tizimatt.info

Keegan is not yet up and running, but he is getting more and more confident every day. After his first steps, he didn’t really practiced his new skill much for the next few days, but he has started walking more everyday. He is now able to walk across the living room, and he does not need any prodding. He lets go, stand on his own two feet and walk. He still has the Young Frankenstain walk (and the noises to match), of course, but he is going places now. He seems to enjoy it immensely: check out his grin! We were able to capture it on camera: pretty amazing. Who is going to stop him now? By the way, notice the scratch on his nose and the falling off nail: he is also getting more accident prone now. We are getting quite a few “Ouch” reports from daycare (not to mention the ones from home). Is it just a phase, or did he inherit mommie’s clumsiness?

Check me out: I am standing on my own!

come to mama!

Heeeeere’s Keegan

I am coming to get you, Daddy!

Today, November 14, we had one more Santa Ana Winds event. This means that temperatures rose quite drastically again, and we are expecting temperatures in the mid 80’s for the weekend. This of course means that the fire risk is sky high: in fact a huge fire is raging in Montecito, near Santa Barbara right now. Fortunately it is not too close to where Matt’s brother Jim lives. So we are on the watch out but we are also ready to enjoy the balmy weather.I guess the fear factor is the price to pay for living here (this and the “sunshine tax”). Ask us again if we miss the seasons…

Last week, another very warm one, we went to Pacific Beach, Tizi’s old stomping ground and Keegan had a blast frolicking in the sun. We slathered sunscreen on him, especially because he does not tolerate anything on his head, so sun hats are out. And notice how the image in the Armani logo on Keegan’s t-shirt matches the scenery PERFECTLY.

fun in the sun

The long awaited (or feared?) moment has arrived: Keegan took his first steps today. He can only do two or three before collapsing, but still, it is pretty cool. Of course, he had to take his first steps at daycare (just to make us feel guilty), but I was able to have him do it again for mommy…daddy is not home yet, so he will have to wait to see.

We have noticed that he has been spending more time on his own two feet, without holding on to something: usually this was happening when he was not paying attention. As soon as he would realize he was on attached to anything, he would grab on the closest thing. He has also been happily walking with push his toy that we borrowed from Jennifer (check in later for some cool pictures) and we knew it was just a matter of days…of course we couldn’t record the event on video, but we will try soon. I am sure that once he master the walking part, there will really no stopping him. So once again he beat our expectations: we thought he would walk by his first birthday, and he did two weeks early.

Tizi is already worried: we can’t contain him right now!He has already managed to throw a small shelf on his head which brought him a pretty bruise on his forehead with a matching black and blue nail. We were worried that daycare would call CPS on us. He seems happy, and rightly proud of his new skill, and so are we.

loving the push toy

 Election Day 2008 is finally over. These campaign dragged on forever, and it is finally done. More importantly, though, Barack Obama is the next president. For once the candidate we both supported won. We are very excited about the chance and we are hoping it will really bring some good transformation. The excitement is   definitively this has been one of the most involved elections in years. Tizi and Keegan, of course, can’t vote, but we all walked to the polls together. It was set up in a garage a few minutes away from us, so a good excuse for a night stroll, before Keegan’s bedtime. It looks some un-official  and also so Clairemont: a rusty, 1950s pick-up truck on the lawn, a basketball hoop on the side of the house, plain, cardboard polling booths…but it was all legit.

voter in training…

We were not quite as happy about the results of the different propositions, especially Prop 8 (adding an amendment to California constitution to basically ban gay marriages) and Prop D (banning alcohol at the beach) but propositions can be challenged, a president will be with us for the next 4 years. Now, let’s get ready for a big blow out party on January 20!!!!

