October Photos

Some of my favorite photos from October.

My Baby for Obama. And, for the record, he was whining and squirming mightily on my back when I made my historic vote:



I love these big brown eyes.



Playing at Jonah's super-fun birthday/Halloween party.



Hmmm, how can we get this thing to move?



Where cranky babies go when they're at JT's house.



Pre-trick-or-treating family photo:



Nobody help Quintin up or anything!

TMBB, Part 3

Sorry, I can't help myself! Now that Dario is wearing more and more of Matteo's old clothes, I have been getting major flashbacks.

Here is Matteo at almost 7 months:



and Dario at about 10 1/2 months:

We're still alive...

but I'm just a slacker blogger. Sorry! We've been busy bringing the summer (finally!) to a close and getting started on the fall. Matteo started preschool in the beginning of September and we're still getting used to the routine. He's not a big fan of mommy and daddy leaving him with people he doesn't know but he always has fun and lots to tell us when we pick him up. Deciphering exactly what happened from the bits and pieces he tells us is tough sometimes but I guess we'll have to get used to that.
Here he is with a poster that he made all about himself. One of the squares says "If I could have one wish, it would be for...." and, without hesitation, Matteo answered "licorice!" so that's what his poster says and he even drew a Red Rope to illustrate.



In late September we flew to Chicago and then drove south to Starved Rock State Park for my cousin Andy's wedding. Matteo had a blast playing at the indoor water park, looking for turtles in the pond with Dominic, and getting down on the dance floor.



We also hit the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago where Matteo enjoyed touching the stingrays and riding on the carousel (on a moving animal for the first time ever!)





Dario is getting so big and not quite ready to walk yet but will be soon. He says "mama" and "dada" and tried to say Teo, which comes out like "tuh" but we know what he means. He's got 5 teeth now and is working on a few more. He will eat anything you put in front of him, and pretty much anything he can find on the floor. Shredded newspaper and tissues are a few of his favorites, along with the Cheerios he throws on the floor from his highchair so he can go munch on them later.

Okay, I hope everyone will get off my back about the blogging now! Just kidding! I hope to check in more regularly even just to share a story or photo and not feel like I have to write a ton. And I'll leave you with the latest photos of my sweet boys.

They Must be Brothers, Part 2

Here they are again. Usually I don't think they look very much alike (and most people tell me they look very different) but there are the moments when I get a photo of Dario and immediately think back to one I have of Matteo.

Playing in the backyard:



and



Profile shots:



and



I still think it's amazing how much darker Dario's skin is than Matteo's. I try to keep a hat on him when he's in the sun (as you can see) but he seems to tan pretty quickly with only a tiny amount of sun if I do leave his arms or legs exposed. Maybe there's some Sicilian blood that no one told us about...hmmmm.....

The World According to Matteo (third in an occasional series)

Yesterday, playing with me and Dario in his room, shaking his head back and forth slowly:

"I can't see my ears!"

Today, after noting that Dario's eyes are green (although they're brown), and asking me what color his are, opening his eyes wide and looking side to side slowly:

"I can't see my eyes!"

I swear I haven't been drinking...

(any more than usual) but I think Dario is starting to sign to us!

I know, I know. He doesn't have any teeth (where are they anyway? I'm starting to lose hope they'll ever come up), still occasionally falls over and bonks his head while sitting and playing, and often spits up like a reflux-y newborn.

But I'm serious! I've been starting to show him a few beginning signs, like "milk" when I'm nursing him, "more" when I get him more food, and "water" when I give him water to drink. So I was changing his diaper the other day and I noticed him looking right at me and making a motion with his hand, rubbing the pads of his index and middle finger with his thumb, just like how Matteo used to sign "milk." (We use the ASL sign for milk: opening and closing your fist as if milking a cow) So I said "Do you want some milk?" and his face lit up and he grinned and laughed. And then I fed him. Dario is a strange baby in that he will NOT nurse unless he is really hungry. But every time I've noticed him doing the sign, I'll take him and he wants to eat!

Steve also thinks he is doing the dog sign (which we've also showed him: patting your thigh as if calling a dog) when he sees Nyo. I know it's a normal baby thing to flail their arms around but Steve swears he is purposely patting his leg when he watches Nyo walk into the room. I noticed it once but couldn't believe he could actually be signing.

So. Maybe I really am crazy or maybe Dario is already learning to sign. Some people think that baby signing delays talking and I can only hope that it does. Once they are both talking to me nonstop, my head will officially explode and while there's not much left in there, it's not gonna be pretty!

Update on the toes.

They are no longer purple. Back to "white toes," as Matteo calls them. He asked me the other day to take it off so I got the polish remover and some cotton balls and sat him on the toilet. Our conversation went like this:

Matteo: What are you doing?
Me: I'm putting the polish remover on the cotton ball and you rub it on the polish to make it come off.
Matteo: You don't have to cut my toes off?

Now I'm not sure what is most disturbing about his question- that he thinks I get my toes cut off every time I get a pedicure or that he sat down calmly for me to do it but throws a fit when we try to cut his hair.

If anybody can explain 3-year-old logic to me, you know where I live!