A visit from Aunt Becky

Becky came in for a visit this past weekend from Denver. We had a fun time getting to catch up and relax. Dominic even mastered saying "Aunt Becky" by the time she had left. Dominic couldn't decide between playing shy with Aunt Becky or being glad to have another play mate around. Either way, it was a fun weekend and we can't wait to go visit her and Uncle Tom in Denver soon!

Little Helper

Dear Dominic,
Tonight when we came home from being out, before you would go inside, you HAD to help Daddy take out the garbage. You would not come inside until you knew that he was all done. You even carried a garbage can that he had emptied, which is taller than you are, back into it's place in the garage all by yourself just to show me what a big boy you are. I figured that I would write this little story down for you for when you are about 15 or 16 years old and I am begging you to help take out the garbage. It will remind me of what a good little helper you were when you were about to turn two!

Love,
Mommy

Morehead City Seafood Festival

Since last weekend was Vinny's first weekend off from the Italian Ice business for the season, we decided to have a family weekend away. There was a seafood festival out in Morehead City, so we packed up the car and headed out. The weather was perfect for walking around and it was a really fun weekend. There was plenty of fun stuff to keep Dominic entertained and Vinny and I just enjoyed being together and actually both being off of work on the same two days! Unfortunately, my camera battery died part way through the day, so I really didn't get to capture as much of the day as I would have liked, but at least I got a few shots and Vinny was able to take some video. Looks like Dominic loves the rides!

Dominic even took a nice long nap in his stroller while Vinny and I ate some lunch together (yummy fish tacos and shrimp), watched a cooking demonstration, listened to live music and did some window shopping.

Once we were done at the festival, we headed back towards home and stopped for the night in New Bern, a small town also on the water. We had a delcious seafood dinner and Dominic LOVED the concept of staying in a hotel. He liked the elevators and being able to run all around the room and check everything out. One of the big events of the weekend was that Dominic slept in a "big boy" bed for the first time. The hotel was out of loner cribs and we had not brought the pack in play, so he slept on the pull out sofa in the living room of the suite. He felt right to sleep and didn't get up at all in the middle of the night. However, once he stirred for the first time at 5am and realized that he could run right over to Mommy and Daddy's bed, there was no getting back in his bed. Honestly, I thought it was going to be a lot worse than that with lots of interrupted sleep, so I was pretty happy with his first try in a real bed. At home, I think we'll stick to the crib for a while longer.

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit starting Labor Day Weekend and stayed through to the following weekend. We had such a fun time having "Ma" and "Pa" (as Dominic called them) here and can't wait for them to come back. If Mom ever FINALLY retires, we hope they can come much more often!

Our first out of the week was to Duke Gardens. It was perfect weather day and Vincent and Dominic got to run around freely and expend some energy while we had a nice picnic lunch. Uncle Vinny even tried to fly a kite, but unfortunately, the wind just wouldn't come out to play!
This night also happened to be Vinny's and my 6th Wedding Anniversary. Grandma and Grandpa babysat while we got to have the night to ourselves to go out to dinner. A really fun day!

On Labor Day, we went to Tucker Lake. We had just as much fun there as we did last time and probably even more because we had everyone with us. It was a great day of sand and sun!

Dominic got a really nice surprise during Grandma and Grandpa's visit. A very special early birthday present. That Tuesday morning, we all took a trip to Toys R Us to pick out a train table for Dominic. Whereever we go that there is a train table, Dominic is completely captured by it, so they knew this would be great for him. After our shopping trip, we stopped to have lunch and of course, some fun ensued there as well. Once we got home, Dominic went for a nap and Grandpa and Daddy went to work constructing the table so that when Dominic got up from his nap, it was PLAY TIME! He sure is one lucky little boy!

September 11th is Dad's birthday, so it was such a special treat to have him here to celebrate. And we did that from breakfast through to dinner. It was a relaxing low key day, with a trip up to the flea market at Dad's request for some browsing. We finished out the day with dinner with the whole gang and as you'll see, even Grandpa got a little silly (imitating Vincent's "Say Chese" face)!

The last day of their visit was Grandparent's day and Marbles Museum was celebrating the occasion so we spent the day there having some fun exploring and playing.

Little Moments

Sometimes the little moments with Dominic that I can't capture on film and remember in my heart, but don't always remember to document here, are really the best ones.

This morning, Dominic and I were sharing a banana at breakfast. Dominic happened to be wearing a bib that had a monkey on it. So I said to him, "Dominic, do you know who also like bananas? Monkeys like bananas. Dominic, are you a little Monkey?"

Dominic said, "No" and pointed to himself and said, "boy". He certainly had the last word and I loved it!

A visit from Aunt Angela

Last weekend, we had a great time having Aunt Angela visit for the weekend. It was a fun and relaxing weekend with plenty of play time for the boys. Spending the day at the pool was certainly a great break for everyone and getting some delicious ice cream while the boys ran around was a great evening out! We can't wait to have you back!

Dominic's first trip to the Dentist

Today marked another sign of what a big boy Dominic is becoming. He had his first trip to the dentist and did great! I was a little bit upset, because I wasn't able to be there with him. But he and Vinny did just fine, as I knew they would. Not a tear was shed and I was told that Dominic even asked for more when it came to the electric brush and when they squirted the water into his mouth for rinsing. As you can see, Dominic was so fine Vinny was able to snap tons of shots for me so I could feel like I was there. They left with a new toothbrush, some great stickers and one clean little mouth!
A big thanks to Cousin Vincent for checking the place out for us!

