Blossoms, Blossoms, and more Blossoms

It is Spring, though the 30 C degree whether may suggest otherwise, and you are blooming along with the flowers on our balcony. Though sometimes Daddy and I don't have time to water the flowers and they start to wilt before we remember again, that is not the case with you. Perhaps a reason for forgetting to water the plants is the fact that we are walking around and around and around in circles with you in the house. Whenever the moment finally takes you, you'll let go of our hands and be officially, in some ways, more separate from us. You'll walk on your own and you won't depend on us to get around anymore. Your free will, will finally be yours to act on.

Tonight, you started a game of peekaboo all on your own. It wasn't just me acting like an idiot as usual, trying to get you to giggle, but finally a two way game where we both laughed and your little self started to shine through, as if the sun were breaking through a cracking chicken egg.

Daddy and I can never tell you just how amazing you are to us.

Telling the Tooth

We spent our first Mother's Day at the beach. First Mother's Day for me and first day at the beach for you. True, in your first months of life we spent time at the family house in Lavinio but you had no idea what was going on, so in my book it doesn't really count.

Let's tell the truth here, you hated the sand and the water scared you. Your first beach day was not a hit. You did, however, love the bread at the restaurant where Daddy took us to celebrate. Fortunately, you didn't get sunburned but Daddy and I did (my arms are still itchy and tight). I hope that you'll learn to love the beach and I even look forward to the days where we can't even tear you away. I hope you become a beach bunny (with 50spf of course)and a lover of all outdoorsy things.

Not only was it your first beach day, but your first tooth finally, finally came in. After months and months of conjecture about whether your were really teething or not, it was there on Sunday morning when we woke up. Though we couldn't share our spaghetti alle vongole or grilled calamari with you, you chomped away on the bread and observed the finer things in life, which you will get to enjoy later.

the next phase

On the night of Tuesday April 26th you woke up in the middle of the night for the first time in a sitting position. I considered this a milestone because you had gotten into a sitting position in your bed before. Who could have imagined that only a week after that tender moment of finding you sitting wimpering in your bed at 3am was merely the tip of the iceberg. Today is Friday May 6th. Since this past Tuesday, you have taken to standing and sitting in your bed rather than sleeping in it, at naptime and at bedtime. I have to admit that the first night was kind of endearing but when daddy and I could no longer even eat dinner at 9pm, the phenomenon quickly lost its luster.

Not only are you dealing with your new found ability to get into a standing, sitting, and all fours positions whenever you please, but your teeth seem also to finally be coming in. I say 'seem' because it seems like you've been teething forever. Every Italian woman who has borne children, with whom I have come into contact in the last 10 months, who sees you put your fingers in your mouth says, 'ahhh she is preparing her gums!.' Not so much. I have told Daddy several times that your teeth were coming, only to be spited by those non-existent chompers. He no longer believes anything I have to say regarding your teeth or lack thereof. What is different about this time than all the other times I thought your teeth were coming, is that I actually saw them, hovering beneath your gums while I gave you a bath yesterday. Two little hard white lines just waiting there occasionally scratching against your spoon when you eat; causing you pain and discomfort and making you the most miserable and sensitive version of yourself I have seen.

This too shall pass. You just fell asleep after crying for an hour and fifteen minutes. I tried to help you lay down and calm down. I gave you your blankie and you sucked on it for a millisecond only to rollover on your tummy and get up, over and over again. Maybe if I hadn't tried to 'help' you might have let yourself fall asleep faster.

Did I mention you also have a cold?

The Suburbs

We spent your first Easter in the suburbs of Milan at Zia Moira's house. It was a great holiday, fun, relaxing, and most importantly populated by family. Zia Moira is the most fantastic and dynamic of stay at home moms that I have ever met. She is full of energy and always a step ahead of everyone else. I have always felt this way about her, but being a mom now too, I feel even more inadequate than before. I was exhausted nearly the whole trip given the mental slow down of not having to take care of my own house and having six other people to play with you whenever you chose. But nevertheless it was a fantastic trip.

Zia Moira, Zio Iso, Maira and Omar live in the suburbs of Milan, in a town not completely different from the one I grew up in, in California. Green grass always just cut, lines the yards and streets of the town. There is always talk in the house or amongst neighbors of the more scandalous figures in the community, and from the outside a real sense of groundedness and home abounds. Comparing our city life to that of your cousins, I found myself feeling as if city life were temporary and fleeting, when really it is just as fixed as life anywhere else. Perhaps not having a piece of land to call your own is the reason why the two things feel so different.

I started to wonder, then, what life would be like for you if we lived in the suburbs. Or what life would be like for Daddy and me. It is true, I grew up in surburbia and though I miss it sometimes, I don't think I want it for you. Surburbia may offer security, but it can also feel like a bubble that you feel like you have to break out of in order to grow. In the city, life is what it is. There is no romance or mystery about it.

After Easter we said tearful goodbyes to your cousins, aunt and uncle, and the suburbs and returned to Roman city life. Now that you are in our lives, emotions seem to boil just under the surface of every member of our family. Grandma and Grandpa will soon be coming to Rome to celebrate your first birthday and I am trying not to think about how painful it will be when their trip is done and they'll have to go home. Family in all its shapes, colors, forms, and locations is the most important thing. Remember that.



Playing on the grass in the backyard...