A future computer nerd.

Claire has really started to become interested in the computer.... hmmm... perhaps she sees mommy and daddy spending time looking at this funny little box and wants to join in. She really likes looking at pictures, especially ones of animals and she loves webchat, so if anyone wants to set up a webchat date, let me know!

A Sunny Sunday in Pozzouli

Near our house in Pozzouli (I can jog there when I am ambitious), is a lovely boardwalk/waterfront area. It's been newly re-done and tiled and has a number of (not too trashed) playgrounds, which is rare around here.


The views of course, are magnificent. Claire and I decided to take a little walk down there last Sunday because the weather was so beautiful. I'm so glad we're getting some relief from the heat... but it is certainly not cool yet...


Claire also had fun when she discovered some puddles there that mommy let her splash in. So fun!

Back from sunny England!

Claire and I got back from England on Wednesday (and Andy hopped on a plane to NYC for a friend's wedding) after spending a week in Cheltenham and the Cotswolds with our dear friends Katy and Jimbob. We got to help celebrate Jimbob's 30th birthday at a fantastic (and huge) surprise birthday party that Katy organized.

We spent the rest of the week, hanging out, seeing the sights, and of course, enjoying some fine English beer and food (well some of the food was horrific).

In addition to spending time in Cheltenham, strolling on the High Street, we went to the seaside town of Weston-Super-Mare where most Brits complain that you can never see the sea because the beach and mud flats are very shallow, and most of the time the water is really far out. I guess we must have brought some of our American (or now Italian) luck with us because we had a very high tide and we saw the sea just fine! Sadly, because it's not quite beach season any more, there were no donkeys on the beach for Claire to ride on and the cute little train only did a small trip along the shore. But, we did get to see the small aquarium and we probably ate at the most disgusting restaurant in all of England, so by default, perhaps the whole world. It was so gross, I don't even want to talk about it.... just think, mystery meat.


We also visited Burton on the Water, a town near Cheltenham that we loved visiting when we lived there.


At Burton we went to a bird sanctuary and saw all kinds of birds, including really cool penguins, some lovely owls, and probably the scariest black devil bird I'd ever seen. The black birds had these crazy bills, and the male had a very long pointy one which had obviously been injured, so it was repaired with a metal, yes, I said METAL prosthetic beak complete with rivets down the side of it. Scary. I'm just glad Claire was too interested in walking around in the grass to really look at the birds.


Our other major tourist sight was Burford Animal Park which is a small zoo. We had a great time showing Claire all of the animals and riding the little train.


So, perhaps you've caught onto one of the (unplanned) themes of this trip... ANIMALS! We didn't really intend to go to so many animal places, but Claire is really in the stage where she is starting to recognize, imitate, and take interest in animals. In fact, because of these animals, and the constant reinforcement by Katy, Jimbob, Andy and me, her vocabulary nearly tripled during the trip! Well, I guess that is if you count making animal noises and imitating animals as "words", but she is showing clear understanding and even retention of the words. For a girl that was a slowish talker, her language has really started to explode!


It was a great trip. We had such a wonderful time visiting with our friends and Claire really took to them too. It was so exciting to share how much she learned during the trip with Katy and Jimbob and to show them what an interesting toddler she is turning into!

Katy sure seemed to have fun spoiling her!

So, THIS is teething...

Claire has been fairly late getting her teeth. Her first pearly white didn't pop through until she was nearly a year old. She now has her four top front, two front bottom and most of one molar in and NOT ONCE has she been bothered by any of it.

Until now....

I don't think I've can ever recall a time where Claire has been in a worse mood. I guess I should thank my lucky stars that she is such a good, calm baby in general, but oh my goodness have the last few days been hell.

At first, I didn't really get it. She has been extra needy all day, she's been cranky after her wake-ups and she's just needed to be held,. She's been particularly bad after waking up from her nap and she has struggled through lunch and dinner. At times, it seemed that there was nothing that could calm her. Not even sitting on Mommy's lap, watching Sesame Street, eating gummy fish....

Andy felt around in her mouth the other day and said, "Oh, there are a few bumps", but it wasn't until I felt around myself when I realized that she now has THREE molars coming in at once.

Ah ha! So, that is the problem.

And now, I have learned, that Tylenol is my friend.

Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius

After spending a couple of more days in Rome, Siko and Rebecca came to Naples to hang out with us. On Thursday, we dropped Claire off at a friend's house (thank you Lindy!) and the four of us went off to tour the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. We were all struck by how big this city was and we were amazed by all of the interesting sites in the town. We spent about three hours there and we probably only saw about a third of it.

It was certainly neat visiting the ruins seeing Mt. Vesuvius looming in the background. Pompeii is also quite a dramatic archeological site. Not only are the buildings and ruins amazing, but there are a couple of casts on display of the victims of the eruption of Vesuvius.



After touring Pompeii, we headed off to Mt. Vesuvius (a 25 minute drive away) and hiked to the top of the mountain. It was only a 30-minute or so hike and we spent some time up on the rim and came back down. The mountain has AMAZING views of Naples, so we got some great pictures. The mountain itself is also quite interesting itself. The crater is beautiful, and it continues to steam (it is an active volcano)! There are also a couple of little snack bars/gift shops along the way.



We had a great time hanging out with Siko and Rebecca and we are so glad they came to visit us in Italy!

Bella Roma!

Last week we had our first visitors! Siko (Mike) and Rebecca came from NYC to tour Italy and to stay with us for a bit. They spent a couple of days in Rome and we went up to meet them last Sunday. We had a great time touring the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, and Capitol Hill.

Claire loved her free ride in the Coliseum on Siko's shoulders!

Claire had a great time climbing the Spanish Steps and walking around Rome. It really seemed like a turning point in Claire's walking ability. She just wanted to walk all over the place!
We let her walk, of course, but we did insist on holding her hand at certain points. You can never be too sure about crazy Italian drivers! To our surprise (and joy!) she wanted to hold our hand too! She even climbed the entire staircase at the Spanish Steps (holding onto Mommy's hands, of course).We also visited the always busy, very beautiful Trevi Fountain where we threw in a coin to ensure our return trip to Rome.


It was a pretty long day and a half for Claire and she had a bit of a meltdown at the end as we were visiting the crypt of the Cappuchin Monks (where the skeletal remains of hundreds of dead monks are artfully arranged). Overall, it was a great trip!

Germany

We got back from an eight day trip in Germany yesterday. Andy had to go to Stuttgart for work and Claire and I decided to tag along.

We spent the first weekend visiting friends in Weisbaden, touring the cute town, and going to two "fests", the summer fest and the wine fest.



We spent the rest of the trip in Stuttgart visiting the downtown area, hanging out in the town square, going to the zoo, and playing tourist.

Claire is really starting to love animals, too. From the pigeons in the square (which she calls "buh") to the polar bear in the zoo.

We also visited a town just north of Stuttgart called Ludwigsburg, which has a beautiful palace and an amazing garden.

We didn't have a chance to go in the palace itself, but the garden had all kinds of neat things for kids. Many of the displays were nursery story themed, but it also included a small boat trip and a few pettable goats!