tizimatt.info

Welcome to Italy Matt! The day has come: Matt’s arrival in Milano. We left for the airport bright and early:  no need of mechanical instruments since we have our natural alarm clock, who decided to wake up at 5.20 since Tizi has been out late the night before.

Matt’s plane was 1.5 hours late, but fortunately, Keegan was easily entertained. We even found some sort of kids playroom (no toys, mind you, but lots of brightly colored furniture) and Keegan spent the time running around.

It was great to see Matt, and we were all happy to hug him and kiss him.

welcome to Milan, daddy

catching up with daddy and Keegan’s favorite books

On the way back, Keegan fell asleep in the car, and that has been his only nap all day, so he was extra cranky all day… unfortunately this was a trend that continued in the following days. We are not sure what happened, but our happy, sunny Keegan of a few days before has changed into a whiny alien, just as the weather has suddenly cooled off, and the sun has been replaced by dark clouds. Could the two events be related? Not sure, but all I know is that the night wakings started again, and the whining increased significantly… fortunately, grandpa and grandma were still his favorite playmates, so we could get a little break, and take morning naps and afternoons rest. Maybe, for as happy as he was to see daddy, it was another destabilizing event for him. Not sure, but all I know is that, between Matt’s jet lag, and Keegan’s crankiness, we had a very mellow week: we just did not have any energy left. We still found time for fun, of course.

The next morning, October 5, was our Wedding Anniversary (wedding number 2): 7 years! If there is something called “7-years itch” we surely have not felt it. Are we maybe too busy with our  little hurricane? Just kidding. It seems impossible that it has been so long ago, it feels like yesterday and we are still grateful every day we have found each other.

That morning we woke up with the smell of a freshly baked cake: Tizi’s mom made this great rose shaped cake for us. Keegan of course wanted in the action, and ate quite a bit.

bleary eyes and jet-lagged but still celebrating

On Thursday,  we all piled up on Grandpa’s car for a trip to a Safari Park, that is only an hour or so away (and Keegan slept the whole way up). The sky was gray, and being midweek, we basically had the whole place all for ourselves. It was fun. The park is divided in two sections: the safari park, where you drive around a loop and the animals move freely around you and your car; and the amusement park section, with more traditional cages and displays and also many rides targeted to the little ones.

All of us really enjoyed the safari park: it is interesting seeing emus, zebras, giraffes, lions, tigers, etc. so close. Maybe a little too close…one of the tigers basically licked our car window! And who really needs to see a zebra’s butt this well?

After the safari drive, it was already lunch time so we took a break eating yummy sandwiches: think lots of cured meats and cheese. Keegan enjoyed trying a little bit of everything, but mainly chomp down on focaccia bread.

After a nice lunch, we headed towards the rides part. There are many rides, and he enjoyed them all…well, maybe he was a little perplexed on the water ride, but other than that it was all good fun.

Keegan loved running in the aquarium, and checking out the reptiles and of course trying out some rides. We went to a caterpillar roller-coaster, and to the Lion King carousel, and also, Tizi’s favorite thing: a huge bumpy slide. It was actually set up for adults, and no kids under 4 was allowed, but since there was no one checking (you must love Italy), we gave it a try. It was not really too steep, and Keegan loved the thrill. We already know he will be a big adrenaline junkie! Since there were hardly anyone in the park, we got to go on the rides without waiting, and sometimes we have them all for ourselves.Mom was usually the designated ride person, but daddy and grandpa also got in the action.

The next day, mom and dad got a day off. We left the little guy with the grandparents and went to Torin. Yes, I know, not a very exotic location, but it has been really cleaned up for the Winter Olympics of a few years back, and it really nice. We walked on old streets, lines with luxury shops, and see all palaces and castle, and ended up at Mole Antonelliana, the city symbol, now hosting a large Cinema Museum. We took the panoramic elevator to get a beautiful view of the city, and the river Po. It was sunny and warm, and of course we forgot our camera…oh well.

We then visited the cinema museum: it is really very well presented, if a little light in content. A great experience we recommend to anyone: it really puts you inside the movie experience. We had lunch in the trendy cafe, and we left n time for going back to the train station…and for a nice thunderstorm. It was great to have some time all for ourselves, to chat and just do whatever we wanted without worrying about nap times and lunch times and whining. Even the train ride gave us the chance to relax and read… except when Matt got stopped by the train police (yes, there is really a Poliza Ferroviaria, or train police): not only they asked him for his ID, which he fortunately had with him, they checked it thoroughly, even calling someone to check his entry stamp.I could not believe it was happening. Did we land in Switzerland without noticing it? With all the illegal immigrants they have in Italy, they are “harassing” and American tourist? Funny! Little scary as well, because, I did not have any document on me that proved I was Italian, but I guess they took my word for it.

