7/25 Update

Today there is a bit to add. This morning Dominic was playing with his toys in the living room like he does every morning. I walked into the kitchen to pick something up and went back into the living room, only to find Dominic standing at the ottoman. When I went into the kitchen he was sitting with a toy. I was shocked! He just had this look on his face that was like "look what I can do mom". Priceless!!!!

He has learned how to get himself from his stomache to a sitting position (this was the first day I have noticed this) and since he can do this he has also begun to pull himself up.

Tonight as he went to bed I decided to stay with him as I know that we didn't lower the crib enough. (After the realization of his new found abilities today I wanted to play it safe.) Sure enough a couple of minutes later he was standing at the crib looking at me. :-) Little stinker!!!

As he has realized how much fun this new ability is, I have found how much harder it will be to put him to bed. Before he could only roll over, now he is like a caged animal without a cover. He is all over the place!

Pictures from Camp 7/23

The first family photo in over two years that includes the whole immediate family.




Here we go a-walking. This is one of Dominic's favorite things to do, but he doesn't realize that our backs hurt after about 10 minutes of this. :-) He much prefers to walk with a little help then learn to crawl. He seems to be fighting the crawling, while he is building his strength for walking.


You've heard of backing yourself into a corner, well how about backing yourself under a rocker?



Dominic on the move.

My first swim

7/23/06-Dominic's first time swiming in Caroga Lake, with a little help from mommy of course. He really enjoyed splashing and playing in the water. It also helped that the water was 80 degrees. I think he thought it was like a giant bath tub!

I finally got to meet Uncle Erin!

Uncle Erin is finally home after being away for more then 2 years. This was Dominic's first encounter with Erin. It appears they hit it off, however Uncle Erin claims he is never having kids. :-) It is wonderful to see him, have him meet Dominic and have him around for a little while after being away for so very long. Aug 5th, Erin goes back to Japan and most likely we will not see him again till Aug. 07 and Dominic will be about Christopher's age now (and size). (That is hard to believe!)

7/20 First time brushing my teeth!

Dominic had his first experience brushing his teeth. The funny thing is he really loves it!! I thought it would be like pulling teeth, but he really enjoys the process. After we have brushed his teeth and gums for a little bit he prefers to chew on the brush, but we have a great start!

Bike Trailer

Dominic and Christopher in Dominic's new bike trailer, compliments of Grandma Mo and Pupo. 7/20

Dominic loves to be towed behind the bike in his trailer. Daddy gets and extra work out.

The Update

So, over the course of two weeks Dominic has grown a lot and is able to do much more. I feel bad for not adding daily and there are things I have forgotten, but at this time there were other priorities.

Dominic sits up with ease and has wonderful balance now. Occasionally he will fall over when reaching for something or looking at something. Dominic is now able to spin himself around with his feet while sitting. He goes in circles on his butt. He still is resisting crawling, however, with all that has gone on he hasn't gotten the necessary belly time either. He will get up on all fours and wiggle his butt and he did move one leg forward, but that is as far as he has gotten on the crawling thing.

The walking thing is improving. He is now much stronger. He always wants to go, and he even knows about steps. He moves his legs up to go up a step. The downside is that my back is taking a beating. In the mornings after breakfast he will take my hands and walk to where his toys are and sit down in front of them to play. Even at Nana's house he would do the same thing only he would walk to the pack-n-play (where his toys were). He still wants to eat everything, but gets sick of his old toys and wants anything new.

The last thing for tonight is that we are going to have to lower the crib as I found out today that he flips over and sits up. It will not be long before he is pulling himself up. (Oh, and he now pulls at his bib when he done like he wants to take it off.)

So Tired

These photo's were taken on Monday July 17th after the funeral, before we all headed back home to Upstate NY. Dominic had the hardest time just keeping his eyes open in daddy's hands. He was actually falling asleep sitting up. It was very cute and a highlight of a very sad day.

Dominic at Nana's 7/10

My first cookie

Dominic had his first cookie on 7/14.

Nana Westhall

Nana Westhall December 23, 1920-July 12, 2006.

Dominic and I have had a very long and stressful week. We got a call on Saturday morning that Nana was in the hospital. Later it was determined that she had Pneumonia which was a slight relief as it was initially thought she had a stroke. So, Aunt Mandy, Imagin, Dominic and myself made plans to leave at 4am on Monday.

Monday-Day one. Got to visit with Nana. We got to talk to her and she tried to talk with us, but it was to challenging for her to talk as it took everything she had to breath. The heartbreaking aspect of this was that Dominic had not met her yet. When we got there she was in ICU and children are not allowed in there.

