Christmas, Part III

Christmas officially came to an end for our boys yesterday morning. Santa is a pretty flexible guy who will make a special late delivery if good children are away from home on Christmas Eve. In preparation for his visit, Dominick laid out snacks for Santa and his reindeer. When morning came, he found that Santa had left a series of rhyming clues which sent him all over the house. (Dom pointed out that Santa hadn't thrown away his granola bar wrapper or recycled his water bottle.) Finally, he ended up in the basement. There he discovered his new tool bench and sawhorse set. Noel received a Leap Frog toy, ironically the same one that entrapped Dom's arm earlier this year. It won't happen again, thanks to a redesign. Santa didn't leave batteries, though, so Noel's toy isn't as exciting as it should be. New batteries are currently charging. May they actually work! Do not get me started on the uselessness of rechargeable batteries. Has anybody had luck with these?

Here's a slideshow of some December photos. Don't you love it when you don't realize how few pictures you took during the holidays until you sit down to look at them? I blame the rechargeable batteries. Mom and Dad, I need to copy some of your photos!

Christmas 2007, Parts I and II

We're back home after spending the holidays with family in southwest and southeast Missouri. Like everyone else, we've had a busy December. Now things will settle down somewhat, but our to-do list is a mile long. I'll think about that later. Time to get back to blogging. Pictures will come later.

First, an update: as of December 19, the water leak is no more! In the 3 1/2 weeks between our first call to the water company and the repair, the leak grew from a small wet area in our lawn to a raging river that ran 2/10 of a mile until it ended in a drain. The neighbors must have thought we were really negligent to let it go so long or too stupid to notice. What else would explain all the knocks on our door, followed by "I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a water leak in your front yard." Really?!? The contractor who fixed the leak showed me the section of pipe that caused all the trouble. The crack was deceptively small.

Christmas, Part I: Joplin. This year it was just us, my parents and my grandmother, as it was my sister's first Christmas away from home. How dare she get married! Poor Noel was teething (a molar), so he was very clingy and cried a lot. Dominick made his first dough ornaments. He even gave his snowman the necessary body parts for using the toilet. (Don't worry--you can't tell!) The boys enjoyed opening presents and stockings and eating a big meal on Christmas Eve.

Christmas, Part II: Naylor. As usual, we traveled on Christmas Day, which meant having gas station food for lunch. Then it was another round of presents and another Christmas dinner. Mike's side of the family is much bigger than mine, so there were lots of people to see. Dominick had fun playing with his cousin Seth. By the time we left for home, Noel's tooth had finally started to break through, so he felt much better and graced us with some smiles. Both boys slept most of the way, so it was an easy drive.

New link

Be sure to check out the link to my sister Hannah and her husband Steve's new stationery business, Vellum. When their website launches in the next month or so, I'll add that, too. The designs are modern and stylish, very cool. We are so proud of you, Hannah!

A babbling brook

We have a new water feature in our front yard. It's quite charming, like two little bubbling springs. The problem is we didn't put it there and can't seem to get rid of it. What does it take to get the water company to fix a severe leak? I hate to think of the amount of water being wasted. At least it's not on our side of the meter! The river originating from our yard has become embarrassing. The sign on our door now reads "Please knock/no solicitation/we have called the water company."

The river goes up our block, turns the corner, and continues on the next street.

A close-up of one of the little springs, if you can call them that.

Best wishes to those affected by the ice storm, especially family and friends in Joplin. I hope the power is back on soon.

The Nutcracker

Dominick and I went to see The Nutcracker on Ice today. Ever since he became obsessed with listening to the music this summer, I had promised to take him. This particular production was close, cheap and tailored to kids (i.e. abridged and narrated), so it was perfect. The show began with a synchronized skating group, which happened to be performing "Love" from Cirque du Soleil. I certainly was not expecting to hear Beatles music there, but you know I liked it! Then the real show started. Dom was fascinated by the skaters...for the first few minutes. By 5:23, he started wriggling away and said, "Is The Nutcracker done yet?" I was worried things would get ugly, but he behaved for the rest of the performance. Thank goodness for Santa's appearance after the curtain call, which was noted in the program. That was the key to keeping Dom around for the entire show. We had a good time. Performancewise, it wasn't the best Nutcracker experience of my life (that would be the Pennsylvania Ballet at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia--what a gorgeous place), but it was wonderful taking Dominick, something I'd wanted to do since he was a baby.