Keegan was a little angel with the grandparents, or so they said. After all, he reserved his worse behavior for us: I am not kidding. When he was alone with grandma and grandpa, he was a perfect child, but as soon as Matt or I joined in, the crying, tantrums and whining started…I guess we had an excuse to leave him with the granps more often.

We got the chance to have a few afternoons, as my parents took Keegan to see his cousins: they live in a remodeled old farmhouse, with an internal yard, that has been restructured to include 4 apartments. All the families that live there have young children, so it is a great, communal life. Keegan loved to see all the older kids and to play with them.

We also went out a few nights, either with Tizi’s friends or alone. There is a cute bar right below Tizi’s parents apartment, which, while is a nuisance when you are trying to sleep, is very  convenient when you want a cocktail and are too tired to go anywhere fast. Good and cheap too.

Fortunately, as the week approached its end, the weather started improving, with colder temperatures but also sunnier days, and Keegan’s mood seemed to improve too. The last week, he returned the happy boy we all know, and his whining dramatically decreased. His sleeping somewhat improved, no more night waking, and most importantly, he did not call out for mom when he woke up: so, while grandma was getting him up and giving him his milk and his breakfast, and playing with him at those early hours (5am), we could get a little more sleep.

So, here we are at last: Milan, Italy. The dreaded trip has come and gone, and it is now time to enjoy our vacation. First things first: our long trip.

As you all know, Tizi was extremely worried about spending many, many hours on a plane with Keegan alone. Door to door the trip took approximately 22 hours. However, the trip went amazingly well, beyond our wildest dreams. Yes Keegan did not sleep much, but he did not fuss, which was paramount. There were no meltdowns, at least no Keegan’s meltdown. More on Tizi’s meltdown later. Just to give you an idea, this was my carry on luggage: a car seat, folded inside a backpack (23lb); overflowing diaper bag; carry on bag, full of books and toys; thermic bag and a plastic bag with Keegan’s food. stroller and of course a squirmy 22 moths old. Hard to see in the photo, but to make it work, I had a large, sturdy hook on the stroller, so I could attach the carry-on and the food bag, while the car seat was on my shoulder and the diaper bag across the stroller top bar: I did get some compliments for the efficiency!

Security was easier than expected: one of the TSA lady actually helped me through it, while another guy was testing the food and liquids (quite a different scene from Phoenix).  Keegan was in a great mood, and he started the day spilling 4 new words: dark, dog, people, down. We got to the gate about 30 minutes early: of course there was no empty seat, which meant 5 hours of Keegan on my lap. At least I had an aisle seat this time.

The guys next to me were very nice and Keegan was great: he played, walked down the aisle, ate some food, read some books…I honestly don’t even remember what we did on the flight, since it went so smoothly. We landed early in Atlanta right around his naptime and he fell asleep in his stroller shortly after touching down. Not the ideal situation, as I wanted him to play around and run, but at least I had some time to call Matt and reassure him, and to have some lunch.

Now, you may remember that last year we flew the same route, and in Atlanta, just before boarding, Keegan had a massive throw up, and we had all the drama, and fear of losing the flight. Well, Atlanta may not be our lucky town after all, because we had a drama of other sorts this time.

We arrived at the gate early and as soon as an agent showed up, I approached and asked him if there was an extra seat. The guy was a total moron, and unfriendly to boot. He told me he did not know, it was too early, he could not tell me, etc. So I asked him to change my aisle seat for an aisle in the bulkhead, so Keegan would have more space (plus it is a great barganing seat). The idiot took forever, could not do it, had to ask for help, and finally printed the tickets. As boarding approached, I noticed a woman with a young baby fighting with the agents at the counter for quite a while. For some reason I felt uneasy about it. Sure enough, as most people have boarded already, the agent approaches me and tells me that my son is too old for the bassinet – which I NEVER asked for- and that they will have to move me to give my seat to this other lady. The problem is that they don’t have any more seats on the aisle and have to place me somewhere in the middle seat.

You can imagine what happened next: I was so upset I could not see straight. I definitely went a little overboard, but the thought of a 10 hours flight with Keegan on my lap, stuck in the middle seat was terrifying…and it was all THEIR mistake. I told them that, in multiple ways (many including not very nice words) and all they could offer me was to fly the following day. Then I had a total meltdown, feeling powerless. Finally, the agent said that there were two people that had not shown up yet, so there may be a chance I could get a second seat: and so it went. So, I was basically the last one to board, I got two seats, and was able to put all my stuff under the seat, for easy access. So, all is well what ends well.

