8 Months old and growing strong...really strong!

 I am officially 8 months old now, and starting to really find my voice and I let it be known what I want now! I don't always like to be held as I am a rolling machine on the floor! While I am not crawling yet, it will not be long until I am mobile! I love rolling around on the floor and I can get pretty much anywhere if I set my mind too it! I have gotten up into a crawling position, and rock back and forth, but I am not ready just yet. (I have a feeling by next month that will be a different story!)

Here are some fun things that have been happening since my last update:

 

"BYOB...Bring your Own Baby (to Yoga class)"

My mom and I went to a Yoga class this past month, and it was a lot of fun, well for me anyway! The class was about an hour long and was packed with fun and made for a good workout! They had all the mom's do different yoga positions while holding their babies, not as easy as it sounds! We sang songs and then worked on flexibility to help with future crawling and walking!  Here is me after the yoga class...as you can see I love it!

 

Teeth

Two more are on the way! My two bottom teeth are officially in, and now my two top teeth are making their way through. Like last time, this means a lot of sleepless nights and lots of snuggle time. Seriously, this whole teething thing isn't fun...for anyone! But, we found a way to ease the pain a little, I got to try my first popsical! While I wasn't sure what to think of this ice cold thing, I ended up really liking it!

Click on the video link below to watch my reaction...and what a reaction it is! (Yes, this is my FIRST reaction to any kind of food!)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l5rj6q96eayihz0/irDxQo4tYV/20140209_152550.mp4

 

Reading

My favorite thing to do on Sunday morning is to drink coffee and read the paper! Wait...I drink formula, the adults drink the coffee!  But, I do love to help read the paper! This is what a typical Sunday morning in my house looks like! Sometimes I get so excited about an article or something in the Target ad that I scream really loud so everyone knows how I feel! (I am really pushing for my own remote, but I don't think anyone is taking me seriously!)

 

My Best Friend

My dog, Java, and I have become best friends, especially when I am eating Cheerios or Puffs! But, she loves me even when I am not eating in my highchair. She sleeps in my room every night and usually is laying right in front of my crib to protect me. She loves running up and down the hallway and stopping right in front of me, then I giggle and she does it again...we could do this all night long, but she usually gets tired out after about 10 times.

 

Dancing

And finally, last but not least...Introducing Donovan the Dancer! As always, I really love music, and am not starting to feel it too...I thrust my hips and jump up and down while listening...but note that I am picky about music. If you play a song without any techno sounds I doesn't like it!  Daft Punk is currently one of his favorite bands but I like The Final Countdown song a lot too! Here is a video of me showing off my dance moves!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l5rj6q96eayihz0/1yxnggTRds/20140127_183616.mp4?n=86869590

 

 

Well, that is about it for now...Until next month!

Donovan

PS - Happy Valentine's Day!!

 

A whole lot of firsts!! (Teeth, Christmas & a Haircut!)

Happy New Year!!
I thought I would update a little earlier than usual this month because a lot has been going on...be ready, this is a long one, you have been warned!!

First off, I officially have 2 teeth now! Sorry, there is no pictures with my new pearly whites...But we will keep trying to get a picture of them for you all to see! Let me tell you, getting teeth is not fun and no one warned me how hard it would be! But, once they broke through the skin I felt so much better and everyone got some much needed sleep. (Did you know you can go 3 days without sleeping at night? Unlike my parents I can snooze during the day, but you should have seen them...they looked like walking zombies! ha)

I am officially 19 lbs and close to 29" long...off the charts in height by close to 2 inches, can you believe it? My pediatrician said I am going to be on TALL boy! During my visit I had a cough and they decided I needed to use a nebulizer. I wasn't very happy about that, but they say it is the best for my health. So, we got to bring our very own machine home with us to use when I need it to help with my breathing. (Not to worry, it isn't as bad as it sounds...it is more for when I get a cold!)

"Luke, I am your father"

Wow, Christmas time was crazy fun....there was so much stuff to look at both on the tree and under it!
We put up a Christmas tree at home, and once there were gifts under the tree, I was all about helping. (By helping I mean trying to unwrap them!) I loved looking at the lights on the tree, and the gifts were fun to try and grab at!
Here I am trying to "help" with the gifts under the tree...as you can see I got caught in the act!

Caught in the act!

We opened presents at our house the on the 23rd, and I surprised my dad with a new rugby bag that he can use for his games! I am not sure who liked it more, my dad or me....who knew you could have so much fun  with a bag! I sat in the bad and didn't want to get out, so dad figured out a new way to carry me around the house, which I giggled about the whole time!

My favorite toy, sorry Dad!

Take me for another ride!

Shhh...I am hiding!

