William has given me his first kiss - William mi ha dato il suo primo bacio

It happened all of a sudden at the Danish pastry house (see photo taken on a cell phone below). I was having lunch with another mom, Inna, (she is the one who took the photo). She met me with her baby daughter Abi. This is not the first time that William kissed me but it is certainly the one time I was not the only one to say that he kissed me. My friend saw the kiss and she took a photo of it! So I could not help adding this special moment to William's blog. Here it is...



Still a watcher and a smiler - William si accontenta ancora di guardare gli altri e di sorridere

Oggi mi sono trovata ad un'altro dei tanti raduni delle mamme ex studentesse che non lavorano e delle tate pagate bene dalle mamme che lavorano. Tutti a ritrovarsi con i bimbi della stessa eta' (9-10 mesi). Ancora una volta mi sono trovata con William tutto super felice di guardare gli altri bebe' che gli gattonavano intorno e che, a volte, cercavano di arrampicarsi su di lui. Lui sempre a guardare gli altri bimbi affascinato dalle loro acrobazie. Pure io li a guardarli affascinata e a sentire due mamme preoccupate sullo sviluppo dei propri figli. "Oh il mio cammina ridendo senza tenersi su bene e poi tutto ad un tratto si inciampa e cade giu' come un sacco di patate. Ohh, almeno il tuo cammina. Il mio niente. Gattona solo. Guarda che brava questa bimba. Si siede, si rialza, si mette a gattonare, si arrampica, ritorna a terra tutta da sola. Wow, complimenti! Si e' brava ma non cammina ancora." "Che coordinazione tua figlia! Guarda come gioca a tirare la palla. Si ma anche lei non cammina. Gattona solo." Continuai ad ascoltare questi racconti mentre aiutavo William a stare in piedi e a tenere un gioco in mano che gli altri bimbi cercavano di rubargli. Sara' perche' William e' calmo e razionale come suo papa'? Vedi video qui sotto.

my little man has eaten pasta al pomodoro con verdure! - Il mio ometto ha mangiato la pasta al pomodoro con verdure!

He has been crying a lot in the past few days due to his bottom teeth growing. Poor guy. Last night he woke up many times in tears. After so much crying, to my surprise, he suddenly got excited about putting a ricciolo di pasta con pomodoro in his mouth! It was love at first sight. For the first time William enjoyed real food and, as long as the pasta ricciolo had some sauce on it, he was happy to have more and more pasta riccioli melt in his mouth. What a step forward little man! Watch video below.



Can we say "Addio" to the old pappa and related tools (see below)?

William is a social animal! - William e' un ζῷον πολιτικόν!

My boy can't help it. When William is out of the house, he starts making friends. He loves looking and smiling at people. This has the powerful effect of drawing the attention of the other moms to him. The other day I was chatting with a mom in the street who couldn't help taking pictures of William while her own child was crying. A similar thing happened with another mom a couple of weeks before. The matter becomes more embarrassing when you hear a group of mom often talk about how cute is your child.


As my teachers in classic high school would say just about everyone who likes to be with people, my son is a perfect example of Aristotele's ζῷον πολιτικόν. Un vero animale sociale! And I should always remember that there is nothing embarassing about this.

Declaration of Independence - La dichiarazione dell'indipendenza

William has rolled by himself for the first time from the position on his belly to the position on his back. I still cannot believe he has done it all by himself! Today must be the day William has decided to declare his independence... after rolling he has also started eating an Italian biscottino Plasmon and cheerios by himself! I am sooo thrilled. Mamma

A tooth for a 9 months Tooth (Dente) - Un dente per un Dente di nove mesi

William's first tooth is coming in on the bottom! Click on the photo to see the tooth coming up. Dad

Il primo dente di William sta arrivando! Clicca sulla foto per vedere il dentino che sta per uscire. John