The second flight ended up leaving the gate an hour late, for an electrical problem (just what you want to hear before crossing the Atlantic), but being close to nigthtime I did not care. Keegan did not sit long, but he had the extra space he needed, and between some new toys, books, and games, time went by. I did not even need to use the DVD player I brought with me. Keegan kept on adding new words: eat, walk, apri (open), chair, five (as in Gimme five), acqua (water). It must have been his words day.

At nighttime, I tried to put him down, but you could see he was very uncomfortable, tossing and turning, and running out of space. Of course, my car seat, that I brought on purpose in case there were an empty seat, was in the cargo, since nobody knew till the last second if I could have the extra seat.

I barely got any sleep, but the relief of no tantrums was so big I almost did not care. I also did not care that the entertainment system did not work, but I can imagine how happy the other passengers were about it…This is not the first time it happens on these flight, so I can say with confidence: DELTA SUCKS!

We finally made it with 20 minutes delay.

My parents were waiting at the airport and Keegan immediately recognized them and greeted them. In fact he was calling for them as soon as they were out of sight. He did not need any adjustment time at all with them.

We crashed as soon as we got home, but after two hours, Keegan decided he had enough and woke me up with a loud: “no nanna!”. We had the first visitors: my sister and her kids, and went to bed early. As expected, the nights has been challenging, between the jet lag and the new environment, with multiple night wakings, but after 3/4 days, he was sleeping more or less through the night.

Tizi spent the first week, despite the lack of sleep, reconnecting with old friends, even some old high school buddies, that she has not seen for years.

with Simona, restoration specialist and friend since preschool

with high school buddy Tiziana (see, it is not that rare of a name)

It was great to catch up and spend time together. Keegan was happy to spend time with the grandparents, and they were even happier to oblige.

The weather was nice and sunny, and somewhat unusually warm. Keegan enjoyed the attention, and seeing so many different people. He loves the craziness of the city, and its thousands sounds. He is particularly attracted by motorcycles, cement mixers and the sounds of the many emergency vehicles.

He got to ride on the bus and the subway, and immensely appreciated both experiences. He has been at his best behaviour for all my friends, even enduring an hour long lunch while he was not eating. He took long naps in the stroller (nothing new here), and enjoyed Italian playgrounds. It is interesting to notice how different they look: the structures are made in wood, they usually have more climbing surfaces than stairs, and the slides are stainless steel…No matter, he enjoyed them all.

He of course had to try the Italian fountains as well (check out the Milano emblem on it) and getting all wet.

At the public park, Keegan had his first Merry go round experience. He never showed much interest till now, and I have to say he is somewhat ambivalent: he enjoys it for a couple of rounds but then he wants to get off. He picked a couple of different rides, but we could no dissuade him from riding the pink car.

He even got to play and interact with other kids, in a house setting, and he did very well. There was a huge train model set up, so all the kids played together without
fights. Keegan’s favorite part was the draw bridge and the annoying beep it made: he must have activated it a thousand times.

He is still on a roll as far as his language skills. Two, three words combos are now the norm, and he is adding lots of new words every day, many of those in Italian. We got sor (star), carta (paper), albero (tree), beech(beach), dita (fingers), tita (matita or pencil),titzza (pizza), go, vai (go in Italian),move, door, qui/li’ (here, there), and my favorite one: sasore (ascensore or elevator). He knows more colors too: green, red, white, black and more names: tiza (Cinzia, my sister), Loi (Lori, Tizi’s friend), uele (Samuele, his cousin). Now it is getting really dangerous: we need to be careful on what we say, as he is repeating everything.

Of course, for as much as he has been enjoying the new adventures, Keegan has not forgotten his old friends: the DVD with pictures from this blog has been running on constant rotation on Grandpa’s big screen TV. He is so happy to see all these familiar faces.

We had been counting down the days to Matt’s arrival: Keegan has been crossing out the calendar, and we were all excited for Sunday to come to see daddy.

Goodbye San Diego! As mom is feverishly trying to get everything done, and as she is growing more anxious about the trip, we are still enjoying our wonderful San Diego, and yet anther heat wave. Just to make it harder to leave, San Diego is showing off his wonderful blue skies and warm weather (and warm water).

We had an intense week. Keegan got to see all his girlfriends in separate playdates. We started on Monday with Jada, our neighbor. we stopped by for a couple of hours, and the two played together, and made each other laugh. Keegan was both in awe and fear of the two beautiful, and very playful dogs at the house.

