Eyes to my soul...

Sunday, May 23, 2010

First Jet Ski Ride


Uncle Lou and Aunt Liz invited us over for dinner, which is an invitation we would never turn down as Auntie Liz is a fabulous cook and Uncle Lou is a ton of fun!  










Giovanni got to taste his first basil pasta salad (yummy) and steaks on the grill, wear his first lifejacket, ride/drive his first jet ski ("faster, faster"!!), and have Uncle Lou toss him into the pool!  


A perfect evening for everyone, especially a little five year old Italiano!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Update on Gio's Fever

Well, we survived Giovanni's first sickness!  For the last two nights, I have slept beside Giovanni on his trundle bed and checked his temperature several times through the night. When his fever reached 103, he began to mumble and even though deep in sleep - his eyes were wide open (but he didn't see Nick and I with our faces just 6 inches from his).  Really tough seeing our little man not feeling well.

This morning I took him to see Dr. Logan and his fever was pretty much gone.  She looked in his mouth and said that it looks like his six year molars were just breaking through his gums.  She said the fever and headache were probably caused by the eruption of these molars.  She gave him the okay to go to school today and he did great!

Interesting note:  When Giovanni was mumbling in his sleep...most was jibberish, but the words he did say clearly were in English (guess that means he is now "thinking" in English instead of Amharic).  


P.S.  Giovanni and Oliver are now best buddies!


Baby Emma!

Giovanni is so excited about little baby Emma growing in Aunt Christine's belly.  He watches everything Aunt Christine eats and drinks to make sure it doesn't have "too much sugar for Emma"... (just what a pregnant women with cravings wants to hear, right?!).

Giovanni likes to rub, talk to, and kiss little Emma!  He can't wait for her to "come out of Aunt Christine's belly"!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

First Fever

Giovanni woke up early and came into our room and climbed into bed with me (Daddy was in Serbia trying to get back home!).  Gio was burning up.  He slept a little then started crying saying his head hurt.  I called my "New Mum 9-1-1" (a.k.a. his Fairy Godmother Tami) and she said to give him children's ibuprofen for pain and fever.  After talking with Tami, I went back to check on Giovanni in our room and was pleasantly surprised to find our VERY shy, elderly cat Oliver laying protectively on Giovanni (something he has never done before).  Oliver stayed with and around Giovanni all day and when I checked on Giovanni tonight Oliver was curled up beside him on Gio's bed.  We sure love our Oliver!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Thursday, May 13, 2010

2nd Tooth...Gone!


You never know what is going to happen when Giovanni and his Dad head out to play a little golf together.  Today they came back with Giovanni's tooth (his second) in his hand!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Reunion!

One of the highlights of our weekend in New York was getting to meet Workneh and his Mom (Barbara) for dinner at a great Ethiopian restaurant called Awash. Workneh and Giovanni were friends at the orphanage and were very excited to see each other!  I really enjoyed catching up with both Workneh and Barbara and seeing how incredibly well they are both doing!  Giovanni never uses his Amharic and verbalizes very few memories from Ethiopia, so I loved listening to Workneh who remains fluent in Amharic and remembers so much.  We are so looking forward to our next reunion!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Surfing Engineer

Giovanni absolutely loves the water!  For a little boy who originated from a landlocked country with no access to the ocean, a lake, a river, a pool, or even running water for that matter...we are thrilled to have a son who, like his father and his Uncle Jimmy, was obviously a porpoise in his previous life.

Today we took Giovanni to Bradenton Beach for his first bodysurfing lesson with Dad.  He loved it!  He even tried using a boogie board on a borrowed board and laughed the entire way to shore!  He and Nick are already making plans to go back to the beach tomorrow if the waves are up again!

We stopped at a beach store on the way home so Giovanni could pick out his very own boogie board!

When he wasn't in the water Giovanni was building his "sand city" complete with a moat, two swimming pools, a flag, and a water delivery system!  Had we stayed longer he wanted to try to build a bridge for his many cars and trucks to get across the moat!

"Too Much Sugar?"

I digress....
Before we even brought Giovanni home back in early December we decided that we would hold off giving him sugar-laden goodies (cookies, candy, soda, etc.) until we had expanded his palate to include foods other than the limited starches that made up the majority of his diet in Ethiopia.  Somehow we made it through Christmas (stocking was stuffed with an orange and LOTS of little toys and games) and now almost 5 months later he still gets his sugar naturally from fruits and occasionally real Vermont maple syrup (which is mandatory eating if you tap your own trees!).

He asks me before eating anything new or offered to him by others if it has "too much sugar"?  If my answer is "yes", he moves on to something else to eat or drink.  He is so militant about sugar that my friends have promoted him to Chief of the Sucrose Police as he is very adamant that no one add more than one packet of sugar or substitute to their drinks.

Okay, now to the real story...
Today we decided to try the Episcopal Church at his school.  We love the Presbyterian Church we attend but thought we might find one with a few more little ones.  One big difference in the two churches is that in the Episcopal Church communion requires the congregants to go up front and kneel.  The priest then gives a blessing and a communion wafer followed by a parishioner who carries a cup of wine for dipping. As we approached the front I turned around to see a look of terror on Giovanni's face.  There was no way he was going to get close to either the priest or the wafers.  The priest laughed (thank goodness!) and gave Giovanni a blessing from a far.  Nick and I took communion and Giovanni followed us back to our seats.

As we were walking back he wanted to see where the wafer was...so, I discreetly stuck my tongue out to show him the wafer sitting on it.  His eyes got huge as he looked up at me and with complete sincerity asked aloud (with emphasis on LOUD)..."too much sugar?"