Bye, bye

Dominic can officially do the correct bye, bye now. He used to be able to wave his arm up and down, but would keep his fist closed. Today was the first day that he waved with his hand open. Also, he has been opening and closing his hand a lot today. Hopefully soon he will be able to pick up some signs.

As for last night, he did great until 3:40am. It was forty minutes of crying and fighting me because he wanted to nurse. I gave him water and rocked him, but it didn't stop him from wanted what he has had for the last 8.75 months. Twenty minutes later he was up again. This time I gave him some more water and held him again. After another twenty minutes he went back to sleep and slept till 6:30am, then he got his morning feeding.

I am hoping that he will begin getting used to not eating at that time, as it is painful for me to watch how much he wants to eat and I have to prevent him from feeding. The day weaning is much easier then the night ones!

Today Dominic was in better spirits. We had dinner with Grandma Mo, and Pupo. Dominic even wanted some of our dinner after he had just eaten his own. He had some carrots, green beans, and a little hamburg. He is definitely Nana's great-grandchild, he loves to eat!

The last thing I will write about tonight is Dominic's interest in books. As we were reading Bear Snores On tonight, I noticed that when he turns the pages he now takes an interest in the pictures. He will go back a page and take inventory of what he wishes, flip to the cover and recheck that out, then go back to the part we are reading in the story. He loves to turn the pages. It is interesting to watch his development and growth. He has daily gains at this point and it is amazing to see how far he has come since the week of July 12th. That was the point where he was just beginning to sit on his own and even had to have pillows behind him in case he fell over. Just two months later and he is a ball of energy where I am finding it hard to keep him still long enough to change his diaper. :-)

The Teeth!!!!!!!!

Dominic has been CRANKY!!!! He us usually so bright and happy that when he is out of sorts it truly shows. The last three days he has been especially cranky, clingy, and miserable. Him being so cranky makes for very long, exhausting days for me.

Hopefully these new teeth will show their heads soon. He has both top teeth poking through and I feel the side ones are causing the trouble.

In other news, last night was the first night without a night nursing. The night prior we were down to 2.5 minutes and when I pulled him off he was very mad. It took time to calm him down and then he was wide awake and his stomach was growling. I felt terrible! He woke up every hour to hour and a half till his morning feeding. Then last night I decided not to even put him through the short period of contentment only to be ripped away from it. That would be a bit cruel, so we did not nurse at all last night. He went from 7pm till 6 am without eating. I did give him some water to ease the stomach growling, but he still woke up often and wanted to nurse. Hopefully, each night will get easier and he will soon sleep longer.

I am happy to report that he now sleeps for 6-8 hours at a time!!! This is a huge transition. He will now go down around 7-8 and sleep till around 2-3am. Then it is a rough patch till his morning feeding around 6am.

All in all, getting his own room has made a huge difference in this weaning back of nursing. Only 1 1/2 months ago he was getting up every 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours to eat. I was having trouble getting him out of that mode. I started with one feeding and decided to ease out of it. Then I dropped another. By the time we moved into our new apartment he was down to two feedings; one at 2 and one at 5am. With him being in his own room and further away I didn't hear his every peep and pop out of bed. This helped me to get some good sleep and it helped Dominic to put himself back to sleep for the times when he really didn't need me. Then, for the last 10 days we have been dropping one minute each night from his 2-3am feeding. This worked fine until the last three days. (Up until then he would not wake up till his morning feed.) :-) The last three days when the milk drastically eased up for him he has had trouble sleeping from that point until the morning feeding. Hopefully, it will resolve itself in a few days when his body gets used to the lack of calories during that time. Hopefully, then he will sleep through that feeding. (It hasn't helped that he has been up due to his teeth as well.)

