Diario di Mamma Jenn

Today Izzie turns 11 months!! Yay for Izzie!! She is growing before my eyes and everyday we face a new adventure together. Last night wasn't the kind of adventure I had been looking forward to, but even that disaster we shared. Yesterday before going to bed she had wayyy too much energy and started playing on our bed. To make a long story short, she fell off of our bed. This time she didn't roll off our bed, she literally ran off the bed!! I felt so horrible and scared. Horrible because I didn't get to her on time, and it's obvious as to why I was scared. She cried for about 10-15 minutes straight, nothing could console her, not even Mommy's hugs. After we checked that she had not hurt herself (no bleeding, scratches, or bumps), we could breathe. She soon after fell asleep. I question, does it take for her to fall off of our bed to put her to sleep?? She's incredible, a handful is to say the least, you can't stay upset at her because she smiles at you and she makes you melt. She has so much love to offer and the more love you give her, the more love she shares. She is incredible. These pics are of us in the hospital, sleeping during the daytime when MY Mommy and hubby were there to take care of us. My sweet Mommy knew I needed to sleep some since I wasn't sleeping at night. Now Izzie is big and it's she whom rolls over us!! I need a plan and quick!!

In exactly 44 days we will be going home...well, my old home, my hometown that is. I am so excited!! There is only one thing I am not so excited about and that is a super long trip with a one year old. This will be Izzie's first long distance trip on a plane!! I am just so glad that my husband's son is coming along, so it'll be 3 of us taking turns walking along the aisles with Izzie. I know it's kinda silly to start a countdown at this point in time, but I cannot wait-- I want Mom's homemade meals! I will be spoiled with Mom's cooking for a month and a half and she already started taking note of what I am craving. I wonder whether Izzie will like Mexican and American food? I hope so! Every time we have gone back home I request a special 1st meal...we usually get there for lunchtime and this time it will not be any different. Last time, as crazy as this may seem, I was craving a cheeseburger from Jack in the Box, of all places!! But that is what I was craving, well, I was also pregnant the last time we went home. :) I have 43 days to decide on our 1st meal.

This weekend was horrible. I've promised my husband that I would vent about it this last time, then I would let it go. Maybe after I write I can let it go. :)
So this horrible weekend began on Friday evening, dinnertime. We decided to go eat some pizza at this awesome restaurant that brews their own beer, in fact, it was the beer that my hubby was craving, not really the pizza. The last time we ate at this place, our pizza was good, it was perfect, this time my pizza was YUCKY!! It was full of grease and had no taste. I seriously wanted to take it back to the waiter and ask him "would you eat this if you were fed this?" Instead I decided to keep my mouth shut, blot the pizza and eat what I could, it was nasty. That was the omen of a bad weekend, I should have seen it coming.
On Saturday we went to have our hair cut, both my hubby and I go to the same hairdresser, he's actually pretty good. My mom loved the way Roberto (hairdresser's name) cut her hair when she was here, she even said she can't wait to come back and have her hair done by him again. I was ready for a change, I wanted something different with my hair. I was tired of having my hair pulled back in a ponytail, I even considered having a bodywave or yikes! perm done, but that idea was quickly shot down, too risky. When Roberto (again, hairdresser) asked me what I had in mind for my cut, I told him I didn't know, but I knew I wanted a change. I did mention that I didn't want my hair short and I wanted something that wouldn't make my face looker rounder. He started doing his magic and snip snip here, snip snip there and I'm beginning to worry because I am seeing my mid-length hair become shorter. Snip snip here and snip snip there again and then I start remembering that I saw him take a drink out of a beer bottle before he washed my hair. I hope he was drinking water! The final result was horrible!! Was he drunk?! I haven't had this haircut since I was in middle school?!?! My face looks rounder than a full moon!! It's hair and it'll grow, right? I hope so!! I wonder if it'll grow before we go to Houston? We leave in July!! Something inside of me was telling me to only have a trim, but I didn't listen to that something, instead I WANTED change. I've decided that the next time I want change, I better eat an entire chocolate bar and then decide whether I really want change or I just want the chocolate. My hubby says that I just needed to calm down before I walked in to the salon and now that the damage is done, to just calm down. How can I calm down when my hair is short and ugly?! I can't even pull my hair back into a ponytail!! I now realize how much I used to love my ponytail. Sniff sniff. We had already planned on going to have ice cream after our hair cuts, this should have made me feel better, after all it's something sweet and yummy. Well why is it that the lady that served me decided by herself that I should have some panna on my ice cream? Panna is a heavy cream that I cannot have on my ice cream, does she not remember I am lactose intolerant? Boy am I getting upset with this lady and her simple mistake of putting panna on my ice cream because I have a horrible haircut!! AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!
Ok, so the last day of horrible weekend, yesterday. We went to visit the only uncle and aunt from my hubby's dad's side. We love to go visit them because they live in a small, tiny town where it's quiet and you can relax and breathe nice clean air. There Izzie has 2 cousins, both males and both older than her. The oldest one is 13 and the youngest one is 3.5 years old. Nicolò, the younger one is like a mini-Bam Bam from the Flintstones, he's a rough kiddo. Luckily for Izzie he wasn't interested in playing with her, otherwise she probably would have been on the floor crying. Bless her heart, she did get her first knee-scrapes, but that didn't stop her from playing. So what was so bad about yesterday? The fact that a neighbor of the family asked me if I had gained weight because I looked a little heavier than the last time she had seen me. I just said "you think so? I probably have." Sniff sniff, I have not gained a pound since she last saw me, it's my darn haircut!! I told you I look rounder than a full moon!! I hate this haircut, so now not only do I look horrible, but I look FAT! So the next time I go get my hair cut, which will probably be next year, I will go in after I ate an entire chocolate bar and with a picture of the hairstyle that I want in hand. I will no longer walk in wanting change without being prepared.
Ok, I think I feel better now. Today is the beginning of a new week, new ugly haircut, so be it. :)

