In NY for Thanksgiving

Back at Work

On Monday, I went back to work. That dreaded 1st day of work came and went and then very quickly the 1st week of work came and went. I saw colleagues that I hadn’t seen in 7 months, attended meetings, was brought up to speed on what happened during my leave, blah, blah, and yes, I survived. I did OK, but I also really missed spending time during the day with my daughter. And I missed not having to go into work… I guess I need to do some soul-searching and figure out whether I what I really, actually like and want to do.

A part of me also enjoyed being away, finally starting life as I knew it BG (“Before Giulia”), interacting and having adult conversations, feeling challenged, feeling like a person again (whereas before, I could only feel like “mom”)…

I guess the anticipation was indeed worse than actually going back....

This is my last week, full-time at home with Giulia. I am having disagreements with people I love, I am trying to

Another great day with Giulia

Today was a stay-all-day-in-your-pj's kinda day. Giulia woke up in the middle of the night again, so I gave her to MS and got a bit more sleep. I woke-up, played with Gi, finished some scrapbooking pages for my in-laws, played with Gi some more and pretty much lounged with her all day... My idea of a perfect day.

Factoid: Giulia really likes sweet potatoes and have now started a love affair with...... water.

Vovo e Tivo Chegaram!!! NYC Pics

My mom and aunt arrived in NYC on 10/22. We all went to NYC on the 26th and 27th. We had an unforgettable time and I'll let the pictures tell the story....

26th: Walked around in Times Square, ate at Ruby Tuesday's, saw Grease, had drinks at Hilton

27th: Breakfast at Starbucks, shopping on 5th Ave, dressed up at Disney Store - look at my faerie!

Newsletter: Month 6

Giulia,

On October 30th, you turned 6 months old. That’s half a year, for crying out loud – where did this time go? We celebrated your ½ year birthday with a birthday cake, hats, noise makers, many, many smiles, and of course, happy birthday songs in both English and Portuguese. We all had so much fun celebrating you and the joy you bring into our lives.

Many things happened this month - you are clearly becoming more independent and self-sufficient, like, for instance, you are now sitting up, spinning around in the Exersaucer, blowing kisses, bouncing your body, as asking to be picked up and even dancing when we play or sing you a song. You are now eating baby food. You love sweet potatoes and carrots and you like apple sauce. You’ve started to hold your own bottle, which was devastating for us (you are growing up too fast!!) but wonderful for you. During this month the adventure continued with vovó Nair and with the return of vovó Rita and the arrival of tivó Maria coming to stay with us. Thanks to them, you have become a frequent shopper at the Clinton Outlet Mall. We also spent a weekend in NYC. You really enjoyed walking around Times Square, people watching, seeing all the beautiful, bright colors and lights and the craziness of the city.

On October 31st, we celebrated mommy’s birthday and we dressed up and went “trick-or-treating” for Halloween: mommy was Winnie the Pooh, Daddy was Tigger and you were the cutest chipmunk I have ever seen. So cute that the neighbors who we visited we taking pictures of YOU! We had fun handing out candy too. Mommy and Daddy felt that we truly experienced Halloween this year, since we got to trick-or-treat with you.

You had your 6-month apointment, got your shots, examined and more importantly, a clean bill of health.

This was a wonderful month spent with vovó Nair. Our relationship with her has become so much stronger. To me, she has always been one of the single most influential people and it was nice to, 10 years later, share my life again with her. Your daddy feels like he “has a new grandmother” – a feeling that, I know, is shared by vovó Nair, and Giulia, you’ve developed a very special bond with her. This time has left everybody with a desire to spend even more time with you, and hopefully they will all come back to celebrate the one year of absolute joy and blessings that your birth has brought to us all. Thank you for adding so much to all of our lives.

Stats:

Length / Comprimento: 27 3/4 inches / 70.5 cm (97%)

Weight / Peso: 19.2 pounds / 8.7 kg (95%)

Head Circumference: 43 1/4 (75%)