Dominic - 4.5 Years

 

Dom 1-4 years. No more baby here!

Weight: 46 lb (or so... it fluctuates between 45 and 49)
Height: 44.5 inches

Likes:

• He pretty well likes all the same things he did when he was 4. Cars, garbage trucks, Star Wars, preschool friends, etc. I guess they don't change as much at this age anymore!
• Sweets. He is obsessed with dessert... we're working on it. They don't get a lot of treats, but ya... not a lot of restraint with this boy when there is something he considers "special"
• His sisters. Emilia is his best friend, and he loves Eva more than I expected!
• Playing hockey outside with his friends - or really playing anything that resembles a sport.
• Watching hockey

Notes:

• Wearing size 5 and 6 clothing, size 11/12 shoes. 
• He can ride his two-wheeler with training wheels now! He has a ways to go, but he is getting good and more confident every time!
• He and Emilia are 100% best friends. They play (well) together probably 75-80% of the time. They play a lot of pretend games like "preschool" or "Opa/Oma" or "parent & kid" where one of them is "in charge" and the other is the student/kid.
• He doesn't love art still, but will occasionally scribble a bit just to say he did it. He much prefers action games. 
• He did SO well in his first year at preschool. So much growth, much more confident and social, and is still cautious, but warms up easier!
• He loves math. He is always doing "pluses" on his calculator, or in real life. Asking us about simple math, and showing off his counting skills. He can easily count to 100, and can recognize and say numbers he sees up to 1,000. After that it gets a bit more confusing and less consistent, but he's trying to learn. On his calculator (cash register), he'll say, "give me a plus!" So we'll say, "okay... 723+102" and he'll punch those numbers in and say, "eight hundred and twenty-five!" He's getting better at guessing too, "I think 7+2 is 9. Let me check!"
• I don't know if he's a pickier eater necessarily, but it is harder to convince him to eat. He still technically likes all the same things, but has a stubborn streak when it comes to coming to the table and sitting to eat. Oh well... clearly he's not malnourished. 
• He has the sweetest heart. He is sooo good with Eva. He asks to hold her, or will sit and "read" her books, and play with her, and check her toe jam, and gently rub her and hold her hand. 
• He is also very empathetic. We watched Luca, and there were a couple "sad" parts. He actually got so so sad and needed a cuddle. It was to the point that it made both Dave and I tear up watching him. 
• Quiet time is hit or miss - sometimes he'll be up there for an hour and a half, but usually it's closer to half an hour. I don't bother kicking him back upstairs because I just don't have the energy, and he can usually tell if I'm busy and will play quietly by himself still.
• His favourite books to get out of the library are Star Wars books and Encyclopedia-type books. He doesn't love actual reading books. He seems to prefer to learn.
• He follows lego instructions well, but has also started making his own creations. He can envision what he's trying to build and execute it well. Better than me! He can do 4+ lego by himself first try, and after a few times of doing 7+ with him, he can do most of it, but needs some help getting pieces apart sometimes. 
• He doesn't know his lefts and rights consistently, but knows North East South West. If we're standing anywhere he can usually identify which direction he's facing first try. I don't know how he learned this... we didn't teach him. Naturally good at vectoring I suppose.
• We have been dealing with a record-breaking heat wave and he's handled it well. Lots of underwear time, some movies, and some sprinkler/pool play. His activity of choice is probably a movie though. That or coming with us to chase the AC. 
• He definitely seems to have some natural athletic ability. We took him to the gym at Oma's work and he dribbled a soccer ball around the gym with relative ease for a 4-year old. We should probably look into getting him involved in some kinder-sports. 
• He has big feelings, but with consistency from us, he's getting a lot better at using his words and self-regulating. Usually if there's a big meltdown it's due to hunger or being tired. Pretty reasonable I'd say!
• He plays hockey and basketball in our house all the time, setting up his hockey net using bar stools. He picks two teams, plays both teams, assigns you a team to cheer for, and updates you with the score for each team every time he scores. He also loves to use the wejustscored.com on our phones to press goal horns when he plays. 

We love this handsome, sweet, kind boy! <3

Lately - Extreme Heat Survival Mode!

Honestly, the last few days have been more of survival mode than when Eva was first born. This is literal survival mode... if we don't take care of ourselves we could get really sick or hurt.