On Wednesday, we headed to Mission Bay Park, to the usual playground, with his favorite daycare buddy: Mackenzie. he was so excited. The two played wonderfully together, sliding side by side, running around and playing house.

Of course the sand is always a big draw and they did plenty of that too. There were no fight and very little “mine” happening.

She is a little dynamo: climbing everywhere, and roughing around.Everyone at daycare mention how well the two of them get along. Allegedly, they spent 40 minutes, one morning, playing Play-Doh together, sharing and not fighting…Keegan definitely turns on his charm with her, and never hesitated sharing his snacks with her. In fact, the two of them were feeding each other.

When it was time to leave, the two of them run towards each other to hug…and of course bumped heads. So we ended a wonderful day with two crying babies. It was hilarious, though. It looked like a scene out of a Saturday Night Live Skit.

On Friday, it was time to say goodbye to all his friends. We took a nice group shot with Ms Isella and Ms Yadira, his two favorite teachers, and all the other kids, and then it was time for hugs.

We then headed out to La Jolla Shore for yet another playdate. This time with Hannah. Jennifer’s little girl. It was another glorious day in San Diego so the beach was just the ticket.We met Jennifer, Hannah and another friend, Kelly with her little Liam on the sand.  and  Keegan has not shown too much interest in the beach or the ocean, so far, so we have not been as much as we could have, since we are so close. Today, however, it was a different story. I don’t know if it was Hannah’s presence, or what, but he had a ball.

Almost immediately, Keegan wanted to go to put his feet in the water. He NEVER wanted to do this at the beach. He was pretending to dip his feet when we were reading books with pictures of the ocean, but he never actually got too close. Maybe his experience at Bay helped:I let him dip his feet, and splash around before realizing there was a huge  sewage pipe (with caution sign) right there.Insert mommie’s guilt here, ad a long, strenuous scrubbing in the tub back at home.

In any case, he dragged me by the water, and jumped right in. He played, splashed, fell down face first in the sand, got up, and did it all again. The water was very warm, so he did not mind getting wet.

He did not want to get out, even if Hannah refused to go in. No matter, he was finding stranger boys to play with. At which point I really started asking: who is this kid and what did he do with my son???? The alien abduction theory seemed confirmed when he decided to go and play with Hannah in the sand, by himself. They played together, a good 40 feet away, without fighting, and sharing the toys for a good 15/20 minutes. And Keegan, not only was not calling out for me, he had his back turned on me!

she is cute: I will pretend I did not notice her…

This is a miracle. And they kept on getting along, and playing the whole afternoon.

goofing around under the umbrella

Wow, so this is what it feels like to have a mellow child! As the afternoon came to a close, Keegan was ready to go: he now usually says something like”car mama” or does the driving sign when he is ready to go. If I am chatting for too long, or he is getting bored, he simply says “goodbye” to get me to leave. How funny! So, we hugged and Hannah gave him another big kiss and bid everyone bye bye.

What a send off. Goodbye San Diego: we will see you in a few weeks! In the meantime, everyone please send us some positive thoughts for the trip on Sunday. We need all the help we can get!

Keegan is quickly approaching the 2 year mark, and while we have been “enjoying” more than a glimpse of the terrible twos, we can also enjoy watching him becoming his own person. What can we tell so far? He is a little clown, and he is very “spirited”: his emotions run high on both end of the spectrum. Last time we took him at Seaworld, he made the whole room crack up as he exploded in a series of really loud WOW! as the beluga whales were slowly floating by the glass.

He loves to laugh and to make you laugh. He like to do little games and tease you and he is 100% boy: he is roughing and tumbling around at any occasion; at this point we are walking around full of bruises, from his affectionate outbursts, his playing or his “cuddling”. We can’t wait till we can enroll him in some wrestling or martial arts class so he can use some of that energy productively.

Here is a rare moment in which we were able to get him to stay still long enough for a picture. Ignore the tired, strained expression of  parents, and focus on the cute little guy. They needed a photo of the family at daycare for the All About Me week, and of course we waited till the last minute, so here we are, trying to look normal at the end of a LONG day…

He is also, as all of you know, an early bird: after a couple of 6am wakings, we are back to our 4.30/5.30 wake up time. One of our neighbors has a rooster, and I can tell you our kid is up before the roster. And this is why, we present…one more picture of Keegan sleeping. it is such a rare sight, we need to document it. Also notice that, yet again, he is not sleeping in the crib. Noooo, he fell asleep on the high chair, and the closest, safest place to put him in was the sun room. By the way, that circular seat is amazingly comfortable for naps: I can attest to that.

