Summer Fun Time

Yet again, it's been way too long since my last post. We've done so much that last few months, so much that I've forgotten a lot of it! Here are some pictures.

J.R. had ribs for the first time.

Being cute on a Saturday morning.

Obviously, Hockey time!

Yummy, J.R. LOVES ice cream!

We went to Manhattan Beach and went to Dodgers games!

Before the Dodgers game they had a fan appreciation day.  J.R. had a blast!

Daddy and J.R. went to the Angels game in the afternoon then a Stanley Cup playoff game that same night at the LA Kings. What a lucky boy!

J.R. at the house on the beach we rented for a week of summer fun!

Disneyland.. we took this picture for Auntie Lori!

First corndog!

Winning at the carnival games!

Right before the 3D movie!

In Iowa for my Great Aunt's burial in Des Moines. This is a  pond at the cemetery and there are TONS of ducks!  This is the same cemetery that my grandmother is buried, J.R.'s great grandma.

Hibachi dinner!

First time using chopsticks!

This is J.R.'s very first playmate, Audrey. They have been friends since birth!

J.R. had 4 weeks of swimming lessons! He is now a  fish, he can swim the crawl all the way across the pool, (longways)! He does have goggles and fins but for 3 1/2 that is fantastic!

I remember when I took pictures of J.R. sleeping  and he was a small nugget in his crib. He's so BIG now! We just measured him, he's 43" tall!

AJ, J.R.'s cousin came to visit for a few weeks. They got to play hockey a lot during AJ's visit!

What a great picture! Left to right, J.R., AJ and  Tony!

J.R. beat me bowling.

We went to visit the Mirage's dolphin exhibit during AJ's visit.

Tournament of Kings!

Arcade

After laser tag!

J.R. LOVES AJ, can you tell?

During AJ's visit we went to 3 Angel's games. One game had the Goo Goo Dolls play after the game and we went on the field. 

J.R. after a movie, I think AJ is worn out!

Lunch at BJ's!

Sandi's birthday!

June

It's been WAY too long since my last post and I've missed posting so many things that I know I won't remember. I've had computer issues so I have no pictures to post just a few funny J.R. comments and stories that I don't want to forget and always want to remember.

This last weekend J.R. wanted to play baseball with his daddy. We can play baseball inside with soft styrofoam balls. So Tony told J.R. to gather 8 balls and then he would pitch to J.R. As I'm sitting there watching J.R. he goes to the "pitchers mound" and drops all the balls and says, "Why is everything so difficult?" then he slaps his knee. This guy is so theatrical!

J.R.'s new thing is complimenting mommy. He compliments my hair, my nails, my soft skin. The other day he said he loved my dress and requested that I pick him up from school wearing my pretty dress. He also has a new saying, "Mommy, I like your style." He says this daily. Yesterday as we were walking up the stairs to go to bed, J.R. told me I was the prettiest girl in the world but he asked that I not tell daddy that he said that otherwise daddy would "hulksmash" him.Where he picks this stuff up, I do not know but ladies watch out, he is going to be a sweet talker!

This kid is the biggest hugger you have ever met! He asked for 20 hugs a day.... literally. He always wants hugs and LOVES to cuddle in bed and watch tv. I'm loving this phase!

J.R. is going to have a fun month of July. He's staying home the entire month and our friend Sandi is going to be his nanny. J.R. is starting to say he dosen't like school, so he needs a break! We have him signed up for swim lessons daily and hockey basics class once a week! Plus AJ is coming to visit for at least 10 days in July. J.R. LOVES AJ! When AJ and Alenea were here in May J.R. was AJ's shadow. It was so adorable to see!

I'll be posting pictures from the last few months in a few days!

Fun Weekend!

