38 months old

Rocco is such a sponge and is soaking up so much in the world around him. We've had several firsts this month. He is a very inquisitive 3 year old and often asks, "Who's he?" or "What's that?" Below is a quick summary of how he's grown and just how much he's learned.

He counted to 10 all by himself on May 14th.

For the last month or more he's shown that he knows the difference between a girl and a boy. It's really cute though that when you ask what his nana is he'll say, "Sweetheart." Guess he gets it confused because nana has always told him that he is her sweetheart.

His nana has taught him several songs while she keeps him during the day. For the first time he has started singing them all by himself. "Rain, rain, go away. A ninny day!" and "I love my nana, boom, boom, boom" and "I'm on my way, hey, hey!"


May 17 I asked him for the first time what others call me. He responded, "Heather." He also knew that daddy's name is Jason.


May 18th, he could tell you the name of the city he lives in when asked.


He loves to run around and several times a day you'll hear him talk about being, "wivy wivy fas (really, really fast)!"


It seems we have a little back seat driver now. When we come upon a red light he'll say, "Stop!" He's also explained to us that green means go and yellow means slow down.


We try to take every opportunity we can throughout the day to turn it into a learning moment. He's such a fast learner, too. One morning when we were eating breakfast with my dad, he exclaimed, "Mommy, oval!" when the waitress brought him his plate. At this point he knows many of his shapes (triangle, square, rectangle, circle, oval, star, and diamond.)

We're still not potty trained, but sometimes when he's wet he will take off his shorts and come tell me, "My diaper full!" Now if he can do that, don't you think it's time to be using the potty?

He currently wears size 4 diapers, 3T shirts, and 12 month shorts. Rocco has a very small waist - I'm used to his size. Others may comment on his small size, but to me other kids his age are just big. Rocco is the norm for us; we love him just like he is!


Our little boy enjoys riding the scooter, playing upstairs in his playroom, swinging and sliding on his new swingset, playing with Thomas and the trains, & watching Diego, Backyardigans, and Thomas the train videos. Rocco just loves to play, or "dia" as he would say. Golf is his choice of sport. Every Monday night he still goes to tumbling class. And just like his mama, he loves to dance to music.


At every stage in his life I say it's my favorite stage. I love having a little 3 year old. There's nothing like having a little boy to play with during the day and to read books to at night. ; )

Memorial Day

Today was as near as perfect as you could ever expect for a day. We had so much fun together as a family on this Memorial Day.

My parents came down yesterday and spent the night. This morning was really fun having them here. Rocco and I snuggled in late since I was off from work. Jason went into church to work a few hours on sermons and such. After having our cuddle time, Rocco begged for me to read some books. Within a few minutes of hearing his voice, my mom got up and joined us for book time. We took our time getting ready and just played. By the time we were ready to leave, we had bypassed breakfast and were heading to town for some lunch. Of course my dad had to have his morning coffee run, but he met us back at the house so we could all eat together.

Jason joined us at a BBQ place in town. It was really good. . . and I didn't have to cook it! My dad and Jason headed home to get the boat ready. Mom, Rocco, and I went to Walmart for a quick run of things we needed around the house.

When we got home, we gathered up some snacks and our life jackets and headed to the boat ramp. It's less than 10 minutes from our house. It began to sprinkle and I feared our boat outting would be canceled. Thank the Lord it held off and the sun came out!

I bet we were out there for a couple of hours, just long enough for our lily white, winter skin to get burned. But it was amazing, just letting our hair blow in the wind and feeling the sun's warmth shine down. My mom and dad really enjoyed themselves, My mom said being on the lake brought back a lot of childhood memories for her.

After our trip on the lake, my parents headed home. Rocco and I were going to take a nap, but little man had other plans. He squirmed long enough in the bed and decided he'd rather be watching his whoo's (train video). After that, we headed upstairs to the playroom where we spent time together rebuilding the wooden train track, racing cars down the ramp, and setting up Hot Wheels stunts. When we heard Jason outside on the tractor we joined him. Rocco was all smiles helping his daddy drive. We even fed the bulls some hay. At the end of our tractor ride, we spent some time outside petting puppy and enjoying the new swingset

Several times today I just paused to thank God for His blessings on me. I have a great life, and I'm so blessed. . . in so many ways. I have both of my parents, a great husband, an unbelievably sweet son, tractors and boats to play on, and most importantly peace of mind knowing that I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Yes, it was a great day. I'm thankful to those who served our country and even died for it so that I have the freedoms that I have and can enjoy great days like today.

A Big Start to our Summer

It is a big day in the life of Rocco. His brand new swingset arrived! It has three swings, one slide, and two fort levels. It's sitting between two big trees in our back yard. What a way to start off our summer. . . and no more kids at school for mommy. Today was the last day of school! What do we plan on doing for the next 6 - 8 weeks? Play, play, play!

Look closely. Can you see the thumbs up?

Play Date with Andrew

I've not been blogging very much this month. Life has been a little hectic lately. May is always busy at school, and with rehab for my hip twice a week I've been rather occupied. I'm tired of just living in this survival mode and so ready for school to be out. I love my job, but the truth is I'd rather be at home playing with Rocco.

Today after school was a great way to break up the monotony of life we've had around our household lately. Lindsey, a friend who I used to teach with, came over with her 14 month old son. Rocco and Andrew played this afternoon upstairs in our playroom. I believe it was Rocco's first playdate upstairs with a friend outside of our family. They had a great time. From balls, to the play kitchen, to the workbench, to trains, to golf. . . Andrew didn't know what to do next. Here's a cute shot of him coming out of the wrong hole in the tunnel. It was fun watching him explore as he toddled along. It's only been a month since he started to walk. Rocco did great in sharing his toys. I was so thankful and proud of how well he did with his company.

You should go to Andrew's blog and see more cute pics of him. http://markandlinz.blogspot.com/

37 Months Old

Thirty- seven months old. I guess at this age you stop counting by the months, but it's hard to since I 've been doing this for two years now. I began the monthly updates when Rocco was 13 months old and it's hard to break old habits. I love reflecting on the new things that he does each month. Here's the latest with our little man.

He will smile if you ask him to for pictures. . .but you'll end up with a very cheesy grin, and he probably won't be looking at the camera.

At his check-up he was 27 pounds. For most of his pants to stay on him, we have to pin them. Twelve month shorts fit him great in the waist, but they are too short.

He is not even remotely interested in potty training; he wears a size 4 diaper.

We've been working with him a lot on his articulation of words. He knows to put the "s" sound in front of words like spoon, spill, snake, snail, and sleep. He often informs us, "Not nake, mommy. Snake!" Sometimes he gets a little confused though and adds s when it not needed, like when he asks for sgum.

About a month ago he got a VSmile video game. He does really well with the joystick. His hand-eye coordination amaze me at times.

He can count to six without skipping numbers now. He does this while slowly holding up the right number of fingers as he goes from 1 to 6.

Rocco has attended Sunday School for 8 months now. I teach the class, which has made the transition from home to church work really well. He has the knack for what to do. He's started singing the songs with me during class, and when it is time to hear the Bible story he puts his finger to his lips and starts shushing the other kids.

He did his first flip in tumble class. . . all by himself. Oh yeah. That's a phrase we hear a lot lately. "All by myself." Each month he becomes a little more independent. Don't worry. He still sleeps between us and drinks his bottle to go to sleep, so he's still very much our baby!