I'm calling it

Noel has said his first word: Da-da. Of course he's babbled this for a while, but now there seems to be meaning behind it. This afternoon, while Dom was licking windows, Noel was standing next to him, watching for Mike and saying "Da-da." Not "da-da-da," but "Da-da." I'm hearing more m's in his babbling, so maybe "Mama" is not far behind. Interestingly, Dominick has started calling me Mama since I've been encouraging Noel to say it.

An astute observation

This afternoon, while watching for Daddy to come home, Dominick started licking the living room window. He made a face, and I asked him if it tasted good. He said no, then "It tastes like window." Window must rank right up there with green beans.

Christmas tree

Tonight we bought a Christmas tree. We already have a fake one downstairs, but for the living room we needed a tabletop tree so it would be out of Noel's reach, and I wanted a real one. It's a Frasier fir, very lovely. Most of the decorations are finished now, except for figuring out where and how to hang the stockings (you know Noel will pull on them constantly) and adding more lights outside.

Noel had his one-year portrait session this morning. I wish I could say he was all smiles and having a good time, but that would be a lie. It wasn't too bad, actually, but we didn't get many pictures before he refused to let go of me. Then we had to wait 45 minutes to look at the images on the computer. Grrr! Even I was getting bored and frustrated over that. Thank goodness Dominick was at preschool.

Dom's obsession of the day was a diamond saw blade (in its packaging). He took it from the laundry/tool room, thinking it was a CD, his other current obsession. At the time, Larry from the water company was in the basement installing a snazzy new meter that can be read from outside the house. Dominick took the blade out of the laundry room, then yelled, "Guy! Why did you break Noel's CD? That was his!" I can hardly believe this is the same boy who used to freak out around other people. Now he has no qualms about striking up a conversation, if you can call it that, with anyone. The only reason we were in the basement was that Dom followed the water man down there. Speaking of the water company, we're having a devil of a time getting them to repair a leak that's causing water to bubble up from our front yard. The resulting stream goes several houses up the street, and our lawn, er, weed patch, has turn to mush. I guess I'll have to call again.

Poor Dominick

Tonight, I asked Dom to pick up his underwear and pants from the bathroom floor and put them in his closet with the other dirty clothes. He refused, then said, "You do it, Mom" (uh, no!) and finally confessed the real reason for not obeying: he doesn't have any feet! And here I was pressuring him to clean up. I'm so mean. Other times, his hands aren't working. Today, however, they worked well enough for him to call directory assistance. Lovely. At least it wasn't 911.

I should title this post "Poor Noel. " He's been sick since having three shots yesterday. Despite not feeling well, he learned to stack two blocks today. It was the first time I showed him how to do it, and he caught on right away.

In other news, we finally got rid of the Schlitz light fixture today. I can't believe nobody wanted that thing! I put it on Craigslist but had no interest. Amazing, considering how all our guy friends thought it was so wonderful. Now if anyone wants it, they'll have to buy it at ReStore.

Where did the month go?

I guess it must be a slow news month around here, or maybe I'm just too tired to post much of the time. We've got to get these boys to sleep all night! One night last week, I actually got seven hours of uninterrupted sleep before Noel woke up. That's the longest stretch in months.

We had a nice Thanksgiving. My parents, sister and brother-in-law joined us here for the holiday, our first time hosting it. We had a great time eating and hanging out. There was some game on Saturday night, but my mom and I got caught up on What Not to Wear instead.

The boys are doing well. Dominick alternates between giving me an ulcer and charming me. He still loves preschool. Drop-offs started this week. It's awesome! Instead of having to park, unbuckle two kids and walk around the building to Dom's classroom, we just drive up to the south door, and a teacher comes out, opens the car door, unbuckles Dominick, and takes him inside. Dom's also having lots of fun playing with "Wisabelle," but we learned last week that she is moving. Fortunately, she'll still go to the school just down the street, so she'll be around. Her dad promises to keep in touch.

Noel can really walk now, though he still crawls quite a bit. You can see how proud he is. His receptive language is expanding every day. He'll clap, flop on a pillow or give a kiss (a slobbery, open-mouthed one) if you ask him to. Today Dominick was holding a bag clip and said, "Noel, look at this clip!" and Noel started clapping. The other big development for Noel is that he seems to be giving up his morning nap. Also, he's become extremely clingy and gets very upset if I leave the room. All of this is happening right on schedule.