We had such a fun weekend. Friday I took the day off, well kind of, as much as I could take off and J.R. and I spent the day together. He had an ENT doctor appointment that morning. Good news, no tubes yet.. keep your fingers crossed! Then J.R., Tony and I went out for lunch at my favorite place, Red Velvet Cafe. This is a Vegan restaurant which has non-vegan options and it's SO good! We go there so much J.R. says he wants to go to a different restaurant! After that J.R. and I went to get him summer shoes. We found some washable sandals from Pedipeg in Henderson. You might think our day was done but oh no, not in the Zaino household, we went to the Wrangler's Hockey game that night. J.R. didn't get to bed until 10:30pm! Here are some pictures from the hockey game.

J.R. ate his first hot dog! He was showing me it was in his mouth!

Having a little H20.

He has no hearing issues, he says it's, "too loud".

Saturday Tony, J.R., Uncle Scott and I went up the mountain to Mount Charleston. We rode a horse carriage then went up the mountain on a trail to have a snowball fight.

J.R. is actually driving the horse carriage!

This is a VERY serious situation here, check out the concentration.

Snow ball fight!

Sunday we took it easy and hung around the house, went out for lunch and played across the park across the street. Oh yes and ate ice cream sandwiches, that's our new favorite thing!

So I'll leave you with one cute story. J.R. asked me to show him how to work the remote. I kind of ignored him then he brought the remote over to me and said, "Mama with teamwork we can do this together!". Really.. I know all parents think their kids are funny and cute you can now officially add us to that list of parents. I never thought we'd be those!



Pictures

Lots of Pictures to post from the last few months!

We have been SO busy the last few months. Here are some pictures that I've finally downloaded.

We went to Chicago for a week and a half the beginning of January to visit Nana and Papa. We had so much fun and the weather was actually unseasonably warm. We hauled all of Tony's and J.R.'s hockey stuff from Vegas and they could only play hockey one day during our trip.

We took Nana, Papa and Auntie Lori to Pizzeria Due after going to the Shedd Aquarium. This is Tony and my favorite pizza place!

Here's a picture of J.R. at the airport on the way home to Vegas after our Chicago trip. He was such a good boy on the plane!

B

Happy 3rd Birthday J.R. Zaino! We LOVE you! Nana, Papa and Auntie Lori got J.R. TWO cakes; one Spongebob and one Blackhawks cake. This guy got so many birthday parties this year, he's one special boy!

Here's J.R. at the Blackhawks game with has daddy. It's SO loud in there Tony brought the noise cancelling headphones.

J.R. hanging out at Nana and Papa's house.

J.R. and daddy riding the bus from O'Hare airport to the car rental place. J.R. loved this, he thought it was so much fun!

Here's the second J.R. birthday cake!

We had J.R.'s birthday party in Vegas when we got back from our Chicago trip. We had a birthday party at the Wrangler's Hockey Arena then went to the game after the party. Duke (the mascot) came to visit during the party and J.R. gave Duke a hug. I'll have to post those pictures soon, once I find them.



Here's J.R. dressed up before Toy Story on Ice. This was a fun night until the end of the show. We ended up in the ER that night with an ear ache. Only the second of the year, this year. Last year we had 7 ear aches! We are going to an ear nose throat doctor Friday to see if we should get tubes???

Here's my guy in Chicago again during our January trip. If you notice he's holding a Blackhawks cookie that his Auntie Lori bought him from a delicious bakery.

Here's J.R. during his first "professional" hair cut. I've been cutting his hair since he turned one. He did really good. This picture was the beginning of the process.

Okay, I'm obsessed with the underwear pictures. He looks SO cute in his underwear! I'll have to pull these pictures out when he has his first girlfriend over at our house.

Here's J.R. in the tub! He made a beard with the bubbles.

Okay, this is J.R.'s classroom. He goes to Candilhall 5 full days a week. This was the Easter party at his school. J.R. is sitting next to his BEST friend Gavril. Gavril is the little boy in the red shirt. J.R. and Gavril have such a special friendship. Their teacher says she's never seen anything like it before, they fight like they're an old married couple.

Here's Uncle Scott and J.R. in the pool a few nights ago. It was already 98 degrees here and it's April!

This is after the pool fun with Uncle Scott.

The other morning, I went to wake up J.R. and there he was quietly playing hockey with his hockey guys.

