Not one, but two!

So, Connor is sick, still! We are on day 18. I'm convinced that he has had 2 separate illnesses, but the Dr isnt so sure. He was getting better, but Friday he spiked a 104.5 F fever and has had a fever all of the weekend. We've been alternating giving him ibuprofene (thats what they call it here) and paracetemol (tylenol to us). It has helped, but the fever tends to come back. He was totally out of it yesteday afternoon and started to have the shivers... Poor baby! We went back tko the Dr today and he now has double ear infections :( What a bummer! Anyway, we really like our Dr... so if you ever live in Milan, definitely use Dr Paesani at American International Medical Center (http://www.stefaniapaesani.it/)

We did manage to bring him to Chiccolandia on Saturday afternoon. He had fun sitting in this big thing of colored balls (see photo). But he was pretty out of it! Wasn't that interested in playing. He just sort of sat there and threw the balls half-heartedly :(




Last week, Connor and I went shopping for new shoes for him. His feet are growing sooooo fast! We picked up these summer shoes at Geox. Don't ask how much they were! David will kill me if he knew! Let's just say they were more than 40 euros (over 60 dollars for a pair of kids shoes!). They are a size 22 (italian sizes are big). My parents are coming next week and bringing some 8 dollar shoes I ordered from old navy. Hopefully size 6 US will fit him...


Grandma and Grandpa Arizona brought Connor this cute little baseball outfit. The weather has been great... so we had him in it yesterday (besides the fact that he had a high temperature and we were trying to keep him cool). He looks so cute. Don't be fooled by the colors. This is NOT, I repeat NOT a yankees (yuck) outfit. Its just a coincidence...

Yucky! My poor baby!

Today started as a really bad day! David is feeling horrible... so I recommended that he stay home from work. But he has to get something important done. So I suggested that I just drive him down to work, and he can run in and get some stuff and bring it home and do whatever he has to do. He agreed. So, Connor, and David and I jump in the car. All of us have been sick for a while, but there seems to be some lingering coughing, stuffy/runny noses, and phlegm (yuck) for Connor and I. When we are about 3/4 of the way there... I said to David... 'it smells like puke in here'. I was thinking that we had the heat on for the first time and the rental car was stinky...

No such luck... I turned around to take a look at my poor little baby... and he had emptied his stomach (blackberry yogurt and cheerios) all over himself, his sweater, pants, and the car seat! Oh my goodness! Needless to say, we were horrified.

David ran into work and I proceeded to wipe Connor and the car seat off with toilet paper which was thankfully in the front seat for some reason... What a morning!

We're home now... Connor and I bathed, and the clothes and carseat cover are in the washing machine (which, by the way, takes like 2 hours per load... another annoying thing about Italy). Hopefully I can scrub the carseat down with something that will take the smell away and we can air the car out. disgusting! perhaps we will be exchanging this rental car for another one sooner than later!

I think Connor is okay. I think he might have just coughed up some yucky and swallowed it and it made him sick. I hope he doesn't have a stomach bug now! I couldn't handle it.

Oh well, I know, too much information! Sorry! Just had to share!

Grandma and Grandpa Arizona Visit! And Lake Como!

Connor was so excited to see his Grandma and Grandpa (David's parents) this past week! He hadn't seen them since November (before he was walking and saying a few words). He evened learned to say Grandpa during the visit! Well, it sounds more like 'pab-pab'... but close enough, right!
Connor loves going to the park. There are two small parks near us. We go at least once a day. He loves to bring his ball and run around with it and kick it. The problem is, that there are lots of kids that want to take his ball. And there are lots of kids with their own balls and toys that Connor wants to steal! He hasn't learned to share yet. But neither have most of the other kids. The parents are no help. Some are just so out of it and not even paying attention to their kids and what they are doing. Others just don't even care that their kid just stole my kid's ball and my baby is crying. So annoying! Just another one of those 'cultural differences'.

But I digress. Connor loved his park time with Grandma and Grandpa this past week. Oh ya, except for the fact that he has been sick the whole week and the whole lot of us caught it. Connor and I had it the worst, but Grandma and Grandpa were just getting it when they left. Hopefully they recover quickly!

I brought Connor to the doctor here for the first time. Luckily we go to the American International Medical Center. Our doctor speaks perfect english. Connor has an ear infection. He has taken all his antibiotics and is a million times better now! Its so nice to see him smile again! Anyway... We took Grandma and Grandpa to see the castle in the center of Milan. There is a big fountain out front. Here is a picture of Connor walking along the fountain with Grandpa. The weather was great! Sunny and mild! We spent Friday night at Lake Como. It was really nice. The weather held up on Saturday and we took a boat ride on the lake. The lake is huge and we only saw the bottom part of a piece of it. We took a little tour around some of the villages. Connor didn't sleep at all in the hotel Friday night... so Mommy and Daddy didn't either. Connor and Mommy were having a bad day on Saturday... but we made the best of it! We were very sad to see Grandma and Grandpa go home on Sunday :( We hope to see them again soon!!

Our Flat in Porta Romana

So... I took a couple of pics of the flat. Keep in mind, that I have a 14 month old that makes it very difficult to keep the place clean!! We have a living room where we have the TV and in the same room we have a small desk where I am typing this right now. There is a lot of shelving... but only the top 3 or 4 shelves are usable... since Connor would take everything off the shelves if we kept anything down low!

We also have a dining/extra bed/play room! ha! David's parents are coming to visit on Sunday and they will stay there... I hope they don't mind all the toys.
Connor has his own room, but he's napping right now (thank goodness!) so I didn't get a pic. Our bedroom is very small. Its funny... I can reach the dresser when I'm lying in bed... so I just use it as a night stand!

The kitchen isn't what you would call 'up to date'. But at least we have a relatively new fridge, and a new washing machine and a new dishwasher!

I didn't take a picture of the 'service room'. This is where the ironing board is, and also closets where David keeps all of his clothes, and another bathroom with a shower. We have 3 bathrooms, but 2 are right next to each other... kind of silly!

Ahhh, Venice...

So, this weekend we went to Venice. I hadn't been there in 10 years, and David hadn't been there in almost 20! The weather held up, but it was mostly overcast (no rain, thank goodness!). Connor had to be in the stroller or backpack most of the time, since he can't really be put down with all the canals around. There were tons of people... and its not even high season right now! I can't image what it is like in the spring or summer there. I don't think I want to find out.

So, we got there Saturday and parked in Tronchetto. We took a 'water bus' over to San Marco and walked over through Venice, across the Rialto Bridge, to our hotel, Hotel Marconi. Dropped off our stuff... then had lunch! We then took a gondola ride! Fun, but not cheap! But you must do it once in your life. Connor enjoyed it, especially since he could see everything since the sides of the gondola are low.
Sunday morning we took a private water taxi over to the island of Murano (famous for their glass works). We had a private demonstration of a master making a vase and a horse. Watching him make that horse was the coolest thing! It was amazing. First he just had some glass on the end of a pipe, and with the flick of a piece of metal... it was a horse! Wow!

We then toured the huge glass showroom that they had (no pictures allowed). The had chandeliers in there worth thousands and thousands of euros. We picked out a set of glasses that are beautiful... hand made, of course, and signed by the master. And they gave us a little glass horse for Connor for 'free' (ha ha! ya right! we just spent a ton on the glasses!).

In the afternoon, Connor had great fun chasing the pigeons in San Marco square. All in all, it was a great weekend! So glad we went!

Yes! We have Cheddar!

Great news! A woman at playgroup told me about a cheese shop on Via Mercato that had something resembling cheddar. Of course, in order to get there, Connor and I have to walk to the Porta Romana subway stop, take the yellow line to Duomo, change to the red line, and take it to Cairoli. Then walk a little way, and bam! We found it! The guy there even spoke english! I asked for cheddar and he had it! It was yellow! I got a big block. It was 11 euros! Yikes! I haven't tasted it yet. I plan on doing so shortly. If it tastes like cheddar, I will be going back there once a week!

The only bummer thing is that there isn't an elevator at the cairoli stop. I could go to Cadorna station and walk from there, I guess. Its so annoying how they don't have elevators on the other lines other than the yellow line! How am I supposed to get the stroller up!!

You don't want to hear about my adventure at the ATM Point this morning trying to figure out why I couldn't reload my electronic subway card for the whole month of March and I had to buy 4 week's worth, then on the 31st of March, pay for a ticket if I need it, then I could get the whole month of april... So annoying! I'm not sure why... Ahhh!

Anyway, I promise to put pics of the new apartment soon...