Streggy Boy

Vincenzo is quite possessive of my Mom aka Stregga aka Streggy.  The other day I was chatting with Stregga on the phone. When I hung up Vincenzo asked what we were talking about. I told him I was going to drop Isabella off for awhile with Stregga.  He got very upset and he said, "But, I'm Streggy Boy!"   They have always had a close bond.  When the boys were born prematurely they had to spend about a month in the NICU.  So every day my mom went with me and we would stay for 8-10 hours to feed, change and hold the babies.  And after they came home from the hospital my mom stayed overnight for a couple weeks to help and then visited just about every day for the first year.

 She tried to spend equal time snuggling both babies. But, Luccio had a lot of medical issues so he had lots of doctor visits and a few surgeries that first year.  So Vincenzo spent quite a bit of time with Stregga. He would stay with her while I went to appointments or had to stay at the hospital with Luccio.  And sometimes he would stay overnight just because she missed him and wanted him to.  Luccio spent a lot of time at Stregga's too and would stayover.  She would even take them both over night and still does. But, Luccio tends to refer to himself as "Pop's Buddy," they are so silly together!  Papa was never worried to take care of Luccio even when he had stitches or his terrible respiratory issues.  Sometimes Papa would be the only one that could calm Luccio as a baby and he would spend hours sitting in the rocking chair with him. But, as Vincenzo has grown up he has claimed to be "Streggy Boy."

We are very blessed that the kids have two sets of wonderful grandparents.  Grandma and Papa always come up with "Activities" to teach and entertain during their visits and the kids get really into it!  And Grandma and Papa always remember to bring a cooler full of ice cream treats!! There is a certain joy the kids get from spending time with their grandparents.  The unconditional love and ears that don't tire of hearing their stories are priceless!!

This was a tough year for Vincenzo because my Dad was sick and that meant less time for him to be with Stregga.  Now that Papa is feeling better and summer is here, Vincenzo has big plans for Stregga!  The two of them have dreamed up Camp Stregga.  It starts next week and according to Vincenzo he is staying for 5 days.  I told him maybe he should only stay 2 nights because I would miss him, but he said I will get over it.  He has been planning for weeks and it's all he talks about lately.  He asks very day how many more days until camp. Monday I told him one more week and he was so upset, he insisted I am adding weeks to make him wait longer.

He has all kinds of activities planned for Camp.  They are going to read, build, take field trips, learn letters, paint and of course shop! Because what would Stregga Camp be without some shopping?!!