Motor'en

It's official....At 7-months and 4-weeks old, Baby Brother has found first gear and is motoring around the house now. It's fortunate when Daddy's home for one of the big milestones, and this time, he was there. Alessandro had taken one to three steps forward, but had never really busted out crawling across the floor. Tonight, he did. And, Daddy was there for it all. Here's a little video we took after figuring out that Alessandro had figured it out.

Stitches

Wouldn't you know it....at 5-minutes to 5 o'clock, just after ballet but before leaving Grandma's, Bettina clocks herself on the coffee table. Stoic little thing...she won't show she's hurt, hiding the gushing wound under her hand, until she sees Mommy. Then, the tears pour.
I take her to the bathroom to wash off the blood from her hands and assess the wound and know instantly it needs at least 2, but probably 3 stitches. Damn, now we only have 3-minutes until the doctor's office closes... I scramble for the cell phone which has the number pre-programmed and dial.
"I know it's like 2-minutes until closing, but can I rush down there? Bettina's gonna need stitches and I don't want to go to the emergency room." The bad news: the doctor's already left for the day. The other bad news: they don't do stitches there anyhow. The good news: I don't have to go to the emergency room! There's a great little urgent care place nearby where they can do the work with hardly any wait. You make an appointment and, even better, it's only for pediatric work!
A short phone call later, I have an appointment for 20-minutes-from-now. Within an hour, Bettina's in and stitched up (they did a really nice job, too! ) and out the door with a couple of prizes to commend her bravery.
What is the wonderful place that EVERY mom should know about? Night Owls Pediatrics in Pleasant Hill. The other good news: as long as you have a PPO health plan, you're completely covered; all you need to pay is your regular co-pay! Fabulous tool to know about!

Time to Angrogynize

This is just too much! I think we need to add to our dress-up closet.

Poor Dean! You know he has a way with the girls if he's willing to play dress up with princess outfits. Well, the girls' friend Dean is such a sport. And, we have ammunition on him for, well, the rest of his life. When over for a play date, Dean just jumped right in and grabbed an available costume with coordinating accessories. However, I think it's time we got some more androgynous....perhaps Dean and his mommy will be giving the girls some Superman capes or the like for their birthday??

Can't Find First Gear

So, Baby Brother is crawling....he just can't find first gear. We're stuck in neutral or reverse. He's trying very hard to get that crankshaft in the right direction; the focus on his face is clear. However, when trying to get something, he finds himself just a little bit farther away each time he starts to crawl. He doesn't get frustrated, though....at least until he's backed himself into a corner and can't go anywhere anymore. Then he whimpers until I place him in the middle of the room so he can try again. And try he does. Still moving in reverse or stuck in the middle just trying to find that first gear. I'll bet he has it all straightened out around his 8th month.

It's Just Art

In the last two months or so, I've noticed a dramatic change in the drawings and art the girls create while at school. I've talked about changes like these before like in my post about their drawings of bugs. They were then (last April) just showing signs of growing into the schematic stage where they use recognizable forms in their art. Still, their entire drawing would be done using the same marker and the same color -- and they would draw on top of their drawings, too, not really feeling the importance or maintaining a value of the image.
Now, the girls come home with colorful pages that tell a story. Their people are brown with pink dresses standing on green grass with birds in the background. They have fingers and feet and hair, smiles and noses. Sure, it's just a pile of papers in their cubbies which almost always get thrown into the recycling just as soon as we get home...it's just their art. But, it's so indicative of how they've developed and continue to become more aware of their world and all the parts to it.
They have emotional responses and connections to how others perceive their drawings - their reality. The other week, Bettina drew a picture of Ava while at school. Her teacher told me how much time and effort Bettina took in creating 'Ava,' using different colors, making brown hair and arms and legs, black ears and tongue, how she drew her floating above a field of green grass. Bettina even wrote Ava's name next to her. Proud of her work, she put the cap back on the pen, walked over to Ava and said, "Here, Ava, I made this for you." Ava's got a bit of a mean streak and, seeing a slight imperfection where the brown pen dotted the paper below her legs said, "I don't like it - you drew me taking a poop!" Ava was being silly (doesn't everyone know nothing's funnier to a three-year old than poop?), but Bettina was devastated. She immediately changed to a sad face and "hid" in the corner for over half and hour before re-engaging in play with others. Paul and I posted this picture on the wall and regularly complement Bettina's artistic nature and thoughtfulness towards her sister.
Is it just art? Watching the changes as they come into our house, even though most of them end up in the recycling, is entrancing and it makes me marvel at these little people who are growing in so many ways beyond their weight or shoe size. It is remarkable to watch their minds and imagination unfurl and grow.

