January 2004
- 100 days old! He scored his first century on Saturday.
- Growth spurt. Just when you get used to one schedule, a growth spurt comes around to shuffle things around a bit!
- Imitating sounds. We're seeing the first signs of Duvan trying to imitate the sounds that we make. It's still very spotty and not entirely reproducible, but it's so much fun and really exciting when he decides to play along!
- Neck control. :) This will have to be the last time we mention this. But we thought we'd close the chapter on neck control - Duvan now has complete control over his neck :). We'll now have to start talking about upper body control. He'll sit up for a little while with some support - before we had to literally hold him up, but now he just needs help with balance and controlling his upper body.
- Crying when you interrupt his fun. :) When he's having a lot of fun with something, he'll complain if you suddenly pick him up and move him away.
- Frustration. When playing with his toys, he really expresses frustration when he's not able to properly reach it, or if he cannot make it do what he wants it to. We've recorded some of this talk - check out the sound clips below.
- First diaper rash. :(( Poor thing, we switched diaper brands and it turns out Huggies don't quite work as well as Pampers (for us anyway). So he developed a slight wet rash in the folds of his groin. To make things worse, we had some wipes in the diaper bag that we had not used before, and it turned out they contained something that really irritated the rash. :( So it was like applying iodine to a wound - only it burned in a place where you don't like it burning. Poor baby, he cried his second tear (remember his first were back in October).
- First visit to the zoo! He saw lions (yup he watched them!), giant fruit bats (ugh), monkeys, elephants and all kinds of animals. He really enjoyed the day.
- Duvan has made peace with getting dressed. It's still not a favorite activity of his, but he's given up the fight. :)
- Health again! Two weekends ago we were concerned with a slightly high temperature (and a cranky Duvan). Dad also did not feel too well during the day, we stood in agreement with God that we won't be sick and all woke up well the following day. Praise the Lord!
We're continually thanking God for Duvan's sleeping habits. He sleeps peacefully no matter where he is. If we're out, we take a pack-n-play (camping cot) along and he'll sleep in that as soundly as he does at home in his crib. Night-time sleep is still 8:00pm to 7:00 or 7:30am. Daytime naps are far shorter (almost always 40 minutes to the minute) and he'll take 3 or 4 of those, around 9am, 11:30am, 2pm and sometimes at 4:30pm. Every so often we get concerned that these naps are too short, and will try to nudge him to take longer naps, but he's quite happy with 40 minutes max!
Last week Duvan was in a growth spurt, so he got hungry again every 3 hours, and would not easily go down for his naps. It seems to have passed again, he's getting back to his regular routine.
Diaper duty is an absolute pleasure. Duvan is at his most talkative and playful on the changing pad. He loves to grab our arms while we're working with him, and will touch and explore the texture of our sleeves. He's also always having fun with his bug mobile that's sitting across the changing pad:
And he has a lot to say while being changed.
Duvan is getting a lot stronger in his upper body, and when we look at him it's incredible to notice how much he's grown in the last 3 months. He's so much easier to handle now, which makes for a lot fun during playtime. Also, instead of just crumbling into a little heap when you try to prop him up, he sits up for a little while before sliding into a nice reclining pose :)
Duvan finds Mom & Dad's dinner time very amusing, and is super cute in his conversations with us. We're also noticing that he's starting to do little tricks to get our attention. No one can elicit smiles and laughter like Marésa can.
He will hang at Marésa's lips during dinner-time, and if she's not looking at him, will wait anxiously for her attention. We love this expression on his face, it shines with so much of his personality.
Right before bathtime:
Whenever Dad plays the guitar, Duvan will stare at either of Jan's hands. He loves all forms of music, whether we're playing rythm, dancing for him or blowing on the ocarina.
Finally, we'd like to include a sound clip of Duvan's frustration with his toy. He was playing for about 10 minutes or so by the time the recording started. If we leave him for another 5-10 minutes, the talk will turn to a cry. :)
Frustration (30 seconds, MP3, 118kB)
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Oupa en Ouma is so trots op hom! Kyk ek voorspel dat hy al sal kan praat voordat hy een jaar oud is. So 'n oulike knapie. Lief hom vir ons ook!
Posted by: Pa & Ma Jacobs | January 7, 2004 02:17 PM
Length: 27" (99th percentile)
Milestones:
- Rolled over. Duvan rolled over again last week!
- Sitting. We noticed early one morning that Duvan was able to balance somewhat while sitting by himself. He soon fell over, but it was enough that we've really started to encourage him to sit up. We'll just hold him steady, he definitely has the upper body strength to keep himself up for long times. He looks so cute when he's sitting up by himself!
- Kicks his legs up and holds hit there. While lying on his back, Duvan has started to kick his legs straight up and just keep it there. It's so cute! We'll post pictures of it soon!
- Attachment to Mom & Dad. We're visiting a lot of folks in the evenings. Last week we went to see some friends and Duvan was very unhappy in anyone other than our arms. It's so good to know he knows us now. We're more than just care-givers!
- Healing! (See below).
- Another great report from the doctor. Duvan is growing well, all his "vitals" are checking our well. According to the doctor, Duvan is ready to start on solids. We've decided though that we'll wait until after we've made our international move before embarking on that adventure.
Well, we really wanted to show you some pictures about these last 10 days, but unfortunately those are on our computer that's being shipped to South Africa. So... check back some time in middle March for the completion on this entry.
Today, after Marésa had Duvan in the Snugli for some time, she came into the bathroom and noticed that he was deathly pale. Soon after he also threw up and just appeared a little lifeless. In the afternoon Duvan had had some bad diarrhea as well, so all was not boding well. The diagnosis by the doctors we called was that it appeared to be a stomach bug, because his symptoms were not expected side-effects of the shots that he had earlier in the day. When Marésa first called with the news of Duvan's vomiting and diarrhea, Jan prayed earnestly to God for healing (more out of fear than out of faith). Yet God answered our prayers, because it wasn't 15 minutes later that the color returned to Duvan's face and he was fine as a whistle. He was all smiles and had a normal evening! We are so thankful to Our Father!
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