Mommy without a Baby

It's Friday, the last and final day of our move. The container is being loaded today and I am three days closer to being with Veronica again. I cannot tell you how strange it feels to be without her. I miss her giggling when she wakes up in the morning and our "Baby Beluga" sing-alongs. When I see her again I just know I will burst out crying.

My mom and sister are taking great care of her I know. Kentra is taking her on walks everyday and my mom is teacher her to crawl. We are extremely grateful at not having to have her here in Torino. The dust, noise, lack of a proper place for her to take her naps would have really drove her up a wall. Thank you to my great mom and sister!


Kentra and Veronica

V's Friends in Seattle

Everyone loves Veronica and it shows. Lots of my friends took turns holding her and coddling her. It looks like I will have babysitters lined up the minute I get back.


Indie and V are almost kissing cousins. He is the son of one of my very best friends.


I cannot get over the fact Rachel is 17 and driving. I remember when she was 4 and loved to drink soy sauce.


Daniel is 13 and the bar mitzvah boy, he is one of the reasons we went back to Seattle this March.

Wig Video

Our crazy family!

Veronica in Seattle

Veronica had a really great time in Seattle, as a matter of fact she's still there now. We decided to leave her in the care of my mom while we returned to Torino to pack up and get ready to relocate. (My mom was nice enough to extend her stay in Seattle for nine extra days.) Both my mom and Veronica will be staying with my sister Kentra, Frank and their little dog Shaba (who Veronica really likes). Deciding to leave her in Seattle became quite a complicated affair. We had to draw up a legal medical authorization for my mom, a temporary guardianship order, and most scary of all a last will and testament, find a pediatrician and to get my mom a cell phone. We did this all in record time and I feel much more secure being so far away from my daughter.

The decision to leave Veronica with my mom was not a difficult one at all. I wanted to spare her two super long legs from Seattle to Torino and and back again and a round-trip drive to Rome, to pick up the rest of Demetrio's things. She will be hanging out mostly at home with my mom instead of being dragged all over the place with us.

As I sat on the plane from Seattle to Philadelphia and Philadelphia to Torino I used the empty space between Demetrio and I to stretch my legs. As I stared at the space in which we would have placed Veronica his car seat, I felt a little bit empty. I felt like somehow not having a baby in my presence, negated the fact I was a mom. It was a very strange feeling as Demetrio felt the same way about not being a dad during the flight.


She was all smiles for my friends and her auntie's. Still no teeth by the way but she is eating like a champ.


My mom is a real joker and she found the wig to put on Veronica. The funny thing about the next two photos is that my sisters and I also have photos of ourselves in black wigs when we were babies.


When my mom showed Demetrio a photo of Veronica in the wig, he didn't recognize her.


Here she is in her brand spanking new the Britax Marathon car seat. The best money can buy not available in Italy. For Veronica, we really dragged her all over Seattle. Most of the time, she had naps in her car seat.

We are in Seattle

We are in Seattle and having tons of fun. My mom and three sisters are doting all over Veronica. She is loving all the attention and squealing with glee when they talk to her. It is very official and we will be relocating to Seattle in April. The loose ends were tied up very suddenly and we have decided to leave Veronica with my mom for 9 days in Seattle while we head back to Torino to close up shop and organize the movers. We will both miss her terribly but think this will be the best for her.

Quasi 5 Months Old

On Thursday, we are planning to head off to Seattle for a prearranged vacation. There might not be any posts for about two weeks or so. After two years, I will be attending the bar mitzvah of one of the children I used to take care of. I am excited since two of my sisters A, and S, will be coming from Reno and Nashville respectively to see Veronica. We have quite a bit of catching up to do.

A bit worry has been clouding my thinking. I hope Veronica does well on the long flight to Seattle. I am worried about her crying, being uncomfortable with the pressure changes and not sleeping well on the airplane. Demetrio, who has traveled tens of thousands of miles for work, says that many a baby has kept him awake during a flight and it is his turn to exact revenge if Veronica does not behave like a perfect angel.

Tomorrow I turned 34, (rather late to have had my first child) but to tell you the truth I could not ask for anything more. I asked Demetrio to take photos of her and me so I can frame one as a birthday present to myself.

Early Weaning

We took Veronica to the pediatrician two days ago because of a skin rash that has been bothering her. He advised us to take her to a specialist, a dermatologist. After he looked her rash, he reminded us that she should begin eating solid foods and I should be weaning her as soon as possible. This is the second time he has given us this advice. The last time we were in his office Veronica was three months old and he told us the same thing. He explained that when an infant hits 7 kg or 15 pounds they need to consume more calories than milk alone can provide. When she was three months old, I felt she was too young to begin solid foods and I ignored his advice. We began giving her puréed apples when she was about four months and two weeks old. Her diet so far consists of apples, pears, bananas and rice cereal. I still nurse her and give her formula as well. I am starting slowly but hope to add vegetables to her repertoire of foods next week.

I have been reading quite a few baby books and it seems that most babies are beginning to eat solid foods around to six months of age, when they no longer push the food out of their mouths with their tongues. I wonder if my pediatrician is pushing the solid food because we are in Italy. I wonder what the standard is in other European countries. What is your experience?

Zubinator and Veronica

Here is Zubin, just one of many beaus Veronica is betrothed to. Aren't they cute. (Thanks for the photo S.)