Kitchen Helper

Rocco is so helpful smashing the Oreos for the crust of our New Year's Eve Oreo Cheesecake :)

Peek a Boo!

Pasta! Pasta! Pasta!

My bambino is a true Italian. He loves his pasta, but also loves my Italian mama's homemade sauce. Even if he is tired, he continues on strong like any good Dego, because it tastes oh-so-good! We love that Rocco is a pasta machine!

Bear Down!

Sean and I went to the Bear's game when they came to town against the Broncos with some of our best friends. We had an awesome time! Tailgating, great weather, touchdowns, 50 yard line seats, breaking records, overtime.....what could be better?

Oh yea, the Bears winning and not turning the ball over would have been better.

Regardless, we had an awesome time! Thanks to Jerica and Pattie for babysitting Rocky all day!







Cheering the Bears on from home....

Rocco Loves to Dance!

Feeding the ducks at City Park

This morning we took Rocco to feed the ducks some leftover bread at the lagoon at City Park. It didn't take long for Rocco to catch on to what we were doing. He was pointing and saying "duh! duh! burr! burr!" for 'duck' and 'bird'

We had to high tail it out of there because the ducks started hissing and chasing us once we ran out of bread!

Location:Denver, CO

Bead Maze

He plays with this bead maze toy for 20-30 minutes at a time! He's so serious about his bead work! And as my mom and sister astutely pointed out, he's also so PROUD of himself!

Look alikes

Rocco looks so much like my big brother :)

Happy Birthday, Rocco!

Rocco had a wonderful birthday with family and friends! Yummy brunch at Devil's Food, lots of celebrating over good eats. Grandma and Papa spoiled him with wonderful gifts and a fancy dinner out to Linger. Aunt Amanda gave him a favorite Borho toy and lots of hugs and kisses. Cousin Ella kept a rigorous training schedule teaching Rocco to walk. And baby Kate? She's still unsure what she thinks of the big boy Rocco :)

After dinner, Auntie Nel hosted a small party for those who have loved Rocco so well in his first year at her bake shop. Everyone who was either at Rocco's birth or there within a couple hours, celebrated with cupcakes, coffee, and wonderful gifts! Rocky loved his jumbo cupcake! (pictures to come)

Rocco. You are such a sweet, smart, wonderful boy who we love so tenderly and marvel over each day! Happy Birthday, son! We love you!

Location:Sugar Bakeshop, Denver, CO

Beep! Beep!

You're not old enough yet Rocco!

Friends!

Rocco can't get enough of his friend Harper. He's quite taken with her, even if she is one year and one day older.

They like to do things like share juice .... and chase each other around.

Actually, he's given Harper two hugs so far! I've seen him give me, sean, and Pattie hugs voluntarily, but that's it!

Harper is one lucky gal!

Friends forever!
...or until they discover cooties!

Happy Halloween!

Roooooaaarrr!

We were able to snap this adorable picture of our little lion and Pattie on his first Halloween :)




It seems like only yesterday that October 31 was our due date, and here we are with an almost 1 year old in a sweet lion costume that he picked out at the store! Whew! A year goes by fast!

Happy Halloween!

Cheese Face

Yummmm! I LOVE shredded cheese!

Big Brother

...who me?

Yes, Rocco! You! You're going to be a big brother in April!

Yea, you're going to have to learn how to share your toys, you can't just sit on and guard all your favorites, like these blocks.

Boston and Nantucket

Ahhh, vacation! And what better way to spend it than with some of your best friends in the whole world?

Pattie, Andy, Sean, Rocco, and myself headed out to Boston for a few days. Met up with Jonathan, who showed us around Harvard's campus, some of his favorite places to eat, little Italy, glass flower exhibit, arboretum, Freedom Trail and much more! Oh, and the B's won the Stanley Cup!

Catch crack of dawn bus, check!

Catch mud morning ferry, check!

Arrive on Nantucket Island by lunchtime!

We were greeted and hosted by Andy's aunt, who showed us a great time!

We lounged on the beach and waited for Curt and Jerica to arrive! They finally got there and the party officially started!!

Beach football, sunsets, brewery, winery, lobster, games, Peggy!, cigars, bonfires, etc etc etc!

