Cool Cousin Kristof

We had another visitor this weekend and of course automatically this meant a new playmate for me.

Look at how cool we are, hanging out at my favorite place- Piazza del Popolo. ( for those of you not in the know- this is where I work parking cars... differents kinds of cars, to be precise)

Miki

Sadness

This was a hard weekend for Mikael and I. We lost our dear friend Claudia to cancer. Although we only got to know her here in Rome (she worked as a vet on avian flu at FAO), her love and enthusiasm for life and her ability to truly enjoy every moment in the short time we get on this Earth has really left a deep impression on both of us. She had a wonderful husband, Fletch, who was by her side every moment and a daughter, Cati, who is Miki's age. I so clearly remember the very first of many lunches together when she told me that she had had rectal cancer (this was before the cancer's recurrence). We had many lunches after that - some spent discussing issues at her job, some about her scooter adventures, others about trips our families were taking, and still more about potty training and transitioning our kids out of the crib. We had many servings of rice and beans at their house, hung out at the zoo, at Miki's 2nd birthday... So many friends in our life come and go, I guess it is the nature of this kind of lifestyle. But when you find someone you click with I find the bond is really quick and strong- at least it is for me. It is still hard for me to grasp the fact that she just did not go on to her next posting in Ottawa, like planned. I could go on and on but there is simply no good end to this post. I want to just say - I believe in God, I can accept these things but I will never understand them. But I also have to say - I believe in science, I can understand how these things happen, but I can never accept them. So I am not exactly sure where that leaves me in the end.
Claudia---- we miss you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love my sister

She screams for attention louder than I can, she eats more than I do these days, she can really pull my hair ( I admit it - sometimes it makes me cry). But she likes playing with balls just as much as I do, she likes sitting in my tent with me and her face lights up when she sees me. I just want to say- I love my sister.
Miki

I get around

I just wanted to say that I have been very busy these last 2 months. I am on a strict exercise regimen- reach, grunt (this is not mandatory, only if I am really excited), stiffen left leg, bend right leg and kick... again... reach, stiffen left leg, bend right leg, and kick and again... I do this every opportunity I get, the dirtier the floor the more I want to get down. My father is currently thinking about attaching a swiffer to my belly ( I don't mind, I am all for pitching in with the chores), my mother is horrified at the things I lick. For me all is well, I have lost some weight though I would not call myself skinny. But most importantly I GET AROUND. Some say I should crawl ( but who wants to lift up that booty), some say I should pull up ( Why? I scream and I get picked up) and like I said I GET AROUND.

Lili baba (or LB as my Dada calls me)

Sleep

This is a difficult subject in our household this summer. In the end everyone gets some, but it is not when, where, and with whom we necessarily desire. Lili hates the idea, fights really hard, but in the end needs no blanket, no pacifier, nothing. Miki can be much more easily convinced and lately has been pulling up the fish quilt Nana made for him. Mikael- well, I don't think the picture needs any explanation. And me, well, it is almost 1 am and I should really be in bed. Good night!

Noja

August is vacation time in Rome. So even though we did not go anywhere, 'school' (daycare) was closed, and we had a great time. This is because of Noja- our babysitter. She was here from Budapest and what can we say- she was great! She is good for all kinds of things. She can sing to us, play the guitar for us, she can exercise- with and without us (she is much more flexible and acrobatic than either of our parents), she can make art with us- just to name a few.

Miki- I learned a lot this month. My favorite new words are persze (of course), hat (well...) es szegyen gyalazat (this does not translate well- but a funny sounding expression along the lines of 'shame, disgrace'). My favorite new song is 'Sarga, fekete, sarga, fekete, jon a dzsungel fenegyereke'- a song about a tiger.

Lili- My favorite new activities are pulling Noja's hair (it is nice and long), and sleeping on her (very comfy).

Sadly, she has to go back to university soon- :-(. Not sure what we will do without her ( this includes the parents as well). But for now, we will say thank you and hope for a reunion very soon!

