July 3rd Dominic turned 18 months and he is a growing boy.... we hit the 50th percentile (24 lb 12 oz & 32 1/4"). Dr. Dobin's was impressed with his vocabulary and agrees he is a ladies man. Dominic decided to sing songs and read a big boy book as we waited for Dr. Dobins. After 10 minutes curiosity took over and we started to explore the room and found out whats inside all the drawers and cabinets.... this is fun for him but not mommy.
The 2nd week in July, Dominic officially started in the "toddler room". He left the comfort of his "infant room" to where he has been the past year to become more independent and have an opportunity with other kiddos his age, to play and learn with. One thing mommy was nervous with was his nap time and if he would still be able to sleep his 1-2 hour nap. He adjust great with no problems. During the Summer, Humpty Dumpty created a fun arts and craft schedule that kepts their little curious minds going and LOTS of play time outside including water play. Dominic absolutely loves to be outside and his new favorite interest is the sandbox and has discovered the cars the kids can ride in. Since Dominic is known as a people watcher he can also be found by the fence watching the dogs when people walk them. When you ask him what a dog says, he says "woof woof".
Dominic also enjoys to play on the slide. They have a slide inside in the playroom and outside. At first he was hesitant to climb on the big slide outside but with support from his teachers and watching his friends climb, he now is a climbing pro. When Dominic is not outside exploring, he is inside being an "artist". Some of the fun projects they have worked on is learning their fruits, so they painted watermelons; they did a day at the park and made picnic plate with food; movie day and made pop corn AND decorated lunch bags with feathers and gems. Other then the art activities that do each week, they also have a "sensory table". The teachers introduce different items that the children learn about and explore with. So far they have played with Shaving cream, marsh mellows, pudding, chocolate and vegetables.
Dominic is beginning to say more and more words. His language skills are really beginning to develop. At school his teacher has informed me that he LOVES when everyone sings during circle time. At home, we ALWAYS have Pandora on playing "toddler radio" and many of those songs he sings at school. One of favorite songs is "The Wheels on the Bus" and "5 Little Monkeys". Any time he sees a car and goes "beep-beep" and when we pretend to jump he taps his head like the monkey falling off the bed. The past few weeks well be playing in the front room, Dominic hears a car drive by and says "beep beep" and when we hear birdies he says "tweet tweet birdie". These are the little milestones that make me so happy to watch him grow and learn as a little person.
I do feel it is very important to introduce as much as possible to Dominic. I let him pick to books a few weeks ago and one was a Numbers book and the other was Colors Book that has pictures with various colors with objects to learn.
This summer has also been crazy busy with trips to Nannas/Bampas and having time with the cousins. Dominic loves babies and is so sweet to his little cousin Alex. He is so gentle with him and gives him toys to play with. When we hang out with our cousins Kay, Brendan, Frederick and Alex they have a blast. They run around, sing, play ball and just enjoy playing games with each other. Kay who is the oldest is such a big girl and she watches over her cousins with such love, its so sweet.
The beginning of August we have a Ambrose tradition to head to Mt. Washington to celebrate Donna's birthday. This was Dominic's 2 year attending and now that he is walking and intrigued by so many things, it is a fun time. This year we went to the pool with all the kiddos and we had a BLAST. The baby pool was perfect for the kids and Dominic thought he was the KING OF THE WORLD. He would walk in to the very end (only 1.5 ft deep) and then would walk around the exterior of the pool. After a few times around the pool he got courageous and decided to climb out at the deep end and jump back in with the help of mommy. Every year the Schall's bring their bird Pioko and Dominic loved it. He is enamored by her singing and activity she does.
