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| Milk: it does this adorable, little body good :) |
With Dominic recovering from the cold he had the weekend before, last week was a big improvement over the week before. The worst of the cold was very short-lived, which was wonderful, but he was still getting back on track as far as his sleep, eating, and behavior went. There was a lot more whining than usual. I have to say that the fact that he spent a week fighting off the cold to begin with and seemed to get over the worst of it within a day or two tells me that his immune system is MUCH stronger than it was last cold season. That is extremely encouraging to me, considering the fact that he seemed to get a new cold every month beginning last fall and continuing through the spring. Every cold he got, I seemed to catch as well. I’m hoping this cold season that his stronger immune system can fight off the colds that he’ll undoubtedly become exposed to at PMO.
Speaking of PMO, this week went so much better and both days were successes! On Wednesday, two pluses were that Dominic slept well the night before sleeping till 8 for the first time in a week and a half, and Brian came with me (since he couldn’t come on Dominic’s first day as he was in DC for work), so we were able to drop off Dominic together. :) Unfortunately, Dominic started screaming the minute we got out of the car and headed for the door to the school (instead of the playground). We tried walking him in, but Dominic ended up having to be carried because he was struggling so much. He continued to scream as Brian handed him over to the teacher, Ms. Dottie, and we left (quickly). Not a great sign of the morning, I thought.
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| playing on his school playground |
I literally waited by the phone all morning long for a call from Dominic’s teachers, but thankfully never got one! As advised by Ms. Dottie, I got to the school a little early for pickup, so I’d be the first mom there. That way he wouldn’t get upset as he saw the other moms picking up their kids and feel like he was being left there. I got there about 5 minutes early and peeked through the door to see what was going on. Dominic was the first child I could see and much to my surprise he had a HUGE smile on his face and was happily playing around the room. Upon watching him for several minutes, I could see him chasing after bubbles – one of his favorite activities – and getting up on the slide – another favorite activity – wearing a smile across his face and laughing the whole time!! I almost cried because I was so happy to witness that.
Once Dominic saw me, he came running over to me excited yelling, another wonderful feeling for me. Ms. Dottie told me that Dominic did wonderfully and only cried for 10-15 minutes when he first came in and that was it. He was happy the rest of the day, playing, painting, and participating! He even brought some of his art work home with him. I felt like such a mom at that moment and put the “painting” up on the fridge. Haha
Friday went just as well even though Dominic woke up early that morning for some reason. He still cried when we left him (Brian came along to drop Dominic off again – such a great daddy as always), but I’m told this time it was only for 5 minutes – progress! While he was at school this time, I met my friends at Starbucks for hot chocolate and then went to Carter’s to shop for both Dominic and BCM. What an amazing experience shopping at Carter’s kid-free. Usually, Dominic gets tired of sitting in the stroller after about 10 minutes, and I end up carrying him around the store along with the clothes that I want to buy while pushing the stroller. Not fun. This time I was actually able to take my time - something that was very much needed considering that Dominic had no fall clothes. Again, I kept my phone on me, checking it repeatedly to make sure his teachers hadn’t called. What a great feeling it was to pick Dominic up so happy again, while I felt happy and refreshed too. The time away may be brief, but it’s the perfect amount for me to get some things accomplished and miss him while he enjoys himself at school. I truly feel like this was a great decision and is extremely beneficial to both Dominic and me.
While we started PMO twice a week last week, Dominic and I began our new "fall" schedule of activities. Mondays we now have our MOMS Club playgroup in the morning and go to the grocery store in the afternoon. Tuesdays we have Music class in the morning and our other playgroup in the afternoon. On Wednesdays Dominic goes to PMO in the morning and errands in the afternoon. Thursdays are our "free day," and then Friday mornings Dominic goes to PMO. Who came up with the term "Stay at home mom" anyway? I definitely don't spend that much time at home!
As we got into our new schedule and Dominic’s sleep got back on track after the cold (thank God), so did his behavior (THANK GOD!). He’s now regularly going to bed at 8:30 and waking up at 8:00. Over the weekend we moved Dominic from his nursery to his new “big boy” bedroom. Because his sleep had been all messed up from being sick, we decided to hold off on moving him till then. So basically once we had Dominic’s sleep more on track, we decided to mess it up again. I just wanted to make sure he was in his new room as soon as possible, so he’ll be completely comfortable and used to it by the time the baby gets here and hopefully not associate these changes with the baby’s arrival (not holding my breath there).
We started Dominic out sleeping in his new room in his old crib so he’d have that consistency during the move. In a week or two, once he’s used to the new room, then we will have him start sleeping in his new convertible crib (which is scheduled to be delivered this week!) and move the “baby” crib back to the nursery for BCM. Brian isn’t so excited to have to disassemble and reassemble the old crib (on top of assembling the convertible crib) once again but the crib doesn’t fit through the doorways so it's inevitable. Dominic enjoyed having the mattress on the ground while Brian was disassembling and reassembling the baby crib because Dominic was using the mattress like a trampoline. For the time being, the baby crib and Dominic’s toys are the only things in his bedroom. We’re also in the process of getting a matching chest of drawers as well as a rocking chair from my parents. We’ve decided not to get a 2nd changing table, since at this point I prefer to change him on the ground anyway, but we'll see how that goes. Once we get the chest of drawers and rocking chair from my parents’ as well as the convertible crib delivered, we should be set as far as Dominic’s room goes!
