Finally back to blogging

What a crazy month it's been since my last post. We left France, moved to CA, bought a car, found an apt, have been unpacking all the while trying to get Alessio back on a good schedule. We've been so busy. Things are finally feeling back to normal and we are all so happy.

Alessio has been doing so well. He is getting so big and changing everyday. I think the last thing I wrote about was that he was rolling over, well he's an old pro at that. Now he is getting on hands and knees, rocking and trying to crawl. He can scoot a little bit and between rolling and scooting he can move himself around a room pretty well to get to what he wants, which usually ends up being something that he shouldn't be into.

Two weeks ago we transitioned from giving him small tastes of foods to full meals of solids and he loves it!!! He's such a good eater. So far his favorites have been sweet potato, apple sauce and peaches, but he hasn't turned away to anything other than zucchini. We'll just have to try that one again in a couple weeks. I've been having such a great time making all his food. Feeding my little guy is so much fun and so exciting. It is definitely a messy job, but it's great!

Since moving into our new apartment we have been getting Alessio back on his sleep schedule and I'm happy to report that it only to one hard night and he's back on track better than ever. He's been sleeping from 8:45ish to around 9 am without a peep. He loves to sleep on his stomach with his butt up in the air, he looks like he's doing downward facing dog, it's too funny. At first we were a little nervous but since he knows how to roll there's not much we can do to keep him on his back.

I'm so happy to be in CA and have our life back in order. Alessio has been hanging out with all his cousins so often and it has been so wonderful.

Time to Leave

We have now come to the end of our vacation. We leave France tomorrow morning, spend one night in nyc and fly to CA on Tuesday. Looking at Alessio today it is amazing how much he has grown in just one month. In addition to rolling and trying to stand he has made so much progress with his hand/eye coordination. He is such an active baby, we definitely have our hands full. I'm not looking forward to the long plane ride tomorrow. It is a day flight so he probably won't sleep too much, which means that we will be walking the plane for the majority of the flight.

Our time here in France has been nice. Alessio was able to spend some quality time with his grandparents and great-grandmother. They were able to see him accomplish developmental milestones. They are not looking forward to us leaving tomorrow, but we will return next year. Hopefully they can come to CA and visit soon.

I'm really looking forward to getting to CA. I can't wait to see everyone and have Alessio meet more of his family.

Sleepless Night

Last night Alessio spent his first night without Marco and myself. It was our wedding anniversary and we arranged for him to stay with Marco's parents while we went out to a nice dinner and stayed at a bed and breakfast. Our dinner was amazing and the b and b was lovely and quaint. It was quiet and peaceful and we were both looking forward to a night of good sleep. Unfortunately I had the worst night sleep since I was waking up just about every hour thinking of Alessio, checking the time, wondering if he was awake or sleeping, if he had eaten well, making sure the cell phone was on and had service in case they needed to call us. So needless to say I was so tired and ready to be back with my little guy in the morning.

Alessio handled the night away like a champ. He went to bed at his normal time after a very big meal and ate a couple times during the night, but went right back to bed and was happy and smiling in the morning. I missed him so much over the night, I don't want to leave him over night again.

Just like a log

So much has happened this week since we've been in France. I feel like Alessio has made some big progress in his development. He has been moving around and so much and really trying to go. He does not like to sit still for one minute unless he is sleeping. The other day he rolled over for the first time from stomach to back. I really thought he would do back to stomach first since he has been working on that for some time now but he was on his stomach and, plop, he rolled over. It was so exciting. Then today, 2 days after that, he rolled back to stomach. He is just rolling like a rolly polly all over the place. I was watching him on his mat today and he rolled back to stomach and then immediately stomach to back. He went from being a little lump on a log to rolling like a log.

Another amazing thing is that he really likes to stand up and his legs are so strong. He perfers to stand on your lap rather than sit. Yesterday I stood him up near the coffee table and he put his hands on the table and he was able to stand there by himsself without my support. It was amazing, he's not even 5 months yet. I think he's going to be an early walker. He just really wants to get moving.