What a memorable trip :) You can check out loads of pictures and details on Pattie's blog! http://andyandpattie.blogspot.com/2011/06/nantucket-trip.html

It left us all saying, where are we vacationing next?!

Rocky hiking in the Rockies

We've enjoyed sharing various activities and hobbies with our little guy. Here's a quick look at what looks like these days....





Hiking to Dream Lake at Rocky Mountain National Park

Monster Splash!

Bath time is getting more and more fun! It's so neat to see Rocco splash and kick and say, "ARGGGH'" and look at us like - woah, mom and dad! did you just see what I did!!? -

Little boy also needs more baths now that he's all grown up eating solid foods! Each day is an adventure, and regular activities like baths just get more fun!

Here's a quick photo of the splashy little monster :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Go Cubs, Go!

Rocco's first CUBS game! He was the cutest little Cubby fan there! Unfortunately the Cubs got a whoopin from the Rockies, but it was still fun to go to get happies with Uncle Matt and Aunt Laura, go to Coors Field, eat some sunflower seeds, and huddle together to stay warm! Rocco stayed awake for 3 innings, it's sad to say but I think our Cubby Bears followed his lead.

Bananas?

First day of solid foods...
Naps were getting shorter, feedings were closer together, my good little sleeper turned into a grazing night owl for a week...

And for my first act, how about bananas?!

Location:Elm St,Denver,United States

After a Walk

Here's a sweet progression of smiles after a great walk today! The weather has been great, mid 60s-70s for a few weeks now with a random cold day here and there. Looks like the sunshine did it's job with little man's low spirits as he battles his run-in with cold #2!

Spring training

Who's ready for a little baseball?

I guess spring training will have to do!

GO CUBS, GO!


Spring Training at the Dio house includes:

- tummy time
- singing back and forth with coos and ahhs
- pulling up with little support to sitting position
- never staying in the sitting position long before wanting to stand
- napping 3-4 times a day
- plenty of time in the bjorn with 1 or 2 walks a day in this beautiful weather!

Sleeping on the go

My sweet boy got so comfortable in one I'd his favorite sets of arms this morning at church! While Pattie was chatting with a few people, Rocker zonked out!

Baptism

Today our sweet little man was baptized. He took it like a champ!
So wonderful to know he us marked with God's grace and love.

We had a wonderful lunch together with mom, dad, Hillary, Spencer, matt, Laura, Andy (no Pats) at the Elm. Even though our Rocco is in the thick of it with his first cold, he managed to have a good time, sleeping through the entire lunch!

It was hard to say goodbye to mom and dad but so grateful and blessed for the time we had together! So touched that they came out for a quick trip for the baptism in the middle if tax season! They make so many wonderful sacrifices for their children and grandchildren, they are phenomenal!


Our good friends, Christi and Barry baptized Claire this weekend, too!

Mom & Dad Getaway

My mom and dad came out for a quick visit for Rocky's baptism Sunday! We packed in the fun from the minute I picked them up at the train station Friday morning to dropping them off Sunday evening! It's so much fun having them here! They love the majestic Rockies, they now have some favorite spots they like to hit up when they come, and as always they are down for trying new things!

My dad took most of the pictures on their trip, he usually sends me a picture cd. Hopefully I can get my act together and post a few more pics when the cd arrives, but for now, here's a snapshot of my cute papa at Stueben's with the Sarurday edition of the Denver Post.




Here is a quick run thru of the variety of activities we managed to squeeze in:

- Duschaunbe Tea House in Boulder

- Celestial Seasonings in Boulder

- Pepoercorn on Pearl Street in Boulder

- Wynkoop Brewery for happies

- Stueben's for brunch ( as seen on the Food Network)

- masterpiece theatre North&South

- Italian home cooking for dinner

- farkle!

- chocolate wine

- chocolove



Thanks for visiting! As always, we had a blast and wish you could stay longer! Love you!

My Chatty Guy

Rocco has been talking up a storm lately. I was lucky enough to get some video.

