Duncan: 24 Weeks Old

My little man is 24 weeks old today! He is growing so big and doing so much, I am amazed at how fast it's all happening!

Without a doubt we have had the BEST - WEEK - EVER. I just could not wait to write this post and rave about our achievements this week, so I promise that Duncan will be back to post next week. I don't think he understands the magnitude of this week's milestones. He's too busy being cute. ;)

1.  We started him on rice cereal! Yay for solids! Well, I've been giving him bananas every once in awhile for the last few weeks, but with rice cereal everyday at noon now, we'll say that we've "officially" started solids. He LOVES this stuff and eats like a hungry little bird. It's SO cute! And Messy!

2.  HE IS PUTTING HIMSELF TO SLEEP NOW! I am still in awe of the reality of it, even as I write those words. Ever since he was 3 weeks old, we have been rocking him to sleep (i.e. bouncing on the yoga ball) for every nap and every bedtime and every middle-of-the-night waking. EVERY one. He hated being laid down. He fought sleep as if it were the most torturous of events. Bouncing on the yoga ball was the only thing that would calm him down and lull him to sleep. Sometimes it would take hours. Then we would lay him down ever so gently and tippy toe backwards out of the room like highly-trained ninjas whose very survival depended on absolute silence and stealth... only to have him wake up in 10 minutes screaming. It was not a whole lot of fun.

But all that is past. Our new and awesome life involves no more bouncing or lulling or backwards tippy-toeing. On the night of March 22 (I will never forget this day), after 2 hours of bouncing and crying and finally just staring off into the distance in silence, his exhausted Daddy decided to just put him down in the crib wide awake and take a breather. As we sat on the couch and discussed why he wouldn't go to sleep all week without such an epic battle and what we should do to get him to sleep right now, we noticed something: It had been silent for awhile. Daddy went in to take a peek at him and what was he doing? SNORING!! After I picked my jaw up off the floor, our lives were changed forever. I guess he must have been trying to tell us all week that he didn't need us to bounce him anymore & he was mad that we weren't listening. We're stupid first-time parents. We had to find out by accident. Sorry, buddy! :)

Now at naptime and bedtime, we swaddle him, give him his binkie if he wants it, kiss him goodnight, lay him in the crib, give him a gentle pat on the head, and walk out of the room. He wiggles around or talks to himself for a few minutes and the miracle happens -- he falls asleep without a fuss. Yup. Without a fuss. I have never been so in love with this little boy as I am when he puts himself to sleep again and again. I don't know how it happened, but I'm sure glad it did. If I never have to sit on that yoga ball ever again it'll be too soon. :)

3. He is sitting up with the Boppy! Well, almost sitting up. It's still a little bit wobbly and he tends to lean forward to play with his feet, but he does get some good moments of sitting up by himself and playing before he does the slow motion collapse to one side if he leans to far. :)

So hooray for a really great week! I find myself with so much time now that I'm no longer rocking a sleep-hating baby. Oh, the chores that will get done! It's a girl's dream come true! :P And it's all thanks to my sweet little baby boy.

You're such a monkey, Duncan, but you are the best!

Thanks for an awesome week, baby. I can't wait for the next one!
Love you more than you'll ever know, my little Duncan punkin. :)

Duncan: 23 Weeks Old

Hooray, for a 23-week-old-today handsome guy! Yup, I'm talkin' about little ol' me. :)

This week has been pretty laid back but I've been having some fun:
-  I like to sit up to play (with Mommy or Daddy close by). I'm still
    working on my balance, but I'm getting there!

-  We've been going out in the stroller when the weather isn't horrible
    and I actually like it! You can't tell by this face, but I really do
    enjoy going to the shops & the park with Mommy & Daddy. :)
    Sometimes, I even nap! Amazing, I know...

-  I am so crazy in my Bumbo! I like to make a racket by banging

    my toys on the tray and attacking them viciously.

-  I love my rattle! I shake it like a madman and I only wish that it was

    not a hard toy. It's not fun when I whack myself in the face with it,

    but I still get so excited when I see it. :)

-  I've moved up a notch on my jumperoo! I must be growing lots.

    I just love playing in that thing. It's the best!

-  I've learned how to suck in my bottom lip and keep it tucked under

    my upper lip. I love to do it all the time. I even try to blow raspberries

    like this, but it doesn't work. They usually come out, "MmmmMmm!"

-  I can pivot my body around when I'm on my tummy! Almost mobile!

-  My hair is growing SO fast! It sticks straight out of my head still, so

    I look like a poofy chimpanzee baby. And it's longer in the middle

    of my head, so I have a mini-mohawk going on.

-  I love my toes! I can reach them and hold them now, especially when

    I'm sitting up, so I like to lean forward to grab them & I laugh at

    them a lot. :)

Now that we're all healthy again, I've been moved back to my room to sleep in my crib. I don't like it! But aside from that little annoyance, I've been pretty happy this week. Mommy keeps telling me that I'm such a good baby, so I must be doing alright. :)

Catch you all next week! I hope you have a good one!

