Happy Holidays and Luca's Take on Food

I gotta make this one short. Short but sweet. I keep meaning to post, but I swear, these days if I get 5 minutes of free time I'm a lucky Mamma.
First off, Happy holidays from us to you!!

We had a great Christmas Eve at Marcos Mom's house and Christmas morning at our house, than we went over to Marco's Dads for the day. Luca loves paper, So he was in seventh heaven with all the wrapping paper. Problem was he wanted to eat it all, so he would get very pissed as soon as we took it away. He could have cared less for the actual present. No satisfaction what so ever. Duh, what do you expect from a 7 month old:)

We have also been very busy with parties and getting ready for the States in 5 days!!! ANYWAAAY I'll write as soon as I get to that part of the world, and tell you ALL about our travels (I don't really want to think about traveling with him, on our lap, oh dear lord he is not an infant anymore that we can shove in a bassinet and he'll sleep 8 hours, ohhhhh if only!

Moving oooooon. Luca and weaning. So I was all about the whole baby led weaning, but Luca at first was not at all. He would take whatever I put in front of him and squeeze the hell out of it, even if he managed by accident to get something in his mouth, he didnt understand that it was him putting it in his mouth. So I though, he'll get it soon, maybe he's just not ready. Hmmm, no. No because If i put something in his mouth he would get totally into it and want more, he literally couldn't do it himself. So I got all into making foods for him. All kinds, and then freezing them. Perfect solution. Wellllllll, with his million teeth that came in, he would't eat. He even hardly nursed, the poor poor was in pain (as was I, for my boobs where waay too full, but someone, we got through it without pumping…) Luca would go through phases of loving food, not wanting anything to do with it, and pooing. He also had a hard transition from not so solid poos to solid ones. Sorry, but the poor poor would turn red in the face from trying to push so hard, I was afraid he'd give himself a hernia. He hasn't so far. Thank gawd! okay so fast forward to one day while we were at a party of a daughter of our friends, I hadn't given him lunch yet, and he was very interested in the buffet in front of him, and curious with all the hand going from food to mouth, so I have him a piece of bread with cheese. He took it and gobbled it up, with those tiny but many teeth. I than gave him pieces of popcorn. The same thing. Than a cracker. And so on… He never once gaged and would get upset when I wasn't fast enough with giving him pieces. I have always been so afraid of him chocking, but he has really got the whole chewing thing down, and ebjoys pieces of food. Now I think we can try the baby led way. Ill give you an update once settled in the States:) Till than cheers:)

Updates

What have we been up to?? UP and down and side to side. LB has been all over the place with his mouthful of teeth. We have been UP most of the time, as in night and day. The poor bean has three teeth coming in, and I think I saw another on on top, but I might be imagining it… or not. So the two front ones have come out, he has one vampire tooth as well, and three on the bottom. Yes a mouthful. Its not normal.

our ham

watching Papa' playing tennis

But finally his snotty nose and screaming at night as slowly come to an end (hold on while I knock on wood) but now he wants snuggles more than ever, its hard to leave him alone for more than 5 seconds or he freaks out, like some monster just jumped out and smacked him… 5 seconds later I have him in the ergo, and hes haming away.
Other than his monster mouth and dramatic attitude, we also had  a "Welcome to the World Party" for the bean last sunday with family and friends at a cute restaurant not far from us. Luca most of the time as a pooper because of his damn teeth, but he still charmed the hell out of everyone…

welcome Luca

always something in his mouth

family

party favors I made out of a clothes pin, wooden bead, and two different sized popsicle sticks= airplane. DUH. gotta love pinterest

The 5 minutes I have for myself I try to be productive. So I make curtains. Why not. In our room, we had these curtains that my dear mother in law made, but they just reminded e too much of well, a 50 some year old Italian womans house. For the last 5 years I have been wanting to change them. So finally I got my bum down to the fabric shop, and Ikea and put/sewed together this...

before… welcome to Italy hon

better, just terrible lighting

Next on the to do list is a crib bumper, and knitting projects. Ill ;et you know when I get started on that, in 2015. Okay hopefully before the end of this year… gotta go, because tomorrow morning we have playgroup, and I don't want to look like death, cause who knows how many times I will wake up tonight… Ohhh but I do love that Bean!

