Measurements

I took some measurements on October 23 that I intended to get into the blog, but then I misplaced the paper on which I took the notes. I think I posted a couple of them from memory, but here they all are from my notes:

inseam - 10 inches
collar to crotch - 17 inches
waist - 20 inches
thigh - 12 inches
head - 18.5 inches
armpit to wrist - 8 inches

Changing Every Day

Remember to visit our photo gallery here (www.TheUrenos.com).  Loading the photos on Blogger is just too much of an ordeal, and time to post is so rare now that Dominic is running everywhere he goes!

So much is changing every day.  I'm amazed that the person who could not even hold his own head up just over a year ago is now balancing as he walks across a wooden beam in our backyard. (The wooden beam is a 2-by-8 to be used for scaffolding that was brought by the construction workers who will soon be sandblasting our horrible stucco. Yay!)

It has probably been about 2 weeks since the first time Dominic took a kleenex from my outstretched hand and followed my instruction to "put it in the trash can". He was so proud of himself and I stood there with my jaw on the floor. I was just as amazed when I said "pull the string on your chair" (a musical rocking chair his Nana and Nano gave him that plays "Jesus Loves Me"), and he not only went over and tried to pull the little ball, but succeeded!  It takes quite a bit of force to pull it enough to start the music and it required some great balance as the chair can't be used for standing stability while it is rocking.  With the trash can thing, I had carefully "taught" the words "trash can", but I never had pointed and said "string" or "chair".  He just got that by osmosis.  

I bet he has been getting everything by osmosis for some time now.  It increases my alertness to watch what I say. 

I am definitely beginning to hear a difference between the word "dog" and the word "truck".  When we hear the trash truck coming, Dominic runs to the window or the gate so we can go out and watch it lift the cans and dump them.

Dominic's inseam is now 10 inches long.  Since he started at 20.5 inches and is now over 30.5 inches, that means that he has added that entire leg to his length.  No wonder he is waking up in the middle of the night crying sometimes... must be some growing pains!  He is 1.5 times his original length and 3 times his original weight!  (75th percentile for his age in both height and weight.)

We carved our first pumpkin together on Monday.  See pictures here.) Dominic didn't want to touch the squishy guts, but he really liked pushing the cut sections into the pumpkin to reveal the features.  It was a pumpkin we got free at a home show at the Orange County Fairgrounds where Granddaddy was working the Seashore Pest Control booth.  Thanks to Granddaddy for carrying it home for us!

Before Dominic, I would always try to make a different face on my carved pumpkins.. something other than the "same old" triangle nose and toothy grin.  But this year I figured even the regular face was new and different to him, so we made a classic jack-o-lantern.

We went to a couple of pumpkin patches - the big one at Tanaka Farms in Irvine and a smaller more commercial one across from Nana and Nano's house in Buena Park.  Dominic loved the giant wheels on the tractor at Tanaka Farms.  We got to ride in a wagon behind the tractor and pick onions, radishes and carrots out of the ground!  Dominic really loved pat-pat-patting the baby goats, too.  At the Buena Park one we rode the train and watched in awe as cousins Asaiah, Alex and Christian went on the huge inflatable tornado slide!

I said that Dominic has been having some trouble sleeping, but the past 2 nights he has been almost back to normal.  Both nights he woke up twice (about midnight and 3) and cried for about a minute each time.  It makes me so upset to think something might be scaring him in his sleep.  I try to be careful that anytime he is within earshot the TV is either off or on some "good" kids show like Sesame Street or Thomas and Friends, but I'm sure I haven't been 100% consistent.  He for sure sees too much political news... with the presidential election less than a week away, don't we all?!

Uh oh, it's time for our walk to the park with Aria.  Will have to write more later!  Bye for now, and thanks again for visiting!

The Crossroads

I've been watching from our bonus room windows the moms taking and picking up their kids from the elementary school up the street. I see them congregating and I wonder what they are talking about. I see what they are wearing and what they are driving and I get a little of the jitters I remember having before the first day of high school. Will I be a cool mom or a nerd mom?

Then a day or two later I catch myself almost ready to wipe Dominic's nose (which has become runny, I assume from the 1-year immunizations for measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox) with the corner of my sweatshirt. Aghast! Am I doomed to be the frumpy snot-covered mom?

I went to dinner with my friends the other night and they reassured me that I can be both the snot covered mom and the cool mom, that they are not mutually exclusive! Thanks guys!

I just hope as I meet more moms that I remember all of what I think I learned after high school about what's really important and who really matters. My prayer is that I focus on pleasing God and living a life of integrity and that Dominic does, too.

Happy Birthday 2U

We had a little family get together for Dominic on Sunday the 28th of September. Since we have so many weekend workers in our family, I planned the start to be 4pm, but told everyone whoever wanted to come early could since some were expected from all the way in Corona and I didn't want them having to drive home in the dark.

Needless to say most people showed up by 2, which was fine because it was a very low-key day and we had decided not to go over the top with decorations and stuff. We just borrowed a blowup pool from the Etheridge cousins and Dominic and his cousins played in it while the rest of us ate Karla's famous macaroni salad (love those green onions in there), Lorraine's yummy appetizer dip, rainbow fruit skewers (thanks mom for all the skewering!), hamburgers, hotdogs and chicken.

The weather was nice and it was a great relaxed afternoon. I made a cake (from scratch, but just because I forgot to buy 2 matching cake mixes) that looked like a race car with real wheels that Dominic could spin. That is still his favorite thing: he'll turn over any toy, stroller, skateboard or ?? just to flick the wheels and watch them go around! We took our first trip to a toy store the other day (to get a present for the first birthday party he has ever been invited to - a 2-year old neighbor girl called Malia) and he went right past all the balls and books and remote controlled dinosaurs to see the strollers and flick their wheels!

Well when Ihad first thought about what his cake should be, I was going to do a giant wheel, but I decided it wouldn't be any fun if it didn't turn and not only that but black frosting I bet would stain his hands for weeks. So I went with the racecar idea. Eddie went on the amazing search in hobby store after hobby store for the perfect wheels (what a great Daddy!) and even though he brought some fantastic ones, they were pretty heavy so we ended up dismantling a toy 4x4 to get its wheels for the cake. Sure enough, Dominic went straight for the spinning wheels before putting one hand then the other into the cake! (In case you can't tell in the photos - which you can see at http://www.theurenos.com/, the front license plate said BIG D and the rear said QTP2T (as in "cutie patootie".)

