Time to catch up

I've been remiss about blogging lately, so here are some notes on the past few weeks in the Atwood household, in no particular order:

We went to Joplin to see my parents and gush over their new garage, landscaping, and flagstone patio. I'm so jealous! While there, we treated Dominick to his first movie theater experience ("Wall-E"). The movie was good but perhaps a bit too much for Dom, especially considering the length and volume of the previews and commercials that preceded it. Come on, theater people!

The four of us went to the Magic House. The admission there is ridiculous: why is it $7.50 for anybody over 12 months? Fortunately, we used two buy-one-get-one coupons, and we had a good time. (I'll post pictures eventually.) One of these days I'll get Dom to touch the big metal ball to make his hair stand up.

The dark area underneath Noel's fingernail along the line of the laceration has gone away. Maybe it was just dirt after all.

Dom can eat a full-sized cheeseburger with bun, a hot dog with bun, and potatoes and still want more.

I reworked the curtains in the boys' room, shortening them and adding sewn-in lining. This project was fraught with difficulties (it seemed like I made every mistake possible), but I persevered. Treating it as a learning experience helped me keep a positive attitude; otherwise, I might have chucked the sewing machine out the window. Thank goodness for my seam ripper.

Dom and I went to the Soulard Farmers Market together. He was overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds but got a balloon-dog-hat out of it, so he was happy. I bought blackberries and made a blackberry-white peach thing with not-so-puffy puff pastry on top. I'll call it rustic.

Noel uses words for real communication now, not just labeling. Even more exciting is that he's started telling me when he has a dirty diaper, which gives me hope that he'll toilet-train earlier than Dominick did.

I learned that Noel definitely does not like chocolate. Could this really be my child?

Dominick, on the other hand, loves watermelon, pronouncing it "gooder" than black beans, pickles, everything.

I can have an allergic reaction to cats just by holding a baby who lives in a cat-infested house. (Sorry, Storms!)

Mike has haunted eBay over the past two weeks, searching for the perfect Thomas set for the boys. I don't know how many auctions he bid on before finally winning two. Dom is going crazy waiting for the stuff to arrive. When that day comes, Mike wants me not to open the packages before he comes home from work. That will go over well with Dominick. "Sorry, sweetie, but you'll have to wait another six hours to play with your 52 new engines." [Update: Box 1 arrived just after I posted this. I let Dominick take out 21 engines and some track before Mike came home. Now they've set up a fairly elaborate track in the basement.]

Watch for new photos on Picasa...sometime.