Sunday, October 24, 2010

Kielbasa & Rice Cereal

If any of you know my dad, you know his family comes from Slovenia. He has very strong ties to the 'motherland' and is very proud to be Slovenian. He calls all of us bohunk babies, which is technically a Slovenian swear word, as a term of endearment. Well now there is a new generation of bohunk babies. So imagine my surprise when I started talking about feeding Sawyer his first rice cereal and my dad chimes in with: "He has to have Kielbasa (a Slovenian sausage) for his first solid food." What?!? I asked him. Well, apparently this is something all four of us siblings had to eat for our first solid food. So what is the next natural course of action, to make the grandkids do it too, of course! Now at first I was a little hesitant, but after about a month of thinking about it, I thought, what the heck, if I survived it I'm sure Sawyer will too, and we may as well humor Poppa. Nice of me, I know!!! So here is Sawyer getting his first bite of Kielbasa. Poppa insisted on before and after pictures, because "You will definitely be able to tell a difference," says Poppa. So for your enjoyment and my family's too, here you go.





 The bite is in his mouth, but he doesn't know what to do.


Do you see the streaming tears??




So after that torture, we decided to try out rice cereal. A much more common first food! We started with the strip down in the bumbo. After mixing and making sure it was just the right consistency, we were ready to go. In goes the first bite and out comes the horrible face! We give it another try and then we get some gagging. I think our baby is going to be a picky eater, just like daddy. Hopefully he will begin to like solid food eventually!!




How stinking cute is that little face??



First bite; quite unsure!


CLASSIC!








Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Italy: Rome

On our way to Rome, we hit one little town that most would not stop at. It is called San Gimignano and is a little medieval town. We hiked up the hill and saw many cute little shops. As we got to the top, there was the most beautiful view of Tuscany. Gorgeous!










YIKES!




As we got to Rome later that day, we did a walking tour. We stopped at the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and of course the Pantheon. I was absolutely amazed at the Pantheon. The dome inside is made completely of concrete and stays up with no supports. The next day we visited the Vatican. The square is really awesome and full of sculptures and architecture. Then we went inside and saw the Sistine Chapel. Words can't describe how amazing it is in person. I could have stared at it for hours, but unfortunately we only had about 20 minutes. Then we were able to climb to the top of the dome. What a view! The last day we spent in old Rome. We visited the Colosseum first. I have never seen anything like it before. It felt like we were on the set of an old movie; a surreal experience! Then we toured the Forum, seeing the Circus Maximus and all the other old structures. We were very sad to finish our trip to Italy, but glad to be headed home. That was where our baby was waiting for us!




Trevi Fountain




 Shane tossing in a coin

Spanish Steps


Pantheon






Vatican City
 St. Peter's Dome







 Michelangelo's Pieta







Climbing the Dome
 Tiny cramped quarters

 Curved walls as you climb

 View from the top!







Colosseum













 Yummy authentic Italian pizza for lunch!



 Circus Maximus


Italy: Florence

Our next stop was Florence. There is no other city quite like it. As you wander the narrow streets, all you can see are the cobblestones, tall buildings, and flowered balconies. Just what you picture when you think of Italy. Florence was home to the most AMAZING sculpture we saw. . . the David. WOW is all I can say. The greatest thing is when you are in the museum where he is located, as you walk around the corner, there he is at the end of the hall. All 16ish feet of him! Michelangelo definitely knew what he was doing! We had lots of fun wandering the streets, shopping, visiting all of the museums and churches, and eating gelato.






This is a replica of David 






House of Michelangelo



 Mountains of GELATO!

 Shane hiked to the top of the bell tower and took these photos