Giuliana's 8 Month Update!

Giuliana has changed SO MUCH in the past 2 months!!

* She is crawling EVERYWHERE! She officially started crawling on Monday, 8/23 (7.5 months). On that day she took 4 crawls forward, twice, with no dragging or leaning on anything. Since then, she has been a baby on the move!

* She now LOVES solid foods! Two months ago she was still refusing them completely. Well, now she eats like a queen. Her favorites are squash and sweet potatoes. She does NOT like apples/applesauce. We have to thank Gammy for this, as she is the one who got Giuliana to actually eat solids.

* She is saying "ma ma ma" and "da da", but I'm quite certain she doesn't really know yet what they mean. However, I AM noticing that she's starting to say "ma ma"when she needs me... like when she's hungry or wants to be picked up. Not consistent... but I think she might be getting a hunch that "ma ma" actually means something.

* She is pulling herself up to standing position! Officially started doing this without any support/help from us yesterday (Wed, 9/15). Now, everything is a prop for her to use in standing up and she loves practicing this new trick.

* She spends a LOT of time doing the "downward dog", or "headstands". Seriously. She does this all the time! It looks as if she's prepping to do a front somersault... even standing on her tippy toes. We often tease that she treats her head as a third leg... that's how often she does this. None of my other children did this, so I find it very amusing. She's been doing this for at least a month, if not a bit longer.

* Her papa is her best pal. Seriously... if I am holding her and he walks in the room, she will often start elbowing me and trying to dive out of my arms into his. It's really very cute. I only worry that she is REALLY going to miss him a lot when we move in 10 days. He spends so much time with her, letting her crawl around on the floor, letting her climb him, and making funny noises to make her laugh. She's developed this love for him that is really cute to see.

* She thinks her brother and sister are the funniest people on the planet. She is completely entertained by them. They always make her laugh and smile. She honestly gets sort of needy and fussy when they are not around... probably because she's bored. I guess I can be quite boring. I'll need to work on that.

* Nursing her can be a bit of a circus now... she is very easily distracted. She's often busy trying to simultaneously do a headstand or twist her body WHILE she's nursing. Good times for mommy.

* She has developed a fake cry. It sounds very different from her real cry and she knows it's a tool to get what she wants. It's funny when she does it. And, yes, it usually results with her getting exactly what she wants. What can I say... I'm a sucker for a cute kid.

* Still no teeth! Ack! I keep thinking... "Hmmmmm... she must be waking up in the night because she is teething." And, then I keep waiting for those teeth to appear. And nothing! Gabby had her first teeth at 5.5 months. Rocco had his first tooth at 6.5 months and Matteo cut two teeth just as he hit 7 months. Where are little G's teeth?












* Current hobbies: She loves crawling up and down stairs. She loves to practice her standing (I think scooting is just around the corner). And she LOVES to find tiny things on the floor... and of course, put them into her mouth. Yum. Maybe she just does it for the attention... you know, it does result in me diving at her super-fast to grab all these tiny little particles that she seems to find (but the vacuum cleaner doesn')t.

* Nicknames: Giuls (pronounced "Jewels"), Giulsy (prncd "Jewelsy"), angel, monkey

* She'll get her very first flu vaccine tomorrow, along with the rest of the family.

Giuliana is truly the easiest, best baby. She goes along to all the big kids activities, she rarely cries or fusses and is just a little ball of smiles! The only challenge that Giuliana brings to the table is that she is still waking up to nurse during the night. More details on that in the below post.

****** Photo FYI: The photo of Giuliana in the flowers and the photo of me holding Giuliana were taken by Dana Young. ******

Tired or Off Balance?

We've been bouncing around and essentially living out of our suitcases now for 2.5 months.

