Post-Posted from February 2014 -
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Looking excited to be celebrating his 3rd birthday!
 Such a gentleman helping me with my luggage (March 2013)
Physically
When Dominic turned 3, he weighed 35 pounds 4 ounces (80th percentile) and measured 39.5 inches tall (85th percentile). A year later, he has grown about 2 inches and by about 5 pounds, as he now weighs 40 pounds 6 ounces (75th percentile) and is 41 and 3/4 of an inch tall (75th percentile). He can ride some rides at amusement and water parks, so we're hoping to take him this summer!
A year ago, Dominic wore 3T pants, 4T shirts and pajamas, 2T/3T underwear, 3T-4T Overnight Pullups at nap and bed times, and size 8/8.5 shoes. Now he wears 4T and 4 pants, 4T-5T shirts, 5T pajamas, 4T/5T underwear (mostly super hero), S-M Overnights at nap and bed times, and size 9/9.5 shoes.
Dominic has developed some seasonal allergies and the pediatrician believes he's most likely allergic to cats (and I believe to dogs too), so no pets in our near future (a sigh of relief for me as I have enough little creatures in our house to clean up after as it is). We discovered this after month after month of Dominic suffering from a chronic cough as well as some kind of infection (lung, sinus, ear) for once a month for 4-5 months straight. We were in the pediatrician's office a lot for a period of time. As a result, he was put on various daily allergy medicines. Dominic is also thought to be allergic to the antibiotic Augmentin.
In the last 12 months, Dominic has continued to slim down as he has grown taller, making him look even more like a little boy and less of my baby. :( His face looks more mature with smaller cheeks and all. It's fun to watch him grow and change this way but also very sad looking at old pictures and seeing how much more grown up he has become. My baby is a little boy!
Playing outside - one of Dominic's favorite things (April 2013)
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Dominic sleep has fluctuated quite a bit over the past year. A year ago he was still in a crib sleeping about 11 hours a night, but shortly after his 3rd birthday we converted his crib to a toddler bed and a few months after that we transitioned him to a twin "big boy" bed. It was a smooth transition in some ways and a bumpy one in others. Dominic was wonderful about staying in his bed and not getting out. In fact he didn't make his way out of his bedroom for 2 or 3 months at which time we put a child-proof door knob cover on his door. Before that, Dominic was also wonderful about staying in his bed and it took him a couple of weeks of slowly inching before he fully ventured out of his bed and around his room. There was also one fall out of his twin bed during nap time but after that falling out hasn't been a problem.
The transition to the toddler/big boy beds did lead to some nap dropping where he would nap for 2 days and then every third day would not. However, he started napping more consistently once summer began. Then when school started back in the fall, Dominic started dropping his nap again and still continues to go through waves where he'll nap daily for a few weeks followed by a few weeks where his naps are every other day or two. So, I would say he's been in the process of "dropping his nap" for the last year. Dominic napped about 2 hours a day a year ago and still naps about that long some days but other days for just an hour.
Every day, regardless of whether he actually falls asleep, Dominic stays in his bedroom for 2 hours during naptime for "quiet time" (which I still call nap time to him). During that period, he rests, plays with quiet toys, and reads books - mostly quietly. It was a process to train him to remain quiet during this time, but when I give him new books and cycle out quiet toys, that seems to really help. I also put a traffic light in his room that remains red during nap time and at night when he's supposed to be quiet in his bed. It turns green at 8 each morning to help allow Blake, Mommy, and Daddy to all sleep a little later since Dominic is the early riser in our house these days.
Dominic usually does okay on days when he doesn't a nap and goes to bed much more easily at night. It used to be that on days when Dominic wouldn't nap, he would be in a horrific mood for the rest of the day. A year ago he was taking an hour to an hour and a half to fall asleep after we put him to bed at night. Now it takes him 15 minutes without a nap and typically about 30 minutes on days when he naps and still sleeps about 11 hours each night waking up around 7:30-7:45 each morning.
