My apologies for the spam!!

I have known for a while that someone has linked some unfavourable sites with my blog...and have been trying different things in order to get rid of them. I have been in touch with Google but have not heard back, nor have they fixed the problem!!...so hope you will be patient...may put the blog off line again for a longer period so that that might help or transfer addresses ?? Anyhow I appreciate your patience and hope noone else has this problem!!

Waving bye bye and clapping

It has been a busy week but wanted to document that Matteo can now clap his hands and wave bye bye!!...we have been working on these. Will upload a video of the clapping. Below I've added some photos of Matteo's first trip to the Museum of Nature with his daycare friends. Apparently he liked the birds the best!! Looks like he and the boys had fun...as well we took our first walk in the neighbourhood with Matteo just holding on by one hand. He is still shaky and not walking on his own, but the one handed walking is going quite well!

First high fever....38.6 = 101 and Mamma

I guess these were a few more memorable days. Matteo had his first high fever where his body temperature hovered around 38...at his highest from when I measured it was about 38.6. The doctor didn't think it was his teeth because it lasted over a day and instead felt it was a virus. Though his canine teeth are sprouting and one definitely has cut through the gums.I know Matteo will go through a few viruses over the next few years as his little body builds its immunity, but it was very scary as I did not get much sleep on Thursday night as I checked on him regularly worrying that it would go up instead of down. The tylenol just brought it down to 38,3 ...

This morning, Saturday, he work up and his body temperature felt normal. I checked his temperature at noon and it was normal. He had little energy in the morning and was very clingy not wanting me to put him down but by the afternoon he was energetic, and playing on his own, and giving me lots of smiles.

At dinner he surprised me by calling "mamma" and pointing to the cheese, instead of just making noise and pointing to the cheese. He has been saying mamma for a few weeks now but not really using it to call me though when someone asks him who is his mamma he did look at me. Yet calling me mamma to get my attention was very special and he was very proud of himself when I enjoyed the moment so much!...Technically it is his first word. He sort of says bus with a loud "uh" when a bus goes by, but he does that for big trucks too!!...so not sure if he is saying bus but I think he is only he thinks it means large vehicles. So a few days to remember, the not so great fever days but the great mamma day today!!

A Memorable weekend....

The long weekend in August turned out to be a memorable one for some developments for Matteo. The sweetest one was that he started to give me kisses without being prompted to. Usually I kiss him and ask for a kiss /bacetto back and he obliges most of the time. But on that weekend without any prompting on my part or without having first received a kiss from me, he opened his mouth (that's how he gives kisses) and moved his head towards me to give me a kiss. He did it during breakfast and then later when he was playing and then when he was near me, he just gave me a kiss!!...

Secondly on the walking front, Matteo started to try to walk on his own. I had been trying to help him with this by standing him a couple of feet away from me and then getting him to walk to me. On the weekend he started to release himself from one piece of furniture and then try to walk towards something else...so this is good!

Lastly we were at my sister's for a pizza party. She made the pizza (and it was delicious) and it was such a beautiful day we just hung out in her back yard. I put a couple of blankets on the grass (first time for Matteo) and he really liked this. He spent a lot of time with Luca, Isa's son (Matteo's godmother) and Luca and Matteo bonded that weekend. Such that Luca was asking his mom if he could have a sleepover with us and for Matteo, at the end of the day when I was trying to pack the car and Matteo didn't see me and started to cry. It was Luca who went to him (while I was still beyond his sight line) and Matteo immediately stopped crying when he saw Luca and felt comforted. So that was especially memorable. Here are a few pictures of that beautiful afternoon.

Matteo is settling into Daycare...

...while I, on the other hand, am not settling into a work rhythm, though I keep trying...here are some wonderful first photos from his wonderful daycare...

What Matteo did today!!

My heart still races every time I think of it, how in just a few minutes and a moment of distraction, an unsafe environment can be created. On Tuesday I was probably trying to get too much done and when we got home from a visit I was in the kitchen getting supper ready while keeping an eye on Matteo playing in the living and dining room area, or so I thought. I usually have a safety gate at the bottom of the stairs and between the kitchen and dining room. From the kitchen I can mostly see and hear Matteo. What I noticed first was the quiet so when I came into the living room to see what he was doing, I couldn't find him. I turned around and looked at the stairs and the gate I thought I had put on, was not there and in a panic I called out for Matteo who cried out for me from the second floor landing. In a few minutes he had climbed 15 stairs and was wandering around in the hallway!!...Thank God he didn't try to come back down! I was so relieved that he was okay, so upset at myself, so happy that he could climb the stairs safely and made a mental note that I needed to teach him how to safely go down the stairs too...all in the same moment. All it takes is a moment and yes too many things on one's plate can easily lead to forgetting to put the safety gate back on the stairs!... I'm sure there will be other experiences like this as Matteo is a very curious little boy always trying to go where he is not supposed to and exploring and trying different things especially when his mommy forgets to put up gates and isn't looking.

On Wednesday instead he chose, instead of trying to climb stairs, to take out of his book shelf as many books as he could. Not sure if he was counting them, or just trying to find just the right book to read, but it was fun watching him do this with such focus. He only stopped when I decided to capture it on film. i'm much happier with these kinds of adventures and not climbing stairs when your mommy thinks she is supervising you and instead you're climbing up high!! I hope you reach for the stars Matteo and your mommy will continue to try to do her best to keep you as safe as I can, on your climb!!

First Movie night out a success!

Well finally after some planning and a generous sister, I was able to go out with my cousin to see a movie and then for coffee. While I have been away from Matteo lots in the past, those times were always for work/groceries/appointments etc...but not for a social. It felt good and was especially happy that Matteo settled in with my sister so well!...The only down side was that it was a later night than usual and getting up this morning was especially hard...but so glad. Next social outing will hopefully be a dinner out as most of the meals out that I've eaten in the last while, including Italy, were fast eating, or cold food, or not finishing because of the needs of Matteo..so it will be nice to look forward to that!