Veronica 3 Months and 3 Weeks

This is her serious look. Most of the time she looks intently at things and studies them.


For about a month Veronica would smile without making a sound. Today Deme made her squeal with delight.

The Sleep Fairy

When I was living in Seattle, I had sort of an infamous reputation amongst my friends for several reasons:

1. I was the queen of helping people clean out their refrigerators, right into my tummy; yes, I have a giant appetite.

2. I was anal retentive lots of things mainly: scheduling things on my calendar, flossing three times a day and brushing my pets' teeth, just to name a few.

3. Everyone knew not to try to call or contact me before 9 am. I am a big sleeper and need 8+ hours of sleep a day or else I just cannot function. As a nanny I had to be at work at 8 am in the summers, I usually spent, and hour on the couch from 8 to 9 am before I got going.

The reason I am delving into this is that I think Veronica is a big sleeper too. She functions well on 15+ hours a day. Since we got back from Rome, she has fallen into a sleep schedule of two naps a day (which last from 1.5 to 3 hours) and a bedtime between 8 to 9 pm. She gets up once in the middle of the night and early in the morning for food before she wakes up for the morning between 8 and 10 am. We are so happy about this; I hope she keeps this wake-up schedule forever.

A few people have commented on how much Veronica sleeps and how that must be hard on me since we are basically chained to the house. We so stay home a lot since it is convenient to have her bed close-by. Some folks have also said it must be boring to have a baby that sleeps so much. She cannot stay awake for more than about an hour or two at a time. I personally love that fact that she is a big sleeper. She is so well rested and jolly 90 percent of the time that she barely cries except when she is tired.

My newest goal is have her learn to put herself to sleep. She is still in our bed right now. (I plan to put her in her own bed when all her acid reflux and vomiting is under control.) Usually, I swaddle her, place her on her pillow and sing a few songs to her before she falls asleep. Lately, if I get her in bed before she gets too cranky, she will fall asleep on her own. Now that her colic is over, she is a joy. When she sleeps, we sleep and life is good in the D'Ambrosi household.

Super Bimba

Veronica was born a month early at 35 weeks and 4 days and for a premature baby she was very healthy. She is now 6 kilos and 300 grams she is in the 80th percentile for weight and in the 97th percentile for height at 63 cm. She has gained 4 kilos in three months as well as 13 centimeters. Everyone tells me she's going to be a supermodel. From a small and frail little newborn she has really grown into a happy, chunky baby. When my friends ask me how tall/long she is I tell them she is so long that she is longer than her pillow. See photo below:


Lets take a look at those super long legs. She almost does not fit on my lap anymore.

(She looks a prisoner or stuffed piglet but I can assure you she loves to sleep all wrapped up.)

The Beginnings of a Bad Habit

This girl really likes to watch Baby Einstein. I mean really likes it.

Veronica Plays by Herself

Look at Veronica playing. She is great at being independent and hanging out by herself.


She often kicks her feet when she gets excited when the mobile moves around and around.

Veronica Gets Her Passport!

Veronica got her U.S. passport and birth certificate this week! Yippee! I would love to take a photo of it and show you all what it looks like but for Homeland Security sake, I won't. I am so relieved and happy.

The Littlest Sommelier

Hold your horses. Before you get your panties in a bunch and pick up the phone to call CPS, we are not giving Veronica wine to drink. We are giving her wine to smell since that is where one first learns to appreciate wine. Every time she smells a wine she likes she starts to lick her lips and open her mouth very wide.

More Bathing-3 Months

Veronica loves the bath. We are only giving them to her every two days but lately she has begun to sweat a bit more and we are considering stepping it up to once a day.

If I were living on Guam I would not hesitate to take this water baby to the beach for a swim.

Look at the chub on her tummy!

Bristle Kisses

Sprog Daddy has decided to grow his beard out and Veronica is not fond of it.

No Longer Pregnant

I know my pregnancy ended three months ago when I actually gave birth to Veronica but my body took a while figure it out and get with the program.

Because I had to take progesterone shots during the last two months of my pregnancy, I feel I suffered from a hormonal overdose of sorts. My nose doubled in size due to the increased vascularization. Previously I did not have a stuffy nose at all but after the shots, I was plugged up all the time.

My hair was amazingly lush and thick, so much, so that even after I had it thinned and trimmed, it still took over 30 minutes to dry it with a blow-dryer and caused a bit of strain in my neck from the weight.