Lastly, we have been busy going to the library on Tuesday's. Dominic gets to hear rhymes, read stories, play with other children and new toys. He is very social and loves other children. It has been a wonderful experience, plus we get to walk to the library just like we did in Maine. (Very Cool!!) Oh! Sat. will be our last day of baby sign language. Baby sign language class is more interesting for mom and dad then it is Dominic. He enjoys exploring and playing with the other children, while mom and dad learn new signs to teach Dominic. The only challenging part with signing is remembering to do the sign as you say the word. It really takes work to remember to sign while talking. Hopefully, after we have gotten used to it, it will become like second nature. We will see!!!

In the box again-four months later

I was cleaning up Dominic's breakfast mess and he crawled into the living room. Matt had just gotten out of the shower and I headed into the living room to see what Dominic was doing. He had climbed into this box himself and was just sitting there in the box when I walked in. Of course I had to run for the camera and scream for Matt to check this out as well. One of those moments that makes your whole day. :-)

A photo of the exiting of the box. This took place nearly immediately after we spotted him sitting in the box. I guess the attention was more interesting then the box.

Some Cookie

This picture was worth a thousand words. I was in the kitchen doing the dishes and Dominic was playing in his favorite cabinet in the kitchen (the bread, cereal, cookie). He loves to just pull everything out and spread it all over the kitchen floor and then I pick it all up and he repeats the process. Anyway, this particular day he had happened to get into the whole-wheat fig newtons. I pulled them away, but apparently one was still on the floor that I hadn't seen. Dominic on the other hand had no trouble finding it. He had cookie all over his face and couldn't hide the evidence at all. It actually was more of a mess then the photo displays. (When eating is involved, that is usually the case with Dominic.)




This was just a really cute photo taken in the kitchen at our new apartment. He just screams, "I'm smiling and ready so go ahead and take the picture". Ok, so maybe he can't say all that yet, but it sure looks like he can!

Dominic's Chair

Grandma Cindy got this chair and it is currently at aunt Mandy's house. I don't know if it is the bright colors or the fact that it fits Dominic's size so well, but he loves it. This was taken early September. Dominic was 8 months old.

I can beep the horn with my nose!




















What a pretty girl. Cousin Imagin.





I'm doing a little back dating as we have not had internet upon moving into our new apartment. We are now hooked up!!!

September 10, we went to aunt Mandy's house to celebrate grandma Cindy's birthday. Everyone had a wonderful time with cake and family. Then came time for Dominic to play with the cousin's toys. Boy did he ever enjoy that!

Long time

Wow, it has been a long time since my last post. The biggest reason for this gap is that we currently do not have internet. It is suppose to be hooked up on the 20th. So, the goal is once we are working again I will be able to post more often like I did when we were in Maine.

Let's see, Aunt Mandy, and Grandma Cindy have had birthdays. We have officially moved into our apartment and are currently getting settled. But, more importantly, Dominic is getting his two big teeth on top. They are coming in at their own rate, but you can see them now. (His million dollar smile that warms even the coldest of hearts is going to change yet again.)

Our days are starting to settle into a routine again. We are back to going to the library and next week we will have baby and me time at the library. Also, I have signed up for a baby and me signing class for the last two Saturday's in September.

Dominic is finally (now that he has his own room) sleeping longer. Last night he went down at 7:30pm and slept till 2am. I fed him only 8 minutes and then he slept till 6:20am. I fed him again and he slept till 9:10 am. I actually had to check on him a few times to make sure he was alright. Currently, I am weaning him from the 2am feeding. We reduce the time by one minute each night to wean him off. Hopefully, by the end of a week to two he will no longer need that feeding.

Aside from all of this, moving in to our new apartment caused me to find things that have been in storage for a long time. I found Dominic's baby book. It is so funny to look at pictures of him when he was first born and then to see him today. He is only 8 months old, yet there are so many differences. It is truly amazing!! Tonight he is having mac and cheese (Grandma Mo made for him). He is really loving finger foods. I can't believe how quickly he went from baby food to pure finger foods. However, he is learning cause effect and this leads to a very messy child and kitchen during meals. :-)

I know there are many other changes that have taken place during the course of my absence from posting, but I am unable to think anymore...time for dinner.