After our Christmas celebration at our house, we packed up and drove to my Grandma and Grandpa's house on Christmas Eve  for the celebration to continue!
I got two new outfits for the holiday:

"What Santa doesn't bring me, Grandma Will"

My 1st Christmas!

And, I got two new bibs to wear to from my Great Aunt...

Nice

Naughty

After all the Christmas fun was over, we asked my Great Aunt Susie to give me my first haircut...the little tuft I had growing on the crown on my head was getting just a little long! So, to keep with tradition in the family, Susie gave my my 1st Haircut!!

First Snip!

Are we done yet?

That wasn't so bad!! Check out my handsome haircut!

As for New Years, well I made it until about 8pm before I decided to call it a night! I celebrated early before going to bed, after all I can't tell time yet! Instead of  "bubbly" I opted for some formula and as celebration snack I had some delicious peaches!
Happy New Year everyone!!!
Donovan

6 Months!!

6 months...can you believe it??

I am officially a half a year old already, and looking back a lot has happened in 6 months of life!  I weigh in at 19lbs, and still growing like crazy!! I have to wear 9 month pants because I am so long now and I have already outgrew two pairs of shoes that are supposed to be for up to 12 months!

 

This month brought a lot of first for me!

1. Food: I tried more veggies this month, and so far I have not found a veggie I don't like! If anything I get really excited to eat them. To date, I have tried (and loved) sweet potatoes, carrots, peas and avocado! (Ok, Avocado is considered a fruit, but it is green, and a good way to introduce fruits I guess!) Next month I get to try fruits!

2. Toes: I found my toes and they are my new favorite thing to play with! I like to pull my socks off every chance I can get, just to grab my feet and stick them in my mouth! (Which now makes changing my diaper more of a challenge which is funny to me!!)

3. Not So INSIDE Voice: I have figured out how to be LOUD!! When I get excited I like to make a high pitch squeal that sometimes will make your ears hurt! I do this a lot when I see my dog near me. At first made my loud squeal would scare my dog, but she has come to realize that noise is just me excited and she just goes along with it!

4. Sippy Cup Time: I have a Sippy cup now, but really I just think it is something to play with....and I like it when I am able to get water out of it too! I might not have mastered how it works yet, but I sure to like to play with it and chew on the top!

5. Thanksgiving: My first Thanksgiving was fun...while everyone else ate turkey and all the fixings I got to eat carrots which I didn't mind, and they are my top favorite thing to eat so far. I was able to watch a little bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but found myself being bored with it and decided to play with my feet instead!!

6. Christmas time is coming: I am already realizing that this whole Christmas time is a pretty cool deal! There are presents under the tree, and I love touching them and I am looking forward to playing with the wrapping paper as soon as I am able to actually open them up!

7. Santa: I visited Santa  and while I wasn't too sure if I would like him, it was fun! My cousins from Australia are home for the holiday so they hung out with me and Santa so I wouldn't be scared!

8. Sports: I am really liking sports already! I love watching the Viking's games and I recently went to a hockey game, which I really liked! I squeeled the whole time and everyone around us thought I was louder than the hockey whistle!

My dad and I like to watch rugby together too...but since they don't show it on regular TV channels, we have to live stream it on our tablet...but he always makes sure I get to see some of the game. (He is good at sharing!)

Well, that is all for this month...I am sure I will have a ton more to update next month once Christmas comes and I get to check out all the presents and play with the paper!!Until then, Happy Holidays and wishing you all a very happy New Year!!

Love, Donovan

5 Months!!

Five months and going strong!! I am so long now that I have to wear size 6 months clothes already! While the 3-6 months close fit me width wise, they are just not long enough. My pediatrician said if I keep growing like I have been, I am going to be one tall boy!

So, here is what has been going on in the fun world of me this past month:

WOW....why has no one told me that there is a special day when you get to dress up and get free candy!! (I think that needs to happen at least once a month!) Ok, so I didn't really get to eat any candy, but I did get to help hand it out to the Trick-or-Treaters that came to our house. I got all dressed up in this duck costume that was "Sooooo Cute", so I could go to a few of our neighbor's houses. Here is my costume...Quack Quack...Donovan the Duck!

Besides getting dressed up the night of Halloween, I also got to wear a special shirt to daycare that day, and a hat made just for me too in honor of the fun day! Check it out:

I got to try cereal and sweet potatoes for the first time! I was a little confused as to how this whole spoon thing works, but I quickly got the hang of it! My first meal was rice cereal, and since I had never eaten from a spoon before I think more cereal ended up on my bib and my face then it did in my mouth!! But, as time went on, I figured it out and get really excited when I see the spoon coming towards my mouth now.