As for me, I must have been replaced with a pod person from outer space because I've started exercising on a regular basis. My muscles were probably on the verge of atrophy, but now I've been going to the Y about three times a week, mostly for Pilates. I even went on Thanksgiving morning with Mike to a spinning class. The Child Watch program makes all the difference. Two hours of free babysitting for two kids--I'd be a fool not to go. The boys like it, and I can do something for myself, so it's a win-win situation.

Working mom

Yes, I briefly reentered the work force this weekend. My former boss called me for help on a paint analysis project, so I spent four hours in the lab on Saturday and six on Sunday. Funny how everything looks nearly the same as it did when I quit four years ago. That man needs to hire a professional organizer! Still, it was nice to have some quiet time, just me and the microscope, and earn some extra money. The role reversal was interesting, too. I got to be the one coming home to two boys who were excited to see me. Noel in particular must have missed me because he crawled over to me, and when I picked him up, he immediately went horizontal. :)

I managed to squeeze in lunch with some friends on Saturday at a chicky tea room, i.e. the kind of place that serves quiche and has doilies on the tables. I believe the only male on the premises was my friend's five-month-old. And here's a shocker: I ordered a veggie BLT. On Sunday, I still went to Pilates. A month into my Y membership, and I haven't given up yet! In fact, I really enjoy it. The other day after Pilates, with the boys happily playing in the nursery, I thought I'd try an elliptical machine. I couldn't figure out how to turn the thing on! How pathetic is that?

Noel is feeling much better this week, so he should be in good shape for Thanksgiving. Now the rest of us need to stay healthy. That's probably too much to ask.

One-year checkup

Usually these things are called "well baby" visits, but today Noel was sick, so I was glad we had the appointment scheduled. Turns out he has croup. Poor thing. His illness gave him a reprieve from immunizations, which will just have to be postponed until next week. Dominick had no such excuse and took his flu shot with much drama, but when the nurse offered him a sticker, he stopped crying and followed her down the hall.

Apart from being sick, Noel is doing well. His numbers have held steady, which is really good considering how active he's become. He weighs 19 pounds, 7 ounces (10th percentile) and measures 29 1/8 inches tall (25th percentile). His head is a whopping 90th percentile. Both boys have big heads, stuffed full of gray matter, I presume. And large blue eyes. :)

Three steps

Noel took a few steps tonight, first between me and Mike and then from the ottoman to me. He's been practicing his walking skills lately by cruising and pushing his little hippo toy. We've also been encouraging him to come to us. When he took off from the ottoman, nobody was prompting him. He just decided to go on his own, making the effort all the more impressive. Watch out, world--Noel is coming!

Happy Birthday, Noel!

At 8:08 this morning, Noel turned one year old. I suppose that makes him a toddler, but I much prefer to think of him as a baby. He'll always be my baby, anyway, as will Dominick, my original baby.

Noel had a nice birthday, though he was a little fussy because of his new teeth that just won't break through. We went to playgroup this morning, where Noel had his first real taste of sugar. (Thanks, Jill, for baking cupcakes for him!) It was only a small treat, as we're saving the big messy moment for the weekend. He also opened a few presents tonight.

Upcoming appointment

But not anytime soon! We've been planning to take Noel to see a dermatologist about his birthmark, so this afternoon I called to make an appointment. I was surprised to find that this particular doctor's first opening for new patients is April 11. I took it, hoping that maybe someone will cancel in the meantime. We're going to find out exactly what kind of birthmark Noel has and how it can be treated, not for our sake but for his. Not long ago, we had our first comment from a stranger, who basically got in Noel's face and shouted "Whoa! What's that?" when we came to his checkout line at Lowe's. Incidentally, a friend of ours had done about the same thing a few months earlier. We do NOT want this kind of thing to happen when Noel is big enough to understand, so that is why we will explore treatment options. We think he's perfect as he is.

Halloween

The keys on the computer are sticking because somebody spilled milk on the keyboard last night. Care to hazard a guess who that was? We're lucky the computer works at all.