Definately Time to Drop the Mattress

Alessandro can pull himself up onto things now. Still trying to figure out how to turn his feet around to crawl, he is relying on pure upper body strenght to get where he's wanting to go. Unpacking after a recent trip to Costco, I put Alessandro down next to the box of diapers and wipes that go in the upstairs closet. I turn my back for a second and look to find him standing up, feet still a little curled under, and holding on to the wipes box. He let go with one hand and tried to reach for the diaper box. Curled feet don't make for stability, so I had to catch him. Not 15-minutes later, he'd also gone from on his tummy to back in a sitting position.

He can do this with his activity block as well. Here's me trying to "catch" him trying to stand.


Yep, time to knock that mattress in his crib one more knotch down. He'll pull himself up and launch himself out.

Alessandro - 7 Months Facts and Stats

Little Man is getting ready to crawl! Here's a little video where, as he does dozens of times a day, leans forward and with a little effort, gets his knees beneath him. He rocks back and forth, getting used to the balancing thing, and then usually falls on his face and tummy. At Grandma's house the other morning, he actually moved his knees forward two little steps before falling on his tummy. In the meantime, he has discovered alternative ways to transport himself while his upper-body strenght gets perfected: he rolls across the room, he will "bottom shuffle" (scoot around on his bottom, using a hand behind and a foot in front to propel himself), and commando crawl, slithering forward on his stomach.

We don't have another "official" doctor's appointment until 9-months, but we went in to check for an ear infection and found he was 19 lbs 5 oz (and didn't have an ear infection). He went through a huge food frenzy when he was eatting about 5-jars of food a day, but has backed down to about 3. And, mom has not had any luck in 1) getting him to sleep through the night or 2) take a bottle. This guys just a boob-man and I think I'll just start giving him a sippy cup and make that the next goal.
Current schedule: out of bed by 7am, nap from 8:30 or 9am to about 11am; lunch (1-2 jars of stage 2 food) at 11:30; nap from 2-4pm; dinner (another jar with oatmeal or rice cereal mixed in) at 4:30pm; get ready for bed at 6:30pm, sleep by 7:30pm (depending if the girls are going down at the same time), waking at 11, 2 and 5:30am, but we're trying the "cry it out" method to curb this pattern. He's only slept through the night once and, wouldn't you know, the girls were up 4-times that particular night leaving me no sleep!! (Grrr!)
This month, we had some photographs taken by an excellent photographer who specializes in the old-school styles and vingnettes. I wanted to mimic some of the old photographs I have of my mom's parents. I have a photo of my Grandfather, about Alessandro's age, wearing his baptism gown. Although their coloring is different, the pose is nearly the same. I plan to hang them next to each other. For the girls, I have other pictures of my Grandma and her twin sister that I tried to mimic. They were a little bit older than my girls at the time, but we found a set of vintage dresses to borrow and I made up some large silk bows and styled their hair the same way my Grandma and her sister's were done, although their hair was shorter with the classic 1920's bob do. I'm very excited about the whole grouping.

Tea Time for Tots

Friend from school, Hanna
Bettina and her play high tea
Ava awaits her high tea goodies

I've found this little tea shop, Crown and Crumpet, in Ghiradelli when we went over there for our Christmas hot fudge sundae. The girls and I invited a friend of theirs from school, Hanna, and her Mom and baby sister to meet us there to try it out.

It's absolutely adorable and the hostess wonderfully helpful. She rightly judged our group of seven (5 kids: 3 aged 3-1/2, a one-year old and the last just 7-months) and put us on the fast-track and brought the girls some play food shaped like tea cakes, a 3-tiered cake tray and thongs for each little girl. This busied them until the "real thing" came along. A very helpful hostess, she suggested the Tea for Two combination to be split by the whole table with a pot of "Blue Eyes" (aka "pink") tea for the kids and a chai for us adults. It was perfect! The kids got to try crumpets, scones, tea sandwiches, tea cakes and all the trimmings of curd, whipped butter, strawberry jam, etc. They loved the fact their tea was pink, too!

This was a very fun activity - a bit fast-paced for a nice tea for me, but that's just life with 3-year old short-attention spans in a relatively nice tea shop. Hanna's mom, Gina, and I fantasized about doing one of these at home -- getting some pretty fabric for table clothes and cute little children's tea dishes. At this age, they'd appreciate it just as much and there wouldn't be the anxiety of the "one-false-move" that can happen so quickly with little kids in a nice place. Probably a more relaxing place to go with either an older kid (5-years+) or with a better 1:1 ratio.

