Yeah, I'm Wearing Legwarmers - Jealous?!

Quick blog post today as I'm still recovering from last night's concert of the century (more on that later). Anyway, with all of Lucia's moving and shaking these lil legwarmer things come in very handy (thanks Eleni!). They also help fuel my Flashdance obsession and since I can't pull off the legwarmer look Lucy will have to do it for me. Speaking of my youth, my sisters requested photos of the pillows they had made for Lucy's room - so here you go, sorry it's taken me so long! These were truly a labor of love in that the orange pillow was a batik that I (or perhaps Tony) made when we were kids. My Aunt Joyce had saved it all these years and gave it to Maria to do something with... hence the custom made pillows. Of course, they both match the nursery perfectly. Ok, I need to go put my head down now.

Sunday In the Park With George

Today was the kind of day that makes you want to burst into song. OK, so I often do that regardless of the weather, but today was an exceptionally nice day - the perfect day for a family picnic at the Pond. Maybe it's the Mainer in me, or perhaps the Mainer mom (egads) in me, but I've determined that picnics are an entirely underrated form of entertainment. A couple of PB&Js for moms + yogurt and rice cakes for Luce = good times. I tried to capture the day in a few pictures, but again a song would do a much better job. Pity I can't figure out how to include sound clips (or maybe you should consider yourselves lucky). All in all, I think this video clip sums up the happy happy joy joy of our picnic quite nicely.

Yeah, I'd Make That Face Too Lucia...

I think I've said this before, but if not it should come as no surprise - 8 months into this whole parenting endeavor I'm finally beginning to understand my role as co-parent - which is resident clown. I've accepted my role, and embraced it in fact because as every parent knows, there is no shame when it comes to pleasing your child. None. See? Ok, I'm done embarrassing myself (for now). On to Lucia's latest achievements. At 8 months and 1 day old, Lucia is on the verge of crawling. She can get up on all fours and do the rocking/shimmy thing, but hasn't quite figured out how to coordinate those movements for forward progress. She does well in reverse though. Here she is with her babysitter du jour Aunt Ashlee. I believe Ashlee was talking to me on the phone during this recording, or she was just an enthusiastic narrator. Either way, she managed to capture Lucia in motion. This afternoon Mama Mer and I have to head to Home Depot for baby proofing stuff, because it won't be long before Lucia is mobile for good!

I'm A Yankee Doodle Girl...

I'm sure there will come a day when we stop purchasing holiday themed clothing for our child, but we're not quite there yet. Lucia spent her first 4th "up country" in Mama Mer's old stomping ground - Lake Winnipesaukee. Lucy had a great visit with Uncle Boobie and loved riding in the car with Mimi in the backseat. There was no shortage of big toothy grins all day (for everyone really). On the way home, Mama Fran couldn't resist stopping at a renowned local institution to pick up a little something for Lucia. Let it be known however, that this is as close as we'd like her to get to a hog.

It's Sad to Leave Family Reunion, Isn't It?

The Mothers Goose had such an eventful week I hardly know where to begin! We spent the past two weekends in Maine at the bicentennial celebration of the Amarel Family Reunion. Lucia loved spending time with her extended family and was in a great mood overall (the above picture being an exception, but to be fair Mama Fran was a little late with her bottle). Perhaps the highlight of the reunion for Lucia was her introduction to both an Infantine mainstay and an Amarel family tradition - and yep, you guessed it, they both involve food. Here's a picture of Lucia needing both hands to handle a famous Mrs. Bogolawski egg roll (fyi, Mrs. Bogolawski is an Infantine family friend and makes the best Viatnamese egg rolls in Maine and perhaps the entire country). In this video clip, you'll witness Lucia diving into her very first meatball, courtesy of Uncle Gerry. Of course, I wish I had taken more pictures but you can scroll through the rest of the web album to see the few photos and video clips I managed to take. In the end though there's no way a photograph could possibly capture the chaos, merriment and general goofy familial fun that happens at a large gathering of Italians. For those of you who haven't witnessed an Amarel family reunion, it really is a sight to behold. OK, I'm off to detox... ciao for now!