Snowed In!

After several threatening but false predictions, we finally got a snow storm this winter.
It came on Friday night and we got about 4 or so inches total. When Dominic woke up on Saturday morning and we came down stairs to open up the curtains, he was amazed at what had happened outside. Although, Dominic has technically been in snow twice, once in NY and once last winter here in NC, this was the first time he was old enough to know that something had happened. His reaction was priceless and also helped him to learn a new word - SNOW. He hasn't mastered saying it, but can certainly point it out without hesistation now.

15 months

Dominic turned 15 months on Sunday. He went for his check up at the doctor today. He is still a little pipsqueak at 18lbs 9.6oz (3rd percentile), is 30 inches tall (20th percentile) and his head is 46 cm (25th percentile). Dominic has accomplished a lot over the past month or two. To name a few, he has perfected his waving skills for hello and good-bye (think more beauty queen in a parade instead of awkward finger motions), blows kisses, can identify several body parts including his ears, nose, hair, feet, and belly. Not only has he started doing the "ch" for cheese, but also does the "sh" for shoes, which the doctor told me today does technically count as two words at this stage. He can tell you that the cow says "Moo" and according to him, a sheep says "aaahhh." Dominic does peek-a-boo himself instead of just having Mommy do it to him. And, although it is Mommy's least favorite new trick, he can now climb up the stairs standing up (holding on of course) instead of just crawling up.

Artwork by Dominic Novello

Dominic attends school every Monday morning at Lincoln Heights Elementary School. It is a program for kids who are 1 year old. We sing, dance and play and there are always arts and crafts projects to do. Up until this point, Dominic is usually completely ignoring the project, watching Mommy do it or trying to eat the supplies. Today, when I showed him the letter stamp - "M is for Mitten" - and the dot maker, he was actually interested and wanted to it all by himself. So, I can finally say that Dominic did his very own art project in school today!

Planet Child

I'm a little late in getting these pictures up, but about 2 weeks ago, Vinny, Maria, Vinny and I took Dominic and Vincent to a place called Planet Child. Basically, it's one big play room for the kids to run around in. Here's a few shots from the afternoon...

Vincent and Dominic trying out the oversized dominos.


Daddy and Dominic playing with the trains.

Whipping up a snack for everyone in the pint-sized kitchen

"Ch, Ch, Cheeeeze"

Vinny and I have been anxiously awaiting Dominic's first "real" word. While he says "Mom" and "Mamma" and "Daaddeee" all of the time and uses them not only to call us (interchangeably) but everything else in the world, we haven't gotten much past that besides a boat load of babbling, giggling and well just plain old screaming. All of that is fine and good and honestly provides hours of entertainment, however, we're ready to bring it to the next level! So, as usual, at dinner the other night, I am repeating everything that Dominic is eating as he eats it over and over again and naming all of the objects that Dominic points to and he actually starting to make the "ch" sound for cheese. Technically, I think we can say that he did say the whole word "cheese" twice, although not very well, Dominic really prefers to just say the "ch" part. So, we're not quite there yet and it's going to take some more practice, but we are certainly on our way!

I should definitely also point out how appropriate this particular word is as cheese is hands down Dominic's favorite food - no question about it!

Christmas Day

On Christmas day we had the pleasure of visiting with our friends, Rick, Jennifer & Alexandra, along with Jennifer's family. As you can see, we had a great time! There were even MORE presents, lots of Alexandra making the cutest face ever out of excitement for all of her new toys, Rick and Dominic chillin' together and two happy Mommies who had great holidays made even better by their little angels!

Christmas Morning

It was so hard to choose which pictures to put up of Christmas morning. I know that a lot of these look very similar and I have a ton more just like them, but Dominic was too cute running around the living room that morning. When he first came downstairs, he was simply amazed at the pile of presents that was under the tree since it has been empty the night before. He was so much more reactive than Vinny and I thought he would be. He just loved opening all of the presents. Thank you to all of our family who sent gifts. It was hard not being with you this year, but hopefully these pictures help you see a little bit of how wonderful Dominic made our Christmas.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was really nice this year. First, Vinny and I were able to enjoy a romantic Italian Christmas Eve seafood feast for two (Well, I think there was enough food for 4, but we ate almost all of it anyway!), since Dominic took his nap while we were eating. Afterwards, we headed over to the Miceli House for dessert and to see all the kids. As you can see, I was having such a good time that day, that I barely remembered to take any pictures! Here's one of Anthony opening up his present from us. You'll also see that Vinny got what I can only guess he thinks is the best Christmas present ever.