It has been a lot of fun... vacationing as a family, exploring different landscapes with the kids, going on new adventures and seeing new things. We've been able to visit with and spend quality time with friends and family that we rarely get to see. I've been able to connect with lifelong friends that I haven't seen for years. Making a million fun memories with Gammy and Papa. And, the kids have been able to make lots of new friends, participate in gymnastics and other activities, do LOTS of swimming, and a million other things that I'll write about in a future post. It feels as if it's been a summer of adventure, reflection, change and new outlooks. We've all truly enjoyed it.

But, it's also been challenging at times too. Not having the comforts and conveniences of our own home or a consistent routine. The kids still stuck on Pacific Time. Living out of suitcases. Wishing we had our baby stuff with us for Giuliana to play with. Often being separated due to daddy's business travel. Trying to help the kids understand the transition phase we've been in. Mommy still emotionally and mentally coping with all the change in the past year... Matteo's death, new job for Dan, sale of home, move to new city, and quitting a full time job I loved. Having a booked social calendar (mostly revolving around the kid's play dates and appointments). Reassuring the kids that they will see all of their toys again, have their own bedrooms, a yard to play in and make lots of new friends. Reminding the kids (and myself) that no matter where we are... Matt will be with us... we have lots of photos, videos and he is always in our heart, on our shoulders he's a special star in the sky and he sits on the moon at night watching the world go 'round. And, we've also tried to be very respectful and helpful in the homes we've been so welcomed into. Lots of adjustment and change... yet... sort of just floating and waiting to move into the new house.

The positives have outweighed the negatives. And, I wouldn't change a thing about how we spent the summer of 2010.

Anyway, I confess... I've been a horrible blogger lately. My kids will someday read this and wonder why there was such a long break in blog posts (please God tell me they'll actually read this someday and that I'm not wasting my time).

I think I'm either extremely and extraordinarily tired lately... or I'm just off balance.

Off balance because of everything mentioned above and the stress of just floating while trying to keep everyone happy. Hopefully, the balance will magically return to me in 10 days when I walk through the doors of our new home. Snap. Back to reality. Ok... we all know that's not going to happen. But, I think it will help once we start establishing our new routine, get settled in the new home and aren't having to deal with the stresses of living like gypsies.

Tired... I'll blame this partly on Giuliana, partly on my need to have an hour of time to just be awake doing my own thing after the kids have gone to bed. But most of the blame will sit with my new companion of the past 14+ months... night fear. Yes. I'm terrified of night time. Night to most people equals sleep. To me, night equals sudden, unexplained child death. It means emergencies. It means prepare as if an emergency is going to happen before you go to bed (know where the phones are, make sure the paths are clear, etc.). Living in my parent's home has helped calm this anxiety in me considerably. Probably because it is only very natural to feel protected when you're with your parents. And, when Dan travels, I feel like I have two more people who can assist me if/when that night emergency occurs. I wonder if my anxiety will go up again when we move or if I've sort of conquered a lot of that. Only time will tell, I guess.

The only difficult thing with Giuliana right now (she's seriously the world's BEST baby!) is that she is still waking up to nurse during the night. I think that is one of the downfalls of choosing to solely nurse your baby. You sort of become a snack bar and/or a pacifier. On a good night, she'll only wake up once or twice to nurse. On a bad night... four or five times. She'll always nurse and go right back to bed. But, it's exhausting if she has several bad nights in a row. It creates a sort of dilemma for the breastfeeding momma.

A dilemma of food source vs. sleep. I sleep trained the twins at 7 months... and after that, they'd wake up once in the middle of the night for a bottle, if at all. And with Gabby, she was also just a breastfed baby. She actually refused the bottle completely. I made the mistake of bringing her into our bed because she also woke up multiple times throughout the night. Bringing her into our bed allowed me to nurse her on demand throughout the night, and not have to get out of bed. At the time, I couldn't deal with a full time job and getting up multiple times throughout the night. I laugh at that now... oh boy... those were the EASY days. Well... 4.5 years later and we still often get a little 4.5 yr old visitor in our bed at some point in the night. Fun. Uh huh. I like the snuggles... but not the feet in the back or face.