Miki & Lili

My first haircut!

There has been some controversy in the household. About me. Well, actually about my hair. Mama said we should cut it a bit, Dada said no. (Yes, it did take me three long years to get this much hair.) At the time, I was not entirely clear on what a haircut was, but when I heard Dada say I shouldn't have it, I immediately wanted it. So Mama and I won. Although in retrospect, I think I did like my crazy professor hair. Suited my personality--- I have an ingenious idea, so I dump my toybox on the floor and start looking for something furiously. But wait, I have an even better idea so I run to my legos and dump them all on the floor as well. But I am not done yet, so many thoughts, so many ideas- I don't know, maybe taking out all my puzzles will help.... Luckily, Mama did a good job and just cut a little bit. Hair still curly, me still crazy... better run... so much to do.

Ricsaj (ruckus?)

I have always heard parents of children remarking (hmm...complaining :-)) about the noise level in their home but I have not really understood it until recently. Between Miki constantly talking and slowly raising his voice if he does not get an immediate response and now Lili chiming in, it has gotten very noisy around here. In fact, the kids were on the balcony when I arrived home and it was just eerily quiet for about 30 seconds before they noticed that I got home. But there is noise and there is noise-- the below are a sampling of the stuff we love to hear (and believe me some of it we hear ALL the time). Some well timed babble from Lili back in June or July, Miki's own composition ( for those not yet proficient in hungarian it goes 'a little _____ ( whatever the song is about) no, no, no, no, yes, yes, yes...' well, you get the idea. The whole thing started when he wanted a little pear after dinner and this is how he asked for it for some reason), and last but not least a little Beatles medley (we are not a Wiggles or a Barney household- although maybe I speak too soon). The last 2 recordings are courtesy of our babysitter Noja. Excuse the last video- I have it flipped at home (with QuickTime, but it reflips when it loads- any suggestions are welcome- even after a year I am a novice blogger).

Feed me!!!

Some people say I am chubby, some call me chunky, but I don't care... I am HUNGRY. For example, on a recent Saturday we went to the beach. My Mama brought me baby food (this is getting to be really boring), I still breastfeed (also boring unless it is 3 am in which case it is great fun). I got some bread and pasta for lunch (this is not too bad). Then my friend Peter (he is a big guy- 2 years-old!) snuck me some freshly fried salty potato chips (now we are talking). But I was still hungry so I had a snack of crackers and watermelon (I wish I had a third and a fourth hand to hold more stuff). But still, I felt unsatisfied. Then everyone went to swim and I stayed back with Dada. He was hoping I would take a nap, but like I said I was STILL hungry. So as soon as he dozed off (I knew he would), I headed for the sand. I just had a few minutes before the ladies under the next umbrella got concerned and came and woke him up, but it was enough to try some yummy sand. Crunchy and salty, I am a fan!
Lili

Piediluco

In an effort to escape the Rome heat ( which I may have mentioned in the past...) we decided to go on an outing to Umbria. We went to visit Cascata delle Marmore, near Terni, which is the tallest man-made waterfall created by the Romans. This was fun, but much much better was Piediluco, which is the lake and town near by which we just sort of stumbled upon in an effort to find a nice place for lunch (always a must if you know anything about Mikael). We stopped in the small town and had a lovely lunch on the water. Then we walked along the boardwalk, took a boatride where Miki got to be the captain. Then we made the obligatory stop at the playground where Lili really loved the swings ( it's funny because Miki really did not like the swings until much later, but she really loves them and just giggles with excitement). Then we made a second obligatory stop at a 'gelateria'. For me, it does take some courage to be totally spontaneous with two children and the italian schedule (ie the water fall shuts down all afternoon, many restaurants and stores close all of August, and there is always some random local holiday we don't know about) But I have to admit, some of our best outings and meals here have been those that were totally unplanned and random- like this entire day.