The temperature the last 4 days has fluctuated between 35 (feels like 41) and 45 (feels like 50), cooling down to 27 (feels like 31) at night. Our house faces East-West, so we get morning sun and afternoon/evening sun. It honestly gest unbearable in most of the house. We have two portable AC units. One in our room, one in the kids' room. Even with those blasting all day, it only gets down to 30 degrees (at best) in the bedrooms during the day. At night we can get it down to 25-27 or so. 

Our poor dog is suffering, but we locked him in the kids' room yesterday most of the day with their AC blasting just to keep him at a reasonable temperature. He hasn't had a walk in days, except one short one at 10pm the other night, but it was still 31 degrees out. 

Schools are closed down, some restaurants and other businesses are shut down, and people are just hunkering down trying to cool down (how many times can I say "down" in one sentence?). We have sort of looked into what central air in our place would look like, but apparently with our strata rules, we'd have to get a unit under a certain decibel level which is very costly. If these heat waves become a pattern we may have to look into it because it's unlivable. The up front cost would probably be upwards of $7,000, but Hydro costs we've heard are about $0.15/hour to run the A/C. We'll see... This has only been the first week of summer... It'll be one of those "would future Renee & David spend $xx to be more comfortable and confident each summer?" questions.

Anywho, here's what we've been up to the last week!

Lots of underwear time and water play at home. On Tuesday Ashleigh and Phoebe came by for a visit, and in the afternoon we played outside in the hose/sprinkler for a bit. 

I really wish we had a yard off our main floor (the only thing I feel this house is really missing), but I'm grateful for this outdoor deck space!

Emilia doing some yoga

Hello Phoebe!

Watching the neighbours have a water fight after playing in the sprinkler

Wednesday was set to be the coolest day of the week (still 26-30 degrees), so I took out the carpet cleaner and cleaned our whole couch and all our kitchen chairs. GROSS!!! It was like sludge. I was planning to make pizzas on Friday, but switched it to Wednesday instead as there was no way I was turning on the oven on Friday. Mom & Dad came over, and Mom took the kids for a walk and then they had a cool bath before bed. 

This was just from half the couch. Honestly... So freaking gross! I'm sorry to those who have sat on my couch in recent history!

Tested out some "popsicles" which were actually just yogurt and frozen fruit. They were a hit

 I love her. I'm enjoying her so much. Look at these teeny feet! <3

And teeny fingies!

On Thursday it was a hot, but reasonable temperature. We survived inside, but I was worried about what to make for dinner. I then got a text from Kirsten and she and Jesse were planning to order pizza and invited us to join. SOLD! We had a pizza picnic outside our places and it was perfect. 

Back when our A/C could actually handle it and it was cool enough for a sleeper during nap time.

After the picnic we got the kids set up for bed, and then I headed off to my first Chickaletta fire this year! It was soooo wonderful to see all these friends again! It's been a long time since we've all been together. By fire, I mean Chickaletta "picnic table with champagne and cake" haha. 

Alycia was celebrating her best month ever at work and treated us all to champs and cake. We were all a little anxious about the champagne cork, but she did well and it went straight up instead of out.

Cheers, my village!

Friday was hot hot, like (feels like) 45 degrees or something crazy. we sat in the house and sweat most of the day, and then when Eva was napping in the afternoon we pulled out the pool and sprinkler and cooled off outside for a bit. 

Giving me a hug after we had a splashing war

Using the sprinkler to refill the pool and spraying the kids as they run through

Closest thing he's gotten to exercise in 3 days.

Took her a long time, but she finally settled in and played in the pool for a bit.

Super Dad alert!

Dom's butt crack! Haha!

At bedtime Ashleigh and I went to the Hawthorne for girls night. We had a bit to eat and lots to drink, and it was such a wonderful evening! When we got home I decided to take Sherlock for a walk from 930-10pm. It was still so hot! Like 31 degrees. Yikes!

Saturday was (feels like) 48 degrees. I don't even know what that's like. It was awful. We were planning to have dinner at Larry & Shelley's, so before hand, we packed the kids up and drove all around for an hour to enjoy the AC and hope that Eva would nap. She did not... but the AC was nice. We sat in their backyard and stuck our feet in the pool, and then had hot dogs for dinner. When we got home we went to the kids' room and it was was like 34+ degrees in there. Sooooo hot. It felt dangerous, and I worried about what would happen the next few days. So we made a plan!

She wasn't too bothered by the heat apparently!

