A little about Dominic...

Dominic since birth has always been "raring to go" (notice his feet are off the ground in the above picture!). When the boys were born at 30 weeks, the doctors told Matt to expect the boys to stay in the NICU for about 6-7 weeks. The doctors told us the earliest they start nippling a premature baby is around 33-34 weeks. At 33 week Dominic had mastered nippling his bottle and was and on his "terms" ready to be discharged home. Of course the doctors wanted to wait until he was 34 weeks and he gained a little more weight. The day he turned 34 weeks he was "outta there"!

I remember the day before Dominic was discharged home, Matt and I were at the Pancake House taking a break between the boys feedings. The Nurse Practitioner called me on my cell phone and said are you ready to take Dominic home tomorrow? I knew it was coming with the quick progress he was making but all of a sudden I panicked. How could I take Dominic home and leave Joseph in NICU? It was a difficult 2 weeks having the boys in different places, but in retrospect it was probably good to get used to one baby at a time.

Dominic has always been an explorer. He is and always has been so intrigued by how every object/toy works.

He is definitely the dominant brother. He always wants whatever Joseph is playing with. He will go get another toy to "trade" with Joe so he can have Joe's toy. Don't get me wrong, he is so sweet and kind when he does this "trade" with Joseph. It is like he tries to "sell" his toy to Joe for the "trade". He is so good at this we rarely have any fighting.

Dominic has always been so concerned about Joseph. Whenever Dominic is first to get a snack and Joe is somewhere else he yells "Joe-eee snack". If there is no response he will go find Joseph and give him his part of the snack and a juice cup.

Dominic also loves fruit and vegetables! He cannot get "matoes" (AKA tomatoes) fast enough in his mouth.

Dominic is very sensitive. He loves to kiss all his toys and "babies". He has always been more shy than Joseph. Although he is really becoming more outgoing these days.

Dominic is not a complainer. He needs to have leg stretches 3 times a day. At first this was a little difficult. He could not understand why we were stretching, pulling and pushing on his legs. So we made it into a game. He loves raisins so we sing a song we made-up called "Stretches for Raisins" set to the tune of Frère Jacques . At night we do "Stretches for Stickers". He is now getting to the point of reminding Matt and I to do his stretches.

When he first got his braces the Dr. said he would probably be upset and not want to walk for a day or two and definitely not walk up stairs. In the office, as soon as we put them on for the first time, he took off running for the stairs down the hall. NOTHING holds Dominic back. His motto should be when there is a will there is a way.

Dominic riding his "Moto cycle" with his cast-



He also has to wear this contraption on his feet at night called a Dennis Brown Bar. This is for a condition called tibial torsion. His lower leg bone is slightly twisted so this will hopefully straighten it out. My sister Marji had one when she was a baby. The thing that makes Dominic different is he is about a year older than most babies that are treated.

When Matt and I first saw the bar we were thinking how the heck will he ever sleep in these shoes and bar? I swear he is such a champ. We got him a special frog stool to sit on and we just slide his feet right in, and lay him on his belly. Not a word out of him.

Dominic's will power and passion for life melt my heart.