snapshots

Hello from Virginia!  Lena and I arrived on Saturday night, exhausted and thankful.  We had journeyed from Sicily to Milan, Milan to Paris, and Paris to D.C.  Those 18 hours were rough, as Lena did not want to sleep and we had a pretty miserable time for much of the journey.  I remember with fondness the trip Lena and I made to visit Elliott in Israel when Lena was 2 months old.  She slept for seven hours of the 8-hour flight, and I slept for about 6 hours myself.  Incredible!  Those days are long, long gone, I realized woefully as I balanced a baby on my lap while attempting to eat dinner off my tray and feed her at the same time and keep her hands out of the sauces, juices, and vanilla eclair.  

"What would you like to drink, madam?" the flight attendant asked me.

"White wine, please," I replied.

She handed me a miniature bottle of wine.  I was supposed to pour it into a pretty little cup on my tray, but I realized I'd lose most of the wine if I did this, thanks to Lena's deft little grabs.  I unscrewed the bottle cap and furtively gulped it down between bites, hoping I didn't look like some kind of alcoholic!  Usually I try not to drink before breastfeeding because the diluted alcohol can seep into breastmilk... but this time this was exactly what I wanted to happen. I'll attribute the wine (and God's mercy) to the fact that Lena eventually did sleep for about 3 hours of that flight.

Anyway, now that I have admitted I was trying to get both my daughter and myself slightly tipsy, we can move onto some pictures.  These are some from the past month or so from home in Sicily.  I'll have more tomorrow from our trip to the States and a couple adventures we've had since arriving here!

1. "pajamas are too big, Mama"

2. visiting Daddy's office and checking out the operating room 

3. quiet evenings with Eden, Mom, and Dad in Sicily

4. a new sweater from Grampa

5. making friends in the Malta airport

6. stylish little jet setter in her plum-colored corduroy skirt and striped leggings!

7. pistachio gelato with Aunt Eden

8. buying mussels for dinner in the Catania fish market

9. "See me stand!"

10. apparently shoes and socks are not required at the weekly market in our town

11. checking out her "Abi doll" that her Aunt Abi (and bride-to-be this weekend!) made her

12. our cozy room at home in Sicily