Dad had a menagerie of photographs put up on her window sill. Nana and Grandpa Westhall on a motorcycle when they were young, grandpa Westhall in his uniform, Maureen, Uncle George and Aunt Pat's wedding photo, our family photo (taken when I was a teenager), Dominic, Maureen, Nana as a young woman, Erin and Jon, and a few other's I might have forgotten. At one point an aid told me to take them off the window, so I did, and put them right back soon as she left. (If my Nana can't be in her home and this is all she can have to see of home, there is no way we are taking that away from her.)

Tuesday-Day two. Went to visit12-2 and again 8:30-10:30pm. On this day we saw a slight decline. It was this day that we also learned that she had COPD and that the pneumonia was actually getting worse even with he antibiotic’s. While visiting on this day she hardly opened her eyes at all. It was also determined that she would be a comfort care patient only. We all began the adjustment to the terrible news. The good news was that the Residents told us that we could bring the children in briefly. We whispered to Nana to save her strength for tomorrow so she could meet the little ones.

Wednesday-Day three. Visited Nana 12-2. The nurses gave Mandy a hard time about bringing the little ones in. We decided not to risk brining the little ones onto the ICU as Nana was no longer responsive at all. I wished that I had been able to bring him in two days ago. Maureen, Mandy and I left the children with Dad and Rebecca (Grandpa Chris and Grandma Becky) so we could all go visit during the 4-6 visit. This was our time with Nana. It was our time to say our good bye's. We told of old stories, memories, sang songs, and finally we said our farewell. It is a hard thing to do. (We were supposed to leave at 7pm, but we saw how quickly her condition was deteriorating and decided to stay till the end.)We headed back to the house ate quickly and packed up the children. We all headed back to the hospital for the remaining visiting hours of the night. Mandy gave Nana directions to the waiting room so Nana could see the children. (Whether or not you believe in that thing is a personal choice, but I would like to believe that she saw them.) Back in the waiting room Mandy said that Imagin laughed, then she looked over at Dominic and he was smiling. We all left at 10:30pm (visiting hours are over) knowing that she was not going to make the night. We stopped at the grocery store for breakfast for Dominic and then headed home (Nana's house) in the pouring rain. (There were tornado warnings up in neighboring counties.) As soon as I walked in the door with Dominic I heard my dad on the phone with the hospital. I picked up Imagin and Dominic and loaded them back into the car for the long quiet trip to the hospital. When we arrived she had just passed away.

I will have many wonderful memories of our time together. I also know that she is in a much better place. However, the thing that gives me the most amount of comfort is knowing that she carried a flame for my grandfather alone for nearly or more then 67 of her living years. (She only had him in her life for 19 years as he passed away at the age of 44, she was a widow at 38.) She lived alone with him in her heart for over 45 years. She never remarried because she loved him so much she felt it would be unfair to anyone else. The thought of them reunited takes away much of the pain that is left from her absence.

One thing I have learned through all of this is to never put off anything. There truly may be no tomorrow. With the business of today's lifestyles it is easy to get distracted. We (Mandy and I) thought we would take a trip together when Mandy got her van. Well Nana departed before the van arrived and I can never take back the sorrow I feel for not bringing Dominic to her sooner. She is the only great-grandmother that never got to meet Dominic. For that I am eternally sorry.

To Nana-we will all miss you. Your love, memories, and blood line shall continue. I hope we make you proud.

Sleep

How I would love even 4 hours of sleep!!!

Dominic has a wonderful day schedule, but his night time schedule leaves a lot to be desired. He is up every two to three hours! At first I think that this is just because I am still breastfeeding him, and because I don't know exactly how much he is getting I think he may really need the nutrients. Granted he now eats solids 3x a day (about 3-5 ounces at a time)and nurses before his two naps, bed, and around 4pm.

He is now 6 months old and I am tired of being tired!! I would even love 4 hours of sleep at a time. So, I read Baby Whisper among other books. I like the fact that it is not a "let them cry it out" book. I have for the last three nights taken the suggestion of rocking him back to sleep at the 3am feeding time. I figure one step at a time.