We've been having so much fun here with him. Today was his second trip to the beach. The first time we put his feet in the water and he didn't like it one bit. As soon as the cold water hit his feet he started crying. Maybe next year he will like it more.

One more cute thing that he has been doing is trying to give me kisses. He wraps his little arms around my neck, opens his mouth and presses his mouth against my face. He is such a sweetheart!!!

He has been tasting an array of yummy foods this past week. We have given him all kinds of fruit, I think apricot and canelope have been his favorite, watermelon is a close third. He also likes zucchini and avacado. He loves tasting new foods and has begun trying to grab the foods we are eating. I'm so excited about feeding him new foods.

Stuck in Teething Hell

Poor little Alessio is getting his first tooth. When I first saw the little white mark in his gums accompanied by all the drool I was excited. It was a big milestone is in growth and development. That was about a week ago. But now everything has changed. The little white tooth that I once thought was so cute has grown to become my arch enemy. As it pushes through his sensitive little gums he is writhing in pain. The past two days have been so challenging. For the past month or so our days have been filled with joy, laughter and general happiness and I was able to manage any fussiness with ease. Now I just don't know what to do. I'm trying everything I can to make him comfortable, but to no avail. He is crying and pulling on him gums all day. To make matters worse we are staying with friends since our apartment is occupied with the new tenants. So on top of feeling like I can't help my baby I also feel bad that his fussiness is bothersome to our friends. I keep checking the tooth with my finger just hoping it will finally push through so that he will get some relief. I don't know how much longer I can stand to see him in pain. There is a bottle of whiskey on the counter that is looking more and more tempting (not for me, for Alessio's gums, although a little for me might make me feel better too :)

On another note Marco is expected to arrive in California today. They have been driving since Monday morning. The funny thing is that their entire drive across country has been nothing but clear skies and sunny weather until they crossed the Nevada/California border and it was snowing!!! Snow in May??? This weather is absurd. Hopefully by the time we are there in July normal California weather will have resumed.

Back to Alessio's tooth. I wonder how long it will take for this tooth to cut through. I hope he's better by Monday. We have our flight to France on Monday evening and that's the last thing we need, Alessio to have one more reason to cry on the plane. Poor baby. Please feel better.

Almost sitting up

As we sat in our near empty house today I placed Alessio on the couch
within the boppy pillow most of the day. He sat there content playing
with toys and chewing on everything he could grab. He also began
trying to sit up and the support from the boppy really helped. He sat
himself up and placed his hands in front of himself and balanced there
for a little while. He would flop back onto the pillow but try again
right away. A few times I had to help him up when he fell forward onto
his face, woops, but it was only on the couch. I'm sure he will get it
soon.

Also, another new development is that he is cutting his first tooth.
There is a little white spot on the bottom right side of his gums.
Poor little guy is trying to chew on everything including me when he
nurses :( I was surprised to see a tooth since this is the early side
of the teething spectrum, but there it is. I hope it doesn't bother
him too much.

Sent from my iPhone

First Tastes

Yesterday Alessio went to his 4 month check up and we got some great news from the doctor. She said that between 4 and 6 months we can start giving Alessio tastes of solid foods. He won't start getting full meals of solids until he's 6 months but now we can let him lick fruits, vegetables and yogurt.

So yesterday we let him try an apple and a peach! He loved the peach, he kept trying to smash it into his face. So cute! This morning I gave him a taste of yogurt and he made the funniest face. Plain yogurt has a tart flavor and he wasn't too sure about it but ate it anywayThEe also let him taste banana, he seemed to like it but kept trying to eat the peel. Funny little guy! We are going to have do much fun feeding him. I'll keep posting all his funny reactions to different foods.

