Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!

February 10 was Amedeo's Birthday! He has made it to the ripe old age of 2, so we decided to celebrate with an excess of presents. Of them all, my favorite is the easel from IKEA. I LOVE drawing on the chalkboard. I suppose Amedeo thinks it's ok.


Dear Cousin Finn, Uncle Morgan, and Aunt Debbie gave Amedeo this tool set! He can screw and unscrew things to his heart's content. Not pictured is a doctor's set....also very generously given by Auntie D and Uncle MoMo. Like Finn, Amedeo enjoys giving everyone (including the cats) shots. He might be a teensy bit sadistic. Thanks, Finn, for the awesome presents!!!


Here is his Bean Box. He can pour and dump, etc....all day. Cheap and versatile toy. I truly hope that he does not become a Bean Counter when he grows up. If he does, it will be my fault.


Pietro and Amedeo with the cars...of course, more cars and trucks for his special day! You might have noticed that Pietro has grown a goatee. He felt he needed one so he could completely embrace his evil plans.


Amedeo also got a blizzard for his birthday. I think he asked for snowplows, not more snow, so a few wires got crossed. Sorry, folks.

The birthday boy eating his birthday dinner.


Roasted potatoes, salad, beans, and pork tenderloin...all of which was consumed with the help of ketchup. I am considering investing my retirement funds in ketchup stock. We buy it in bulk.



Amedeo's cake...chocolate!


Standard cake-eating shot...

Dear, Amedeo,

You are an awesome little boy. We love you so much. You are sweet and loving and smart. We are lucky to have you in our lives. We wish you much happiness in your life and especially on your future birthdays.

love,
Mama and Poppy.

PS...Happy V-Day! Hope everyone feels the love today...if not, here are some hugs and kisses for you XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO!

A little bit of snow

Last weekend, we had some snow fall. Enough to make a nice snowman! It was tremendous fun, though a little slushy near the end.

I knit a pair of mittens for Amedeo at the beginning of winter. The hassle has always been how to keep the darn things on him. I discovered that tape helps a bunch.


And then...we got a wee bit more snow.

Our cats are NOT pleased. You can see that Zenzero (the far cat) is covering the heating grate with his whole body.

Unlike our cats, who hate the snow, I love it. Pietro loves it. Fortunately, Amedeo loves it too!
This was when it was still snowing on Saturday morning. There was only 25" on the ground then.
It was a good thing that Pietro left the shovel on the porch since we couldn't even get to the garage to start making a path.


Here is after the snow stopped falling...we wound up with about 28" in our yard. Amedeo is examining the structural integrity of the snow walls.



Here is a mountain of snow that's at the end of our driveway. We aren't totally shoveled out yet. The plow hasn't come through, so there isn't much point in doing the last section.

Here is a picture from early this morning. Beautiful blue skies and calm winds. It was totally silent. That's one thing I really like about the snow. I don't hear the car noises. Everyone was stuck! We hope everyone is having fun playing in the snow....Pietro and Amedeo can't stay out of it!

January 28...

is Nonno Romi's Birthday!!! Happy 81st Birthday, Nonno!!!! Buon Cumpleanno, Nonno!!!
Amedeo ha fatto un video per te! Pietro ha detto che sei un vecchietto. La Brenna pensa che sei un joveincello.

Tanti auguri!!!

Sometimes...

It is mighty tough to put this child to bed. Here, he escaped from the shower so he could ride his train one last time.

Look!

Look at this big mess, Mama! You really need to get on top of this cleaning job of yours!

Ikea trip

We went to Ikea yesterday to pick up a few hundred things and came home with this very useful stool. Amedeo is a stringbean, but he is still heavy to pick up and haul to the sink and force him to handwash. He likes the idea of doing it himself.

Stools make him HAPPY!


The first thing he did was drink from the tap. I think he saw the cat doing this...


He's got the hang of it!



And he even got the towel idea.
We also went to Ikea today. I bought a table yesterday and forgot a bracket. I called the store last night. They said that it was in stock and I just had to go and get one. HA HA HA! I get to the store this morning...there are NONE. @#@_#((_%! After hounding the manager, they finally decided to make an exception and have one mailed to me. Gee thanks, Ikea, for wasting my time.

Christmas Update and Happy New Year!

While the snow was still falling, Pietro went out to take a few pictures at night.



These next few are from Christmas Eve. We decided to take advantage of the remaining snow and do a little path digging for Amedeo and the cats. The snow was so deep that the cats couldn't walk around and they were starting to go stir crazy in the house.


Violet appreciated the paths...she could finally walk around a small part of the yard.


We had a good time sledding down our hill. It is a good hill for toddlers...it doesn't go too fast and the walk up the hill isn't too long. Here are Poppy and Amedeo flying down the hill. A few times, we sent Amedeo down by himself...he seemed to like it.


Amedeo didn't care for walking up the hill, so we transported him...oh, the life!


One of the problems with having a fence at the bottom of the hill, is that you can smash into it face first. I wound up rolling off the inner tube to avoid that.


After mass, grandma decided to give Amedeo an early present....a suitcase!!! Now, he's all ready to head to Switzerland in the spring!


And, of course, the picture of all the loot on Christmas morning! It was great to have a white Christmas!


Amedeo playing with his cutting set...fruit and veggies that he can slice.


Pietro and Amedeo see the possibilites with these awesome wood blocks...thanks Uncle Morgan, Aunt Debbie and Finn! (This is one of Pietro's favorite presents. He often plays with them after Amedeo goes down for a nap so his structures don't get knocked down.)


Playdoh...

These are Automoblox...little cars that you can snap apart and together. Now we have little pieces all over the house!


Grandma and Grandpa went a little crazy and got Amedeo a firehouse/police station. He's having a good time playing "house"...feeding the firemen pizza and eggs (his two favorite things to cook.)

And, a picture of all of us on Christmas. Pietro got me a tripod...it comes in very handy!


I feel very thankful that we had a great 2009. I hope that 2010 is as much fun. I wish I had the discipline to make a handful of New Year's Resolutions, but I don't. I look forward to the New Year and New Decade!