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