Love,
Duncan

Duncan: 22 Weeks Old

I'm 22 weeks old today! How is that even possible? I'm growing up so fast! It seems like just yesterday, I was still pooping in diapers. Oh wait, that's because I was.  :)

I've had a pretty good week, but this last week has been a rough one for Mommy. She's been sick! I think I gave her my RSV bug but with the added bonus of a fever. Sorry, Mommy! I seem to be completely over my RSV today and I'm back to doing that screeching thing that I love. And blowing raspberries! No more wheezing, coughing, and snotting up the place. Thank goodness!

Daddy was such a big help and stayed home from work on Friday to take care of me so that Mommy could rest. Good thing he was home because her fever reached 102 that afternoon and she was out for the count! Then he spent the weekend cooking and doing chores and playing with me 24/7! Thanks, Daddy. :)

Needless to say, it's been a laid back week of recovery and just plain old rest for us. Mommy did, however, find time to update the blog for me since we were so behind. This is like the sixth post this week! So aside from my 5-month onesie shoot, Mommy hasn't had too much time or energy for taking many pictures this week. Today, however, we had some fun tummy time so she just couldn't resist taking some shots of yours truly:

Hope you all had a fun day like I did! I'll be back again next week!

Love,

Duncan

Duncan: 5 Months Old

"5" onesie made by: Marlynn

I'm baaaaaaack! And I'm 5 months old today!

Since I'm feeling so much better today and Mommy's still trying to get over the nasty cold I gave her, I thought I'd get back to doing the blog posts so she can get some rest. I'm such a good son, I know. :) Mommy weighed me this morning and I am a whopping 17 pounds! Hooray for milk! Hehe. :)

My absolute favorite things to do right now:
-  Play in my jumperoo! I LOVE that thing so much.
-  Blow raspberries loaded with spit. So fun!!
-  Roll from back to tummy. I do it pretty much anytime I'm lying down.
-  Suck on pieces of mango that Mommy shares with me. Yummy!!
-  Watch my mobile in my crib. It makes me so crazy excited!
-  Bath time! I am a splashing machine!
-  Obsess over my feet. How come I've never noticed them before?!

Other things I like to do now:
-  Ride in my car seat & stroller! Yay! Finally!
-  Eat the occasional bite of pureed bananas. Mmmm!
-  Screech like a banshee sometimes. For awhile there, I was doing it
    A LOT. Mommy is glad that I've toned it down a bit. :)
-  Sit in my Bumbo chair. I'm so MUCH more stable now.
-  Sleep in Mommy & Daddy's bed. I sleep so well in there.

Things I don't like:
-  Being left alone for very long. I like having company while I play.
-  Being on my tummy for too long. It seems I have forgotten how to
    get myself from my tummy to my back. :[
-  Bedtime. Yea, I still like to fight it. I'd rather be playing!

See you next time! I've got some jumping to do!

Love,

Duncan

Duncan: 21 Weeks Old

Dear Duncan,

You, my handsome little baby boy, turned 21 weeks old on March 7th. This is Mommy's last catch-up post! We are officially caught up. :)

Your 21st week started off REALLY rough for us. You had a little cough when we returned from Colorado and we didn't think it would do anything more, but in just a couple days, it turned into a full blown case of RSV.  :( Your chest started doing this terrible wheezing and your nose was a running faucet of snot. You were still in pretty good spirits, though:

We had to take you to the night clinic on February 29th because as soon as we told the nurse-line that you had a wheezing chest cold, they wanted a doctor to see you right away. Well, they suspected RSV, sent swabs to the lab, listened to you breathe, and the next day it was confirmed. Luckily, your oxygen levels were good and your breathing wasn't too labored, so the doctor didn't think you needed to be hospitalized. We were so thankful!!

You are a very happy sick baby and that has been nice. You cough and wheeze and drip snot but still belt out laughter, LOVE playing in your new jumperoo, have rediscovered blowing raspberries, and squeal this awful sound that you recently discovered you can do. You just love it. It makes Mommy's ears bleed. But you are happy and that makes me VERY happy. We took you for a walk over the weekend since it was 70 degrees out and you loved hanging out in the stroller. Yay! We love being able to take you out in something other than the front pack. Especially since you're over 16 lbs now! We also took some time over the weekend for a photo op. Thanks for the WAY awesome outfit, Kristen!

There is nothing we can do but wait out the RSV. We busted out the fancy humidifier we bought for you months ago and put it to good use. You've been sleeping with us so we can prop you up on pillows to help with your breathing like the doctor told us (that's our excuse anyway... it just makes us feel a lot better to have you close). You sleep SO well when you are in our bed. You are on a pretty regular schedule of bedtime at 7:30p, nurse at 1a, nurse at 5a, then awake at 7a. We LOVE not getting up 6 or 7 times a night to rock you like we used to! 

Thanks for being such a good baby even when you're sick, peanut. We love you so much, Duncan punkin!

Love,

Mommy