Buone feste!

Christmas concert: Dylan is in the front row

to the right of the little black girl. Those are his two teachers

in the back row.

I didn't do an official holiday card this year to send out to friends and family, and I'm really sad about it. I normally order them through a photo service in Amsterdam and it takes a while so when I realized the first week of December that I had forgotten to put the order in, I knew it was just too late. :( Today Dylan had a mini Christmas concert at school. The school is not big enough to hold all of the parents, grandparents, etc. so we kind of had to stand in the doorway while the kids sang in the "great room" where they play during indoor recess. So my pictures and videos are not very close up. I'm posting a couple of things here.

Pregnancy-wise, I'm feeling really great and the baby is kicking up a storm. I am HUNGRY 24/7 after months of eating boiled potatoes and crackers.

I just wish I wasn't so far away for the holidays. That's always a killer, and this year it is hitting me more than ever. I would drown my sorrows in Christmas food but Italian Christmas food is very heavy on the meat and fish and vegetables are scarce. There aren't even any good desserts. I think I'd rather eat fruitcake than panettone. Oh well. At least 2012 has lots of (or at least one big) things in store. Happy Holidays!

I posted a couple more videos from the concert here.

Nineteen week ultrasound

It looks like Dylan will have a little brother. Considering I will have a scheduled C-section sometime around week 38 (the week of April 16), I am halfway there! So far Dylan is not all that interested in his little brother (though nor is he jealous), though he has picked out a name for him and is pretty adamant. The first name he picked out was the name of the kid who bullies him at school (Sebastian). We weren't sure what that was all about but we quickly nixed that idea. But it's still too early anyway to decide on names. I'm finally feeling better. I had a rough first (into second) trimester and have probably only been really feeling much better for about two to three weeks now.

Everything went well with the ultrasound (pic below!) and the baby is doing just great. I'm already feeling him bounce around like a little tadpole. We are very excited! Now if we just had more space. Raising two rambunctious boys in 900 square feet and with no yard is going to be a challenge. We are trying to figure out ways to optimize our space in the best way possible.
Above a (grainy) 3D image and below a profile view.

Bagel making fools!

He said he wasn't going to eat a bagel but then he ended up eating a plain bagel fresh out of the oven with strawberry jam. Busted!

Bagel Making from Michelle Marie on Vimeo.

Exciting news!

One of the reasons I haven't been blogging lately is that I've had a rough couple of months with morning sickness. Yep, I'm pregnant and Dylan will have a new brother or sister (at this point it's looking more like a brother - a 70% chance, they say, though the doctor seemed pretty certain at my NT scan) in mid-April! My due date is April 29, but I will have a scheduled C-section a few weeks before. We are super excited and really happy. I've put a ticker in the right-hand column - for now we are calling the baby "fratellino," which means "little brother" in Italian - so that anyone interested can track the new bambino Cugini. Now that I'm past 12 weeks, we are announcing it though I'm not "out" on Facebook where I've got work contacts. I still need to figure out how I will cover my maternity leave, and I want to deal with that at a later date. But this is a fairly "closed" blog for close friends and family so it's fine to spread the word amongst yourselves!

Dylan knows he's going to be a big brother, but so far doesn't seem to be all that interested. I guess he's got time to get excited (or jealous?) about it!

I have been a bad blogger

Hi guys. Sorry I've been missing in action all summer, though many of you (all 8 people who have the link to this blog) either saw us this summer, talked to me daily this summer or saw most of my pictures already on Facebook. Nonetheless, here's a random collection of videos and pictures from our summer in the U.S.. It was GREAT, and looking at these photos now, I get really sad and nostalgic. We are back in Milan. Dylan is back at school (he had his first day on Monday). Fall is almost upon us and for another year I will miss changing leaves, the "smell" of fall, pumpkin patches, hay rides, apple cider, Halloween and much more. One day I hope to share these things with Dylan because, honestly, fall here in Milan just means it gets cold, gray, foggy and depressing, leading into winter when it's colder, grayer, foggier and even more depressing. Can you tell I'm happy to be back?

Down to the wire

We are leaving for the U.S. next Thursday (June 23) so I'm rushing to finish last-minute projects and get organized. Here are a couple of recent pics. Hope to see everyone in the U.S.!!

On Tuesday nights, Cristiano has his wine courses so Dylan and I have begun going out for pizza and gelato. He's turning into a great dinner companion and we talk and have a good time.

Dylan discovered the Boppy (the old breastfeeding pillow) somewhere, and he really likes the car pattern on it so now he likes to sit in it. I'd say he's outgrown it, no (as compared to, say, here)? He likes to hear the story of how when we first brought him home from the hospital, we put him in the Boppy right on that spot on the couch.

Summer fun

I'm really behind in posting pictures. Here are a few recent ones from our trip to Tuscany (before Dylan started vomiting due to some type of flu and before I sprained my ankle), some homemade pizza making and birthday party salami sandwich eating. They are kind of random.

Under the Tuscan sun with nonna

The chapel that was part of the little borgo/village where we stayed

Two Ferraris from Austria outside our hotel

Dylan had been asking me for a salami sandwich for days, which is weird because a) he doesn't eat salami and b) he doesn't eat in general and never says he's hungry or asks for food (unless you count candy/sweets). We went to a kiddie birthday party and they were serving salami sandwiches so his "wish" came true.

Homemade pizza making

Class picture

Sorry if I've been radio silent over here. We've had one of the most action-packed springs ever and have been out and about doing quite a bit. I'm also busier than ever with my little translation empire and am preparing to head off to the U.S. with Dylan in two weeks. I have a lot of pictures of Dylan to upload, but I thought I'd start with his class picture. It was taken the day after he got his big hair cut. Of course he's making a funny face. He's turned into such a big boy lately. He goes to the bathroom (to the toilet and washes his hands) completely independently. That's no small feat if you consider that our toilet and sink are so high that he barely reaches on his own even with the step stool. He just decided one day he didn't want me coming to the bathroom with him anymore and yelled "you stay there!" while he went on his own. I would be offended or feel nostalgic for the "good old days" of changing diapers or accompanying him to the bathroom at home, but, um, I don't. I'm actually relieved! We still have all the same old sleep issues so nothing has changed on that front, but what are you going to do?

Click on the picture to make it larger. Dylan is looking silly in the middle row on the left. One of his girlfriends (Aurora) is in the front row on the right with the black bob and pink barrette. His other girlfriend (Lucrezia) is in the back row on the right with glasses. Both older women. His 5-year-old "big brother" Omar is right behind him. Omar takes him to the bathroom and makes him wash his hands before eating, among other things. Funnily the girl who has cried hysterically all day every single day since the beginning of the school year (to the point where the kids scream "basta!" at her) is laughing joyously in this picture. She's in the middle row smack in the middle of the picture.

Mother's Day Weekend

We had an action-packed Mother's Day weekend. Yesterday we went up to the lake and mountains with friends. Today I did a 5K (with a very bored and complaining Dylan in the jogging stroller - BAD idea) for breast cancer, made homemade bagels, had lunch with the famiglia and then took my in-laws to the airport for their flight to Madagascar. Here are some great pics my friend shot yesterday. Makes me want to get a nicer camera. And learn how to take photographs.

Love this shot

Dylan, the Price kids and their nanny

Mr. Cool

iPhone shot taken by me. I cut off Miles' hand and popsicle. That's how I take pictures...

Wine tasting

Enjoy your vino. I'll just sit here with the iPad...