Picture Day

The weather here in California has been different than back East.  When we got here in January it wasn't cold enough for a coat but not warm enough to not have some kind of light jacket.  I bought Francesco a sweat jacket that fit the bill, and he really liked it, maybe a little to much.  We had come to find out he was wearing the jacket all day without taking it off.  This became a point of contention with both Michael and I since we didn't understand why he wouldn't take it off.  His excuses were, I'm cold, I like it, I didn't want my shirt to get dirty.  This constant wearing made the jacket its self dirty.

Skip to school picture day.  The week before I had taken him to get his hair cut, and the lady that cut his hair did not know how to work with his cowlick, so even though his hair was not a puff ball any more it wasn't the greatest. We decided that he could get his picture in his uniform, khakis and a polo, and sent him to school with the money for his picture.

Then a few weeks go by and he comes home with a picture folder in his bag.  When I pulled out the pictures I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

 That is the jacket, that I now hate and look at his crazy hair.  He thinks the picture is great, since he loves the darn jacket.  I tried to throw the jacket out once but he found it in the trash can of the laundry room and recused it. My husband has asked me to burn the thing.

Then there is Nicolo.  I saw signs at the daycare for pictures but never got a notices or an order sheet in his cubby.  I figured that they would want you to pay for the pictures ahead of time like Francesco's school.  Come to find out Nicolo had his picture taken at school and we did not even now it.  The company that did his pictures but the kids in different outfits, fireman, golfer, tuxedo.  Then once the picture were ready you got to pick the one you liked and purchase them.

So the one day I sent Michael to get the boys the pictures were in and available.  He calls me to ask which one I wanted.  I asked which did he like best, he said they were all cute but he like the tuxedo one the best.  So when they got home I open up his pictures and this is what I found...



How stinking cute is that?  I also laughed so hard I cried.  I love it.  My little lounge singer.

The contrast between the two also cracks me up.  

Turning 4

Nicolo's birthday just passed and he is 4. This was the first year that I think he realized it was his birthday and was so excited for the day. His excitement had me really excited too. The other reason I was so excited this year for him was because this was the first year I really knew what to get him for his birthday. Every other year we already had a lot of the stuff he liked since Francesco had been into it the year or two earlier. This year he has developed some of his own personal likes of things and characters. For instance he loves Mario Brothers, and the character Yoshi in particular. So of course he got a lot of Mario stuff, which he just loved! He is really coming into his own, even interjecting in conversations now too. He use to just let Francesco do all the talking, not anymore. He is also expressing his dislikes more often, he never really threw tantrum as a toddler - he making up for it lately.

I love his face in this shot, he is just so happy the day was all about him.
I took this yesterday and it totally captures him, he wouldn't smile because that's what I wanted him to do.
He loves tools, and being in the garage with his dad. Yesterday they were building Monster Trucks.
Here he is with his Best Friend in the whole world, Francesco. I love the fact that they are friends, lately at night I can hear them talking to each other in their room. They are either doing pretend play with stuff animals or making plans for the next day. Happy Birthday my sweet Nicolo!

Just around the corner...

In 10 day, yes only 10 days my baby will be 4! Wow, is all I can say. Nicolo has grown into such a strong willed little boy with a HUGE personality. He definitely knows what he likes and dislikes. It crazy to think that a little boy doesn't like peanut butter and jelly. Now, peanut butter and Nutella is a different story, aka - chocolate sandwiches are a staple. He won't drink anything other than water, milk or chocolate milk. (Are you seeing the chocolate trend?)
He is my stuffed animal lover, he has more than I have room for, not to mention the 53" teddy bear he talked his father into buying him yesterday. What's great is that he can remember when and where he got each one. He also loves real animals and on occasion a little too much. Our new kitten Aston is very tolerate though, sometime I think he even like the attention Nicolo gives him.
Nicolo=Dirt, Dirt=Nicolo - enough said. He is my independent child, the one that wants to do things himself, can play by himself and can get into trouble all by his quiet sneaky self. If I find the bathroom sink full of soap water and 25 matchbox cars in the sink I really don't have to ask who did it.


Case in point, I just had to step away to bath him due to a "marker incident" which ended up with it all over him and his hand print on my back. I really love this kid! He is the one that keeps me guessing and makes everyday an adventure!

Making Valentine's

Thanks to my wonderful mother the boys received a care package that consisted of chocolates, brain teasers, water guns, little soft balls and the supplies to make valentine's. She spent a lot of time making them and we really appreciate them. Today we worked on putting them together to hand out. Of course MomMom and Nana were on the top of the list of people to get one.