When does Rocco chat most often?

in his carseat

in his crib

in my arms

on his playmat

on his back

on the changing table

during breaks while feeding

in his bouncy chair

in the bjorn

When doesn't Rocco chat?

when he's sleeping

Rocco, November 10, 2010, 14:18:01-14:21:02 PM

As I sit here at the computer with my son sleeping in my arms, I'm brought to a variety of video clips of my little guy over the past three months. It's so amazing how much he's changed!

I came across this sweet video of Rocco's first minutes of life, which has only been witnessed by the docs, friends, and family who were present at the time of birth. So happy and proud to share his first 3 minutes and 01 second of life with you :)

Enjoy!

After coming home from Curt and Jerica's house tonight, Rocco had a great time just hanging in his car seat looking at his two wiped out parents on the love seat in his room. We love all the little squeals and smiles he's been producing lately :) We had to grab the Flip to document our growing and changing little boy.

Queen's Architectural Salvage

Sean, Jerica, Emily, Isaac, and myself decided to go back to the salvage today :) My Aunt Bee asked me to post some pictures from the salvage.


















After finding some odds and ends, everyone needs a good window pane or two, hearing great stories from Tom the Bossman, traipsing through junk and potential gems with friends, choosing 4 doorknobs out of a variety of 800 or more, we ended up loading up the car with $88 worth of great finds, great memories, and creative juices flowing freely through Sean and I.

It's Friday!

Rocco and I have done so many fun things the last couple of weeks from the children's museum to the rodeo, to coffee dates and lunch dates, to walks in beautiful 50-65 degree weather, to watching football with daddy, finding a great salvage yard, visiting the girls at Fancy Tiger, shopping at Patagonia, going to book club and community group, to supper club, and much much more!

Today, Christi & Claire picked us up to meet Jerica for lunch! We had a great time and both Claire and Rocco were, again, amazing kiddos!

Here's a few pictures from our outing!


Jer making Rocco smile and smile!





Christi and little Claire :)





Both eating their hands for lunch! Yummy!

Speaking of Curt....

I love it when he's holding Rocco and telling him how's he's his favorite little man and he gives him sweet smooches. Again, we are so blessed to have such amazing friends who love our son.

YEE-HAW!!!

the Glassick's scored some cheap seats at the Rodeo, so the Glassick's, Jones', and DiLeonardi's saddled up for a night of beers, boots, and bulls! Rocco definitely needs a little cowboy hat and cowboy boots now :) Oh, and I loved Curt's stache. He totally looked the part.

Thanks for taking the pictures PATTIE!

G is for Gideon

Just a simple G on a simple onesie for sweet little Gideon David.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cuddly in my Cardigan

Yesterday, while visiting with good friends Ally and Dave, Rocco was as happy as can be just sitting on my lap. I just started wrapping the sides of my super long cardigan around him for fun. As we were just chatting away I realized that my boy had zonked out and fell asleep. I love cuddly moments with little Rocco, they don't happen too often when Rocco initiates cuddle time! He's too curious to be cuddily :)

Thanks Ally for capturing this sweet moment!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Andy and Rocco

I have to take a minute to document a sweet Rocco moment. Earlier tonight, Rocco was getting a tad fussy and Andy sat down next to him and just started talking about all sorts of things to our little man. He was captivated by Andy and talked back with coos and ahhs! It was almost as if he was wanting to tell Andy something of grave importance and worked hard to chatter back. Rocco and Andy had a great conversation going as if they were old pals! It was too much!

He also gave huge smiles to Andy, showing off his cute baby gums! I'll never get over his little smiles, coos, sneezes, and yawns!

It's so neat to see such good friends share sweet moments with Rocco. That was probably the best part of my night.

Rocco is a smiley dude!

Rocco is such a smiley guy in the morning! He's starting to coo and chuckle a little bit :) I love talking to him and him smiling back to me. I love this little guy!

Rocco is 2 months old!

My Rocco Baby is 2 months old today!

November 10, 2010
8lbs 6oz
20.5 inches

January 10, 2011
12lbs 6oz
24 inches


He's in the 87 percentile for height and 66 percentile for weight! And as sweet as can be!

Location:Rocco is 2 months old!

My Little Hodag

Rocco's sporting his new Hodag shirt! Thanks Grandma!

This gets me excited for the next family vacation! Rocco will be a big kid next time :)

Location:Elm St,Denver,United States