I meant to write on either the last day of April or the 1st of May, but that didn't happen as always when I plan things. I'm learning that being spontaneous is the best way to lead one's life because not everything can be planned. Izzie is now 10.5 months, I am in total awe at how fast time has flown!! I probably say that everytime I write, but it's just that I find it totally amazing how my little baby is growing! Milestones galore! Izzie had already been walking around the couch and in her playpen while holding on to the edges, well on the 18th of April she started walking by her self. At first she would take some steps, like 10 and then she would stop, but then she just decided to continue, she kept walking... now she's practically running! She also now has 4 chompers, two on the bottom and two on the top, they're adorable! She now eats pizza really well, in fact, bread and pizza are two of her favorites. I wonder what babies around the world like at this age? I remember the babies my Mom babysat and I don't recall them eating bread or pizza, but they did eat tortillas! I wonder now that they're are grown, do they still like tortillas? I am sure that Izzie will be loving pizza for a VERY long time. ;) One other thing Izzie really enjoys is strawberry gelato. I know, I know, I probably should not be giving her gelato at all, but it doesn't contain milk so it won't harm her and yes, it does have sugar, but doesn't Gerber's baby food also contain sugar? On the 8th of May, the day she turned 10 months I decided to give her her very first gelato cone, she ate it all!! Everyone that saw her eating her gelato was impressed to see such a little girl eating a cone by herself...impressive? Nah! Just very cute!! I promised her I would give her ice cream by her 1st birthday, but I love ice cream too much and I gave in and gave her some to try...she's an ice cream/gelato lover just like her Mommy. :)