Daddy's Day Off

Last Wednesday Vinny had his first day off in what felt like a very long time. The weather also warmed up that day, so it was the perfect opportunity to go to the park and get some fresh air. Dominic explores a little more each time we go there, but hands down his favorite is definitely the slide, which you as you can see, he likes to go down head first!

Christmas Exchange 2009 with The Stio Family

Since Vinny, Maria and Vincent went to NY for Christmas this year, we got together the weekend before for dinner and some Christmas fun. Here are some pictures of the boys ripping into their gifts. They may not fully understand Santa or the meaning of Christmas just yet, but they sure do like to open presents!

Visit with Santa

It took me a little while to finally get these pictures posted, as they were actually taken about two weeks ago, but in any case, Dominic had a nice visit with Santa this year. He had no complaints about being handed over to him and sitting up there on his belly. He seemed to enjoy having a good view of everything going on in the mall. However, no matter how hard Vinny and I tried, he really didn't want to crack much of a smile to prove he was liking it up there. This picture is the closest we got to one...


And this one is Vinny's favorite. "Hey Santa, you listen here. If you don't get me what I want for Christmas, there's gonna be trouble." (You know, in Dominic's broken English accent.)

Meadow Lights

Last night, we had a little family outing to a town called Benson. It's about 45 minutes from our house. We went to see Meadow Lights, which is a Christmas light display that look at while taking a train ride. It wasn't super cold out so it was really enjoyable. Unfortunately, dinner beforehand is what Vinny is calling an "experience" that I will laugh about someday. In any event, it was still a great night with my two men and hopefully, it can become a Christmas season tradition for us (well, minus the dinner part).

December Update

A few noteworthy things have happened with Dominic over the past several weeks. The biggest thing has been the "Battle of the Sippy Cup" and going through the process of weaning him off of his bottle. We found out the hard way that in Dominic's case, we needed to go cold turky and just pack up all the bottles and put them away only offering liquids from a cup. In response, he pretty much went on a liquids strike for about a week or so - no matter what type of drinking vessel you put it in and trust me, we tried pretty much every kind there is. We even tempted him with straight juice and chocolate milk, but this is one stubborn boy. Things must be on his terms. Luckily, although it is an ongoing process, he is starting to drink again and more than he has in a good long while over the past couple of days.

Through most of November and early December, we had some issues with Dominic's ears and infections. Thankfully, they have been clear for about two solid weeks now. However, once his ears finally cleared up, he got a virus, which the Doctor is pretty sure was Roseola based on the rash he broke out in earlier this week. The poor kid couldn't catch a break!

By yesterday, Dominic finally seemed to be back to his old self and today I can barely keep up with him running around. He even discovered that he can "dance." Hopefully, we can get some goods shots of it soon and share.

The Hoppers House

Dominic met his friend Ella for a play date on Sunday at The Hoppers House. It's a place with large inflatables for bouncing and a big play room for the kids will all sorts of great goodies. Dominic seems to be drawn to the mini kitchens where ever there is one. (His cousin Vincent has one and there is also one at his school.) Wonder if that means anything for the future??

My little marshmallow man

The day after Thanksgiving was the first really cold day we've had here. In order to go out for the afternoon, I had to make sure he was all bundled up. I couldn't resist a picture - too adorable!
Thank you, Grandma, for making it so Dominic's gloves don't get lost!

Museum of Life & Science

Over Grandma and Grandpa's Thanksgiving visit, we got to spend one of our days at the Museum of Life & Science in Durham. We had a really fun day exploring and Dominic and I can't wait to take Daddy there soon.

Mommy's favorite part was the butterfly house. Here's a picture of Dominic and Grandma and Grandpa just outside. There are also a few shots of the butterflies. It is a room that is set up like a tropical forest where there are tons and tons of butterflies. You get to see them up so close. It is truly amazing.

We also got to see some live animals. Dominic thought that the wolves looked a lot like our dog Max. I don't have a picture, but there was a cow that you could get very close to - that was the only time I saw Dominic a little frightened. The rest of the animals were at just the right distance for him to enjoy them.

Here was a cloud machine that Grandma was showing to Dominic.

Here are Grandpa and Dominic both trying their hand at the huge drumset that was outside.