Happy Birthday, D-Man!

It's the little guy's birthday today -- he's perhaps the coolest 2 year old I know. This is evidenced by a conversation Jon had with another dad at Day Care last week. As he picked the kids up, he called Dominic's name at some point. The other dad stopped and said, "So this is Dominic! Here I thought he walked on water or something. My son is always 'Dominic this' and 'Dominic that'. But I would have thought he was older -- 4 or 5 or something." Apparently this kid is about 4, and to hear him talking about Dominic in such a way was usually reserved for older kids they admire.

But that sums up Dominic in a nutshell -- to know him is to love him. And everyone does! He's just got one of those engaging personalities that draw people in.

Here's a little bit of a milestone check to share with you how much he's learned this year. I have to give a lot of credit to his teacher (who I just learned this morning is no longer there!), Ms. Jay Jay. Dominic just loves Ms. Jay Jay -- even saying "God Bless Jay Jay" every night in his prayers. She stopped by yesterday just to wish him Happy Birthday, even though she no longer works there!

So... Dominic's many talents...

- He knows his ABCs
- He can count to 10
- He knows a TON of songs (I'm sure this isn't an all-inclusive list): Twinkle Twinkle, Zaccheaus, Jesus Loves Me, Children of the Heavenly Father, This Little Light of Mine, I'm a Nut, The Birdie Song, Hokey Pokey, If You're Happy and You Know It, Dora's Theme Song, Row Your Boat
- He's getting very accurate at throwing a ball
- He can kick a ball without falling over
- He can jump with two feet
- He's got a very full vocabulary and speaks in complete sentences with contextual accuracy
- He loves to help out around the house - especially turning on/off lights, washing dishes, and doing laundry
- He's got his animal sounds down - he especially loves lions, roosters (our neighbors up the hill have one, though we've never seen it, we hear it daily), and dogs

That's all I can think of for now. When I woke up with him next to me this morning watching "Hi-5", I rolled over and wished him a Happy Birthday. He turned and grinned at me, then gave me an excited, "Fanks!"

Love you, little man.