The Gang Was All Here

We've enjoyed nine relaxing days in Sestri Levante so far, together with my mom, Vola, Jason, and Dylan. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Matt early this morning, but I'm thinking that he'll find some way to entertain himself in Denver for another week or so without us.

It was Alice's first time meeting her cousin Dylan, and it was definitely love at first sight (for her; he, on the other hand, seems appropriately wary of her toddler-strength pats and squeezes).

My mom has been kind enough to offer her babysitting services for both children whenever we adults want to get out.  She reports that one night, after Vola, Jason, Matt, and I closed the door behind us and hurried off to drinks, Alice leaned over to Dylan on his playmat and said, "Don't worry, Dylan, your mommy will be back soon."

I die!


If this trip is any indication, Alice is going to be a great big sister.  Besides a few moments of jealousy while Matt and I were cooing over Dylan, she's been nothing but thrilled over the little guy.
And how could you not love this little face?

He's charmed all of us.

Besides giving lots of kisses to Baby D, Alice has been living the dream.

Ordering coffee perched on Nonna's hip.

Blowing bubbles by the sea.

Negotiating the cobblestones while pushing her stroller and her own Baby Dylan (no, I suppose we're not very inventive with names around here and yes, that's a dishrag blanket he's all snuggled up under).

Eating pastries for breakfast and gelato for snack.

And the beauty is that we have 8 more days!

Getting Her Hair Did

Before her big birthday party, we decided it was time for Alice to get a legit haircut.  My attempts at trimming her bangs were no longer cutting the mustard and things were getting a little ratty. Mostly, I got tired of chasing after Alice while trying to hold on to a rubber band that was halfway around a pigtail, begging her to let me just finish tying her hair back so it wouldn't be in her face all day. I dreamed of the mythical hairdo that you don't have to maintain at all.

At the salon, the car chair proved just exciting enough to allow the hairdresser to do her job.

And although we didn't quite get an absolutely maintenance-free 'do, I don't think this one's too shabby!

 

Better run. Alice has woken up from her nap and I hear her chattering in her room. So far, I've heard "I gotta poop," "Eewie, dat's poopie," and "Mommy change it. It's yucky."

Any takers out there? 

 

The Lost Month

Oh. . .  hey there . . .

This is kind of awkward.

Um. . . how have you been?

I meant to post over the last month and a half.  I really did.  I even opened up Blogger and loaded up a few photos.  

But I've been so tired. And, um, busy.

It's not you, it's me.

Please don't be mad.

Let's start over.  Let me just give you the highlights of what we've been up to since May, and then we can just pick up from there and put this whole thing behind us.

We spent a delightful evening at Sunflower Farm in Longmont.

Alice swang and spun.

And spun.

 

And taunted chickens.

And drove a tractor.

And faced off against a turkey.

And fed sheep.

 

For the Fourth of July, we brought out the red, white, and blue and decorated the trike to the nines.

We strutted proudly in our neighborhood parade.

The weekend before last, we took a last minute trip to Vail to check out the mountains in the summer.

The pedestrian-only village was perfect for Alice to explore.

She loved the fountains and the statues scattered along the streets.

She loved them so much that we spent approximately 20 minutes of every hour engaged in a battle of wills over whether Alice would (1) sit peacefully in the stroller, (2) walk on her own alongside us, (3) ride on Matt's shoulders, (4) meander at her own pace, stopping every minute or so to do some backtracking, take a detour up or down some stairs, squat to check out something on the ground more closely, just stand still for a while, refuse to continue walking when asked nicely, repeatedly (5) have to be carried against her will while screaming as if she were being kidnapped . . . 
 

Or (6) find herself strapped in her stroller, also against her will, again screaming as if she were being kidnapped.

 

We narrowly missed a rainstorm on the way to dinner by hopping in a pedicab to get there faster.

 

Alice was delighted to discover that there are letters all over signs in the mountains too.

This girl loves her some alphabet.

We took the gondola all the way to the top of the mountain and attempted a hike.

The first part of the hike was beautiful.

 It was so peaceful to be up above the world, walking around at the top of the mountain with stunning views all around.

Then Alice woke up and demanded to be let out of the backpack but refused to walk so we had to take turns carrying her in our arms the rest of the way back. It kind of took away from the serenity of the experience, if you can imagine.

In any case, we can't wait to come back when everything is covered in snow.

Finally, just this past weekend, Alice's Grammy, Grampy, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Denny came into town to join in the festivities for Alice's second birthday. I was having such a great time that I barely took any photos, but I'm grateful that Karen ("Grammy" to those in the know) fully documented the party for posterity.

Phew.