Guests included Linda Cardoza, my friend from San Diego, and Karla Etheridge, my brother's wife, who both helped Eddie with my labor way back a year ago. Linda's fiance Craig and my other friend Marti Michalis ("Aunti Marti" to Dominic) were the only other non-relatives. Of the family was Great Auntie Marlys, Becky and Liam Carpentier. (Rob, Lisa, Ryan & Mackie had to miss it due to Ryan being sick... as well as Uncle John who had to stay home with stomach flu stricken Karoline... awwww!) Cousins Kaylin and Kira came with their mom. Of course both sets of grandparents were there: Cleo and Jim Masingill (Nana and Nano) and Martie and Johnny Etheridge (Gram & Granddaddy). Eddie's sister Maryke brought cousin Christian (Tia Cynthia couldn't make it all the way out from Vegas), and Cousin Yvette brought Cousin Asaiah who helped blow out Dominic's candles! A big surprise was cousin Danielle back in town after her AirForce training before she deploys to North Dakota - BRR! Danielle brought her boyfriend, Rick. And Karla's parents Noni Lorraine and Pop-pop Fred completed the party group.

Other people who sent cards or gifts for D's birthday - Aunt Mary DiFiori, Aunt Louise and Uncle Mike from New Jersey, Michelle Garofolo and her son Corban who is just a little older than Dominic, Lynne and Chuck Stoner, Cruz & Frances Ureno, Delia Arroyo, Bill Cuppy and Kathey Rowlands, Kay Gregg, and Auntie Joy Cove.

I wonder if having a birthday so close to the beginning of the school year is going to mean there will always be some key guests home sick with all the new school year germ/bugs that manifest themselves at that time.

Dominic's stats at his 1-year doctor's well-check on 10/6:
24 lbs 7oz (75th percentile for height)
30.5 inches (75th percentile for weight - perfectly proportioned!)
size 5.5 double wide shoe (wow!)
diaper size 4 (either Pampers Baby Dry or Pampers Cruisers)
8 teeth

Dominic Turns 1

It's been a year.

A year of absolute Heaven.

He started walking Sunday September 14.

Dang, this is awesome.

(He's also simultaneously figured out how to climb up stairs by himself.

Dang, this is terrifying.)

He got a fever Thursday the 18th that went all the way to 104 degrees on Saturday.  Went to the doctor Friday because he was teetering around after a few days of walking perfectly straight, so I thought the fever might be an ear infection.  But Dr. Willis says that sometimes just a fever will make them off-balance.  He gave me one of those looks that he must give all hypersensitive parents... didn't stop me from calling him at 10:00 Saturday night wondering if the fever might be from Dominic swallowing something that was blocking his intestine (since there hadn't been any activity down there for a couple of days).  Dr. Willis assured me that was not it.  Sure enough, all #2 activities resumed on Sunday and by Monday night the fever was gone.  I'm glad Dr. Willis was right.  Maybe he just got a fever from all the neural connections he was making learning how to walk.  Last time he got a fever, his appetite totally changed (he used to eat anything and everything and now he's a lot pickier), and I'm wondering if it wasn't a case of chicken-vs-the-egg with the neural connections (from him developing an opinion) causing that fever, too.

During these most recent fever days (which finally ended just in time for his birthday), and even a few days before, Dominic started having some trouble sleeping through the night. After his fever broke Monday, that night when he woke up, Eddie and I decided to tough it out and let him cry himself back to sleep.  It was agony.  Eddie says we're probably going to have a lot more moments of "it's going to hurt me a lot more than it's going to hurt you" over the course of our parenting.  

And sure enough, last night (Tuesday), he slept great all night.  Hopefully he will tonight, too, after he had a wonderful birthday day.

Oh here's some video from our new video camera of the Birthday Song over Dominic's Happy Birthday blueberry pancake breakfast.

Thank you, Jesus, for a whole year with my baby angel!

Metaphors

Before I get going, let me mention the new photo gallery I have set up from my new Mac computer.  Loading pictures onto this blogger blog has become incredibly problematic, so hopefully this will be a nice place for you to see pix of the prince.  I am just learning how to use it, so each time you go make sure to click Refresh so you can get the captions as I add them.

http://gallery.me.com/magned

I've been thinking about what's around the corner for me in this wonderful new world of parenting that I'm living in.  I'm trying to visualize myself doing all the right things in those moments at a crossroad... will I be able to keep my cool during a tantrum? will I know how to get Dominic interested in healthy activities and keep him from getting involved in unhealthy ones? will I have the strength to stand firm when necessary, proving to him that I can be trusted?

I'm thinking now of these things even though we haven't really entered the "discipline" phase yet.  Dominic is really a good baby, thank God, and I haven't had too many moments where I've had to say "no" or put up with any fits or anything.  So I'm using this time to research and plan what I will do when that time comes, so I'm not caught unprepared.

One thing that has occurred to me is that I recognize now a few metaphors for challenges I anticipate are coming later.  

The first one is his hair.  Dominic has pretty much always had at least a little hair since the day he was born, and it has pretty much always had a natural clockwise cowlick that naturally forms a perfect little part on his left.  Those of you who know me know that I pretty much like an ultra-conservative style, and this natural way that Dominic's hair goes could not be more perfect in my opinion.  But just recently, I guess as his head is getting bigger and his hair is getting longer, the natural part is moving a bit more to the center.  So what do I do?  About a hundred times a day, without even thinking about it, I run my fingers through it, reforming the part on the left where I like it. I hope he will like his hair nice and neat like this and that we won't someday have to have a fight about mohawks or spikey, gelled, bleached tips that scream "I'm angry at life".

Now you may be asking yourself, what on earth is this hair a metaphor for?  Well, I think Dominic's nature so far seems to be naturally pretty sweet. But any time I see a little turn here or there toward the dark side, I hope I'll be able to gently, subtly and consistently guide him back to his better nature in the same way I comb his little hairs back into place.

Some of you may be saying to yourself that I am going to be an evil stepford mother, forcing my child into the mold I want him to be in with his little conservative hairstyle and conservative clothes and church and homemade Halloween costumes and geeky pastimes.  Well, frankly, I kind of think that is my job as a mom.  The moms who let their kids wear mohawks and dress up as Freddie for Halloween when they are 7 years old... in a way, aren't they imposing their belief system on their children? Some parents teach their kids that an orderly lifestyle is not valued and that you can do what you want because you're pretty much on your own in this world and you've got to look out for number one.  

I hope to teach my son that authority should be respected, starting with God, parents next, teachers and bosses and policemen, too.  I hope to... some would say "shelter" but I prefer "shield" my son from the sounds and images of anger and violence this world makes so easily available either as "news" or "entertainment".  I hope to help him to dwell on things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, anything excellent and anything worthy of praise, as I myself attempt to dwell on these things. There's so much negative that it takes a conscious effort to be positive, but there's plenty of beauty and joy and serenity around if one just chooses to seek it out.

  

Ok well enough of that... 

Another metaphor I've noticed is that as Dominic is getting more opinionated about what he wants to eat, sometimes I will try to give him something and he will wave his hands in front of his face and grimace before he has even taken a taste.  At first, I would give in and try to move on to something I knew he would like.  But lately, I've started... I know it sounds terrible... but I've started grabbing his waving hands and shoving one bite into his twisted mouth.  He always shakes his head and winces even worse.. at first.  But about half the time he will stop.. I see the expression on his face change... and he realizes that he actually likes what he has just eaten. (The other half of the time he reaches into his mouth and scoops out the offending morsel and slams it indignantly onto the floor.)  I hope in the future when Dominic is resisting trying something that is good for him that he will realize when I try to impose it on him that it is because I love him, and because he is likely to like it after all.

Finally... well, I don't know if this is a metaphor or not.  My husband, Eddie always says, "The worst thing you can do for someone is something he can and should do for himself."  I find that I have to consciously remind myself of this all day long every day.  Dominic drops something and I go to pick it up for him.  Dominic falls and I pick him up.  I'm feeding him something he could easily be feeding himself, and it occurs to me.  These little things I need to let him do for himself will give him confidence (if not better balance, too!), and he will learn independence. 

Now, I'm not saying that I think I should let him do something dangerous or that I don't run and cuddle him if a fall has produced a bumped noggin and tears!  But just that the things he _can_ and _should_ do for himself, I am trying hard to resist doing for him.  And I think this will only get more complicated later, like when he wants me to drive him somewhere he could get on his bike, when he wants me to write one of his term papers or buy him a car.  Hopefully if I resist the urge to make his life "too easy", then he won't come to me someday wanting bail money.  

That's it for my thoughts on metaphors.  Here are some of the latest pix of the cupcake:

Man, those are a lot of teeth!  8 all together.  If you look closer, you'll see the river of drool that is pretty much a constant during all this teething.  But he keeps his spirits high in spite of his pain 99% of the time, as you can see!

I was going to put some more pictures but blogger is making it incredibly difficult.  So just go to http://gallery.me.com/magned and check out pictures of Dominic's first steps, first golf-ball noggin lump, first terrible fever, new face-forward carseat, all his fashion statements and antics and smiles.  Remember to click Refresh because I keep adding captions as I have time.

Gotcha!

I just realized that I never published this picture I got the second time I caught Dominic standing up in his crib. That day, we lowered the mattress to the lowest setting.

He looks pretty proud of himself, huh? I think I shocked him a bit when I swung open the door and snapped this pic.

My Pregnancy Prayers

When I first found out I was pregnant, and frankly even before, I prayed for a healthy baby.

After the first trimester non-invasive tests all came out showing a very low probability for health issues, I then decided maybe to make one more request and humbly ask God to give the baby a sweet personality.

At probably about the halfway point, as I was chowing down on lots of Omega-3-rich salmon for baby brainpower, I started throwing in a request for the baby to be smart.

There was a point when I even secretly prayed for a little boy, although I would have been really happy if I got a healthy, sweet, smart little girl, too!

But never, not once, did I pray for CUTE. That just seemed like too much to ask.

But we got cute anyway. Thanks for the bonus, God!

D's Faves

Loves:

Flicking wheels and other spinning things

   The "barrel of monkeys" on his exersaucer

   The swiveling patio chair

   The ride-on dump truck turned on its side

Prunes and Blueberries

Watching me yawn

Opening and closing doors

Cheerios

Computer and piano keyboards

The Baby Einstein "Baby Newton" shapes video

His walker / his jumper

Favorite books

   Hello Bee, Hello Me

   Baby's First Words

   Things that Go (Lift the flap)

   Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?

   Fun to Learn Collection - My First Book of Numbers

Graham crackers

Tub parts (like the spigot and valve handles) vs tub toys (not so much!?)

Elmer the Frog, Einstein the Duck, and Mortimer Moose

Controlling the mobile 

Pushing buttons on anything - TV remote, computer power, etc

Drinking water..  out of a bottle, sippy cup, regular cup, hose, even the tub water! eww

Ringing the windchime bell

Touching the (dry) cat food

Closing the animals on the popup animal toy

Removing the wooden coasters from their holder

Experiencing different textures

Kicking his feet when laying down

Lightning McQueen programmable car

Drums

Adult electronics

Dislikes: 

Being in the carseat

Having his face wiped

The sound of someone blowing his/her nose

Nursing and Napping

It's been almost 10 months of breastfeeding, so I thought I'd jot down some random thoughts on the subject.

First of all, I have all but forgotten how hard it was to get started.  I looked at one of my feeding logs from the first week and it was only that that helped me remember what a struggle it was.  I was writing in Dominic's baby book the other day about things he liked during his first weeks, and I started to write "eating" but Eddie had to correct me that he really didn't get going very well on that front for a few days.  I remember I had to use this "sandwich" move that Kay Gregg, the lactation consultant, gave me.  

Next, the weight loss factor.  Dang, if I knew that breastfeeding would be such an effective weight loss mechanism, I might have hooked my boobs up to siphons years ago and tried to make something happen.  I'm still no Twiggy, but I haven't weighed this little literally since high school.  And this despite the fact that I eat like I'm never going to get another meal.  Do I want a donut?  Yes! In fact, I'll take 2! :-)

I wanted to mention that I went to the breastfeeding classes at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, and I remember at the time being disappointed in them.  They spent at least 4 hours - nearly all of the first session - talking about the advantages of breastfeeding.  Eddie and I were both sitting there mumbling to ourselves that we GET it and that we were OBVIOUSLY believers in the value of breastfeeding because we were THERE, so couldn't we just get on with learning some techniques?  Well, looking back in hindsight, I realize that they really did need to spend all that time talking about how great breastfeeding is for making smart, healthy babies because around 5-8 weeks you hit a wall and you really need to have those truths firmly implanted in your mind to continue.  Dominic would eat and eat and eat and then throw up everything he had eaten and then need to eat again right away.  Ee-GAD I pretty much felt like he should have been surgically attached to the boob!  

I remember going through a period where feeding him on my right side was excruciating.  I don't think I had anything like a yeast infection or anything... just a painful period in the progress I guess.  I remember whenever I would look down at the little bracelet that kept track of which side I fed him on last (especially useful since I could barely remember my own name for lack of sleep), and when the bracelet would indicate this upcoming feeding should be on the right, I would physically cringe at the dread.  

Every time I would feel like quitting, I would remember the 4+ hour speech of the merits of breastmilk and I would try try again.  

All the pains and struggles seem like nothing more than a foggy memory now.  Other than the occasional worry that I'm having a supply problem after a particularly unfruitful pumping session, breastfeeding couldn't be easier.  In fact, it's soooo much easier than feeding regular food - way less messy and super convenient with 0 preparation and nearly 0 cleanup.  Oh and did I mention it's free?  Ok Ok... I guess you have to factor in the cost of all the donuts, so maybe it's not exactly free.

