39 months old

Rocco's vocabulary and personality continue to grow and develop more and more each month. Here is what's going on in Rocco's world at 39 months old.

His favorite food is French fries and his favorite drink in Sprite. He never has a very big appetite, but at least I can get him to eat salad and fruit. Whenever he's finished eating, he'll gladly let you know by saying, "Rocco had enough." Of course we try to bargain with him to take more bites. Lately he's tried to convince us that he can't eat it by saying, "My mouth is closed." The other day he decided, though, that he wanted to eat a hot dog like mine. I put all of his cut up pieces in the bun. Then, I added the slaw. Would you believe he ate almost every bit of it? Seeing him chow down on that "hup dog" was a sight!

To be so small, he certainly has his mind set on what he wants and when he wants it. If he doesn't want to do something, he'll plainly tell you, "Not right now."

Since I have spent so much time with him this summer, he has become more attached to me. Many times throughout the day, he'll just come up to me and say, "Homey." I know he wants to be held, but I'll say, "Who's Homey?" His cute reply is, "I don't know Homey." That's another phrase we hear often from him, too...."I don't know."

Being so attached to me, he doesn't like it when Jason and I show affection. Once in the car, Jason patted me on the leg. Rocco's response? "Go in there!" Yes, he tells us to go there or outside when he gets upset. We're not sure where this came from, but it is our running joke when someone gets upset.

Rocco is very inquisitive. Several times a day he'll ask, "Who's he? What's that?" and in the car he wants to know, "Where we going next?" I've never seen a kid with such a good sense of direction. He knows which way to turn when we are going to church or another familiar place. When we near our house, he'll tell us from his car seat, "Almofe (almost) home."

Teaching a toddler manners has been very fun. Nana Carolyn started working with him on "Yes mam, no mam" before school was out. The other day we were going to Papa's house for dinner after church. He loves to eat chips there before his meal. We were talking to him about eating a good lunch before he ate his chips. He turned to his nana and said, "No mam."

He is becoming more polite, however. What used to be "Get out of my way!" has now turned into "Move please." But when it comes out of Rocco it tends to be in a bossy tone. It's quiet comical though.

Little man is still in tumble class, and he loves to climb all over us. One of his favorite stunts is to climb on to my back any time squat down near the floor. Then, he starts making monkey sounds. I have to pretend that he is my little monkey. I guess watching Curious George has got him on this big kick.

We've spent a lot of time at nana and granddaddy's pool this summer. Rocco has really progressed with his swimming skills. He started out holding on to me tightly as he wore his life vest. Several days later he kicked his legs as I held onto his vest. Then, in a matter of days he was letting go of me and holding onto a swim noodle kicking himself all over the pool. He was really proud of himself proclaiming, "All my byself!"

I don't know what it is lately but he keeps putting his hands in his mouth. We have to tell him several times a day to take his fingers out of his mouth. His reply is, "Baby Sydney puts her fingers in her moush (mouth)." To which any good mother would reply, "Well, you're not Baby Sydney."

Potty training is coming along slowly. He tells us after he poops to "change my diaper" and after he tee tees that "my diaper full." Now if he's big enough for that, don't you think he needs to be using the potty?

Drew and I found a gumball machine at Toys R Us. When Rocco tee tees, he gets to spin the knob for a piece of gum. He really likes standing up and tee teeing. He'll quickly tell you that boys tee tee standing up but girls have to sit down and tee tee. One night during our bath time, he also informed me that the whoo's (Trains) have no privates. Oh my! Here we go! He's getting too big for his britches.

Clean up. . . Mess up

Just the other day when I was on the phone with my mom, I noticed Rocco was really quiet. As soon as I hung up, I went to check on him. This is what I found.

A big ol' mess! Rocco had climbed up onto his blue chair so that he could reach the baby powder on the changing table. Much to his delight, he sprinkled almost the entire bottle out onto his bedroom floor, chair, furniture, and body. He jumped up and down in the chair and proclaimed, "Smoke, mommy!"

Then, he did a little victory dance.

Honestly, all I could say was, "Rocco Jase Willis, stay right there while I go get the camera." No, really I did get onto him. Who could resist taking pictures of such a cute childhood moment though? One lesson learned. When he's quiet, check it out.

I guess little man is due a mess every now and then because he has turned into such a big helper lately. He's helped mow the grass. . .

wash dishes. . .

and do laundry. He helped me pick out all of the reds then carried them to the wash room.

Swimming

Since June came along temperatures have been in the 90's. Thankfully, nana and granddaddy live about 5 minutes away and have a pool. We've been spending several days a week there. Today was Jason's day off, so we spent some family time at the pool. Rocco's favorite thing to do is to throw the torpedos in the water and have us go get them.

VBS 2009

Vacation Bible School is a big event for our family every summer. Even before we had Rocco, VBS was the event we looked forward to every year at our church. When it comes to ministry, Jason and I really are a team. God definitely knew what He had in store for us and how He would be able to use us for His glory when He put us together 13 years ago. I love kids and have a passion for teaching, while Jason is not afraid to be a kid and look silly leading them in songs.

