Right on schedule

Valentino is now 6 months old believe it or not. I can't believe that this little being has only been in my life for 6 months and already my heart is overflowing with love for him. He is the most precious little baby you could ever meet. I thank God for this little miracle and the rays of sunshine in my life that are my children. Each and everyone of them bring a smile to my face and delight to my heart. Valentino is sitting up now. He is such a strong little boy! I love the huge infectious smile he gives me everytime I step into his field of vision. It's as if he is saving it just for me (O.K. so he smiles at everyone, but I'm just going to tell myself it's only for me!) and it just makes my day so much brighter. Not to mention his adorable little laughter that in turn makes me laugh, and we sit staring at eachother in fits of laughter together. I can't believe that I didn't realize that I wanted a baby and now that God has blessed me with him, I can't even comprehend life without him in it.
Yesterday Mya and Mariano had a routine Dentist appointment for a cleaning. The last time they were both very good in the dentists chair. This time was a different story. Well, Mya was great. Mariano could've been better. We have a hard time brushing his teeth as it is. So the dentist was polishing his teeth and he was screaming and kicking in the chair although with each tooth, it did seem to get less and less. He is so silly that he just made me laugh when he kept telling the dentist "ok, I think that's enough".....next tooth...."ok, I think that's enough"....etc. He is too funny sometimes. This morning he asked if he could hold Valentino, so I let him. He was sitting on the couch with his arms out for me to lay V down on him and I was sitting right beside him. He held him and kissed him and just looked at him then said "ok you can take him back now". Funny little guy! Here is a picture of V sleeping in his Jumperoo holding onto a friend. I thought it was so cute.

Big boy car seat!

Valentino was getting too heavy for me to carry around in his infant carrier, so we had to upgrade to a regular carseat. I love it and he does too.

Mya's keeping the tooth fairy busy

Baby girl lost her 4th tooth. She looks so cute missing all those teeth. Just like Valentino. He still only has his two bottom ones for now. And Mariano has a new favorite book. It's called Lemon Whip and he pretty much has it memorized which cracks Rob & I up. This morning Rob said that he went in Mariano's room expecting to wake him up for school and he was sitting up in his bed "reading" his book.

The little things...

Before I took a tumble down the stairs today holding Valentino, (we're both fine), I got this nice treat. Rob is constantly doing sweet little things for me just because. Today I was waking up from a nap and he came and said "I've got a surprise for you". This is what it was. He knows that I love Starbucks caramel frappacinos, so he made me one. Out of the blue. No reason at all. On top of the whipped cream he put grated chocolate and chocolate bars. He is so special. I love you honey. Thanks for the things you do for me. I love you more every day.

Introducing...ROB

OK I'll admit it...Rob is a better writer than me. But! He is also a genius and I'm borderline retarded. You get whatcha get. Although I do feel compelled to admit that I did proofread and make some minor corrections. Enjoy his post.

Mariano's physical and The Superbowl

Getting ready to watch the big game

Hey everyone, this is Rob writing my first blog entry. Dayna asked me to do it because I was the one who took Mariano to his physical. So here it goes...

We took Mariano in for his 4 year physical. He needed to have an updated one for pre-school, so it wasn't really a full checkup. They just gave him a PPD (test for tuberculosis), and took some blood. He cried like hell, both times but otherwise he was an angel the whole time.

The doctor asked if we had any concerns, and of course we did. We went over her notes from his last visit, and the concerns we had from that visit. They were all pretty much behavioral issues and some concerns about his development. My main concern was the way he rocks himself, like he just can't sit still.

While the doctor and I had been speaking, he was doing a wooden puzzle of two whales. It's one of those puzzles that has like 10-15 pieces inside a frame. So the doctor took the frame away, put all the pieces on the examining table and asked Mariano to do the puzzle with out the frame. He did it! Needless to say we were both impressed.

The doctor assured me that he is a normal healthy little boy. He's engaging, loving and smart. She said him doing the puzzle was a great demonstration of abstract intelligence. She asked about Mariano's relationship with Valentino, and I told her that Mariano adores him (He does, we can't keep Mariano off of him), she was happy to hear that. So I asked for an explanation for the rocking. She said not to worry, that if that was all he did was sit in a corner and rock, then it would be a concern, but since he exhibits all kinds of other "normal" and "smart" behaviors he's fine. Just let Mariano be Mariano.

On a funny note, Mariano is such a damn clown. He never wants to be serious, and goes to great lengths to make Mya laugh. So Dayna and I do this thing to one another, where if one of us is talking, and the other finds the subject matter boring, the listener will just let their head fall over, and start snoring. Well, we are really trying to work on Mariano's counting and ABCs. One Saturday I had been quizzing him all day. So when he asked for a snack I told him only if he counted with me. So I started raising one finger at a time for him to count. One.....two.....then Mariano's head falls over, his eyes close and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
He is friggin hilarious, I almost peed my pants.




OK now the news you are all waiting for. THE NEW YORK GIANTS ARE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD!!! I think I had seventeen heart attacks during the game. In the forth quarter, one of my buddies wives asked for our camera, so she could take pictures of the emotion on my face. I was oblivious to it all, as the emotion of the game was killing me. She got some really good pictures.



About to cry as I watch the Pats drive 80 yards and score in the 4th.



About to die as the G-Men drive for the win in the 4th.





Right as Eli throws the TD to Plaxico...





After Brady throws incomplete on 4th and 18.




WE SHOCKED THE WORLD!