I will say that teething does, indeed, present nursing challenges.  I have been bitten a couple of times and that is horrible.  But Kaye taught me that if he bites that I should right away remove him and put him in his crib alone for 30 seconds before picking him up and resuming the feeding.  That has pretty much put the kabash on the biting... not completely, but I don't fear a chronic issue.

My only other complaint is the state of "the girls".  The breastfeeding advocacy books say that it is the pregnancy, not the nursing, that causes the ladies to lose some of their former glory.  But personally, I think it's that period in the beginning when the baby's supply-demand relationship hasn't been established and you walk around with 2 bowling ball boobs for a bit.  Inflate... deflate... inflate... deflate.  You, too, might lose your elasticity under the circumstances!

Despite the downsides, I'm dreading stopping.  First of all, will I gain a thousand pounds when I stop sharing my calories?  Next, I'll never be able to handle a forgotten lunchpail as well once ever-present milk is not a dietary option.  And let's be honest, I just like the closeness to him I feel from this simple act, and I know I'll miss it.

As for sleeping through the night and napping... Thank God for naps!  During the week after D started standing up when he wasn't napping much, I realized that even though I love every second I spend with him, I really really need the 3 hours he naps to accomplish _anything_, whether it be a work project, housecleaning, or just a nap for myself!  Is it bad that sometimes when I see him stir in the monitor that I say "stay asleep!" under my breath?

I will offer the following as suggestions for anyone struggling with getting their baby to sleep.  I acknowledge I am no authority - I think I just lucked out and got a baby who has a talent for sleeping.  But in case something I did had even the slightest to do with his success, here goes.

When I would nurse him, I would start out with a blanket under him.  That way, when he nodded off, I could set him into the bassinet and later the crib without disturbing the texture against his cheek, holding the blanket as I slid my arm out from under it.  I remember we swaddled him a lot while he was in the bassinet, but not so much once he started sleeping in the crib.

I also do a few things to distinguish between nap time and overnight sleep time.  For naps, I say "time to reeeehssssst" and reserve the word "sleep" for the long one, in addition to reserving the bedtime routine and lavender-scented baby lotion, too, for 8:15 pm.  I also make sure to close the blinds so the room is as dark as possible during the naps.  Isn't there a chemical called melatonin in our bodies whose levels are related to light and darkness that help us get back on track after a bout of jetlag? So I think darkness is much more important than silence.  

Speaking of silence, we are fortunate that Dominic took so well to the mobile and the Einstein Duck because he uses both of those as "self-soothing" activities.  We will often hear him stir-stir-stir but as soon as he hits the duck or mobile, it's like a tranquilizer dart and he's out like a light.  And we aren't very careful to talk quieter than normal or stop the dog from barking at the postman during Dominic's naps, so that way he isn't overly likely to be awakened by a noise.  Finally, to get him to fade, I stroke his hair from his part across his forehead and gently drag the backs of my fingers across his closing eyes while I'm audibly breathing deeply like heavy sighs.  This not only seems to help him doze off, but I seem to do my best nursing when my shoulders and mind are relaxed by these practices. 

Dah-deh-darnit!

Since the day after Mother's Day, Dominic has been saying the syllable "mah".  Eddie worked really hard to get him to say it by Mother's Day, and he missed it by just one day.  Since then, he says mah-mah-mah-mah as well as dah-dah-dah-dah.  But I haven't noticed that he sees a relationship between the sounds and the people.

Yesterday, Dominic put 2 different syllables together:  dah-deh!  And I think he might actually be beginning to put those sounds together to equate them with Daddy!  I joke that I'm jealous that "daddy" is his first word (thus the "darnit" in the post title), but the truth be told, I have been repeating "I love you, Daddy" and just "Daddy" specifically so Dominic would learn to say those words.  I don't know what he will choose to call me, but I think I like the sound of Mama more than Mommy, so it's fine with me if he sticks to the mah sound alone for my "name".

Other developments:

Yesterday, Daddy installed the baby gate at the top of the stairs.  Whew, one more babyproofing step we can check off the list!

Today, Dominic climbed up one stair.  We have 3 stairs from the dining room to the living room in our split-level home, and Dominic made it up the lowest stair and had his hands tightly grasping the living room floor-level stair when I couldn't take it any more and had to pick him up.  After the big stair climbing accomplishment, I didn't want the moment to end with an injury!

Another development that I _think_ I noticed before but feel sure about today is that he has developed some self-awareness about the state of his diaper.  Here's what I mean...

Dominic's "routine" (self-imposed) usually includes 2 naps: 10:30-12 and 3:30-5.  When he learned to stand up a few days ago, the naps were put on hold, seeing as he began to view the crib as a "stand-up station" rather than a BED FOR SLEEPING.  But as the days since then have unfolded, he has started to use EVERYTHING as stand-up assistance (including my leg when I'm trying to brush my teeth), so on the 14th, he returned (pretty much) to napping on schedule.

Well today, I nursed him to start the 3:30 nap winddown, but when I laid him dozing in the crib and left the room, I saw on the monitor that he immediately awoke and struggled, groggy, to a standing position.  So I went back in, cuddled him until he was dozing again, and put him back down.  Same story... 30 seconds later he was standing/crying.  I was starting to get frustrated, thinking that we were regressing back to no-napsville, when I realized he was carrying a load in his diaper!  Goodness gracious!

Once changed, he couldn't fall asleep fast enough.  I'm hoping this is a sign he will potty train easily.  Don't worry, I realize it's probably not.  Haha.

Here are some photos and movies to enjoy!

Here's Dominic wiped out after Huntington Beach's 4th of July parade (rumored to be the largest this side of the Mississippi River!)  Love the little Converse high tops!

On July 5, we met our friends, Saye and Brad, at Fashion Island for lunch.  Dominic enjoyed the pop-up water fountain there.

On July 6, Gram came over after church and helped Dominic practice his walking.  Later that day, we went to the concert behind HB's Central Park Library.  Dominic's favorite seemed to be the tympani in "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".

Here's a photo of the second time I caught Dominic standing up in his crib, which was July 9.  (The first time was 7/7.) Needless to say, we moved the crib mattress down that day.

This picture from July 10 shows how his seat attaches to the breakfast bar.  This was the first day he ate "big people" turkey.  I diced up a slice of deli turkey that I, too, had in my sandwich.

Here's Dominic, also on July 10, pushing his stroller around.  He pushed it and pushed it all over the dining and family rooms for probably upwards of an hour.  While he did do some straight lines (God help the walls and furniture), his favorite was going around and around in circles.  Made me dizzy just to watch.   He was very intent and rarely looked up during his important work.

