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Julia had her first taste of Italian rain.
The last two days brought a different type of entertainment for our little Jules — Italian thunder showers.
She was very impressed.
The rain here is very different from our Pacific Northwest non-stop rain which pours continually but without much gusto. Here in Italy the rain doesn’t come very often, but when it does, it puts on a show.
One moment the sun will be shining and then you’ll see dark clouds quickly moving in. Before you know it rain is pouring down like a shower with a supercharged spray nozzle. And the rain often brings along his friends thunder and lightening to entertain the crowd.
On previous trips, I’ve seen several spectacular displays of lightening, thunder and massive balls of hail.
But Julia fortunately had a slower introduction to such powerful weather. Even though we heard lots of thunder, we didn’t see any lightening around our little farm.
And Julia LOVED the thunder!
She went outside with her Daddy and Nonno to ‘watch’ the thunder. They sat under the covered veranda watching the rain fall and listening to the thunder.
When Julia came inside, she came running over to me to tell me all about it. She was adamantly waving her arms about in a sign that I’ve never seen before and I’m sure doesn’t mean anything. She had her left arm raised straight up above her head and her right arm crossed over her chest with her fist touching just below the shoulder of her raised arm. I said ‘thunder’ and she cried ‘yes’ and repeated the sign.
Apparently, since she didn’t know a sign for ‘thunder’ she invented her own.
She continued to use her new thunder sign regularly as she talked about the wonderful thunder storms that continued to come and go for the next couple of days.
Sallie says
Julia is so cute and I love the pink jacket on her!! All girls should were pink 🙂
Tammy and Parker says
I am absolutely loving your updates with your trip to Italy. Keep having a wonderful time and keep updating us!
sognatrice says
“Here in Italy the rain doesn’t come very often, but when it does, it puts on a show.”
So, so true! Glad you and especially Julia could appreciate the show 🙂
mira says
italy?! I’m in italy (sicily) 🙂 great story, I can’t wait to see how my son’s communication skills change as the months and years go by. and I always make time to watch a good thunderstorm roll in. And, you’re right, allergy season is terrible here and the only relief is when it rains. I don’t have allergies, but many of my friends here do and it’s just no good.
jen says
Billy made up a lot of his own sign language when he was little. He has dyspraxia and couldn’t communicate so he made up signs for his words. The speech therapist when we got one congratulated him on it. It is a sign of intellectance. And addresses the strong need to communicate.
So good on Julia
Queen Karana says
I love watching my kids discover new things. Sounds like that storm was similar to the ones we used to get when we lived in Virginia! They were awesome to experience… a treat for all five senses!
The Preacher's Wife says
What a wonderful experience for your wee one…I think it is phenomenal to be able to give her these two cultures! What a gift!
Kristen says
I am from the Pacific Northwest, Portland, to be exact. We moved to the central midwest 8 years ago for a job transfer with my husband’s work. The last few days here in Missouri have been much like that of Oregon. Gray and drizzly rain. It does not make me miss Oregon at all. The typical spring weather here in Missouri is radical Thunderstorms with tornadic winds. I absolutely love it! When we first moved here my kids would hide under the kitchen table as storms blew in and now we stand on the front porch and watch the powerful lightning take over the sky. It is so amazing! Julia obviously has come to the realization of God’s power in the form of a storm. Beautiful!
oh amanda says
THat is so sweet. Lydia makes up her own signs too. But never one as cool as her THunder sign!
Susan (5 Minutes for Mom) says
Yes Carey, thanks for asking… I think the rain has helped my allergies.
Melissa R. Garrett says
What an extraordinary photo of Julia, and simply amazing that she would make up her own sign for thunder! What a smarty pants!!
Lu says
So sweet!
Adventures In Babywearing says
This was just the sweetest story.
Steph
Carey says
What a beautiful picture. Im glad shes having a good time. Did the rain help relieve your allergies some?