William will have teeth! In the last three months I was often checking with my finger if a tooth was coming up but nothing. It is always hard not to compare William with other babies of his age, especially the ones who do advanced things, and to come up with all sorts of scary questions such as "Why does he not have teeth yet? Why does he smile at the other babies and let them grab his toys without getting upset? Why does he not roll on his belly to reach a toy? Why does he not make an effort to get to a toy? Why is he just happy sitting and watching the world go by?" In the middle of this chain of questions that pop in my mind while I am looking at other babies, one mom usually steps in and says: "Ohh William cutie. He smiled at me! So adorable. He is such an observant, wow. He does not miss anything that is going on around him. He will be such a good boy, I can see that. My boy is not so laid back! Ugh" Before she has finished her declaration of love to William, the mom is running after her boy who is either about to play with something he should not play with or he is about to leave the room! The other day the mom of a 10 months old boy even told me that she had to disable the remote control to stop him from changing the settings. Apparently, the boy didn't have any problems reaching the forbidden box, no matter where she was placing it! I was so fascinated by this story as a childless woman could be when she hears a mom talking about waking up in the middle of the night to feed the baby. Then the mom said that a month ago her boy was just like William!... So, going back to William's teeth, although until now I have been perfectly happy not to have a baby biting me at each feeding and making me run after him to stop him from causing trouble, I am now so much looking forward to the changes that will come next . I am looking forward to William's new teeth growing, to William eating pieces of food instead of mushy no longer identifiable green and yellow stuff, to him moving and going to grab things and to him making more meaningful sounds in English and in Italian. I know it will happen soon piccolino and I just can't wait! Mamma.

What sound does the dog make? - Che suono fa il cane?

This list is for my baby William and for my husband John to master. :-)

-Bau, Bau fanno i cani [dogs]!
—le api [bees] ronzano; fanno zzzzzz!
—gli asini [donkeys] ragliano; fanno i-oo, i-oo!
—i cervi [deer] bramiscono.
—le chiocce [hens] chiocciano.
—le cicale [cicadas] friniscono.
—i corvi [crows] gracchiano; fanno cra cra.
—i cavalli [horses] nitriscono.
—i cuculi [cuckoos] fanno cucú, cucú, cucú.
—i galli [roosters] fanno chicchirichí.
—le galline [hens] fanno coccodè.
—i gatti [cats] miagolano; fanno miao.
—i leoni [lions] ruggiscono.
—i lupi [wolves] ululano.
—i maiali [pigs] grugniscono.
—le mucche [cows] muggiscono; fanno muuuuuu.
—le oche [geese] starnazzano; fanno qua qua.
—le pecore [sheep] belano; fanno beeee.
—i pulcini [chicks] pigolano; fanno pio pio.
—le rane [frogs] gracidano; fanno cra cra.
—i serpenti [serpents] sibilano.
—i topi [mice] squittiscono: fanno squitt squitt.
—gli uccelli [birds] cinguettano; fanno cip cip.

First Easter fun and chocolate...! - Primo divertimento e... cioccolato per Pasqua!

I heard another mom with a baby of the same age of William say that she was taking the baby to an outdoor playground. I immediately got excited. So at Easter, we were taking William for a walk in the stroller when, all of a sudden, the opportunity arose. We put him for the first time on the swing. A bit different from the comfy indoor swing William used for months to fall asleep. Watch what happened in the video below.

Ho sentito un'altra mamma con un bebe' della stessa eta' di William dire che portava il bebe' al parco giochi. Che emozione! Non appena viene l'ocasione, ho pensato... Cosi' a Pasqua stavamo camminando con William nel passeggino quando, all'improvviso, e' giunta l'opportunita'. Lo abbiamo messo sull'altalena. Un po' diversa dalla swing che William ha usato per mesi per addormentarsi. Guarda che cosa e' successo nel video qui sotto.



Despite the lack of smiley face during the swing experience, William's first Easter was fun. Not only he helped unwrapping the egg but he also had a taste of the forbidden thing. Yes, you got it. He had three chocolate bites! His first unforgettable chocolate! But this was not video recorded, to avoid shocking the American blog viewers. :)

Nonostante il primo giro non proprio entusiasmante sull'altalena, la prima Pasqua di William e' stata speciale. Non solo William ha aiutato mamma e papa' ad aprire l'uovo ma lo ha anche gustato! Si, hai capito. Ha dato tre morsi all'uovo... Il suo primo indimenticabile cioccolato! Ma questo non fu video registrato, per non scioccare gli utenti del blog americani. :)

William's favourite games - I giochi preferiti di William

William has started imitating his dad when he was a baby. You only need to give him a spoon and a saucepan to keep him entertained. Watch what he does in the video below.