We had a good Halloween. My boys dressed up as the tortoise (Dom) and the hare (Noel). They were very cute, but I just realized that I don't have any good pictures of them together. (I've got to post one, though, so there it is. Noel was so tired because he skipped his afternoon nap.) Our playgroup had a party on Tuesday, but Dom refused to wear his turtle shell, so I ended up not taking any pictures there. His preschool had a costume parade and party on Halloween proper. Dom held up the parade looking for me in the crowd of parents. I'd learned my lesson from the Color Days parade and was hiding. Eventually he saw me and left the parade as he had before. And of course, Halloween night we went trick-or-treating. Dom kept saying "trick or treat" before anybody answered their doors, so we drilled the routine into him. Then at one house, the owner was sitting right in front of the door, but Dominick stood next to him and knocked on the door, waiting for somebody to open it. The man thought that was pretty funny, as did we.

I should start a list of the weird things Dom has taken to bed with him. He used to hold a toy car or plane, but then there was the fabric swatch a couple of weeks ago. Earlier this week it was a large flashlight battery, which I later heard crashing to the floor (he didn't wake up). Last night, he slept with a USB cord. Don't worry--it was still coiled up and fastened with a twist tie, so there was no risk of strangulation. Strange kid.

Another new video starring Dominick

This video is a few days old, but it was sideways as originally recorded, and I was determined to find a way to fix it. The answer was on my computer all along. Someday, I'll go back and rotate the video of Noel in his crib. For now, enjoy this one. It's really quite amusing.

Okay, I have to share this, too: last week, I joined the Y! I'm very proud of myself because this is a big step for me. I've never been able to stick with any form of exercise in my life, but over the past few months I've decided I need to do something. My very active and fit parents inspired me to take Pilates, so after doing a lot of research I found just the right place: it's convenient, not too expensive, and offers free child care to boot. I was actually excited to sign up and get started, which is very strange for me. And now I'm talking about it here. Please forgive me.

Finally, a new video

Mike and Dom dismantled the Dust Buster tonight and did some amusing tricks with it, and since I haven't posted any videos in a while, I grabbed the camera. I like this video because, among other things, it includes Dominick saying "hamburgerger." You can hear Noel making noise in the background.

By the way, I added tickers to the blog a couple of weeks ago. Scroll down to see just how big our two boys are getting.

Hairdryer, the sequel

This is how we diffused Dom's anger over not being allowed to play with the new hairdryer. Mike decided to make a lesson out of disassembling the old one. He showed Dominick how to power the fan with a 9V battery. Tonight I mentioned that it's time to throw out the broken Dustbuster, but Mike wants to take it apart with Dom tomorrow first.

This weekend wasn't as productive as we'd planned, partly because Mike worked from 7 am Friday until about 5 am Saturday, but we did do some fun things, including a visit to a pumpkin farm. I really wanted to get pictures of the boys sitting among the pumpkins, but Dom wasn't in a cooperative mood, so I have several of Noel. Dom took a kiddie "train" ride. Each car had a squeaky horn on the front, which the kids dutifully squeezed as they rode, and the resulting noise was absolutely hilarious. The driver would probably disagree.

Noel relaxing with some pumpkins, and Dominick riding in the yellow car.

Sick day

Dom stayed home from preschool today because of a nasty cough. I'm sure it sounds worse than it is. His voice has been adorably raspy for two days. Fortunately, he seems to feel fine. I'm letting him hang out in his pajamas on this perfectly dreary, rainy fall day. If I didn't have kids, I'd sink into the world's most comfortable couch, which happens to be in our study, read a book and then take a nap. Of course, if I didn't have kids, I probably wouldn't need the nap.

Would somebody please shoot me for buying a new hairdryer yesterday morning? Dom hasn't stopped asking for it since then, and he even had a fairly significant tantrum over the stupid thing. I'm going to scream if I hear about it one more time. Last night before bed, he said the new hairdryer would help him sleep. Uh, no. You never know what's going to obsess him on a given day. I guess that's life with small children.

It looks like we'll have another busy weekend coming up. The tile for the counters downstairs is in, so that gives us another big job to do, in addition to more caulking, filling and painting. Will it never end? Oh, and we still need to take our broken window for repair. I could do it myself (in my copious spare time), but I shouldn't have to.

First crush?

While Dominick was lying under the dining room table today, he said, "I like Emma in my class. I like her dress." Hmmm. Could it be that he likes a girl at the tender age of 3 1/2? He usually doesn't talk much about his classmates or activities at school, so this came out of nowhere. I hope this Emma is a nice girl. She'd better not break my boy's heart!

The three classrooms at preschool had their Color Days parade and picnic this morning. They'd been working on tshirts and a banner over the past few days. The parade was incredibly cute. The Red Room, Dom's room, lined up first, some marching music was played, and the kids paraded, holding hands in pairs, around the lawn. Unfortunately, when Dominick saw me, he left the parade and never really made it back in. He did sit with his class for a photo op.

