A Handful of Firsts

Dominic's first bottle

Daddy's first time getting to feed Dominic

Dominic's first story time at one of the nearby libraries. (yes-he slept through it).  One of my favorite parts about living in New Haven is the diversity.  I can't wait for Dominic to get a little older so he can make friends with little people from all over the world!

Our first time eating at Skappo.  I took Michael out to dinner for Valentine's day.   There are so many restaurants to explore in down town, and this was rated 4/5 stars online so we decided to give it whirl and were both pleased.  Dominic tagged along because our babysitting plan didn't work out last minute.  He was a little fussy at first, but settled down and slept through most of the dinner (thank goodness-the last thing anyone wants on their romantic Valentine's date is a screaming baby).

Dominic's first party. He enjoyed being held by Prashant-a classmate of Michael's-and a really nice guy
(Prashant happens to be 6'6''!!)

Dominic's first time hanging out with Heui-Li-another one of Michael's classmates.

His first art project

...Followed immediately by a bath

...I think he liked art...

...maybe not so much... :)

His last time hanging out with the Ramos family-friends that are moving to Arizona the end of this month.   This picture was taken at their going away party.

Just cause I can't resist a cute picture of a (nearly) naked baby

Dominic's first time dancing to "The Macarena".  Hehe

These are just a few firsts for him...We will have many more to come...Like his first time to UTAH!...Which will be later this week.  I'm looking forward for our families to meet him.

Check out our new wheels...

I feel so grateful today.  I love being a mother (yesterday I wasn't so sure, but today made up for it - I'll explain why below!)

Dominic and I took our new wheels for a spin today and were quite pleased.

(I was sure to bundle him up before going out)

Here we are with our new wheels!

I know what you are thinking, but this is better than a new car.  We can park anywhere down town that we want and not have to pay for it; we can go down any 1 - way streets we want - either direction; we don't have to pay the countries highest gas tax for these wheels; and I get to work my legs.  

Or maybe you were thinking, "who are you kidding, those rollerblades aren't new, they are straight out of the 90's".  Okay, so technically, my wheels aren't new.  In fact, I think I've probably owned these rollerblades since 7th grade.  And I've probably only used them 4 times in the last 10 years, but that is about to change.  We just got Dominic's wheels this weekend and today was our first day trying out the combo.  We had such a great time and we were so fast - going down the hills anyways, maybe not so much coming back up. :)

Aside from our little outing, he must've been worn out from the weekend because he slept so much today.  Last night he was fussier than usual and had a hard time settling down.  He finally went to bed around 1 am, and with only two feedings (7am and 10am) slept until about 4pm today!  He was so refreshed after he woke up that I couldn't stop taking pictures and videos!  Take a peek.

His new shirt! - Thanks Lori!

Holding up the ol' noggin

Smiling

I hope you enjoyed.

Long walks on the beach

February 5th marked Dominic's 1 month birthday.  He is becoming more expressive which is really fun for us!  This past week especially has been fun since he is starting to smile.  Here are a few pics from his 1 month photo shoot.

He has not yet been to the beach, so he technically can't claim liking long walks on the beach...  However, if he made a dating profile after this week, I imagine it would look something like this:

(This would be his profile picture)

" I enjoy long naps on the couch, dancing, eating a lot, listening to music, cuddling and shopping. "

He likes to show off his moves.

We went to the mall yesterday and he was such a good boy.  He loved shopping around at all the different stores and was so well-behaved.

We continue to debate to whom he bears more resemblance.  He definitely has my coloring - blonde hair and blue eyes - but as for his facial features, we are having a hard time seeing a strong resemblance to either of us.  Maybe as he grows more we'll start to see it.  Anyways, this picture was taken this week, and I love it.

A quick update with Michael: He is relieved to not have any interviews scheduled for this week so he can focus on finishing his classes strong (this is the last week of the block - finals next week).  He interviewed with a company in Boston last week (Innosight) via Skype.  It was a 2 part interview - he thought the first half went well with the first interviewer.  They experienced some technical issues the second half with the second interviewer, so he felt like it didn't go as smoothly.  We'll see what happens.

A quick update with Jodi: I am trying to get this parenting thing figured out.  Between Michael's busy school schedule, interviewing and church responsibilities, I've been sulking a little bit recently feeling like a single parent at times.  It's so different to be a stay-at-home mom than when I was a busy woman working 50+ hours/wk.  Sometimes I miss working, sometimes there is no place I would rather be than cuddling Dominic all day long.  Both can be difficult and rewarding at times.  There are some days when parenting is more difficult than rewarding and those days are hard - those of you that are parents know what I mean.

Anyways - For those of you Utahans who haven't heard, we are coming to town February 24th.  Michael will be in town for about 1 week, and Dominic and I will be around for an additional 2 weeks while Michael goes to Israel.  We are looking forward to it!  Hopefully the weather stays nice!

Hope all is well!

XOXO

Michael is Busy Busy Busy (trip to San Fran--and more baby pics of course)

This block has been extremely busy and time consuming for Michael.  He is at school almost all day everyday working on interview prep stuff, group projects, homework assignments, meetings, etc.  He will be relieved when the block is over!

Last week, Michael had the opportunity to fly to San Francisco for a couple of days to interview with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG)- a global management consulting firm with 17 major offices in the U.S. and over 70 offices worldwide.  BCG is recognized as one of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the world--I'm not making this up...this is straight from Wikipedia :).  No but seriously, it is a highly reputable company and recognized as one of the best companies to work for in the country (according to Fortune Magazine) so Michael was honored to get the invitation

He flew out of Hartford early Thursday morning and upon his arrival in San Fran, took some time to explore the area near the BCG office.  If a summer internship goes well, the company will sometimes make the individual a full time offer upon graduation, so it is important for us to gauge if we could be happy living in a place like San Francisco.  Here are some pictures he took of the area.

Street vendors

Wild parrots in the park

The view from his hotel room

Walking around Union Square

His interview was on Friday and he felt like it went fairly well.  He really enjoyed the experience and feels like he is learning and growing so much with each interview.  Although he doesn't feel optimistic that he will get this internship, we will hear by the end of the week (we recently learned that the San Francisco office happens to be the most competitive BCG office to get a job at).  He will interview with Innosight this Friday and hopes that interview will go well despite the fact that he has very little time to prepare for it because he is spending all his time trying to get caught up from missing a few days of school last week.

So, what did Dominic and I do while Michael was gone?  Basically just held down the fort.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from last week.

Taking a Sunday afternoon nap

One of Dominic's favorite positions, it always calms him.

Well, we are just trucking along and hope that you are too!

Hopefully I will post some pictures soon to celebrate Dominic's 1 month birthday (which was Sunday).
Until then, lots of love.