One more birthday party to attend. Jack and Allison’s son Case is about to turn 1 and he had a nice beach party in Manhattan Beach. They were quite optimistic, being November 1, but we had amazing, warm days all along…except of course the weekend in question. We did encountered a little bit of rain driving up there, but we also saw a beautiful, 180 degrees rainbow spanning the freeway. Another miraculous event: we made it up there in less than two hours! I guess we never drive north this early in the morning: we left at 9.30am.

Fortunately in Manhattan Beach didn’t rain at all, so we could enjoy a nice morning at the beach. Keegan slept the whole way up there and the whole way back,getting two 1.5 hours naps! Amazingly enough, this is only the second time Keegan is on the sand. I know, we live in San Diego, less than 10 miles from the beach, but life gets in the way. Once we got there, Keegan’s first order of business was of course, eating sand. He seemed to enjoy the new environment and the other kids.

this feels weird but it kind of fun

The kids were of different ages, but he had a good time playing with them, especially the all time favorite: “let’s take each other toy ” game. The big hit of the party was a pink rolling car that everyone loved, especially the birthday boy. Is he going to get one as gift?

the car is pretty cool, but it is more fun pulling Case’s hat

The birthday boy got some cupcakes and a cute hat, and Allison created a personalized label for the soda bottle: very cool idea.

it’s your birthday…eat the cupcakes

It was great to see Allison and Jack and Case: it has been a few months. It would be great if they lived closer, since Case and Keegan are only three weeks apart. Well, it will be a great excuse for travelling more often. Next up is our won little guy birthday party. Of course no plans yet, and definitively nothing extravagant, but we would like to celebrate the day somehow.

Keegan’s first Halloween! Tizi was very excited about it: she never got to do the whole Trick or Treating thing, so she can’t wait to take Keegan around. Matt put a veto on a real trick or threating this year, since Keegan can’t walk or talk, let alone eat candies. It makes sense: he needs to be able to at least ask for candies himself. However, we could not let this year pass without some celebration. So we bought the cutest outfit for him: a turtle. It felt appropriate, since he is still crawling, so he really looks like a turtle. He didn’t enjoy wearing his custom much, especially the head-cover part, but he tolerated long enough for me to take some pictures, while he was engaged in his favorite activity: crawling and climbing up and down the step.

WARNING: major picture overkill here!

down the step…

up the step…

all this exercise got me thirsty…let’s get mom’s water bottle

can I get this costume off, now???

turtle in the grass

In the evening, I stopped by my neighbor Sharon, and white her daughter Jada, we stopped by our neighbours’ houses, just to show those cuties off. Jada was a little skunk, an adorable one at that.  We visited 4 houses, and we were gone for about an hour! Keegan was pretty good, enjoying seeing new people and new houses, and being out at dark time.

 getting ready

what cuties!

It was a very mellow Halloween otherwise: very few kids stopped by: in fact we only had one group of kids: my other neighbors, returning our visit.  Maybe it was because this year Halloween happened on a friday, so most kids were probably out on some school parties. Our daycare organized a Halloween Carnival, but it was in the evening and we didn’t want to disrupt his sleeping schedule, which is already quite distrupted as it is lately. They did the cutest thing though: they created little ghosts by imprinting the kids footprint on a black board. Isn’t it adorable?

We must have a masochistic vein in us: barely two weeks after coming back from Italy, we boarded back on a plane to trek across country to Virginia. And this time we upped the ante: we took a red eye on Thursday night, and we got back late Sunday. So, did we finally loose it? No, no, don’t worry, we are still of sound mind, as least as much as we have been. However, Matt’s best friend Carter decided to get married, and we figured we should have shwon up to make sure this miraculous event really happened. Jokes aside, it was great to participate to the happy day.

