Pacey is 3!

I am woefully behind in blogging about recent events. I have the next 2 weeks off of work, so hopefully I will have time to catch up!

Marino's (and my) cousin Pacey turned 3 a couple weeks ago and we had a great time at her party. Pacey and Marino get along wonderfully - they have very similar energy levels and interests, so its always fun to see them together. Marino asked her to be his best friend at the party.

The kids had a great time splashing around in the pool, and there was even an egg-free cake for Marino (which he thoroughly enjoyed).

Pool + Ball - what more do toddlers want?!

How cool is this cake? I love it!

My handsome boy

I love this girl - she's always so animated!

She was really hamming it up while we sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

So sweet!

Boys are so predictable - these 3 were all too excited about a passing airplane.

She's too much!

Happy Birthday, Pacey!

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week:

5. We went to the beach over the weekend (pictures to come). Marino usually clings to our necks in the water, but he was very brave this day. He was "swimming" around by himself and even dunking his head in the water. We had to spend some time teaching him how to say "dive" because he kept telling us "I'm going to die in the water".

4. Story from ShiShi (daycare director):

We were finally able to get back outdoors!!!! Marino wanted to go to the top part of the playground and asked me if I wanted to go see “Cars” with him. He took me to the piece of equipment that is at the top far corner of the playground. It has places to sit. I naturally thought he was taking me to the theatre. BUT he was doing something to get the movie started (I later figured that he putting in the DVD) because he then picked up a rectangular wood chip and pushed on it and proceeded to state that the movie was on. He was using the wood chip as the remote. He also brought me some ice cream. Great date! We obviously did not stay for the entire movie because we went away and came back a little while later and he stated that the movie was still on.

3. The other day I had a major migraine after our trip to North Beach (way too much sun for me). I laid in bed the rest of the day. I told Marino I wasn't feeling well and he said "I need to get your keys. I need to go in the car and get you some medicine so you feel better, Mommy."

2. Marino is turning into quite the backseat driver. The other day we were waiting to turn left at a light. Marino said "There's a green light." "Yeah it is", I said. " Well...maybe we can go?" he replied.

1. Marino's 11 year old brother Quintyn (my stepson) is visiting for the first time since Marino was born (he lives in Iowa). The connection between them was immediate - especially amazing since Marino tends to take a while to warm up to people. He told me that night "I love my brother. He's so wonderful and he's so pretty." Every morning he wakes up and says "We gotta go wake up Quintyn so I can see him." He doesn't have any jealousy towards him. Pretty beautiful stuff.

6 on Friday (Bonus this week!)

As always, here are 6 special reasons I am loving my boy this week:

6. My dad mailed Marino a dragon to go with his Melissa and Doug castle. When Marino opened it, he announced, "Oh, it's a dragon! This is so wonderful!"

5. The other morning, Marino said "Come here, Mommy. I need to tell you something." When I sat next to him, he said "I need to tell you to lay down and snuggle with me."

4. At Pacey's birthday party on Saturday, Marino and Pacey were having a great time together. At one point Marino asked her "Pacey, will you be my best friend?"

3. One of the toys that lives in my car is Buddy the T.Rex from Dinosaur Train. Buddy is interactive but he ends up talking pretty much every time we go over a bump. The other day he started chattering after a bump and Marino said "Oh Buddy, just be quiet"

2. Its about a billion degrees here right now so last night we met up with Sarah and Claire at McDonald's so the kids could play in the PlayPlace. You would have thought we were at Disney World all the fun they were having. At one point, 2 older kids (11ish and 9ish) were standing in front of the entrance to the tree house. Marino took one look at them and announced "I mad at those peoples!", crossed his arms and stomped off. The kids (and I) thought this was hilarious and tried to convince him to come back.

1. Marino has been doing awesome with his potty training. He pees in the potty several times a day, even waking up to go and holding it for 10 minutes yesterday in traffic until we made it to school. It's still a work in progress but I'm really proud of how well he is doing!

Tony is 2!

July is always a busy birthday month for us! The weekend before last we headed to My Gym for Tony's 2nd birthday party.

Marino and the birthday boy both happened to have on the same shirt.

As you can see, everyone had a great time. Tony is adorable and growing so fast!

