Running Diary and other things 19th October

19 October

Since the last Running Diary Update, a lot has happened – journeys, more running, watching running in the Alps + more! And Babacino has become a lot more curious, a lot more chunky and even cuter!

He loves to eat his hands, often both at the same time, even trying to include his blanket in the eating process! I think he is partly exploring sensations, what his hands are all about (as can be deduced by the fact that he likes to put his fingers down his throat sometimes and then gets a fright when he half chokes!), taste etc. Also he is teething.
We ran into an old university colleague of Mauri’s who is a surgeon he straight away showed us that Babacino has teeth trying to poke through (already!).  Babacino also likes to eat Mauri’s fingers.

Yesterday we went for his Pediatrician check up and in about 3 weeks he has grown 1kg and about 6cm in length! He’s starting to get real little chubby baby-ness all over him.

In the last 2 days we’ve started trying to get a routine or system to his feeding, which the pediatrician recommended especially to prepare for my return to work (blahhhhh), so we are now doing 4 hourly feeds ( at least we are trying!) and we’ve started giving Babacino little sips of water from a bottle and little tastes of fruit puree (Hipp) between feeds. So far he’s tried aplie and I think he likes it!

I've now tried expressing, eventually, and haven't had much luck. I think its because of my own resistance. I really do need to try and make it work to avoid the formula thing if I can.

So far the day is working ok with the feeds in this routine but night time seems another story, but it’s early days. I keep saying to Mauri that I hope we aren't being cruel by holding back food when he’s hungry. Fortunately we both agree that we won’t be utterly dictatorial about it, if he’s really upset , then of course I’ll feed him. But now we also have other tools to try.

I actually feel quite relieved. I was quite anxious, partly about the idea of the start of ‘separation’ from Babacino – but in fact, I fee fine about it now that we've started. I think the gradual approach, with flexibility helps. I was also worried that Gabriel wouldn't take to a bottle (given that his reaction to a dummy so far as been – what the heck is this strange thing? And promptly spits it out). But in fact he seems to know what to do with it, sort of, I hope!

Mauri is totally understanding and supportive, asking all the questions and queries I have to the Pediatrician and then translating back for me.  And today, Mauri reminded me, that we are a team! That felt nice, and I feel so lucky that I have Mauri , and Babacino has the best Papi in the world J

The other bonus about the 4 hour feeds is that I can hopefully run the Palermo Half Marathon in November, if all is well on the day, and maybe get some longer runs in.
Actually lately I have got in some slightly longer runs of around 6-8kms which has been great.

I did run 12.5kms the one day, at Altavilla. In fact the day after the last blog entry of 8th October, but it was certainly not planned to be that long! I felt really bad about it for quite a while and it definitely made me want to do ‘something’ about me being the sole feeding option for Babacino.
I had been out for a run at Altavilla, and somehow on my way back, I couldn't find / remember the right turn off, and landed up getting back after 1 hour and 15 minutes! I never took my phone iether so I couldn't ring Mauri and he couldn't ring me, so it was rather stressful all round!

Babacino was quite frantic I think, and Mauri had nothing at all to give him. He needed me to be there. He was almost going to phone cousen Aldo to help!
In hind site  and now that we have more knowledge,  I think Babacino would probably have been ok for a couple of hours, really, because I had fed him not long before running. But at the time, , all I knew and believed in about   feeding was ‘on demand feeding’ which I still strongly believe in. I had no idea that an almost 4 month old baby could actually survive quite a few hours relatively ok, without a feed, and this would not constitute neglect or cruelty.
But it was not a nice experience, especially for Mauri as he was totally un-empowered to do anything in that situation. But now we are all together in a much better place with more knowledge and tools. And for me, a tad more confidence too!

I don’t really have space or time to write now about our wonderful journey to the Alps, but I will include Mauri’s photo album so that you can see a bit from there.

 Mauri's FB Page explaining our journey with pictures!

The one thing I will mention which I loved, was the visit to the Sacra Monte (Sacred Mountain) of St Francis of Assisi (Gabriel’s namesake). It’s actually called ‘Sacra Monte of Orta’ because it’s next to Lake Orta, a wonderful natural lake not that far from Milan.
Here is a link to explain the place, but, to say in one or two words, this little trip was  one of the most thoughtful ideas from Mauri. A place to take Gabriel, and as a family. Even though he won’t remember it (consciously) he’ll see the pictures and we’ll tell him about it and when he’s bigger we can go again!

It’s a place where really you need to spend quite a lot of time to fully appreciate, if it is even possible to ‘fully’ appreciate. I like the journey aspect of it. There are 13 separate temples that you visit, in order, and each one has a wonderful life size scene of figures (sculpted). Each scene tells a story of the life of St Francis It’s amazing to see the scenes in this way rather than  say a 2D painting. Even a film would not hold the same power, as these figures were hundreds of years old in some cases.

Although there are may SACRO MONTE’s in Italy, this particular one dates back to the medieval pilgrims in the 12th and 13th Centuries and today it has been declared a world heritage site by UNESCO. It was a really special time for all of us, I think.