My First Mother's Day

Today I finally got to be part of the club that gets appreciated on Mother's Day and it felt great! I was fortunate enough to spend the day with my family. In addition to celebrating Mother's Day we celebrated our Niece, Chloe's baptism. It was a day of joy and love.

I dressed Alessio up in this adorable blue and white suit. We put his baby jewelry on him and even little white shoes. He looked so handsome. We rented a car and drove out to Long Island for the baptism but Alessio wasn't too thrilled about being in church, he was a bit fussy so I had to carry him around during the ceremony and then half way through take him out to the car to feed him. But once we got to Sandra's house to celebrate he was back to his happy self. We had a great time there visiting and playing with the babies.

Even though a baptism wasn't my first choice for my 1st mother's day celebration, I had a wonderful time. And Marco did a great with my gift. I got chocolates, earrings and a fabulous Coach bag! What a wonderful day!

I didn't know eating was so fascinating

The other day I was holding Alessio and I began to eat an apple and all of a sudden he starting cracking up laughing. He thought the sight of me eating my apple was the funniest thing. Every time I crunched into the apple he was burst into giggles. Then he began to grab at the apple and tried to stick his little hands into my mouth. He is so funny. Lately he has been so much more observant and wants to put everything into his mouth. Soon enough he will be able to experiment with solids, but not until 6 months.

Little things like that really make my days so bright. He keeps me smiling throughout the day and makes me look forward to the next day with him.

On another note, he has been working really hard trying to roll over. He can almost make it but can't get over his shoulder. The other day he kind of made it with a little help from me. He was in his usual stuck position with his arm under him and I tickled his side and as I did that he squirmed and got over his arm onto his belly. So I don't know if I should count that as rolling over, but I guess he sort of did it :)

Laughing up a Storm

Lately our house has been filled with laughter. Alessio's laughs have been filling our home and our hearts. Up until recently we would call him Mr. Serious because getting that boy to crack a smile was real work and his laughs, when he did try to laugh, were little muffled chuckles. But recently he has been grinning ear to ear and laughing out loud at everything.

When I get him out of his bed in the morning he looks up at me with his big toothless grin and it warms me to my core. I can't stop hugging and kissing him. As I change his clothes he giggles and squirms from being tickled along his sides. It's too cute! I love to see his happy little face responding to my smile.

Earlier today I had Alessio on my lap and Penelope was sitting next to us. Alessio has been becoming more and more curious about Penelope and he started reaching out for her. Penelope came closer to him and let him feel her fur while she gave him little kisses. It was so sweet! Penelope has been doing so well with Alessio, she is really wonderful. Lately she has been trying to get Alessio to play with her by throwing the ball. She will drop the ball next to him on his playmat and nudge it towards him and wait for him to respond. Soon enough he will be able to throw the ball for her.

Watching him like TV

As I sit here watching him nap on our video monitor, I'm glued to it like it's TV. He's so sweet and peaceful when he sleeps. Each day I'm home with Alessio is such a gift. He makes me smile, laugh and love like I never knew possible. I feel so alive.

I decided to start this blog since time is so fleeting. Each day I engage in activities with him and he does small things that are so cute and funny, but as the moment passes and the day takes over those fun moments fade away. I want to be able to document and capture as many of those precious moments as possible. So this is my attempt at holding on to each special moment.

Currently Alessio is fighting his first cold. He most likely got it from me since I'm just getting over a cold. I took him to the doctor today and it's not too bad. His airways are clear so there is nothing to worry about. We just have to let it run its course. Poor little guy :(

Other than that he is as happy as can be.

This morning when he got up at 6:30 for his morning feeding I began feeding him out in the living room, then took a break for a diaper change and put him in bed with Marco while I got myself ready to continue feeding him. When I got back into the room Alessio had rolled onto his side facing Marco and was trying to pull down Marco's shirt to nurse. It was so cute. He is really beginning to understand where his food is and let's us know when he is hungry. He'll pull on my clothes or try to suck my arm. He is growing and learning so quickly. Why can't we just freeze time?