You Tube Channel

I just put up several new videos of the kids.  Highlights are Cate licking Dominic's arm, Dominic 's "mm, mm, mm...delicious", Cate jumping and talking, and Dominic dancing.  I don't really have the time (or patience!) to make them into a snazzy video, so I just uploaded the best to You Tube and you can enjoy the little clips at your leisure.    If you want to be notified when I put new ones up, just subscribe to my channel.  Either way, you can find the new ones by clicking the blue link . 

April 2009 Pictures!

Mischief, Thy Name is Dominic

A disclaimer before we begin: We love Cate, and she gets attention too; she just doesn't do anything mischievous--well, yet.

Story #1:

Matt's glasses have been missing for two months.  As many of you know, this isn't really a surprising event in our household.  He put off looking for them for a few weeks, figuring they would just turn up somewhere.  By the time he actually became concerned that they were really lost instead of just kind of lost, he, of course, could not remember when he had last had them, where he had been, and, arguably, what exactly they looked like (fortunately, we had a similar episode in South Bend, where he thought he lost them because the glasses he saw didn't look like his...in the end,  however, they did turn out to be his.  Was that stripe on the inside always there?).   

After a month or two of "looking," Daddy thought to ask Dominic, "Do you know where my glasses are?" Dominic smartly answers, "Nope."  But then he immediately begins to look for them.  He peers under the table, "Nope," he says, then he peeks under the piano, "Nope," again, and then he flings open the closet door, pokes his little head in and decidedly says, "Nope...there" (translation: nope, not there).  

Story #2

Dominic likes to try to call Daddy, "Matthew" and has been doing so for weeks, to our chagrin. Recently, however, Dominic has figured out that Mama = Donna. When she's in her room getting ready, he stands at the locked door and cries out, "Mama, Mama, Mama" each with different, varyingly pathetic, intonations. When that fails, he switches to "Donn-u" like a doorbell, then "Don-UU", up on the end, then "DONN-UU", when he gets really desperate. It is hilarious, although I try not to let him know that I hear him doing this... Our tactic is to only respond to the "proper" name, i.e. Daddy, Mommy, Mama, or Papa. He has also been known to yell for "Hon-eee" when he wants someone.

Story #3

Dominic has taken to including his "friends" in his various activities.  This exclusive club includes his stuffed animals Doggy, Pooh, Tigger, and Elmo. He puts them in the chair and "reads" to them, gives them to Cate when she's crying, pretends to feed them snacks, and, of course, takes them all to bed.  

Yesterday, we had some visitors.  Dominic warmed up to them very quickly and was eager to show off his friends.  He made three trips from his play area to the living room.  First, Doggy and Pooh.  Then, Tigger and Elmo.  Thinking he had all his friends, I was surprised when he made a third trip back to the play area.  He gets his little photo album of absent friends and family and runs to put it in the pile with all his other friends.  "Friends," he says, and starts to put all five on our visitors laps.

Birthday Pictures

We officially have a two-year-old in the house now.  "No" has become Dominic's default response, so much so, in fact, that I occasionally catch him saying, "no--yes" when he actually does want something.   Recently we've been working on learning numbers and letters, and he is asserting his independent spirit by stubbornly refusing to say both "3" and "K".  I'm almost certainly he does know both of these because one time we were playing a game and he blurted out "3", and then looked very shocked, like he meant to say "2" or "10" but "3" just happened to slip out.  Oh no! He gave away his game!  "K" seems to be the same sort of silly game because he knows all his other letters...but just refuses to even try to say "K".  I guess it gives him some sort of pleasure to withhold something we want. :)  There is a slideshow below of some pictures from his Nemo birthday party.  You can also see my second attempt at cake handiwork. 

A Little Recap

I made a little slideshow/video with some of the better pictures from the time Dominic was born until now, then showed it at his 2nd birthday party. The song is "Forever and Ever" from Winnie the Pooh. I had cut out a lot of great (and significant!) pictures to make it fit the song, and so I chose ones most appropriate for those who were at the party. I'll do a longer one including more people and pictures with video later.

Double the Fun

Strollers are amazing. Currently, we own two (three if you count the umbrella stroller). The Graco Passage single stroller accepts the infant carseat, which snaps securely into it so that you don't have to wake up a sleeping baby. It can also be used as a regular (deluxe) single stroller that fully reclines, has a snack tray for baby, and convenient cup holders for Mom (or Dad...).
But then we outgrew that nice stroller. So now we are in for double the fun and double the money... We splurged on a sweet stroller made by the New Zealand company "Phil and Ted's" for our excellent adventure in Italy this next year. It is a single stroller that converts to a double stroller and is barely larger than a single stroller. Plus, it has HUGE wheels to go over rough cobblestone streets that certainly do not have ramps for the handicapped (a delight with strollers) and are probably sidewalk-less. Aside from the ridiculous instruction manual, which consisted entirely of miniscule pictures and instructions such as "remove the bungs then insert the ... until you hear a resounding click." Yes, a resounding click. I was all paranoid after putting it together because I just wasn't sure if I heard the click resound. Thankfully, the stroller is much easier to take apart than put together, and it folds much smaller/flatter than just about any other double stroller, ever. I've included some pictures so you can see it for yourself.

This is how we will use it when Cate is big enough to sit up. Dominic in front and Cate behind.

And this is how we use it now, while Cate is a newborn. She lies down (securely strapped in, of course) "beneath" Dominic. He thought it was great to see her feet right beneath him. :)



Now if they could just make this stroller motorized...you know, kind of like a moped. Maybe I could get a seat for myself too... Brilliant. I should go consult with Phil and Ted.

Snuggie

Anyone who has ever seen a commercial for the Snuggie, a hands-free blanket, and marveled at the innovation of our great nation, must read this little love letter to Snuggie. Incidentally, this little piece was written by a dear and talented friend from college. Enjoy!