Happy 9 Months, Warrior!

My darling warrior,

Using a diaper box and the walker to get around the living room and trying to get that doorknob.

"I know they use that to open it but just how to reach it."

This last nine months have gone by so quickly and you are growing up so fast!  You started to stand by yourself and you look a bit like you’re ready to take a step but then you ease yourself down on your butt to the floor (which your dad and I would hurt probably ourselves if we tried doing, btw) and then crawl to whatever you want.  You also have a new habit of leaning against the couch and watching everyone do whatever. 

I swear he was more thrilled than he looks in the pic.

You growl.  A LOT.  It’s hilarious and we get into growling matches a lot and we all end up laughing so hard.  We built a fort in the living room a few days ago and you think it’s amazing.  You’ll go in and out over and over and whenever you see the kitty disappear into it you have to go after her but she always hears you coming and leaves as soon as you get inside.

Chatting with the horse, yelling at the cat and snuggling with Mommy's teddy bear.

You love the dog and cat and are still after them and Takara has let you get pretty close sometimes.  Well until you yell at her again.  I think she’s starting to warm up to you, though, as she sticks around a lot longer than she used to.

"FOOD. Omnomnomnomnomnom"

You are also a big fan of your food and have stolen a waffle from me and are all about feeding yourself now except when it comes to foods that need spoons and that's mostly because I would need a taller ladder than we own to scrap the food off the vaulted ceilings.  ;)

Making an obstacle course out of the living room!

Stats:

23 pounds & 29” tall  

Happy 6 Months, Warrior!

This is more interesting from this side!

My dear little warrior,

Today you are six months old (er you were when I started writing this on Sunday…) and I can’t believe where the time went.  Just after 5 months were started sitting you up on the floor and in just this last month you now sit for so long and now you rarely even faceplant as you’ve figured out how to catch yourself and just gracefully move to your tummy.

You have gone on strike when it comes to sleep, however, and we’re missing those days when you were sleeping through the night without a problem.  Actually it would be accurate to say mommy is flat out frazzled as you refuse to sleep in your own bed and have spent several nights in our bed now.  Hopefully it passes as quickly as it snuck up on us, though. (This has gotten a better since Sunday but he's still waking up 3 or so times a night)

I create feelings in others that they themselves don't understand.

(The sunglasses are Cars- that's why it's captioned with a Lightning McQueen quote)

We had to take you to Urgent care Friday as we were afraid you had an ear infection.  Of course we got there and you were in a fantastic mood.  You charmed the nurse, flirting and grinning any time she needed to do anything.  You were not a fan of the doctor, though, and started screaming as soon as he started talking to you.  Way to give the guy a complex, honey.  Then we found out no ear infection just pesky teeth that refuse to make an appearance.

 This trying to get moving stuff is more complicated than it looks.

You’re still trying so hard to get moving and you’ve nearly got it down.  Just need to get both ends up at the same time but for now you’ve settled with trying to give yourself rugburn on your forehead and inching along the floor.  This is something you get determined to do every time you see Takara, whom you still enjoy yelling at.  You reach for her a lot and she has come to check you out once but normally doesn’t get very close, lol.

D: *lunge* Takara: Holy crap!  You guys wanna keep control of that thing??

You love the bedtime rituals until it is actually time to sleep.  You love your bath and give us a bath in the process.  You also love your bedtime stories.  It’s fun to watch you find so much entertainment in everything.  Even when I’m not trying to be funny and you crack up laughing and make me laugh too.  You’re our little angel and even with the crabby times I can’t imagine our lives without you, Darius.  We love you so much. 

Stats:

Weight: 20.6 lbs (93^rd percentile)

Height: 27.5” (80^th percentile)

We get to start fruits and veggies now as well as start drinking from a sippy cup!  So excited to get to watch you try more food.  However, the new, stinkier diapers, I am not so excited for. :P

I sense that I can cause some serious trouble with this thing soon... 

(Oh and uh… 6 month breastfeeding goal: Check!)

Before:

I'm not doing anything...

After:

It fell over on its own I'm tellin' ya!

Also:  Comments are welcome and any addressed to Darius will be added to the copies of these posts in his scrapbook. ^w^  So yeah... comments are good. *looks at everyone reading by email subscription or got the link from facebook but never comment*

Happy 4 Months, Warrior!

First to my readers- This is late. Sorry.  Also, sorry for the lack of posts.  I feel like my posts are boring.  Not that D is boring (that couldn't be farther from the truth, haha) but that my posts about him are.  Plus I'm still trying to catch up on all the photoshoots I did for my portfolio and someone likes to keep me guessing as to what will keep him happy so I can get some editing done. :P

And now...

This dog makes a great pillow and a great leaning post!