We left on October 16 at 10pm. We chose a red eye flight not to waste the whole day flying, and to hopefully having Keegan sleep though the flight, being his bed time. Getting everything ready was a nightmare, as Matt had to work in the afternoon, so he only had a couple of hours to get everything ready. Tempers were flaring a little but we got everything done. It is amazing how much crap you need to bring when traveling with a baby. For an extended weekend we had: a large checked bag, two carry-ons, a overstuffed diaper bag, the car seat, the stroller and a bag with water. Oh, yeah, and the baby. Once again going through security was so much fun, especially because I had to take Keegan out of his car seat while he was fast asleep. I am still waiting to hear what incredible threat was stopped by having this procedure…

Anyway, the trip went well. We could not bring the car seat on board, but he slept on us the whole time. And we even got an hour or two of sleep. Direct flight, this time, so all we had to do, once landed was getting a car, and stop at the closest rest area, where we crashed for a couple of hours. Keegan slept a lot more than that, and we started our drive to Charlottesville. We were very early, of course, and since we couldn’t check in before the afternoon, we took the long, scenic route out, via the Shenandoah National Park. It was beautiful! We grabbed some sandwiches and had a pic nic overlooking the beautiful vistas. The trees were all shades of red, yellow and orange, and still quite a bit of green, and we got the chance to experience ” the change of season”. Yeah, very beautiful, but no I don’t miss it. In fact, thinking about the 80 degrees we left in San Diego, I almost felt homesick…and of course worried about the fire risk.

We took it all in, and we made it to the hotel just in time for check in. Friday night we had a BBQ/rehearsal dinner…outdoors. It has been really warm and beautiful all week, but, as fate wanted, the temperatures dropped 20 degrees on friday. It was Friday 17, after all (the Italians know what I mean). So, it was quite chilly, but we were prepared: we finally got the chance to use some of the cute outfits that Keegan received, never wore, and almost outgrown, because it is still so hot in San Diego.  We really enjoyed the company. It was also the first chance for Tizi to meet the bride to be. Keegan was great. We kept him on San Diego time, which means we could stay out till 10.30pm. he was his usual social self. In fact, Abby took him for a good 15 minutes, and took him around, and he didn’t even look to search for us. I almost forgot I had a child…J/K.

with Abby

The night went well: our little guy slept all night through. he did wake up a little early (San Diego time), but still a nice solid night. The next day was sunny, and we just hung around, did a little clothes shopping for Mattie (so he could look even more smashing at the wedding), and Tizi could finally got a present for his birthday: yeah saturday was Matt’s birthday. Quite an unusual way to celebrate it, but still. Tizi also bought a Rubick cube for him. Very old school, I know, but when we were in Italy, Matt got hold of the original one and spent many hours solving it:he was almost there when we left, so I figured he need his own to practice. Hey, it must be popular again since it is still sold…at Toys’r’Us (recommended age 8+).

The wedding was at 4pm in a winery…what? Never heard of the famous Virginia wine? Shame on you!. The weather was nice but a little chilly, but this didn’t stop Gwyn from wearing a beautiful sleeveless gown. The ceremony was brief but pretty…as far as I could tell anyway. I had to stop away since SOMEONE decided to be very vocal and refused to sit in his stroller. Carter and Gwyn looked radiant.

the happy couple

what a smashing pair: my two favorite men

After the ceremony a reception was arranged. We didn’t know too many people, but Abby and her hubby was there with little Nina. Keegan was happy to see her again, and  they played together…mainly taking toys from each other, and walk away.They were good troopers, though: no crying or fighting: they simply took turns. maybe days care is to credit for it.

Old  friends (and their additions) with the groom

the toy’s tug of war

Later, after the winery closed, the inside room was open up to the wedding guest,just in time for the chilly evening. A fun fire pit was also set up outside. Keegan was very good: he played in the grass, ate snacks and dinner, and even took a nap in his new travel stroller. After long considerations, we did buy a lightweight stroller, a Combi Helio.