February is coming to an end within 2 days! There was a Monday in which I thought, the week was going to be so long, but before you know it, we're at the end of February. It has been a special month for several reasons. Besides the fact that it's the month of Love and Friendship, it has been the month in which Isabella has started standing for like 10-25 seconds on her own! Sure she does it inside her play-pen, but it's obvious she would do it there for she feels safe in there. One other thing she has surprised me with is that when I am dressing her and put her shoes by her side, she will take one and put it over her foot. I never really taught her that shoes go on her feet, but this shows me that she really pays attention to what we do everyday. Her other milestone started almost a week ago...she finally started cutting in her teeth!! We have been waiting for this day for quite some time for she's been very fussy at night and we always assumed it was her teeth, now it really is. I first noticed it while we were out shopping at the Mall and I was making her laugh out loud, well, I noticed her bottom gum was finally cut, I almost cried there for I was so excited! I am proud of this moment, although since I still nurse her I'm also a little afraid. Every once in while I feel her little tips and they're sharp! Besides being a little afraid of her biting into me, there is one thing I don't like at all. When I give her water to drink out of her glass cup, she likes to bite into it making a shrieking noice that sounds like nails scratching a chalkboard. Just the thought of it gives me shivers! Last night I gave her her water in a plastic cup, much better, the sound is not as bad. She's so funny because the one thing she does not do is suck on her fingers, now you see her with one finger in her mouth and we figured it was her playing with her growing teeth. I guess she's curious about that "something new" that is growing in her mouth. One other new thing we did last night was instead of bathing her in her bathtub, I decided to shower with her. I felt up to it, I felt brave, so I decided why not? It was an experience, she hugged me so tight I couldn't lather her well! :) As she's growing one thing we have noticed is that she doesn't like water on her face and so washing her hair is a little difficult, but this time it was faster since it was under the shower. I showed her how Mommy's face was to go under the shower and she just looked not convinced. Needless to say the shower was much faster than us trying to bathe her in her bathtub and she DIDN'T cry!! She didn't like it, but at least she didn't cry. Ok, this will be the last thing I'll write about her doing new, she did it for the first time last night, she started clapping on her own! Everyone knows how cute it is to see a baby clap, and she's too cute!! So many little milestones this month, I wonder what she has in store for us next month?

It's the 13th of February, a day before Valentine's Day and I'm sick like a dog!! I started getting sick mid-week and I had hoped it would go away before Valentine's day, but on the contrary, I'm just getting worse. My husband says it takes 7 days to get rid of a cold, that is if you do or don't take any medicine. Since Isabella still nurses, I cannot take any medicine, that REALLY sucks!! I am the kind of person that believes in the power of medicine, I don't like to feel pain, why should one have to go through it if there are pain killers available? Don't take me wrong, I also don't overdo it with medicine, but unlike my husband, I do take Tylenol when I have a headache. Ok, enough about me and my sickness.

It's two days before Christmas and so much time has passed by since I last wrote on this blog, although I wish I had kept up with it a little more, it has been impossible with Izzie. She is definitely a full time job, but a wonderful job I am enjoying every minute of. Right now she's 5 and a half months and she's accomplished so much! She's 'steps' away from crawling for example and we believe she's starting to teeth. For the past two nights she's woken up crying like a mad woman screaming 'Mom'...oh that's another thing she's accomplished, it's such a wonderful feeling t0 hear her say 'Mom,' anyway, we try everything to calm her down and nothing works. Yesterday we took her to get some vaccine shots, so when she woke up crying, screaming, we gave her some baby tylenol and she literally slept like a baby, actually it's 11.52am and she's still sleeping! I'm sure in a bit she'll wake up hungry. My life has definitely changed A LOT since her birth. My mom was here to help me out for 3 months and I love her even more for all the help she provided. She taught me a lot, things that I already knew, but obviously when it comes to your child, you forget everything, 1st time Mommy Panic! Now, my Mom can't wait until Izzie turns 1 year old because we're planning on going to visit them in Texas. That should be lot's of fun, especially with Houston Humidity and Heat!! Yeay!! :) The only difference between Houston humidity and Heat and Rome Heat is the humidity, while in Houston it's 100%, here it's 40%, but the heat is a killer, even after 3 years of living here. I wonder whether Izzie will like travelling, poor baby I bet she'll be bored out of her mind on a 14 hour flight! We'll just have to wait and see and I'll definitely let everyone know when it happens. Oh!! One major important event for Izzie, she's officially a U.S. Citizen as of Sept. 24th I believe. We, the three of us, went to the U.S. Embassy in Rome to register her birth abroad and she has her birth abroad certificate, the Embassy still has her passport because we still have to pick it up, and my parents have her Social Security card, I wanted the card to arrive in Texas since it would take less time. It's 12.03pm and she's still asleep!! I think I better go in and check on her. This entry won't have the Italian translation, sorry!

Per questa volta, non scriverò in Italiano, quindi alla prossima!

--Mamma Jenn