recently became “addicted” to the daily-deals coupons sites such as groupon.com, circlebuzz.com, or the San Diego UT daily deal sites. These are great resources to find fun, discounted activities and services. We use these site to book for a great nighttime kayak trip to see the Seaworld Fireworks, and to purchase massages and playground access. This time we decided to book a biplane ride!

Actually when I first saw the ad, I thought that Matt would not go for it since he does not like heights quite as much, but he thought it would be a fun thing to do. We have been watching these planes fly over our house for the past 7 years, so it was about time we tried ourselves.What made it even better was that he got to take a extra long lunch break on a weekday: so no babysitter required.

We met at Montgomery Field in a beautiful, if quite windy, sunny day. The temperature was a balmy 75, so the light jacket we brought was barely necessary. The company we used, Barnstorming Adventures offer different kinds of flights, including the 30 minutes biplane ride we chose. This is the description from their website:

“In helmet and headset, one or two passengers sit in the front cockpit of a meticulously restored 1920’s airplane. Your pilot flies from the back cockpit. It’s aviation like it used to be.”

We signed our life away, as always in these cases, and we went outside in the airfield. The biplane was waiting for us.

This is our plane

almost ready to go…I guess

We put on our headgear, and fit snug inside.

charming headgear

It is amazing to think that people actually were fighting wars in this thing. It is so small, and it barely fits two people. The pilot was in the back, and it was kind of funny to see that the most prominent sign we could see was the No Spitting sign. Uh???

We were quickly in the air. We headed to downtown first, where we could see the disabled cruiseship, the Midway Museum and all the other downtown landmarks.

The wind was really strong and it was bouncing us all around. I usually like this kind of thrill rides, but between the smell of the gas, and all the twist and turns, I really started feeling nauseous…good thing I did not ask for a particularly exciting ride! I guess I would have not made as a pilot during WWI. Fortunately as we headed up the coast to pass Pacific Beach and La Jolla, the wind changed direction and we enjoyed a wonderful ride. We passed Mission Bay, Calumet park (where we got married), the beach we usually go to, and the luxurious la Jolla mansions.

Calumet park (green area next to the cables)

PB and the Crystal Pier

We finished our tour flying over Clairemont. Thanks to my poor sense of orientation, I was not able to recognize our exact street, but Matt got to see it. We think our house is on the bottom left side, overlooking the green canyon.

We happily landed without a glitch. I was somewhat queasy for the rest of the afternoon, especially when driving, but it was well worth it!

So, comes late October, construction really shifted in high gear. We are really trying to get everything done by December. Of course this means we will still have plenty to do in January, as far as little touch up are concerned, but we are almost there.

For the past couple of weeks we really had a flurry of activity happening at the house. 2 or 3 trades working at the same time…and this is really what we want to see: painters, carpenters, plumbers, general workers, stucco guys, all working feverishly, even on Saturdays, towards the finish line.

The stucco have been laid down. It is almost weird to see the house all white again.

The living room/kitchen rooms upstairs have been painted: green for the guest room (future Keegan’s room), beige for Keegan’s play room, blue/gray for Matt’s office, blue/green for the bathroom. The closet doors have been installed (even if not painted yet).

The bathroom has a toilet and a bidet and a sink.

And the stairs are being completed. We decided to upgrade to hardwood stairs: yes, it was more expensive, but they are looking beautiful. Plus, I really don’t want to vacuum carpeted stairs. Now, if we only could leave them without a railing it would be great. Alas, is not possible, nor desirable with a little one. Plus, the city of San Diego would not give us its final approval.

So we at least tried to mix it up a little with a 3-2-3-pattern. The pickets will be painted white and the handrail will match the steps.

Now is probably the messiest time of the whole construction as we have workers everywhere, and the kitchen and living room are not spared anymore. But we all gladly put up with it: we are so ready to be done.

Halloween weekend also brought us a fun photo session. The pool where Keegan takes swim lessons offers the chance of a underwater photo session about twice a year with a professional photographer, Shelly VanBrabant; this winter they held one on the Friday before Halloween. So, even if it was a mad rush going to school for the Halloween parade in the morning, and back for the Carnival in the afternoon, and then quickly drive to the pool, we signed up.

We got there a few minutes early, and the pool was eerily quiet: just us and the photographer, and we were the last ones for the day. Matt was able to meet us at the Halloween Carnival and accompanied us for the photo shoot, doing some documenting of his own.

we are ready for our close up

I was in the water as well, helping out and also trying to get some shots with Keegan. He quickly warmed up and he was happy splashing and playing in the water. Then it was time for his close ups. There was an assistant helping him to get underwater, and I was swimming towards him, as the photographer shot pictures.

