Dominick is 9 Months!

We had Dominick's 9 month check-up today. Here's his stats and what he's up to:

22lbs 9.5oz
30.5" long

• He's outgrown most of his 12 months clothing. He mostly wears 18 months. We're starting to look for 24 month things. Yikes! My friend gave me a bag of 2T clothing and it looks huge!
• He sits up very well and only falls over once in a while. He can go from sitting up to his stomach, but not smoothly.
• No crawling yet, but rolls like a professional.
• He babbles "Mamamama" a lot. Blows raspberries like it's his job.
• He eats 3 meals of solids a day and still nurses. 
• He has liked everything he's eaten so far. We recently added fish, chicken, and oranges.
• He can feed himself banana pieces and orange slices.
• He hasn't pulled up on anything yet.
• He takes 2 naps once he wakes up around 9am and until he goes to sleep around 8pm.
• No stranger anxiety yet.
• His first tooth came through the end of June. He bites down hard, but only when I put my finger in his mouth.
• He spends one day a week at daycare and LOVES it.

Starting the diet misery

We started The 17 Day Diet on July 1st. 4 days into it, we lost about 5 pounds each. It's a sudden weight loss diet that gets the weight off quickly. It's 4 phases of 17 days each. We're currently eating chicken, turkey, some fruits, veggies and drinking lots of water. I'm modifying it because I'm still breastfeeding, but it's still working for me.

Jason and I were pretty much living off of fast food, eating out, and frozen pizzas. At first, it was out of convenience. It's so much easier to hit a drive through and eat on the way home, then try to make something while the baby is awake. Then, it just became habit and something we wanted to do. We like crappy food. He loves cheese steak hoagies and I love pizza subs. We are a perfect match. Neither of us like vegetables.

Jason instigated this diet. Several people he was working with went on it and lost a bunch of weight in a short time. He bought the book and told me about it. I said, "Did you read the part about drinking water and eating vegetables?" "Yeah." That's all it took.

We started on July 1st and as of July 11th, he has lost 12+ pounds and I've lost 7+ pounds. I can't wait to move to the next stage. I'm tired of chicken breasts and turkey burgers.

Travel and teeth

We took our first long road trip last month. We drove to Rhode Island to visit Jason's family. It took us 15 hours to get there. We set out at 7:45pm and drove overnight. We stopped a few times to rest since neither of us slept the day we left. Each time we stopped the car, Dominick would wake up and want to eat or play. One time, I was resting with my seat reclined into the back and woke up to someone digging at my scalp and pulling my hair. Hmmmm...

We stayed at Jason's parent's house from Friday-Monday. During our stay, Dominick had his first swim ever and LOVED it. His Aunt bought him some swim diapers, swim trunks, and a floaty. We spent some time with more family. One night, we rented a limo and celebrated Jason's 30th birthday early by going to a casino nightclub with some friends. It was so much fun.

4 Generations

I seriously love those little cankles!

On our way home, we stopped at a friend's house to visit. She has cute kids and cute puppies. Her daughter is only 4 days older than Dominick. They got along splendidly chewing on each others toys. 

I LOVE this picture. He looks so dopey.

Katy was absolutely in love with Jason. She sat in his lap for quite a while.

Sweet angel face

While driving through Pennsylvania, we stopped at the Flight 93 Memorial. They are almost done building the permanent memorial, which will be beautiful.

The crash site and permanent memorial in the background.

The white wall represents the path of flight 93 ending in the crash site.

Close up of crash site with pink flowers. The ground has and will remain untouched.

Temporary memorial

We had a great vacation. It was nice spending time together as a family and Dominick did great in the car. On the way home, I was waiting for Jason to get out of the bathroom at a rest stop and felt a tooth on Dominick's lower gum. Finally! It only took 8 1/2 months. A great end to a wonderful vacation.