Dueling stroller

It is not as cool as Tizi would have wanted, but at 11lb and with an easy compact folding and a carrying starp it did fit the bill. And we have found it gently used on Craigslist, so we saved some cash too. Plus it reclines, has a front bar and has removable top straps, which were high priority for us and our little traveler.

 the wedding cakes

Again, by staying on San Diego time we were able to hang out till past 10pm: Keegan was the last baby standing. He promptly passed out in the car, and we easily transitioned him to the crib once we arrived at the hotel. We had to take a couple of pics of his interesting sleeping positions: , face down, on his side, legs bent and butt up in the air. How can he sleep like this? it is a mystery. However, we learned the hard way not to wake him, regardless of the uncomfortable position he is in. In Italy Tizi had the brilliant idea to reposition him when he feel asleep sitting up, whith his head against the corner of the crib. He woke up, and promptly cried for a good 20 minutes.

 interesting sleeping position

Sunday was our travel day. Keegan, was a little cranky all day. He got wakend up when we stopped to have breakfast at IHOP (punishment fro trying to actually have a sit down breakfast???) and he was probably still tired, but couldn’t get back to sleep. So, while he had been sleeping peacefully for most of the car drives, he was awake for the whole two hours we were driving back to Washington. Awake, and super cranky, I must add. He finally fell asleep just as we arrived at Matt’s brother Michael’s house.  We had a quick, but pleasant visit with him, little Ella and Carol’s mother. Keegan woke up in time to play with his cousin and aeat some lunch, and then it was back to car again and to the airport. The return flight was challenging. The flight was, noce again packed, so we had to keep Keegan on our lap…well, that was the plan anyway, but mr. cranky pants was having a little cabin fever, and did not want to stay put. We took turns to take him on the back of the plane and make sure he would not do anything too dangerous. We tried to get him to sleep, but he protested, LOUDLY. He finally passed out on our lap, and we go about half the flight to nap a little.

Back home, he was awake and ready to play, but fortunately went back to bed easily. The house was still in one piece and no major fires broke out during the weekend. We had a good time but we were definitively ready to go home and rest. And NO MORE FLIGHTS for a long time, hopefully. We will limit ourselves to car drives. Talking of which…we have to start looking for car seat, as this little one (not so little anymore) is basically grown out of his infant one.

passed out after the wedding

So, we made it back (FYI: we did upload the pictures of the weird baby food, so check them out below, in the previous posts). The trip back went well, all considering. Having both of us available to entertain the little guy made it easier, especially because, traveling back to the US you have an extra 3/4 hours of traveling time (blame it on the winds). The first flight was almost 11 hours (versus the 8.5 hours going there), but it was actually easier. Once again we were able to get the car seat on board, and this time we sat in the bulkhead seats, the three of us. This meant lots more space for all our stuff, and for stretching out. Keegan took a couple of naps, and walks on the airplane, but we were able to watch , on and off, three movies. So between feeding him, playing with him, watching the movies, and walking him up and down the aisles, time went by.

The layover was basically spent passing customs and immigration and getting our bags, AND another security screening: why in the world we have to re-screen if we were just off an airplane it is a total, infuriating mystery to me. It is totally stupid as well. We could notice immediately we were not in Italy anymore: security people over there were absolutely fantastic, nice and helpful. In Atlanta we had a bunch of arrogant jerks, that made that process even more frustrating. The people at the gate were not much better: they were arrogant, gave us attitude and were not helpful AT ALL.

We were not seated together, and so we had to ask someone to switch seats, and he fortunately accepted. We couldn’t bring the car seat on board, even if there were some empty seats. The plane had videos in the headsets, but the Entertainment system was not working, so we had nothing to do for 4 hours, which royally sucked, because Keegan slept for almost two, sprawl on our lap, so we would had the time to watch movies. To top it off, there is not ONE changing table in any restroom on this plane. So we had to change poopie diapers on the seat, precariously positioned, hoping to avoid turbulence. Delta SUCKS!!!!! Add to this no free food, $7.00 alcoholic drinks, no blankets or pillow and a basically non existent and and friendly staff. The only positive was that the flight landed on time, and our bags also arrived early. Unfortunately there are very few options left if you want to travel to Italy, so we don’t really have much choice.