Doesn’t he look like a little angel when he sleeps? And then he wakes up, and the illusion is gone. (-:

He is a lot more social: his shyness is now usually limited to a few minutes, and he is interacting with other kids more and more. he is still very much “mama’s boy” and going through his “mama’s separation anxiety”, when Tizi is around. He is usually fine when he is at daycare or with a sitter. Talking of which, this week we had a miracle: we went out for our friend Eric’s birthday, and Keegan, not only said goodbye to us when we left, but he did NOT cry, not even for a minute. This is a first!

He is also going through a language development phase: while a lot of his words are not completely intelligible, he is adding new words almost every day. The new additions, from the last couple of weeks:

car
toe
knee
foot
piede  (foot in italian)
tow (towel)
shoes
ragu (pasta meat sauce)
bibi (baby)
su (up)
Yadira (his other Daycare teacher, name that he repeats over and over and over again)
so (sock)
no (nose)
cucu (peek-abo, the Italian way)
poppy (yes the flower: it is in one of his favorite songs)
puppy (dog)
hot
cold (also used for wet)
tao tao (ciao ciao)
cookie
kick
atte (milk, from latte)
tree
poon (spoon)
apple
appy (happy)
anna (Hannah)
Emma
Titti  (Kensie, his best buddy at daycare)
tada (is now only Keegan)
whale
bear
tide (now it means: outside, inside, open, close)
acqua (water)
fruit (as it applies to our pineapple guava fruit tree)

He also added the donkey noise (ehh-oh), the chicken (ga ga ga) accompanied by arm movements, crows, elephant and sea lions. He is also making the driving sign. And in the past week he has been using more and more 2 and 3 words sentences: “my Towel”, “coocle mamma”, “no more atte”, “car mamma”. He now opens and close his hands also for a flashing light and for saying Ciao.

Not much Italian as of yet, but he is definitely understand it fully. And honestly, if you were a baby learning the language, what word would you find easier: towel or asciugamano??? Hopefully a three weeks full immersion will boost his Italian vocabulary.

Goodbye summer! We can’t believe it is already over but with Labor Day we mark the official end of the season. And we ended with a bang. We had a wonderful weekend: since Matt took half day on Friday, it felt even longer. One of Matt’s sisters, Beth, came visit us with her husband Wayne on Friday. We had a nice BBQ  outdoors, and Keegan got reacquainted with his Auntie. We were happily surprised to notice that despite a really short nap he was actually was in a social mood. Of course he did not eat any of the delicious food we cooked, but he got its feel of chips and salsa (mainly salsa).

Saturday was a relaxing day: we did not do much, just played around the house, did chores, and of course caught up on our sleep. Keegan also had some marathon naps most of the weekend, 2.5 hours each day. Sunday we had Jennifer, Dave and Hannah’s over. Oh boy, was Keegan excited. Hannah is, at this time, probably one of his favorite buddies…and who can blame him? So despite a few territorial issues, and many MINE from both sides, they overall played well together. They shared books, and ran outside and really enjoyed getting wet at the water table.

this is so much fun!

As the kids were somewhat playing by themselves, we were also able to have a nice relaxing afternoon, and enjoyed some adult time. It was great.

In the late afternoon, we all had a great outdoor BBQ. Keegan and Hannah had their own conversation going and were able to sit at the table for the whole dinner, enjoying Mac and Cheese, veggies and chicken. They were rewarded with ice cream. It was just so fun to watch them communicate: despite Hannah’s excellent vocabulary— and Keegan’s very poor one—, they were still able to talk to each other in their own language.

Keegan busy eating, Hannah busy posing for the camera

As an extra treat, Keegan got to stay up later that night…all the excitement must have exhausted him, because he slept past 6am the next day. Or it may have been Hannah’s goodnight kiss! (hopefully he will learn to be a little less stiff when a girl kisses him).

What a great way to end the summer!

It has been a long time coming. Keegan’s hair has been really long for quite a while, but Tizi hesitated. First of all, she really likes the surfer look: long blond hair blowing in the wind; then there has been the practicality of it: we had pretty hectic weeks and weekends and it seems the only kids salons are in East County …well they have one in La Jolla too, but do we really want to spend even more just for the location? However, his bangs were already getting in his eyes, and he complained about it. I did a quick cut, but I guess it was not enough. One afternoon this week, when I picked him up, he was wearing a barrette. I actually had to do a double take, and did not recognized him at first.

snack time with Beckett and Miss Veronica

it is spaghetti time!