Trader Joe's Newest Customer

Dominic has been tolerating sitting in a shopping cart less and less these days. He always wants to get down and run around the store - we'll say "actively participate in the shopping experience." Well, today, we had not been in Trader Joe's for more than 5 minutes and he was already asking to get out. He happened to see some other kids walking around with these little carts. Well, once he saw that, I knew that I had no choice in this matter! He was the happiest little shopper and a great helper. Of course, he also drew tons of attention and got plenty of hello's and waves. It's a good thing that it was such an adorable sight, because some of other shoppers could have been a lot less patient than they were. Next time, I will definitely skip the big cart all together and just let him do all the work! If only all stores had these "mini-me" carts. And, if only, everything we needed would fit in such a small cart!

Sunday Morning Trip to the Park

Dominic and I had a chance to get out to the park this morning before it got too hot. It had been a while since we'd been to this park together and it is always amazing to see how much more he can do each time. In fact, he didn't even step foot in the "baby" area, which is the only spot he used to be able to be in. He is a really good little climber - that is for sure! He also got the chance to run around the baseball field a little. Funny how he knew all by himself to run from base to base. Next time, we'll have to remember to bring Daddy, a baseball and a bat.

Pee Pee in the Potty!!

Tonight was a very big first for Dominic! I am proud to say that he went pee pee in the potty just like a big boy. We bought a potty for him quite a while ago, but there really wasn't too much interest. He would imitate me sometimes while I was going, but Dominic would be fully clothed and also usually sitting with the lid down. He was mostly fascinated with making sure the door was properly shut while we "went potty" more than anything else. Lately, I've tried to be consistent in offering him the chance to go right before bath time once his diaper was off. Often he'd completely dismiss the idea and sometimes he would sit for a minute but then want to get into the tub. I never tried to push what so ever, but just wanted him to start getting familiar with it.

Tonight, as he was getting ready to sit down on it, I happened to open the vanity cabinet to get out his towel and washcloth. He spotted a book that was under there, which happens to be about how big boys go on the potty. He took the book and sat on the potty and began "reading." Once he was done, he stood up and gave me the book all ready for the bathtub and to my delight, the potty was full! I didn't even hear it happen, so I was actually quite shocked. As you can imagine, there was tons of clapping, cheering and celebrating. Such an exciting moment. Dominic definitely knew that what he did was a good thing.....Now, the question will be how long it takes to get from tonight to a fully potty trained little boy. My expectations are that it will take quite a while and that it will by no means be fun or easy, but tonight, I'm basking in my pride and also getting a little nostalgic about how big my baby is getting.

A little boy's work is never done...

For a while now, Dominic has had a bit of a fascination with the vacuum cleaner. First, he just started following us around whenever we would take it out. Then, he graduated to taking one of his push toys and wheeling that around and making the back and forth motion that you would with a vacuum, doing his fair share while we took care of the real thing. Finally, I decided to buy a toy one for him. I found this Dirt Devil one that actually turns on and make a vacuum noise and apparently also does actually do some sucking. There's even a dust buster that pops in and out. Dominic now happily cleans the house every day. You'll see by the pictures that even gets the tough spots like under the couch. He also moves the kitchen chairs at both the table and the island to make sure he can get everything all clean. Of course, when Vinny took the real one out yesterday morning, Dominic went running for his yelling, "Dominic too, Dominic too" and got right to work! Now, if only he was big enough to maneuver the real one for us! I guess we'll see how long before he realizes that it's more work than it is fun...

The Walking Crew

This picture was actually taken about two months ago, but it's still very relevant. Our little walking crew has been together for quite a while now - well over a year, possibly almost two. We try to walk about two times a week together to get a little bit of exercise and fresh air in the evenings. It's fun how it has all evolved since the inception and the different stages we go through. Morgan is the newest member of the group. Dominic and Ella now have little mini-conversations and mimic each other throughout the ride, as opposed to when we started and Dominic was just an infant. We're always gauging whether it's too hot, too cold or too rainy to walk, but luckily, I don't think we've ever gone more than a week without squeezing a walk in. Thanks, Colleen and Laurie, for adding some fun to the week for Dominic and I!

Fun with Treyton

Dominic has been playing with a new friend named Treyton for a while now. They are just a couple of days apart and get along really well. Plus, us Moms have a great time chatting it up when we get them together. It's been a lot of fun to see the progression of their friendship as they get older and how they are starting to play together instead of just two kids playing in the same room but separately. This weekend Dominic and I were over the McMahon's house for a visit and over lunch the two boys were actually talking to each other and even made up their own little game in their "conversation." It was really fun to watch! Here's a picture of the two little cuties.

Car Shopping

We took advantage of the fact that Vinny got rained out from work yesterday afternoon to start doing some car shopping as we've decided that it's time to replace our little car with a more family friendly version. As you can see, Dominic made himself right at home at the dealership. He was SO proud of himself for figuring out how to open the automatic doors. He thought it was even better when the salesman showed exactly where the sensor was so he could really work it exactly how he wanted. He liked it so much, it was actually a bit difficult trying to leave and tear him away from all of the fun. Lucky for him, we didn't buy anything yet, so he'll probably have a chance to do it all over again.

Our little Chef

This past weekend, we finally bought Dominic some "kitchen" toys of his own. No matter where we go, if there is a play kitchen or toy food, he always gravitates towards them. We had to make a stop at the toy store this weekend, so it was a great excuse to get some play food for him to take home. He was very polite in cooking Mommy some delicious meals and putting ketchup on Daddy's hot dog for him. He made all the right yummy noises after sampling his own creations. He was also very careful about putting the correct lid on each pot and being sure to check on the food as it was cooking to see if it was ready yet. Seeing Dominic use his imagination is just so much fun and I can't drink up enough of it! Maybe for his birthday he'll get a new kitchen to play with his food in...