- Duvan is becoming very crafty with his hands! He's really manipulating things, turning it over, clutching his cube on all different corners etc.
- Laughing more. We're hearing the precious sound of Duvan laughing more frequently, and it's music to our hears. It used to take a lot of motivation from us to get Duvan giggling, but nowadays it's easier. Check out the sound clips below.
- Holding his own weight with his legs. If we balance Duvan, he can stand for minutes on end. See the picture below! He seems to grow stronger every day, so we're giving him lots of opportunity to do it.
- When putting something on Duvan's face, he will take it off. Marésa started laying Duvan's clothes on his face to see what he would do, he responded by grabbing it and pulling it off his face. It has now become a fun little game of peek-a-boo.
- Interest in textures. Duvan sometimes appears to take keen interest in textures. He will continually stroke surfaces close to him with this pensive look on his face.
- Easily distracted while nursing. Nowadays Duvan will easily get distracted while nursing. He loves to look at Marésa, and will take a hold of her shirt or hair.
- First flight. We flew to London on Saturday night. Duvan was an angel, and slept throughout the entire flight. He nursed during take-off and landing, and other than a little upset stomach after the landing, handled it all really well. Switching his schedule to the new time zone has proven to be a little more difficult (so far at least).
- Duvan started pounding with his hands, as if shaking a rattle. He does it especially when he's excited. It's really cute, and looks almost like he's hitting a drum to the beat of music.
- Holding his feet. Duvan started kicking his legs straight up over the last two weeks, and will now occasionaly grab a hold of his feet.
- An amazing flight over the Atlantic to England. Duvan did so well!
- Grace for Duvan to allow his schedule to adjust to the new timezone. He's getting better at it every day!
Early one morning while peeking into Duvan's room, we noticed that he was inspecting his blanket. He had it clutched in both his hands and were lifting it to check it out. Jan snuck in with the camera, being as quiet as he possibly can be. But Duvan is becoming very alert, because the slightest sound of the camera focusing to take the pictures caught his attention and he looked around to see where it came from.
When Duvan is getting tired, nothing keeps him as distracted as a piece of paper. It works almost like a switch, turning him to interested and content while holding the paper, and to crying and moaning when it drops out of his hand. :)
While lying on his back, Duvan kicks his legs way up like this. It's so cute! He'll cross his legs and rub his feet together and it looks so cute!
The last two weeks of January were moving weeks for Mom & Dad. This meant that all Duvan's favorite seats, playgyms and toys that will not fit on the plane had to be packed for shipping. He got to lay down in all kinds of interesting places. We captured a few of those!
Marésa layed him down in this box with the styrofoam beans. He loved it and was absolutely amazed at the beans flying down at him.
All these boxes make for comfortable fair!
We'd love to share with you the music of Duvan's laughter. There are few things in life that bring as much joy to our hearts than hearing him laugh like this!
Giggles (30 seconds, MP3, 79kB)
The night before our departure, we got to hang out with very dear friends, and so did Duvan! They all love to hang out together, Duvan loves the attention, and the girls love to shower him with it. There is no pretense between babies, no social order to which they have to conform (other than the ever-present hands of parents preventing one's finger to accidentally end up in another's eye), so their interaction is a joy to behold. Madeleine, who calls Duvan "Dee", greet him in a very high pitched and endearing "Hiiiiii". Both the girls are very loving and shower him with hugs and kisses, which Duvan normally find most amusing (and bewildering at times :)). Micheala, who calls Duvan "Dee-dee", always wants to know where he is and what he's up to, making sure that he's okay. Madeleine and Micheala is best buddies, and love to hang out with each other, going "Ma-ma!!!", "La-la!!!" at each other. They are so incredibly cute.
Some interesting exchanges between Madeleine, Duvan and Micheala took place during the photo shoot.
Our last day in the US was pretty hectic and while we finished packing and cleaning the apartment, Duvan visited with Lis and Maddie. Here Duvan is practicing standing, while Maddie gets to walk with Tannie Marésa.
Later that day, Maddie taught Duvan how to use her slide:
We made it to England, and we've spent the last 2 days recuperating from a month of putting our lives in boxes and saying the hardest goodbyes we've ever had to say. Here Marésa and Duvan are hanging out outside of Schalk & Jana's house.
Duvan sitting on Mommy's lap.
Duvan is standing up really well! He can easily hold his own weight, and loves to stand up like this. He's so tall!
The change in time-zones resulted in a zoned out Duvan yesterday afternoon. He hung out for about an hour on the floor all by himself, quietly playing with his clutch cube.
It's very cute to watch Duvan play with this cube. In his efforts to get the whole cube into his mouth, it swings straight over his head instead. :)
Well, it's been a while since we've last updated Duvan's website, but hopefully this long entry has satisfied even the most anxious of readers! Feel free to comment that you were here!
Great!!!! So good to hear the flight went well, the fotos are wonderful choices, and it's fun to see the whole move from Duvan's perspective!
Barbara loves the commentary - so full and rich!
This is Eric's second visit to the website...saving it til we needed it!
Madeleine woke this a.m. saying "Ya," "Dee," and "Ma," reminding us to pray for you! We miss you tremendously...
Love,
Eric, Lis, Maddie, and Barbara
Posted by: Eric, Lis, and Barbara | February 3, 2004 07:52 PM
Hiya! After going through some withdrawl, we too wanted a little glimpse at our dear loved ones and were so excited to see these fabulous shots. Thanks for updating and allowing us to join the journey from afar. Have a wonderful time visiting.
Much love and many prayers for you all...
Dan, Miss, & Michaela
Posted by: Dan, Miss, & Michaela Elliott | February 4, 2004 10:31 AM
Hey guys!
I'm glad that you arrived safely in England and I hope you are enjoying your time! I'm really sorry I didn't get to talk to you before your flight. The pictures are wonderful, you have a precious little boy on your hands! Enjoy your travels!!
Posted by: Andrea | February 6, 2004 11:23 AM
Hey Guys
You are so amazing !! I had not expected such a quick update !! How could I forget about the enthusiastic Jan !! We are glad that you reached England safely and are sure that you must be having a great time there ...
The pictures are soooo adorable !! We cannot wait to hear and of course look at lots more of your pictures from your trip. May you have a great time and a wonderful rest of the trip.
With lots of love and good wishes,
Prachi-Prankul
Posted by: Prachi-Prankul | February 11, 2004 05:41 PM
Hi, glad to see that you are on your way home, enjoy Germany , let us know when you arrive at the airport(in South Africa) , Anthea Potgieter also send her regards and blessings.
Posted by: Reynette Grobler | February 13, 2004 05:04 AM
