Thursday, February 20, 2014

Valentines Day

Ryan and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day together, but I always want to make it special for Dominick. Last year, I honestly forgot about it until right before and made him a couple no sew blankets and he was over the moon about them. This year Ryan and I made a small dinner at home and then watched a movie.

For Dominick we got him hot wheels cars (his favorite take along toys), 2 books, 2 plates and a heart chocolate box and as you can see from the very last picture I think he was happy with all of his little gifts. We love our little Valentine so much it hurts.
He would NOT put down this zyrtec bottle. He loves to hold them and shake them whenever he sees them. He just so happened to see this one before I gave him his present. You will see it in many of the pictures.

He gets SO many compliments on his head shape...but that face is swoon worthy!

and that smile!










Tuesday, February 18, 2014

First Haircut At The Salon

This was technically not Dominick's first haircut, but it was his first at a salon. My friend's sister did his first hair cut back in December before we went to Michigan and it was definitely time for another. His first haircut at a salon was on February 7th and he really did great. He got a little bit antsy and wanted to stand up, but otherwise did so good. I wasn't able to get very many pictures, but I was proud of my little monkey!


watching Bubble Guppies


in the car post haircut

Monday, February 17, 2014

Dominick - 16 Months

Dominick turned 16 Months on January 3rd and these pictures are from January 1st.
 
+You weigh 24.4 lbs and are 31.5" as of 12/23

+This month has definitely been a trying month for us. You hit yourself & others, bite, throw yourself on the floor and head butt. This is definitely a work in progress and it really, really bothers us.
+On the 7th you went to a superhero themed birthday party and we got to make a cape. I made this for you and you like to wear it around.

+You were big on Papa this month. You said his name constantly, want to talk on the phone to him and love to skype. You made him very proud and your Gigi very jealous, but you loved both when you were visiting. You even call the iPad, "papa"

+You hurt your toe in the beginning of the month and you make sure we know about it. Your daddy will often ask you if you hurt your toe and you'll point to the hurt toe and say, "toe, toe". Sometimes you'll walk up to us and show us and just start saying, "toe". Very dramatic.


+You also hit your head on something (you're quite clumsy) and we said "ouch" and you rubbed it. So now you'll rub your head too and say, "ow"

+You have at least 6 teeth on top and I think more than that on the bottom. They just keep coming. We can tell more so than not because you won't eat as well. I believe you have almost all of your teeth in now (15+)

+You're still a picky eater and will throw what you don't want onto the table or the floor. It frustrates us, but hopefully it's just a phase. You have also become more interested in using utensils which is a new thing. Some meals you do really good and others not so much. You LOVE applesauce (preferably homemade) and chobani yogurt.


+Our friends had an ugly Christmas sweater party you had so much fun with your friends. You were a party animal and actually stayed up until 9:30-10:00 which is usually unheard of.

+When you get in trouble you cover your face or put your head down. It's super sweet and sometimes you can be very sensitive. Normally though you're very, very tough.

+You have the silliest and spunkiest personality and I just love it. You are constantly making your daddy and I (along with other people) laugh and laugh.

+You really are very, very sweet. You give kisses and hugs and will occasionally cuddle. Your sweet days outweigh your bad, definitely.

+You really, really love Calli and Rocky. Some days you'll just go up to them put your arm around them and huge them for no reason. Just walking by. You also love to give them kisses and hugs, play fetch or just pet them.

+If we tell you to lay down you will do so. Depending on what it is you will cry, but most of the time you are really good at listening.


+You call EVERYONE momma. I think you do it because you get attention.

+You love being outdoors. You always run into the street though so we have to give you our undivided attention.

+You are in almost all 18 month clothes and size 6 stride rite shoe.

+I can tell you to say cheese and you will stop what you're doing, look at the camera and then smile. It's the cutest thing EVER. Ever, I say! I can also say, "go stand by ____" and you will. I love that you love having your picture taken.
+You haven't been a fan of swim class this month. Most nights you cry and want to be done when class is going on, but as soon as it's over you want back in the pool.

+Your bedtime is still between 7:15-8:00 during the week. You are just so tired by bedtime that you normally just fall right to sleep. You vary from 1-2 naps depending on how long they are. You will nap for a total of 3-4 hours TOTAL throughout the day.


+You met Santa twice this month and wasn't a huge fan of either.

+You got your first haircut at Mrs. Katie's house. It needed to be evened out. I didn't take any pictures, but I will at your first time in the barber shop/salon. :D

+We took you to the Air Force museum on base and you loved all the planes.

+We took you to the Children's holiday party on base with Colette and you two had such a fun time together.
+You had another ear infection (12/23) and it was just the beginning stages. While in Michigan you got another (I'm assuming the first never really went away) and you had a double ear infection and blisters in your ear. Poor guy. I felt horrible. We took you to your regular dr, the ER AND a pediatrician's office.

+You really loved the Christmas tree this year. You would run up to it and point and look at the decorations.

+You learned how to jump this month and when you're excited or waiting not so patiently for something you'll jump around. You are also a dancing machine. You spin around in cirles until you become super dizzy.

+When we have something and you want it you'll try to grab it and say "ma" (mine). Most of the time it's things that aren't yours. :)

+This month you say toe, uh oh and ow a lot. You also know Lo (Lauren), Ta (Tanner), Pe (Please, you say this while signing), ca (color), Bake (Blake), Kora, ma (mine) and sometimes when you see your friends it sounds like you have a version of friend too.

