I love the way the seasons change here so quickly.  The temperature can change from one day to another and for the last few days there has been a very icy wind blowing, letting us all know that Autumn has arrived.   The  addition of the yellowing leaves flying around the city is a sure sign that we can safely say this long run of warm summer weather has come to an end.   You can tell the Italians from the tourists very easily now.  The Italians are already wearing their Hogan sneakers and of course have their scarves wrapped tightly around their necks to ward of any ‘change of season’ colds.  The tourists are still wandering around in t-shirts and sandals.
I have been digging out my heavier layers from the back of the wardrobe but was still very surprised at the how icy and strong the wind was when I walked outside as the sun gave me a false sense of warmth while I was protected indoors.  I now have a new wardrobe challenge – is it easy access for breast feeding? I really don’t want to expose my bare belly and back by lifting up my top to feed and a crew neck top is not going to be appropriate to enter from the top.  I can see my winter wardrobe is going to consist of lots of cardigans and wrap dresses.  A good enough excuse to add a few Diane Von Furstenburgs to the wardrobe I think!!!

I also have to wonder if Matteo is warm enough but I’m sure the Italian mammas and nonnas wont hesitate to tell me if they think my son is under-dressed! Last week I managed to do a supermarket shop with Matteo for the first time (without Emiliano’s help) and Friday we even survived a trip to the doctors followed immediately by a 3 hour visit to Ikea.  Three hours because we were not in a rush and I fed Matteo on arrival and again before leaving.  I finally took advantage of the ‘family’ car parks and also the change tables so very conveniently placed in each bathroom.  Emiliano now has another small wardrobe to put together – Let’s hope he remains calm and in a good mood during the construction!
Last Friday morning I also had a driving lesson as I have my practical exam tomorrow.  I am pretty confident that I will pass and if I do fail it will be for something stupid.  This license will allow me to not only drive the car but also any scooter or motorcycle up to 125cc.  It is so ironic following the road rules so strictly during the lesson when all around you everyone is doing their own thing with a total disregard for the law.  I nearly had two accidents while having my lesson when these senior citizens (old ladies) on two separate occasions, both displayed their lack of knowledge of how to enter and navigate a round-a-bout.
I can’t believe Matteo is now 5 weeks old!  He has already changed so much and seems to grow and develop a little bit more with each passing day.  I read quite a few books on routines for babies before he was born and was pretty sure that I was going to follow them.  I must admit that it is much harder than I thought so he is feeding on demand and let me say that he demands to be fed quite a lot!  He definitely has a very healthy appetite!  His umbilical cord finally fell off after nearly a month which was such a relief – and so last night he had his first real bath with me which was a big success.  He was so relaxed and seemed to really love the warm water ………. or maybe it was just the freedom of being naked!

Bath Time

all clean 🙂

I always remember my sister saying to me when her daughter Annabella was born eleven years ago that she couldn’t wait for me to have a baby too so that I could experience what she was going through.  I never thought it would take me eleven years longer than Toni to have a baby but I will say that Matteo was definitely worth the wait and I am loving life at the moment.

I would have liked to add some photos of Florence in Autumn but I can’t just pop out now and take some pics as Matteo is sleeping so will hopefully have some lovely Autumnal Tuscan photos for my next post.

Lisa x