Friday May 22

Woke up early today (6 am!) and couldn’t go back to sleep so I decided to go for a run! Wasn’t much running involved. So so out of shape! It was nice to explore a bit. I need to take so many photos. Its just gorgeous here!!! The view over the valley is amazing. Elia likes to look down and see the trains pass. (one way to entertain him)El treno! (just eno to Elia) The mountain is actually pretty big. Not a mountain like Colorado, of course, but still pretty big. It is pretty high up here which is good because it is much cooler than in the valley. No air conditioner so thank heavens for that! Alice gave me a fan…makes a world of difference for sleeping! Ive passed out the last few nights so no telling if I will have trouble sleeping later. Its not really hot yet so that should be pretty interesting…not looking forward to it. No hotter than Texas but we have AC!

Went to the market with Alice and Elia. Elia did not behave very well but its nothing in comparison to some kids Ive seen. (clear memories of nana having to sit on trey in the middle of the grocery store). It was a super market similar to ours…they have these in big cities (Arezzo is I think around 100,000). This was no trip like I have ever made. The restaurant is open this weekend so I have never seen so much fresh food bought before. We had a basket overflowing with not a single thing pre-packaged. The restaurant is precious! The inside is pretty much just for winter (open Friday-Monday) but during the summer they eat outside. Not sure what all they serve. I need to look at the menu. The other day the chef was making pesto filled pasta. Looked delicious! Alice cooks and serves too.

I helped Alice unload the groceries and wondered around the restaurant kitchen trying to be of some sort of help. Probably more annoying though (lots of questions!) She laughed at me. Been telling her things I like and don’t like…Im keeping dislike list short. I can make myself eat most things. I did say no anchovies! Buh! No pizza nappoli for me! I told her gnocchi (type of potato based pasta) was one of my favorites and she said I could help her make some from scratch next week! She was not very pleased with my typical cooking and eating habits! “No Popcorn!” She agreed with everyone else that popcorn does not constitute a meal! Completely disgusted with the idea of cooking in a microwave; not one in the house!

So (alora)…I just finished my first night alone with Elia! Went really really great. Better than I would expect with a two year old that could not understand a word I say. Im very hopeful that the Italian will start to come to me. I will have to study a lot to learn to conjugate verbs…otherwise I will just know vocab and will not actually put together sentences.

So here is my schedule:

They have Elia all day till 5pm. I will still help with him during the day; not going to ignore him if I am in the house. I wake up and make myself breakfast. If I am here I will eat lunch with A&A&E. Usually just pasta. Sometimes salad too. I eat some too! Ive had salad with a few meals…ate strawberries (frigola). I want to eat what’s fixed for me. There are only a few things that I would have trouble eating and Ive tried to tell them those (mushrooms – eh).
Im still spending the days here and getting settled. Skooter lessons soon! Though Im not quite sure how I can actually get anywhere. Terrified of getting lost. There is a small town at the base that I can take a bus from but I think I would rather learn to drive to Arezzo or Castiglion. Maybe Castiglion…Arezzo is much bigger. Rather ride the train to Arezzo.

Elia naps from 3pm-5pm

5pm – wake up and snack

5pm till dinner – Play outside

8pm – dinner – comes up from the restaurant. I can eat what Elia does (meat and veggies or pasta and veggies). Tonight was very good. A rice like pasta with olive oil and cheese on top. Delicious. Steamed veggies too!

After dinner – play…outside or inside (no tv). Around ten I give Elia a bath and get him ready for bed. He sleeps in a crib and I sit beside him and hold his mano (hand) till he falls asleep. Very sweet boy. He was so stanco tonight that he just passed out. No crying for mama! I don’t think I will always get so lucky!

11 or 11:30 – Alice come up to get the baby monitor and Im free to do whatever. Pretty far out so I don’t think I will be doing much. Im pretty worn out today. We played hard.

Right now it is harder than Im making it sound. It takes a lot of effort to keep Elia distracted. We don’t play far from home and he knows mama and babo are working downstairs. He will randomly cry and start running home! It takes some work to settle him back down and distract him. I know Alice is more worried then she says. The language barrier is a bigger barrier between me and Elia than expected. He may not be speaking a lot but he understands Italian. Moslty I have to learn his own language. He leaves off the first part of the words…I don’t know the original word so I really cant make out Elia version. (like treno is just eno) Im learning!
Tonight was different too. Elia’s aunt and cousins came up to eat dinner. I tried to let Elia socialize with them but he cries for his parents when he sees them. He was good alone with me and perfect at dinner! He was better at dinner then other nights with his parents. We played hard so I bet he was really hungry. He ate all his food and sat playing at the table while I unloaded the dish washer. I don’t think you can expect that of many two years! He is warming up to me…staring to laugh and play and be more affectionate. He gave lots of hugs and kisses when we got ready for bed.

Still in diapers so wow…didn’t think about that. Im changing dirty diapers! Been a while since Ive done that. We will start potty training soon!