We also started a new bedtime routine which has helped a ton where we (usually Brian) read to the boys and then at 8:00 we put Blake to bed while Dominic is allowed to read independently with just his lamp on in room for about half an hour. At that time, he says his prayers with me and the lights go out. Dominic loves reading so he is all for this, and this seems to calm him down well making falling asleep much easier on him. Praying seems to help get him sleepy as well. Dominic knows his prayer by heart and names all of his family members which includes the 5 of us (yes, little sister who is on the way too) plus his extended family (4 grandparents, his great-grandmother, 5 aunts, 3.5 uncles, 2 cousins, and 2 dogs). That's a lot of people to name each night but he does it and the repetition seems to help him fall asleep faster. Dominic has been a major thumbsucker since he was a baby, but in the last couple of years he has been sucking it less and less. These days, the only time I'll see him sucking his thumb is when he's falling asleep. He keeps it in his mouth after he falls asleep but stops sucking it. Yes, he's turning 4 and still a thumbsucker, but at this point since he's decreasing it so much on his own, I'm trying not to worry much about it for the time-being.
We also started a new bedtime routine which has helped a ton where we (usually Brian) read to the boys and then at 8:00 we put Blake to bed while Dominic is allowed to read independently with just his lamp on in room for about half an hour. At that time, he says his prayers with me and the lights go out. Dominic loves reading so he is all for this, and this seems to calm him down well making falling asleep much easier on him. Praying seems to help get him sleepy as well. Dominic knows his prayer by heart and names all of his family members which includes the 5 of us (yes, little sister who is on the way too) plus his extended family (4 grandparents, his great-grandmother, 5 aunts, 3.5 uncles, 2 cousins, and 2 dogs). That's a lot of people to name each night but he does it and the repetition seems to help him fall asleep faster. Dominic has been a major thumbsucker since he was a baby, but in the last couple of years he has been sucking it less and less. These days, the only time I'll see him sucking his thumb is when he's falling asleep. He keeps it in his mouth after he falls asleep but stops sucking it. Yes, he's turning 4 and still a thumbsucker, but at this point since he's decreasing it so much on his own, I'm trying not to worry much about it for the time-being.
Dominic now just sleeps in pajamas and Overnights diapers, no sleep sack and still has the sound machine on. The Overnight diapers are like Pullups but for older kids. I switched him from Pullups because he was wetting the bed every night, causing me to have to change his sheets repeatedly. The Overnights are geared for older kids, so they hold more liquid which has worked. We also no longer let him sleep with a water cup. If he's thirsty we give him a dixie cup full of water while he reads. Those things have helped the bedwetting/overflowing nighttime diaper issue a lot.
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| Happy kid (May 2013) |
Eating
Dominic has become quite the eater these days. Although he doesn't like to try new things (story of his life), when he finds something he likes especially salty carbs, fruit, or sweets, the kid can't get enough. Sometimes I wonder if he can ever get full. Dominic had been a great veggie eater until the last time few months when he decided to start testing more. Luckily, he will eat his veggies with the right motivation (sweets, threat of going to timeout, etc.).
Dominic's meals continue to be pretty similar to those that he ate as he turned 3. His breakfast typically consisted of a veggie yogurt, Cheerios, fruit, and milk along with his daily multivitamin and probiotic and this continues to be the case with the addition of a crunchy granola bar, a recent favorite food. Lunch remains the same as well: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (his favorite meal), fruit (usually grapes, an apple, or a banana), a carb (like pretzels or veggie sticks), and milk. However, he now also eats vegetables before he can have his fruit (fruit = motivation to eat veggies). His afternoon snack is typically dried apples or raisins along with goldfish or another carb. Dinners a year ago mainly were vegetarian other than some baked, breaded chicken. These days he eats more meats which include baked chicken nuggets, beef meatballs, and turkey dogs. He also eats baked fish, grilled cheese, and spinach pizza for dinner as well. Along with his entree, Dominic is required to eat veggies at dinner each night as well, giving him a vegetable at every big meal of the day. My goal for the coming year is to have him eat more of what we're eating for dinner and to vary his meals day to day a little more.
