And yet ... it moves...

Dominic received far too many wonderful Christmas presents to enumerate here, but perhaps his favorite (of the moment, at any rate) is the Winnie-the-Pooh musical mobile from Aunt Becky:

Although Dominic's parents have learned the Brahms Lullaby by heart (and indeed, I must confess I am somewhat tired of that lovely tune by now), Dominic remains fascinated by Piglet, Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger and the delighted OOOOOOH! at the end of this video indicates his appreciation. (N.B. Dominic's feet are not actual size in this video - it's just the angle that I shot it!!)

Clash of the Titans - New Year's Day 2008

On New Year's Day 2008, Dominic met his cousin Marco and his Aunt Heidi and Uncle Dilip for the first time. Marco enjoyed unwrapping some presents; the wrapping paper was more popular than the present:


Although Marco seemed fairly interested in Dominic - he patted Dominic's hand - Dominic was much more interested in Marco's mother and all the new sights of Marco's house than in Marco.

(Marco had mixed feelings about this - at one point, he was clearly unhappy that Heidi was holding Dominic and equilibrium was only restored by trading babies back to their rightful owners!)


All was well when the boys relaxed with their bottles - no sharing necessary:

We anticipate that the two boys will get into lots of mischief together in the years to come when a three-month age-difference won't be nearly as noticeable!

After we returned to New York, Daddy and Dominic, both tired out by our ten-day odyssey, had a nap together:

Boston and beyond ...

After we left the Scialdone homestead, we headed for Boston, where Dominic intended to ring in the New Year with a bottle and his Hinchey grandparents. En route, we stopped in Amherst, Massachusetts, where we got to see my former housemate and very good friend Katie, her husband Mark, and her daughter Charlotte, and meet her son James for the first time. Seeing Charlotte again was a very good lesson in how fast time goes by - last time I saw her, she was a toddler, and now she's a very articulate young lady of nine! It was great catching up, and Mark made us a fabulous dinner, so thanks to conversation (and the tiny, tiny signs signaling the entrance to the Mass Pike) we didn't get to Boston until very late on the 29th.

Although we didn't know it at the time, our visit to Amherst also signalled the beginning of a new era for Dominic: the single-minded pursuit of his thumb, which he had, for one brief, shining moment, managed to stick into his mouth in the kitchen of Katie's house. He has been attempting to recapture that moment ever since, with mixed results, a lot of heartbroken wailing and frustration on Dominic's part, and unsuccessful attempts to distract him on the part of his parents. We're sure he'll break through any day now and we will all be very relieved!

On the 30th, we met some more old friends whom I hadn't seen in years. The Ingle family - Vinay Uncle and Usha Auntie and their daughters Trupti and Natasha - came over and were joined by Anil and Pallavi, whom we hadn't seen since their wedding in September. Predictably, Dominic seemed to like Usha Auntie and Pallavi quite a lot and be a little less keen on the gentlemen.


We also enjoyed catching up with our good friend Phyllis and her adorable Buddy:

Dominic had a wonderful time in Boston. On Monday, we strolled around Charles Street and I pointed out various landmarks that he won't remember in the future, and then we showed his ajji and grandfather Fred how he enjoys his playmat. (He's got a mean left hook and that tiger had better watch out!

First Christmas

Dominic's Northeast Tour 2007 began a day later than we'd intended - due to a sleepless night, both of Dominic's parents were exhausted and didn't want to drive for five hours, and Dominic himself, though well-rested, was still too short to reach the gas pedal. (And then there's the fact that he can't sit up straight yet. Or, indeed, drive.) So we set out on December 22nd, for a whole bunch of First Times for Dominic - his first trip on the New York State Thruway; his first visit to a rest-stop (he had a bottle at Roy Rogers); his first visit to Grandmother Betty and Grandfather Pete's house; first Christmas, etc.

The 23rd was a big day for Dominic. First of all, he met Cousin Zoe and Cousin Lexi. Cousin Zoe is happy not to no longer be the youngest member of the Scialdone family, and Cousin Lexi seemed very smitten with Dominic (and vice versa. There was quite a lot of flirting going on over the next few days!)


Then Dominic was baptized (contrary to my fears, he was an extremely good boy, and stayed awake. He didn't even cry when he had cold water poured on his head!)

That afternoon, Uncle Pete took us all out to a very nice Italian restaurant and Dominic was an extremely good sport about the fact that we were all eating food with garlic in it and he was still stuck on his milk-based diet.

The next day was Christmas Eve, and a chance to socialize again with family. He enjoyed visiting with Cousin Paige and Aunt Becky:

And he hit it off with Aunt Lori too:


However, Uncle Pete wasn't quite as popular, whether because Uncle Pete's nervousness at holding the baby communicated itself to Dominic, or, more likely, because Dominic really prefers the ladies:

I'm happy to report that despite all his flirtations (especially with Cousin Lexi, who got him the lovely navy outfit he's wearing in some of these pictures), Dominic's #1 girlfriend is still his mother:

Here Dominic is apparently auditioning for a role as one of Santa's Elves (thanks so much to Aunt Janet Laible for the little jacket!):

Dominic did make friends with Cousin Peter, who babysat for him for a little while (no diaper changes involved, luckily for all concerned):

And of course, Papa Pete is an old favorite (although unfortunately, due to an untimely cold, he only got to hold Dominic just before we were leaving):

Dominic's time upstate was not all fun and games and being held, however. There was some serious business afoot, as he was dressed up in his overalls so he could go get his picture taken by a professional photographer:

And then, of course, he had to embark on a careful study of the animals on the mobile above his bassinet: