Bellinis, Mosaics, and Marco Polo

2 November 2006. We toured Basilica San Marco today. It is beautiful with gold mosaics everywhere you turn. I'm thinking of redecorating my nursery in gold mosaics; but mommy and daddy say it A) would be too expensive and B) might seem a little queer. After touring the basilica, we went to the world famous Harry's Bar for bellinis and lunch. It was almost as fun as it was expensive, but you can't come to Venice and NOT go to Harry's Bar. This afternoon, daddy took a train to Sacile for an evening of business and fine dining while mommy and I hung out in Venice on our own.

Famiglia Davis at Basilica San Marco

Drinking Bellinis at Harry's Bar

It was quite an adventure strolling through the Venetian "streets" with mommy. There actually are no streets here, only canals, which means you have to use bridges to cross from one side of the canal to the other. This is a lot of fun if you are in a stroller - but not so fun if you have to carry the stroller over the bridge steps the way mommy did. Another interesting logistical challenge is navigating through the Venetian walkways at night. To put it mildly, it is like finding your way through a maze. Imagine a narrow sidewalk flanked by five-story buildings on every side. It is virtually impossible to get your bearings and all too easy to get terribly lost. Now, imagine those sidewalks in the darkness of night with no street lamps to guide your way. Impossible! Because the restaurants don't open for dinner until 7:30, you have to either brave the maze or go somewhere you know you can find your way back. Mommy and I opted for the latter and found ourselves at Trattoria de Roberto, which was about as bad as it sounds. Mommy says a good rule of thumb is to avoid places with a "menu turistico," and I think she is right! Afterwards, we went to Cafe Verde for espresso and patisserie before heading back to the hotel and calling it a night.

It was then, however, that I did the most fun thing I have ever done. I took a bath in the big boy tub all by myself. I LOVED IT! I especially enjoyed watching myself splash the water all over the place. Those silver water-mark disks are perfect for admiring your own splashing handiwork. Funny that I had to come to Europe to discover splashing. Maybe I'm channeling Marco Polo since I'm in his home town.

Venezia: A Guided Tour

1 November 2006. I slept until 9:00 this morning. I have NEVER done that. We met up with daddy's business associate, Dave, and his wife and daughter for a day of exploring Venice. Michele, Dave's wife, went to college in Venice, so she took us to all of her old haunts. We went to a cathedral and saw lots of Tiziano paintings I will probably study about some day. We dined at a local (read non-turistico) pizzeria where I had a taste of my very first pizza. Delicioso! I only wish mommy and daddy would let me try some of their gelato! Left to our own devices, we went to dinner at a restaurant situated on a canal near our hotel. Mommy had the worst gnocci she's ever tasted in her whole life. Daddy, who loved it, commented that it tasted like Chef Boyardee and wolfed it down along with his plate of sea bass. I was just happy to be out past my normal 7:00 bedtime.

Loving the Nightlife

Bassinet? We Don't Need No Stinking Bassinet

31 October 2006. What a long strange trip it's been. We finally arrived in Venice after almost 24 hours of traveling. I slept like a dream from Washington to Boston and played in the lunge during our three hour lay over at Logan. I charmed the pants off of the lounge receptionists, who insisted on taking me and putting me to work, helping them greet the other lounge guests. Gran, who always warns mommy not to let other people touch me, would have died. Mommy planned to nurse me as soon as we boarded the plane in hopes that it would lull me to sleep and I would be conked out for the rest of the flight. That is where the fun began.

We were sitting in the very first seats of the plane, so literally everyone aboard Alitalia 619 saw mommy's milkmakers in one state or another. Normally, modest mommy would have been mortified, but it is a sacrifice she was willing to make if it meant eight hours of sleep rather than eight hours of screaming. It worked, too; I promptly passed out...until mommy tried to put me in my bassinet. I was having none of it. Daddy wouldn't work either. It was mommy or blood curdling tears. After she resigned herself to this small fact, I slept like the baby I am until we arrived in Milan. After a two-hour lay over there,a one-hour flight to Venezia, and a one-hour boatride, we finally arrived at our hotel. Whew.

We spent the rest of this first day abroad trying to recover and just strolling around near our hotel. We went to Piazza San Marco and saw all of the pigeons flocking to people and landing on their heads. W would have gone crazy! I managed to go to sleep at 6:00 and woke up only once for a midnight snack. I am truly an international bebe.

The View from Our Hotel Window

Nana's Visit

My nana came to see me this weekend! We have had a blast (after my initial meltdown when I picked her up at the airport). She lets me practice standing up all the time and doesn't complain a bit when I just want her to hold me. She even kept me last night while mommy and daddy went on a date. Imagine that! She brought me some really cool prezzies, too, including a "Laugh and Learn" table, which is my Christmas present. I can stand up at it and play with all the fun toys on it. That is almost as much fun as playing with her silver bracelet!

We're heading to Italy tomorrow morning, so I probably won't be blogging until I get back. You never know, though, I could find a computer somewhere in Venice, so keep checking back. I promise to have updates on all of my Venetian adventures when I return. Until then, ciao, bebe!

Independence

I did it! I crawled this morning! Not the backward crawl, not the army crawl, but the 100% bona fide baby crawl! It happened so fast that I didn't really know what was happening. One second I was sitting, watching Blues Clues, then two seconds later, I was three feet away, dumping Winston and W's water bowl all over myself.

Mommy thought, hoped, and prayed that this would be a gradual process. She thought I'd take one little crawl-step and that would be it for awhile. She wasn't expecting me to motor around the room on the first try. If I know her, she is probably panicking at the prospect of me crawling into a Venetian canal next week or trying to crawl up and down the aisles of the airplane on the transatlantic flight.

Aside from the trip, this will undoubtedly turn Winston and W's world upside down as well. Their food and toys are now fair game as far as I'm concerned. I've desperately been trying to get into Winston's condo, much to mommy's chagrin, and now I can go there anytime I want (as long as mommy has her back turned for just a second).

Free at last, free at last! Until daddy puts up some more gates, I am free at last!

Hanging with P-Daddy

My granddaddy, who wishes to be known as "P-Daddy," came to visit this weekend. He is crazy, but I like to say "crazy" usually makes for a pretty good time. We picked him up from the airport on Thursday afternoon, right during the middle of my usual nap time, so I wasn't terribly thrilled about messing up my schedule. As a matter of fact, I screamed the entire way home. Gran says I was upset because she wasn't here. Granddaddy said I was just doing a rather brilliant impression of mommy when she was a baby. I say I was just annoyed that mommy interfered with my previously scheduled nap time. Don't mess with a guy's nap, especially when his top two teeth are trying to come in, right?!?!

Anyway, we had a good time this weekend, swinging, going for walks, and watching football all day on Saturday. Granddaddy and mommy also played this game called "Scrabble" all weekend long. Whenever mommy was winning (which was most of the time, I might add), Granddaddy would get me to tip over the board and declare that the entire game was null and void. He will probably deny this, but he knows it's true. Mommy is also convinced that he somehow bribed me into headbutting her in the mouth last night when she put me to bed. I'll never tell.

Meet My New Friend

Mommy's friends, Lezlie and David, came to visit this weekend. They brought their 7-week old baby, Lucas, with them. I can't believe I was ever that little, but mommy and daddy assure me that I was. I tried to teach him all of my tricks, especially my ear piercing shriek, but he didn't seem terribly interested in learning any new vices.

Speaking of vices, I have a new one. I learned to spit out food I don't like. I clench my two and a half teeth together and let it (most recently, "it" was a turkey vegetable dinner) squeeze through them while I'm smiling. One thing you will not find me spitting out, however, is my new favorite food, cheese. I can't get enough of it. Mommy had a food contest for me the other day. She put cheese, cheerios, and frozen peas on my tray to see which one I would eat first. Not surprisingly, I went for them in that order. Mommy, whose favorite food is also cheese, was thrilled to see that I really am her son after all.