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| My beach boy (June 2013) |
"Skills"
Dominic continues to have an insanely good memory. He remembers everything and everyone. As Dominic turned 3, he knew all of the basic colors and shapes (including ones that I remember teaching my 4th grade students!). He also identify read 27 sight words primarily Pre-Primer Dolch words. He already knew all of his upper and lower case letters and their sounds, so sight words were the next progression. Since last spring, Dominic could read sight word sentences and recently began to sight read books on his own. Even knowing the letter sounds, Dominic has not perfected sounding out words phonetically yet although he tries. I think he will be ready any time now though!
Dominic is also progressing in his writing although this is his most challenging area. A year ago he refused to sit down to color and draw for me, but since the end of last summer he is more willing to. It's still not his favorite thing to do, but he will do it. He is beginning to write his name. A year ago, Dominic was counting to 19 and could recognize numbers 0- 9. Now he counts to 30 and has almost mastered recognizing all of those numbers. He also understands one-to-one correspondence in counting objects.
At this time a year ago, Dominic had just become potty trained. Over the first few months as a 3 year old, he had a hard time with pooping in the toilet which caused a lot of napping problems as he liked to hold it until he wore a Pullup when he napped. Finally, after several months of that (frustration) and with some help from Reese's Peanut butter cups, it finally clicked and he's been great ever since. Until recently, he hadn't had a pee or poop accident since at least the summer. In the past, a pee accident signals that Dominic is getting sick. However, Dominic had a regression the last week or so before his birthday (and baby sister on the way). We think that it's a combination of the baby's arrival (although he hasn't acted like that's a problem at all) and other stress he's having relating to sensory issues and school or typical boundary-pushing. As a result, I began to making Dominic go to the bathroom on a regular basis again and giving him lots of praise (and some rewards).
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| Such a silly kid (July 2013) |
Behavior
I have always heard that the threes were the Terrible Threes and were worse than the 2s, being full of back-talking, long meltdowns, and general sassiness but that wasn't my experience. For the most part Dominic became very compliant. The problem that was how physical he would be especially with his peers. Although Dominic has become quite the "rule follower" in many ways and is great about doing what is expected of him and being reasoned with, a few months ago we learned that Dominic has sensory issues which greatly affect his behavior. This makes Dominic overly physical. He loves hugging, touching, and knocking down other kids. This makes for some difficult behavior at home with Blake and at school with his classmates. Dominic doesn't mean to hurt other kids - he honestly loves people especially making them laugh and can be very gentle - but being physical is how he exhibits how he feels, so it can make socializing difficult especially when in bigger groups when he can be overwhelmed versus one on one. As a result, he has been receiving occupational therapy services for about 2 months, so I'm hoping we'll start seeing results soon.
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| Such a fish at one of his favorite places in the world - the pool! (August 2013) |
Home Life
Just as he was a year ago, Dominic continues to be the typical oldest child and proud big brother in the Morton household. He's become quite bossy - a "quality" that we're working on breaking him of - but then again what oldest child isn't bossy or a control freak? Dominic's best friend continues to be Blake. The two LOVE playing together and get along very well...until the moment when they don't. :) They will be running around the house in hysterics and then will of course suddenly Blake will start crying because they get carried away and Blake gets hurt. Two minutes later they'll be back to laughing and playing together and the cycle repeats.
I'm very curious how things will go with a new sibling - a girl - in the mix as Dominic and Blake will be meeting their baby sister very soon. So far, Dominic is extremely excited for her to get here. However, his expectations are a little high for her as he tells me that she's going to come to our door and drive his little red car with him. He does tell me that she will cry, poop, and drink milk from a bottle, so I know he understands at least somewhat, but apparently he doesn't realize that babies can be a little boring, at least as far as a 4 year old goes. Dominic loves babies, however, so I'm hoping he loves his baby sister and takes to be a big brother for the 2nd time a.k.a the biggest brother in the house.
In addition to being a big brother in our family, Dominic has also become increasingly helpful. He continues to be the resident dust buster after meals although he isn't nearly as enthusiastic as he was with that chore a year ago. After meals, Dominic takes his plate and puts it in the dishwasher as well as putting his trash and scraps in the trash can. It's a joke in our house that he does this more successfully than his dad. ;) The same is true about how he religiously puts his (and Blake's) dirty clothes in their hamper. Dominic is a great, little helper enjoying running little errands around the house for me like carrying hampers, boxes, or whatever he can lift up the stairs. Next I need to teach him to fold laundry!