My pregnancy mustache lightened with the shots but the vertical line down my tummy got a bit darker and my armpits looked as if I had been using charcoal briquettes for deodorant.

The worst side effect of the shots was (I can say this without thinking twice) the increase in pimples and blemishes on my shoulders, back, jaw line and strangely enough in my ears. I felt like a pimply teenager again and it did not feel good. I was very self-conscious about the pimples and hated to wear short-sleeved shirts.

The week after Christmas, I noticed my hair starting to fall out. Many of my new mom girlfriends lost quite a bit of hair and I knew it was coming. Just this week however I noticed no new pimples. All the old ones have cleared up nicely, my nose is now back to its normal size and the thickness of my hair is what it used to be. Finally, the extra progesterone has metabolized and I feel almost 100 percent. The only lasting effect of the pregnancy is the carpal tunnel syndrome. My thumbs bother me the most but this week they are throbbing much less and I am hopeful for a full recovery. Who knew that a pregnancy could last more than 9 months?

Bello or Bella

Lots of people mistake Veronica for a boy. See photos below, she's not always smiles and good times. Yesterday she was cranky, we think she needed more time to get used to being home again.

Hot Off the Presses!

These are the newest photos of Veronica taken just today. She's growing like a weed.

She is great at lifting her head more than 45 degrees

Just look at all those fat rolls, she is not going to be a petite young lady.

She has begun really smiling and loves to look at me which makes her daddy a bit jealous.

When she naps she is as smiley as can be, I know I am a dog nazi but call me the nap nazi from now on too.

Veronica Gets Two Passports

While we were in Rome, we applied for an Italian passport for Veronica. After filling out several forms and getting her photo taken (we tried three times to get her to cooperate), we went over to the local questura and submitted the paperwork. In 4-6 weeks, Veronica will have an Italian passport.

The day after we arrived back in Torino, my mom, Demetrio Veronica and I set out for the American consulate in Milan. We had an appointment and after a very thorough security check at the front door, we took the elevator up to the seventh floor with all our paperwork in tow. I was not a very patriotic American while I was living in the United States but when I saw the American flag flying outside the consulate, I must say I was quite excited.

We applied for a consular birth abroad birth certificate for Veronica, her US passport and a Social Security number. We provided all the necessary paperwork, which included five years worth of tax returns on my part, Veronica’s birth certificate from Italy, my passport, Demetrio’s passport and an original certified copy of our marriage certificate. After the documents were examined by a consulate employee we were asked to raise her right hands and swear that the information we provided was accurate. After all was said and done, we were told that we would be receiving Veronica’s consular birth abroad birth certificate and a US passport in about 10 days. The whole process was entirely painless and took less than an hour. I’m excited and can’t wait for Veronica to be a full-fledged American citizen.

More Multi-Tasking

Demetrio has learned how to juggle a feeding baby, making a phone call and keeping the dog company, all at the same time.

We're Baaaack!

After almost a month in Rome, we're back in Torino. The weather in Rome was fantastic, mostly sunny with a few days of rain here and there but warm, warm, warm. We spent a lot of time just bumming around the house, as Veronica can only stay awake for about an hour at a time.

I'm happy to report that her colic has disappeared. There were many hands and arms available to hold and soothe her; at the end of our vacation she was a different baby. She now sleeps through dinner and gives us a chance to enjoy our meal. We went out several times with her in tow and she was wonderful. I count my lucky stars. Another milestone for Veronica is that she has almost tripled her birth weight and now weighs a little over 6 kg.

Here is Veronica starting her potty training lessons. My mom holds her as I distract her with toys and smiles. We hope she will enjoy sitting on the potty and learn to use it.

Christmas in Rome meant lots of family time. Demetrio's sister and her baby, 10 month old Flavio were often over. Here are my mother and my mother-in-law with Flavio and Veronica.


My little girl is getting prettier and cuter everyday.

3 Months Old

Veronica is getting so much bigger and looking cuter than ever. I promise to post new photos as soon as we are back home, hopefully by this w-e. The biggest milestone this month is that she is starting to smile at us. Her wide mouthed, toothless smile really melts my heart and she is the most jolly in the mornings when she has had a good nights sleep. Another great milestone is that her colic is over and she is now a joy to take out and be with at dinner time. We are blessed.