Francesca Maria.
A Champion's Preemie Baby Diary.
Part 5: Exploring Moscow.
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 5 of my diary, when at the age of a little over 5 months I flew to Moscow with my parents (see buttons on right links to previous parts). If you'd like to see my most recent posts, click here.
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December 31 (11:59 PM): One minute to 2008!
Below is a photo of the view from my room just before midnight. You can see below some fireworks in progress.
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Yes you guessed right my room is in a tall building. Happy New Year 2008! |
December 31 (PM): Family New Year Celebration.
Finally the end of the year is coming around. I was very happy to have some guests tonight, my great-grandparents, my grandma, and my aunt, that was great! Apart from that, I had trouble falling asleep, as around midnight and actually all the way till morning I could hear firecrackers, so noisy. And tomorrow January 1 I have to take the plane for Paris...
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December 31 (AM): My New Year's Outfit.
Since this is after all my first New Year, I dressed nicely and was in a very good mood. It's the first time I wore fancy shoes, although I don't understand why I need them since I don't walk yet. Never mind, they go well with my dress, that's the most important.
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See me wishing you a Happy New Year 2008 in Russian by clicking here. |
December 29: Eyeglasses are fun.
My Dad is a kind fellow, he allows me to play with his glasses and get them all full of saliva and fingerprints. I know that he probably suffers while watching me do that, but I like it so much, thank you Dad!
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December 28: Meet my niania.
In a couple days my niania (nanny) Natasha will go back to her home and I will also fly back West, so she won't be able to take care of me any more, I will certainly miss her. Natasha is currently studying at University to get a law degree, that's an excellent choice and I wish her the best. I hope we'll meet again next year, I sure still need help taking care of myself, I'm still only 8 months old.
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December 27: My hair is growing.
Do you remember a couple months ago when it seemed my hair fell out? Well now I am proud to say it's growing back and quite fast, soon I'll have to go to the hairdresser and have it cut. But for the moment I'm happy about it.
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December 25 (PM): Feliz Navidad!
Since I have many friends from all over the world, for my photos tonight I put on a Spanish bib and want to wish all latinos a muy Feliz Navidad. Of course for my French friends it's Joyeux Noel and for my Italian friends it's Buon Natale. For the moment I'll stick to those languages (with English and Russian, of course), I don't want to overdo it, I'm busy enough trying to sit up these days, and I have to prepare my bags for my coming trip on January 1...
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December 25: Merry Christmas!
There, I put up the Christmas tree today! Just in time to wish all babies, especially all fellow preemies who were born during this year 2007, a most wonderful Christmas, filled with good health, lots of milk and toys, and constant attention and love around them.
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You can click on the little photo to see me bigger. |
December 24: Time goes by so fast.
I looked at the calendar today, and noticed that tomorrow is Christmas day, my first Christmas ever! I have so many things to do, I have to put up the tree, and ask my Dad to take some Christmas pictures of me. Maybe tomorrow. I am stressed.
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December 23: I like napping.
I love to take naps during the day, that's so nice. Actually I take about 4 or 5 naps each day, is that not simply fabulous? My parents think so, they are always very happy when I fall asleep.
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December 22: 8 months old.
When I saw this photo tonight I wondered who had enormous feet like that. I almost could not believe it when my Dad said it was me. But he said its normal, and that will help me to walk later on to have such large feet, and that I should not worry, I'm simply growing up.
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As usual, you can click on any little photo to see it bigger. |
December 21: Look at the duck.
Don't you think it's incredible that I was able to hold that yellow duck on my head for a few seconds? In my bath I usually move a lot and do a lot of splashing, so these seconds of quiet are exceptional, believe me.
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December 20: Brrrrrr. It's cold around here.
Today we went to a walk around the pond, and I must say it was quite chilly. My dad said that it's not so bad and that Chicago is even colder. My Mom went jogging and seemed not too concerned, but I was happy to get back to my warm home.
By the way, do you know that the blue sign sign says "no swimming allowed"? I can't imagine anybody wanting to swim, I only saw Moms with strollers walking aroung today.
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December 19: Kasha is quite tasty.
My Mom made me some kasha today, which I can translate as rice porridge or rice cereal, and I must say that I like it! I sure do!