It was really exciting this year at VBS to see just how much God blessed our church. By the end of the week, 10 kids realized that they needed Jesus as their Savior. They accepted Him into their lives. Many seeds were planted this week. It was certainly exciting to be a small part is seeing so many kids come to Christ and learn more about Him. God is so awesome!

Jason has always led the opening and closing songs with so much enthusiasm that the kids get all hyped up. Father Abraham, The Lord's Army, Deep and Wide, I've Got a River of Life, and the famous Pizza Hut song are some of the musical favorites everyone has come to love and expect each year. I have taught each year since we've been in the ministry together- except the year I had open heart surgery. Third and fourth are the grades of my choice, but this year I also helped out with a middle school VBS lock-in. We did an entire week's worth of VBS in 12 hours. Crazy but so much fun! This past week I had fourth graders at our evening VBS.

And who wouldn't love VBS? We've always had it in the evening from 6 - 9pm. Other than having a Bible lesson, we eat supper, make crafts, play games outside, have a penny competition for missions, and get to see young kids give their lives to Christ. The following is a quick re-cap of our wonderful VBS that God blessed us with the past week.

Our theme was going to Australia's Outback on the Boomerang Express train ride. The trains were right up Rocco's alley. The entire week focused on what we can learn about our relationship with Jesus through the life of Peter. Rocco was in the 2 and 3 yr old class. I didn't worry about him a bit because my mother-in-law was one of the workers. He did really well with her in there. Several times a night he might see me, but he just excitedly said, "My mommy, my mommy!" After I hugged him or held him a quick minute he'd go back to his class.

The first night he got one of Thomas the Trains engines mixed up with the story. So he learned that "Peter Sam followed Jesus." I didn't try to explain it yet, other than tell him that Peter Sam must be a really smart train.

Rocco's class made didgeridoos one night. The cutest part was hearing how Rocco said it, nearly perfect. Three hours was quite a long time for 2 and 3 yr olds, but the 12 or so kids did great the entire week. They listened to their Bible story, made their crafts, learned some new songs about Jesus, ate supper, and played outside on the swings. By Wednesday or Thursday night, you could tell the little ones were winding down and getting a little tired. That didn't slow our little Rocco though when it came to parent night on Friday. When the classes stood up to sing the songs they'd learned, Rocco sung his little heart out and included all the motions. They sang "If you're Happy and You Know It", "I've got the Joy", and "This little light of mine".


If you're happy and you know it shout, "Amen!"

Swimming with Drew

Granddaddy and nana's pool officially opened yesterday. We swam for just a few minutes after our family Sunday dinner. Today Rocco had more time to spend with his favorite play mate, Drew. They had a great time throwing splash balls and just floating around. Both of them love the water. I expect little man will progress quickly this summer with his swimming skills. He's already kicking with his legs. Here's a thumbs up for all the fun we're having this summer!

My Brother Gets Married

My brother, who is twelve years younger than me, got married today in a little chapel in his hometown. I was their photographer.

Hard to believe my little brother now has a wife and family of his own. I was like his second mom when he was growing up. He may be married, but here are two women who have loved him since he was a little tot. . . me and my mom.

Being the ever learning photographer that I am, I was so excited to learn how to use some Photo Elements tricks on my computer. One of my favorites it turning a picture black and white but leaving one item with color. This is baby Daelyn's pink slipper.

Rocco knew that it was a big day. When asked who was getting married he said, "Ty." Little man also informed us that he was not going to get married. I told him he could live with us forever but that I might change my mind when he gets about 20.

Enjoying our Summer

I've officially been finished teaching school now for one week. We are really enjoying the lazy days of summer: sleeping in late, cuddling in the morning, eating a late breakfast, playing all day. It's just wonderful!

I found some popsicle molds at the store. They reminded me of my childhood; my mom used to fill them up with juice for me when I was a kid. On hot days they were a delicious treat. Here's Rocco with his home-mom-made popsicle. Childhood memories are coming full circle!

Our first real day of Summer

Spending my summer with my three year old son got off to a great start today. We crammed as much in it as we could. This morning we went outside and did some chalk art on the driveway. Next, it was time for bubbles. We both blew them, both down low and up high. That's right. We got high up in the swingset "fort" and blew them so that the wind could take them away. Both Tiger and Puppy watched from below. Before we went inside, Rocco had to ride his "cootuh" (scooter).

The temperature was close to 90 today. Since nana and granddaddy's pool was not yet ready, we put on our swim suits and headed to the creek. The water was very cold, but we enjoyed wading in the shallow area. The ducks and baby ducklings swam nearby as we filled our cups with water and rocks. I love the creek because a clean spring runs right out of the mountainside. We put some in our bottles and drank it to stay cool. We finally headed home and took a nap. Later that afternoon we played and played upstairs with the trains. Before sunset we rode on the tractor with daddy and baled hay. It was a great kickoff to our summer together!