Bring It On Winter

We are welcoming the winter with wide open arms. Being able to cozy up in the house and find distractions for Luca (aka things to put in his mouth) while I rediscover sewing, (Luca loves watching the sewing machine while he shoves some toy in his mouth), start knitting projects, baking, and finding new recipes to tackle, and of course bundling up and taking walks to the market, or doing arrends. We are lucky that we live walking distances to pretty much everything we want. We have also been taking early evening walks with Marco when he gets home from work. For me the more outdoor time Luca gets the better, even if its 3 degrees celsius. LB has a cold, and has his 4th tooth coming in (I swear he's half dinosaur), so of course the advice of close family here (I wont name names) is too keep him in and out of the cold. For me, I would go crazy all day inside so I i just assume so would any other human bring, even if its only 6 months old. So what do I do, bundle him up and we run outside, LB usually falls asleep after 10 minutes too ( SO much of a change since he was born, now he LOVES the stroller, don't get me wrong we use the Ergo sometimes as well, but to tell you the truth, he likes the stroller better now, hmmmm)

Merano 

evening walk to the old military fort down the road from our house (which is now a park)

SO we just got back from a perfect weekend in the german part of Italy with friends. We got to breath the nice mountain air, buy, some crap from the christmas Markets (can I just tell you how much I am obsessed with christmas markets) swim in thermal baths, (which Luca LOVED so much that afterwards he literally passed while I was dressing him) yummy (and disgustingly buttery wonderful) Austrian food, and of course good friends…
Whats in store for this weekend? Saturday christmas decorating and tree lighting, with of course awful christmas music, you HAVE to have the christmas music (Marco has already warned me he is pretty close to deleting all the christmas tunes (jeez what a grinch right! I mean who doesnt like extremely loud christmas music. all. day.) We also have Lucas Welcome to the World party on sunday. Ill tell you all about it next week.
I also will write about my job, my part time, part time english teaching job. Yea thats for another post. So on that note, buon weekend a tutti!

My little ham and his second cousins

keeping up with the Little Bean

A quick update on the Little Bean…
We are now almost 6 months (thursday he'll be half a year… what the h*ll??????) We are so excited though that he has been growing like a champ. He has three teeth now, and tries to have conversations with you, which basically consists of him squeaking until you pitch in and start squeaking too, than it just goes on forever.
I signed Luca and myself up for mamma baby class. Basically a place where babies can scream/play/fart/ etc together and the moms vent to each other, of course there is an instructor who answers questions from; "is it okay if my daughter chewed on my shoelace?" to when can I start giving my son 3 month old ice cream?" No judgement.
Marco and I will also start going to the local heated pool with Luca once a week. I am very curious to see how the Bean will react to water (besides his beloved tub), besides being a bean, he is also part piggy and part monkey, neither of which swim. Hmmm. Ill let you all know.
Luca and I have also been having massage class with y neighbor, sometimes it involves having him naked, so of course LB is in seventh heaven and giggles the whole time shoving his toes in his mouth and pulling his little little bean. And then of course peeing. Twice. When I say he's half monkey and half pig, I am not kidding. He also loves peeing in the tub, as soon as you put him in, without fail.
I cant wait to start getting ready for the holidays here, the weather is getting crisp, and I can't wait for the christmas markets. It will be sad, but also nice to celebrate the holidays here this year, I'll miss having christmas back in the States, but will be there right after the new year. I am dreading though the flight, now that Luca is not a newborn, and an actual human, he will realize how much flying actually sucks. Ill have Marco with me so phew. Sort of.
Anyway we are off to a gettaway with our friends this weekend so ill get back next week on another post, to either bore, or excite you;)

