Our way of saying thank you

Happy Birthday little guy!

I have enjoyed watching you grow up over the past three years.
I wish you many more years like that in your future.

Vincenzo's birthday invitation

BIRTHDAY update! We are no longer having a pony party. Instead Vincenzo has requested a Star Wars party. New invitation to be posted soon.



Here is the invitation that went out to a few of Vincenzo's friends.

Potty Training

Today is the official day.
Vincenzo has started potty training.
This morning we left the house with Vincenzo wearing big boy undies. No messes.
We hope this is the week.
No more diapers is a huge savings.

Sudzie Vincenzo

When it comes to taking a bath Vincenzo does it better than anyone else.

Dance Dance Dance

Vincenzo in Marion

I think Capone likes Vincenzo. What do you think?

Vincenzo's room updated

It has been a long process, but we are still working on Vincenzo's room. He has the furniture, but giving it some personality has been the trick.

Here you can see we put up a net to "catch" all the stuffed toys.

First Bath

Tonight Rocco got to experience his first real bath. He was joined by Giuseppe and Vincenzo. It was an exciting and loud time.

No pictures to post, little to report

Friday, July 3

We made a trip to a nearby Metropark to watch the fireworks. The display had Vincenzo mesmerized. 

Saturday, July 4
We made an appearance at the Lodi Twp., July 4th event. While there, Giuseppe collected more money for his Operation Injured Soldier jar. At this point, he has collected over $265. Great going!

In the evening, Andy entertained us with his own backyard firework display.

Sunday, July 5

Church. Play. The boys made a trip to the pool for a few hours.

Big Kid

Vincenzo likes to be a big kid... and here he is eating at Grandma Gottfried's like a big kid. Yummy, fried chicken!

Too cute not to post

Big toe injury

Apparently Vincenzo likes the medical field, since he seems to make a trip there quite often lately.

Sunday (6/21/09) night around 9 p.m. Vincenzo and Andy were cleaning out the garage together. Vincenzo accidently had Giuseppe's scooter fall directly on his big toe. Yikes!

Andy brought him into the house immediately. He never actually calmed down. I held him for a long time and eventually he cried himself to sleep. He whimpered throughout the night.

We saw a doctor this morning. The main thing they are worried about is infection. His toe may or may not be broken, but getting an x-ray would cause more unnecessary pain for the little guy when in fact, there wouldn't be anything you could do for a broken toe anyway.

So, now we are keeping it wrapped and dry to help prevent infections.

I guess with a house full of boys I should keep the highest level of insurance possible.

They were once so small

What will Baby Earl look like?

Both pictures were taken at St. Joseph's Hospital in Ann Arbor when they were a mere 2 days old.

Another star in the making

Here is the glove Nadia got Vincenzo for his birthday for this lefty.

You can't tell, but he is "playing" the way outfield during Giuseppe's game. It was adorable.

Below he is pictured taking a little playground break.

Photographer: Vincenzo Bove Gottfried

Here are some pictures Vincenzo took. Not too bad. Maybe photography is in his future.

Good help is hard to find

Over the weekend in New Haven, Analeah helped give Vincenzo a bath. I wish I could hire her full-time, but I think Paul and Rachel would have a problem with it.

She even helped dress him.

I'm thinking she is very close to baby-sitting age and right now I have dibs on her!

Vincenzo made a trip to Urgent Care

Sunday was not a good day for Vincenzo's ear.

On the ride home from Indiana I notices his ear was red and that he kept itching at it.

Later on the car ride Giuseppe said it looked gross.

About an hour after we return to Ann Arbor, Andy noticed how swollen, red and blistery it was.

By the time we got him to the urgent care unit it was pusing with gunk and was very large and red. Pretty scary looking.

They gave him several medicines to help with the swelling, itching and well-being of the ear.

This morning his ear is still red and swollen. I am staying home with him since the medicine makes him tired and groggy. Plus he needs to have the medicine administered every 3-4 hours, as well as a return visit to the urgent care unit to see exactly what the problem stems from.

The doctor's guess is a spider bit, insect bite, poisin ivy, or some allergic reaction.

Be happy that I am not posting pictures.

Weekend starts with a Bang

In the images here you will notice a nice bump on Vincenzo's left side of his forehead.

We aren't sure what happened, but Friday night Vincenzo was going wild around the house, as usual. While I was making popcorn for the boys I heard a big bang and then saw Vincenzo laying on the ground.

What actually happened, we may never know, but the bump on his head shows a pretty hard hit.

Annual doctor's visit

Giuseppe is doing great. 

Currently @ 55 lbs (90th percentile) and 48.5 inches (95th percentile) tall without shoes.

Giuseppe is on the border of have "Bove" eyes, which means BAD eyesight. He is going to see a specialist for a more specific exam sometime over the summer.

Vincenzo seems to be health, as well. 

Currently @ 29.5 lbs (68th percentile) and 36.5 inches (95th percentile) tall without shoes.

Vincenzo is predicted to be 6 feet, 4 inches by the time he is 18 years old, however I was told by my doctor that boys continue to grow after age 18 so he may be an additional inch or two. 

The growth predictors only predict to age 18. I never knew.

Note: Giuseppe is predicted to be the same.

Note to self: Bring help when taking two boys for an exam at the same time. 

It was a wild and LOUD time during our 1 1/2 exam.

How will I pull this off with three?