Afterwards, we went across the way to a new kids' play gym called Peekadoodle. Very fun and decorated with common San Francisco themes (Golden Gate Bridge, Victorian play house, cable car, etc). However, it's a monthly membership that's too rich for my blood ($110/month). I prefer to dabble in play places and try different things different days. And, with pre-school 3-days a week, we wouldn't be able to go often enough to make it worthwhile. If I were very local and lived within walking distance, it would likely be a no-brainer. However, this time I'll pass.

Our Year in 25-Minutes or Less

Can't believe it will be 2009 tomorrow!! To celebrate, we'll likely enjoy some ice cream and ice skating, too, if Daddy gets the things he wants done around the house all fixed up. If you have the time, here's a rather substantial look at our year through pictures and video:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A San Francisco Holiday

Well, Grandpa and Sherry's airplane is grounded in SEA so, along with 3-other days worth of flights, they are going back home instead of down here as intended. It will be a blue Christmas without them. However, Aunt Ainsley did make it down from the snow just before having to go back to work and we managed some fun - San Francisco style.

We started out with Christmas decoration gazing while listening to carols in the car. We saw the trees at Pier 39, Ghiradelli Square and Union Square. We then went in for a hot fudge sundae at Ghiradelli and took pictures on the cable car at the Hyde Street turn around. Oh, what fun it is to ride and eat chocolate at the same time!!

And, although we won't be able to host Dad and Sherry, we will still probably go down to Fishermans' Wharf to get fresh cracked Dungeness crab for Christmas Eve's dinner. Paul's mom and younger sister and family will come for the "traditional" ravioli Christmas Day feast, which we will host. Christmas with my Dad and Paul's older sister will have to wait until 2009.

Alessandro - 6 Months

Well, he doesn't have teeth yet, but is obviously teething. Naps are shortened by teething pain and drool as well as shoving anything in his mouth is constant. He's also biting me while nursing (Grrr!).

Here are his healthy stats at the beginning of his 6th month:
Height: 26 3/4 inches - 75%
Weight: 16 lbs 12 oz - 50%
Head Circumfrance: 43 cm - 25%

His silver-plated rattle is still his favorite toy. His god-parents gave him a new crinkle-teething book which he also likes. He rolls from one side of the room to the other with ease. Unwrapping presents this Christmas might be a fun activity for him!!

Care to Elf Yourself?

I love this site!! You've got to check out our annual elf dance, gratis a Jib Jab... Click here to watch a jingle-jangle.

Having a Holly Jolly Christmas

Well, Ava and Bettina are ramping up to have a hilarious Christmas. Here's a little "play" with Ava as Santa Claus and Bettina as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer..... and, Merry Christmas!

Alessandro's Baptism

With God-parents Ralph & Tiffany and Rev. Judy. Also gathered with the family and his sisters, also wearing their crosses, gifts from Grandma on their Christening Day when they were just over 4-weeks old.

It was a rainy day, but not quite the freezing torrential storm that was expected. In the white heirloom gown I bought from Feltman Brothers (called the 'Roosevelt') that Grandma gifted for the occasion, we went to church - this time on time - to baptize our child. If you've been reading this blog for awhile - or are just familiar to our funny family stories, you will remember that we almost missed the girls' baptism we were running so late. On top of that, while Paul was hurriedly changing Bettina into her christening gown, she had one of those giant explosive poops that sprayed "mustard" all over the car as well as Daddy's pants. For some beautiful Godly reason, it completely missed her gown. I was laughing too hard to either help him or hold Ava properly. Poor Paul threatened to boycott the christening because there was no time to clean his pants. Oh, the things the congregation didn't know that day....
Not nearly an occasion for such a story today. Alex's baptism was cute and happy. We got many compliments on him - even today as I dropped the kids off at school. However, two of his cousins had complaints: Antonio couldn't figure out why the minister kept calling him "Alex" ("His name's not Alex!" he said in not-so-hushed tones as his mother tries to shush him). And Jacob, my cousin's 12-year old, wanted to know why he had to wear a dress! Well, we know who will keep him straight from now on!
Now our baby is christened - even if they couldn't pronounce his Christian name.