We are now settling back into our San Diego life. Tizi misses everyone already, but she is looking forward to her sister’s visit at Christmas, and possibly her parents as well. The weather is very beautiful and extremely hot: quite a change from the already fall-like weather in Italy. We are already enjoying this late summer. Keegan is still adjusting to this new change. The past two nights had been a little challenging, as he has been waking up every couple of hours. it is a lot better than Italy though, as he sleeps in his crib, and usually falls back asleep by himself. We are hoping to be back to normal in a couple of days. He started daycare and he is having a good time, playing with all his friends and teachers. This is great news, especially for Tizi that needs those free hours to get everything done. She will be back to work next week.

So we are slowly getting back into our routine. We got some pictures from Tizi’s friend Loredana, so we decided to post them. A couple are from our trip to the Castle (castello Sforzesco) and a nice image of the “adults only” day at the Navigli, an ancient system of waterways, where we had a wonderful lunch. We also made it to the Triennale to see an exhibition on italian design. Looking at these images is not helping how homesick Tizi is feeling, but it is a nice memory nonetheless.

nice tourist shot in front of the castle

lunch in the Castle’s courtyard

Tizi and Loredana at the Navigli

Well, Keegan waited more than 9 months to show us his teeth, but now there is no stopping him! A few days after the first tooth erupted, a second one, next to the first came out. Now, the bottom ones cut through as well. So, he left San Diego three weeks ago without any teeth and he comes back with 3 or four! This kid is doing everything his own way.

We also tried to weigh him: mom got on the scale alone and then, holding Keegan and it looks like he is now 9.5 kg. So he gained 1.5kg in three weeks. He is also talking a lot more…maybe it is something they put in the water here. If we didn’t have to leave, he would be walking, taking and potty train himself in a few weeks. (-:

Unfortunately, it is already time to go back to San Diego: we had a wonderful time and Tizi’s parents were absolutely fantastic: the played and entertained the little guy and really took great care of him, giving Matt and Tizi some much needed rest (especially in the morning).

a nice family photo with Tizi’s parents, and her sister Cinzia, her husband Sandro and Keegan’s cousins, Naraiana and Samuele

It was definitely somewhat unexpected and took many by surprise, (it was even surprising for us) but we did decide to baptize Keegan. It may have been the Catholic guilt, or maybe “the fear or the weight of tradition” (as the little Baptism book they gave us mentioned), or maybe the full immersion in the Italian culture; whatever the case may be we thought it would have been good for Keegan to have a religion to belong to. When he is old enough, he can then choose himself. This may not sound very warm and fuzzy, but we are “tepid Catholics” after all…a term Italian priests use to refer to non practicing Catholics. Surprisingly enough, the Italian church, as in the actual parishes and priests not the Vatican, has become very tolerant and open, facing dwindling numbers, and it has adopted an open door policy to accept into its embrace even the least devoted or practicing, the so called tepid Catholics. After all, both Tizi and Matt were raised Catholics, and we both subscribe to its basic moral values. Now, the church’s interpretation is what we have some issues with…but we digress again.

The ceremony was arranged quickly: we asked the priest who married us in Italy 4 years ago to baptize Keegan. He was happy to do it, and he remembered us well. The day was September 22, 2008. The church is the same church where Tizi’s parents got married in 1964 and of course where we got married in 2004. It is a small, intimate place, with a cute courtyard. We only had a few people attending: Tizi’s parents, who were also the Godparents, Tizi’s sister, with her family, including the “Grandmother in law” (the mother of Tizi’s sister’s husband…can anyone think of a better name?) and two very close friends of Tizi’s parents. Even Tizi’s maternal cousin, who she had not seen in many many years, came. It was great to see all.