Cue me having a panic attack about the forecast for the next two days

They were trying to play "parent & kid". Often at home if I have to move the van for Dave I'll bring the kids and let one sit on my lap to help me drive around the complex. This was Emilia being the parent, and Dom being the kid. Attempting to pull that stunt haha! Didn't quite work. 

They were so hot! We should have taken their temperatures. Look how pink Emilia's face is. It's not sunburn! Just the heat.

Nice 35 degree sunset from the nursery

Sunday, Dave was on media at church so he was out of the house before 8am. Mom & Dad asked if they could take Dom and Emilia to Vancouver to visit Adam and Aly. YES! Less bodies in here the better! While they were out, after Eva's first nap Dave and I packed up and went to Scott and Ashleigh's air conditioned basement suite. It was already 30 degrees in our house before 11am, and the outdoor temp still had 10 degrees to go. 

Poor guy kept moving from spot to spot trying to find solace from the heat. There was none.

I put a damp towel in the freezer for a bit and then draped it over him. He didn't love it, but it did help cool him down.

The kids have been LOVING this part of survival mode. So many movies, popsicles, ice cream treats, freezies, etc.

It was a few degrees cooler in Van than in Surrey. I still can't imagine walking outside, never mind shoulder-riding kids while walking. 

Mom and Dad brought the kids there around 1, and we spent the day there playing, watching movies, and had dinner together. We had Sherlock at home in the kids' room, and had to go back twice because the breaker had flipped (We were keeping an eye on him with the baby monitor connected thru wifi). We came home for bedtime, and it was still really hot in our house, but it felt less oppressing since we'd had a break during the day. 

Phoebe was kind enough to share her play mat with Eva. I love going to houses where they are also set up for babies and/or kids. It makes it so much easier to prepare! 

She's so tiny in that big bed! Notice the temperature! 21!!! 

So cozy! Seriously so thankful for these friends <3

Family movie day!

Today is the day we were all waiting for... An expected high of (feels like) about 50 degrees. I knew we wouldn't survive at home, but we couldn't go to S&A again because Scott had to work. Ashleigh checked with her mom to see if we would be able to spend some time at their house in the basement, as it is also air conditioned. They graciously offered us their basement for as long as we need today. We came around 11, and Mel had set out lots of toys for the kids so it's just been a hay day of play! Then we watched a movie (the Secret Life of Pets 2) which was hilarious, and then went back to playing. I had packed lunches for the kids in their lunch kits, and Dave picked up paninis from Fresh Street for us. My mom came over later on and brought some food for us to have a "picnic" dinner in the basement. She called it a picnic, but nothing about a picnic mom preps is rustic. It was full on dinner. Boiled potatoes with sour cream and bacon bits, roasted chicken, two kinds of salad, focaccia bread with olive oil and balsamic... salt and pepper grinders, real plates and cutlery. Hilarious, but also delicious and so appreciated!

This girl played Barbies almost the entire day. She set up scenarios with the babies, and moms and dads. She had a bunch of beds set up on the ottoman there and had a little baby tucked into each bed. It was so sweet hearing her playing.

I forgot to take a photo of it all set up. The towel is housing the chicken to keep it warm. This was our "picnic" haha

It's felt a little bit like a weird vacation. I don't like asking for help, but I knew we wouldn't do well staying at home these last few days, so I am soooo appreciative of the help we've been offered/received. It's weird being in someone else's home, while they're there, just hanging out... Just doing our regular life, but intruding in someone else's space. So thankful <3. 

Also, as an added bonus, Eva slept like a CHAMPION! She slept in Phoebe's crib at S&A, in a bassinet in a spare basement room at the Yzerman's. Every nap was as good as (or better than) at home. Probably better due to the AC. 

Poor Emilia has missed her nap two days in a row. She still normally naps for 2 hours every day and we have to wake her from most naps. She's done great. Dom, too. Considering all the routine shuffling and being in different places, they've both done great. 

Now we are home, and it's sweltering, but there is light. Tomorrow is supposed to be 10 degrees cooler than today. Still hot at 34 degrees, but compared to this, it just doesn't sound so bad! Lytton, BC set a record for hottest Canadian temperature ever two days in a row now. The thermostat today read 47.9 degrees. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Vegas is 47.2 for comparison. Add humidex and I don't even want to know what the "feels like" temperature was! 

Done with the crazy heat now! Let's get back to our regular Vancouver summer! Don't make me keep thinking about what life will be like for our kids and their kids when we're gone! #GlobalWarming.