Alessandro - 5-Months

Does this cowboy thing ever really get old for me? Ah, no.

weight - 16 pounds (50%)
height - 26.5 inches (75%)
head - *forgot* (25%)

So, now we're 5-months and so many changes: we've outgrown the infant car seat (at 26.5 inches, 1/2 inch too tall) and had to change to the monster convertible one. Still backwards facing - at least until 20lbs and 1-year. We're grabbing absolutely everything and can even transfer from one hand to the other. He is rolling (both ways) all around, across the floor and under the Christmas tree to pull on some of the ornaments there (note to self: move the ornaments up one more notch). He is still a happy giggler and goes with the flow. Today, he had to wait until 11:15am for his 9:30am nap because we had to take Bettina, with a suspected ear infection, to the doctor (good call - bulging ear drum for sure! Antibiotics and these great drops that topically numb the drum to ease her pain). He is eating solids (only rice cereal, bananas - which he LOVES - and sweet potatoes), so I have to remember to pack a bowl and a spoon, as well as break out the old baby food processor from the cupboard. Oh, the memories. I still have some of the old jars from the girls, too. How nice! We need to put Nonna on baby food alert. She did such a great job making all kinds of food for the girls, and they both became great eaters (even compliments from the pre-school teachers about how un-picky they are), we have to set Alessandro up for the same plan. Making food never seems to be a problem for her - nice Italian heritage. Things to look forward to this month: celebrating his baptism this Sunday and buying a new Christmas stocking. Also, we will probably be out of the 3-6 month clothes and breaking into the next level. This is always fun as you feel as if you just went shopping! Nice feeling.

An Evening to Remember

OK - Wedding number 4 for Alessandro and just days after he turned 5-months old. Here he is with bride (and my good friend) Tina and her new husband Neil. This ceremony was all-the-more significant as Tina and Neil got married at The Harvest Inn, just like Paul and I. Tina came to that ceremony and got the idea (one of many she researched) there. We were thrilled that we could watch Tina and Neil while remembering and recounting our own ceremony, this time, with one of the kids with us.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

We're in!! After over a year of "we should be moving in within the next 2-months," we are now living in our "new" house, which is really our old house. The girls are in "big girl" twin beds and Baby Brother is for the first time in a crib (no rolling out of there!). We're like a kid in a candy store! Paul was so excited, he and all three kids tried out the Jetta jacuzzi tub within hours of settling in. My, it's good to be home!

Academy of Sciences

Family Outing

How does a family of four go out on a trail ride with only one horse? My dream come true...

Ava's strike with Misty is apparently over since Bettina got a new riding helmet. Now when we go to the barn it's not just Bettina who goes racing into the tack room to get her helmet, pleading to ride before Misty's even clean. Her stipulation is that she rides on the saddle and gets to sit in front (she doesn't like the Buddy Seat that sits behind the saddle).

Monday we didn't have school (Veteran's Day), so we went to check in on Misty. Imagine my surprise when Ava asked to go on a long trail ride "up to the mountains." Who am I to deny, right? Well, we wound up on the trail for 1.5 hours walking toward the mountains along the cliffs that overlook Montara State Beach, Ava in the saddle, Bettina in the Buddy Seat, Alessandro riding shot-gun in the Ergo walking with me on the ground. The girls loved watching the waves and the cars below on Highway 1. They chatted about which bird calls they were hearing and protested when I said it was time to turn back. "We'll go again on another day," I say, "It's starting to get dark."...while I also am thinking, "Yee-haw! They got cowgirl in their blood!"

Doesn't Know His Own Strength

Little Alessandro is growing by leaps and bounds! He is constantly testing his own strength and yearns to stand, reach, and pull. I no longer can hold him and expect to hold something else. While feeding the girls a quick breakfast before school one morning, little Alex knocked over the "family" bowl of Honey-Nut Cheerios 3-times before I decided he had to be banished to the jiggle-chair until we were all done. Ava no longer wants to sit too close to him as he swoops down to grab a fistful of hair while she innocently watches TV.
His hands and arm constantly move while he feeds. He kneads his hands sometimes pinching me quite hard. I don't have to wait for him to bite me before thinking about weaning him for sure. I also tease him calling him the Bronc Buster for, as he nurses, his right arm will swing wildly around as if trying to sit the 15-second ride in a rodeo. He's an object of perpetual motion!
He pulls nearly everything he can reach and stuffs it eagerly to his mouth to chomp on it. His favorite toy has certainly been my fingers and hand, however, as his chomping strength increases, I've been trying to get him to transfer more and more to teething toys. His favorite toy has been the wooden orb atom-looking Squish toy held together with an elastic cord. It is incredibly easy for him to grasp and chew on. It was also one of the girls' favorites. This Oball toy would also be a great one. More and more he's reaching for toys and engaging with them.
His strength is encouraging, but also startling. To his parents' horror, last night he "practiced" his back bends so well, he launched himself off of the bed! To do this, he had to travel the length of the queen-sized mattress in transverse crawl of back-bend arches, push the protective layer of pillows out of the way and onto the floor, and then follow suit himself. He was none-to-pleased with the results, and neither were Mommy or Daddy! Gone are the days of trusting the child to sit still. Get ready, world -- Alessandro's on the loose!