Behind the scene of a photo shoot

In between shots she would show us the shots on her digital camera: the miracle of technology…too bad that without glass there was not much I could see. (-:

Modeling underwater is definitively much harder than I thought, especially if you have to dive down, stay below the surface, old a squirmy 3 year old, smile, look at the camera, and slowly swim forward…all at the same time. It was especially difficult not to pop out of the water. I guess I float really well. (-: Needless to say, we did not get many beautiful shots of me, but we had a lot of fun.

Keegan, on the other hand, was a great model: he smiled, kept his eyes open and generally followed all the directions. He was having a ball. And since it was Halloween weekend, he got to pose with a pirate costume. AARRR!

He looked great in most if the pictures, so, even if the sitting fee was really cheap, we will end up spending lots of money in prints…Oh well. So here are some of our favorites:

and our all time favorite

This year Halloween was really fun. Keegan is at the perfect age for it, so he was looking forward to “trick or treating” for a while. I guess this is also probably the last year I get to choose his costume, since he did not expressed any preference. So, he got to be a dragon, a really cute one, if I can say so myself. I bought the costume a few weeks ago, so he go to play in it multiple times. He especially liked the wings and the long nails, and pretending to be fierce. Little hard to believe with that smile.

This year, we also went to a Pumpkin Patch (twice): it is funny how nowadays, the pumpkins on display are kind of a side show to all the rides that are there. In fact, one night, while we were reading a Halloween story and the book showed a real Pumpkin Patch, Keegan asked me:” Where are the bouncies?”.

The weather has been horrible, so we took advantage of the first nice day and headed over to Mission Valley to Pumpkin Station. Ok, so it was not the most spectacular view (the I-8 freeway on one side and the Bed Bath and Beyond parking lot on the other) but it had bouncies, and that was all that mattered. Of course he rushed to the giant slide, his favorite. But he found time to sample all the other rides as well: the train ride, the smaller bouncies, the petting zoo, the rotating chairs, the boats.

what a panoramic view of the parking lot

WOW, there are actual pumpkins here

Matt reached us after work, so we all chose a nice pumpkin together and had a fun dinner at Bennigan’s. Keegan was in a great mood and we actually had a whole day without any whining. Incredible!

The weekend’s weather was again not the best, so we spent some time decorating and carving our pumpkin. We totally chose an easy way out, and got a pre-made template, but it turned out great. By we of course I mean I chose the template and Matt actually carved it. Keegan was excited at the idea, but got bored pretty soon.

Unfortunately, our pumpkin did not quite made it to the big day, due to one super hot day, but it did not matter. We got to enjoy it for a few days.

The following week we made another trip to the Pumpkin Patch: I have bought a lot of rides tickets and, since they were not cheap by any stretch of imagination, I did not want to waste them. Again, we spent most of our time on the giant slide. Keegan was the entertainment for all the spectators, since he was the littlest one and he was literally flying off that thing. We even got a free ticket from a family that was leaving and noticed how much he was having fun. Despite his generally cautious ways, he is NOT afraid of the giant slides.

Look at him, flying down

On Friday, we had all the school festivities. We started off with a Halloween parade in the morning: it was of course very hot, and the poor kids were melting in their heavy costumes but they had a blast  parading around and going to the nearby establishments to get some candies.

Look how good I am at holding on to the ring

After it was all over, a good 5 minutes later, it was time to enjoy some of the loot.

In the afternoon it was time for the carnival: parents came in and kids played and participated in many different games, culminating with the pinata bashing.

On the actual Halloween day, we got ready as soon as the sky got dark. Keegan was so excited! We met with Jada first, and headed out together.

I am ready…let’s go! Enough pictures!

with Jada and Sharon

We then caught up with other neighborhood kids, so we were a nice big group.

Keegan, this year, loved knocking on doors and ringing doorbells, and knew exactly what to say.We hit many more houses than last year, and I have to say that our neighbors are very generous and had lots of really good candy. We did not have any cheap goodies!

trick or treat!

After a full hour, the kids were tired and Keegan could not wait anymore to sample his loot. We went back home and survey all the candies.

Keegan got to pick his favorite 5 plus a bag of Cheetos, and despite the sugar high, he actually went to bed pretty easily.

dancing around on a sugar high!

He even saved a few for the next day. We had a talk about how too much candies gets you sick, but I think what resonated the most with him is a book we saw that shows kids getting all green and sick after eating too much junk food. Well, whatever works, right? Hopefully it will stick, since we made all the rest of the candies disappear.

So, I have to say it was a very successful Halloween, and probably the one I enjoyed the most so far. It was really wonderful to see all these little guys scurrying around, playing and collecting goodies. And I obviously did not mind making all the good candies disappear…in my own private stash.