Home for the Holidays

We're headed back home tomorrow and I'm so excited.  I can't wait to see our family and friends and just be in our HOME.  We're getting out of Ithaca just in time, too...it's been bitter cold and it snows everyday.  Not a lot of snow, but it really does snow everyday.  Everyday.  Giulia went out to play in the snow for the first time over the weekend.  She wasn't a big fan.  I don't think she appreciated being bundled up in about 5 layers and getting thrown in the cold snow.  But Fil and I really enjoyed laughing at her...here are some pics so you can enjoy, too :)

And here are some other pictures from the past few weeks.  She's getting so big...and she has quite the personality.  She makes me laugh so hard with the things she comes up with.  Yesterday I caught her trying to teach Elmo how to play the piano.  And she tries so hard to sing "Row Row Row Your Boat" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with me - you can actually understand like half of it.  I'm seriously impressed with her musical capabilities!

Well it's time for me to pack up.  We'll miss all our friends in Ithaca but wish everyone safe travels for a happy and healthy holiday season!

xoxo

Happy Halloween!

I know...Halloween isn't for another week, but we've already started celebrating.  This year, our little ivy-leager is showing her school spirit by dressing up as the Cornell Big Red Bear.  I can't believe it but she actually doesn't mind the furry hood that covers her eyes to the point that she can barely see.  I think she actually likes bumping into things and falling down because there is so much padding in the costume that she barely feels a thing.  You just hear her say "uh-oh" and there she is lying on the floor - fresh from a collision - happy as...well, happy as a little bear :)  

It's been a really nice fall up here.  We're enjoying playing outside in the cooler weather and went apple picking a few times.  This started a new obsession for Giulia....apples.  She can't get enough of them.  Good thing I guess, since watermelon isn't in season anymore.

Here are some pictures of our little apple-eating bear.

Also, I added a link to Giulia's YouTube channel to the top of this blog page where I post random videos of her.  Yes - she has her own channel.  And yes - I am completely obsessed with her :)

In just one month we'll be HOME with everyone enjoying the holidays.  We miss you all and cannot wait to see you!

Visitors!

Here are some pictures from Grandma and PopPop's recent trip to visit us in Ithaca. Enjoy :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeannez/GrandmaPopPopSept2008#

Back to School...

Fall is well underway for the Petti family!  Fil's fully entrenched in classes, corporate briefings and other MBA things.  Giulia is so used to him being at school that every time we pass Sage Hall she points and says, "Daddy!"  Oh yes...her world revolves around Daddy.  Here she is chillin' with Daddy doing - what else? - eating :)  She loves her pretzels!

Since it gets dark so early now, I can't go out running anymore.  I was ok with sharing the trails with the deer in the daylight but I'm not so into running next to Bambi at night.  So I now belong to the Cornell gyms on campus.  I just love working out surrounded super-fit 19 year-olds.  It's...I don't know...refreshing.  Riiiiiight.  

And finally, in the Petti tradition of "Can't Get Enough Education," Giulia started "school" last week.  I enrolled her into Cornell's new childcare program for 2 afternoons a week and she's loving it.  She's having a great time making friends and learning new things.  She's totally fine when I leave (I admit - this somewhat makes me sad...shouldn't she be crying for me or something?) but when I go to pick her up, she freaks out.  She gets so excited...her jaw drops open, she screams "Mama!" and she literally trips over herself running over to me.  It's the greatest thing ever :)

where did the summer go?

i cannot believe the summer is almost over. that means one thing to me right now...the brutal upstate NY winter is quickly approaching. yikes. but until we become homebound in our cozy ithaca apartment, giulia and i have been enjoying more and more of ithaca while we still can! i put together some of pictures of giulia throughout the summer...most are pretty recent...click here to see them.

last week i took her to see "charlotte's web" at a nearby theater. someone probably should have told me not to take a squirmy one year-old to an opening matinee during camp season. it was packed and all giulia wanted to do was run around and say "hiiiii" to all the kids. but once i whipped out her milk and a snack, she was happy to sit on my lap and enjoy the show....for a little while at least.

