Triennale (3 years)

Three years ago today Mark and I were married in Ravello, Italy. I went through some of our wedding photos yesterday and they brought back memories of what was a truly magical and special day which was only enhanced by the amazing location, fantastic guests, and gorgeous food and wine (and lots of it!). Never in my life did I think I would marry an Englishman and most definitely not in Italy-if you would have told me 6 years ago where my life would lead, I would have never believed you (nor would most of my family and friends!). That said, I'm a pretty lucky girl-I've got a gorgeous, funny and very hard working and clever husband who has given me the gift of being a mother to the most cheeky, sweet, caring and cute little boy in the world. Tonight we celebrate by having dinner at a little Italian restaurant nearby although I am definitely wishing I could be back here again-

Flat Head

So over the past week I've been trying to back up all of the photos stored on our computer onto CDs since the (literally) thousands of pictures I've stored of Calum make my computer move at snail pace*. Whilst doing so I came across the below pic of Calum's profile shot, taken in January 2010. At the time I remember how concerned we were about Calum's flat head, we even went as far as doing some research on those awful helmets they have (actually saw a baby in one at the store last week and couldn't help but stare). What a difference 10 months makes!

BEFORE

AFTER

*P.S. How are you other Moms out there storing your pics? I've started to get really freaked out by technology and worried that someday CDs will be obsolete and then how will I access those precious baby pics? I think I went a bit over the top with the first 6 months which I have CDs for, Rachel has CDs for in her safe and I kept the SD card for. Any suggestions on the best method? x

Me? SPOILED?!

This weekend we went on a mini shopping spree. It would seem that my 17 month old son was in need of a new wardrobe even though he spends 75% of his time at home in sweats or PJs, Mark and I still felt the need to spend some serious cash outfitting him in all of the latest fall styles as well as a few new pairs of shoes now that he's walking (how cute are baby Converse?!). I have to admit, I actually think I prefer shopping for Calum-guess it takes me back to when I was a little girl and dressing up my dolls, it's fun to play dress up with Calum and he even seems to enjoy it although we found out that having a baby who thinks he can walk makes trips to the mall in a stroller a lot harder than they were before. We're about thisclose to investing in a pair of reigns.

Anyway, in addition to Calum's new fall wardrobe we also treated him to a slide. Calum loves slides and when we go to the park he zeros in on them immediately, crying and throwing a fit when he is separated from his favorite toy. I've become a bit thrifty lately and been using this site here in the UK called NetMums where you can source some great barely used stuff so we managed to get him one for £10 and it's been brilliant (if only he could learn how to get himself up the ladder and onto his bottom himself-it's a serious work out for Mom!). Perfect for those rainy days that are right around the corner when we're stuck inside.

Oh, and what else does a 17 month old baby need? His own chair of course! Mark and I went to this local nursery last weekend and Calum fell in love with this little camping chair which now adorns our newly decorated grown up living room which is slowly looking more and more like Calum's playroom next door... When we put him in it at the store Mark said to me it really hit him for the first time that he's not a baby anymore but a little boy and I have to say, he does look pretty grown up sitting there all on his own.

My new chair

At the nursery on the nature trail

Wallabies!

Otherwise over the last week or so we've been going through the tireless process of trying to find a new childcare option since we won't have Mark's Mum any longer from January. We've seen 3 daycares (called nursuries here) and met with 2 childminders which are like nannies who operate from their own house and are regulated by the government so background checked and etc. and required to follow a ciriculum with the children. The first thing I've realised is how expensive they are-even though we only need him to be watched 3 days a week we are still looking at about £600/month which is about double what we've been paying Mark's Mum so the pressure will be on me even more to be making placements. I've also realised how much of a control freak/neat freak I am and how hard it's going to be for me to let go and enter into this next stage of Calum's life. A couple of the places we've seen I wouldn't leave my dog in (if I had one), let alone my precious child. I worry about how much time he will be spending with someone who isn't family, someone I don't really know and how much that person will shape his life. Most of all I wonder how I will get through those 3 days a week with only seeing him in the morning and then for dinner and a bath when he gets home at night.

On the more exciting front, work is going really well and I had a great meeting with an old client last week which has really helped boost my confidence. Mark is in the process of signing a lease for new offices where he and his partner will move their staff which is super exciting, I'm so proud of how well he's done in such a short period of time and hope it will continue and he can deliver on his promise that we can move back to the US in the next 5 years. In the next week or two we're booking our tickets back to Seattle for either Thanksgiving or sometime around Christmas so it will be nice to have that to look forward to again and I know the trip will come up before we know it. Have a great week x

My waiter in training

So it's finally happened (well kind of finally happened), CALUM IS WALKING. Yes, on Sunday the 5th of September at approximately 1.35 p.m. GMT (that's THE Greenwich Mean Time) Calum Xavier Verghese AKA Cal, AKA Big Cal, AKA Munchkin, AKA Munchie, AKA Bieber, started walking after being subjected to watching paint dry (literally) and other mind numbing DIY tasks that his parents were trying to get through on a boring Sunday afternoon. He was 16 months and 8 days old.

Yep, after Mark and I trying to coax him like a little dog with treats, after subjecting him to hours of kid socialising hoping he would just pick it up like my Mom claimed I did after a visit to the doctor's office, Calum just decided to up and go when we weren't even looking! Guess this is true Calum fashion though, he's never been one to do things when we want him to, he's definitely stubborn (not sure where he gets that from?! MARK! JEN!!!), and even now, 5 days later, he won't walk if I try prompting him which was a little embarrassing at our Talking Tots class this morning when I came in bragging about how he was walking and he spent the whole class alternating between sitting on his bum and arching his back when I tried to get him to stand.

Oh well, I have proof! See the video below. Someone get this kid some knee pads! I heard Huggies makes them, is this true Moms out there?

Yes, he is a waiter in training-in weeks I will have him with a tray in that little outstretched hand with a glass of Sav Blanc perched upon it. Love this little boy, and am so proud he's finally in the club! Watch out girls!