The Red Room

Dom in his Color Days t-shirt: along with his soccer shirt, he's starting to build a collection for a future quilt. (Hint, hint, Mom!)

I haven't posted any Dominisms lately, so here are a few new ones. In addition, he's peppering his speech with certainly (e.g. "I certainly am hungry") and isn't it? doesn't he? etc. It seems like half his sentences end that way. I guess I say those kinds of things more than I realized, so now I've gotten really self-conscious about it. On to Dominick's sayings:

canative movement (creative movement, which they do on Mondays at school)

canola bar (sounds yummy!)

areo (radio)

osteraunt (restaurant)

Wisabelle (his older woman--she's six--two houses up the street)

I like these. These are incredible. (He was looking at a box of colored pencils.)

Something else funny: Dom went to sleep tonight holding a fabric swatch from Crate and Barrel. Some kids have their loveys, he has a square of chocolate microfiber.

Eleven months

Only another month until Noel's first birthday! Wow. Here he is at eleven months. I really had a hard time getting these pictures tonight. Apparently Noel thinks it's funny when I'm trying to take his picture and he won't stay still. (I'll upload more of my attempts to the Picasa account.) He made up a new game where he sits up, immediately falls backward and laughs hysterically. He did this on the bed, so he had a soft landing.

This morning, after Dominick had meltdowns at soccer and the farmer's market, we all went to the local fire station's open house. We averted another meltdown by heading straight for the hot dogs. After we ate, Dominick got to sit in a helicopter. He was disappointed he couldn't ride in it. Later, the helicopter took off, so of course everybody gathered around to watch. Nobody anticipated the dust storm that the helicopter created, and we were all covered in dirt. It was a little humorous.

Closer

We've just finished doing a little work downstairs, and Mike's being a guitar hero, so here I am on the computer.

The big news of the week is that we had our carpet installed on Tuesday. It's so nice! Even though we haven't finished everything and have no furniture, we've taken the boys downstairs to hang out. I promised to post pictures, and to make the result that much more dramatic, I'm showing the earlier shot again. A lot has changed in three months.

One more thing about the carpet installation: the installers broke one of our basement windows. It came crashing shut after they put the carpet through (the easiest way to get very long things into the basement). Can you say Total Landscape flashback? This was minor compared to a rafter crashing through our sunporch window. For anyone who doesn't know this story, Total Landscape exhibited gross incompetence on their very first day of work, when the crew's equipment broke one of our pergola posts in half. While replacing the post, they lost control of a rafter. Brilliant.

How we all fared last week

As it is now the following Tuesday, I think I can say that we (I) survived without Mike last week. Thank goodness for preschool! Dom gave me some problems, but nothing insurmountable. The best one was when he whacked me on the head with his beloved sprinkler while I was talking on the phone. That's what I get for not paying attention to him, right? I keep telling myself, "He's only three." It's my new mantra.

While Mike was gone, Noel got a new tooth and started cruising. He's constantly on the move. Diapering has become nearly impossible, especially when I am dealing with as many as 12 snaps, depending on which diapers and clothes Noel's wearing. Baths now require both me and Mike, one to hold the baby and the other to wash him.

Now that Mike is back home, we've been hard at work on the basement. We're ready to be finished. I'd love to have our nights and weekends back. Next Tuesday the carpet will be installed, so we're trying to get ready for that. For obvious reasons, we want to have all the messy work done first.

I had a dream the other night that we bought a new house (but old, of course). The small, dark dining room had several layers of resilient flooring underneath ratty carpet, so that floor and the rest of the hardwood needed to be refinished. The floorplan was awkward. The basement was a warren of spaces with a very low ceiling, not suitable for finishing. I was terribly upset that we'd rushed into this purchase when we'd just refinished the hardwood floors and fixed up the basement here. And then I woke up screaming. Not really, but it wasn't exactly a sweet dream.

How Dominick fared last week

Ah, Monday. This is going to be one long week. Mike is in New Jersey until Friday, having left yesterday morning. With him gone, I now get to deal with both boys when they wake up during the night. Last night was a doozy. Dom had been playing with his alarm clock during the day (can you tell where this is going already?), and he managed to set it for 12:15. The thing is LOUD, so even Dom couldn't sleep through the racket it made, and it has to be shut off manually. Dom came upstairs two more times, at about 2:00 and 2:20, but miraculously, Noel slept through all of that. Then Noel woke up at 4:00 and 6:30 for good. What a night. Dom had been sleeping better, but lately he says that inanimate objects (toys, the monitor, the music box) are "not happy at me," so he must be having nightmares.

