Big day for Dom

At the risk of seeming obsessed with toilet training, I have to share this news: Dominick had his very first accident-free day! Yesterday, he almost did but got off track one time when he was at the park up the street after dinner. We had just gone through three very difficult days, beginning last Thursday when Dom seemed to have no control over his bodily functions. I lost count of how many times he peed on the floor or chair or wherever he happened to be at the time. The two times he did it on the toilet, he sprayed the bathtub. Another time, he sat on the toilet without doing anything, then, while washing his hands, peed on the front of the pedestal sink. Then he rubbed soap in his eyes, and hit or kicked me (I don't remember which) as I was trying to help him, so he ended up with a time-out. The one bright spot that day was that Dom went off to the bathroom by himself and announced that he had pooped. Hooray! But now, for whatever reason, something must have clicked. The real test will be when we are anywhere but home.

A quick basement update: as of 6:00 tonight, the drywall work is now complete. Mike is downstairs cleaning up the dust, which I can't do because of my allergies. Instead, I get to start priming tomorrow night.

Back to the boys

As I write this, Dominick is at PDO wearing his underwear, not a diaper. Instead of sending him with extra diapers, I packed his bag with two pairs of underwear, a pair of shorts and some socks. With any luck, he won't need those things. My fingers are crossed!

I had intended to post that Dominick seemed to be over his nighttime issues, but they have returned. Last night, in particular, was very rough with both boys. I wish I liked coffee. Dom has dreamed about the fan having a face and some orange toy (or orange button, I'm not quite clear) in the living room bouncing. At 2 am, he repeatedly told me how he had fixed the button so it wouldn't bounce anymore.

So I've talked about Dominick being rough with Noel or just driving me crazy in general, but he really can be a sweet boy. Last night, I had just fed Noel and still had him on the Boppy when Dominick came over and said, "Noely is good. I like him." Then, he wrapped his arms around his baby brother and said, "I love you." He lightly ran his fingers along Noel, saying, "I like his little eyes and his head and his little feet." Then he hugged him again. Picture my heart melting and running all over the floor. Well, don't picture it literally because that's gross.

Speaking of pictures, here are some recent ones:

Could they look any more alike?

A moment's rest

My two boys

Dominick modeling his new car seat, with five-point harness for kids up to 65 lbs. He can't get out of this one. Safety first! Always buckle up your kids and yourself.

Just being cute (as if he could not)

Basement progress report

I haven't posted pictures of the basement in a while, and much has been accomplished since those earlier photos. I won't bore you with all the details of the work so far. All you need to know is that the walls and ceiling are up, and the drywall finisher will start tomorrow evening. He came highly recommended, so we're really hoping to avoid another nightmare of Total Landscape proportions. (NEVER hire them!) The guys who did the drywall finishing on our second floor were complete losers. I'd have done a better job. The same goes for the tile in our master bath. But I digress. Here are the pictures, including an earlier in-progress shot:

July 3, 2007

August 20, 2007

Mom and Dad

Yes, we are now Mom and Dad, not Mommy and Daddy. Dominick came back from his trip last weekend with this new terminology. I suspect he picked it up from his cousin. So does this mean he's getting older or I am? Obviously, we both are, which is far better than the alternative, but you know what I mean.

Dom's made major progress on the toilet this week. It's amazing how much has changed in such a short time. That said, the latter half of today didn't go so well, which was disappointing after a very promising morning and early afternoon. Dominick wore his underwear all day today and almost all of yesterday. It's nice not having to wash diapers as often, but instead I'm doing lots of towels and underwear.

Milestones

DOMINICK PEED AND POOPED ON THE TOILET TONIGHT!

Can you tell how excited I am? It's quite amazing how my perspective on human waste has changed since having kids. Dominick was excited, too, especially since he finally had something to flush. He just returned from spending the weekend at his grandma's, where he peed on the toilet three times yesterday. After tonight, I have hope for Dom being able to start preschool in four weeks.

Noel also had a productive weekend. Yesterday, he sat up unassisted, though it was actually a high kneel. Does that count? (I made sure he was not W-sitting.) He likes to kneel while bouncing and jamming on the alligator piano. And today, he pulled up to a stand, using me as his support.

Mike had a very productive four-day weekend working in the basement. With the walls and ceiling drywalled, it looks more like a room than a basement. Pretty soon, it'll be my turn to start putting in some hours down there while he hangs out with the boys.

Quick update

Noel had his appointment today. It went pretty well (no shots!). He has caught up ever so slightly on his growth curve: at 17 1/2 pounds, he's about 10th percentile in weight, up from 5th. Maybe by one year, he'll have caught up even more. He's a good eater, so I wouldn't be surprised.

I forgot to mention that Noel is crawling and pulling up to a high kneel. As a result, he's started getting into things and knocking over small trash cans. The fun begins! It's even more fun now that I've got a three-year-old with all his small, choking-hazard-type toys. To make matters worse, Dom's obsessed with removing batteries from anything he can get his hands on. Our living room floor is littered with tiny screws, battery compartment covers, and batteries from various toys. We're putting an end to that.

Still no news to report toilet-wise. I'm hoping Dom's grandma can work some magic when he stays with her this weekend. Only one month and two days until preschool! The pressure's on.

Nine months

Here's our little guy at nine months. His checkup is Wednesday afternoon, so we'll find out how he's doing weightwise. Noel seems heavier to me, but he's still a skinny little thing.

I've been lazy about writing lately, not even finding the time when I took the boys to Joplin for a week. It was nice for us to get away and Mike to make some progress on the basement. He still thinks there's a possibility he'll finish by September 25, when Halo 3 comes out (you know I can't wait). Yeah, and Dom will be toilet-trained by September 10! But back to Joplin, or Doklin as Dom calls it. We had a lovely time, ate lots of good food, met some cousins who are very close in age to the boys, swam in a friend's pool (my mom's friend, actually), and I got some physical activity! I went to Pilates and rode a bike for the first time in about 100 years. My first ride was pretty ambitious at 7.5 miles, including some tough (for me) hills. The second ride was nostalgic. Dad and I rode to North Middle School, where I attended from 1985-87, and back to Columbia Elementary, 1980-85. Both have appeared in my ridiculously active dream life. The girls' locker room at North looked oddly familar!

We also spent large amounts of time with Dom sitting on the toilet. I'm sorry to say he's no closer to leaving diapers behind than he was the last time I posted. The good news is that he asks to go to the toilet now, and today he even got himself situated without any help. He just has his timing all wrong.

That's it for tonight. I'm feeling a little funky, so photos from our trip will have to wait. Oh yeah, it's World Breastfeeding Week, so celebrate and support nursing moms everywhere!