Summer Lovin'

We've had a great summer! I can't believe it's almost over! The days continue to go by way too fast... Here's some of the things we've been up to.


We've had some fun in the sprinkler -



Watched Adrian graduate 6th grade -



Harvested our first zucchini and cucumber (still waiting on the green peppers, tomatoes and pumpkin) -




and got our first ugly face wound at school. Racing with his friends. He didn't win...

Played in our pool -

Six Flags with Nanny, PaPa, Adrian and Jacob -

Lots of visits to the park -

A trip to St Louis with Nanny, PaPa, Adrian and Jacob. Visiting the arch,

the Children's Museum,

the St Louis Zoo,

and finally Uncle Buddy's football game.

Dominic made friends with the mascot of the home team.

But the highlight of the evening - going on the field and taking home a game ball. When we got home from St Louis he put it in his bed and slept with it for a week. "Night Night Buddy Football".

Dominic discovered the joy of ice while waiting for a parade on a hot summer day -

Another trip to our zoo. He enjoys the animals, but he LOVES the train, tram and Merry-go-round or the "round and round".

He has grown so much over the last six months. His language has exploded and he has a memory that often astonishes me. He dug out his Easter basket this week and said "Candy all gone". How does he remember that had candy in it? When I mention the zoo he asks if we're going to visit "Mommy's Zebra" because that was the animal I rode on the carousel on one of our visits.

In an act of protest, I tried to put his size 8 foot in a size 6 sandal a few weeks ago. That didn't last long -

before he had his own choice of footwear on....

Above all, he is expressing his independence. And for the most part, I'm reluctantly allowing him. But I miss my baby already...

Stay tuned for pics of our reunion picnic!

4th of July Weekend

First ride in PaPa's boat

Florida

We went down to Tampa for a long weekend in the beginning of summer. This was Dominic's first airplane ride since we came home from Guatemala, so I wasn't sure how he would do.

Waiting for the plane. So excited to see the airplanes!



The perfect passenger on the way down.





He LOVED the escalators in the airport!




And he LOVES to swim!

We had a blast with our friends that weekend. They became very good friends very quickly. Dominic still asks for them 2 months later every time we go swimming.

He did well at the beach this year. He enjoyed the waves and though he didn't seem to mind when the sand got in his mouth, he wasn't eating it by the handful either....

The most beautiful sunsets...

2 Year Portraits

ABC

Dominic's bday

Here's how we spent Dominic's bday...

Taking donuts to his friends for a birthday breakfast.

The card they made for him at school.

Our first trip to the zoo.

Feeding the giraffes.

Celebrating with ice cream.

And a ride on the train!Asleep before we made it to the highway.

A quick stop at home and some time on his birthday present my nanny and papaw.

And we ended the evening at Chuck E Cheese!

Dominic's bday party

Mother's Day

Dominic made me a card at school for Mother's Day:


We spent the day together at a local festival and joined some friends for a cookout that evening...

Happy Birthday, Dominic!

2 years ago....

2 years ago tonight, I started this blog.

2 years ago tonight, the most amazing little boy was getting ready to make his grand entrance...

Elmo

We went with some friends this weekend to see Elmo. Dominic took off once we cleared the parking lot to check out Elmo's truck.



Getting ready for the show... We had great seats and the new arena is very nice.



Dominic cried through the first 15 minutes or so. He was TERRIFIED. Since the place was full of kids and he wasn't the only screaming child, I decided to stick it out until at least intermission. At some point when a song finished he paused the crying, looked up at me and then burst into tears again crying for "MORE. More music. More Elmo." Sad, cute and funny all rolled up in one... :) From that point on he loved it!

Animal Sounds

The elephant cracks me up!

Primping for Picture Day at School

Dominic's first "hike"

We checked out one of the nature trails in a park across the river this evening...

Dominic was excited at first and kept saying "Come on"




Every step had to be coordinated with "1,2,3!"



Picking up rocks

and sticks.


When we got near the end, Dominic decided he was done and sat in the middle of the trail.

Running to catch up...

We played in the park after our walk. Dominic loves the park, but leaving means about 20 minutes of screaming and crying "Bye-bye, park".

Boxing and a little yoga...