Wednesdays with Lou

Smarty Pants

I posted this as my status on Facebook last week but am still so impressed with what Dominic knows that I wanted to share it on our blog as well. One morning last week I asked Dominic if he could find me Brobee. He walked over to his toy bin and pulled out Brobee and brought him to me. I was shocked so I asked him to bring me Elmo just to make sure the first one wasn't just luck. So Dominic walked back over to the toy bin threw out a bunch of toys until he found Elmo and brought him over to me. I couldn't believe it. For his final test I asked him if he could find Buddy. Buddy is a miniature stuffed Dominic look a like toy that my sister Anna made him for his birthday. Brooke and I named him Buddy for now but we've only referred to that specific toy as Buddy a few times so I wasn't sure if Dominic would have picked up on that since he's not a regular character he's been exposed to before. Sure enough Dominic walks over to Buddy and picks him up. The kid knows his toys.

He also likes to show off what he knows in his books. I was flipping through one of his picture books and when I got to the page with Cars on it he immediately starts making his "car noise." Dominic loves cars. I asked him if he could get me a car thinking he would bring me one of his toy cars. He walks over to the kitchen window which overlooks the street and starts pointing at all the cars going past our house. He can pick out several other items in his books now too. We're working on teaching him so many other things and it's so much fun watching him grow and learn.

Birthday Week

My 28th Birthday is this week and as I approach the big day I truly realize how fortunate I am to be where I am at this point in my life. I have an amazing Wife and a healthy Son. I like my job, have a roof over my head, and really have nothing to truly complain about. I know last week was Thanksgiving so I'm double dipping on last week's blog post but I think every person should reflect on their birthday about what they have in their life and what they hope to accomplish in their next year of life. At 28 my life is right where I hoped it would be and I'm looking forward to the future with my Family.

Biggest Loser

Brooke and I love Biggest Loser on NBC on Tuesdays. I usually write my blog post during it every week so figured it would be a good topic to write about this week since the season is almost over. If you're not familiar with this show you should give it a try next season. It's inspiring to watch the transformation the contestants go through by losing hundreds of pounds. Brooke usually needs a box of tissues for each episode so if you're like her make sure you buy stock in Kleenex before next season.

Weight loss and staying fit is something that is always on my mind. I want to be healthy for my Family and for myself. I had lost 50 pounds from April 08 to December 08 last year. I struggled with the first quarter of 2009 and put 20 of those pounds back on so in June I hit the treadmill again and at this point I'm down 25 pounds from June and 5 pounds below where I was at this point last year. My ultimate goal is to lose another 15 pounds and I'll eventually get there but for me it's more important to maintain where I'm at now and not allow myself to slip again the first half of 2010.

Watching Biggest Loser helps make you accountable for your own health. I downloaded the Nutrition Menu App for my iPhone and keep track of what I eat each day and when i think about what I used to eat I'm shocked. It's not that I would eat bad but anytime you eat fast food you pretty much blow through an entire days worth of calories and nutrition in only one meal. Cutting out fast food is the first step in weight loss and making an effort to look at labels and keeping track of calories and fat intake will go a long way towards reaching your goals. I think it's important to find the balance though between extreme dieting and allowing yourself an indulgence once in awhile. If you crave fast food try getting your sandwich without mayo or even cheese and maybe order a size smaller. Every little bit helps.