That was a lot of photos. And a lot of recap.

Now, let's pretend this little rift never happened.

Friends?

Insanity

If I leave my makeup bag where Alice can reach it, she will find it, open it, and help herself to its shockingly-expensive-for-thier-size contents, each and every time.

She'll wait until I leave her alone upstairs for a few minutes and then she'll begin twisting off lids and pulling off caps. She likes to dip her fingers in my pot of gel eyeliner, smoosh the brushes around the inside of the lipstick, and mix the colors like an alchemist mixing a formula. 

Do you think that one day soon I'll learn to find a better spot for my makeup bag? 

Memorial Day Ball Game

Before I tell you about our Memorial Day trip to the ballpark, here is one last shot I took in California of Matt with Dylan. Baby D looks pretty relaxed with Uncle Matt, don't you think? 

He'll learn...

 

Anyways, after a Memorial Day weekend of relaxing and barbecuing with neighbors, we spent today at Coors Field, rooting on the Rockies.

With the walk to the stadium (to avoid the hassle of parking and to give Alice a chance to take a cat nap in the stroller on the way), lunch downtown before the game, the game itself, the walk home, and the stop for frozen yogurt after, the outing took the whole darn day.

 

Alice was a most enthusiastic fan, clapping and shouting "yaaaaay" for every pitch (until she got distracted).

 

I made the mistake, when buying the tickets and selecting our seats, of not taking the blazing sun into account.  At a mile up, the sun can be seriously strong, and we knew it was too sunny to stay when Alice agreed to wear her sun hat, complained that her seat was too hot to sit on, and requested her sunglasses (which I forgot in the stroller we left at the entrance).

 

Luckily, the stadium wasn't full, so we snuck past the ushers in a shadier section and found ourselves some seats that didn't require any further sunscreen reapplications.

 

I forgot how entertaining live baseball games are: the cheering, the songs, the vendors shouting catchy slogans about peanuts and cotton candy, the snacks, the wave, the kissy cam. And there's usually a baseball game going on too, if you're into that. 

After every group cheer or song on the loudspeaker, Alice would join in the clapping just as the rest of us were about finished, and then beg, "Again? Again?"

She was mesmerized when the whole stadium stood to sing "God Bless America" and positively thrilled to discover that all 35,000 people at the game knew the words to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", which she's been practicing for weeks in music class.

I think the part of the outing that made the biggest impression on Alice, unfortunately, was the ComfortDental^(R) Tooth Trot in the middle of the sixth inning.  Three people, dressed in huge dental-hygene-related costumes (Toothbrush, Toothpaste, and Tooth) raced eachother while 34,999 disinterested Rockies fans checked their email and went to get beers. One little lady in the shady section, however, is still talking about how Toothbrush completely outperformed 'Paste and Tooth today.

 

 We'll definitely be back to Coors Field this season. It was a perfect way to spend Memorial Day!

Trading Places

Saturday and Sunday were a bit of a Grilli-Jacobs-Wiethe family relay race:  Grammy Karen and Grampy Greg flew into Denver from Indianapolis on Saturday; the next day, after a quick Mother's Day lunch, I left Denver for Los Angeles in order to pay a visit to my precious new nephew, only missing my mom's departure from LA for DC by a few hours.  

As excited as I was to visit with the little guy and my sister and brother-in-law, I was worried about my plan to be away from Alice for a week. What if she missed me too darn much? What if she didn't sleep well without me in the room next door? What if . . . ?

After receiving daily updates from Matt and Karen, let's just say I feel foolish for ever having worried.  Not only does it seem that Alice is having the time of her life with her grandparents, I'm told that our garden has been weeded, mowed, and adorned with new flowers, delicious meals have been enjoyed each night, and Alice has even, ahem, made a non-liquid deposit in her potty for the first time.  

And, all the while, I've been enjoying snuggles with this sweet boy.

Watching him snooze and carry out very involved, multi-minute, full-body stretch fests.

Learning the tricks of the trade for changing a baby boy's diaper instead of a baby girl's.

Trying to be helpful, but figuring I may as well join in when baby and mommy decide that it's nap time. 

Remembering what it was like during those first few weeks of motherhood when you're exhausted and amazed and enamored and frustrated.

Trying to sound convincing when I say that it really does get easier and that in no time these few months will be a blurry memory. 

Marveling that despite the huge learning curve that comes with the territory of brand new motherhood, this new mommy is doing spectacularly, somehow managing to care for Dylan and still be good company for me at the same time.

Mostly, I've just been enjoying myself, relaxing knowing that my baby is happy and safe in Denver, and feeling grateful that this little peanut has joined the family.