+You know what a lion, dog, sheep, snake and cow say.

+We started saying ma'am and sir a lot more (yes ma'am, no sir, etc) this month. You haven't grasped it, but we want you to use that.

+You LOVE to play peek a boo. If we ask you where Dom is you'll cover your face and say boo.

+You're becoming a little slow to warm up to new/old people. You never were like that before, but now you take your time.

+You still love cars, trucks, motorcycles, airplanes and trains. Any transportation vehicle of any sort you love to play with. You make noises for everything and will play for a very long time.

+You love playing with balls. You learned how to kick this month as well as catch and are becoming much better at throwing. You LOVE to play catch.

+You are VERY adventurous and love to climb. You constantly make me nervous. You got a train table for Christmas and you love to climb on it and lay down or sit and play with your trains.

+You are quite the handful and we know you will be giving us a run for our money.

+We started time outs with you. We do anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute. At first you didn't understand, but I think you're now grasping it more. We sit you in the same spot every time and now you know. Sometimes you'll look back as if asking, "am I done?", but mostly you just sit there until I stand you up. We talk to you (mostly "we don't hit our friends/momma/daddy") and then hug you and you get to go play again.

+You went sledding for the first time and really got to experience snow. You were SO interested in it and watching it fall. You LOVED sledding.

+You took your 7 (and 8th happened in your next month) airplane ride. You SCREAMED nearly the entire flight. It was AWFUL. There was nothing we could do to sooth you and were VERY happy when we landed. We felt horrible for you. (spoiler - you did AWESOME on your 8th).

+You had your FOURTH visit to Michigan and that post is to come. We had an uneventful trip, but you loved being around your cousins and our family.

+For Christmas you woke up bright and early. We woke up daddy and got to work on presents. You still weren't all that interested and only wanted to play with one or two toys that you got and that was good enough for you. We had lunch at the Thompson's and you got to play with your friends. We went to bed fairly early since we were leaving for Las Vegas early the next morning.
+For New Years Eve you ALMOST made it until midnight on Eastern Standard Time, but you weren't quite feeling up to par so you were in bed by 11/11:30. You had so much fun playing and being a little "party animal". We stayed in, but you got lots of attention from Gigi, Papa and Uncle Wayne and Aunt Sherry.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Michigan Trip

Once we got home we started packing and picking up the house. We were leaving the very next morning for Las Vegas (our plan was to be out the door by 5:30). Since Ryan was driving he went to bed around 11 and me not until 1:30. Ryan got up at 4:30 and me at 5. Looks like our 5:30 departure wasn't going to happen. We did make it out the door between 6-6:30, had lunch and made it to MGM in record time. One of the nice things about traveling so early is there is very little traffic.
Our flight left around 10:30 from Las Vegas and let's just say compared to LAX, LAS was a breeze to go through. Seriously it was so easy. We had about an hour to kill before we boarded and once we were on the plane everything was going good until about an hour into our flight. Prior to leaving Dominick was on an antibiotic for an ear infection. I'm pretty sure his ears were hurting so bad. He screamed...SCREAMED for the next 2.5 hours. Nothing we did would calm him down. He was biting, kicking, hitting, pulling hair, everything. It was so awful and we were THRILLED to be off the flight only to get in the car again. After we landed we met up with Ryan's mom and sister for dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant with my parents. When we finally made it to my parents I don't think we could have been happier to lay our heads down that night.
The next day my parents went to help pick up my brother's family from the airport who got delayed the night before. When they got home we ran to town to run some errands and try to find Dominick some snow boots. Unfortunately we didn't have any luck, but we did get everything else on our list.
On Saturday we had MORE errands to run and I was getting my hair cut (I actually got it cut much shorter than I really wanted and regret it, but it's growing on me...it's just more work than I care for). After errands and hair we met Ryan's family for dinner and Christmas with them. After a LONG day of being out and about we were TIRED.
Sunday, Ryan, D and I attended church and then it was time for a lunch made by my momma and Christmas with my family. We had the best day all being together and Dominick was SO spoiled.
yes, my little love, you are the greatest gift of all!
We made plans on Monday to meet my best friend and her husband for lunch so we did that and left Dominick with Gigi and Papa. When we got back all of my nieces and nephew were there so we went sledding. Dominick had the absolute BEST time sledding. I don't think I've ever seen so much joy on that sweet boys face. EVER! It was getting cold and we had to run to meet another friend for dinner. He was in town the same time we were and had just gotten back from a deployment. We hadn't seen him since he joined the AF almost 6 years ago so it was a welcomed visit.

 After that the trip pretty much takes a nose dive. Michigan got LOTS of snow, we took Dominick to the ER on New Years Eve to be told he doesn't have an ear infection and looks great, spent NYE with my parents and aunt and uncle playing cards and hanging out (love them, all of them), had more family time, took Dom to a pediatricians and found out he had a double ear infection the day before we left and our whole family met for dinner the night before we left. The weather was cold, the snow was deep and seeing family was our favorite part. We didn't do much, but that's okay. We are already anticipating our summer visit when the weather is a little warmer and the snow will be a thing of the past.
He surely didn't feel good. :(


this baby man had a double ear infection and blisters in his right ear and was still this happy!