Christmas 2008

Chris took the above video of Dominic on Christmas at his Tutu and Papa's house. Dominic is growing up to be a sweet and affectionate kid and we had the best time sharing the holiday with him.

Here we are putting out goodies for Santa and his reindeer. Dominic often refers to things by the sound they make rather than what they are. For example, Ducks are "quacks" and cats are "meows." This proved no exception for Santa who has been referred to as "Ho Ho Ho" for the last several weeks.

This is Dominic with his new bike. I think it's safe to say that he's fairly obsessed with it--which is no surprise since Derek and I have been building it up for the past several weeks. The first things he does when we get him from his crib in the morning, is pat his head and say "Helmet, Mama. Bikkkkeee." Also, this bike does not have pedals and is just supposed to be propelled with his feet. Well, you can imagine how many bikes he sees on a daily basis in our garage so he was surprised by the missing pedals. He put he hands where the pedals should be and said "Oh noooooo, Daddy, oooohhhh no!!!"

Dominic is in love with his Papa. If you ask him what he wants to do, he usually says "Go Papa's house" or simply, "Papa". Now, we all know that Kirby is a fun and charming guy but the fact that he lets Dominic "drive" his GTO, play with all of his model cars, and feeds him sweet bread with whipped cream is not hurting the guy's popularity any.

When Dominic is not asking for his Papa, he's asking for his Tutu who is the best playmate that Dominic has. She sings him silly songs and make up stories and pretend things for them to do.We're lucky to have family close by.

Ah yes, and now we get to a few of Dominic's other obsessions. First there is his Uncle Mike (featured here with Dominic) whom Dominic insists on calling "Apple Mike". At least 50 times a day, Dominic asks "Where Apple Mike go?!?" with the most forlorn look on this face. In fact, one of Dominic's new words is "Tahoe" (which he says like Taaaahooooeee) because he's heard us tell him so many times over the past few days that this is where his pal Mike is. Anyway, one obsession leads into another as Apple Mike and his wife Diana purchased a skateboard for Dominic for Christmas. This means that my 20-month old has not one but t-w-o skateboards. And really? He loves them both--maybe even more than the bike. Thanks Apple Mike.

Here is Dominic riding and "maintaining" his skateboard. He loves to hang out with Derek in the garage and ask for "tooools".

Just a few other pics of Dominic...Reading with his Dad and wearing my Tiger's hat.

Yeeeewwwwww Peeeeeee!!!

Little D has started talking up quite a little storm lately. He's started saying all kinds of words (cow and owl are his 2 current favorites) and he's started to really know the books we've been reading to him for months.


One of the books he has shows an animal on each page and then prompts you for what you are supposed to say when you see that animal. So, for example, one is a kitten and says "If you see a cuddly kitten, say....." and the answer is: "Awwww." So, Dominic knows what you're supposed to say for most of these pictures. Like "If you see a spooky spider say....Eeeeeekkkk.."and he shrieks.


But there is one that always trips him up. "If you see a pudgy pig," the book asks, "say...." (the answer is Peeeee Yew!) But Dominic, for whatever reason, always yells "Yeeeewww Peeeee". And he yells it so clearly and emphatically. It makes me laugh every time.




This is a picture of Dominic eating his 1st hamburger. He got all peeved that our food looked different than his (cut up pieces of hamburger) that he kept trying to eat Derek's. Finally, Derek made him one of his own and Dominic was happy.

Here is Dominic with his Uncle Chris--who he just loves.

And reading with his Grandpa.
And playing in the morning time.

Moon!!! Star!!!

Dominic is just getting so big so fast. One of the nice things about that is that he can finally talk to us...at least a little. This is the conversation we had this morning:
Me: Dominic, tell Dad what you say in the sky last night.
Dominic: MOOOOONNN!!
Me: What else did you see, Dominic?
Dominic: STAAARRRR!!! (laughing)

Another nice thing about him getting bigger is that we're able to do more fun things, like finger paint and play with the legos that cousins Craig and Anna gave me!

Dominic has not, however, gotten too big for snuggling. Here he is with his dad.

Chapter 12 - In which D goes to Michigan and meets his Opa

Dominic has been told about his Opa since even before he was born but he finally got to meet him a couple of weeks ago in Michigan. Dominic went to him right away and they were fast friends.

This is the gang hanging out at Craig's baseball game. Check out the action shot of him making a great play later on in the blog--the picture doesn't quite do it justice but it's enough to let you see what a great player he is!


Somehow, I didn't end up with many pictures of Dominic with his cousins but he absolutely loved being around them--playing with them, copying them, pretending to be a big kid. When I watched them playing with him and helping take care of him, I found myself hoping that he would grow up to be half as good of a kid as Anna and Craig are. Here is one of the pictures I did get...along with their Opa.

Dominic also loved his Aunt Stef, who took care of him for most of the week. Here's a picture of them reading and snuggling together--2 of their favorite things!
Despite all his fun, Dominic was also pretty glad to get home to his own bed and most importantly, to spend time with his Dad. He was so excited and happy when Derek met us at the airport. It's nice to go away, especially to visit the family we love, but there's no place like home.