I could write more but saving for another time... I am missing Babacino and Mauri!

 Sacro Monte di Orta

sleeping Babacino in winter PJs at one of the hotels

actually sitting in the car seat (for a short while!) in the hat made by Granny in Joburg!

First time wearing his little blue sleeping bag suit - and matching the painting!

with Papi the photographer, Babacino is finally bigger than the camera!

Lovely Mauri in his office!

me and Babacino going walking in the sling, perfect for this new experience of weird cold weather

This is me! 

ahhh cute Babacino he lives being with Papi in his big arms and hands!

Running Diary (and other things) update 8th October 2013

Today is Tuesday the 8th of October, 2 days after Babacino’s baptism at The Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio.

Running has been continuing in one form or another, though we haven’t quite reached the 10km mark yet! I hope to be able to run the Palermo Half Marathon on the 17th of November, but it all depends on how Babacino is on the day and if I can actually manage to try and start expressing some milk so that Babacino can eat while I’m running, but of course I also need to test and practice before, with Mauri helping too, most important.

I have mixed feelings about this next phase with Babacino. Part of me knows I need to start expressing ,for a few reasons – to include Mauri in this lovely part of caring for Babacino, in preparation for returning to work, and as a by product, it would be lovely to do some longer runs, which definitely needs me to leave food for Babacino. And, I don't want to start using formula. I’d rather go from expressed milk to solids, early next year when he is +6 months.

The mixed feeling bit is that at the moment feeding Babacino gives us such a lovely close bond and I feel a bit sad or a little feeling of loss to start separating from Babacino a bit, which is what this plan feels like at the moment.   I NEED TO JUST START AND TRY

Since the last running update, I have been venturing away from Villa Sperlinga a bit and running around the city exploring. The only downside is all the crossing of roads during rush-hour!
I need to find a route that maybe goes around the edge or something like that, but all in good time..

The most I have run so far,  is 7.78km which was at the seafront near the harbour on Saturday, so no road crossings! Babacino loved that day being in the fresh sea air. Afterwards we went to try and deliver the confetti for Babacino’s Baptism, the next day ,to the Garibaldi bar, where the drinks would be afterwards. Unfortunately, it was closed but we did go to a great little place where Mauri’s dad used to go as a student where we had a ‘Paneca Meusa’ which is a sandwich made with spleen of sheep and other sheep innards ! along with Ricotta and another type of cheese. We just had the cheese and the gravy and gave the spleen stuff a miss!

Tomorrow we are going to Altavilla for the day and I hope I can run down the hill and back up! (or close)

I’ve started using my Garmin now, so I can see how far I’ve run. I forgot to bring the little USB stick from London, so I cant download the maps of where I’ve been, but at least I can record distances, and pace. Although, I’m not too bothered about pace, really. I am just running for fun!

Mauri is doing quite a lot of running type things with Babacino, who likes to do air running when being carried in a certain way.

I want to say something about the Baptism but I will do that another time, it is stil settling into my heart and my bones at the moment, but for now, here is Mauri’s blog about the day:

 Il giorno del battesimo di Gabriel Babacino. Luce, calore ed emozioni

Babacino is making lots of different sounds these days and he definitely hasn’t slowed down in growing!

I am also really trying to learn Italian. Mauri is helping but I’m also trying to use the dictionary a lot to read stories as a way of learning. I also have a book on verbs arriving in the post from Amazon UK soon!

Here are some pictures from the Baptism

Little Babacino taking his bath! I felt so proud of him and i cried to see our little boy doing his first little thing in life not actually physically right next to one of us.

Babacino in his little outfit in the car on the way to the church, so cute! he looks like he's going to his first day of school!

Babacino getting ready for his Baptismal bath, being held by his God Mother: Nona Nica and with Franci, his awesome big brother AND God Father watching on and helping

Here he is crying a bit, with another little Italian boy a tiny bit older than him. He is crying, as he is very hungry as the whole procedure is quite long!

 And here is the whole family, Franci, Nona Nica, Tata Mauri and me, and of course BABACINO!

 Here is one of us waiting, Papi is doing his special calming technique with Babacino, and making sure he doesn't get the white stuff on his jacket!

 And here is out little family, about to be even more joined together xx xx xx xxx

Running Diary Update 24 September

Here is an update on our running, since Thursday the 19th of September.
We’ve been running quite consistently, still in Babacino amounts, but we have gone to some new places too!
And Babacino is following voices and sounds now, moving his head to follow and connect, as long as everyone is not talking at the same time!
Babacino is turning out to be quite useful as an excercise buddy. Normally, if I can, I do a few sets of step ups on the benches, just with me and Babacino in his chariot. I have discovered that doing step ups in reduced numbers but with 5.5kg of baby is a good option! Babacino loves it!! And Mauri has also developed a very sophisticated walk-jog involving squats & 5.5kgs of Babacino!

On Monday we didn't run. First we went to get a medical certificate from a sports doctor, for me. In Italy, to take part in races (ie competitive sport) you need to have an annual checkup to show you have no obvious conditions or anything to prevent you from safely taking part in races. The same goes for other sports. Now, I can run some little races! Mauri arranged this, and looked after Babacino while I had to ride a bike and have my heart rate tested. You can see a photo of Babacino’s feet on the glass door of the Doctor’s reception. That was Mauri and Babacino playing!!