This is towards the end of the haircut. I am admitting now, I had to cut some more layers into his haircut. It was a little too Justin Bieber for me.

J.R. sleeping in his crib a few months ago. He is crazy about the blankets surrounding his crib and making tents. Yes, J.R. is 3 and we still have him in his crib. He likes his crib and doesn't climb out. I'm really weary to set up his toddler bed. His room is right next to the stairs and they are wood. I worry J.R. may sleepwalk and somehow take a wrong turn and fall down the stairs. For now I'm keeping the motto, "If it's not broke don't fix it!"



YES YES YES

It's official... WE ARE POTTY TRAINED!!

I told J.R. he had to go all week without an accident before he could wear his Spongebob underwear... well he did it! 

Today we went to the Clark county fair about an hour away from Vegas and he did SO good, he made it the whole way there and back without a potty stop. I had our portable potty in the car just in case! We spent all day at the fair with our friends and friends of J.R.'s and he didn't have an accident.. he went potty twice while at the fair. I was pretty impressed AND J.R. went into the Men's bathroom by himself. The girls line was so long he would NEVER make it and no one offered for him to "cut" in line so I sent him off by himself to the men's bathroom and he went all by himself and even washed his hands! 

Onto another subject that continually amazes me.... J.R. has the best timing.. he's soaking up all the one liners he hears on t.v. and in conversation between people. The other day he was putting away his toys and after he was done he says, "See mom, that was easy as pie!" I'm thinking where did he pick this up, then a few days later we were watching Peppa the Pig. This has turned into one of his FAVORITE shows and I heard Peppa and her dad say it!

We have a fun busy two months coming up. We have grandpa, a friend from Chicago and Alenea and AJ visiting. We are going to Manhattan Beach for a week and bringing our friend Sandi with us so she can help out with J.R. Also, we are so excited for the month of July. Our friend Sandi is going to take the month off work to spend it with our family. She is going to watch J.R. for us so he can stay home and have a summer vacation! He always LOVES to stay home. This guys would be a home body if I let him. He never wants to go to school because he loves his home so much. Just tonight he said, "Mama, the only time I'm sad is when I miss you, daddy and Uncle Scott when I'm at school." Tell me that didn't make me feel bad that I'm a working mom but that's okay.. I know I'm doing the best thing for him. He's such a well rounded kid and so sociable and I contribute school as the reason why. 

One last thing to post. Last week, J.R. decided to share his huge firehouse that he got from Santa with his classmates. What a sweet kid. I worry we spoil him way too much since he's our only but this really made me feel like we are doing something right!

It's been way too long!

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post. J.R. has gone though so many changes! The latest change is that we are potty trained! We've been trying for a few months, bribing with anything we could think of but he just wasn't interested in pooping on the potty. He would pee pee all day long but refused to poop. Well Friday night while I was at a play, Tony was watching J.R. at home and what do you know, he pooped on the potty! All weekend he pooped but never when I was around, only when Tony was with him. J.R. told Tony once that he "sat on the toilet so long, his butt aged 20 years and now he has no control over his poops." Finally, last night I saw with my own eyes that J.R. is indeed poop trained! J.R. liked to yell, "Fire on the poop deck." when he has to go number two, it's a riot to see!

This kid is so funny, I'm so sad I've missed so many funny things he's said over the last few months. I remember a few because I posted them on FB. Here's some of the gems I never want to forget:

1. As I give him a kiss he turns his head, I kiss his eye socket and he responds, "Mom, that hurt on so many levels."

2. As I'm walking out to my car one morning he says, "Mom, I hope everyone at your work likes your belt."

3.  Were started to "officially" potty train and use only underwear, no diapers, as I'm putting on his underwear he says, "It's about time you put my underwear on, now I'll poop in the potty!"

4. As he's sitting outside by our pool relaxing in his little chair he leans back and says, "Wow, life is good."

He is like a sponge and remembers everything he hears but the fascinating thing is  he knows when to use the one liner's he hears. It keeps Tony and I in check and chuckling to ourselves daily.

I hope to get back to posting now that work may have slowed down a little.