One Last Sunrise in Italy

I know what you're thinking...we don't leave until Saturday so that means two more sunrises. I'm not talking about that kind of sunrise though. I'm talking about this kind of Sunrise....Sunrise Bar.This place has become our second home away from home -- if that makes any sense -- here in Italy. Jackson and I come here twice a day, six days a week for coffee served with a large side of friendship. Francesca makes "my usual" which is a big Americano exactly the way I order it from Starbucks in America! (And for those of you who haven't been to Italy, it's not something you'll find on the menu here.)And often we meet Dan here for lunch. Here's a photo of Jackson eating meatballs (which he refers to as "buttballs") earlier this week.While the food and coffee are delicious, it's the people who own and run Sunrise that keep us coming so frequently. Francesca, Antonella, Gabriele, Mimmo, Victoria...they're our Italian family. Jackson loves them as much as they adore him and he calls them all by name...loudly and repeatedly!

Our hours at Sunrise have been action-packed with Jackson running (literally!) around making friends with the patrons when he's not in the kitchen or behind the counter in the arms of Francesca, Mimmo, or one of the others. They've taught Jackson some Italian and he's taught Mimmo a little bit of English (light, foot, truck, car...you get the idea!) so the relationship has been advantageous on both sides. The other day Jackson was showing off his new dance move that Dan had taught him. Pretty soon he had everyone in there spinning in circles just like him!

Here are some photos of Jackson with our Sunrise family.Here's some video of Jackson doing the whistle noise that Gabriele taught him.

And so tomorrow is our last day of going to Sunrise for coffee, cornetti, lunch, and the complimentary gelato that Jackson is given nearly each day (because he's so much fun to watch as he eats it!). It's going to be incredibly difficult to say goodbye not only to this daily routine and tradition but especially to the family that we've grown to love. And judging by the way Jackson brings up their names throughout the day when we're not with them and by the way he waves at them in the videos we've taken...I'm thinking we'll definitely have to Skype from overseas!

When we got to Italy, I thought to myself that three months wasn't enough time to really build many friendships and I certainly never expected to build friendships with any Italians in that amount of time because of the language barrier. But I was wrong. And happily so.

story time

Feeling refreshed after his afternoon nap, Jackson sat down to read his Doggies book. This is what I got to watch him do for about ten minutes...

Visitors in Italy

We had more visitors here in Italy this last week! Dan's parents and his Uncle Gene and Aunt Linda came all the way from Washington and Wisconsin to hang out with us and we were thrilled to have them here.Jackson showed them all of his new tricks and called them all by name. He said Gene, Linda, Bob, and Baba (apparently Grandma Jan has been dubbed the feminine version of Bob -- for now at least).We showed them around to some of our favorite places. We went to Martina Franca for dinner at the Green Door and gelato.We took them to Brindisi to see the end of the Appian Way and to eat lasagne at Bar Betty...oh and to eat gelato.We took them to the Grottaglie fountain to watch Jackson play in the water.We went to Polignano a Mare to check out the cliff edges...and to eat gelato.We stopped for a view of the gorge at Matera.We even got to celebrate Uncle Gene & Aunt Linda's 44th wedding anniversary with them. We picked up some celebratory wine and tiramisu for the occasion.Thanks for coming all the way to Italy to spend some time with us!

15-month-old Jackson

Well I've been a neglectful parent when it comes to keeping a virtual paper trail of Jackson's growth and development since he turned a year old so I'm going to try to redeem myself by blogging about 15-month-old Jackson before he becomes 16-month-old Jackson next week. That's fair, right?

Hmmm...where to begin?

These days Jackson is hard to keep up with -- both literally AND figuratively. He's growing at a record pace which means he's eating more than Dan and I combined on some days, is sleeping up to 4 hours a day between his 2 naps, and we can barely cram his feet into his shoes anymore (I'm desperately trying to hold out for new shoes from the Stride Rite Outlet when we get back to America).His vocabulary grows by at least one word per day and includes but is not limited to the following list (in random order): momma, dada, cracker, chicken, coke, more, tunnel, duck, dog, cheese, clothes, bib, bird, truck, car, bottle, buckle, light, milk, nose, eye, yes, no, book, keys, cup, grandma, pizza, banana, ball, spoon, pork, thanks, circle, foot, toe, sock, hat, moon, yuck! uh oh! and ciao (yes, that's Italian which makes him bilingual...right?). And he's 100% boy so of course he likes to say poo-poo, toot, and burp.
There's also the sound effect word substitutes. For instance, water is "Aaahh" (the unmistakable sigh of a thirst that has been quenched) and motos (motorcycles) are "run-nun-nun-nuns." And the binky is still affectionately beckoned by a loud click of the tongue. Oh and I can't forget to mention that he does one heck of a Chewbacca impersonation.His favorite activities these days are eating gelato, playing peek-a-boo, taking his duck for a walk (see photo below), running after the wheels of his stroller while it's moving, playing ball, splashing in the town fountain, and pointing out while naming the parts of the body, especially the nose...and he has no qualms about pointing to the noses of complete strangers he meets in the local coffee shop. If you get within a 3-foot radius, your nose is fair game.
While we're talking about strangers, I should mention that Jackson doesn't know any. Everyone is his friend and he's always ready to wave "Ciao" to the multitudes as they come and go.He learned to whistle from his friend Gabriele (who he affectionately calls GaGa -- not to be confused with Lady GaGa). Well, it's not a real whistle but more of a "Hoo! Hoo!" in the shrillest tone his little voice can muster. It's ridiculously cute.He runs more than walks and runs especially fast just after finishing a gelato cone. With a belly full of gelato, he'll put his arms back and hold his head up and run fancy free with his eyes nearly shut. He's more than once narrowly escaped running into trees and passing tricycles in his post-gelato state of delirium.He's a likeable fellow, to say the least. He's made friends with the neighbor, the butcher, the baker...and if only we had a candlestick maker he'd be friends with him too! He's befriended the clerks at the supermarket, the owners of the restaurants we frequent, and he's definitely family at the cafe we visit twice a day. One of the other regular customers hit it on the nose when he said that Jackson is their mascot. He makes his rounds waving to the customers as they eat their lunch and he gives a very vigorous "Ciao" wave to everyone who enters or exits the building.He seems to be on the fast track to potty training. He started a few months ago announcing when he has gone (or is going) poo-poo. And if we're not quick enough with our response, he'll go and get the clean diaper and bring it to us.He's recently discovered the moon but that's only complicated things. Whenever we're walking and the moon is temporarily hidden by the city skyline, Jackson yells a very concerned "uh oh" and points to the sky saying "moon, moon!" until it's in view again. (This gets old very quickly at times).Oh, and how can I forget that he's also learned how to blow kisses? As if he weren't already enough of a ladies man! He now has every woman in Italy at his beck and call - hooking them one by one with a big smackeroo to the palm of his little hand! It's insanely cute!So, basically we're nuts about this kid and we're totally looking forward to each new day with him. We feel incredibly blessed by God each day to be his parents and to call him our son.

Americans in Paris

Our friends here in Italy, Barb & Mark, gave us an incredible gift -- they offered to watch Jackson for us while we traveled somewhere...just the two of us. Just the two of us? We're no fools - we picked Paris as our getaway destination! We quickly bought our RyanAir plane tickets and booked our teeny, tiny Parisian hotel room.While this was Dan's first trip to France, I had spent 8 days in Paris during college but never went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was either the cheapskate in me or the diehard romantic in me that really wanted to wait and experience that moment with my future husband. Well, now I had the chance to finally make that dream come true. And a dream pretty much describes it in a nutshell.

The trip was a quick one - we left on Wednesday morning and came home Friday afternoon, anxious to hold Jackson again. Yea, we're suckers for that kid. Can you blame us?

We pretty much saw and did everything there is to see and do in Paris in just those 2 and a half days, including a few things that I had never done during my first trip to the world's most romantic city.

A break from pizza and pasta is always welcome. Bonjour, French food! We ate crepes, baguettes, flammekueche, duck, haricots verts (yea, I know those are just green beans but it sounds so much better in French), and fancy pastries. We drank overpriced coffee and orange juice and enjoyed every last drop.

Here's the photographic evidence...and even a few videos too.Notre Dame.Sainte Chapelle.The Eiffel Tower.


Versailles.Starbucks (my first since June 22).The Arc de Triomphe.
Dan got into a screaming match with one of the Arc statues before we made it back down the winding staircase to the bottom.Champs Elysees.The Louvre.You'd never be able to tell that we'd nearly lost limbs pushing our way to the front of the mob to snag these Mona Lisa pics.Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris and a personal fave from my last trip here).And here are a few randoms...

And my personal favorite photo of the trip:
Two nights in a Parisian hotel: 190 Euro.
Two museum passes: 70 Euro.
Coffee & orange juice at a cafe: 6 Euro.
Coming home to Jackson: Priceless.