Eli is a hominid after all (a.k.a. Eli's 1st steps)

Yes. Eli has continued his rapid ascent on his way towards becoming a full-fledged, upright walking member of our species. Today was a wicked hot day here in Viterbo, and Eli was cranky from the get-go. He took an increasingly rare morning nap, but that did little to soothe the little Savage. A brief trip to school (where I will be teaching) helped cheer him up as he got the chance to play with two kids of staff members. After that we found ourselves back at the apartment waiting for him tire enough for a second nap. He spent another hour or so in dreamland (not to be confused with Dreamscape, that fabulous Dennis Quaid/Max von Sydow film), and we promptly exited the premises afterwards for some refreshing gelato. From there we went on to our favorite (and the only) playground inside the city walls where we watched Eli enjoy the marvels of gravity in his bucket swing. It was actually a pretty cool scene. Three or four older Italian women were sitting around chatting. An older man showed up, chatted for a while, then went into the corner of the little park and grabbed a pick-axe type thing. As the women chatted he did some minor weeding. Then he put back the axe and sat down to chat again. He was clearly not a city worker, just a guy who decided to pull a few weeds in between conversations. Not that this was a big deal in any way, but it did remind us that life just moves at a different pace here. Even though every three year old has a cell phone and Vespa, people really do seem to take time for lots of little things. Maybe this has something to do with the Italians living longer on average despite the fact that they smoke like chimneys and have never heard of hand sanitizer.

Anyway, on to Eli's first steps. It was afternoon. Hot. The kind of hot that is, you know, really...hot. Caroline and I sat on the grass opposite one another and led Eli towards one another holding his hands until he would let go. The first few times the result was the same as it has been for the last few weeks. As soon as we let go he would get a worried look on his face and then buckle down to the ground. Then, instead of falling to his butt he tried to move forward. A first. After a couple more tries he managed to put one foot in front of the other and then buckle. Finally, he managed to put as many as three or four steps in a row as he walked, yes walked across to Caroline. Somewhat confused as to whether or not we could call those his first steps we tried again, and this time he added a few steps for show. It's official. Eli took his first steps. Like any good parents we pushed him and pushed him until he refused to walk anymore. His crowning achievement was probably 6 or so consecutive steps, and we are quite proud of our little walkin' man. Of course there are no pictures or video to prove or commemorate this event. I am not even sure the old ladies and the man know that they witnessed history.

Alla prossima.