Look ma no hands

Aloha!

We just got back from our long awaited trip to Hawaii and it was very fantastic! One of our first nights was spent at Derek's Auntie Bea's house...where there were no less than 5 of Dominic's great-great Aunties there to greet us. Auntie Fooni (seen with Dominic in the picture below) made us the absolutely beautiful (and yummy-smelling) leis that you see on us above.

Dominic's first swim in the ocean (and all subsequent swims, actually) were a success! He really took to the water and liked bobbing up and down in his little seat. He also loved the pool and standing at the edge of the ocean and letting the waves come up over his feet.

Here is a picture of Dominic and his Tutu at her surprise 65th birthday party. The location of the party, held at a friend of Dad's, had a stunning view of the island.

These next few pictures of are Dominic at the Honolulu zoo, which was right next to our Hotel (views from our hotel room are at the end of the post--unbelievable). We actually went there twice because it was a really toddler-friendly zoo and Dominic has fun trying to playing on the playground and with the other kids, etc. One of the things he was most excited about was the tiger. It would come right up to the glass and stare him in the face for a few seconds--sizing him up as dinner, no doubt, but still quite a thrill.

Sylvia and Ralph, Derek's Aunt and Uncle, are always a big part of our visits to Hawaii. We had such a good time hanging out with them (and being fed ono food by Chef Sylvia) and meeting some of Ralph's family over the 4th of July. Here are Dominic and Sylvia together.

Here are a few pictures of Dominic just hanging out and having fun and relaxing times with Derek and I--something it seems we don't always have enough time to do in our busy lives.

Firsts

Dominic has had so many firsts over the past several weeks--starting with his first birthday. For reasons that cannot be explained, I don't currently have any pictures of his birthday party but here is a picture of the little man a few days before.

The party was given to him by his Tutu and Grandpa and I have to say, there were an impressive number of people there and he really handled all the attention pretty well. And by well, I mostly mean that he didn't cry, have a meltdown, or give people dirty looks. Yeah, I like to set the bar low...



While Dominic has not quite taken his first steps yet, he does use his little truck to cruise all over the house. Ok, so for those of you that have been to our house, you know that to get from one end to another takes about 6 baby steps but still--we're impressed. Especially when he holds on with one hand and sucks his thumb the whole time. Show off.

Here is Dominic eating his first meal in his booster seat. Derek and I are slowly reclaiming some real estate in the house and, although we haven't quite gotten rid of it, the high chair is gonna be the next to go. We've always sat down and eaten dinner together as a family but Dominic seemed to really like actually sitting at the same table in a real chair.



Derek and I also took Dominic on his first visit to the zoo today--which included his first ride on a carousel. He loved it. It was pretty fun trying to get him to pay attention to the 300lb gorillas that were like 15 feet away when all he cared about were the giant exercise balls in their pen.

Me: "Look, Dominic, g-o-r-i-l-l-a.."
Dominic: "Balllll. Ball. Baaaalll."
Me: "Yes, ball. Hey, look, Dominic, do you see the big gorilla, what's he doing?"
Dominic: "Ball. Ball. Baaaaalll. Ball."

(and on and on)

There is probably some way I can talk about Arie, Jaime, and Jackson's recent visit in terms of more "firsts" but it would be a stretch. So, I'll ditch the theme and say, simply, that they were here and it was absolutely fantastic to see them and hang out for an afternoon together.
Jackson and Dominic played in their wagon and, although I didn't post a picture, they spent at least an hour playing with the water table that Aunt Stef, Uncle Pete, Craig and Anna bought us for Dominic's birthday.

Jackson is an absolute cutie and Dominic is already following in his footsteps by sharing his love of trucks and cars.

There are lots of days I ask myself why I live so far away from my family. That was one of those days.



This last picture of Dominic & Derek is one of my recent favorites.

How old are you? Oooonnnneeee

We've probably been driving Dominic crazy with all of our badgering about his upcoming birthday. At least 50 times I day, I ask him "HOW OLD ARE YOU?" He never answers me (although he does sometimes laugh), so I am forced to answer with an emphatic "OOONNEEEE!" You can sort of tell he wants to roll his eyes and I'm sure he would if he knew how.


Speaking of his upcoming birthday, Derek and I have definitely been reflecting about the past year. We went to the beach with Dominic a few weeks back and it reminded us of the trip we'd taken there with him just after he was born. What a difference a year makes!

And speaking of the beach (aren't I fantastic at these transitions?), we're getting Dominic all psyched up to go to Hawaii at the end of June. Here he is in his new sun hat...which is pretty much hates.

Lastly, I hope the Hallidays won't mind but I gave Dominic part of his birthday present from them--the water table below--a few days early. It was pretty hot here today and we thought it was a perfect day to try it out. Dominic was totally soaked in 30 seconds and absolutely loved it. It's the longest I've ever actually seen him stand.