So it happened. Despite my best efforts it is here. My mom always says you want your kids to grow and age because that's a reminder that they are healthy and as they should be. A blessing, that aging. And of course my mother is right as most moms are. And yet still. He is one. I sit in the same burgundy chair where a year ago I also sat... Staring at the same tree, just past a row of stockings numbered five. Nursing a baby turned one and knowing that one of these days very soon I'm afraid I won't be doing this. Is this the last time I'll sit here and nurse him from this chair? Looking at that tree? What if I miss it and don't realize it's the last time and then it's gone? Which is really quite a silly game to play now isn't it? And yet there I sit. Holding on to nursing of all things, just because to me that means he is still my baby... one last milestone I don't want to lose. Not quite yet.
Dom Dom. A nickname I never imagined for my child when we chose this name but isn't that the way of it when nicknames are involved? My precious niece started it. Dom Dom. It's endearing and cute and it's stuck. Whenever he sees Lena lately he walks right up to her arms wide open for a hug. I believe in the dictionary right under precious you'll see a photo of that very act. He loves to climb steps. He will round the corner and start up them but will always pause a second, looking over his shoulder, waiting for one of us to catch him. Which we do. And he will turn and pretend like he's actually going to get anywhere but we all know we snatch him up before he makes it a single step further. Christmas time is a hard time for housetraining a baby. So many colorful and shiny and lit objects just begging to be touched. But we are working on it. Nothing has been broken. Yet.
Likes... Banging metal pots and pans into the tile floor. Anything that makes great noise really. Opening cabinets. Emptying cabinets. Climbing in said cabinets. REMOTE CONTROLS. All of them. Every day. Everywhere. Playing the fantastically interesting game of doing the exact act he was just distracted from a second prior. Over and over again. Whatever his siblings are playing with at the moment. Taking out whatever toy I just put away. Hide and seek.
Dislikes... Being told no. Being the last one left in the bathtub. Being left alone in the playroom by anyone. No one can leave him. Ever, is what I'm saying. Sharing. Getting dressed. Isn't getting dressed just the worst?
Eats... The shocker of all shockers this month has been his general lack of pasta eating. Which, I know! He is really enjoying feeding himself, so I went out and bought a new bib with better velcro to save his clothes a bit. He prefers the typical kid fare, chicken nuggets and pizza, but unlike his brother he will eat yogurt and bananas and applesauce and turkey and cheese. String cheese is his jam.
Sleeps... We are there! We are officially no longer doing any sort of feeding of any kind at night. I put him to bed around 7 and I don't see him until 5:30-6 the next morning. Which is frighteningly early but we are getting there. Sleep training him was a breeze and I should have done it earlier, he barely fussed at all. He wakes normally around four and complains a little but nothing crazy. His naps have become longer as well. All of which just shows me it was time and he was ready and in fact he needed to be sleep trained. Better sleep all around!
His siblings... Letty likes to lay herself across Dom's path so that he of course will be forced to crawl over her. Then she giggles and says oh Dom stoppppp!!! David can't stand having Dom touch any of his stuff. But when push comes to shove, or when an adorable cousin took a beloved toy of Dom's, David came a running to the rescue. So they are both a work in progress.
And there we have it. A whole year of monthly updates... over and out.
Dominic at eleven months. ten months. nine months. eight months. seven months. six months. five months. four months. Three months. Two months. One month. Birth.
