Where does honey come from?

Another great conversation with the 4-year-old...

Me: Do you know where honey comes from?

Chiara: No. Maybe some men with machines make it.

Me: Bees make honey!

Chiara: No they do not! They eat honey and sleep in honey. Pooh sings them a lullaby song and they go to sleep in the honey. I've seen it!

First bites

Giuseppe has started trying his first bites of solids, some apple sauce with baby oatmeal. Does it look like he's enjoying it so far? :)

Home again!

We flew back home in Tuesday. Everyone was great during the trip. Ten hours on an airplane can be tough, but I'm always amazed at how well the kids handle it. When we checked-in in Milan, the ticket agent reserved an extra seat for us since the flight wasn't full and we had a lap infant.  It was nice to have the extra space!  I primarily used it for diaper changes, as Giuseppe required a good many that day.  I guess he didn't want me to be bored :) 

Elena didn't sleep the whole day!!  She woke up at midnight EST (6am in Italy) and stayed away the whole day.  She finally started nodding off on the bus ride to our van which was parked at the Park-n-Ride.  This was around 6pm EST (midnight in Italy, 18 hours after getting up that morning).   She slept for about half an hour in the van and then woke up screaming (I guess from being overly tired and disoriented), which also woke up Giuseppe, who joined the chorus :)  Once we got home, she perked up and wanted to play with every toy in the house that she hadn't seen in the previous 2 months.  The other kids ate a peanut butter and graham cracker snack, food they didn't get in the Italy, and we finally got everyone in bed between 8-9pm (2-3am in Italy).  Since they were so tired, the kids were able to temporarily defeat jetlag and slept until 7am.  (I was up at 4am...I always have trouble readjusting to the time.)  They all woke up really hungry (their tummies were expecting lunch at that time) and I made waffles, another treat they hadn't enjoyed in the a while. 

We've spent the past couple of days settling in.  We went to the grocery store to restock the kitchen, though we did have a bit of food around the house, thanks to Giuseppe's Godparents who met us at the airport to help us home.  They had left milk, cherrios, baked ziti, baked chicken, salad, and a loaf of bread here for us!  Yesterday, Giuseppe had his 6-month-checkup.  He gained 2 lbs (now 19lbs 12oz)and grew 2" (now 29"long) while in Italy!  It must've been all that pasta we had!  Ha! Ha!  Actually, he hasn't started solids yet, though we'll start working on it in the next few weeks probably.  Today I had hoped to go to Sams to stock up on our bulk items, but reality has settled in and it's cold (mid-20s), really windy with wind chills in the single digits, and snowing today.  After 2 months of sunny, nice weather with highs in the mid- to upper-40s most of the time, this is quite a shock to the system :)

The kids seem happy to be home.  They've been playing and crafting, doing things they haven't been able to while in Italy.  They've also been helping with the unpacking.  Giuseppe's been enjoying napping in his crib, which is nice since he never settled into taking good naps while in Italy. 

I've caught up on laundry, completely unpacked 2 of 4 suitcases, and I'm making our 1st loaf of wheat bread this afternoon.  We will start school on Monday.

Here are some pictures from our trip home and from the past few days, in no particular order.

Another day in Milan

Last Friday we went to Milan again. This time we got to go to the top of the Cathedral. We climbed all 250 steps! The stairway was so narrow that it was difficult to pass other people who were going down. It was a very clear day, so the view was beautiful! You could see the Alps in the distance. It was amazing to see all the statues and carvings up there! At the highest point of the Cathedral there is a very large gold statue of Mary, but there was scaffolding around it when we visited.

We also got to see Zio Marco for a bit since he lives in Milan. He took us to see the Farrari store where Michael Schumacher's Formula One car is displayed.

Happy 9th Birthday, Cati!

Cati is enjoying her 2nd birthday celebrated in Italy! She had one big balloon, TWO cakes, and 3 beautiful gifts!! I didn't get many pictures with my phone because I was letting my father watch the festivities via FaceTime. Dany took more pictures with our regular camera and maybe I'll post those some other time.

I think she is having a fun day!!