Clearing the Camera

It has been a very long winter.  I cannot even bear to talk about the cold anymore except to say that it still is here.  Snow, too.  Yuck.  Enough.  Gio and I are heading to Washington in a few days for a 2 week break and a chance to enjoy an early spring.  We are going to celebrate my father's 70th birthday.  Gio's reflections on this big event include worries about how many candles will be needed and whether or not there will be cupcakes.  Ah, to have the stresses of a 3-year-old.

Here are two series of photos that I discovered on my camera today as I was gathering things to pack.  Sorry to have nothing current.  I am just so tired of the dirty snow that I cannot bear to take any pictures these days.

First, on our last day in Italy, Gio decided to plant a flower...

During the digging Gio discovered a worm....  

...which he very carefully transfered into Papa's favorite coffee mug.

And now to bury it in "LOTS of dirt!"

Done!

Pondering his next move...

...which, much to my utter SHOCK, was to clean up! 

And now some photos from Enzo's 1st birthday party last week....

Enzo sleeping off the party (and the giant cake!)

Gio invited best friend Grace over to help celebrate Enzo's birthday. They began with mugs of tea.  Enzo's cake, which looks remarkably like a cow pie, sat between them.

And then they delivered the sugar-free carrot & peanut butter cake to the birthday boy...

...who consumed it in a record-breaking 6 seconds. 

And so the party guests returned to their purple cupcakes (with plenty of sugar!) and conversation about their day at preschool.

As for events since the birthday party, the most remarkable would be last Sunday's outing to our favorite pizzeria.  Those of you on Facebook already know the story. so you can skip the rest of this entry. Paolo and I were at the end of a lovely bottle of wine so when Gio asked if he could go to the bathroom we sent him off without a care.  Keep in mind we go to this restaurant every week and the bathrooms are single (so no chance of him bothering anyone).  Fifteen or so minutes later (yes, we were slacking off as parents), Gio came running across the dining room (did I mention that the restaurant was packed?!) stark naked.  Wow.  That was a shock.  I burst into laughter and avoided eye contact with everyone in the place.  Paolo calmly walked Gio back across the room where they had to retrieve the many items of clothes that Gio had scattered all over the bathroom.  Well, at least we can say he is toilet-trained except for the pesky bit about redressing after.  And how do I convince him that it is not a requirement to remove his socks before he pees???