Francesca Maria.
A Champion's Preemie Baby Diary.
Part 8: Spring in Europe.
Welcome to my site www.francesca07.com. My name is Francesca Maria, I was born on April 22, 2007, a 29-week premature baby (preemie), weighing only 1.46 kilos (3 lbs. 3 oz.). This is part 8 of my diary, when at the age of exactly 1 year old I flew to Europe with my parents (see buttons on right links to previous parts, the most recent one being Part 7).
 |
May 6: Splashing is fun!
There are lots of things I love to do, but for sure the best is to splash as much as possible in my bath every evening.
 |
 |
May 5 (PM): An Apple a Day.
Below is a photo taken by my Mom showing me eating (part of) an apple. My Mom says there is a saying that goes "An Apple a Day keeps the Doctor Away". I cannot imagine eating so much, those apples are huge, and not easy to eat. I clearly prefer to drink milk, much easier to suck on the bottle.
 |
May 5: Please vote for me!
I found another photo contest, and sent in my photo. This time luckily in order to vote there is no need to register, you just have to enter your zip code and you can write anything there. So if you have a minute I would appreciate voting for me, thanks!
 |
May 4 (PM): A Chess School for Kids.
Today after lunch we visited my Grandma's chess school. I was really impressed, it was so well decorated, with chess paintings, chess pieces, all over the place. They teach kids to play chess, starting at 3 years old, so I am still a little young to start lessons, but I told my Mom I liked it very much and would like to come here when I grow up in a couple years.
 |
 |
May 4 (lunch): Taras Bulba. My first Orange.
We had lunch at an Ukrainian restaurant called Taras Bulba, at it was very nice. As soon as we arrived they gave us a table in a non-smoking area, then gave me a high chair, and even gave me a small wooden toy to play with. Then my Mom gave me a piece of an orange, I tasted it, boy I was surprised, not the taste I expected!
 |
|
 |
 |
May 3: My web statistics.
I had for 2 months a little free script from ipligence that identifies where my visitors come from. As you can see from the image below, my web site has got visitors from pretty much all over the world, of course mostly from the USA and Europe, but also from all 5 continents. In terms of traffic, of course my birth in April 2007 attracted the largest number of people (up to 500 per day, over 10,000 per month), but now we're at a cruising speed of about 200 unique visitors per day and 5,000 per month. I should offer advertising on my site, maybe I could make some candy money (wait a minute - I don't eat candy yet, I meant some toy money). Most of the people who visit me use the Google search strings -deleted- (my Dad told me never to tell people the best keywords, sorry). In any case, and whatever the reason you have for visiting my site (most of you have little babies also born as preemies), thanks to all for coming and best wishes to your little one(s)!
 |
Click on the map to enlarge it. |
May 1: Moscow!
Yes my travels have continued, last week I went from Switzerland to France and now I am in Russia. What's amazing is that it was cool in western Europe, and here in Moscow the weather is perfect, that's great. May 1 is a holiday in Russia and we went walking in the area next to Victory Square (Парк Победы), it was super, look at the clock and sign saying Moscow (Москва) created with flowers. Now if you look at the fourth photo below, you'll see a small cut under my right eye, I got it in a fight with some local babies. No just kidding, I simply slipped at home, no big deal. But in that last photo you can enlarge it and see my 2 (two) teeth, enough to bite anybody's finger quite hard, you better believe it!
 |
 |
 |
 |
April 22: My Second Birthday Party!
I was not even so tired after my transatlantic flight, and just a few hours after landing in Switzerland I had another party, with my Swiss friends Elizabeth and her daughter Alexandra, as well as my God-father Hassan and his three wonderful kids. My Dad had time to order me a delicious birthday cake (called Stéphanie) from a great place called Wuthrich, it was the first tie I tasted chocolate, and it was great. Thanks to everyone for the winderful gifts.
 |
 |
 |
 |
This is the beginning of Page 8, when I flew back to Europe. Previous to that I was in Miami (page 7), before that in Europe, that's page 6, before that in Moscow, that's page 5, before that in Paris, that's page 4. On page 3, after when I was discharged from the hospital NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for premature babies), on June 19, 2007. For Page 1, birth to 1 month, click here. And for Page 2, 1 month to discharge from the NICU, click here.
© 2007 Francesca Maria.
Made on a Mac. Of course.