I thought it was really funny, but I guess Matt was not that amused, and basically drew the line in the sand. The next day I made an appointment for Saturday. In the morning, Keegan was incredibly cranky, for some reason (did he know what was coming?), but we packed some food, toys and books and headed towards the salon. No parking was available, so Matt dropped us off and went to look for a space. Keegan was inconsolable, so I entered the salon with a inconsolable toddler in my arms. Fortunately the hairdresser helped me distract him with toys while we waited for dad to come back. To my great relief, both of the other two “first haircut babies”: were whaling, so I felt a little better. There were no more little chairs available, so I ended up sitting in the big chair, holding him. I think that actually worked out better: he was calm, distracted by the novelty, and simply a little perplexed.It was also super fast, only a few minutes.

I am not sure why I am here, wearing this funny thing

 Hey, watch it with those scissors

Uhhmm, not bad at all.

He did not cry or fussed. Neither did I as I saw his blond locks falling down. He got a real ‘boy” haircut. Not quite as long as mom would have wanted  (they grow back anyway) but definitely not a buzz cut. He looks older, and still adorable. They gave us a nice certificate, and taped some of his hair there: a nice memory.

We are not planning on taking him regularly: we can definitely trim his bans at home, but we wanted to have at least the “First Official Haircut experience”. Afterwards, we went to Lake Murray for some play time: Keegan enjoyed looking at the birds, ducks, and the hairy caterpillar that was crawling all over his arm. And he practiced throwing rocks in the water. We had a quick lunch and drove home. Keegan fell asleep promptly in the car…and of course, there he staid. However, learning from our past experiences, besides leaving the garage door open, and the windows rolled back, we also set up a small fan blowing some cool air to be a little more comfortable. Yesterday he woke up early, all sweaty, and very upset and cranky, since it was too hot.

It must have been working: he ended up sleeping for 2.5 hours! Not only that, but he woke up in a wonderful mood, and was happy all afternoon. So here it is: we know that when he sleep more he is happier…so how do we get him to sleep more? Anyone?

We have been “enjoying” almost three weeks of an unseasonal heat wave. Yes, nothing compared to Phoenix, but temperatures are hovering around 100 degrees in the East county, and they are well in the 90s in our neck of the wood. And since we have no A/C in the house, an internal temperature of 85/90 is normal, even with all fans moving and all windows open.  It is a little uncomfortable, but we are well aware that dry heat is better than than high humidity, so we are trying to enjoy the end of the summer as much as we can.

We had a few visitors that shook up our daily grind. In the middle of August, Matt’s friend Jack and his son Case (only 1.5 month older than Keegan) stopped by. Jack’s wife Allison was flying in San Diego that night, so they spent some time at our place while they were waiting for her. It was interesting to see the two boys play “together”. Keegan was a little more territorial than usual: he did not remember Case at all— he last saw him in October—and we think he was also trying to “mark his territory”. He is definitely doing better when we have little girls over: then he is much more of a charmer, even sharing his snacks with them. They eventually warmed up, and played nice: there were no wild cries, just a lot of “mine, mine, mine”.

the toy explosion

Keegan took the time to take a snack,getting all comfy in his chair: substitute his milk bottle with a beer, and his goldfish bowl with chip, and you will have a flash forward to Keegan, 30 years old, watching some sporting event (soccer WorldCup?). All he is missing is the remote control.

That evening, we braved the crowds and met for an early dinner at Filippi’s in Little Italy: it was crowded and loud, just the perfect place for two active toddlers. Matt’s and jack’s friend Steve joined us, even if he was temporarily childless (his boy is on vacation with mom). Both kids did great, with minimal whining. Keegan did not eat much, as usual, but he had fun playing and hanging out with the grown-ups.

 don’t bother me (for a picture)…I am eating

Jack, Matt and Keegan

Keegan taking our picture with his Chicco’s camera

The next morning, we met everyone again at the playground in Balboa Park and the kids burned some energy on the slides and animal statues. It was fun to see them tumbling around. It is amazing how hard it is to get together: they only live a couple of hours away and we still can’t manage to get together more than once or twice a year. Well, we will soon have another chance, since jack and Allison are expecting a little one in December.

The following week, Tizi’s college friend, Meggie, drove down from San Francisco. She was last down here in December, just as Keegan was starting his separation anxiety phase: he was definitely doing A LOT better now. He warmed up to her very quickly, and we all had a great time, playing in the house, at the park or in the pool. In fact, he has never done better in the pool. It must have recognized the swim instructor in Meggie: he was swimming, jumping in, walking around the edge, and even trying to blow bubbles. Tizi also had the chance to enjoy some girl time. We had wonderful lunches every day, with laughter and chatting and we really had the chance to catch up. And at night, after Keegan was in bed, more relaxing time and good dinners and conversation. We even got one of our other college buddies to join us for a BBQ. It was wonderful to see her. She is the absolute perfect guest (and she cooked us some great food too). We miss her already.

