Playing

Dominic is really able to entertain himself now and loves to color, "read" or play with playdoh. His new artistic endevour however has been trying to color on the walls so he's not allowed to have his crayons without mommy or daddy! He's also starting to "count" although he thinks that all of the numbers are two. "Two, two, two Ah ha ha!"

Official Uniform!

Dominic is now big enough to fit into a size 0000 gi! (Which I believe is the smallest that they make) He loves going to the dojo with Daddy so much and always says "Dojo! Kick!," Now with the gi he looks official albeit half the size of the kids in class. I know you can't tell from the pic but he really does like it.

Dominic Speaks!

Dominic has had a serious vocabulary explosion! He says a ton of words now and mimics just about everything. He's also been working on saying "please."

Last weekend he wanted chocolate at 9:00am. He was pulling me towards the kitchen and saying "Gock" which is his word for chocolate. I said, "No, we're not going to have chocolate right now." He stopped pulling on me, looked at me very seriously and said "Pease. Pease, Pease." Needless to say, Mommy is a sucker for good manners and Dominic got chocolate at 9:00am.

Since then he's been saying "please" quite a bit!

Visiting with Jorja

We went to visit Lauren, Brad and of course baby Jorja. Dominic was so fascinated with her. He did an excellent job being gentle and kept saying "baby" over and over again. At one point he found a pacifier. I told him, "That's the baby's, can you bring it to her?" And off he ran into Jorja's room to give it to her. I was so impressed and I'm very excited that he's going to be a fantastic big brother!

Lauren and Brad looked great and are obviously very proud parents!

Mardi Gras!

Mardi Gras seems to have become a little bit of a tradition with us. Dominic was a little unsure at first but by the end he was clapping. He didn't get as many beads as last year since we were in a busy section but he did get a few more to add to his collection.

Finally winter arrives!

Ok, it took a while but finally winter arrived with a TON of snow. Work even let us out at half a day (how generous) which was good because I barely made it up the hills in Burlington since they were focused on the highways. After getting Dominic from daycare we made it into the driveway on the second attempt. Poor Daddy however was not so lucky and had to work his entire shift, some nonsense about essential personnel, LOL! So by the time he got home it took a lot of shoveling to get the car in. The next day I got a half day off in the morning which I decided to extend for the whole day. It's been a long time since we've had a "snow day."

BTW: I know Dominic is not wearing mittens. This picture was taken as we went to the car. There was too much snow and it was too cold to play!

Lounging with the Kitty

Dominic has found his spot on the couch and every once in a while insists on lounging there (usually pulling up the blanket as well.) An extra bonus is if he has the kitty for company...until he pushes her off the couch.

Wearing Daddy's slippers

Yes, the shoe fascination continues.

Dominic Update

I just can't believe what a little boy he has become!

His vocabulary is expanding daily. He can now say, "Mama", "Daddy", "wow", "uh oh," "oops", "Bus", "truck", "up", "on", "off," "no", "this", "that," "clock", "ball", "book," "duck," "poop" (in context, LOL) and he's currently working on "chocolate" (a word he became very familiar with over the holidays) and will try to mimic almost everything! He really understands things now and can bring Bodhi his ball or bring things to daddy when asked to. He also understands, "Do we need to change your diaper?" which he always answers "no" it's not his favorite activity. And another of his least favorite activities involves getting dressed which usually results in a conversation of "no mama off."

Naps are suddenly going extremely well (started this week). We're not sure if it has anything to do with the Clifford Book that he seems to really enjoy but all of a sudden he goes down for nap without a peep! I'm almost afraid to type that, I'll probably jinx it! Now we just need to get that translated to bedtime.

He loves music and Noggin (greatest channel ever invented!) His new favorite games are peek a boo (where he hides and jumps out), knocking over blocks, and yelling "Dad" to which Daddy answers "Dominic." This can go on for quite some time. He just recently started giving kisses which is absolutely adorable!! He loves putting on our shoes although he has a hard time keeping them on.