My first meal of something with flavor was sweet potatoes, and boy were they delicious!! My mom made them, as she is making all of my baby food since she refuses to give me baby food from a jar. She has a whole list of food she is preparing and freezing for me to try and taste!!

Here is a video of me trying sweet potatoes for the first time...as you can see, I am not scared to try new things! 

Donovan - 1st time with Sweet Potatoes!

Oh, and I am such a big boy now that I even want to feed myself! Oh course it doesn't really work...come on, I am only 5 months old! But, I get to practice with the spoon after I am done eating!

I got my picture taken this past month and I was a good boy during the photo session too! The photographer would make me laugh and smile, but as soon as she pulled her camera up I would get super serious and would be too busy checking the camera out to smile! All of the lights she had on made me super sleeping because it was so warm and cozy, so she got a lot of me sleepy...and of course sucking my thumb. She did manage to get one of me with a half smile though!

4 Months Old!

Sorry for the delay...I know I am a few days behind, but I was waiting until my 4 month check-up until I posted. I went to visit my pediatrician yesterday, and once again I had to have shots. I am not diggin this whole pediatrician thing anymore! Sure when I get there they are all excited to see me and making funny faces at me which makes me get excited and smile, but then BAMM they pull out the needle. They say it is for my own good, and I will thank them for it later, but right now they are not on my good list!! I did show them how strong I was by taking the shots like a champ again though, and I think I should get an award if you ask me, because it sounds like all the other babies were crying about it.

I am 16 lbs (75th percentile) now and am 26 1/2 inches long (85 percentile)! Pretty good if you ask me for 4 months!

Now that I am 4 months, I consider myself a big boy because I can now play in my jumper...and I get really excited when I can move my legs and make myself go up and down! There are buttons on my jumper that play music, and I really like that. Some things never change, I still love my music!!

I am learning something new everyday, and boy do I get a reaction when I do! I can now blow raspberries with my mouth, and think it is funny when I end up doing it loud! I also LOVE to put my hands in my mouth and sometimes I try and get my whole fist in there! Sometimes I end up gagging myself, but I don't mind, it is my favorite thing to do right now! (Because of this, I am drooling like crazy, so I have to wear a bib everyday...some days I have to switch bibs because I soaked the first one!) I am also really good with my hands and like to put anything I can in my mouth!

Another thing I am good at is checking myself out in the mirror...I love talking to myself! (Well, I like talking in general as I have really become the talker and can babble on and on about anything and everything!) They say I am a little young to be learning this, but I think it is fun....Here I am kissing myself in the mirror! My mom kept saying "Oh Boy, I am going to be in trouble when he gets older!" but I am not sure why she said that, because it seems like her favorite thing to do is kiss me!

Another thing I did this past month was I got to hang out in the cockpit of a WW2 Bomber plane! I look grumpy in this picture, but trust me I had fun! The pilot that is holding me let me touch buttons and said I was his youngest co-pilot he has ever had! Hmmm, maybe I will have a career in aviation when I get older?

Those were some of the big moments of the month! I am going to be trying cereal in a few days, so stay tuned as I will post pictures and video of that soon! Until then, here are two more pictures of me....

(Hanging out with my mom watching my dad play rugby! I get REALLY excited watching him play too!)

Whaaaatt.....Halloween is coming up soon and they give you candy and you get to dress up? Wooo Hooo!!!!

3 Months!

3 months and going strong...and I do mean strong! I am now 15 lbs and am 25 inches long. I am growing like a weed I am told, and not afraid to use my voice when I want to! I am definitely the talker now, and I like to talk all the time, especially when there are people around to listen and give me their full attention (which seems to be all the time!). I am on the verge of giggling too, but I just can't seem to get it out, but it will happen soon!

On August 24th I was baptized into the church! There were about 15 people there to share in the event which took place after mass. I wore my dad's baptismal outfit during mass, and then I put on my mom's family baptismal gown for the baptism. (I was the 3rd generation to wear the gown, so it was kind of a big deal!)

Donovan in daddy's baptismal outfit.

Putting on the Gown - Donovan wasn't impressed!

I didn't even cry - the water was really warm!

Donovan with his Godparents, Tracy and Mau along with Deacon Dave.

After the baptism we went back to the house and had some food and cake to continue the celebration.

I found my thumb, and boy do I love it! Sometimes I try and get both of my thumbs in my mouth at the same time, but it doesn't really work so well. 

 

I also like to hang out with my dad while he is working on the computer. I think I already have the hang of how to code so my dad lets me help him out a lot!

Stayed tuned for next month's update, as I hear I get to experience cereal for the first time! 
Until then, here are two more pictures of me!

Still loving my Tummy Time!

My mustache pacifier always gets some good laughs!