Happiness is ... washable markers

Felicita' e'... pennarelli nuovi con un sacco di inchiostro (lavabile!)

In search of that perfect brotherly picture

The search goes on, and in the meantime it is nice to see that Appu can hold his little baby brother on his lap without him receiving any harm. (It does help that the big brother is watching cartoons, of course...)

Week two

Rohan is two weeks old. He is drinking and growing well - he now weighs 8 lbs 4 oz (about 3.7 kg), so his older brother is not drinking all his milk after all... He had his hearing test today and everything seems normal, no worries so far.

Little Rohan is still a very quiet baby, but the combined efforts of the two brothers keep mom awake a lot at night nevertheless. Still, I am able to almost never leave the bed and that helps a lot in feeling more rested. I thought it was going to be much worse and I am very grateful for how things are going.

Yesterday we went to take Rohan's passport pictures. It was very stressful for him, but somehow in the end we succeeded in achieving the perfect combination of open eyes, mouth not too open, straight head looking ahead and no parts of mommy's hand visible. Appu needed to have a picture taken too and of course he loved it. I think "photo" is one of his favorite words, he will pose forever as long as he is allowed to see the result afterward. We will go back for a more relaxed photographic session at the end of the month, that should be a lot of fun.

Appu has still not fully adjusted to the new situation, but he rarely seems to be annoyed by his brother. In fact often he seems amused. Sometimes he brings a blanket for him, or wants to put on his socks, and if he is crying a little he "sings" (in his own Appu way) "the baby on the bus goes uah uah uah...". That was our idea of course, but Appu found it hilarious. One point for us!

Il tempo delle fragole

If my aunt were still alive she would love these pictures. I was a big strawberry fan as a child and every week she used to bring me strawberries or other berries from the market. I didn't care much for sweets, but one of the few exceptions was the pastry with "fraghe" (fragole, i.e. strawberries) that we could get from a bakery near her office. Appu says "fragu", almost like his mom.

Week one

Rohan is one week old already and while mom's head is still spinning from all the changes, dad is already completely in love with the newly arrived. Rohan has been so far a very quiet baby, very easy to manage. I don't know how I would have coped otherwise this time, so I am very grateful for that.

Little Rohan is beginning to be awake a little longer during the day and he spends his time looking around or listening to the (many and loud) sounds of the house. Today he spent a little time in Appu's old playgym, with Appu and his friend Kalena playing around and pulling the toys just above him, but he didn't seem to mind.

Appu is still adjusting to the new situation and he is coping by drinking a lot of mommy's milk. He has also picked this week to transition to the "no" phase of toddlerhood. He is suddenly very aware of the power of screaming "noooooo, don't waaaaant!!!" - we suspect Kalena's example might have something to do with this.

While we would have happily done without this latest linguistic advancement, I am happy to announce that Appu made his first spontaneous sentence yesterday. We were at the post office and I said "Andiamo" ("Let's go"), to which Appu enthusiastically responded "Iamo a casa!" ("Let's go home!"). Mommy's heart of course filled with pride :)

Piano practice

Appu will play for you a piece composed by himself. Enjoy!

The four of us (and Papi)