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| The happiest place on Earth for Dominic - Amelia Island (August 2013) |
Language
Dominic's language is the area where I feel like he's made huge strides this year. Just after his 3rd birthday, he started speech and language therapy and within 6 months, he went from being below the average range for his age to being within the average range for both expressive and receptive language! This is huge in such a short time! A year ago Dominic spoke in short sentences and phrases and now he speaks in lengthy sentences, providing lots of details. You can also actually understand what he's saying, something that wasn't always easy a year ago. A year ago, he knew a lot of words but didn't wasn't able to use those words in detailed sentences as well as he needed to. His vocabulary has continued to grow but now he can use those terms in lengthier sentences.
Although he still has trouble with word order in sentences, Dominic typically self-corrects his errors and continues to improve with this the more he talks (and he likes to talk a lot these days). He also went from referring to himself in third person - something that made his speech really stand out - to referring to himself in the first person 99% of the time now. He continues to have trouble with back and forth conversations with others and initiating conversations appropriately, but these are things that are related to his sensory issues, so I hope between speech therapy and occupational therapy that Dominic will continue to make huge strides with his communication skills.
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| Playing fireman (September 2013) |
Activities
Dominic has always been a busy child and that hasn't changed in his 4th year of life. A year ago, Dominic went to preschool two mornings a week and playgroup once a week as well as rotating in and out of music class and swimming throughout the year. As a 3 year old, Dominic goes to school 3 mornings a week and participates in 2 different playgroups - one in the afternoon once a week and another one morning a week. Dominic participated in a sports/gym class and has continued to swim some throughout the year. Swimming continues to be Dominic's favorite activity as he chooses this over doing anything else. Over the summer, my little fish perfected jumping in the pool as far out as he can and even swam the length of the pool (25 yards) without stopping all by himself! Between the summer ending and me being pregnant, we haven't gone to the pool over the school year as reguarly as I would like but have done it enough that Dominic continues to love it and be comfortable swimming around. He keeps asking for the "lifeguard pool" to open, so I know neither of us can wait until the summer!
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| Dominic's 3 year old class picture (October 2013) |
Interests
When Dominic turned 3, he was a big fan of the game chase. He continues to love that, but now he likes to pretend like he's a monster when he does it or that the one chasing is a monster. A year ago he would call the game, "Chase you!" but now he says, "Chase me or 'I'm going to chase/get you." He continues to be extremely active, enjoying running, climbing, and playing in the backyard. Dominic's favorite activity is wrestling. He loves that physical play more than anything. Push toys are also very calming for him, so he loves pushing vehicles with wheels (grocery carts, lawn mowers, cars). He'll often jump on his mini-trampoline at home but one of his favorite places in the world is Jump Jump (a big gym full of inflatables and climbing equipment to jump, slide, and climb on.
It's pretty clear that Dominic is a physical child based on those interests, and he absolutely does not like arts and crafts. He enjoys playing rough, which involves wrestling, climbing, and crashing (all part of his sensory issues). He doesn't like to swing sitting down on the seat of a swing but he does like laying his stomach on the swing and "swinging like a bat" as he calls it. Just as he did a year ago, Dominic is very interested in mechnical things and loves gears and tools. He's very into superheroes Batman, Superman, and Spider Man. Batman is his favorite as he loves wearing his Batman cape and pretending to be him, as this was who Dominic dressed up as for Halloween (with Blake as his Robin). Monsters are another big interest for Dominic and he loves chasing people around pretending to be a monster.
Swimming is another favorite activity of Dominic. He loves swimming at the pool especially at the "lifeguard pool" (our summer swim club) as opposed to my gym's indoor pool. However, his favorite place to swim is at the beach! Each year we go to my family's condo on the beach in Amelia Island, Florida. We've been going there at least every year since I was a year old, so it's so nice taking my kids there. Dominic loves playing chase with the waves on the beach as well as going out into the water and swimming around. He enjoysbuilding tearing down sand castles and looking sea shells but would much rather play in the water (like me). The beach is literally his favorite place in the world.
