Week nine

Rohan has turned two (months) and I must say that the time seems to be going faster than I remember with Appu. It might also be all the stress and excitement about our incoming trip, which has taken a couple of months if not more of preparation - no kidding! Still not ready, but once the plane takes off what is done is done and the rest can be forgotten, for better or for worse. A comforting thought :) .

Yesterday Rohan met a doctor for the first time and received his first vaccination shots. I wasn't fun for anybody, but we also learned that he is a really big boy, as we already suspected. He is 60 cm and almost 6 kg, I think - it's incredible how fast I forget things this days.

We just came back from a really nice dinner at the institute with our neighbor Kyle (am I spelling this right?) and his parents. Rajiv and his friend ran around, screamed their lungs out and colored with crayons while being fed very unhealthy food. I think they can't complain and neither can I, since while all this was going on I still managed to have an amazing raspberry semifreddo, while bouncing up and down on my chair to keep Rohan asleep in the sling.

For the rest of the post the theme is going to be "things that made me happy this week" (apart from the semifreddo):

• Appu singing the alphabet song with his sweet baby voice.

• Appu playing in the bed early (very) in the morning.

• Rohan wearing his leg warmers.
  
  
  
• Appu discovering that stickers are fun.
  
  
  
• My attempts at learning to use a wrap seem to show more promise this time around. Look at me, all wrapped up with a sleeping Rohan and ready to fly away on my broom!
  
  
  
• Rohan wearing a pink baseball cap. This cap was originally bought by my aunt for a little dog called Lara (don't ask), but the dog never tried it on and so the cap has made its way to a new owner, who wears it with great dignity.
  
  
  
• Lots of packages in the mail. I love receiving packages above all else, even when they are the result of my online shopping: surprises are overrated.

• It seems that the trip to Paris in the fall might actually happen in the end, if we don't change our mind again.
  

And next week this time we will be in Italy and the next we will be in India and then we get to rest (or not?).

Week eight

Following the tradition initiated with Appu, we took baby Rohan to see the new Harry Potter movie today. And just like Appu two years ago, little one didn't let us down and slept through the whole thing - tightly wrapped in his sling and rocked back and forth, with a hand over his ear to cover the loud noises. Now we are home and Rohan is making up for all the milk he missed in the last four hours.

Appu is at daycare with his friend Kalena and last time we heard he was having a great time. When we called just before the movie he was apparently lying down on his cot and making sweet eyes to one of the teachers to try and avoid the nap. Now we are off to pick him up with Kalena's mom. More later!

Update: we are back and Appu has gone to Kalena's house to play with the water table in the backyard. They play completely naked because they get drenched, but somehow S. always seems to forget to remove Appu's sandals. We'll see this time. I am so sad for Appu, thinking that soon he will have to say goodbye to his best friend. Kalena's parents have just bought a new laptop mostly for the purpose of allowing the little ones to talk to each other through Skype. It should be an interesting experiments, I wonder if they will like that.

On a different note, it seems that Appu is having quite frequent nightmares. Sometimes he wakes up screaming at night and nothing except putting on the light and leaving the room seems to comfort him. If I try to hug him he kicks me very hard, he is like an animal caught in a trap. It apparently happened at daycare too today, but the room wasn't dark and he calmed down easily. How I wish he could tell us what the problem is... It will have to remain a mystery, but it is one more sign of the fact that our little one is growing up and guessing his thoughts and fears is becoming more and more difficult.

My new favorite song

Toronto trip and byebyes

Nonna Laura has just left and it feels a bit lonely to be again in an empty house. We won't miss he biblical (now maybe this is an "italianism"?) get ready times in the mornings but we will miss that extra friendly presence in our daily life. We will see her in a couple of weeks, but it is still sad to say bye.

We all went to Toronto on Wednesday and it was a nice trip. As usual, it turned out to be mostly a shopping trip, but we managed to include a little sightseeing, a lot of walking under the sun, some enjoyable if not too typical activity like a South Indian lunch complete with idlis, dosas and other goodies, and some less enjoyable but unfortunately typical activities like a long visit to the Italian consulate.

A few pictures of TO:




Here is Appu with his brand new "zebra socks", which you just can't cover with shoes, it's not done :)




And helped by dad, Appu takes his first picture. In the background mamma (with a little Rohan bundle) and nonna Laura, can you see us?



A little rest and diaper changes at the lakeshore.



This is a nice picture of my mom, I think. She looks unusual and younger, although she disagrees (on the "unusual", actually :D ).



The CN Tower, on which we didn't go, but at least this time we walked nearby before making a detour to the Mountain Equipment Coop, so I would say it counts as a touristic activity.

Week seven

OOOOPS, I did it again... Those curls on the floor broke my heart, but I must admit that the heat these days really made me long for an extreme haircut myself, so I hope Appu won't mind. Anyway, dad said the hair had to go before the trip to India, so theeee'yago! (like Appu would say)



My mom is still here, for one more week. She says Appu is so beautiful I can be allowed to cut his hair because it won't matter. I actually think I did an awesome job this time, except perhaps the usual problem with the sloped cut in the front. But my mom says that's good, we don't want him looking too orderly. No fears there, I would like to add.

Nonna Laura also says that Appu is a "disastro", in the sense of a natural disaster like a fire or a tornado. The parallel surely fits, so if you call him a disaster I won't be offended - I might even sigh and smile - but please don't say he is naughty, I really hate that word. We have a deal?

Let me just conclude with a brief Rohan update. He is making new cute sounds, he coos and says "a" and "g", but the best thing is this sound coming from the back of his throat, something in between a purr and a gurgle, that he makes while looking into your eyes and smiling. Priceless!

Can you resist this smile?

Week six

Little Rohan is getting not so little, he weighs around 5 kg and his thighs are getting chubby. He stays awake for longer stretches during the day now, especially in the morning, and he smiles much more too, but I haven't succeeded in capturing that on camera. Instead, look at this push-up!



Next, some family pictures: berry-full picnic on the living room floor.

Photo session with dad