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| Who needs a trampoline when you have a mattress on the floor? |
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| 1 little monkey jumping on the bed |
Night 1 in the new room was a complete success! We put him down, and he didn’t cry once, going right to sleep! How great is that? No middle-of-the-night awakenings from him (thankfully). Nights 2 and 3 went just as smoothly, but his naps only lasted an hour at a time the first couple of days. I think it had more to do with him pooping halfway through his nap both days and less to do with his new room because on Day 3, he was back on track diaper and sleep wise thankfully. Hopefully, that keeps up!
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| eating in his new booster seat like a big boy! |
My little boy is also becoming a “big boy” more and more because this week he started sitting in a booster seat at the kitchen table with us. He seems to like it a lot so far! We’re still working on keeping the food on the plate though instead of the table since he’s been used to having food on his tray. We're putting the highchair away - for a few months anyway until BCM needs it, but Dominic will still use a highchair at restaurants since boosters at restaurants typically don't have straps. It's so sad moving Dominic into the next stage like this, but I have to admit that it helps for us to have another one following shortly behind so I don't get too sad.
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| a little confused by this whole potty thing :) |
Dominic randomly started showing interest in his potty, which has gone virtually unnoticed since we moved it from the small bathroom downstairs to the larger hall bathroom upstairs over a month ago. I think he finally made the connection that I sit on our big potty (perhaps because I have to pee so much these days), and Dominic sits on his little potty. I don’t think he realizes what’s going on when we sit on the potty, but it’s progress. Of course, he seems to find the actual sitting down process a little tricky at times. He keeps putting his foot through the hole like he would in a high chair, grocery cart, or float. Haha I just think it’s hilarious.
As far as potty training in general goes, I’m not in any hurry at all. Dominic is a boy, so I’m fully prepared for him to be a little delayed with it. Secondly, based on every single thing I’ve read and heard from others – including our pediatrician who has 5 kids – even if he does get potty trained soon, Dominic will certainly regress after BCM arrives and have to be re-potty trained. I just don’t see the point in training him the first time if that’s going to happen so soon. Plus Dominic just doesn’t seem interested or ready in the least bit at this point, and from what I’ve been told it’s more of a hassle to take them out in public and all of that once they’re potty trained. My plan is to wait till he turns 2 (and BCM will be 2 or 3 months old) before I start really trying to potty train – that’s assuming that Dominic even shows signs at that point of being potty trained. Because I have read that it’s harder to potty train them once they reach 28 months, I would like to do something by then, but we’ll see what happens. Until then, I’m just trying to expose Dominic to his potty, associate the language involved with the potty to him, and just wait to see signs that he’s ready.
I’m now 29 weeks pregnant (oh my gosh...only 11 weeks left)! The big news is that I passed my glucose test!!! Thank God!!!! :) So no gestational diabetes! It was such a relief. I was fully prepared for having to at least go back and take the 3 hour test, but thankfully I passed the first hour-long test. Last week was more comfortable than the week before, but I’m getting more and more pregnancy-related symptoms/side effects. Exhaustion continues to be my #1 complaint. I’ve been told it gets worse with every pregnancy, and so far that seems to apply here. How did I do this when I was working outside the home and not getting naps?? As my belly size increases, my difficulty sleeping and level of tiredness keeps increasing too. I’m still catching up on the sleep that I missed out on while Dominic wasn’t sleeping well when he was sick on top of the pregnancy sleep deprivation. Plus I’m waking up to go to the bathroom even more frequently the closer to my due date I get, obviously affecting my amount and quality of sleep as well. Naps are becoming more and more vital to my survival...and the survival of our home!
I have some other fun pregnancy symptoms lately. I’ve started getting bloody noses and more sinus problems just like I had when I was pregnant with Dominic. No snoring (yet) although I did that when I was pregnant with Dominic so I fully expect that to pop up again. I also have been having Braxton Hicks contractions. My stomach gets really tight like a muscle cramping. It doesn’t exactly hurt, but it does feel extremely uncomfortable. It happens when I overdo things like walking around a lot and that kind of thing. It’s supposed to be normal, but when I was pregnant with Dominic I didn’t get them as often as I’ve been getting them lately. I guess that’s what happens when you’re chasing after a toddler when you’re pregnant!
BCM is moving around in there and feels like he's trying to get out through my stomach. I love feeling him move. It's my favorite part of being pregnant, but it often startles me as these movements are now so much stronger and more intense.
After my next appointment, my number of obgyn appointments will increase from once a month to twice a month, indicating it's crunch time as we get closer to the due date. I have so much to do that I'm getting a little stressed. I'm trying to get everything done by the beginning of November. We have a Groupon to the Zoo that we have to use soon and also want to take Dominic to a pumpkin patch/corn maze, which we have planned for early October.
My list of things to do also includes Christmas stuff. I've scheduled Dominic's appointment with Santa for the first weekend in November, which I know is super early. I'm also in the process of getting addresses together for our Christmas cards/BCM's baby announcement since we're doing one combo card with his birthday so close to Christmas. I picked it out already, which I'm excited about! I've started buying Christmas gifts for the boys too, and I intend getting started on Christmas lists by the beginning of October so I'll have all Christmas shopping done by the beginning of November. I know I won't have time once the baby gets here, and I'm sure I won't feel like shopping the weeks before the due date. Brian and I are planning on hosting Thanksgiving at our house again potluck and [fancy] paper plate style with our families as this would be 100 times easier/less exhausting for both Dominic and me. I think our plan is to have the Christmas tree set up and have our families help us decorate our tree on Thanksgiving. Who knows...I could end up going into labor on Thanksgiving because it's only a week and a half before my due date. So much to do, but I keep reminding myself that everything will get done that needs to get done!
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| Doing some homework...or checking his Facebook on his Leaptop :) |
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