So many ‘firsts’ this week…the first time we took Ida to the beach, the first time she rode on a train, the first time she tasted porridge, the first time she visited a contemporary art museum, a modern art museum and a history museum all in one week! She is such a trooper. She just looks around, smiles at strangers, laughs and takes it all in. I’m so thrilled that she seems to love traveling as much as we do…because, god willing, we will be doing a lot more of it in the future. (more…)

When I moved to NYC after living in Italy for seven years, it was a tough transition. When I left Florence, I longed to live somewhere bigger and with more action. But when I got to NYC, I had a hard time meeting new people and creating meaningful relationships, there was fierce competition in the work world–and to top it off sh*t was EXPENSIVE. Everyone told me to ‘give it a year’. Friends and new acquaintances alike said that the first year in NYC is hard for everyone, but that after a year I would LOVE it for sure. A year passed and I still hadn’t found my place. Next, everyone was saying to give it two years, and that after two years I would LOVE it for sure. So I gave it one more year. So two years had passed and I still wasn’t feeling it. So I moved to Los Angeles, this time, without asking for opinions about how long I’d need to stay before I started loving it.

It is with that memory that I write this post, because it has been nine months, and despite what many people have said about it taking ‘nine months to gain the baby-weight, nine months to lose it’ my body still looks and feels…well, bleh. Part of me thought that just by eating pretty healthily and walking around the reservoir a few times a week, that after nine months, my body would be like it was before. My truth-telling nieces who periodically ask if ‘there is another baby in my belly’ have spilled the beans: I still look pregnant. Somehow, when Ida was tiny I felt like I had the I *just* had a baby pass–but now, nine months later, I feel like I should be back to feeling normal.

And I don’t.

(more…)

My little one is nine months old today. I can’t believe she’s been here for as long as it took her to be made in my tummy! She sits up really well now, has started to scoot (although hasn’t started crawling yet) and has a vocab of about 3 words (that she uses consistently in specific contexts) including, mama, dada, “teh’ (which means Kitteh–but has started to also mean dog, and sometimes even other babies). She eats all kinds of fruits and veggies, but has just started holding bananas on chowing down on them for real.

She loves blocks, puzzles and, of course, iphones. She’s quite a ham, and has been flirting pretty seriously with the Danes out here, pretending she’s shy at first, but then batting her little eye lashes and flashing her cute little baby teeth. Her big developments in the past month or so are waving hello and goodbye and clapping along to “If you’re happy and you know it” and “pattycake, pattycake.”

We are still breast feeding, and, honestly, it feels like we’re still far from sleeping through the night–she’s still sleeping in bed with us. All of the times we’ve tried to get her to sleep in her crib have been kind of half-assed and after leeting her cry for a maximum of about ten minutes, we pick her up.  Neither Jason nor I feel like we could deal with ‘letting her cry’ all night (yet) even though I’ve heard all the stuff about ‘giving your child the gift of sleep etc. etc.’

If you have any advice about sleep training, I’m all ears. I would love to get some practical advice and hear different stories from you all about how you got through it. I must admit as much as now I’m used to waking up 3-4 times every night to feed her, I long to have my nights back.

It is a small price to pay, though, from all of the joy she gives to me each day. I love you Ida Sky. Happy nine months!