Preschool drop-offs were dramatic the rest of last week. Friday morning Dominick had a pre-preschool tantrum ("I DON'T want to go! I DON'T!) that lasted over an hour. Yet each time I picked him up from school, he was in a happy mood, and his teachers told me he'd been great. Today was much better. Instead of crying, Dominick kept asking if it was time to go yet, and he went into his classroom on his two feet for the first time. Granted, he made a beeline for Mrs. Cassilly's lap and lay on her facedown, but he didn't shed a tear.

Saturday morning, Dominick went to his first soccer session. He enjoyed kicking balls around before the class started, but once he caught sight of the school's playground, he was gone. We had to bring him back kicking and screaming to join the group, but he eventually took part in some of the exercises. He needs to play soccer and stay away from the play equipment, otherwise all we'll have to show for it is a really expensive t-shirt.

When we came home from soccer, Dom tried out his new bike, which we had bought the night before. I keep saying it, but he is such a big boy! Saturday afternoon, I ran errands with Dominick and a sprinkler. He had to bring it along. Whatever floats your boat, Dom! He got some quizzical looks, but the lady who checked us out at the grocery store said she has three boys, so she completely understood.

Soccer: Daddy and Dom playing while Noel eats grass on the sidelines

Dom graduates from three wheels to two (if you don't count the training wheels)

First day of (pre)school

Dom started preschool today. I can't believe my boy is so big! He was happy before we left, with his brand-new turtle backpack and shoes. When we got to the building, Dom immediately began looking for the sprinklers we saw on Friday's visit. All was merry until we got close to the door, and then Dom threw his arms around my legs and started screaming. So much for taking a picture at school! The teachers eventually had to carry Dom into the Red Room, and I waved goodbye through the window. But shortly after I left, Dom calmed down and was fine for the rest of the morning. When I picked him up, he resumed his search for the sprinklers. Mike and I pumped him for information about his first day, but he's not telling us too much about what he did. All we know is he slid down a pole and hurt his ear, and Aidan fell down.

Here's where the preschool is located. How appropriate that the son of someone with two degrees in historic preservation should attend school in such an environment. Gorgeous.

Phrases of the week

Just a quick and somewhat random post tonight because it's late and I'm tired after working downstairs most of the day. These little phrases stand out in my mind as reminders of some of the things that have gone on this week. Let's do the bad ones first:

"I peed on the floor."
--Dom, obviously. Fortunately, I discovered he was sitting on the toilet, so it wasn't an accident, just poor aim.

"Are you sitting down?"
--the guy in the flooring department at Lowe's, calling to give us the final quote on our carpet order.

And now the good ones:

"I'm not going to do a rectal exam."
--spoken by the doctor Tuesday at my first-ever physical exam.

"He's a sweet boy."
--Dom's teacher at PDO as we said our goodbyes

"I love you, Mom."
--right back at you, Dom!

Ten months

These pictures are getting harder and harder to take! Noel laughed and mocked at my attempts to keep him seated on the chair. He should thank me for preventing him from going off it head first! That's part of my hand in the third picture as I went to rescue Noel yet again.

Noel has finally started to sit up unassisted. Just like his brother, he crawled a month before sitting. Bathtime will be so much more fun now!

Moving on

This was Dominick's last day at PDO. It was sad, in a way. I really like the teachers, and the location (four blocks away) can't be beat. Miss Cindy told me that Dom is a sweet boy, and that she really enjoyed one-on-one time with him because he'd just talk and talk.

Dominick has never had any major issues with me leaving him on Wednesday mornings, but today, strangely, he wrapped himself around my legs and said he wanted to stay with me. The teacher finally had to pick him up and take him into the room. I suspect the problem had to do with toilet anxiety more than anything. Fortunately, he did use the bathroom there today, just as he had at playgroup yesterday, so I'm feeling better about starting preschool next week.

I have to brag about how well Dominick wrote his name the other day. In case you're not impressed enough, he did this upside down. (He wasn't upside down, he just wrote that way.)

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!