The only sour note was Keegan’s sleeping: between his sickness a few days early, and sleeping in our room while Meggie was here, his sleep was completely out of sort. Multiple attempts before he would fall asleep, multiple night wakings and super early wake ups. It took many days, and much crying to bring him back to some sort of normal. One day we will find out what is the deal with his sleep (or lack whereof). Again, one more thing to fear about our upcoming trip…

Last weekend, we had a great cook-out party at Matt’s boss house. He usually go out for a week long fishing trip and bring back his fresh catch. We enjoyed seared Ahi Tune and all sort of other jummy food. Keegan was even matching the hawaian theme of the party with his cute outfit.

Puppy! 

Tizi looks like a dork in this pic, but check out Keegan’s smile!

Keegan enjoyed the change of scenery and the new toys he got to play with, including a giant play structure and a cute little house. His favorite, though, was the expandable ball.

oh?! what happen to the huge ball?

He snacked on veggie fries and chips and cheese. We all a good time. Sunday we remained at home, and escaped the heat in the pool: ooooh, what a relief. Keegan was also suffering the heat, and drank lots and lots of Orange Juice. He also discovered he REALLY likes salsa (the mild kind) and ate tons of it, double, triple, and quadruple dipping. He actually used chips as a spoon. All this acidic food, of course, came with a price: his boy parts got really red and inflamed, but he did not seem to mind too much. We were a little worried, but mom was very proud she did not rushed and called the doctor. A small internet search, and we cut him off for a few days and gave him plenty of warm baths: sure enough he was back to normal in a couple of days.

This week also started with more social events. Our neighbor Sharon and her daughter Jada stopped by to play. Keegan was definitely more in the sharing mood, and more mellow with her around. They were even to play together a little. They look adorable together. Hopefully we will have more playdates together, since they are finally getting at the right age. They also enjoyed running up and down the driveway and hitting the garage door, and then down again. Very cute.

hey, check out the hottie I got here!

Huum, I am not sure about this guy. I think will stay aloof for a while

So, let me show you how this ball toy works

So, here it is, our last days of summer…but wait, we live in San Diego, so summer may go on for a little longer. In fact, starting next week, with labor day over with, we may have all our favorite places all for ourselves, with the tourists gone. We know it is supposed to be an El Nino year and since we are planning some major remodel, it will probably be a wet one, but still, we hopefully can count on a nice September.

We have not written much in the past couple of weeks, because we had been a little under the weather. Well, Keegan has been a little under the weather, to be more precise, and therefore as a consequence, we have been too.

We are still not sure what it was exactly, but it dragged on for more than a week. A couple of weeks ago, we started the weekend in a bad way: Keegan was really cranky, would not eat much or sleep well. We didn’t think much about it, and in fact we all went to our friend Lena’s house to celebrate Mila’s second birthday. We had a good time. It was a small gathering, so Keegan warmed up somewhat quickly and he had fun drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, and reading books, playing with his favorite girls and of course eating a yummy cake.

 The three musketeers again:Keegan, Hannah and Mila

Sunday was pretty uneventful: we got into the pool, and we even convinced him to take a walk on the benches around the edges, with water up to his chest. He seemed better, but he started having a little cough. On Monday, he went at daycare as always, but when I picked him up, they told me he was tugging at his ear. Well, he often does that, either when he is upset or tired, but for extra caution, I took him at the Minute Clinic. They did not see any ear infection, but the nurse noticed his cough and a little redness in his throat. He also weighted him: a whooping 25 pounds (11.3kg). Not sure how accurate this is, but hey, I will take it!

His mood was normal, so we felt reassured. Sure enough, that night we got the early wake up, or should I say wake UPS. Keegan was waking up almost every hour, coughing, and he was really warm. We gave him some Tylenol, and hoped for the best. By 2.30/3 am, after another wake up call, I ended up sleeping with him in his room: he was coughing and warm, just needed some reassurance. His cough was now very barky, so we were a little worried. Could it be croup? Against our temperament we took a wait and see attitude. I stayed home with him, while Matt had to attend all day meetings. Keegan did not seem to mind. Of course this is the day they are having the Pony pictures at school! And after the “crying cowboy” picture last year, I did not want to miss it this second chance. I asked if it was OK to take him down for the photos: he did not have a fever at this point. So, here he goes, up on that pony and, since I was there, he did not cry. YEAH!…he did not smile either, mind you, but hey, it looks like he was the only one of his class NOT to cry.