we also went berry picking, which was really fun. i think she ate more than we actually paid for and brought home (which was ridiculously cheap, by the way. i may never buy berries from a market again!). and eating too many berries - i have learned - is not a good thing for a small person. my friend thought it was funny as she watched giulia eat all the blueberries. i thought it was cute...she told me to wait until diaper changing time. ummmm, she was right. gross. giulia's not allowed to eat more than 5 blueberries at a sitting. period.

so - that's about it for now. we're heading home for a few days this week and we're all really excited to go home and see everyone. and yay for Fil!!! he finished an incredibly grueling and intense summer. and he did it all with a great big smile on his face :)

Toddler-hood!

I know - I've been bad with updates. I promise I'll get better! But we're doing really well up here. Giulia's getting bigger and more fun to be with everyday. Did I mention she's walking? Oh yes...she's mobile. So I've really stepped up the child-proofing in our little apartment - lots of gates, electrical plug covers, etc. It's like an obstacle course in here to get from one room to the next!

Fil's been extremely busy with his Finance and Strategy classes so we haven't seen him that much. During this rather trying time, Giulia has decided to permanently boycott her morning nap even though she's so exhausted in the morning she's like a little "pretty mary sunshine" in-training!

So I enrolled her in daily swim classes to give us a consistent morning activity. She's having a great time - she's already doing the backstroke and under-water somersaults! Just kidding...but she's totally mastered blowing bubbles and splashing mommy in the face :)

Other things Giulia's into these days are her ball pit (an inflatable pool filled with plastic balls - I'm not going to lie...I play in it, too...it's fun), books, wooden puzzles and her fabulous new pink piano from Auntie Nicole and Ella - here's a picture of her playing Beethoven for Sugar ;)

And we're back!

It was so nice to be home on LI for a little bit (click here to see pictures). We really missed our family and friends but there was so much to do! Joey graduated from high school (I'm so old), Lindsay had her baby shower (she is the most beautiful pregnant woman ever) and apparently our car needed new brakes (great timing). Unfortunately, we missed little Jake's arrival but Giulia's looking forward to playing with him next month when he's a little bigger :) She was also sad because we didn't get to see Catherine and meet new baby Emma...I promised we'd have a real "girls" day next month!
We did have our first visitor this week, though! Angelina came back up from LI and spent the 4th with us in Ithaca. It was so nice to have her here to show her around, go hiking and spend time with Giulia. Giulia really loved having her Zia Angelina here...I think she's a little sick of me!
But now it's back to just me and Giulia...in farm country. And it's friggin HOT up here. I can't wait to break out her little Juicy bathing suit and take her swimming in the lake. She should blend right in with the hippies ;) LOL

We Moved...Again

We're finally getting settled now that we've moved into our 'permanent' apartment for the year. I think Giulia's much happier here since she can roam wherever she'd like to since there's only one floor. And she's back on her nap schedule (THANK GOODNESS) so that's a definite good sign. Poor Sugar, though...she chases that cat everywhere and he's totally run out of places to hide. I do feel bad for him but it's just so cute to watch. And I certainly enjoy any form of entertainment I can get up here.

Ithaca may be "gorges"...

...but it's the parks that Giulia really finds interesting. This week alone we went to 5 different parks in search of a baby swing that gives her a good view of other kids playing (she's quite nosy). So far, Stewart Park is her favorite but we're no where near finished with our hunt! More to come!
While exploring the various parks, we came across some amazing waterfalls...

They are so beautiful now but I can't wait to see what they look like once the winter comes!
Click here for some more pictures from this past week.
Hugs and kisses from Ithaca...we miss you!

Look who's 1!

Giulia's first week in Ithaca was quite eventful. She met her new neighbors (wild horses and deer), discovered a new obsession (watermelon) and covered herself in a mess of buttercream. Yes...our little muffin is officially a one-year old BIG girl! Pictures are posted here from her special day.
So we're settling in and getting to know our new home. It's pretty different than Long Island, that's for sure! But the slower pace and beautiful surroundings are certainly a welcome change. We'll be doing some exploring this week so I'll be sure to have some fun updates soon!