A minor breakthrough

Dom FINALLY peed on the toilet yesterday afternoon! It was only a little bit, and most went on the rim of the toilet or on the floor, but he did it all the same. (Immediately afterward, he said, "Now I can go to preschool!" Um, not quite.) Then he peed while standing in front of the sink, and a few minutes later, he peed about a gallon into his new diaper. Oh well! I'll take it. The good thing is that he's become much more receptive to the idea of sitting on the toilet, even asking to get out of the bath last night so he could do it again. We still have miles to go, but he's finally taken his first step.

Another week goes by...

Two major projects are consuming our lives right now: the basement remodel and Dom's toilet training. By far the easier of the two is the basement. At least we're seeing some progress downstairs! So far, we've had NOTHING where toilet training is concerned. Not a drop, and preschool is less than two months away. At this rate, I'm beginning to wonder whether he'll be able to start kindergarten! It doesn't matter what incentive we offer: Dominick just has no interest in using the toilet.

But the basement project is rolling along, though it's not the sexy work that's being done, just things like moving plumbing and gas lines and clearing out more junk. (I made another trip to Goodwill today.) Still, I'm excited that we have actual light in our laundry room now, and the dryer has finally been moved out of the awkward angled position it's occupied for years.

During the course of demolition and purging, we found a few interesting items in our basement. The previous owner, or rather his daughter, who owned the house after he died, left the basement (and garage) full of nothing useful. I'd have a more extensive list if we hadn't previously trashed or donated loads and loads of stuff.

• Dog tag for Wrigley
• Label from the original owner's gun display downstairs
• A tiny scrap of the Post-Dispatch with an article about President Eisenhower's tribute to Ernie Pyle
• Schnucks spring water, expiration date December 1989
• Genuine four-leaf clover





• Box of yellow and black plastic wall tile--nice!


• Scrap of the kitchen's original linoleum floor
• Dead snake

We have a tooth!

It's barely showing, but I can see and feel it. For once, Noel has hit a milestone earlier than Dominick, whose first tooth came at nine months. Now for crawling and sitting up...I'll keep you posted.

Our nephew Seth is here for the weekend. This morning, the three older boys went to the Missouri Botanical Garden. They all got wet playing in the fountains, which must have been a sight. Tonight, after the little boys' baths, we did some fireworks in the backyard. This time Noel was with us. He did NOT like it at all. Good thing we didn't drag him to a big fireworks display Wednesday night!

Seth, Noel and Dominick

Time for Noel's monthly photo. As expected, he wasn't content to sit still and leave the sign alone, but I managed to get some good shots. (That's drool on the chair, by the way.) Overall, it went better than his session earlier today at JCPenney. He was getting tired--their fault for being 30 minutes late starting--and clearly constipated, not to mention teething, so it wasn't a good combination. But again, he couldn't help giving us some good pictures, just not as many as before.

Sideways

I've resisted posting this video, for obvious reasons, but here it is, messed-up orientation and all. Simply rotate your computer screen clockwise to view the cuteness.

Dom doesn't star in this video, so to keep things fair, I'll provide a list of funny things he's said lately. I never tire of listening to him talk. He comes up with some real head-scratchers.

"I'm right here a little bit."

"Noel's a big red barn."

"Hurt your behind, please."

To Noel: "Practice walking, please. Learn to stand."

"My arms are nice."

Upon seeing the mannequins at Old Navy: "They need to get some heads."

On the milestone front, Noel is this close to crawling. Any day now, I think. He also seems to be teething, which has meant disrupted sleep and much more crying. Hurry up, tooth, so my baby will feel better! He's having his eight-month pictures taken tomorrow, and I don't want the session to be a disaster. If Noel skips his morning nap again, it might be. The scratches and pimple (yes, he has to have a baby pimple now!) are bad enough.

So much for the holiday

I'm sorry to report that we did absolutely nothing for the Fourth of July today. Mike started a project in the basement early this morning, hoping to be finished by early afternoon or so, but it morphed into a full day of work. Oh well! Our nephew will be here this weekend, so we will have a belated celebration on Friday, complete with cookout and kid-friendly fireworks.

Speaking of the basement, it looks a lot different than it did a couple of weeks ago. A dumpster in our driveway is now filled with the paneled walls, plywood ceiling panels, carpet and pad, and other unwanted items from the basement. We've packed and given away or sold lots of other things.