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December 18: What is my Mom doing up there?
I can't figure out what my Mom was doing on my Dad's shoulders right above me, asking me to look up. It must be some kind of new exercise.
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You can click on the little photo to see me bigger. If you want to see me even closer, click here. |
December 14: Serious and smiling.
From the photos below you can see I am sometimes serious and sometimes happy. Well, most of the tiime I am happy. I don't know why, but when someone says a word that end in "oops", I smile, for example gloops, poops, moops.
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December 12: Look at my kokoshnik.
This morning my parents went to an art fair called "Vernisazh" and bought me a few typical Russian pieces of clothing, including a very nice kokoshnik. If you click on the little photos to see them bigger, you will notice that my eyes are gray, recently I was told they were green or even possibly blue. Do you think grey will be their final color? I'm 7 1/2 months old now.
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December 9: I love my Dad's shoulder.
I like to fall asleep while my Dad is holding me, it's soft and peaceful.
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December 2, PM: I voted!
Today is an important day for Russia, it is time to elect the new State Duma. Unfortunately, I was told I am too young at 7 months to vote, one needs to be I think 18 months old, which I think is unfair as I know for whom I want to vote. I think babies and preemies alike should be able to vote from birth, or rather to be totally fair to non-preemies from due date on. Well in the meanwhile I told my Mom how to vote, and so she cast her bulletin with my choice. :-)
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Here my Mom is casting my vote. Click on small image to see it bigger |
December 1, PM: The most difficult photo.
My Dad keeps saying that it's tough to take good pictures of babies, as they keep moving. Well taking pictures of little dogs is even worse. So can you imagine how hard it is to take a good photo of a baby with a little dog next to it? Yes, you're right, it's close to impossible. Below you will find one such "impossible" photo, of me and Moxi, taken by my Dad.
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Click on small image to see it bigger |
December 1, Noon: Meet Dog Star Moxi.
Yes I know you already know my dog Moxi. I just think you will enjoy the two photos of Moxi below, they are simply stunning. In case you are interested, Moxi's breed is Russian Toy Terrier and I love her very much. Moxi is already a famous dog as she won a photo competition organized by Petco and she's featured in a 2008 pet calendar. She's available for new assignments. Contact me for details, as I am Moxi's agent.
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December 1, AM: A visit to Granma and Moxi.
Three photos taken today at my Granma's.
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November 30: Me and my Russian Toys.
I love to play on my magic carpet. On the photo to the right you can see two Russian toys, on the left a musical Santa, it plays the music called "Moscow Nights" (click here to listen to an old not-copyrighted version). And on the right, that toy is called Nevaliashka (неваляшка in Russian), it moves all sides but never falls.
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November 29: The chocolate «Аленка».
One of the most famous brands of chocolates in Russia is called "Alenka". It inspired my Mom and Dad for the following photo, which is the same, but with different frame effect. I look Russian in that photo, and my eyes definitely have a green tone. Let me know if you like the photos. By the way, I am accepting requests for baby photo modelling, I think it's high time I start earning chocolate pocket money. Click on the little photos to see them bigger.
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November 26: Patriotism.
Since next Sunday my Mom promised to take me to vote with her, I felt I needed some patriotic attributes. We went to Bosco to buy me a Russian T-shirt, and here's the result. On the first two photos my Mom is wearing a mask, it's because she's got a cold and does not want to pass it on to me.
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November 25: A nice visit.
A long-time friend of my Dad, Julia, came to visit us today. She brought me a wonderful present, a toy dog that can watch TV and sing along with the program that is playing. Amazing. Julia seems very smart, she had a very successful career in Germany then the USA, and now she got promoted to a new very interesting job in Russia, good for her!
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November 22, PM: Happy Thanksgiving!
Yes today is Thanksgiving, and would like to congratulate all my fellow preemies and baby friends, especially those for which this Thanksgiving is the first one in their lives. We ex-preemies are thankful for having survived the NICU and making it in this world as healthy and happy babies.
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Click on small image to see it bigger |
November 22, AM: It's my 7th month Birthday!
I turn 7 months old today (corrected age a little under 5 months), and as you can see from the photo below I am almost as tall as my Mom. Well, that's not counting the fact I am standing on a table...
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November 19: What color are my eyes?