Schedule: 7-7:30am wake up
9am breakfast-cereal/fruit
9:30-10am nap-nurse first
1pm lunch-veg/fruit
1:30pm nurse/nap
4pm nurse
6pm dinner chicken/veg
7pm -7:30pm nurse/bed
8:45 nurse
11pm nurse
1am nurse
3am--working on weaning this one!
4-6 nurse

This schedule is pretty consistent, or has been. So, back to weaning the 3am feeding. The first night I got up and rocked him for 45 minutes. He suckled on my arm, leaving a bruise, but he fell asleep after the 45 minutes. The following night it only took 15 minutes of rocking and he didn't try to nurse off my arm either. Night three, I rocked him till he was almost asleep and then put him in his crib. He whimpered and I thought he was going to sleep, but then he started screaming. I changed him and laid him back down. Still he refused to go back to sleep, so I rocked him some more. By 4am this morning he was still awake so I caved in and nursed him. He fell asleep quickly after eating.

I think tonight I will make sure to rock him until he is entirely out! It is my hope that after a few more nights of withholding the food at this time that he may sleep through this time. Then again, my little man hates being wet and this could also be the source of his frequent awakenings. Then again, I don't help the matter any when I re-supply the liquids!

I love the fact that each day I watch him grow and do something new, but I really miss getting sleep.



Ok....for the new thing of the day. Dominic got up on all fours!!!! He is on his way to crawling. For a while there I thought he may skip it and go right to walking, but now I am a bit hopeful for crawling first. I know that he is a very curious and energetic little one and I will have my hands full once he gets moving. So, I am hoping that I will have a bit of time to get used to the mobile Dominic with crawling first. We will see.

Can we keep her?

This is a photo of Uncle Anthony's girlfriend Lisa and Dominic.

Can we keep her?

She is a wonderful individual with a ton of personality. One who gets along with just about anyone in any circumstance. It is a privlidge to know her and I hope he keeps her!!! :-)

Nana Visit

Nana and Dominic



Dominic in the Jeep prior to leaving to visit Nana.








Dominic loves Nana's horn on her walker. He wants to make it honk, but he doesn't have the strenght yet. That does not stop him from trying to honk it though.





On Sunday we all got up fairly early and headed out to visit Nana. For Dominic this was his first meeting with Nana. He was quite taken with her and I think she really enjoyed meeting her great-grandson for the first time.

After the initial meeting we all headed to church. In church (where he was very well behaved) Dominic spent most of his time either chewing on his toys and drooling all over, or flirting with the women behind us. He would flash them huge smiles and get them all smiling. What a lady's man!

Next, we headed to lunch at Dominic's Great Uncle Mark's resturant. It was a fantastic lunch and a great time. After lunch, we all headed back to Nana's house. This is where Dominic got to show Nana how he walks. Then Nana & Pupo showed Dominic Nana's horn on her walker. He loved it!!!! Nana gave Dominic a stuffed baby lamb, which went right into his mouth. Thank you Nana!!

After we said goodbye we headed for our drive home.

The Family Reunion

On Saturday July 1st was the Sullivan Family Reunion. We all headed up north for this big event. There were a variety of family memebers that all met Dominic for the first time. I think Grandma Mo and Pupo had a wonderful time showing off their grandson.

Dominic was adored by a very cute little girl named Sydney. Sydney wanted to feed, hold, and push Domninic in his stroller. The funny part is that Sydney herself is only 5 years old.


Sydney and Dominic (25 weeks)

After visiting with many people Dominic passed out at 7pm. So around 7:30pm we headed back to the hotel. Once we were there he got his bath and went through his bed time routine. When it came time to actually put him to bed he screamed. I think it was particially because it was a foreign location that he had such a hard time going to sleep. Once he was between Matt and I he was asleep in a few minutes.

It was a great day with family!

The Dr.

On Friday June 30th Dominic had his 6 month follow up with a new Dr. I don't like his new Dr. nearly as well as the one he had in Maine. I guess you could sum her up as adequate. She does the job, just lacks in personality and affection to children. Funny being a pediatrician you would expect them to love children, but I guess in all things there are people who go into a field without the passion and desire. Or, maybe she has lost it?

Difference between here and Maine--the Dr. looked dumbfounded when I told her that I was still breastfeeding and that he received no bottles. In Maine it is very common and if you were not breastfeeding then you would receive that look that I received here.

Dominic got all of his shots. He is 16lbs 4oz and is 27.5 inches long.

All in all. I have learned that I got spoiled in Maine! From the Dr.’s to the people and everything inbetween.

OH! Being a literacy specialists I found it of great interest that in Maine they have a promote literacy program. Every time a child has a well child check up they receive a book. I think this is a fantastic program. Especially for underprivileged homes that many children grow up in.