I have to mention my new obsessions here: Craigslist and Freecycle. It's amazing to me that I can put up a listing for a box of miscellaneous old junk, and within minutes, people are clammering for it. I'm all about keeping stuff out of landfills, so I love that I can pass it on to somebody else. We've Freecycled a weird old cabinet, TV stand, podium, ripped patio umbrella, metal trash cans, the box of junk and a remnant of plexiglas. We've sold the futon, a small refrigerator, and coffee and end table set on Craigslist. Just as exciting, I found two great bargains on Craigslist: a nearly-new gas dryer for $50 (to replace the old one, which left rust streaks on laundry) and a nearly-new Exersaucer, only $15.

It's a miracle: Dominick is out of the Exersaucer long enough for Noel to play in it.

Anyway, the demolition is done, and the basement feels so much more open now. We looked into having the support posts removed, but unfortunately that's not feasible. Still, it's going to be really nice when it's finished, if the project doesn't drag on forever. Here's a picture of the basement post-demo.

A view looking toward the east foundation wall. The white post shows the location of the partition wall, now gone. Pardon the mess!

On Sunday, I took Dominick to Grant's Farm. It was really nice to have some time with just the two of us. He's so funny, though. He cared more about the fans in the tram shed and stables, and the sprinklers (not on, just piled up in a corner in an employee-only area) than the animals. His absolute favorite part of Grant's Farm was the water spray bridge. We just happened to be walking across it when suddenly the sprays turned on. Until then, I didn't even know it was there. Dom loved it. Only by promising a snack was I able to coax him to move on.

Dom must have been saying something,

otherwise this would have been a really good picture of us!

Dom having a blast on the spray bridge.

The "after" shot

New photo album

I'm up past my bedtime to share some amusing photos: 38 beautiful works of art, most created by Dominick. (Mike and I were responsible for a few, too.) The image quality isn't so great, but what can you expect from a digital camera made for kids? Still, I thought some of Dom's pictures had their own crazy sort of artistic value. Of course, I could only be saying that because I'm his mom. Judge for yourselves.

Look for updates on our basement renovation in the next day or so. We've been busy!

One year ago

It was on this day last year that we found out we were having another boy. I have to admit I was hoping for a girl at the time because we knew this baby would be our last. So when the ultrasound technician showed us--there was no mistaking it--I felt a slight pang of disappointment, but it was gone as soon as it came. I think that almost more than anything, the idea of me having two boys was hard to fathom. I don't have a brother, so little boys were foreign to me, and now I was having two.

Now that Noel has been here for nearly eight months, I can't imagine having a girl, or that I might have ever been disappointed that we weren't. Yes, I won't get to buy the supercute girl clothes that our friends have, but that's hardly a major problem, is it? I mean, look at this sweet boy!

Toys in the wall

We hit the jackpot tonight. All of the above items were retrieved from the vent in Dominick's room after we realized that seven pieces from his snail puzzle were missing. I knew that the stacker pieces were down there, too; they'd been gone for months. I can't blame the comb on Dominick because it's not even ours. Maybe it was put there by Sandy, the daughter of the original owner of our house. She was three or four when it was built. Anyway, Mike managed to pull these twenty or so things from the ductwork, which wasn't exactly easy. Now we need to do the same thing in the living room. That vent holds some Mr. Potato Head parts and a bendy bunny, and that's just what I can see.

Noel really found his voice today. He said "dadada" and must have thought it was pretty cool because he repeated it all day long. I've got to make a recording of that because it could be the sweetest sound ever heard on this planet. Adorable! He's also rolling around like crazy, so much that diaper changes have become very difficult. No crawling quite yet, but Noel has mastered the art of spinning around in a circle by moving his arms. He can also scoot backwards across the hardwood floors.

Dominick continues to say amusing things. If only I had a transcript of his phone conversations. They are hilarious, as his grandparents can attest. You'd just have to call him and experience it for yourself. Here are some other Dom sayings of late:

vegetabubs

eessert (dessert)

not weawy

Doklin (Joplin)

muck (milk--still!)

hamburgerger (still!)

snot (snout)

cayrons/carrons (crayons)

my's, me's

That last one I mentioned before, but I put it here now because this is truly the age of my's. Not mine, my's. We're hearing that a lot, along with that other word so cherished by three-year-olds: no.

And now for some more pictures...

Dominick being nostalgic for his baby days. He also likes to be swaddled in a quilt and climb into Noel's crib with him (see below).

Self-explanatory. Noel loves to suck, and he's not picky about what.