Valentina's Song

Salvatore, just like his mommy, is absolutely obsessed with music.  He tries to sing along to anything he hears and he definitely has grown-up taste in music and enjoys the latest pop, hip-hop and some classic songs.  At night, he will often hum himself to sleep with one of the many songs stuck in his head.  

His new favorite is titled Just the Way You Are, by Bruno Mars.  We say that it is Valentina's song, because of how he sings that the girl in his life is perfect just the way she is.  When he hears this song on the radio, he gets crazy excited and insists on singing it to Valentina.  

Gracias Tia Maylo

David's parents, mis suegros, have come to visit and we are overjoyed!  They brought many cool toys and nice clothes from Mexico and Salvatore loves them all.

David's sister, Mayda, gave them these cute hats.  

Muchas gracias, Maylo!

Keys

Salvatore picked out these keys for her to play with.  He guessed that she would love them and he was right!  I love to see them interact...we are blessed that he has always been loving and accepting of her!  They share a room now and it is nice for both of them!  

My Handy Manny

We have slowly been fixing little things around the house when there is $ to spend on that sort of thing.  Salvatore has been wonderful about helping us out, keeping himself occupied, and "fixing" his own stuff.  We gave him a little squeegee to play with and he has not put it down.  He calls it his "spongee" and he uses it everywhere!  After taking this picture of him, he asked me if I was proud of him.  "Oh, I am SO proud of you," was my reply and then I told him to take a picture of me to show him my proud face.

Rice, rice, baby!

On her 6 month birthday, we gave her her first taste of rice cereal and she loved it!!!

Here was Salvatore when we gave him his first taste of rice cereal when he was 5 months old.

I love how they were both smiling and waving their hands around.

She loved it all and I ended up giving her two tbsp.

Sal liked his first cereal, but not as much as she did.  

I do it for Jack

I started recycling.  Although it is good for the environment, that is not what drives me to do it.  I only get about $8.00 a month, so it isn't for the money.  I started after reading what Jack wrote in his first grade journal.  It does make me feel good, and I do use the extra change for gas and baby wipes, but the "pat on the back" from a kid who can express how he loves Mother Earth is the best incentive!

Watch her watching him

A huge thank you to my wonderful friend Jennifer for passing on this fun little kitchen for the kids!!!  I knew that Salvatore would love it, because his favorite place to be in the house is in the kitchen with me.  Ana also passed on the blue Bumbo seat for Valentina and we are so grateful!  I love to watch them play...but mostly love the way she stares, follows and watches his every move!

Some Valentina Milestones

I hate to admit it, but I have not been good at filling in her baby book.  It is now mostly on the blog.  I had a nice little calendar for Salvatore all filled out, and that is how I can look back and check and compare the two of them.  But, anyways.  Here she is sitting up.  She's been doing it for about a week and will either last for 2 seconds or 2 minutes, but she is practicing!

Here she is blowing raspberries and just being simply adorable.  You can also see her two bottom teeth, which came in 3 weeks ago.  She bit her own toes the other day and immediately gave me the saddest look and cried.  

Valentina will be 6 months old this Thursday, the same day her Tio Brian, and Godfather, turns 33 and her Aunt Suzanne turns 33+10.  

Senior Citizen

I took Benedict in for his yearly immunizations and he was a champ as always.  I don't think he even feels the needle at all.  And he LOVES our vet and they love him too! 

 While waiting for the vet to come in, I was reading the "How Old is your Dog?" chart on the wall.  According to his weight (92 lbs.), he ages faster than dogs weighing less.  Benedict is 5 years old and will be 6 on March 2nd.  This March, he will be 48 dog years old, and according to vet science, this will begin his senior citizen time.  He will be considered a senior citizen dog until 9 human years, which will then put him into the geriatric category.  

I started to cry as I read the chart. 

 A senior dog.  Benny.  The one who still jumps on every person who walks in the door.  Benny.  The one who still scampers around the backyard like he did as a puppy.  Benny. The first thing I ever owned that had me changing my plans, my mind, and my life.  

The first thing I ever spent more money on than myself.  The first thing I ever let sleep in my bed and lick my plate clean.  The one who cost us so much money in home repairs with his teething and chewing and digging and barking.  The one who taught me more about patience, love, and being a teacher than my credential program did. 

 Benedict, we love you. 

 We don't walk you enough and you are pretty much bossed around by all of us, but we love you.

Something Old, Something New

My sweet friend, Ana, let us borrow her Rainforest Jumperoo.  We can't thank her enough for her kindness and for sharing something that puts a smile like this on Valentina's face!

Last week, we pulled out our old walker toy for Valentina.  

 Of course, I got so emotional to see her look and act so big, and to remember like it was yesterday how Salvatore looked when he first used it.

No secret to anyone how time flies by!  We've got Salvatore's 3 year well-baby check-up appointment and her 6 month well-baby check-up appointment soon and then I will start her on solid foods in a few weeks.  Did I tell you that she has her two bottom teeth now?

All Treats, No Tricks

Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!

To infinity and beyond!

David and I were having no luck finding a complete Buzz Lightyear costume to go with the wing pack we found him.  We were ready to give up when we went into the Disney store.  They had some..but not in his size.  David's eyes settled on pajamas, Buzz Lightyear pajamas. My eyes settled on the price tag-$10.00!  We both got that look in our eyes and bought him one size too big, so we could put a sweatsuit and some shoulder pads on underneath to "bulk him up a bit" and the cutest costume on Greenwood Ave. was born!  We cut up an old beanie from the 99cents store and made that his helmet.  He wore his ski boots and motorcycle gloves.  Costume complete!

We went up and down our streets and also passed out candy to more trick-or-treaters than I have ever seen in our neighborhood.

His open wing pack from the back.  He was a huge hit, walking up and down our streets, and he was not fearful of anything scary like he was last year.  His Godfather, Daniel, also flew him around the neighborhood and front yard in his arms and that really made Salvatore's day!

Sweet little butterfly girl granting wishes at the front door.

For walking the streets, we put her in this little reindeer costume.  Her wings would not fit in the Snugli!