Merry Christmas

The Pdub on Christmas Eve, playing with his new drums (yes, we're not the brightest parents ever to have a toddler).

Pdub busting down the language barrier

Ciao, bello!

He couldn't resist the Italian women (he can't really resist American women either, and the other night at dinner had an adorable encounter with a six-month old baby girl)...and they couldn't resist him either. As a result, the little guy learned about waving while we were over there--he won't do it if you say "Bye Bye"--only if you say "Ciao Ciao".

Alas, no Pdub

But here's a bunch of kids playing soccer against the wall of the parish church in Burano, an island in the Venetian lagoon that ostensibly specializes in lace-making (but most of the lace you find here and in Venice is actually machine-made in Taiwan).

We took a day trip out to the islands of Burano and Murano from Venice (we tried to go to Torcello, too, but the language barrier foiled us). Burano is just about the cutest place you could ever hope to go, and Murano, well, Murano has lots of glass shops.

I'll dig around and find some pictures of the islands and flesh out my story a little later.

Finally, A Picture!

Here's Abuelita and the Pdub taking a little walk and checking out the shops that surround the Piazza San Marco in Venice

Big Bad Cellphone Pictures from Italy

We made it home, each of us in one piece. The Pdub was incredible...you couldn't ask for a better baby. We'll get some of the "real" photos from the trip up in the next couple of days and I'll write a bit about what we did and saw and all that good stuff, but in the meantime, enjoy some of the fruits of modern technology.
Pdub enjoying a snack in St. Peter's square, our fist full day in Rome:


The dub tanked out in the backpack while we wait at Termini, Rome for our train to Siena:


Our "villa" at Siena--technically we just had one room, but we were the only people there:


Our view of the Duomo from the rooftop garden in Florence (and yes, Brandon is the devil):


Brandon and Pdub outside the Uffizi:


The cloisters of the Basilica San Lorenzo in Florence:


Waiting for the train at Santa Maria Novella, Florence:


Riding the Vaporetto in Venice:


A vacation from vacation on the island of Burano:


Pdub met up with the grandparens and went for a walk in the Piazza San Marco:


Tasting our way across Italy en route to Bologna:


Bologna was tough, so Pdub and I took a nap:


Hanging out in the cloisters of the enormous Basilica San Francesco in Assisi:


Somewhere along the way, Pdub and I took some time out to learn a little Italian from a lovely book from Abuelita:


On the way home, we had plenty of time to kill in the Frankfurt airport:


And finally, we made it back home:


(edited to make pictures smaller ~B)

Bon Voyage, Us!

"Let's Go! I'm all packed!"


"No really, come on!"

So...this will be the last picture of the day for a while. But have no fear...more pics than you'd ever want of the pdub toddling through all of Italy's great squares.

Turkey Day (Belated)

Pdub's First Thanksgiving!

"I'm not so sure about this turkey."


"Abuela's nice, but I"m still not so sure about this turkey."


Grumpa guards the food.


After dinner, the pdub goes for a little drive.

'twas a good day!

Head Wound Triptych

Pdub bonked his head on the coffee table (after first removing the protective corner cusion, of course) and suffered is first minor head trauma.
As you can see, it's not really slowing him down any, and he finally gets to sport the Nelly look--all the babies love Nelly.

Look, Ma!

I ate all of my Oatmeal and Pears!

Italy Itinerary

For those of yall wanting to keep tabs:

27 Nov--On the Plane
28 Nov--Rome
29 Nov--Rome
30 Nov--Rome
01 Dec--Siena
02 Dec--Florence
03 Dec--Florence
04 Dec--Florence
05 Dec--Venice
06 Dec--Venice
07 Dec--Venice
08 Dec--Venice
09 Dec--Bologna
10 Dec--Assisi
11 Dec--Rome
12 Dec--Fly Away Home!

Aaaahh

Look at the two cutest people in the world takin' a nap.

where should we put the pdub?

in a drawer, of course!

new toy for the budding walker

that's right--pdub's taken his first steps!
they don't really get him anywhere quite yet, but he's trying...although if there's ever a finger or table around to steady him, he'll take it.

eventually, the blue face thing on the front can fold down and it becomes a ride-on toy.

right now he just wants to make the barrel on the top spin.

and ps--thank you los abuelos for more books! we might have to start calling abuelita "literacy lady".

pdub loves to play!

Weekend With Los Abuelitos

New kind of piano bench

Look at the tiny mad genius.

Merry Halloween!!

the pdub speaks!

Hey--gimme the camera!


Who needs pockets?

(okay, it's more like "blah bah mah gah pah pah gah!")