Uh Oh... Here we go!

Today (7/7), I went to visit Chuck & Lynne Stoner during the hour and a half that would normally have been Dominic's 2nd nap: 3:30 - 5pm.  Dominic was getting really tired, and he fell asleep instantly on the 3 minute drive back from our visit.  

But once we got home, and I tried to move Dominic to his crib to finish his nap, he woke up.  Nevertheless, I laid him in the crib hoping he would get just a little rest before we hit the home stretch, those last exhausting activities of the day that prompt the deep all-night sleep Dominic has been enjoying since he was 3 months old.

No such luck.  I watched Dominic on the monitor twist and writhe and kick and squirm.  I watched him turn on his mobile and then turn on his little Einstein Duck.  I listened to him whine and complain, hoping he would eventually realize he should be sleeping.  

I got on a business phone call, and during the call, I noticed Dominic's monitor became suddenly quiet.  I pushed the video button on top of the monitor expecting to see him finally still and sleeping.  Oh, he was still alright, but not sleeping!  Nope, instead he had pulled himself into a kneeling position along the foot of the crib. Gasp!

Trying not to let on to the customer on the phone, I sprinted up the stairs 3 at a time.  I threw open the door to find not only had he been on his knees, but he was now fully standing up.  For a microsecond, I considered running for the camera.  But I thought better of it realizing that I could never forgive myself if he toppled over the foot of the crib onto the floor and hurt himself while I was focusing on documentation.  

So here are some milestone dates that I should've been blogging about:

  nine months

7/7 - stands up on his own

7/6 - 4th tooth (first upper)

7/1 - first voluntary wave "bye bye"

  eight months

6/21 - 3rd tooth (his lower left)

5/31 - first official crawl

  six months

4/19 - 2nd tooth

4/9 - 1st tooth

  five months

3/22 - 1st solid food (banana)

3/20 - 1st belly laugh

3/10 - rolls over

See You in Heaven

Once, when Dominic was only a few days old, he was having trouble falling asleep after a late-night feeding.  I had been cautioned to lay him only on his back to reduce the risk of SIDS, but Dominic kept wanting to curl onto his side to sleep.  I would dutifully roll him back onto his back and then cinch in his receiving blanket on both sides so he pretty much couldn't move onto his side, but he was just crying and fussing.  The idea came to me that maybe I should let him be on his side... sure, I wouldn't sleep because I'd be sitting there watching his little chest rise and fall, ready to give CPR should the dreaded SIDS make an appearance, but at least one of us would get a little shut-eye.  

As I released the tension on the blanket and Dominic made himself comfortable, an amazing peace came over me.  It was as if God Himself spoke to me saying that He was the one who brought Dominic into my life, and it would be He who decides when we would be separated from each other by death.  I realized that every day - even every breath - we get to share is a gift from God, and that one day one of us would go on and have to wait for the other in Heaven. 

That night I slept like a baby, and the feeling of seeing Dominic alive in the morning absolutely brought tears to my eyes.  It was like giving birth all over again.   My heart almost popped out of my chest at the thought that I get to spend some more time with my Baby Angel.

Those of you in Southern California may remember last February the funeral of the first SWAT officer to be killed in the line of duty in L.A. named Randall ("Randy") Simmons.  I've been inspired by the speech that his 15 year old son gave at the funeral in which he told of how his father would always say his daily goodbyes as if they would be his last, thanking God for the time they had together and promising to meet them in Heaven if he didn't live to see them again. 

So every night since hearing young Mr. Simmons' tell the story of his father's goodbyes, when I lay Dominic in his bed, and when I go into his room in the morning and find him alive, I pray, 

"Thank you, Jesus, for another day together!  I pray we please get another one tomorrow!  But if not, I'll see you in Heaven, Dominic!"

I hope I continue to pray that prayer long after Dominic has grown up and started his own family.  I hope he comes to understand just how grateful I am to God for the wonderful gift that is him, and for every minute I get to spend with him.  I'm sure there will be days when we will frustrate each other, and I hope on those days the feeling of that moment of waking up so thrilled that both of us are alive to enjoy another day will return to me... and maybe Dominic can share that feeling then, too.

Dominic = Belonging to God

Those of you who saw Dominic's birth announcement know that his name means "Belonging to God."  We pray over Dominic every night and every morning (and sometimes in the middle of the day, t00) for God to help us to surrender him to God's guidance and for His purposes.

Although we do this daily, this June 29, we _formally_ dedicated Dominic to God at our church.  It's our version of a christening, as we believe that a person should decide for themselves to have a water baptism and that babies are too young to make such a decision.  So what we do is modeled after I Samuel 1, where Hannah makes a promise to God that if He will give her a child, she will dedicate him to God forever.  Basically, our pastor just held Dominic up in front of the congregation and said a short prayer before the regular lesson of the day. Here is what our pastor, Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, prayed:

"And now, Father, we hold Dominic up to You.  Again, Father, we pray that You would just put Your hand upon this little life. And You'd begin to guide him, Father, according to Your perfect plan. We realize, Lord, that there are so many destructive elements in the world - influences, that are just tearing down.  Lord, guard him from those.  And bring into his life, Lord, those influences of Your Holy Spirit whereby he might just be drawn close to You, and become the man You would have him to be, accomplishing, Lord, Your will.  So, Father, we dedicate Dominic now, and we pray, Lord, Your hand to be upon him, in Jesus' name, Amen.

Here are Dominic and Pastor Chuck during the prayer.

And here we are after all the babies were dedicated thanking Pastor Chuck.

Then the lesson of the day just so happened to be on a topic quite appropriate for us parents of this newly dedicated child of God: "Pressing Toward the Mark", covering Philippians 3:12-14. The gist of the message was that we must, ourselves, rededicate ourselves to our service of God, constantly reminding ourselves that we were "apprehended" for His purpose, and that we should seek out this purpose for our lives day-in and day-out.  Needless to say it was a good reminder as I can get caught up in not only selfish sinful behavior, but also just in the mundane business of getting through the days.

We had a BBQ at our house afterward for anyone who could be there to celebrate this important day.  I felt a bit bad because I hadn't sent out invitations or even got the word out about the "event" until a few days before. But in my defense, I was seeing this moment not as one to be made a spectacle but rather as genuinely an opportunity to commune with God on an intimate level... it seemed almost inappropriate to invite an audience.  Yes, I can see how that sounds incongruous with the whole point that Dominic was being presented to God publicly, but the "public" was members of our church.  Anyway, the bottom line is that I realized there were a lot of people who love Dominic who would've really loved to be present, and I'm sorry I didn't take better care to make folks aware earlier of the date.

Here are just a few photos of the BBQ.

