"Downhall" Skiing

Luca's favorite toys are the remote controls, which he now likes to use as skis!

Our Little Monkey at 11 Months

This month, there were far too many cute monkey shots to narrow it down to one or two for this post, so here are all of them! At 11 months, he is still not walking independently, but man can he move around...he never sits still these days, and he is fully animated at all times, facinated by just about everything. One of my favorite things is how he "patiently" waits for me to take a shower, standing with his face and hands pressed up against the glass. He smacks his lips when he is hungry and sees me getting his food ready and he is a phenomenal eater, trying anything and everything that I put in front of him - also anything he finds on the floor :/ He seems like he is trying to talk with a few distinct "words" that sound like "an-YAH," "mum-mum" and "dow-do" (I think he really believes he's making sense!) and he has a cute way of saying bye-bye, which starts with opening and closing his hands and ends with his fingers strumming his lips. He loves playing with balls, throwing them back and forth, and his favorite toys are the wind up cars that Zia Angela gave him, which he loves to watch crash against the wall and then look at you for your reaction to be all smiles like his. He loves his independence, often times throwing his arms up and waving his legs around to shimmy out of your hold when you try to pick him up, he loves to be chased, and he loves climbing up stairs. Fortunately, at least at this point, he know his limits and that he can't go down by himself, so when he gets to the top, he turns around, sits down, and puts his arms up, indicating he now needs to be picked up and carried down. Unfortunately, we had one un-fun "first" this month, and that was his first cold. Turned out not to be anything terrible, just a lot of stuffiness, runny nose, and post nasal drip which didn't slow him down too much (other than for frequent nose-wipings!), but did disrupt his sleep a bit - not that he was in any pain, just a little trouble breathing. Poor thing loves to suck his thumb so much that it was hard to watch him have to stop occassionally to come up for air! Glad that he is finally over that and pray it's a long time before we have to deal with anything worse. Well, this first year is certainly flying by...soon it will be party time!

Daddy Daycare

When it comes to Daddy Daycare days, sometimes ignorance is bliss...here are a few pictures that Tony has texted me on days that he has Luca while I'm at work. Chillin' with his faux hawk and sunglasses at Coffee Bean...playing with his food (Tony swears that Luca put the Puffs in his own nose!) and taking a sip of Daisy's water...my favorite thing about this picture is actually that he is in mismatched monkey pajamas, because he woke up in a totally different pair of pjs, so that means that even though Luca has 4 drawers of clothes, Tony went to the pajama drawer to dress him for the day!

Best Pals

Every day, Luca becomes more and more interested in Daisy - he loves to cuddle up on her bed with her and he especially enjoys chasing her down the hallway. Here are some pics of some of their Lazy Daisy Days : )

The Music Man

Just like Mommy and Daddy, Luca definitely has a thing for music! Here he is testing out some of Zio Greg's equipment - he absolutely loves to play the piano and drums - the louder the noise, the bigger the smile! What is really funny these days is how he now dances as soon as he hears music. Mostly, this is in the bath tub or in the doorway jumper where he hangs out while Tony showers, but now he often even starts bopping around when he hears one of our cell phones ring!

Giggles N Hugs

A very big THANK YOU goes out to Tony's friend Nick's wife Michelle for introducing me to the coolest place called Giggles N Hugs, an indoor playground at the Century City mall! For a $5 entry fee, it is absolutely the best bang for your buck...the catch is that you have to buy their food, but it's actually pretty good - Luca had a ton of fun with more toys than he could possibly play with in one afternoon, including a pirate ship jungle gym! Here he is with an older woman he picked up - a 3-year old named Ginger : )

When You Wish Upon A Star

This year for my birthday, Tony surprised me and took the day off from work so that we could take Luca for Disneyland! And he already had his first set of Mickey ears, courtesy of Auntie Jada who brought them back for him from DisneyWorld. I realize that the little guy will not have any memory of this first trip, but he really did have a fun time. He really liked the train and he LOVED Small World. Mostly, he just looked all over the place in every direction from his stroller and even took a little nap in Fantasy Land. We had lunch at California Adventure so that I could have a glass of Pinot Grigio at the Wine Country Trattoria and Luca got to meet Mickey and Pluto - wasn't scared of them at all!

Click HERE for all the pics.

Luca's 1st ride -the Ladybug Boogie at California Adventure!



It's a Small World...Luca was mesmorized the entire ride - he moved his head from side to side like he was watching a tennis match in slow motion...

Luca And The Cheerios Monster

The only thing Luca likes more than eating his Cheerios is feeding them to Daddy : )

Big Boy Jammies and Good Night Moon

Luca finally fits into his Janie and Jack big boy jammies from Zio Mikey and Zia Imelda and they are now our favorite PJs! Tony even wants me to find him a matching pair! Also, up until now, the only interest he has ever had in books is how they taste, but now, if he is mellow and tired enough at night, he will cuddle up with me, suck his thumb, and let me read him Good Night Moon - but first he has to play with the book a little bit himself ; )

Baby-Proofing 101

We've been dragging our feet on the whole baby-proofing issue in hopes that we would be in a new house in OC by now, but we couldn't hold out any longer as he is now inevitably into cabinets and toilets as soon as he lays eyes on them...one morning this week, I was getting ready for work, with one hand holding a blowdryer, the other a brush, using one foot to wedger the cabinets shut, and balancing on the other - I felt like I was playing "bathroom twister"...enough is enough...time to call a handyman to do some babyproofing! In a few hours that would have taken us more time than I care to imagine, a gentleman (father of triplets of his own!) came to our house and secured our kitchen and bathrooms with cool little baby-proof contraptions I had never even heard of! Also, we moved Daisy's food and water to her spot in front of the window in the family room, so now the little man has free range of the entire kitchen, bathroom, and hallway! So funny to watch him struggle with all of the new barriers!