He still eats EVERYTHING! He has started using utensils although still has to resort to his hands sometimes. We're ok with that though, he'll get it! He thinks it's a great idea to feed us which is cute and sometime gross all at the same time.

Probably another sign of getting older but we have started "time-outs." This involves about 5-10 seconds of standing and staring at the wall and I'm really amazed that he understands he's in trouble when we do this with him. He definitely understands it though! I think it's as hard on me as it is on him but he has decided to start pushing limits so we had to respond. Thankfully those instances are rare!

On a positive swing, he is fascinated with my belly. Everynight he lifts up my shirt and looks at it. Then he puts his ear on my belly and will look at it again. He goes back and forth like this for about 10 minutes a night. It's very cute!

We had our "big" u/s on friday. The baby is doing great and is nice and healthy. There is indeed only one baby (there's been some speculation for the last 3 weeks) and there doesn't seem to be any real reason of why I'm measuring so far ahead. So then we got to the part where they asked us if we would like to know the gender. I of course say "no" but Keith responds with "yes." After some discussion we decided to "find out." They're prediction: A girl. Of course we've heard that before so I'm still a bit skeptical. Two doctor's "confirmed" it and spent quite a bit of time trying to explain why it was definitely a girl to which I responded, "uh huh, I guess we'll see in June." I think they got a little frustrated but I'm not taking any chances although I think Keith believes them. They probably are right. What are the odds that predictions could be wrong twice right? Even still, the onesie I bought the other day for the baby is orange.

Here is a picture of Dominic's little sibling.

Christmas

It's amazing how fast christmas goes by!

We had a beautiful tree (decorated approximately 3/4 of the way)! Dominic was great and left it alone although the tree skirt did get carried around a lot!

Christmas Eve Keith had to work so I cooked Christmas Eve dinner. We had a duck, a small ham and some shrimp scampi besides the thousands of other appetizers, munchies and side dishes. I was very glad I started cooking that morning or I would never have gotten it all done. Since the traditional meal for Keith is fish, I made bacon wrapped scallops, the shrimp scampi and we had some marinated mussels. Keith and I had loooonnng discussions about Christmas Eve dinner and I convinced him (I think) that we had plenty of fish! Grammy, Papa, Uncle Chris and Uncle Jerod all came over and we had a great meal although I think Dominic was getting pretty tired by dinner time.

On Christmas morning we got up and went straight to the tree to show Dominic. Of course he wanted to watch noggin and have breakfast but we kept him interested enough in his gifts that he focused on them for a while. Santa brought him some books, bathtime toys and a rocking Zebra. After we opened presents we fed Dominic and we all got ready to go have brunch at Grammy and Papa's.

Dominic saw the presents right away there but I'm not sure he's real familiar with the concept that there are things in them! We had a great brunch and then opened presents. (Mommy opened most of Dominic's) Dominic loved his firetruck!

It was a wonderful christmas although it would have been fun to have snow. I can't wait till next year when Dominic starts getting excited about Santa!

Haircut and Holidays

Think about it. A first haircut and a trip to see Santa. It could have been a disaster! But, not if you have the best baby ever! LOL!

Dominic did great. He endured the haircut quite nicely and the hairdresser worked fast. I took him to the Hairy Bear which specializes in kids. Dominic sat in a car to get his haricut and there were lots of other kids there. I've included a before and after pic!

Then we went off to see Santa at the mall. They had a great Santa with a real beard and hair. He was very nice too and talked to all of the kids and was more than willing to give Dominic his share of time with Santa. I didn't want to press our luck though so we took a couple quick pictures and then we left. We couldn't get him to look at the camera but at least he didn't cry or try to get down.

Later than night we went to a party at Naima and Antony's. Got some great cookies from the swap and Dominic had a blast with the other kids!

HO HO HO!

Dominic and daddy taking a trip to the post office to play Santa! Well, not really, just bring presents to be mailed out to the family members who are not local. Can you believe, a sweatshirt in December?

SNOW!!!