At least he did not cry till the end, as he was disembarking, when his lower lip started quivering…but mommy was there to grab him and he was all better.

He even got to pet the pony… we stopped by to see his friends in his class, and of course what is the first thing he did? He ran in and set on his teacher’s lap. No matter what, he is always the one sitting on the adults’ lap. Talking about choosing the best spot. How he beats the other kids, I am not sure…he must be his sweet smile or his puppy face…

He feel asleep quickly for his nap, but when he woke up, he was burning up! I measured 100.4 under arm (so really 101.4). Insert mommie’s guilt here: I decided to wait and see, and sure enough, he gets high fever! I immediately made an appointment for the next morning (pm at his doctor is a zoo) , and comforted him as I could. His mood was actually not too bad, but his cough was really scary: dry and barky. We had another horrible night, and another early morning cuddle/sleep in.Matt stayed home with him this time:it was Tizi’s last few days of class, so she had to be there for helping the students, for finals and presentation. Plus, she felt she earned a little treat: so she went to have a relaxing lunch with her designer friend. She really felt she needed the break. And a nice glass of beer help soothe anxiety and guilt. (-: Thank you Matt!

Matt took Keegan to the doctor: nothing new, but at least we ruled out anything serious. The doctor said it was an upper respiratory infection caused by a virus, and that we had to wait it out. The doctor cleared us also for taking him back to daycare, as long as he did not have fever. That afternoon, Tizi figured Keegan deserved a treat as well, so she took him to Seaworld, to meet up with his best buddy Hannah, and her mom Jennifer. Keegan really likes Seaworld: as soon as I mention the name, he starts moving his hands up and down as they do at the Shamu show. Plus, he has been looking at the blog pictures over, and over, and over and over again, especially the ones with him and Hannah at Seaword, so he knows well what it is. This time we saw a walrus, polar bears, baluga whales, penguins and the obligatory Shamu show. We all had a nice afternoon. It is funny to see how he is now interacting with Hannah: he must really like her, since he offered her his fish crackers, one of his favorite  snacks.

The rest of the week continued the same way, minus the fun part. We were able to take him back to daycare, even if a little later, but we had horrible nights: he would wake up 3/5 times,  and want us to snuggle with us and to be soothed. A few days, he feel back asleep in our bed or on the couch.

It was tough, on everyone, and the fact he would not eat almost at all was a little scary. His cough slowly improved, and even our neighbor, who is a pediatrician, reassured us. It was just a little stressful, as Keegan was obviously a lot more clingy than usual (!) and sleeping a lot less.

We did managed to squeeze in a date night, a really needed relief. We were planning to go to the Depeche Mode concert. We bought tickets months ago, and we were really looking forward to it, but being our dark week, they canceled the show at the last minute. We still had a great time, though, with movie and dinner. We watched Funny People that brought some relief.

The weekend was still tough. Saturday he had possibly his crankiest day ever. A bad night, LOTS of meltdowns, lots of crying. We calculated he probably cried a good three plus hours all together that day. We tried to distract him: we went to Torrey Pines, and the Glacier Point to see paragliding, but nothing helped. He was not even able to take his normal nap: he woke up early and could not be soothed. He finally passed out right on the couch and slept another hour.

On Sunday we finally started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Another bad night, followed by an early morning nap, for all three of us. We actually got up around 8 and it felt great. So we decided to go to the zoo as they opened. It was fun. We got to see the elephant exhibit again, and all the animals were very active: we saw the lion, the lioness, the jaguar and the elephants of course. Keegan’s favorite thing, beside running around, was playing hide and seek with the jaguar as it was going in and out of his exhibit.

crappy cell phone pic: dad and Keegan at the zoo

On Monday, despite a really bad night, in which Keegan called out for us and cried for more than an hour, we were full hope, and fortunately, knocking on wood, so far so good. Keegan has started eating again, and playing and being the same happy little guy he is. We are all breathing a big sigh of relief, and looking forward to have more fun all together this weekend.

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

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

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

the lobby, overlooking the golf course

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keegan in his big boy chair

Oh, my, those are big shoes to fill

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

Keegan’s fake smile, playing with his blocks

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

Words

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

and as of today…please (peas)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lost in meaningful thoughts while staring at the Ocean

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

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

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

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

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

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

4th of July’s spread!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I am the king of the world

peek- a-boo!!!

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

Jennifer, Dave and Hannah

SHAMU!!!

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

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

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

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

 learning how to share

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

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

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

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

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

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

look how tall this is!

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

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

I am styling!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Torin enjoying his birthday cake

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the teddy bear that grandma brought him when he was born

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