We represent the Lullabye League

I've been meaning to make a note of all of Dominic's favorite songs, and I'd like to invite anyone who is reading this to either post comments or send me email with suggestions of other songs to sing for him, perhaps songs from your own childhood or songs you sang to your children that they enjoyed.

Old MacDonald

Old Mac Donald had a farm

E-I-E-I-O

And on that farm he had a _____ (animal)

E-I-E-I-O

With a ___ ___ (animal's sound) here

and a ___ ___ (sound) there

Here a ___ there a ___, everywhere a ___ ___.

Old MacDonald had a farm

E-I-E-I-O

(Animals we use are duck-quack, dog-arf, cat-meow, cow-moo, sheep-baa, donkey-heehaw, owl-hoo, and we've even thrown in lions-rrrrowr, and monkeys-oo-oo-ah-ah, and the occasional bee-bzzbzz. What animals do you use?)

Old MacDonald is a great song for stopping a booboo face, like if something scares him or if you take something away that he wanted to put in his mouth like a pen.

A great song for preventing a tantrum when wet-wiping Dominic's face and hands is "Happy and You Know It". We sing "If you're happy and you know it, wash your face (wash wash), If you're happy and you know it, wipe your hands (wipe wipe), If you're happy and you know it, then you're face will surely show it! If you're happy and you know it wash your face (wash wash)." It's remarkably the perfect length of song to get both hands and his face clean before it's over.

Night-time lullabyes...

My mom used to sing this to me:

I see the moon and the moon sees me

The moon sees the somebody I want to see

So God bless the moon and God bless me

And God bless the somebody I want to see

I really think

That God above

Created you for me to love!

He picked you out

From all the rest

Because He knew I would love you the best!

If I get to Heaven and you're not there,

I'll write your name on the golden stair.

I'll put it there

For all to see

That I love you and you love me!

And this one she would sing to my little brother, John. It's so incredible to be singing it to my own little boy! I looked all over the internet to find a version of Bing Crosby singing it that I could link you to, but couldn't find one that you don't have to pay for. You can click here and then scroll down to number 21 and click the little arrow in that row to get it to play. If you have iTunes you can search the iTunes store for "little man bing crosby" and they will let you listen to a snippet. The lyrics shown on his version are not 100% the same as the way I learned it.

Little man, you're crying

I know why you're blue

Someone took your kiddie car away

Better go to sleep now

Little Man, you've had a busy day

Johnny won your marbles?

Tell you what we'll do

Dad'll get you new ones right away

Better go to sleep now

Little Man, you've had a busy day

You've been playing soldier

The battle has been won

The enemy is out of sight

Come along now, soldier

Put away your gun

The war is over for tonight

Time to stop your scheming

Time your day was through

Can't you hear the Sandman softly say

Better go to sleep now

Little Man, you've had a busy day.

We also love "You Are My Sunshine" (we sang this to Dominic when he was first born, hoping he would recognize it from all the times we sang it to him before he was born), and when we open the blinds to let in the sunshine in the mornings, we always sing "Sunshine on my shoulders"

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a day that I could give you

I'd give to you a day just like today

If I had a song that I could sing for you

I'd sing a song to make you feel this way:

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me high

Sometimes we play the Beatles "Here Comes the Sun" and dance around the bonus room. Have you ever noticed that most songs with "sun" in the title are pretty fun, positive songs?

Here's a video of Dominic singing...

Growing and Remembering...

Last night we lowered the crib in Dominic's room one notch. He has been starting to get up on his hands and knees in the crib and just yesterday started reaching up and taking a hold of the crib railing, so I figured it's just a matter of time before he launches himself.


Lowering the mattress made me feel about the same as when I bagged up the first tiny clothes that stopped fitting him. "Wow, this is going fast."


It's weird because part of me is so excited about him crawling and eager to hear his thoughts on everything when he can talk, but part is melancholy for the tiniest time. It's remarkable, really, because while I have always loved children, I've never been much for infants. My favorite age of child has always been between the ages of first talking and I've-got-to-have-THAT-label-of-tennis-shoes-mom. But with Dominic, I have really really enjoyed his infancy, memorizing the shape of his belly-button, watching his eyes change color, looking deeply into those changing eyes and imagining all of what's going on behind there!


I say I'll never forget the feeling of pressing my cheek against his for the first time, but I also thought I'd never forget the feeling of him moving inside me for the first time, and while I do remember the emotion of it, I can't honestly say I could fully describe the feeling. If we ever give Dominic a little brother or sister, I'm going to write it all down. So here I'm writing the feeling of that cheek just in case it all goes blurry.


It was probably a whole week or two after he was born. I had cuddled him innumerable times and was absolutely in lala land (possibly partly from lack of sleep, but mostly from joy), and I don't know why I pressed his little face against mine that particular day. I had expected his cheek to feel ... I don't know ... less substantial, more like it was filled with air. But it was so firm and squishy (wow these aren't very good words for it... putting things into words is harder than I thought, especially for someone who talks as much as me), and this rush of feeling came over me. It was sort of like a realization that this little person would some day be a man.. almost a fast-forward feeling. I felt so connected to him at that moment, and my body felt filled with the joy of it, as if joy was something physical and there was so much of it inside me that it was pressing against the inside of my skin.


This picture is from January 12 (Dominic was almost 4 months old), so it was long after the cheek incident. But you can see those lucious cheeks pretty well here... doesn't it just make you want to squish them against yours?

Now where was I?

I keep getting intimidated about how I'm going to get back to this blog when there is so much to recap.  So the intimidation makes me put it off until tomorrow, when I think I will somehow wake up with a brilliant idea for getting 4 months of amazing events into a quick blog entry.  

Today I decided that I just have to jump back in or else.  So someday I might post the missing months, but right now I'm starting with recent events and going forward.

First, an event of today.

Today marks a small breakthrough in Dominic's cognitive development, I think.  Whenever I am changing him on his little changing pad on top of the dresser in his room, I always point to the nautical flags hanging on the wall above his head and recite "D-O-M-I-N-I C".  He always smiles and studies how my lips make the letters, and looks at the flags as i tap each one.  But later if we are in the room and I spell his name, he just studies my mouth.  Today, however, when i started spelling D-O-M-I..., he turned his head up to look at the flags, which were behind him.  I think this is honestly the first time I've ever really noticed him linking a random sound to an actual thing.  My dad always wears a baseball cap, and when we see him, Granddaddy always says "hat", at which point Dominic looks up at his hat, and he has done that for some time now.  But this flag thing is the first time I've seen him link something that's not right there in front of him with a sound.

Here are a couple of recent pix and a video of Dominic's first crawling steps (5-31-08) and first carousel ride (6-3-08).

