Rocco is FOUR!

Our sweet, handsome, crazy little Rocco is FOUR!! WOW!

Here are Rocco's 4 year growth stats:
Weight: 39lbs 12 oz (77th %ile)
Height: 41 3/4 inches (85 %ile)
BMI: 16.02

Here are some things about Rocco:
* Rocco really, really enjoys school. He goes 3 mornings a week (from 9am - 1pm). And, he gets a big smile on his face the second we walk through the school doors. And, when we leave school, it's so cute how all of the little people in the classroom say goodbye to Rocco (and some same "Rocky).

* For the longest time when we'd ask Rocco who his friends at school were, he would say "I don't know". Typical boy, right? Now, if you ask him who his friends are he'll tell you Ian, Rafael, Sebastian, Liam, Elliot, Halleigh, and Anika.

* And, unfortunately for Rocco, there aren't a TON of boys his age right in our neighborhood. The boys on our street all seem to be 7 and older. But, he's become good friends with the twin girls, Kelsey & Avery, who live across the street and happen to be almost a year older than him. And, when Kiley and Gracie (10 & 8 yrs old) come over to play with Gabby, they're such sweet girls that they always include Rocco in the play as well. Gabby and Rocco also often walk with K & G when they're walking their dog in the neighborhood.

* Sometimes, when I go to pick Rocco up from school, the girls in his class will tell me that he "gets" them and pretends to be a monster. And, I've noticed that his buddy Ian will always say "Bye Rocco", followed by a growl, monster face and claw hand stretched out at us, at the end of the day when I pick Rocco up.

* Rocco is so cute in that he's always calling me *his best girl*. I. LOVE. THIS. I seriously, truly LOVE being his *best girl*!! At night when I kiss & hug him goodnight he'll always remind me again that *I'm his best girl*. So, I always tell him that he's *my best 4 year old boy*, and how much I love him. He's going to be a little heart-breaker, this fellow!

* Rocco LOVES to wrestle his daddy. If he could wrestle Dan 24 hours a day, he would. Rocco and Dan will wrestle, they'll pretend to be transformers (and Dan has become REALLY good at acting like a transformer... as has Rocco), they're sword fight, punch each other playfully, and hunt for bad guys throughout the house with a variety of guns and weaponry. Dan is Rocco's dream daddy... and likewise, Rocco is Dan's dream child. Dan can act like a kid, and I don't have a problem with it because it's keeping one of the kids happy! And, it is truly fun and entertaining to watch the two of them together.

* And, because of the above bullet point... Rocco calls Dan *his best buddy*. And, I truly believe Rocco thinks of his daddy as his very best friend. Dan LOVES having the *best buddy* label. He loves that when he calls home from business trips, Rocco asks to talk to his *best buddy*. Or, the fact that Rocco will tell me when Dan is gone that *he misses his best buddy*. But, when Dan gets mad at Rocco about something or has to punish him for something... Rocco is also very quick to yell "You ARE NOT my best buddy!". Well... I guess life can't always be dreamy, right?! ha!

* Rocco's comfort item is his blankey. He has had this blanket since he was 11 months old, and it was a gift my mom made for him. It's a blue and brown blanket with a football pattern on it. It's got frilly edges and it's made out of fleece. Rocco LOVES this thing. It was been chewed on, sucked on, fought over (with him & Matteo), brought on vacations, etc. He can NOT go to bed without it. He WILL NOT go to bed without it. He now refers to it as his "tickley"... and when he calls for his "tickley" we all know we must go and hunt for the tickley blanket.

* Rocco's toes are WILDLY ticklish! He screams like a little girl if you tickle his toes. And, when I try to trim his toenails... well, I basically need to enlist the help of Dan or another adult so one can hold him down and try to hold his legs while I quickly try to trim the nails. His toes are SO ticklish... it makes me laugh so hard. Love this about him...

* Rocco is SO VERY EXCITED about his new baby brother who will be joining us this spring! He will often come up to me and kiss my belly and ask where the baby's butt or head is. From the day I told the kids we were going to have another baby, Rocco has been excited and hoping for a baby brother. I'm SO GLAD we're giving him another brother. I just WISH Matteo was still here with us though too. Everything about life remains bittersweet since Matteo died. I'm not sure life will ever not be bittersweet for me ever again. It is unfortunately amazing how your perspectives on life and relationships change when you have a child die.

