Summer 2011

We have had a busy and fun summer! Dominic has grown so much and has learned so many new things. He is now 7 months old and weighs about 18 pounds. He can crawl, pull things off of shelves, pull himself up to a standing position (he's not great at it, but he can do it!), he loves the dogs and he crawls all over Butch, he loves playing with daddy and loves cuddling with mama. He has some separation anxiety when I'm not around, but that's ok with me. :) I love being with him too!

I haven't posted in a while, so here is a big post from the whole summer!

We went camping for the first time...in the backyard ;) This was a first for Dominic, but also a first for mom and dad. We have never been camping together.

Dominic started eating solid foods in July. He loves food! He has tried bananas, rice cereal, avocado, mango, peaches, peas, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, etc.! We either give him Earths Best organic food or I make him food with organic fresh produce. We only want the best for our little man!

He loves his bumbo, but I think he is starting to outgrow it. I'm pretty sure that he is gonna crawl out of it anyday now.

We went to the zoo a couple times this summer. Dominic wasn't too interested in the animals, but it was still fun.

We went up to the cabin at Bear Lake several times this summer and we took Dominic to the beach for the first time! He loved it! He would jump in the water and tried to eat the sand.

We hung out with cousin Caleb a bunch of times and they even went swimming! It is so fun to see them together and to watch them grow and learn new things. Dominic and Caleb are so cute together!

We saw papa and Kirsten several times this summer and Dominic and I even stayed at their house one weekend while Spencer went hunting. Dominic has so much fun with them!

We went to the Roy Aquatic Center 3 times this summer too.

My beautiful boy! <3

Spencer and I ran our first 5k, it was the Roy Days 5k. We ran it with Lindsay, Tyler and Jamie. It was a lot of fun. Spencer got 2nd in his age group and Tyler got 3rd!

I also ran in the Utah Marathon Relay. A marathon relay is a group that together runs a whole marathon, each person runs a leg of 5.2 miles. I ran it in 55 minutes and my group finished in 4 hours and 25 minutes. This was a challenging run for me, but I loved doing it. I have really enjoyed running and I plan on continuing to run and to do more 5ks!

Dominic loves to watch Baby Einstein. As you can see in this picture, he won't take his eyes off the screen. lol

I just LOVE this picture of Dominic, he looks like such a big boy!

Dominic of course has his grumpy moments, but they aren't very often. :)

Andrina and Tyson's birthday party, Andrina turned 12 and Tyson turned 9! Such cute kiddos!

4 months

Our little Dominic is now 4 MONTHS OLD!! I can't believe my little boy is already 17 1/2 weeks. I just love this boy so much :) His 4 month stats are:

Height 25 inches 50%

Weight 12 pounds 10 ounces 10%

Head circumference 16.5 inches 40%

So he's a tall, skinny boy.

What he's up to these days:

-Loves standing, can even stand alone (holding onto something like the couch) for a few seconds

-Reaches for toys

-Move toys from one hand to the other

-Puts everything in his mouth

-Laughs all the time, talks all the time

-He is SO active! He is always scooting around

-He doesn't roll over yet, but I'm sure he will soon :)

-He has started to watch the dogs, especially Presley, he just stares at her

Here are some fun pictures

Dominic and Miss Presley

At the pool with dad

Isn't he the cutest pirate ever?!

He always does this, whether he's in his chair, swing, bumbo, on the ground, etc.

I just love this boy!

Cloth Diapers

We have been using cloth diapers on Dominic since we brought him home from the hospital. So I thought I would write a blog about it to share my experience so far. First of all, I have to say that I LOVE cloth diapers!! Pros-They are super cute, I love the colors and how they look on Dominic, they are effective- we don't have many leaks(but disposable diapers leak too), but we have never had a blow out! Dominic has never had diaper rash, they are easy to use and easy to clean.  Cons- They are more work than disposables, more expensive upfront (but cheaper in the end).