What I love the most about this picture is he is using what he learned at school to write his sentence. He is putting his finger down to make sure that he has a finger space between words. He has already internalized the good writers checklist.


This is Francesco's completed sentence, we have the heart, which is after the I, because he made a mistake but we salvaged the card with the heart. The best part was he like that so much he continued that with the rest of his cards.


This is the front of the card, my Mom made this part and then we attached them to the cards.


Nicolo was a little harder to engage in the activity but he did make one card for his cat Aston. He just love that cat!


Making the Valentine's was fun. We have a few to send out in the mail but they probably won't get there till after Valentine's but know we made them ahead of time. (I just hope to get to the post office tomorrow)

Spelunking - well sorta

So we did a little cave exploring today. Headed east to Volcano, CA where they have the National Landmark, Black Chasm Cavern. We ventured down into the cave via very deep steps, but the experience was totally worth it. I have never been in a cave let alone one so unique. This cave had stalagmites, stalactites, flow-stone and columns (when the stalagmites and stalactites meet) but they also had these cool helictite crystals that grow in all different direction due to the porous marble and capillary action.



It was a fun trip, we even did a little gem mining which the boys loves. They really wanted to pan for gold but we were not able to do that this time. We almost bought them Miner's Hats, but we came to our senses quickly. Definitely on the list of place to take the Del Vecchio's when they head west this summer.

Like I need more issues?

So....
Michael thought that Pixel (our 8 year old cat) needed a companion. Not to mention that he is home with her everyday now, but she is not a lap cap (which I think he was looking for). So this past weekend we went to the local animal shelter. We debated over a 4 mouth old kitten and a year old cat. I thought....older cats are harder to place so lets adopt the older cat. So we did, and named her Cali (short short for California).
The only problem was that the cat did not like me, Michael, Francesco, Pixel or even Nicolo for that matter. We tried but no matter what we did that cat was vicious and dangerous. I just could not risk the health (cat bite infection) of my children or my other animal. Plus what is the point of getting another cat (family member) who stays in one room all the time because she can't socialize with any of us?
So, Cali went back and as bad as I felt about the whole thing I had to remind myself that I have to think of my family as a whole and not of just that one animal. Michael took her back and came home with a ~ 4 month old male kitten who is black and white.
More so he is that he is sweet, laid-back, non-aggressive, loves to be handled, loves to be held, thinks Nicolo is the bee's knee's and totally respects Pixel and her outburst - all which consist of a little bit if hissing and a meow (that chick is all talk and no action).
Aston, as we have named him in tribute to our HOMETOWN, is super laid back, knows how to stepback from Pixel and LOVES Nicolo soooo much. It's like they were meant to meet. My photo is Aston, sleeping with Nicolo and this scene is a huge sigh of relief for me!



A day ago my Nicolo was in full blown tears because the psychotic cat we brought home tried to bite him completely unprovoked. He did not understand, he was being so gentle and she attacked him. It is hard explain to your 3 year old he did not do anything wrong, seeing your child break down after being completely appropriate with an animal and they still attacks - is hard. The last thing I need is for my Animal Lover to become fearful of animals. Aston has turned that around completely an we all love him...even Pixel...she just does not know it yet!

100th Day

It's been a while but we are still here at I Miei Due Bambini, we just happen to be on the other coast now. The move to CA went well, a few issues with getting our cars here but overall not bad. It really hit me when our cars showed up, driving a rental car when we first got here made me fell like a visitor. Once my mini-van got here it was official, we moved.
So far all is going well. The kids are adjusting better and quicker than I am. The one thing I can say that I am completely impressed with is Francesco's school and teacher. She has been so helpful and such a great influence on him with this transition. He still asks for his prior teachers and class mates but he is really enjoying his new school.
Coming up soon he was assigned a 100th Day of School project. We had to get 100 of something and display it for the occasion. In the process of the move we found a box of Pez Dispensers and since we have gotten here we came across it again. I can't find the towels, but I found the Pez Dispensers. We thought that would be different and we had 100 of them so it fit the bill. Thanks to my sister (who both Francesco and I miss the most) we used pipe cleaners and foam core board for the display.
Pixel of course had to get in the picture - as you can see she made it here in one piece too.


The Star Wars ones are both Francesco and my favorites.


I am hoping as we continue to settle I will find a little more time to blog. Now I really need to keep this up so all my wonderful friends and family can see what i miei due bambini are up too.