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.