* Rocco is a child who functions best on a schedule. He does best when his bedtime is at 8pm, his meals are prepped and ready for him at the regular times, and he has no problem pooping 2 times daily.

* Rocco is by far our best sleeper! We hug and kiss him goodnight at 8pm, tuck him in, turn the lights out, turn the crickets on (noisemaker) and he is out like a light. He usually sleeps until 7:30am. Every once in a while, he'll wake up in the 6 o'clock hour and we'll send him back to bed. And, oddly enough... he has actually come into our bed to snuggle 2-4 times in the past year because he's had a nightmare. And, I LOVE this... because I've never gotten to sleep with him or snuggle him at night the way I've been able to with Gabby or Giuliana. Rocco has always liked sleeping alone. People sleeping next to him bothers him!

* Rocco is currently in a gymnastics class twice a week and he loves it. Surprisingly, he seems to do really well in it also. It looks like he follows direction very well, and gets really involved in the activities.... with some extra jumping and diving into the mats here & there!

* So far, in his four short years of life, he has run through and ruined two screen doors. One last summer at a hotel in CA. One the summer before at the house we rented in Tahoe. We're hoping that number doesn't grow.

* No broken bones or stitches yet. YAY! But, this past fall he did manage to chip one of his front teeth. It wasn't bad enough for me to bring him to the dentist for an extra checkup. But, it is noticeable. Speaking of dentists... Rocco will have his third dental visit, for a regular cleaning, next week. And, he does GREAT with the dentist and so far has a clean record of good tooth health!

* Rocco is obsessed with super heroes... mostly B.atman! He also really loves transformers, guns, swords, flashlights, light sabers, cars, and any ball that can be kicked thrown, batted or hit around with any sort of object.

* Butt, poopy, fart, pee pee, etc., are all words that make him laugh. They are words that he will say out of the blue, just to try and make someone laugh. And, if you say one of those words in any sort of sentence, he will bust out laughing. We are constantly reminding him that those are bathroom words and only to be used in the bathroom or on the way to the bathroom... but we're still working on that! Boys... I swear! Do they ever outgrow this sillyness w/bathroom talk... I'm thinking not.

* Rocco also loves to entertain us by wiggling his butt at us. Yes. He does. He'll stand in front of you, bend down a bit, and wiggle those little buns. And, yes, he has cute little buns and it does make me laugh. Most of the time, anyway.

* Rocco is solid as a rock. The child is a lean, mean, funny little machine with abs! I swear, he's getting little abs.

* He started being able to spell his name all by himself last summer. By October, he had written his name by himself for the first time. And, now, he is more and more interested every day in what words say, and what the letters are. He likes to repeat the letters when you tell him how to spell a word. He also sometimes likes me to read to him, and then he pretends to read the same sentence that I just read. He likes playing some of the word/spelling games I have on the iPad. But, he truly doesn't yet have much interest in learning to sing the alphabet correctly. He'll start getting silly and make up letters along the way, trying to entertain us. I'll just let him take his time and not push him on this.

* Rocco can count to 15. But, he doesn't yet have much interest in counting higher than that. Again... I'm not going to push it. I know he's smart enough to do it, I just don't want to discourage him or make him think learning isn't fun.

* His favorite books are the books I bring home from the library that have silly stories about animal characters (dinosaurs, alligators, you name it!). He also loves books about cars, trucks, and of course... super heroes!

* Rocco plays so nicely and sweetly with Giuliana, even though Giuliana is not always the best playmate (not yet being good at sharing, etc.). Rocco is always so gentle with her and will often do things to help her, like go and get things she needs or her blanket for her. It melts my heart when he's so sweet with her.

* And, Rocco adores Gabby. He likes to do the things she does, whether it's gymnastics or trying to read, etc... he looks up to her. Rocco and Gabby also play very nicely together, and it's fun to see them enjoy more *big kid* activities together... like going to plays at the children's theater or playing a game together on the iPad, etc.

* Favorite TV shows include: B.atman, T.ransformers, and C.urious George

* Rocco's nicknames are: Rox, Rocco Bocko, and some of his little friends at school call him Rocky

Seriously LOVE this little guy more than words. He's my little man. My little dude. My little hero. I just love his hugs and kisses and how everything he does is SO BIG. He continues to give the world's best hugs too! Love. Bigtime!