Marco and Grandpa are hoping this Bean will be the next Federer? Lets start with a smaller  ball

Starting on Solids…. Slowly

So here we are at just over 5 months… Too early to start weaning? Well that what I thought. Some parents/people would say you should already start at 4 months (which to me is waaay to early, but again, thats just me) I also heard the longer you wait, the chances are of having food allergies is less… So of course being me, I had it all planned out that when Luca hit the 6month  mark, I would slowly introduce him to solids, by letting him discover the flavors/ textures by himself. Aka baby led weaning…
So why am I starting now. Because Luca is a freak of nature. He got his first tooth just after he turned 4 and a half month, then right after that his second, but on the bottom. Then he discovered sitting. He sits now with full confidence by himself. Again, what do all those signs have to do with him staring on solids? My father. I basically trust him 100% on everything (well ALMOST everything) When it comes to health, and medical things he is the one I go to. He told me that Luca had all the signs of a baby that was ready to start eating. PLUS he literally begged for food. Marco and I always put him in his Tripp Trapp when he eat, and we give him some sort of toy (or one of our cloth napkins, the poor boy) to chew on and keep him happy. Well that didn't last long, he would start reaching for our food and start chewing! I swear. So we decided to buy him this Nuby toy thing that you put chopped fruit or veggies in and he can chew or suck on. Wow that changed his world, he would get so into it that he would growl. Yes growl. (when I say freak, I mean freak). ANYWAY so when he hit 5 month, on the dot I mashed up some carrots and fed it to him. At first he would act like we poisoned him, and make a horrid face and gag dramatically, and than he would get bored and preferred to chew on his plate rather than eat the food. So I am not pushing him, and I am not giving him 3 "meals" per day just a taste here and there of new favors mango, avocado, carrot, peas, rice, pear, broccoli… etc. he favorite is avocado.
When he hits 6 months I will start putting things in front of him, and letting him stuff his face. I don't want to make it so it's an obsession, I don't want to force anything too. If he wants to eat he'll show me… I am also very fortunate that I have milk, so I take 100% advantage of it.
LB is growing rapidly so I am not worried that he is not getting enough to eat, I also plan on nursing him until he is 1, obviously not as his primary food source though. It's an adventure like everything else that come with having a baby and you learn more each day.

my pumpkin with a pumpkin and aunty Giovanna

first time food. Carrots

this is wat I wake up to every morning. (can you see his teeth? He is very protective of them , and doesn't like to show them off)

Teething and Sitting and Fun Oh MY!

Here I am again, No it is not Monday like I said, but somehow every monday I'm busy or in a different country. So last Mamma Monday my dear college roomie Hannah from UVM came from South Africa to stay with us for a short week, it was fabulous to have her here, quick but sweet. Luca decided to bud his first tooth while she was there. 4 and a half month. Whaaaaat, right? Well quickly after that he budded (do you eve say that) his second tooth. He has not (knock on wood) had any symptoms though of teething. He still is an awesome sleeper (double knock on wood) and is lets say almost always a very pleasant baby…

 Right before we left for Croatia about two weeks ago,  randomly put his fat bum on the bed and he sat like that, all proud of himself for a LONG time. Eventually I pushed him (he was on the bed) and he fell, and got very pissed (rightly so I guess, but lawd does that boy have an attitude). Now he is smarter than me and figured out that by putting his and down it stops him from falling. Now by 5 months (yesterday was his 5 month mark) he is totally rocking sitting up on his own. He loves toys and grabbing crap from people. If you take it away he gives you a mouthfull. Thank god he cant talk, or else I'd be terrified of what he would be saying.