Here is Dominic in his newborn sized gdiaper (6-10 lbs)

Here he is in a size small gdiaper (8-14 lbs)

This shows how these diapers work. You put the cotton liner inside the plastic cover, which attaches to the orange outer part. When Dominic goes to the bathroom you switch out the cotton liner and if the plastic part gets dirty too then you switch out both, but the orange outer part can be used multiple times. These diapers are fastened with velcro in the back.  

Here is Dominic in his bumgenius 4.0 diaper.

This diagram just explains how this diaper works. This is called a Pocket diaper, on this type of diaper you put the insert in a 'pocket' at the top of the diaper. This diaper is a one time use, once it gets dirty you have to wash it before using it again.

These are one size diapers, meaning that they can be a different size depending on where you snap them. Kinda confusing but this picture shows the different sizes. Dominic will be able to use these diapers until he is potty trained! Woohoo we don't have to buy anymore diapers!!

To clean the diapers, we use a diaper sprayer which looks like the sprayer in your kitchen sink, but it's attached to the toilet and it's pressurized. I just spray off the diaper right after it gets dirty then I put them in a bucket. I then wash the diapers in the washer about every other day. I use cloth diaper laundry detergent, because it is free of additives. This prevents soap buildup so that the diapers stay absorbent. Super easy! And if the diapers get stains on them I just put them out in the sun when they are still damp and the sun bleaches them.

This is Dominic after the cloth diaper fashion show that he was in at the Live Green Festival in SLC. So cute!!

Cloth diapers were a little intimidating at first, but they are actually really easy to use. And they are better for the environment and save us money! I highly encourage everyone to look into them when they decide to have a baby! :) If anyone has a question about them, please ask!

Life with Dominic

The last 8 weeks have been quite an adventure! Dominic is so much fun, he's smiling and talking and will hold onto toys. It's so cute! I love staying home with him all day, he's normally pretty happy and still sleeps quite a bit. Spencer has been back to work for about 6 weeks now, when he comes home he hangs out with the little man, we eat dinner, put him to bed at 8 and then we do our P90X workout. We have a busy evening routine, but it works for now.

We have been following the Babywise sleeping philosophy and Dominic is only waking up once (at most) a night, there are times that he will sleep til 6 AM so I'll get up with him and feed him. We started this new routine when he was about 4 weeks old and he started sleeping better instantly. He's so awesome. :) Hopefully he will sleep through the entire night soon, 8-8 would be nice!

Here are some cute pics from the last few weeks

We've been doing tummy time and he is getting so good at holding his head up, he also loves to stand up. This is our official Tummy Time blanket.

We've gone on several walks with Dominic and the dogs. Sometimes Dominic will sleep the whole time, but sometimes he will scream the whole time. lol

This was Dominic's first holiday, St Patricks Day. His cute shirt said 'Irish you would kiss me', we went to grandma and grandpa Smith's house for dinner. Notice Spencer's and Dominic's matching hats!

At first, Dominic didn't like the bouncer chair, but he's warming up to it. He likes to look at the mobile that attaches to it. He's so funny and starts kicking his legs and moving his arms all over the place when he gets excited.

Here's a cute picture of him smiling! I need to get more pictures like this one!

He loves walking around with dad :) If he's crying Spencer will pick him up and start walking around with him like this and he stops crying.

Here we are on Easter, he fit in his giant egg from grandma! Too funny! It's hard to tell, but Spencer and Dominic have matching ties on :)

Dominic has met a couple friends over the last few weeks. Here we are with my sister Hillery and baby Caleb. Caleb is 2 1/2 weeks younger than Dominic.

Here we are with Lindsay and baby Dan. Dan is 6 weeks younger than Dominic.

This is one of my favorite pictures of us, it was taken right after his bath. He just looks so sweet!

Spencer and Dominic at Spencer's birthday brunch. They have matching shirts on here. I like to make them match :)

Dominic loves his swing!