My dearest Darius,

You never cease to amaze me.  This last month has been amazing and it's been so fun to watch you discover things but I think the biggest change this month has been how grabby you've gotten!!  When you're in my lap while I'm editing I can't keep up with you, haha!  Poor Winry (my cell phone charm) has had several close calls lately.  Oh and you've ripped my glasses off my face several times.  Guess it's time to quit talking about it and finally get some contacts again, haha.

Rollin'

We took to your first Nan Desu Kan early in the month (it's an anime convention for those of you watching from home ^w~) and you did so well.  There was lots of crazy things to look at for sure and I think you liked getting to spend lots of time with people other than Mommy like your Dad and Godmama.  I know I'm boring, son, and I'm sorry.  You did so well while waiting in the crazy line so we could get autographs from Vic, one of our favorite voice actors.  Who, on his way back to the room to start the autographs, stopped to say hi and give you a kiss on the top of the head.  And mommy may have blushed a little.  

Mom, these people are crazy!

You also sat up from a reclining position while we were at NDK, too, and I missed it.  I also missed you rolling over for the first time and though you haven't done it since I suspect you're going to wait for me to leave the room every time you have something new to do.  So much for being a stay-at-home mommy so I can see all your firsts in all their glory, huh?

That Grover guy is one funny lookin' dude.

You're still drooling like crazy and poor little Saffy is all too aware of this fact.

Omnomnomnomnom!

You love your Daddy like no other.  If you're napping when he gets home you usually wake up to give him some smiles, like you were just waiting for when he would finally get home to snuggle and play with you.  He can get you giggling and smiling like I could only hope to.

Hey Dad?  I love you, man.

And I know I tell you this every month but I'm so thankful to have you in our lives.  You bring us so much joy and make us laugh all the time.  Even when we'd rather be sleeping but you're wide awake and giggling and grinning.  Oh that grin... gets us every time.  You love standing up with help and get mad when we get tired and try to get you to go back to sitting for a few minutes.  Oh and you're finally back on good terms with tummy time for the most part.  Though it's not for as long as when you were a month old or so.

Tummy time is so exhausting thanks for rolling me back ov... ZZZzzzZZZzz

For your 4 month appointment we found out that you're 17.7 pounds (I tweeted that you were over 18 so I guess now is when the Wii will start being off a bit with the weight stats.) and 25 1/2 inches tall.  We also got the ok for single grain cereal!  (Don't worry everyone, video to come)  

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this dog makes a fantastic pillow.

Oh and soon we'll have a guest post from Okaasan (my mom).  She wrote a post to tell D a little about his grandpa which I'll post here in a few days. ^w^

Happy 2 Months, Warrior!

I'm two months old today!!
(Taken July 27th but mom is so slow on uploading pics and blogging *eye roll*)

Dear Darius,

You are now two months old.  I don't know where these last two months have gone but I think it has to do with this whole "time flies when you're having fun" deal.  :)  You've really blossomed this last month, too.  You're holding your head up so well and you are so smiley I just can't get enough of those little dimples.  Your sleep at night is starting to vary less and less and you usually get to sleep around 9 or 10 and wake up anywhere from 2 to 3  (though the last couple we've woken up at 4).

See? I do have a neck.

You're still growing like a weed and you gained a pound a week for the first 2 weeks of your second month but slowed down a little these last two weeks but are still in the 97% of weight at 14 1/2 pounds!!  (and nicknames like Chub Chub are getting more popular as is tickling your "Buddha Belly").  You're quickly growing out of your 0-3 month onesies but aren't quite long enough for your 3-6 month pants at 23 1/4 inches long, haha!

July 8, 2011:  3-6 month onesie? YES. 3-6 month pants?  Not so much. ;)


You are so funny at night.  When we head to bed you will kick and flail your arms, smiling and babbling away until you wear yourself out and you stick to this work out routine quite well, lol.  You're getting more and more chatty every day.  You love to be talked to and we get quite the conversations out of you most nights.

You've added "I'm bored" to your reasons for crying and screaming in our ears but you're a huge fan of your playmat with the arches.  You seem to have had a falling out with tummy time though, something you loved last month but seem to dislike this month.  But you love being propped up in a sitting position and our "sitting up workout".  You also really love Sakura and will usually pet her unintentionally as you check out her fur but she doesn't know the difference.  Though I did have to stop you from licking her the other morning.  (I never knew I would have to say "don't lick the dog")


"Fuzzy doggie!!"

You also have the most gorgeous blue eyes your dad and I have ever seen.  You love lights, especially the skylights in the kitchen. When you were finally done eating, you seemed to really like the lights of the fireworks on the fourth of July too.  You're unbothered by thunderstorms though we did jump at a couple of claps of thunder last night, but that may have been my fault for jumping while we snuggled, haha.

You've started fighting to stay awake, afraid you'll miss something which makes us giggle when you get so mad because you can't keep your eyes open any longer.  You're still a snuggle bunny (both a blessing and a curse depending on the day) and you love getting some dad snuggles when he gets home from work and you get pretty dang grouchy if you don't get them.  You are such a sweet boy and you are changing and growing so much but everyone just loves you and the doctor was thrilled with how social and smiley you were at your two month visit.  She was apparently much more fun than her waiting room...

