Buongiorno a Italia!

We have arrived in Italy! It was a long trip but no complaints. No airline delays, and despite having checked six pieces of luggage, all arrived when we did (something of an anomaly here). We were very tired - Thomas slept all of five hours the entire 24-hour trip - but are finally feeling normal again. Our sponsor and his wife took us out for pizza and gelato our first night here and then showed us around the area yesterday. Of course, we also checked out the mall (luckily, it's very close). Besides the usual clothing and shoe stores, it also had something like a Super Walmart.

The food is phenomenal, but I am embarrassed to admit that we ate at Applebee's on base yesterday for lunch during our tour. It's unlike any Applebee's in the states. It's huge! One portion is for dining, and there is an entirely separate area as a bar. Craziness. The food was so-so. Some things really aren't too different here.

The weather is nice. Yesterday was hot like NC, but today it is a pleasant 80 degrees with a nice breeze. Our hotel is apparently the happening spot since it has a large pool. All the citizens of Motta have been spending their days there. This month is vacation for the Italians, so it's pretty crowded. We expect to mostly use the pool on base since it has waterslides and a special kiddy pool for little ones.

So far, so good. We are up and running with Skype phone but no phone number just yet. Our Vonage number will be operational at some point, but we haven't figured it out just yet.

Hope everyone is doing well. Miss you and see you soon!

Too long since last post...

I had really intended to maintain this more but realized today, I am WAY behind. Thomas is 16 months old, walking, talking and generally getting into everything. He is pretty excited to move to Italy where he will attend real Montessori (hopefully) instead of the American Montessori we were going to enroll him in in NC this fall.

He is very much enjoying his friends at playgroup, which he has been attending since 8 months old! There are a few new members that he likes to initiate by hitting them. Boys will be boys!

Soon we will be starting Mommy & Me class gymnastics. That ought to be interesting! Will give us a good way to kill time prior to the move. I am also looking into a weekly Zumba class and drinks afterward with my friends. That promises to be a great time!

This week Thomas is enjoying being at the beach and swimming and playing with his cousins. It'll be back to business at our house next week with no grammy to entertain him:(

Long time, no post

It's been almost two months since our last post, and we have been busy. The whole family trekked to Virginia so that Bret could complete two weeks of training prior to departing to Cuba for six months. He left this morning and has arrived in a 90 degree tropical paradise!

On the home front, Thomas got his third tooth while visiting Grandma and Grandpa Brown! We had a good laugh at his crying every ten minutes, as we couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then I remembered that his two top choppers were making their way in. Three teeth and counting. Hopefully by his first birthday, he'll have the other top tooth and a nice smile for the camera.

Chopper #2 Reporting for Duty

Sunday evening Thomas' second tooth decided to make an appearance to much screaming and discomfort! Expecting more any time as the typical teething symptoms continue...

Bath time is Thomas' favorite part of the day. Time to unwind before bottle and bed. He would play all night in there if we let him!

Poppy Returns

Bret returned home from his six weeks in Bahrain on Sunday (Sep 30)! Thomas seemed a bit confused at first, wondering who was invading our space, but he adjusted quite quickly. He can now hop on his pop once again (at least until the next trip)!

When It Rains, It Pours

So Thomas has decided to hit a bunch of milestones, literally, within days! It's hard enough keeping up with his baby calendar and baby book to record everything, never mind post every time. I'll try to cover them all at once here. He is crawling but still prefers pulling himself along. The creeping is faster because he hasn't quite coordinated the hand foot movements necessary for speed...lol. Yesterday he woke up from his nap, and I found him sitting up in bed looking over the rail at me. Needless to say, Bret immediately lowered the crib mattress. That was quite a shock! Lastly, this morning he decided to stand up all by himself. He enjoys playing in the laundry basket (I don't mind since it confines him for a short period of time.\!), so I put him in there, turned around for two seconds, and when I looked back he was standing proudly with a big smile on his face. The boy is trouble with a capital "T".



Actually, I forgot - he is officially eating regular food now. He is refusing baby purees in favor of tofu, cheerios, cheese, veggies, chicken, and crackers! Not really sure that is a balanced diet, but at least it's one he'll eat.