For Robin who turns 4 on tomorrow – Notes from Mamma’s diary (with links to other parts of your story):
27 February 2007 – Castellonchio (FI)
I felt you moving in November but you didn’t kick hard enough for your Daddy to feel you until
Christmas morning, a present for him
He started calling you Bobbie right away as soon as we knew you were a girl
On the 19th of February we saw your face on the sonogram; you’re so beautiful! You have my mouth but maybe your Daddy’s short legs. He calls himself Daddy now, which is funny to me. We both like to cook for you and you kick when I start eating. You seem particularly fond of pancakes, coffee, and oranges although it’s hard for us to know what all those kicks mean except the on that’s clearly “Mamma, get your elbow off of me!!!” or “Stop leaning against that table!”
We love you. We can’t wait to see you.
1 October 2007 Padova (PD)
Little Robin,
– you have found your feet
– you talk a lot, mostly you say AAAHAH in a deep, raspy voice
– yesterday, outside the church where Bill Viola had his video installation you looked at me and just started laughing and kept going
– you hold things with both hands at once
– you really like looking at the flowers on the quilted cotton jacket that I bought at the market yesterday.
4 October 2007
For Robin Kay,
– your pooh bear has landed nose down on the floor
– you learned to stick your tongue out today
– I sent pictures to your uncle and cousins and David finally wrote something back (they joke that you need a haircut) you have almost no hair at all.
28 October 2007
For Bobbie:
– you pass toys from one hand to the other
– you talk a lot! I wish I knew what you were saying…first words: mamma, papa, and then a few days later banana.
December 2007
We went to visit your father’s friend Filippe in Varese for 10 days. We took with u sour friend Grazia (Chemda) from Carrara. You are 8 ½ months old and just starting to put consonants with your vowels and you have 1 tooth on the bottom and another almost out. You are starting to push up with your legs- especially in the bathtub. Everyone wants to hold you and play with you – in love, everyone who sees you is in love. You like everything shiny: spoons, ribbons, glass.
4 June 2008
For Robin Kay:
– you were very happy today because I put your letter mat back down on the floor.
– you’re getting better at walking taking a few more steps at a time still holding on to things.
– yesterday you learned to say ‘chair’ and built a 7 block tower.
24 June 2008
For Bobbie Kay:
Your words come so fast: box, soap, tazza, cup, snail, knee, pretzel (sort of), turtle, block, hair, ear, teeth, tree, eye , sock, foot, “get it”, bird (almost), shirt…
26 July 2008
My dearest girl:
You are really about to walk, on your own. You lay on the floor and wiggle your legs in the air and squeal “eety-peety” which is an invitation for me or Papa to grab your feet and swing you back and forth (a game I called “sweetie feetie”), you liked that funny word and it makes you squeal.
17 august 2008
To Robin Kay: you saw your first fireworks yesterday. We had spent the afternoon by the lake with Annarita and some other friends. The water was icy but you didn’t care. You joyfully stood in the water and threw stones with your father squealing “splooshsploosh!!” When we left you waved at the lake, “bye bye water, bye bye aqua ciao!” you fell asleep at the pizza joint and woke up in the parking lot above Castelveccana at the first “boom!” of the fireworks saying “ball-pooh” as I carried you down the street you finally noticed the bright lights in the sky. I said “look, light, boom!” and you said “Light, Boom Boom Boom! Pretty” Later, as you watched you kept looking for other words to describe what you say’ “flower, bear, ball, bubble” later still, “Big Light , Pretty!” I think that at 16 months you are way ahead of the verbal curve.
Bonnie McClellan-Broussard 