Then we went to Altavilla to be in the country and make fires to get rid of the debri’s. And we picked a bowl full of ‘fichi d’India’s’ which are sort of prickly pears and grow on cactuses, in fact they grow wild all over the place and the fruit's are ripe for about 2 months around August – September. They are a mixture of quite bright colours with lots of juice and seeds. We found yellow, green, red, and orange ones! You pick them with a big metal pole which has an end piece the size of an average ‘fichi d’India’, and it looks like an egg cup. I couldn't get a photo this time, but next time! Me and Mauri ate ALL of the fichi d’India’s which we had found. Of course first you have to peel them carefully as they have thorns. When they are growing on the cactus ‘leaves’ they look like jewels.

On Tuesday at Villa Sperlinga, I went up to 10 laps!! Mauri has started doing some extra big laps taking in some streets, but less laps. Frida is having a grand time doing so much running! Nona Nica might meet us one day on a weekend in Villa Sperlinga, she loves Gabriel to bits! She is one of Mauri’s best friends and lives near by.

Today we had an extra special running day. We went to Mont Pelegrino and to the Sanctuary of Saint Rosalina. We parked the car in a spot and I ran up (with Frida) about 7 or 800 meters to a beautiful viewing point and then back down and back up, and a bit later, a bit more. Mauri also ran but he was daring and went off-road! For most of the time Babacino was having a lot of fun, but then he was a bit upset. We stopped for coffee and a change, followed by a quick wizz around the beautiful cave – where the pilgrims go. Saint Rosalina is the Saint of Palermo and she has a very interresting story. Mauri kindly and patiently looked after Babacino while I looked aruond the cave, and said a little prayer for my little sister in South Africa.

Then we came home and Franci, Babacino’s big brother, came for lunch! Pesto Risotto, made by The Chef of Tarling Street!! DEVINE

These photo's are all from today, except for the Medical Certificate which is added for interest, and Babacino's feet through the window!

The continuation of Running: The Start of Our Family Running Diary

This (below) is what is written on the hand writing picture above (with a few little changes). Normally, I always like to write by hand. I got this idea, originally from Julia Cameron who wrote the book 'Il senso dell'artista' / The Artist's Way and then I sort of turned that into blogging, sort of.

But perhaps now is a good time to start combining typing and writing, so maybe this is  kind of an experiment combining both! 

and the pictures are from our recent running jaunts!

Here is the start of our family running diary. It starts in Palermo at Villa Sperlinga just near our home.

Villa Sperlinga is a garden named after Sperlinga Villa originally owned by Giovanni Stefao Oneto and it was in his family until 1835 when the Senate of Palermo became the owner and used it as a home for the poor.

One lap of the garden is 420 meters and inside the garden are some great stone benches perfect for step ups and push ups, and there is shade and lots to look at for Babacino. Whoever is running takes Frida, usually.

On Saturdays there is a little market which sells wine, cheese, vegetables, fruit and other little delicacies. The other thing about Sperlinga is the dog walkers. The dog walkers seem to arrive in shifts in the morning and they seem to talk a lot, about what, I do not know!

Running during pregnancy seemed to engender much debate and triggers all sorts of willful – and often factually unfounded – views and opinions on the rights and wrongs of running during pregnancy. My way of handling that, was as I handle a lot of things (to do with running) - in ways I’ve learned from running : read a lot, be informed and listen to my body, and then don't worry!

I am sure, that keeping up running up to (almost) the arrival of Beetle  (Babacino) made for an ‘easier’ birth, and a more healthy baba and quicker recovery.

Now, it’s post pregnancy and I find the same sort of reactions or scenario’s about ‘Running whilst breastfeeding’ (though  to a lesser degree, partly because there is no obvious sign to the world that someone might be a runner and breastfeeding)  and so, I am running, we are running.

But of course, now, Babacino comes first, and so you can see from our diary, we are running step by step, little by little and making sure Babacino is ok!

Running in Palermo is fantastic, there are mountains in most directions, and you can find your way back to Via Lombardia by looking at the mountains!

Yesterday, for a change, we went to run in Villa Dell’Atleta, where there are all sorts of sports facilities and a lovely park right at the foot of Monte Pelegrino.

Some days, we don’t run, like today because Babacino had his injections and needed to be hugged and looked after even more.

My goal is to run The Etna Trail next year, but I hope to run some others before then. We shall see!!

(16-19 September)

The start of the birth story of Gabriel

here are some (not in order) pictures from the last 10 weeks and 2 days, since Gabriel got born.
You can see a lot more over here:
Photo Album of Gabriel: 28 June to 10 September 2013

A scricciolo!

A growing Beetle! 2 weeks and 5 days old

Us!! We rock!!  A picture for Papi / Mauri

Just after Babacino got born, this is Papi and Babacino saying hello!

And eventually, a British Passport for Gabriel!! Now we can go to Sicily to be a family!