Dominic with our guests, the Carlton family, from England taking the Long Beach Passport bus to the Aquarium 

5-29-08

Dominic touching the rays on his first visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach 

5-29-08

Dominc can almost balance on the rocking horse he got from Uncle Greg and Auntie Jenn 

5-31-08

Cooling off in the parking lot of the Boomers activity center 

6-1-08

Dominic in his stroller on a beautiful walk we took with our guests on Balboa Island 6-4-08

As a gift for my mom for Mother's Day, I took her and Dominic back east to New Jersey to visit her side of the family.  Dominic's namesake, my Grandpa Donald Carpentier, has 2 sisters and 1 brother still living there, as well as my cousins (Grandpa Don's nieces and nephews) and now their kids.  After our trip to Cabo on March 31 thru April 5, this was Dominic's second plane trip.

I think it is thanks to our friend Jack Snow's mom, Julie, a veteran flight attendant for American Airlines, that the only empty seat on our red-eye flight to JFK Airport in New York was the one between Mom and me, so even though we hadn't bought a seat for Dominic, we could still stretch out a bit.  Dominic was an absolutely perfect traveller.  This is saying a lot when you hear our trip back included 

   * a 5-hour traffic jam drive thru Manhattan followed by 

   * a hasty exit from the rental car, 

   * schlepping with volumes of bags (one of which was completely full of yummy New Jersey crumb cakes to bring home!) through the airport, followed by 

   * a 5-hour flight 

at the end of which one passenger told me that he flies 100 days per year and this was the best baby he had ever flown with!!

Our visit with the family was amazing.  I couldn't believe how big all the "kids" are getting.  We stayed with Aunt Louise and Uncle Mike, and Robbie and Donna hosted us for dinner one afternoon, too.  Seeing Aunt Netting and Aunt Connie were highlights... I'm so glad Dominic got to meet them and they him!  Here are some photos:

Rewind to: Cabo or Bust!

Dominic's Daddy, Eddie, is a studly ocean yacht racer.  He goes on these long races from Newport Beach to Ensenada and has even raced twice from LA to Hawaii in the Transpac.  This year, he wanted to try something different, so he formed a crew of 9 to sail from Corona del Mar to Cabo San Lucas, a total of about 800 miles as the crow flies.

Well, it's just about always nice in Huntington Beach; nevertheless, a trip closer to the equator sounded like a plan to this lover of warm weather, so I (and the cupcake of course), Eddie's parents, sister and brother-in-law, and my parents all decided to make a vacation of it.  So here's the beginning of the pictoral history of our trip to Cabo.

Daddy left March 28. Here he is getting some goodbye cuddles that are going to have to last maybe a whole week!  

The morning of the race, a bunch of us met the crew at our yacht club to see them off.  From Eddie's family, present were his mom and stepdad, Cleo and Jim, his sister, Maryke, and his niece and nephew, Danielle and Christian. My mom, Martie, really wanted to be there with my dad, Johnny (aka Granddaddy) and Dominic and me, but she had to work... (thank God someone is!) Thanks Mom!

Here is the crew getting ready to set sail.  Left to right is Ross Nemeroff, Bill Boyd, Scott Atwood, Bill Cuppy, Eddie (aka Daddy), Rob Rice, John Rossbach, Robert Rice, and Linus Ralls.

Granddaddy was very generous to take us out to the starting line to watch from his powerboat, Rapid Fire.  Joining us were Mareen and Elisabeth Rossbach (wife and daughter of crewmember John Rossbach) as well as Karen and Christine Rice (wife/mother and daughter/sister of crewmembers Rob and Robert Rice).  Jim Masingill, Eddie's stepdad, served as Firstmate.

*****

Blogger is giving me fits.  Uploading pictures is a bit of a tug of war.  So I think I will sign off for this entry and pick up again later with more pictures of the departure to Cabo.  Better to give you a taste for now rather than add more and end up crashing it and losing everything.  It's midnight anyway, so I'd better cash it in.  With Dominic's teething, I may be up with him shortly.  

Thank you to those of you who come by this blog to check us out.  I'd love to hear from you (so I know I'm not writing into a black hole) so leave a comment or send me an email: maggie@powerofE.com. 

Teeth = 2!!

Today, Dominic's second tooth broke through!  It is right next to the first one on the bottom, this new one being just right of center from D's perspective (left of center as we look at him).  I sort of got the feeling all day that he was... well... not even really "fussy" but I guess the phrase I would use is "needier than usual".  And sure enough, this afternoon I noticed a second little sharp edge popping through where there wasn't one yesterday.  Here are a couple of pictures.

Rewinding to: My First Foods

On March 22, I had left the plum pudding with Gram & Granddaddy (my parents) at their house while I went to pick up one of Eddie's sailing buddies in Corona del Mar (where they had moved the boat they were taking on the race to Cabo) and bring him back to his car in Long Beach. Due to what should have been a totally expected traffic jam on Belmont Shore's 2nd Street, I got stuck, and the babysitters called on the cell to report that the chubba wubba was ready for another meal. Uh oh, I was at least a half hour out... so here we were only 2 days before the magical 6-month milestone after which solid foods can be introduced... so what the heck? Give him a banana.

Needless to say, I missed the look on his face when he realized that there's more to these tastebuds than breastmilk and nasty cherry-flavored baby Tylenol. I got there about 1/2 hour after he devoured a tablespoon of banana (carefully scraped off the edge of the banana by his loving grandparents so as to avoid any of the tiny seeds in the center). As he sat in my lap for the ensuing nursing session, he looked up at me with a look I will never forget. Then he placed his hand on my shoulder in a way he never had before. It was as if to say, "Oh my gosh, Mom. You'll never believe the amazing thing that just happened!" as if he was in awe of the taste of banana and wondered if I, too, had ever known the thrill and joy of this Flavor of Heaven?

I think this must yet another benefit of parenting: the taste of banana in my mouth since that day is as if it is my first taste, too. I think I'm going to enjoy seeing the whole world as new again, to re-experience all the beauty and majesty and sweetness of God's creation through Dominic's innocent eyes.

Here are some pictures and video of Dominic checking out some different foods. So far he has had avocado, papaya, apple sauce, plain yoghurt, water (just enough to fill the lid of a water bottle), Cheerios, baby oatmeal, and banana, as well as prepared baby food of peaches and apple sauce. At his 6-month checkup on April 7, Dr. Pellman taught us that while Dominic is still nursing, we should concentrate on supplementing with iron-rich foods, which are the cereals and meats. Welcome welcome daily Cheerios! And Tia Nini (Eddie's sister Maryke) and Nana (Eddie's mom, Cleo) gave Dominic his first taste of meat in the form of baby food chicken on April 10.