William ha iniziato ad imitare suo papa' quando era bebe'. E' il fascino degli utensili da cucina. Basta che gli dai un cucchiaio ed una padella. Guarda cosa fa' nel video qui sotto.



It is also the power of the "bubbles in the air, bubbles everywhere" that keeps William entertained. It takes one bubble, followed by other bubbles, to make the happiest baby on earth. My husband John was skeptical until we purchased the Gymboree thing. Holy C, this thing rocks, he said! Watch William in this video.

E' il potere magico delle "bolle per aria, occhi per aria!" Basta una bolla, seguita da altre bolle a creare il bimbo piu' felice del mondo. Mio marito John era scettico, fino a quando abbiamo comprato le bolle di Gymboree. Mamma mia queste bolle sono incredibili! Guarda il video qui sotto.



Beside the bubbles in the air, there is nothing more fun for William than pulling daddy's face (watch video below).

Oltre alle bolle, William si diverte con la faccia di papa' (vedi video qui sotto).



Finally, there is the power of the music. William as a true latin boy, when the music is playing, cannot help dancing and dancing and dancing. Watch video below.

Infine, c'e' il potere della musica. William da vero bimbo latino, quando c'e' la musica, non puo' fare a meno che danzare, danzare, danzare. Balla William, balla!

Another girl who can't resist his charm - Un'altra conquista di William

Watch what happened when we left William by himself:

Come on mamma! Can you be more careful? - Ma mamma, insomma! Puoi stare piu' attenta?

Ahi hiai hiai hiai hiai Mamma mamma mamm mmamma! Glie', glie' glie', glie'. Mamma Mamma Mamma! It has been a month of new experiments with sounds for William (and of possible interpretations for us)! William has started saying "mamma" very early on but I did not blog this event because everyone (including my husband) kept saying that it was probably an easy sound for William to produce and that it had no association with me. Before becoming a mother, I always heard from italian parents (my own parents especially) how exciting it would be to hear the word "mamma e papa''" from your child for the first time. Yet I cannot say when my baby produced the word "mamma" for the first time, nor I can say when it first meant something to him. Please don't get me wrong. Not that I dislike the American way of understanding what is going on in our parents' life but sometimes I wish I knew less about what is going on so that I could let myself enjoy the emotions I experience. Watch video below.



Despite being resigned to the idea that William was saying "mamma" without necessarily knowing what that meant, I could not help feeling each time a sense of overwhelming desire to hold him and hug him to protect him from something bad that was happening, even though he was perfectly safe. So each time he was saying "mamma mamma mamma", I was rushing towards him and was saying to him "yes sweetheart, mamma is here. Mamma is coming". I don't know whether this taught the meaning of "mamma" or not but something remarkable has happened. William has started saying "mamma mamma mamma"with some sort of desperate tone each time he has been upset about something (for example when I have put him down to take the stroller outside the house) or when he has been in need for something (e.g diaper change). Then my husband noticed that he has started saying "mamma" not just to ask for help but to ask for "my help"! To give you an idea of how far the interpretation of the word "mamma" can go in my mind, imagine this. The other day I was in a store and changed William in a rush as it was getting late and I wanted to take William home to put him to bed before 9 pm - this is a scary moms' deadline here in the US. If you fail to meet it you might not forgive yourself for the rest of your life. As soon as I left the restroom, William started saying a loud and annoyed "mamma mamma mamma mamma". In that precise moment, I realised that I had strapped William with one leg stuck in the strap. As soon as I released his leg from the strap, the annoyed "mamma mamma mamma mamma" stopped. I could not help thinking that his "mamma mamma mamma mamma" had a very clear meaning. It meant: "Come on mamma! Can you be more careful for God's sake??"

Early this morning William has started saying ba' , ba', ba', ba' for the first time. Does it mean that he has now switched his attention to his dad? Welcome to the magic world of motherhood and of to the world of baby sounds.