The ceremony was very nice. Usually, in Italy, the Baptism is a community event, celebrated during mess with many childrend being baptized together. Because of the time constraints, we were the only one in the Church. We really enjoyed this more intimate celebration. Keegan was absolutely perfect. He enjoyed all the confusion, and the people, and of course the attention. With two video cameras and two regular cameras, he seemed like a rockstar, as the priest remarked.

Keegan was wearing the same baptism dress that Tizi’s mom knitted for her own baptism…a few years ago. A well used dress at that: Keegan is the 5th child to wear it. Keegan did not cry, even when his head was submerged in the water, and was attentively following all that was going on.

Keegan  quietly paying close attention…with a little help from a friend 

Hey: it is not bathtime!

daddy lighting the candle

All together: the godparents, the parents and the celebrated boy

After the ceremony, Tizi’s mom prepared a wonderful party at the house, with tons of goodies, a delicious cake, champagne and of course the typical light blue confetti (the sugar coated almond candy that are a tradition for weddings and baptisms). Two of Tizi’s friends met us there as well as Tizi’s paternal cousin that came from Rome to visit. It was wonderful to see everyone, especially Tizi’s cousins, who we have not seen in years.

all together again: look at all the goodies!

What a wonderful cake

Again, Keegan enjoyed all the attention and he even clapped for the first time in excitement. He definitely loves lots of people around and the confusion…Matt and Tizi are a little worried: how will he get used to the much more mellow life in San Diego????

…the real one. Since our optimistic plans of a two days getaway at the beach got crushed by reality, we figured we could at least get away for a few hours, since Keegan is having a great time being spoiled by Grandpa and Grandma. Luckily there are many places that are close by, so we settled on Como Lake, less than an hour train away.

We didn’t have much planned; we arrived around noon and found a speed boat that would take us around the lake to Bellagio. Having been to Las Vegas quite a few times, and having been at the Hotel Bellagio, we were of course curious of seeing the real thing. The boat trip was pleasant. We passed many beautiful villas, and villages, wondering which one was George Clooney’s. In roughly an hour we were at Bellagio. We grabbed some “piadine” for lunch (basically sandwiches made with grilled tortilla-like bread) and sat on a bench, overlooking the lake. It was very pretty and peaceful. We strolled on the small streets, and up the cobbled stone stairs, and ate a yummy gelato.

Bellagio view

the real Hotel Bellagio

It was fun to be just the two of us, without schedules, without worries. For a few hours we were just a couple not mom and dad. It felt great. Even if quite a few time our conversation veered towards baby stuff, we had the chance to chat about many other tihngs. Just before catching the train back, we wondered around Como and watched his ancient Duomo, so we got some cultural stuff too…

I have to say, though, that Bellagio is not that amazingly great. It is nice, with a cute, short lakeside walk, but it is very crowded and touristy, and it does not have a music synchronized fountain! The lake is wonderful, and very romantic, but I am sure there are other towns just as pretty. We were glad to see it but not sure we will back anytime soon.

romantic view from Bellagio

We made it home just before Keegan’s bed time. He had a great day with grandma and grandpa: he played, ate lots, and slept a bit. He was happy to see us, and so were we. We were very grateful for Tizi’s parents: beside the rocky start, we are really enjoying some much needed rest and a welcome break.

Well, well well: it looks like Tizi was right. Mr “antsy pants” is moving forward. Saturday (8 months 7 days) was the first time we noticed. Of course, it is not an unorthodox crawling, but he is moving forward, and getting faster and faster every day. Instead of a traditional hands and knees crawl, he is using his belly quite a bit, rocking on it, in an old school, breakdancing kind of way. He is pretty funny to look at! I guess now would be a good time to baby proof the house. (-:

He is stretching to reach quite a bit as well, and he also figured out that if he is on a blanket and there is a toy he wants on it, but it is out of his reach, there is no point trying to crawl towards it: he can simply pull the blanket and the toy will come to him. Smart or lazy????????

