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: