Roman Holiday

dylsanpietro
Originally uploaded by michellanea

We just got back from Rome. Here's a picture of Dylan in front of the Vatican on our double-decker tour bus. We had a nice time and dodged the forecasted rain. I do understand now why everyone told me that it's much easier to vacation with a six-month-old (Dylan was six months last summer when we went to the U.S., and he was a breeze) than a 14-month-old. I have decided that city weekend getaways are not for toddlers. Dylan definitely has a mind of his own and now that he's walking (or RUNNING - usually away from us!), he doesn't want to be in his car seat, stroller or constrained in any way. He's also incredibly mischievous and can be shrewd when trying to get his way. I totally get the Disney World vacation now. Or any of those all-inclusive vacations heavy on the entertainment targeted toward the kiddies. This is the lesson I learned this weekend: if the kid 'aint happy on vacation, the parents aren't going to be either.

Despite the temper tantrums (how to explain to a 14-month-old why he can't hurtle himself down the Spanish Steps or chase after motor scooters in Roman rush-hour traffic?) and meltdowns, we had a good time. Off to sleep. We all need it. More Rome pics and videos here.

Rash update and miscellaneous

OK, so now I'm thinking the rash is just another incarnation of Dylan's eczema. I looked at lots of icky eczema pictures on the Web, and it seems that it can manifest itself in this way. Today, the spots are still there but they are lighter and seem more like dry, scaly skin. My poor itchy baby.

In keeping with posting random photos, here are a few from last weekend. I am in this massive sushi phase and learned how to make it at home (veggie for me, fishy for Cristiano). I was never that into sushi before but as part of my lose-the-last-of-the-baby-weight kick, I'm going for foods that can be eaten in mass quantities but are still low in fat. Diets are just not for me, and as much as I would like to, I don't have hours and hours to sweat it out at the gym. I'm an eater not a dieter. If you lean in close, I'll tell you a secret....I convinced Cristiano to do my abs DVD with me, but I didn't tell him that a) it's called "Post-Natal Flat Abs Fast" and that b) it's pilates. He thinks it's a normal workout DVD, and it's really kicking his abs! We are doing it every other morning. If I had told him it was pilates, he wouldn't have done it with me because, you know, he's too macho for that. Whatever!

Family portrait in the park overlooking our town

Saturday sushi lunch!

Name this rash!

Excuse me if this is too graphic or TMI for the blog, but Dylan has had a rash for the last few days, and I can't figure out what it is. Now Dylan having skin rashes is nothing new. The poor kid has eczema, after all. And while this rash is not upraised and full of pus (as chicken pox would be), it also doesn't look like his normal eczema. Dylan's eczema usually shows up in the joint areas and in the folds of the skin not as circular bumps in the middle of his limbs. He is scratching, but he pretty much scratches from October to April. Even though I put lotion on him constantly (he's holding the bottle of his new oatmeal lotion in the picture), it seems to do no good. Sun and sea air are the only cure that has worked for the eczema up to this point. I should mention that he doesn't have a fever and doesn't seem any more "disturbed" than usual. Anyone recognize this rash? We are supposed to leave for Rome for the weekend on Friday, and I don't want to go out of town not knowing what this is! The picture is crap (as most of my pictures are), but in person, the red bumps are redder in contrast to the white of his skin. It's not an angry red, but it's not a delicate pink as it appears in the picture above.

A walk in the park

parco2
Originally uploaded by michellanea

Green thumb

Here's Dylan this morning with the lee-mo-nay bush. Some of our grapevines (yes, those two wimpy little strands) are in the background. Come over this fall when we attempt to stomp the grapes to make vino!

Mo-nay

Dylan has a new obsession. It's the lemon tree we have in the back yard. Cristiano and I bought it when it was just a tiny plant, and now it is morphing into an actual tree/bush. This weekend Cristiano was planting the "limone" (lee-mo-nay) tree in the ground and Dylan had to go out and see what he was doing. Now Dylan stands at the window saying "mo-nay," "mo-nay," "mo-nay," and whenever we leave the house, we have to do a lap around the yard to go see it. Weird the things kids focus on! He mainly speaks English, but there are certain words (like "limone" and "ca ca") that he prefers in Italian.

More pics from yesterday

Not that yesterday was so monumental, but I took a few pictures with that special off-center, point-and-shoot style I'm known for. Find them below. For anyone missing my adventures in laundry, I'll have you know that just when I thought I could retire the frozen clothes pins (until next winter, anyway) because we'd seen some sunnier weather, construction work began behind my house. Yesterday, as my white clothes were happily flapping in the breeze, a giant soot wave from the digging they are doing back there deposited a black film all over EVERYTHING. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Sigh. Today, white load take two.

D-lightfully pensive

Rarin' to go on my tricycle

Fourteen months old!

callmeD
Originally uploaded by michellanea

Here's a video of the child-formerly-known-as-Dylan. He now goes by "D." The sassy t-shirt was a gift from his BFF Jack, himself a fan of the sassy t-shirt.

Just as a side note, I actually hesitated as I wrote the word "fourteen." I missed it on a spelling test in the first grade (I wrote "forteen") and, to this day, I think twice when writing it. The mistake on the spelling test was around the same time that my Mother's-Day ashtray blew up in the kiln, and I was really traumatized by that. Then the replacement ashtray I made was stolen by a little girl with the same initials: Marla Staples. I should Facebook her and let her know that her actions have had a lifelong effect on me, causing me to blank out over the word "fourteen." She'd think I was a nut. The whole event was really emotionally shattering, though, and instead of bringing my mom candy in an ashtray, I had to bring Mother's Day candy in a paper bag. Yes, in the 1970s, they thought it was a cute idea to have seven-year-olds make ashtrays for Mother's Day. Can you imagine?

Cultural weekend

Saturday Dylan went to Lake Como with his papà for lunch on the lake and a work meeting. Sunday we took Dylan to a children's literature festival at Palazzo Litta in Milan. Dylan took part in a music laboratory for children one and up. He absolutely loved it! Here are some pictures, though they aren't the best quality (we had my camera on a weird setting). Thanks to my ex-coworker Francesca for telling me about it!

With papà in the courtyard of Palazzo Litta

Watching the show

Walking Dylan

walkingtall
Originally uploaded by michellanea

I finally got a new memory card for my camera so that I can once again take videos. Here's a snippet of Dylan walking. Up to now, he hasn't been a huge fan of walking but over the last few days, he's been more inspired.

In other news, he's saying lots of new words and even knows his "name." He calls himself "D" and he points to the big letter "D" that we have on his wall and all of the Ds he sees on his toys. He now says "down" when he wants to get out of his high chair or out of his bed. He also says "cat," "cow" and "car" but they all sound like the same word. Though, depending on the context, you can understand what he is referring to. He tries to sing along with the songs from his play group and he knows the hand motions. His language development can't keep up with all of the things he wants to say, however, and he gets frustrated.

Overall, he's really fun and a joy!

More Carnevale

Saturday was the Carnevale parade in our neighborhood. Somehow in eight years, I'd never attended it, but then again, I never had a kid. Thus I didn't "get the memo" on not wearing my nice coat, nice boots and suede purse to the festivities. I knew there would be confetti and silly string but I didn't realize to what extent. Within minutes of walking out my door, someone had opened up my bag and filled it with confetti. And that person was - the local priest! Isn't Carnevale a more pagan party held before Lent? Like the last hurrah before you have to atone for your sins? I'm still not up on my Catholic holidays.

In any case, Dylan had more fun this time. He enjoyed picking each individual piece of confetti out of his stroller one by one. If it wasn't so messy, I'd keep some around the house because it kept him occupied for quite a while. When I got home, I had confetti, silly string and shaving cream all over me. I even had confetti in my bra. I will know better for next time...

Dylan before he got into the swing of throwing confetti

Trying to rid his stroller of debris

One of the floats, which was shooting silly string and confetti

Dylan and Luana