After having my own four little experiments, my personal opinion is that bottle fed, sleep trained babies are the easiest path for both momma and baby/ies. And, I totally believe in the benefits of breast milk. But, everything has the positive and a negative, right? If you choose to bottle feed your baby breast milk, then you've got to have the time to pump AND feed the baby. Easy with one. More difficult with two or three. I was able to somehow pump for 6.5 months with the twins and then I just couldn't do it anymore. I was exhausted and had a 2.5 year old to manage as well as a full time job outside the home. So we slowly worked formula into their bottles and they were on 100% formula starting at 7 months. Gabby and Giuliana have both only been fed breastmilk. Both refused formula completely. Giuliana still refuses it... she gags if I try to put it in a sippy cup for her.

So, for Giuliana... I have chosen to just continue nursing her for now and forgo a solid night of sleep. Decisions, decisions.

Well... and I have to admit that it's honestly reassuring to me when she wakes up throughout the night. It's reassuring because then I know she is still alive. I can't possibly explain how strong this fear is inside me that death is just right around the corner and these little ones can just stop breathing in their sleep. Again, we don't know why Matteo died... one theory is that it was an unidentified virus. The other theory is that he died of SIDS (although the coroner wouldn't consider this due to his age and the fact his face was not obstructed). Not knowing the exact cause of death is a nightmare. It creates immense fears within me... fear of germs (yes, you have to wash your hands before you touch my baby). And, a fear of a child that sleeps through the night.

We used to think a sleeping baby was the best thing in the world... don't disturb the sleeping baby, right?! Well, when your child dies in his sleep... you can't help but disturb the sleeping baby and kids. If Giuliana isn't waking up throughout the night, then I am waking up on my own to check her pulse. And, then I check on Gabby and Rocco next. Call me crazy, but I'd rather wake up 10 times a night than have my 8 month old sleep through the night.

So yes... I'm back. Just tired or off balance. Lots of blog posts in the works...

COUSINS!

It's so fun to see the kids play with their cousins!

At the beginning of August they were able to see and play with Alexa and Callie (Shanghai, China) for a day before they headed back home to China. And, they've been able to play with Maddy and Emily who live in Minnesota, quite a bit. The only cousins missing from the fun summer get-togethers were Matteo, Ellie and Maya. Ellie and Maya live in Alaska.



Playing has consisted of lots of swimming in the lake, boating, playing soccer, computer games, building forts, watching cartoons, eating lunches/dinners, and pretending Giuliana is like everyone's real, living baby doll. Seriously. All the little girls want to help feed her, entertain her, dress her, and change her. And, Giluliana has been held a LOT by little people in the past 4 weeks! She's such a good baby!

The kids all played so nice together and Alexa (the oldest by approx 6 years) was the best mommy's helper. She helped me with Giuliana and always made sure to include Rocco in activities. Rocco seems to not get too flustered by all the girls bossing him around. And oddly enough, he and Emily get along really well. Emily is so quiet and sweet... she'll calmly direct Rocco as to how the fort should be built and Rocco thinks is the greatest thing in the world that this cute little girl is giving him all of her attention. Rocco seemed to only really be bothered once by the girl madness, and he said "Those girls are MEAN!"

What I wouldn't give to see Matteo here with his brother, giving all those girls a run for their money. I can only imagine the 8:2 ratio wouldn't even impact the powers of those two little dudes.

Zoo fun!

I am sooooo behind with blog posts! Ack! I guess this business of living like a gypsy and vacationing is a lot crazier than I expected. Our new au pair arrives on Friday night and we're all looking forward to it!













Next week... I'm hoping to catch-up on blog posts, laundry, running, and planning for the big move into our new house!

We visited the Minnesota Zoo a few weeks ago and it was AWESOME!! All of the exhibits are so clean, so well thought out, and the animals have TONS of beautifully landscaped living space so you don't feel bad for them. Gabby's favorite animals were the dolphins and the grizzlies. Rocco's favorites were grizzlies, tigers and sharks. Giuliana's favorite? Hmmmm... the monkeys? Matteo would have loved it too... one of his favorite things to say before he died was "WOW wow wow wow wow!" whenever he was in awe of something. I think we would have heard a LOT of WOW's from our little dude that day. Sure do miss our little guy...

We were able to get within 4 inches of the grizzlies and the tigers, thanks to the genius of glass walls. Too bad I just brought my pocket camera instead of the SLR.

I am still amazed at the length of the bear's claws and how HUGE their heads were. I definitely wouldn't want to bump into one of those in the great outdoors! Two of my brothers did on a family trip to Alaska back in the 90's... but that's another story. ;)

Anyway... way to go Minnesota with the fantastic zoo! We hope to visit you at least once more before we're off to our new home. Rumor has it that another fabulous zoo is real close to our new home.

Giuliana's 6 Month Update!

Little Giuliana turned six months old mid-July! Sadly, I seem to just be catching up with myself but I wanted to still include a little Giuls update because she has changed SO much since her 5 month update.








Giuliana's 6 month stats:
Weight: 12lbs 14oz ( 3rd %ile)
Height: 27 inches ( 90th %ile)
Head: 17cm (75th %ile)

Her growth stats are very similar to what Gabby's were at this age... although Giuilana is taller. I believe Gabby was 65th %ile for height at 6 months. I would really love to start fattening Giuls up with baby food... but she still has no interest in actually eating any solids. She will open her mouth up for me to put the spoon in... and then she spits all the food out. So, Giuliana is still on a breast milk only diet.

Some of Giuliana's new things include:
* Sitting on her own! She started doing this in early July and keeps getting more & more balance.
* Rolling and spinning on her back and tummy which allows her to sort of chase toys of interest. I'll set a toy off to her side and she'll somehow find a way to roll and spin to get it.
* Standing. She LOVES to practice her standing while we hold her hands. She smiles real big as if to tell us "Look! I can do it too!!" Her legs have gotten so strong.
* Interest in sippy cups. She watches Rocco & Gabby drink from them... and has several times reached out for their cups, grabbed them and brought them to her mouth.
* Screams, grunts, and groans to "tell us" that she's happy or sad, that she wants something, or wants to change positions.
* She's started saying "na na na" and "ahhhhh"
* Grabbing and reaching for everything that mommy's holding and everything she shouldn't be touching. And everything goes directly to the mouth, of course.
* She's great at grabbing small/skinny items and she can pass them from one hand to the other.
* LOVES being entertained by Gabby and Rocco. They'll actually fight over who gets to bring her toys or who can dance to make her laugh first. So funny!
* Bashful/shy side. I'll be holding her and Dan or Sarah or a complete stranger will come over to us and start smiling at her and talking to her. She'll give a big smile and then hide her face in my shoulder. It's so cute!
* Sleeping on her side seems to now be her preferred sleep position. I'll always lay her down on her back but find that she's rolled onto her side. I've also busted her on her tummy a number of times which of course freaks me out for all the obvious reasons. So, I seem to be in this mode where I'll put her on her back (even if it wakes her up) as many times as needed even if I'm up in the middle of the night for hours with an upset baby who wants to be a tummy sleeper. During the day, I can logically tell myself she'll be fine. But, at night, all I can think of is "what if Matteo really died of SIDS?" and then I can't allow myself to sleep until I know she's on her back.












Giuliana still has no teeth... but seems to have teething pains all the time. (Dear teeth: PLEASE COME SOON!!).

I gave her the official "first haircut" because she had a patch of hair on top of her head and behind her two ears with hair that was approx 3 inches long. So, it was looking kind of silly. Now it's all sort of the same length.

Giuliana has started to like her daddy. She thinks he's funny and will giggle and laugh at him. And, Dan has started to interact with her more as well. It's funny how men in general really don't begin "bonding" with a baby until the baby hits about 6mnths and has personality.

Still no interest in solid baby foods. I'll try to feed her solids twice a day for 2-3 days in a row, and then take a break. She's just not having it. Of all my kids, Gabby took to solids the best and was eating them happily every day by 5 months.

I'm really behind in blog posts. Life has been incredibly busy over the past few months and I haven't posted a Gabby update in ages. She has grown and changed SO much as a little person in the past year. Matteo's death has had a huge impact on her life and daily activities and she talks about him a lot, every day. I'm hoping to add another Rocco update again soon too!

Donner Lake & Lake Tahoe... an extended vacation!

We're currently on an extended vacation and enjoying the beauty and peacefulness that goes along with living in the mountains. It's great and we feel incredibly lucky to be able to spend the month of July exploring and playing in the Sierra. Our au pair, Sarah, is also enjoying the area and lots of time at the beach.

Dan still has to work, of course, but he's able to work remotely as long as he's within close proximity to his west coast territory. And, he did just return from a trip to Kona, Hawaii with some of his best pals to celebrate a friend's wedding... so no need to feel sorry for him! ;)












The house we're renting is owned by a friend of mine. It's fits our needs perfectly and has gorgeous views of the still snow-capped mountains. Gabby and Rocco share a bedroom and they think it's the coolest thing in the world. Gabby actually asked if they can share a room when we move into our new home. So cute! Also, the kids LOVE the fact that they can open the refrigerator. They couldn't open our refrigerator doors at home... just the freezer doors. So, this is all very exciting to them!

While Gabby understood that this was our "vacation home" from the moment we arrived, it took Rocco a little longer to adjust. When we tried to put him in bed the first night, he said "This is NOT my bed!" And, when we would arrive back at the house after being at the beach or whatever, we'd say "we're home!" and Rocco would say "This is NOT my home!"

Now though... Rocco seems to understand our temporary vacation situation better, because he'll often say "This is our home? Our vacation home? I like it!"

Every day the kids go to a beach, park or we do something new and interesting.

One day, we took the kids to the Tahoe National Forest so they could go horseback riding. Rocco's horse was "Patty" and she was 19 years old and pregnant. She liked to stop and eat a lot. Gabby's horse was "Shroder" and he was 20 year old and had braids in his mane. Dan led Rocco's horse and I led Gabby's horse on the trails. Giuliana was attached to me and I think she enjoyed all the new sites. Rocco seemed a little timid at the start of the ride, but he did really well and enjoyed it. Gabby LOVES horses so she was in heaven! She's been on several pony rides before, but this was the first time she rode solo with no trainer leading the horse (just mommy!). So, Gabby was very proud of herself and talked to the horse the entire ride.

The kids also enjoyed taking a gondola ride at NorthStar Resort. We also explored the village there, played in the sandbox and watched the mountain bikers, etc.

We spent a day playing at Lake Tahoe's Burnt Cedar Beach thanks to an invitation from my friend Julie. Gabby really enjoys playing with her daughters and the kids were excited to have a play date. The beach was AMAZING with breathtaking views of the landscape and mountains surrouding Lake Tahoe. And, there was a great kids pool which meant warm water to swim and play in (because the lakes are ice cold this year!).

We watched the the Truckee annual 4th of July parade. Truckee's such a cute mountain town and the kids enjoyed the old-fashioned parade where candy is thrown by almost every home-made float.

We've made countless trips to the beaches on Donner Lake. And, this weekend we'll be renting a boat on Lake Tahoe.

Dan and I have been enjoying the scenic runs... and our lungs and legs have finally adapted to the 6,500 foot altitude and all the steep hills.

This has been a good transition place for us... almost a way to gently say goodbye to beautiful and sunny California, before we're off on our next adventure.