My family keeps arguing about the color of my eyes, they can't tell if they are brown, grey, green or even blue. There seems to be hints of all those colors in my eyes, maybe I have magical eyes? Look at the picture closer and see for yourself.
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Click on small image to see it bigger |
November 16: Photographed from behind.
Here I am on my magic carpet, it's very comfortable.
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Click on small image to see it bigger |
November 15: Time for my chess lesson.
My Mom showed me some chess tricks today. I thought it was kind of fun! I was told chess was a difficult game, but in fact those chess pieces are very easy to pick up. The only problem is that my Mom does not allow me to put the pieces in my mouth, she says they are dirty. Why do they play with dirty chess pieces? I don't understand.
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November 10: I like to play with my Mom.
My dad left for a few days and so I am left home alone with my Mom. I like it when I am on my playing carpet and I don't mind when my Mom takes photos of me, actually it's good, it keeps my web site fresh and updated.
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October 24: I like books.
Today my parents gave me two books. One in English and one in Russian. I must say that it seems I like books, although I'm not sure yet exactly why. Well they are nice to hold, they have nice pictures, some of them play music, and most of all, they make me look intellectual, which is a plus, undoubtedly.
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October 23: It's autumn again.
My parents came back after a short 3-day trip trip to the Château de Villandry and found me in good spirits. I seem to have lost my cold and I feel much better. Maybe it's due to the fact that the weather has considerably improved from snow last week to mild temperatures this week. We went walking in the park and I loved the fresh air.
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October 22: I am 6 months old today!
It's hard for me to believe, but I made it to 6 months. After being born at only 1.5 kilos, it seems like my 7+ kilos is quite an achievement. I seem to have caught up (at least in weight, with many babies, which makes me feel good and want to continue to eat a lot to be the first to reach 10 kilos, an impressive double digit number.
Thanks to Tonton Hassan for his very nice e-card, it's the first one I ever got. I really like internet, I recommend it to any preemies and babies as a must for fast intellectual development.
October 18: I went for a walk with Moxi.
It was quite windy and chilly today when we went for a walk with my parents and Moxi. I was dressed in several layers of clothing and so did not mind the chill. I wonder how Moxi does it with almost no clothes at all, poor little dog.
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It's nice and sunny in Moscow, but much colder than in Miami. |
October 14: I can feed myself all alone.
It has not been easy on me the last few days. For the first time in my life I caught a cold and my nose is all clogged up. Must have been the plane trip. And here it's snowing and so I'm to frightened to go out. But it's nice to look out of the window, all is white! I was told that most colds pass in a week, so I need a little patience.
Apart from that, I got a new nurse, her name is Natacha. She's quite nice, and she taught me to hold my own milk bottle. Actually it's not hard at all. Below is a photo of me holding my bottle.
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You can click on the small photo to enlarge. |
October 8: Guess where I am today.
I had a very long day today. After my first feeding this morning, instead of continuing to sleep as usual, I was told we were leaving France and going on a trip to another country, for a long trip of up to 3 months, which is significant for me since it's more than half my age. We packed several bags, since I insisted on taking most of my toys, especially Mr. Green the crocodile from Florida. Then my parents tried in vain to find a taxi (a large one, called in France a "break") for all that luggage and my U.S.-size stroller (all of it could not fit in a normal French taxi), and so we had to carry everything to the Air France bus stop at the Arc de Triomphe, thank God we had the help of my aunt Oxana and her friend Andrey to carry some of our bags. Paris is a real bad city when you need a taxi, there are too few of them. Next time we will reserve the taxi at least 24 hours ahead of time.
Then we boarded a plane, and flew to... yes I am sure you can tell by looking carefully at the photo below. The flight was alright, the stewardess was kind to move the person on the aisle to another seat so we could have 3 seats for my parents and me. At arrival the passport control was total chaos, we had to wait for an eternity. Well I will tell you more about where I am one of these next days, I'm tired and I feel I am catching a cold, and I have a stomach ache, well I don't know exactly what's wrong with me, I only know that I feel like crying tonight. I hope I'll feel better tomorrow.
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You can click on the small photo to enlarge. |
This is the beginning of Page 5, when I flew to Moscow with my parents. Previous to that I was 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.
