In light of the fact that Dominic is alive (!!) here’s a post I started several weeks ago, celebrating everything that is this boy:

“Oh Dominic, you are so goofy.”

“Oh! Dominic, don’t bite your sisters.”

“Oh Dominic! You know so many letters!”

His second birthday is coming quickly and he is everything an almost two-year-old should be: funny, inquisitive, loving, snuggly, trying, fight-y, attention seeking, and full of personality.

Somehow (don’t look at me!) he learned the majority of his capital letters several months ago. I say again, don’t look at me! I remember diligently going over lessons with two year old Mo, working desperately on her stubborn non-verbal-ness. Dominic, on the other hand, was walking through a mall with me at 20 months and (much to my surprise) pointed out letters in the giant store signs.

I know, I know, Mom brag. But please believe me when I say (again) this had nothing to do with me, and everything to do with 1. His sisters and 2. Our pretend Leappad laptop where he sits for minutes at a time pushing each button over and over and over and over and over and over… “A….A….A is for…A…A…A…A is for…A…A…”

I don’t think I actually even know what A is for…

In other updates about him, he is ridiculously sweet. There’s a lot of hugging, baby holding, and running around with his sisters. A lot of fake “CHEESE!” grins in the direction of the camera.

He is also the younger brother of two head-strong sisters. So, there’s a lot of fighting, some hair-pulling, tower-knocking, pencil-stealing, and sometimes some biting.

He has access to all the girl toys he could possibly want, and still prefers his brmm brmms (cars), nnnnnnrrrrrmmmm (airplanes) and ball! (balls) to anything else in the house. He might sometimes walk around in little high heals, and the girls think it’s great when he wants to play dress-up in princess gowns, but for the most part he is all about the boy toys.

He uses a lot of words, and some that are his own invention are starting to disappear. For this Mama’s nostalgic heart, I’ll list them so that later I can say, “Aww…remember when Dom used to say ‘brrm brrrm’ instead of car?”

Better!—– Sweater
Better—— Spider (as in Itsy-Bitsy)
Bap——– Lap
Tee!——-  Thank you
Tee!——-  Please
Doh——-  Dom
MopeeseMopeeseMopeese!—– More Please!

He also has some of the best exclamations:
Oh-tay!
Oooh Maaan!
Aay-men!

We mostly call him Dom, or Dom-Dom. He calls his sisters MoMo! and Oooooh! I’m Mama! Andy is Da-dee!

He’s an early riser. We’re talking between 5 and 5:30am, bright and chipper and ready to start the day!! Which, I know is a common wake up time for any of you out there in the working world. But it wasn’t the norm for us. Andy and I finally adjusted our own bedtime, cause there’s just no keeping this boy asleep past the butt-crack of dawn… Good thing he’s so cute and snuggly.

We still rock him to sleep for nap and bed time. He offers cuddles and hugs of his own accord and is concerned when someone is sad, patting backs and getting blankies. In general, he listens well when I ask him to share or trade, and runs to find his “BOOTS!” and “BETTER!” when it’s time to pick up the girls from school. He spends a lot of time in the van. Probably because I spend a lot of tim in the van… but he (usually) loves looking around at the sky and traffic and whatever else he can see.

Both the girls are in school Thursday and Friday mornings, and I’ve enjoyed the time I have with just him. Sometimes we head to one store, and I let him walk. We hold hands and I shuffle through Freddies at his pace, not mine. Other times we just hang out at home. I’ll beep-boop on the computer or put away the dishes. He’ll play with the toys (all alone!! no one to bother him!) or “read” books, popping into my space now and again to hug me or ask for a snack. He’s excellent company. Which is weird to say about an almost-two-year-old. But true, none the less.

Oh Dominic…

We love you.