"She just had this indescribable quality that brought so much love and laughter to everyone.
"She was extraordinary, not like other children. She was like a beacon - her smile and eyes just lit up a room from a million miles away. That is why this is so hard to fathom."
Mr Warren said: "She was cheeky, she was a real poser. She had the biggest laugh, she was so full of life."
Valentina was a typical fun-loving little girl. She loved the movie Frozen, one of her favourite songs was Taylor Swift's Shake It Off and she adored everything purple.
"She was incredibly social, warm and giving," Ms Perera said. "She could warm the heart of the coldest person. People were smitten with her. Words don't even describe it; she had a way about her."
The police investigation into the incident is ongoing. Speaking about the specific details - including who was driving - is too painful for the couple.
"It was a tragic accident. It was no one's fault," Ms Perera said. "It could have happened to anyone.
"We had a regular routine every morning before we dropped her off at preschool. That morning, though, there was a slight change. She wanted to put some lipstick on. She came back to the door and said, 'Mummy, I forgot my lipstick'.
"That changed the sequence of the routine ... I don't know what was going through her mind. She just slipped out the door.
"This has shattered our lives. Our world has been turned upside down. Everything we did revolved around Valentina."
Mr Warren said the little things were the hardest to deal with. Getting up each morning and making Valentina breakfast and her favourite hot chocolate, dropping her off at preschool and seeing how excited she was to greet her friends, and how much they loved her.
Ms Perera added: "She used to come in and wake us every morning. She would get out of her bed and tiptoe across the floor, pad quietly up to our bed and put her teddies up, then we would pull her up with us.
"I wake up every morning expecting her to be doing that. Every time I hear a door creak, I think it's her. I just find it so hard to get up in the mornings."
Valentina came home for the days before her funeral.
"I held her in my arms pretty much all day every day until the funeral," Ms Perera said.
"It was very hard to let her go when we had to bury her."
Mr Warren said: "It was humbling. There were literally hundreds of people moving through. People just did what they could to help. We are just blown away."
The couple revealed they would spend Christmas with Valentina.
"We planned this lovely little Christmas with her ... a special one on our own," said Ms Perera.
"We will still be doing that, we will just be doing it in a different way than we'd planned.
"We will probably take a picnic to the graveside, make a little Christmas tree to take."
Thank you
Valentina Warren. Photo / Facebook
Valentina's parents would like to thank their family, friends, neighbours and the Te Atatu Peninsula community for supporting them, helping to organise her funeral and for their ongoing assistance and generosity.
They would also like to thank the police, staff at Starship hospital, past and present staff, parents and children at Valentina's preschool, their work colleagues, State of Grace funerals, Te Atatu MP Phil Twyford, everyone who left hampers and flowers at their home, all who donated to the Givealittle fundraising page, and countless others throughout Auckland, New Zealand and the world for all their support and love.
