A Morning at the Movies

I took Dominic to the movie theatre for the first time yesterday morning.  I have been wanting to take him to for a while but nothing had come out that I really felt was appropriate.  I was also worried that he might not have the attention span to sit through the whole thing, since he really doesn't like to watch full length movies on DVD at home.   When I saw the ads for the Winnie the Pooh movie, I knew it would be the right one.  It was only an hour and ten minutes in length, which worked out perfectly.  

Ahead of time, Dominic was very excited about eating popcorn at the movies (one of his favorite snacks, especially to eat with Miss Judy).  He also knew that it would be dark and there would be a big (demonstrated with hand gestures) screen.  He was very curious when we got to the theatre, about all of the things in the lobby and where we had to go for the movie to start.  Walking into the theatre, I could tell he was excited to see what it really looked like.  He was not very fond of all of the coming attractions, even though most were geared towards kids and just kept asking when Winnie the Pooh was coming.  About three quarters of the way through, he did end up on my lap instead of his own chair.  He, of course, finished his entire bag of popcorn. 

As we left the theatre and walked out into the light, I asked him, "So, how did you like the movie?" His response: "Mommy, that was awesome!"  Dominic has never used that word with me before for anything.  I didn't even know that he knew of it or what it meant.  Obviously, that made me feel even happier that he enjoyed his special treat.  And, on the way home, I got several recaps of what had happened in the storyline, all which were correct, so I guess he even paid attention too!



(I know Dominic doesn't look too happy in this picture and that's because he wasn't.  He was way too distracted looking at what was going on all around the theatre on the screen and at the other kids that he was really quite annoyed with Mommy for wanting him to smile for the camera, but I just could not help myself!)

Boundaries

To my children,
As your Mother, I feel the responsibility to teach you various life lessons along the way.  I know that the best thing will be for me to lead by example.  I try very hard to do that every single day. Since having you in my life, I think a lot harder about my actions in knowing that I am setting that example.  Even though you are still small, in some way, it all impacts you.  I struggled very hard this week with the issue of boundaries. I know, in this case, that neither of you had a clue about it, so I am hoping that one day  you will read this and take something from it for your own life.

Please always have respect for other people.  Even if you may not like their choices, please learn to accept them for who and what they are and use it to help you better guide your own life.  Even if you think you know better, the only person you can truly be responsible for is yourself.  Even if you think your intentions are good, that person has the right to their own thoughts, feelings, actions.  Be kind in offering advice and support when you can, but do your best not to cross the line. Trust me, I know, it's not always a clear one. 

Be knowledgeable that there will be people in your life who will try to push your boundaries.  They will not abide by what I have just asked you to.  Stand up for yourself.  Know  your limits and what is comfortable for you. Do not stoop to their level.  Rise above.  I wish I could protect you from this, but I cannot.  My biggest hope is that you will become strong and confident adults, with the sensitivity to have an awareness for the people around you.

Love,
Mom

The Nursery

Over the past several weeks, we've made a lot of strides in turning the guest room into the baby's new room. It still needs a few last finishing touches but has certainly come a long way from the gray builder's paint that was previously in there. We are almost at the point where we can say that all it needs is the baby.



4th of July Weekend

We had a fun filled 4th of July weekend this year.  It really felt like a mini-vacation.  Dominic and I started off the weekend with blueberry and blackberry picking at a nearby farm with our friends Ella and Miss Colleen.  While we waited for them to arrive, Dominic got to meet some goats that lived on the farm.  Then, we went straight to work.  I am 99% sure that Dominic consumed more berries while we were there than I could pick to take home with us.  It was definitely hot, but still a fun way to spend the morning.  That afternoon we baked a blueberry coffee cake special for Daddy to enjoy for dessert.  YUMMY!

On Sunday night, we went to the town fireworks display and festival they had to go along with it.  Dominic saw all of the rides and wanted to go on every one of them, however, once we'd get to the end of the line and it was his turn, he'd get shy.  Vinny had to go on most with him.  By the very last one, he finally found his courage, and I think a little encouragement from his friend Ella, and did it all by himself.  All day, Dominic had been so excited to see the fireworks, telling me how much he loved them (even though he had never seen any before).  Once they turned off the lights and started, his little heart started to race with all of the noise.  Even clutched closely in my lap, he was still very scared and not quite sure what to do.  Ultimately, he ended up in Vinny's lap for the show and watched with amazement, although we are still hearing about the "boom, boom, boom" noises that they made. 

We ended the weekend with a trip to Tucker Lake.  As always, Dominic enjoyed the freedom of being able to run in and out of the water and playing in the sand.  We tried out a new swim float that he did very well with, twirling around and kicking all by himself.  And again, he loved going down the toddler sized water slide and of course, building sand castles with Daddy. 

I think the weekend exhausted him though. On Tuesday morning, Dominic slept past 6am almost to 6:30am, which if you live in our house, you know is a true rarity.