The weather has been crazy here. It's been so warm that we've barely had any snow at all so far this winter. In fact it was 50 today. So, when we did get snow last week I decided to take advantage of it and let Dominic play in it. Man, what an ordeal getting all those clothes on and we didn't even do the snowpants! There's got to be a better way to get mittens on a toddler.

It took him a minute to get used to walking in the boots but he seemed to like the snow.

Thanksgiving

For thanksgiving we went down to Aunt Kelly's house and had a big family gathering. It was great and Dominic had such a good time with his cousins Emily and Isabella!!! He got to meet lots of family including his great-grandparents for the first time. Then on Friday we went into the city and Dominic just about went nuts waving at all the busses.

Some Updates

Ok updates...where to start.

Well, on the 24th we had his 12 month appointment. He weighed in at 22 pounds and 14 ounces and measured 31.5 inches long. He's still in the 90th % for height but his weight has dropped now to the 25th %. They're not worried though because he's so active and eats EVERYTHING! I got into a little argument with the doctor about vaccines. We have been doing delayed vaccines for Dominic and although the doc has been supportive so far, he did not like that I said he would never have the chicken pox vaccine and that I wanted to wait until he was 2 for the MMR. Oh well. Mommy won.

November 10th marked a bittersweet moment for Mommy. It was the last time Dominic nursed. He's officially weaned. He was only nursing at night anyway and has been drinking cow's milk during the day. On the 11th he decided that the pacifier was ok for night time. On to the next stage, this one went by too fast!

November 13th was Dominic's last urology appointment!! Hurray!! Everything looks fine and although the doc said to expect some swelling for the next 6 months, he is cleared to take baths and we don't have to apply the anitbacterial cream anymore. It was a good thing that it was the last appointment because Dominic hates that surgeon! I'm amazed that Dominic remembers him but it never fails, as soon as he sees him he screams and cries with tears flowing down his face! I'm glad we didn't wait till he was older to do the surgery, I can't imagine how bad it would have been if he were older!

He's down to one nap but it's going very well and he is actually falling asleep in his crib for nap time. It's been a concerted effort with daycare and at home but it's working. Nighttime is still spent mostly in our bed but now that naps are going well the next step will be to have him fall asleep in his crib at night too. I'm not pushing it right now, one thing at a time and he just stopped nursing! I can't handle all this growing up! LOL!

Dominic eats everything and his new favorite food are olives! He loves kalamato olives and will eat them by the handful! So far the only food he doesn't like is watermelon. I don't get it.

A new exciting development is that he's starting to mimic. He said "ight" the other day for light and "ba" for bus! Talking will come soon I think!

Pushups with Daddy

Whenever Keith lays on the floor Dominic just has to get on so Daddy can do pushups with him on his back!

Riding in a box!

You can buy all the toys in the world and what do they want...a box. Dominic had a blast riding around in this box. We didn't even think he would fit but he loved it and as you can see we modified it a bit to make it easier to pull him around.

My One Year Old Boy!!!

Dominic's favorite spot!! Riding his birthday present!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOMINIC!!!!!

I can't beleive a year went by already!

As we were getting ready for Dominic's party the night before, it started snowing. The first snowfall of the year. It made me reminisce a little. Dominic came home from the hospital the year before on the first snowfall. It's funny how things like that happen.

On Saturday the 21st, we had a great party for Dominic! That morning I made Dominic's cake and pretty much let him do whatever he wanted! Needless to say, there was a lot of cleaning to do before the party! Thankfully I had a lot of help from Grammy and Aunt Debbie while Papa played with Dominic! I couldn't have done it without them! Dominic is going to be a big brother in June and so mommy didn't have a lot of energy to prep for the party after work!

Lots of people came and although Dominic slept the first part of the party he got into it as time went by. By the end of the party he played with the other babies and his new toys. It was a great Success!!

Reading

This is one of Dominic's favorite books! He picked it up and flipped through the pages after getting into the rocking chair all by himself.

Animals!!

We took Dominic out to get apples and they had a very nice petting area that Dominic loved! (Much different from his reaction to the petting zoo this summer!)