"Can we go yet?  This place is boooooring."

We love you so much and are so blessed to have you, our little warrior, in our lives.  You still make us smile every day and your little dimples melt our hearts and when you do things like fall asleep holding my hand (finger) the other night I wonder how we ever lived without you.  You're our little bath loving goober (well until the shampoo part) and I don't know what we'd do without you.  You were worth the wait little man, so worth the wait.


"Hmmm.  Interesting theory."


Oh and you'll be happy to know Sakura is protective of you and was going to protect you from the vacuum cleaner on Saturday.  Until she realized it was the vacuum cleaner.  XDD  Takara still keeps her distance though.

Happy 1 Month Darius!

Today the warrior is one month old and he had his one month appointment.

Growth:  He's 11.4 lbs (89th percentile) and 22.5 inches long (83rd percentile).

Nicknames:  D, Big D, Bugga Boo (no idea where Dad came up with this one but it sure stuck!), Little Warrior, Chubby Bunny (that one is ALL Mom)

He's doing really well too.  Peed all over the table and the scale, hahaha.  That's our boy.  He's a strong little boy and is holding his head up for longer periods of time every day, check out everything around him.  The doctor went to check his leg movement he fought her and did a pretty good job of it too, haha.  He also got his second hep B shot.  He was pretty torked off to begin with though but the shot sure didn't make him any happier.  So now as a celebration of our little man's one month we have this video to share.  This was after he had held his head up for quite a while but had to fight Sakura to stay out of the way of the camera, haha.  Turn down your sound though, you don't need to hear us excited parents and our shouts of "Good job" and "Look at you!!"

Happy one month little warrior and here's a letter for you.  :D

Dear Darius,

Today you are one month old.  I have no idea what happened to the last month but I can tell you that it's been one of the best of you Dad and I's entire life.  You are amazing and your father and I are so blessed to have you in our lives.  You make us laugh every day and bring us more joy than we ever thought it was possible to experience.  You're a strong little boy and enjoy your tummy time.  When you cry Sakura runs to see what's going on.  She likes you a lot even though you grabbed her ear hair the other day with your iron grip and yanked nice and hard.  You get the hiccups a lot, just like you did when I was pregnant but if you have them for a while they start to really make you mad now.  Your first month of life here has been full of ups and downs but you live up to your nickname of Little Warrior every day.  You've been growing out of clothes left and right and your Dad and I are so proud of you.  Dad can't wait to get home to get time with you and loves playing with you.  

You're starting to do more than grunt and in the last few days you've started making a sound like "HEY!" which probably comes from Dad going "Hey, what are ya doing?" and you'll coo right back when we talk to you.  Nights vary though and while you normally get a good 4 hours or so at one time at night, the rest of the time you generally want to eat every couple hours or so.  You've also come to like your baths too and are such a smiley baby.  You have the funniest expressions and have often looked like you were going to get really mad only to just go back to being just fine with life.  You fall asleep almost immediately after going in your carseat and love the swing too.

As you can tell we get excited and marvel in every little thing that you do, like when you kept grabbing a toy tonight while hanging out on your tummy mat.  We hope you know how much we love you, our little miracle.  Your first month has been so wonderful and full of joy I honestly can't even describe it.  And now you're hungry so I best go...

Love, Mom & Dad

Keeping Up

So I've spent the last week or so wondering how other blogging moms with newborn keep up on their blogs.  @.@  By the time I get sat down to write a post it feels like all my news is old news already.  *sigh*

3 weeks old as of this last Friday!

Anyway this last weekend was super exciting for us.  Saturday we had a get together with Cody's cousins that live up around here and it was a blast.  There were 3 little bitty ones too, Darius included, all within about 3 months of each other so it was like Pokemon but with baby snuggles, haha.  Gotta snuggle 'em all!!  It was so much fun to get out of the house and hang out with everyone and I can't wait until we have another get together with them.

He was ready to rock.

Check me out in my awesome sandals.

Closeup!!

On Sunday we went to go see Darius' godmama and watch her little ballerina's recital.  And godmama Margarita actually got to see someone's eyes this time, haha.  Every other time she's visited he's been asleep.  Like sound asleep, not even awake enough to glare at us for tickling him.  Anyway it was so much fun and the recital was beautiful and I may have teared up a little.  C and her group were really good.  I'm super proud of her.

Guess who dressed him... ;)  He was a bit of a wiggle worm.

So after all that excitement it totally took me a day to recover or I'd have blogged yesterday, haha.  Oh and Sunday we weighed Darius on the Wii again...

Any guesses?

Huh?

10 lbs!!!

No wonder the kid is growing out of things left and right already, haha!  Chunky little boy.

Oh how I miss enjoying sleep this much...