Becoming a Boy

Dominic has started to do some things lately that show how much of a boy he is becoming. As he plays with his toys, he now makes sound effects for everything.  He often tells you "how things go" and will drive his trucks and cars around making the "vroom, vroom" noises.  He makes them crash into each other with even more dramatic sounds.  If he is playing around and pretends to fall, he makes the fall into a long and drawn out fall with several rolls or twists and turns added in and, of course, the sounds to go with that fall.  He often acts like a little stunt man attempting to jump over or into things.  I know I am making some gender generalizations here, but these just are not things that I see little girls doing.  And don't get me wrong, he has his softer side too. He takes his Ellie and will make her feel better by putting her up on his shoulder, patting her back and puts her to bed with the covers and nightlight.   He has conversations with all of his stuffed friends in his bed.  He dances around to music.  Obviously, his imagination is hard at work these days, which I cannot be more happy about.  It's just interesting to see from my perspective as a female, what appears to be innate in little boys.   Soon, he'll be walking around quoting lines from bad 80's movies just like his father...

Please, please....

Dear Baby Boy -
I truly sympathize with you in that I am sure that your current housing situation is getting quite cramped as you continue to grow.  However, I must ask you a favor.  Please be careful as you move around in there.  I feel your every movement and they are starting to get pretty rough.  It feels like you might be an octopus who has been weightlifting versus the sweet little boy that I know you are.  I know we are still getting to know each other, but you will soon learn that I am one of the people in your life that you will want to treat kindly.  As your mother, I will be your #1 fan, your biggest supporter, loudest cheerleader and promise to love you unconditionally.  Please, if you can just oblige me for these last several weeks, I would be ever so grateful. 
Love,
Mom

Music on the Porch

I've had a very busy month of travel this month, with this being the first week that I was home for the entire week.  Since I was not quite as exhausted as I have been from the travel, Dominic and I decided to go to the "Music on the Porch" concert with Vinny in downtown Raleigh last night.  We got to have fun, while he worked. First, we started off with a picnic for dinner (if take out Chinese counts!) Then, the music got started. It took Dominic about 5 minutes of sitting on my lap and intently staring all of the other kids and the musicians to decide that it was OK to get up and dance himself. Once he let loose, he was a little wild man, breaking out all of his moves. Once he had finished dancing, Dominic found a very large tree that he was able to climb on.  He spent a good 20 minutes just seeing how far he could get and how he could maneuver his little body.  He didn't make it very far, however, I had visions of what I am in for a few years down the line.

Thanks, Daddy, for taking us to work with you!



An Afternoon at the Fair

There was a fair going on last weekend up in Raleigh, so on Sunday afternoon Dominic and I took a trip up there to meet Daddy and have some fun for a little while.  As you can see, there was a little bit of everything - animals, rides and a great waterfall where we could cool off for a little while.  Towards the end of our excursion, Dominic was even stopping at random places to pose and saying "Mommy, take my picture!" The weekends are very busy for us during the summer months, so it was nice to get a couple of hours to spend just the three of us!



Since Dominic has so nicely agreed to share his old crib with his little brother, Vinny put together Dominic's new bed yesterday. Dominic describes it as "really, really, really big" with the appropriate motioning of his arms to show you how big it is. He did pretty well napping and sleeping last night for the first day.  Unfortunately, he thinks that the bed should also double as a new trampoline.  Hopefully, we can curb that a bit. Looks like he's nice and comfy though!



We are Family

Completely unprompted, the other night, Dominic turned to Vinny and I as we were all sitting on the couch together and said "We are all a family."  Then, he pointed to each one of us and named, "Mommy, Daddy and Dominic" and repeated with a huge smile, "We're a family!"  I have no idea where he got it from nor did I think he understood a concept like that, but it totally made my heart melt more than you could imagine.  Of course, we had to remind him that his baby brother was also part of our family, which he was fine to include in his next listing of names, but his sweetness just makes me want to eat him up!

Easter Sunday

Later in the day, the Stios and the Micelis came over to celebrate. We started out with another egg hunt for the kids.  It was so warm out that by the time they had found all of the eggs, the candy inside had started to melt! Then, we had a huge feast - a little something prepared by everyone - that was delicious! After dinner, Easter somehow seamed to turn into Christmas and Dominic was showered with baskets and gifts that I could not believe.  He is such a lucky little boy. Thank you to everyone who helps us to spoil him!

Easter Morning

Dominic was very excited to see if the Easter Rabbit had visited him.  So much so, that he actually went straight downstairs when he woke up instead of coming into our bedroom, which is his normal routine.  He was so happy when he saw that there were eggs hidden all over the first floor of the house for him.  Even more so, when he found that there was candy (M&Ms, his favorite, of course!) and money inside of them. It actually took him a little while to realize that there was also a big basket for him too.  I was, of course, snapping away as he looked through the basket.  Towards the end, I was just watching him and had stopped shooting and he looked over and said, "Mommy, take my picture!" I guess he didn't mind all of the excitement and attention...

Ballentine Egg Hunt

Aunt Catherine arrived on Saturday morning, just in time for the egg hunt hosted by our community.  Vincent and Dominic got to collect a bunch of eggs for their baskets.  Dominic was a little disappointed when he opened the first egg and it was empty; however, in the end, they got to turn in their eggs for a special goodie bag.  They also got one last visit in with the Bunny before the big night....