We just got back visiting our friends in Mali Losijn, it was a perfect week long vacation, the weather was warm and the company was perfect. Croatia is truly a beautiful country. Luca got a lot of rays of vitamin D and we found out he is terrified of bathtubs (we forgot to bring his own that he LOVES) and little girls. By little girls I mean baby girls, ones that shriek. It happened more than once that he looks at the cute little shrieky Croatian baby and bursts into tears. Not only do I have a boy with an attitude, but a total wimp. Ha I can't wait for these next couple of years. But god do I love him. He is a ball of sunshine and he NEVER fails to make me laugh. I mean who wakes up from sleeping with a huge smile on his face. such a freak. and I'm in love with him. So is Marco. We can't get enough of him. I'm sure all parents say that. 

Next week I will post about his first "solid" foods!!

the fam in Croatia

laughs on Nonna

I want a chocolate bar, and my Mamma shoves this in my hand

LB looks like a pinhead compared to Mattia

I. Want. To. Shove. It. In. My. Mouth.

Back in the Rhythm of Life

Here I am again, and I am now slowly putting a rhythm on our daily life, a routine we roughly stand by. We are back in Italy, and things are going great. Luca really is a SUPER great baby, I haven't had to pull my hair out yet (just cut it:)

Luca takes two and a half naps per day (morning, afternoon, evening) one of those naps are about 2 hours the others are about 45 min or so… He wakes up around 6, nurses and goes back to sleep until about 9ish… he plays either in his rocker or blanket while I do chores, and then around 11 hes ready for nap number 1… nurses, sleeps, than wakes up around noon, we play together, go out (each day that changes) and than he ready for nap number 2 around 1ish, he nurses, sleeps until about 3ish, and than we are off for another outing (again each day it changes, mostly we walk to places, but if the weather is crap than we take the car, we leave the house at least twice per day, either for an outing or for just a walk…) around 6 hes goes down for another nap, nurses, sleeps, and wakes up around 7. Bathtime (which btw he is OBSESSED with, and with the STOKKE scoop we dont even have to hold him)…

We all eat together at the table, well Luca sits in his Tripp Trapp, and plays with Sophie la Giraffe. Around 8-9 he goes back down to sleep for the night, he wakes up only once around 2ish to nurse, but than falls alseep in his crib. 

Yes we do not cosleep anymore, we have his crib right near my side of the bed, so when he wakes up at night I just swing him right over and he nurses right back to sleep. Its great because he sleeps right near us, but we dont have to worry about squashing him at night, he sleeps great too!

We still cloth diaper too, but I am not a freak about it, disposables are not the devil, so when we are on the go I stick his little hiney in the disposables and it all works out great. I'm not crunchy enough to be 100% dedicated…

Another question was to pacify or not… well Luca answered that with a big HELL NO! He seriously thinks they are a joke, or that your killing him, and he dramatically starts gagging. Yes we have given up, and I am happy this way, in the long run, I wont have to worry about him with a binkey in his mouth at 6 years old…  

Updates…

Luca loves I mean LOVES making farting noises with his mouth, he also loves pigs, stuffing his fists in his mouth, he thinks Swiss German is hilarious, and little old ladies. Oh and he loves being naked too. He has discovered his little manhood. He grabs it and than smiles. I swear that boy.

He is getting better with his stroller, but still prefers the Ergo. Car seats are very iffy.

He hates getting his clothes on (dear lawd the winter is going to be great fun)

Other than that (and even when he gets mad and angry) he is great fun, it is amazing to see him grow, and learn each day, he is such a curious little monkey, and Marco and I are obsessed with him, but I guess thats what comes with becoming a parent:)

Here are some highlights of life and our recent trip to Switzerland

future captain?

kisses before dinner, and alllllllll the time:)

LB meeting Grossmi for the first time

Second cousins in the glider

view behind my aunts house

Ferry ride across the Lake of Zurich 

Grandpa playing for the Bean

LB all tucked in for a stroll along the Aare to Aarau

So I will be trying to write a new post every monday, I'll call them my mommy monday blog:)

xoxo