The Life and Times of Ellis Kaye: July 2009

Ellis is becoming quite musical. In the car, she sings along to her favorite CD and when we say a melody to her she can repeat it almost exactly (except la, la, la which ALWAYS turns into ya, ya, ya). Anyways, she's starting to copy us a lot (which is exciting and scary at the same time, especially when I have a tendency to say bad words when I'm in Boston traffic). This is a video of Ellis singing the A,B,C's which is really more like the A,C,G's with her. She's also saying please "peas" and thank you "tank shoe" at the right times now. I didn't think it was possible to love her more than I did when she was a baby but, as a toddler, I love her more than ever! Hope this can sustain through the dreaded teenage period...

Well, as most of you know, Vimal and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary by going to Milan and Lake Como. While the travel on both ends was quite challenging with an 18 month old (here's some advice: BUY THEM A SEAT!), the overall trip was wonderful. We rented a house in Lezzeno, a village about 10 minutes from Bellagio, on Lake Como and as you can tell from the photos the views were magnificent. From our balcony we could see the lake, the Swiss Alps, and the French Alps. Oh, and we were directly across the lake from Sir Richard Branson's villa...if only we were so lucky! Anyways, I had a really hard time narrowing down the pictures so there are a lot posted here. Feel free to skip some if they get a bit redundant for you.

Near the Duomo and some fantastic shopping in Milan

Ellis is checking out the Italians

We were obviously not "blending in" to the culture, what with the bright orange backpack and all

Duomo in Milan

More Duomo

Having a snack with mommy in the plaza

Waiting to see Michaelangelo's "The Last Supper"

Having a snack as we wait to see "The Last Supper"

This is the building where "The Last Supper" hangs...kinda unimpressive, huh?

Vimal and I loved this department store sign

Just arrived to the house in Lake Como...Ellis is sharing a nectarine with daddy on the balcony

I mean, c'mon, could the view have been any better?

Rowing competition being held out our front window

I couldn't get over the fact that the rowers were standing up (though it's not very clear in this photo)

Reading "The Belly Button Book" with her Nonna (aka, my mom)

It's impossible to describe how much I love this face!

Access to the lake from our house

Making friends with the Italian kiddos next door...this relationship would blossom throughout the week

Who doesn't love ruffles on a baby tushie?

This became her default outfit of the week

She liked the gelato (her face is smeared with it in this pic)

Eating Watermelon gelato in Bellagio

Bellagio...gorgeous but thank goodness we didn't bring a stroller

My mom called this one her "Italian prison" picture but it's really the porthole at the front of our house. You can't tell from here but she had just finished crying and her cheeks were streaked with tears

Nonna hates getting her picture taken!

The swans came to visit everyday. Not sure what sound a swan makes, but Ellis quacked at them constantly

She was really quite happy the whole time we were there

Blueberries are definitely her favorite fruit, no matter what country they grow in

View out the front of our house

Our rental car, an Alfa Romeo station wagon

More of the kids next door. About a hundred times a day, Ellis would yell "Hi" to them and they would yell "Ciao" back at her

Vimal was so excited about having "line dried" clothes that he did our laundry the whole time we were there

This was pretty much where Ellis stood everyday, staring down at the kids who were playing next door (by the way, I think she's standing just like her daddy in this picture)