It's pretty clear that Dominic is a physical child based on those interests, and he absolutely does not like arts and crafts. He enjoys playing rough, which involves wrestling, climbing, and crashing (all part of his sensory issues). He doesn't like to swing sitting down on the seat of a swing but he does like laying his stomach on the swing and "swinging like a bat" as he calls it. Just as he did a year ago, Dominic is very interested in mechnical things and loves gears and tools. He's very into superheroes Batman, Superman, and Spider Man. Batman is his favorite as he loves wearing his Batman cape and pretending to be him, as this was who Dominic dressed up as for Halloween (with Blake as his Robin). Monsters are another big interest for Dominic and he loves chasing people around pretending to be a monster.
Swimming is another favorite activity of Dominic. He loves swimming at the pool especially at the "lifeguard pool" (our summer swim club) as opposed to my gym's indoor pool. However, his favorite place to swim is at the beach! Each year we go to my family's condo on the beach in Amelia Island, Florida. We've been going there at least every year since I was a year old, so it's so nice taking my kids there. Dominic loves playing chase with the waves on the beach as well as going out into the water and swimming around. He enjoys
With a pregnant mom, Dominic watched TV more than I would like over the last 10 months. He is still very into "Curious George," making requests (or demands) as to which episode to watch. During my pregnancy I introduced him to Disney movies. His favorites are Bambi, Dumbo (which he cries watching), Monsters Inc, the Little Mermaid, and Cinderella (don't judge) in addition to still loving Finding Nemo and Cars. Music has become a big part of Dominic's life. A year ago he loved the Wheels on the Bus" and "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star." Now his favorite songs are Life is a Highway, Free Falling, and Runaway Train. He knows the words to all of these. Thank God (for me that) he likes good music. :)
Even though Dominic is so physically oriented, reading is by far a top favorite daily activity and something that really calms him. He reads throughout the day at home and in the car as well as during nap time/quiet time if he doesn't nap and Brian reads to him at bedtime reading and then independently before lights go out at bedtime. The kid could read for hours at a time. He loves it!
Even though Dominic is so physically oriented, reading is by far a top favorite daily activity and something that really calms him. He reads throughout the day at home and in the car as well as during nap time/quiet time if he doesn't nap and Brian reads to him at bedtime reading and then independently before lights go out at bedtime. The kid could read for hours at a time. He loves it!
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| Hounding me to watch Home Alone (November 2013) |
Personality
Dominic continues to make me laugh daily with his silly personality. He likes to point out ridiculous things and often ends up in hysterics especially with Blake. Dominic is an extremely cautious child, but once he feels comfortable he warms right up and can be a daredevil (like how he jumped from our 3 meter high diving board at 2 years old). Dominic is pretty trustworthy about doing what he's supposed to do like staying out of the street and that kind of thing because he's such a rule-follower (for the most part). He knows the difference between right and wrong and will look at me when he's thinking about doing something he knows he's not supposed to and won't actually do it unless he gets a signal from me. Dominic loves making others smile and laugh and is very proud of himself when he accomplishes something. Although he's very stubborn, he is also one of the sweetest people I have ever known. If I cry (or fake cry), he immediately tears up too and tries to cheer me up. If he watches a sad movie like Dumbo, Dominic cries. When other kids cry, he will either be very concerned - assuming he's not too caught up in whatever he's doing. He really does have such a big heart.
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| Getting ready for Santa! (December 2013) |
Here's a little quiz with Dominic's responses that shows a little bit of my sweet boy's personality:
1. What is Dominic's favorite color?
orange and blue
2. What are Dominic's favorite foods?
pizza
3. What are Dominic's teachers names?
Mrs. Payne and Ms. Bethany
4. Does Dominic like girls?
YES!
5. What are Dominic's favorite toys?
police car, trains
6. What are Dominic's favorite tv shows?
Curious George
7. When asked, "I am special because.."
I'm so silly.
8. Where is Dominic's favorite place to go?
The beach (and the pool)
9. What was the most exciting thing that Dominic did this year?
He went to the beach twice
10. What is Dominic's favorite outfit?
His batman cape and his fireman boots and helmet
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| Our 4 year old!! (February 2014) |
Yes, we have a 4 year old. How is that possible?!
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