Sabrina

As I mentioned, Sabrina is the daughter of one of my best friends. I've known her since she was born - literally - I was in the hospital driving her mom crazy discussing inane 17 year old gossip while she was in labor. Her whole life, we knew she was special. You know how some kids just have that sparkle - they are born leaders and command attention everywhere they go? That's Sabrina. She's beautiful, talented (she's a dancer and an awesome basketball point guard) and, at 15, still wonderful and fun to be around. I'm so incredibly proud of the woman she is becoming and I can't wait to see what amazing things she will do in the future.

We had a great time visiting Georgetown while she was here - having lunch and shopping. Awesome girl time!

I know, she's beautiful!

Visiting with Old Friends

After Marino's birthday party(ies), we got a chance to visit with some of our favorite people. My best friend, Sonia, and her family spent the night with us, which was wonderful for us and the kids. And Sabrina, my other BFF's 15 year old daughter stayed with us for a few days.

Evan came up with the idea to build a fire to keep bugs away at night and roast s'mores. The only probably it was like 90 degrees, so the fire made it pretty unbearable (in my opinion, Evan likes the heat). Here's Wil, Evan and Sabrina sweating...

How gorgeous is Sabrina?!

Are these 3 adorable or what? They love each other and it melts my heart. This one below with the BIG HUG is my favorite!
A third sister is on the way in December!
Sunday night, my mom took us out to dinner to celebrate Marino's birthday. We went to my favorite restaurant, Taste of Saigon. Marino LOVES pho and was happy to have "spaghetti soup" for dinner. This was Sabrina's first time eating Vietnamese and she loved it, too.

Smiling with Gramma.

Monday was the 4th of July and we were all pretty lazy (especially Marino and I, who took a 3 hour nap). We went to watch fireworks in the evening but ended up having to watch them from a nearby field. Marino still talks about them...they definitely made an impression. Sabrina was Marino's stylist while she was here...she picked out lots of cute outfits for him!

These two drove each other nuts, but they love each other!

3 Year Stats

We had Marino's 3 year check up today. Everything is great - his lungs were clear, his development is great (advanced, even) and everyone was super impressed with his language/vocabulary.

His weight is 31 pounds (this number is debatable...he was 29 lbs just 2 weeks ago and was squirming around on the scale), which puts him in the 43rd percentile.

His height is 37 inches, which puts him in the 29th percentile. The doctor said she would guess he will be around 5'9 or 5'10 when he's finished growing.

5 on Friday (on Saturday)

Sorry, I'm a day late on this post!
Here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week:

5. Marino has a special name for passing gas in the tub; he's named them "bubble toots."

4. On the way to school the other day, Marino announced "I'm the Daddy. Delaney is the mommy. Chance is the baby". After we got to school, he put a doll in a stroller and announced "I'm a dad!"

3. Wednesday was my birthday and Marino insisted on the way to daycare that he didn't want to go to school but wanted to go to my birthday party. He was really confused and upset when I explained I wasn't having one. I asked him who he would invite to a birthday party for me and he said "Pap Pap, Gramma, Grampa Ray, Aunt Sonia..."

2. The other day we were reading the story "I Love You, Too", which is about different animals (and people) giving gifts to their mothers (they call all the mothers "mama"). "Are you the mama?" Marino asked me, "I love you. You give me a big hug, please?"

1. The night before Marino's birthday party, as I was putting him to bed, I told him that the next day was his party and it was a special day where we would celebrate him and that he was my favorite person in the world. "Yeah" he said, "I'm the king."

Marino's 3rd Birthday Party

Last Saturday was Marino's big birthday bash. We had his party at Romp N Roll again this year...I really like the help with set up/clean up and the climate control (Maryland tends to be oppressively hot and humid in July). Marino had a great time celebrating with about 20 friends, along with their parents and other family members.

My friend's daughter, Sabrina, asked me how I knew everyone at the party and it was amazing to think of how I know all the amazing people in our life. From friends Evan and I made in middle school, to friends made in the NICU, at daycare, work friends, family friends, college friends, cousins, friends made in swim class, on a preemie message board...we are so blessed to have so many diverse, interesting and loving people in our lives.

I made the mistake of trying to make a fancy cake by myself. NEVER AGAIN! Luckily, three year olds are not judgemental about cake aesthetics...








After the party, we had a small cookout at home with our family and family friends. It was a hot day, but not getting outside until 5pm made it bearable. The kids were loving the new inflatable pool (birthday gift from Pap Pap).

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us!!