He has also mastered the rotation move and he can do a 360 turn, still on his stomach, in less than a minute. You just need to put in front of him some enticing object and he will rotate; lately that would be:

1) newpapers and/or magazine, preferably if mom or dad are trying to read them
2)  ANYTHING colorful that is out of reach. As soon as the object is reached, it is NOT interesting anymore
3) ANYTHING  dangerous, such as cables, wires, etc
4) electronic devices, such as phones, remote controls, etc.

ready, set…

GO!!!!!!

Almost there

It is within my reach

Got it! I can crumple it as much as I like

So, we made it to another month: Keegan is now 8 months old. It was another beautiful, sunny day in San Diego, and since it happened to be a Sunday, we went for a pic-nic and a short walk at lake Miramar: not really a lake, but an artificial damn. It is quite nice, though, and quite pleasant to walk.

Keegan has grown a lot in the past month: he gained 1.5 lb, topping off at 16lb 9 0z. Still holding on his spot at 5% of the curve, but he does not seem quite as small anymore, and he has plenty of fat rolls, especially on his legs. According to our imprecise measurements, he is now about 70cm long or 27.5 inches.

He looked smashing in his Armani baby shirt that grandma sent from Italy.

It is getting harder and harder to get him to pose for his monthly pictures: he moves and squirms and flip himself on his belly.

check out my acrobatics!

We have more milestones to report. He is getting closer and closer to crawl: he is moving backwards quite a bit, and he usually positions himself in the “backward dog” position: will be be a young Yoga master? He has, however, learned to bend his knees and he now stays on his hands and knees a little more every day: Tizi’s betting he will be doing a full forward crawling within two weeks. He did move somewhat forward once, but not in a coordinated manner: he used his head !

He is also learning to get up from sitting, by holding onto something. He is usually doing in his portable crib that we have positioned in the sun room as a sort of play area. We obviously can’t leave him there by himself anymore. He is also pulling himself up somewhat by holding on mom’s and dad’s clothing.

More than ever is on the move: he can’t stay still a second…and Tizi is usually blamed for passing this characteristic on. It is quite exahusting. So, even if we are now sleeping more ( knocking on wood) we are as tired as before, because he really wears us down…and he takes shorter and less frequent naps. Tizi  is constantly trying to come up with new ways to keep him entertained. The latest trick: a small tent we can put up in the gated front yard, so he can enjoy some fresh air. He seems to enjoy it.

Finally, he is really attracted to tags and paper in general: another thing he has learned from mom. Lucky for Keegan, paper is definitively something that is NOT lacking in this house.

Keegan has also tried a larger variety of foods: apples, pears, bananas, peaches, avocado (NOT his favorite so far), peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, white potatoes and zucchini. We even started preparing some homemade food: nothing extravagant, but just to add some variety. Keegan has been a good sport about it. He tries everything, but he is also very clear and determined when he DOES not want to eat something: he makes a funny face, and refuses to open his mouth. He even forcefully pushes the spoon away: fortunately, he doesn’t spit anything out, so far. Tizi’s hoping he has inherited dad’s sense of adventure and love of new and different foods. We already have one picky eater in the family.

Well, Keegan is all set to go. He received his first passport, the American one, and is ready to fly to Italy in September. Of course, we are still waiting on the Italian one, which we ordered at the same time. But you know how this work…huge backlog and now it is vacation time. Tizi really hopes to have it by September, as it would make the custom process easier, but she is not optimistic. We are talking about Italia bureaucracy, after all.

I am ready to go

 check this out: my picture looks pretty good

This was an unusual 4th of July: no hanging out at the beach, no fireworks, no beer drinking or BBQ. Keegan had a tough night and so we were all tired. However, we still wanted to enjoy a beautiful day in San Diego, so we had a pic-nic on a nearby park, and just took it easy. It was a nice end to our two week vacation.

tizi’s favorite t-shirt. yes, she is this arrogant. (-: