Yay for family togetherness!!!

I feel like I get a little preview of what Amedeo will be doing soon whenever I see Finn. And a preview of what I'll be doing when I see Morgan and Debbie. Mom had lots of little projects to keep Finn occupied. To quote Frazz by Jef Mallett, "[Children]...who have the attention span of fruit flies...And the impulse control of squirrels."

Finn made (with the help of grandma and his parents) playdoh, marshmallow snowmen, little graham cracker sculptures with icing and M&Ms, among other things. I can see how much fun it will be when we can do little craft projects together. And it will make our mommies meetings more challenging and messy (well, and fun too.)

We took him to the gymboree playtime and he had a blast. Debbie said it was great at holding his not-very-long attention span. I forgot to bring my camera.

Another view of the M&Ms in Finn's mouth. He was so wound up after this!


Finn spent lots of time running in circles around the house. He really really wants Amedeo to chase him. He will....eventually.


I asked Debbie, "Should I give Amedeo a cinnimon roll?" She emphatically said, "YES!" Amedeo was really pleased.


We all went to Mass on Christmas Eve. Here's the chili eating party afterwards.



Pietro believes in corrupting the young.


Here's Christmas morning at our house. Amedeo is heading for the loot.


It's important to taste all of your presents.


Amedeo caught on to the idea of bowling pretty fast.



At Grandma and Grandpa's house, we opened presents too! It's easy to see why Finn is so expressive...since mom is too!!!


Amedeo now is a veteran at removing bows from presents.



Here's a special present from Grandma...she spent a long time making these giant frog-chairs.


Amedeo likes to sit on it facing the frog's head.


And the only present that Amedeo still doesn't show a lot of enthusiasm for...the ball pit!


Here's one of Santa's Reindeer off duty in my parents' backyard.



I know I posted this pic before, but the cuddling moments are so rare and so cute...



One of the last things we did together was take a walk and play on the swings.



Uncle Morgan did an excellent job demonstrating his swinging abilities.


Amedeo and Finn had a race.


We miss you Morgan, Debbie and Finn! Amedeo misses the chaos.

Next...Amedeo is crawling like a real baby!

Happy Christmas (a little late)!!!

We had a great Christmas. It was nice to catch up with Morgan, Debbie, and Finn again. Finn continues to be a terror, but an extremely cute one, so it's ok. Their visit lasted about a week...though it seemed much shorter. Grandma and Grandpa were ecstatic to have both babies in the same place.

This is what Amedeo thought of one of his toys:



Everything seemed to be a big hit. The one thing he didn't like, was the ball pit in the pack n' play. Maybe he just doesn't like the PNP.

Next...recap of the visit from Finn and Co....

I'm NOT addicted to facebook, okay!?!?

Hee...We've just been really busy around here.
Trying out a new hairstyle:



When dad was away, Amedeo had spaghetti for the first time:


Amedeo now displays a large quantity of teeth. He just might chew through the gate:


There was an awesome cookie trading party. Mom had a pre-Christmas relative bash, since there's too many of us to do it on Christmas. 20 people and LOTS of children. Morgan and Debbie and Finn are here and we're having a good time.

So far, we haven't had any bloodshed between cousins.


Hugs were given:

Incredibly huge amounts of sugar were dolled out by grandma:

And, it's way past my bedtime...more later....

My Husband Left Me!!!

But that's ok. He's coming back on Thursday. We took some pictures so I'd remember what we look like when we're together. I think I need to either get a haircut, or let my hair grow, 'cause I'm hating it right now.

Weekend Projects

This has been a fairly productive weekend. I finished a jacket for me! Yay...long enough sleeves! It's made out of fleece, so when it becomes covered in baby barf, I can toss it in the wash.


Pietro took us one step further into the land of childproofing with this gate at the top of the stairs. He had a good time using his power tools that have been collecting dust lately.


And the requisite picture of Amedeo from the snow last weekend. He wants to stand all the time. ALL THE TIME. Hee hee. He's very good at opening the kitchen cabinets, so that is the next baby proofing thing.

Ten Months Old and STILL Driving His Mother Crazy!

We didn't do anything special today. Though, I would like to make a comment that Amedeo seems to take special pleasure in refusing nice homemade food in many forms. BUT! He will eat dry cat food off the kitchen floor. I saw him chewing on something, so I stuck my finger in there to fish out a kibble. Tell me, should I put his food in a bowl on the cat placemat?? Will he eat it then? Or does he just love dry cat food? And, evidently, plastic hangers are great to chew.

Geez, has it really been two weeks since my last post?

I must admit that I'm starting to stress about Christmas. Decorating, cards, presents, toys, eggnog....wait, eggnog! Yay!

We had a very nice T-day at my cousin's house. Amedeo was entertained by his second cousins. He sea-serpented after them all through dinner. Here he is playing with daddy.


He has recently become much more mobile. Here he is harassing the cats, namely, Zenzero.


Poor Zenzero!!! I think all three cats are a little stressed since we've put up some gates. Here is our first session of learning how to jump over the gates.


Violet gets the prize for being the most graceful.


And, lastly, we have a mystery on our hands. It seems that Maestro and Zenzero (both neutered males) are feuding. They have lived together for almost three years with no problems. Now, Zenzero hisses and spits and Maestro. It started very suddenly yesterday morning. Maestro chased Zenzero up this tree yesterday afternoon. See if you can find him!!!



Today is Pietro's birthday!!!


Hugs and kisses!!!
Brenna and Amedeo