Halloween!

While Vita is down for nap, I thought I'd post a couple "preview" pictures of two different costumes (skunk and penguin). Soon, we'll be heading downtown for the kids Halloween parade, and we'll probably be having some nighttime adventures, too... I'll expand on this post tomorrow. For now, Happy Halloween!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Today was filled with some of my favorite things... sunny weekends, time with my husband and daughter, the beach, new toys, pumpkins, etc. It was also filled with one of Vita's favorite things: brown paper packaging tied up with string. Another of my favorite things is Craig's List. This week I purchased a couple of great toys for Vita, and I got such good deals on them. Since some of Vita's favorite toys were nesting bowls and a wooden spoon, I thought Vita might enjoy having her own play kitchen, and we had a perfect spot for it. She really loves it! Since it was so sunny and warm today, we headed to the beach. However, it was much colder at the beach... so we didn't end up staying long. On the way home from the beach, I stopped in a little organic fruit stand, and Ernie took these great pictures while he was waiting. Such pretty eyes Vita has!

Finally, after lunch and nap, we headed back out to try to get a pumpkin. (You may recall that our last trip to a pumpkin patch didn't go very well. A dog barked at Vita, but the dog was hidden behind a pumpkin, so Vita thought the pumpkin had barked at her... and she's been suspicious of pumpkins ever since.) Vita ended up overcoming her fear of pumpkins!

"Is this a pumpkin I see before me... the handle in my hand?"

"What's in a name? That which we call a pumpkin by any other name would smell as sweet." There she goes reciting Shakespeare again.

Jet Set Vita

This weekend, Vita went to New York for a quick family visit. We were nervous about how Vita would do with a couple of very long days of travel. The journey included an hour and a half drive to the airport, an hour and a half waiting at the airport, an extra hour in the plane waiting for our pilot to arrive, followed by a five hour plane ride and then a 30 minute cab ride to the hotel. YIKES! Here we are all packed up and ready to go. Vita enjoyed the shuttle ride from the long term parking garage... which seemed to be a very good sign. Here's Vita in her seat on her very first airplane ride. Although Vita had her own seat, she spent about 2 hours of the flight asleep in my arms. It was so sweet! At home when Vita naps, I have a tendency to put her down in her bed so I can get things done. It was such a luxury to just sit there and cuddle for two whole hours. After her nap, and a few minutes with some books, Vita was starting to get antsy and squirm around. She's a very active girl, and she wanted to climb around but she was stuck. Based on recommendations from friends (and even our doctor made this recommendation) we broke down and purchased a portable DVD player and some baby Einstein DVDs thinking that would help Vita pass the time. Honestly, Vita got bored of it very quickly and returned to her other books and toys. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll continue to prefer books to TV.

We arrived at our hotel at around 1:30 am, and quickly discovered that New York truly is the city that never sleeps. Regardless, we were up early the following morning and headed out to Queens to see my nana (Vita's great grand-mother). I have included the picture below because it's the only picture where you can tell Vita is in NY (as you can see the Chrysler building in the background).

Finally, we arrived at my nana's and Vita got acquainted with her great grand-mother!

The following picture is my favorite picture of all. Being able to introduce my nana to my daughter has to be one of the proudest moments of my life, and the few hours we spent together made all the travel completely worthwhile. This photo will be framed.

But wait, there's more! Vita didn't just meet nana... She also saw my parents (Grandma Marianne and Grandpa Vito) and met my Uncle Julius, Aunt Carol, Uncle Joe and Cousins Adam and Tony. Vita and Uncle Julius had a lot of fun together.

You can tell they're up to no good.

Throughout the day, Vita had so much energy! She loved being the center of attention so much that she refused to nap (too much excitement to nap), yet the lack of sleep did not make her cranky. She was in good spirits all day. Group shot: Grandma Marianne, Dad, Mom, Nana (with Vita on her lap) and Grandpa Vito.

Four generations of Panettas.

Here we are on my nana's front stoop, waiting for a cab to take us from Queens back to Manhattan.

Back at the hotel, Vita (and her parents) had a short nap before meeting up with the Rost side of the family for dinner. All of Grandma Marianne's sisters (my Aunt Patricia, Aunt Rose, and Aunt Carol) met us for dinner in the city. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the hotel room. However, I know my mom and my aunts were taking pictures... and perhaps someone will send me a copy or two (hint). Also, my Aunt Patricia knit Vita a beautiful sweater, which will be pictured in the next blog post (probably next weekend).

Back at the hotel once again, Vita slept in the lap of luxury. At least for a little while... :)

After a busy and wonderful day with family, we woke up early the next morning ready to head back home. Once again, Vita did great on the flight! In fact... I didn't want to jinx this by saying it after the first flight... but there were NO TEARS on either flight! Not one tear!

The Great Pumpkin

Today we went to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin. It's starting to feel like autumn, so Vita got all bundled into a sweater jacket lined with fleece. Look, Vita found a pumpkin! Just a nice picture of Vita and mom. There was a bit of an incident at the pumpkin patch. A barking dog startled Vita, and she decided she didn't like pumpkins at all. Vita is examining this pumpkin with suspicion. We all agreed - this was the cutest pumpkin of all. What else is new with Vita? Let's see... Vita is really enjoying a set of foam blocks she received as a gift a month or so ago. She's even starting to stack them on top of each other! Vita is starting to become quite the independent eater. There are several types of foods (like peas) she can feed herself. She even gets some of it into her mouth. Also, we think Vita is going to get two more teeth pretty soon. Just one last thing - next weekend Vita is going to New York to visit her great grandmother... my own nana! This promises to be quite an adventure. I may be too exhausted to post next Sunday, so check back in Monday instead.

Sunday at the Park

On Saturday, Vita's Grandma Victoria came up for a short visit. We had a wonderful time... but it seems all the pictures I took (which looked fine in the preview window) look blurry on the computer screen. Today, we ventured out to a park on a different side of town, and had lots of fun. Here's me and Vita on the swings. Then we went on the slide... Vita wasn't scared at all! Finally, Ernie and Vita hung from the monkey bars.

Ten Months!

Vita is ten months old today. I can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday she was learning to turn over... but now that she's crawling, she has finally entered that stage in her development where she is starting to tame lions.