Our Trip to Northern Maine

Northern Maine was very beautiful and extremely desolate. The people were very friendly! The town had a whopping 230 people in it. We would drive 50 minutes to reach a grocery store, movie store and Walmart. It had a few other things to offer, but those were the big things that were offered.

Most of the time we were there it was extremely cold with it being around 10 degrees out with a wind chill that would freeze you in no time! So, Dominic and I only went out to play about 5 times in the entire month we were there. We did however enjoy the benefit of having a whole house to ourselves!!!! This experience contrasted with our little tiny apartment was a wonderful foreshadowing of things to come. Dominic enjoyed doing laps (running, not walking) around the house. He had his own playroom with a ton of sunlight that warmed it up wonderfully in the day time.

The whole house was full of picture windows and sky lights. It was a place that made you feel like you had enough sun light without even being outside. (Great for winter) The downside to this was that the windows were very drafty, especially at night when the sun was not there to compensate.

Dominic and I spent many days playing and reading together. One new thing he found that he loved doing was finger painting. We have finger painted before, but here he would bring the paints to me and drop them in my lap. It was my cue to get the paper so he could finger paint. He loved it, even though it was over in like five minutes. I learned quickly though to get a smock or to strip him down to a onsie. Unlike his cousin Christopher, Dominic loves to be messy.

There are two big things I remember. The first is the day I was doing dishes in the kitchen (open floor plan to the house) and realized it was too quiet. I peaked into the dining room where Dominic was only to find him sitting perfectly in the middle of the table! That was the last time the chairs were up to the table. The second was the last day we were there. (Cleaning with Dominic is like beating your head against a wall!) We needed to clean the house so I put him in his play room with the gate up. Three minutes later he comes running out. He broke the gate down!!! So I decided to put the gate up in the hallway just outside the room so it would be more secure. I put it up to the wall as tight as I felt comfortable without damaging the sheet rock. Again, three minutes after leaving him he came running out again. So, he was on the loose as we were cleaning. In the time we were cleaning he had climbed up on the table and was playing with the plant on the table pulling the leaves off. I screamed at Matt to come and see what he had done (the first time the chairs were back at the table since the first time he climbed up on it). In the process of him coming to see what happened he left the toilet seat up in a hurry to find out what I was screaming about. He forgot about the toilet seat and Dominic found a old soap bottle that was to be recycled. He picked it up and started playing with it. Two seconds later I hear splosh, splosh....he is playing with the soap bottle inside the toilet!!!! UGHHHHH.... (Nap time was a no go because of all the commotion.) So finally I had him with me cleaning the stairs with the vacuum cleaner. The hose end is not long enough and it pulled the base of the vacuum on an angle long enough for curious George to try and catch the spinning bar. It was the end of trying to do anything with him! Matt played with him while I completed my end of cleaning. Then we packed up and put him in his car seat. He fell asleep in two minutes flat!!!!

I can't remember all of what we did or the highlights of each day (sadly), but I can tell you that Dominic grew at least an inch, gained weight, learned how to run, climb bookshelves, dive off sleds, get his boots when he wanted to go outside, finger paint when he wanted to and much more. However, the biggest thing that I noticed was his ability to speak more words and learn how to sign "more". He now says, ma ma, da da, tractor, car, bear, hot, go-gurt (yogurt), up, kitty, all done, cheesey (cheese), ball, block, book, and I think that is it. It seems like he is picking up words at least twice a week and new sounds daily. It is amazing how quickly he learns. Now he also points to help you with what he desires. If you say the right thing he will smile and laugh to show you that you have hit the nail on the head.

The last thing I will write about is that he now will give you a hug and make the kiss noises to go with it. It is one of the most adorable things that I treasure about his age!!!