March 26 - First food since the emergency banana: oatmeal (with added b-milk)

March 28 - Trying Avocado at the Market Broiler restaurant
Hmm. Not sure if that's a happy face or not...?

March 30 - First Cheerios along with banana and baby oatmeal

April 10 - First taste of meat: babyfood chicken at Nana's house

By Jove! It's a TOOTH!

OHMYGOODNESS! Where do I even start?

Sooo much has been going on since I last made an entry in this blog! I can’t even keep up with it all! Dominic has had his first real food, been on his first plane flight (and out of the country no less!), rolled over, made his first belly laugh, become ticklish, and now he has his first tooth! And there’s so much more than that.

I really don’t know where to start so I’m going to start at today and work backwards for a few days. Maybe tomorrow I’ll pick up with some more rewinding. But I promised myself I would make an entry tonight no matter what!

Ok, so the pictures I took today were of 7am this morning, Dominic gurgling his little lugie song on the video monitor. He woke up extra early today (5am, which he usually awakens between 6 and 6:30 and then entertains himself until about 6:45). I’m thinking it’s the new tooth that woke him so early, but he really wasn’t fussy; just up early. I fed him and because it is such a warm day today, when I put him back in his crib I left him in just a diaper. He started his little concert around 6:30 and by 7am I just had to get up and go get the camera. He turns on the mobile music himself and then sings to it and plays with the little pillow hanging on the outside of the crib bars. (Side note: today he has also figured out how to work the velcro fasteners on his diaper, so he was stark raving naked when I came to get him out of bed! You can kind of see at the beginning of the video Dominic playing with the dislodged diaper.)

After getting up for the day, we walked over to meet Daddy who was showing a house in our neighborhood to some prospective clients. They have a little boy named Dominic, too! Then we left with Daddy to go meet some friends who are considering a move to Belmont Shore, which is such a nice place to walk around, even on a super warm day like today. These friends (who I shan’t name in case they don’t want anyone to know they might move) have family in from out of town so we all went to lunch at Lucille’s on 2nd Street. Dominic ate Cheerios and enjoyed having his teething ring cooled in a big cup of ice water. I did manage to spill a small Tupperware full of Cheerios on the floor… good thing the hostess had strategically placed us by the kitchen entrance! (Although I did notice that there must have been at least 5 other strollers parked adjacent to tables as we passed to our booth, so I wasn’t the only one taking a little one for a little stroll on 2nd Street!)

While he was a perfect angel (like almost always, frankly), I must admit that by bedtime tonight Dominic had his first teething fussy episode. That is, I’m guessing it was from teething because normally he has no trouble going to sleep, and because I’ve never heard him make a “real” crying sound other than when he gets his shots. His tooth broke the skin 3 days ago (on the 9th) with exactly zero fanfare. I couldn’t believe it because I had heard I should expect fever, sleepless nights, lots of fussing and crying and drooling. Yet, there it was last Wednesday: a little sliver of rough edge poking out of his soft, pink gums. It’s the lower one just left of center (from his perspective). Here’s a picture of it, taken on the 9th. Boy, you can barely see it in this picture but I could definitely feel a little sharp edge with my finger. And no, it hasn't seemed to impact the breastfeeding, not yet at least. I don't feel anything different at all, so I'm guessing so far Dominic is not choosing to use my boob as a teething device.

Oh and here are another couple of pictures from the 9th. Super smilie despite the tooth showing up! What a love bug he is!!

So tonight about 6pm he started with a little whimpering. Now this, we have heard before and it usually means “I’m tired of ___ (doing whatever I’ve been doing for a half hour, such as lying down, playing in my activity dish, being on my tummy, etc.)” So I tried picking him up… then feeding him… then giving him to Daddy… then carrying him around. After each change of venue, he would quiet down and even smile, coo, or laugh, but just for a couple of minutes. Then the whimpering resumed. By 7pm, it was a bit more than a whimper.. more like a complaint. I handed him off to Daddy because his mattress cover was in the dryer so I knew I’d have to get his bed put back together before the 8:30 witching hour (bedtime, that is). As I was upstairs making the bed, Daddy brought the cupcake up, and he had on a full-fledged boo-boo face! Daddy’s and my hearts were both breaking to see that!

I figured he had got himself over tired, so I went through the bedtime routine a bit early. The routine is basically to change his diaper, cover his little dry/heat-rashed spots with hydrocortisone, then give him a rubdown with lavender lotion and put on some lightweight footie pajamas, feed him and put him to bed asleep. I figure the scent of lavender is some cue to his little mind that it’s time for that 10-hour stretch of sleep that he has made into a (wonderful) habit since December 21. He always smiles when the lavender smell hits him, like he is really happy the day has turned out so well and now he’s ready for a lovely rest. And tonight was no exception – Mr. D was smiling even though we later realized the teething was really bothering him! So I fed him and put him to bed. But he wasn’t down 5 minutes before he began with the whimper. A minute later it was a complaint. Then it was another boo-boo face which Daddy had to go rescue because I was in the ladies room.

Once out, I took him back to the feeding chair while Daddy broke open the as yet unopened box of baby remedies we got at Dominic’s shower. Hmm… little tummies, little fevers, little .. ah here it is! Baby Orajel (as well as some teething tablets and some other teething gel stuff). The Orajel box had both a daytime tube and a nighttime tube. And WOW that nighttime stuff must be some pretty strong stuff because Dominic was nursing and sort of squirming in a gripey uncomfortable way, and I put a dab of the pink, cherry-scented gel on my pinky finger and touch his gum with it (I think most of it got on his tongue, actually, but maybe a little came in contact with the actual tooth site), and PRESTO! Instant sleep. It was actually a little bit disconcerting.. like wow I must have just totally drugged my precious angel. I think I’m going to have to do some research on that stuff (great mom, check it out AFTER you give it to me!) But in the meanwhile, the suffering is over and the peanut blossom gets to rest. That was about 7:45 and I haven’t heard so much as a peep from him and it’s now 11:30.

Trust me, though, I can see him breathing in the monitor. ;-)

Visitors and Outings

Another entry to do some catch up on all of our exciting adventures.

Here we are headed to church on a rainy day, February 3.

The next 4 pictures are from January 19, when we went to the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for lunch with our Texas family who were here for a visit.

Foreground is Karoline, then Kharley (visiting from Texas), and in the background is Kira.


Here is Dominic with Daddy at the other end of the outdoor bar at the Club.





















And here is some of the rest of our party inside by the cozy fireplace:
Karla & Kaylin on the left and Aunt Dorothy and Cousin Laura Alice (both visiting from Texas) on the right.

We spent some more time with Aunt Dorothy and Laura Alice at Gram & Granddaddy's house on January 21.

Aunt Dottie makes Dominic verrrry comfortable.

Laura Alice gives Dominic some sugar.