February 25, 2011

"The Duke" by Eric

Just received the following message on my Facebook wall from our friend Eric:

"I love "Day 22" photo where "The Duke" is in his little Hugh Hefner robe. All he's missing is a pipe and a sweet pair of Brownline eyeglasses."

A few minutes later I see this.....


I'm DYING.  Oh. My. God.


Thanks Eric :)

365 Days of Duke - Days 15 thru 28

Baby Duke,
Yesterday you were one month old.  Before you were born everybody told us to enjoy every minute because it goes by too fast.  Boy were they right.















The first two weeks of your life were somewhat of a blur to me.  I was recovering from surgery and learning how to take care of you.  The last two weeks feel more like real life.  A new and different and better real life.  We are getting to know you and your needs and what makes you happy and content.  We are surprised every day by how much love we have for you in our hearts.  I'm sure your head has officially been covered in a million kisses.
You had your 4 week doctor appointment this week and you are growing and thriving.  We are so happy our little tiny 5 pounder now has some cheek chub!.  You really love to eat and based on how many hours we've logged in your rocking chair nursing I had high hopes for your weight gain....and you exceeded our expectations!  You gained over two pounds, grew an inch and a half and your head grew 3cm since we left the hospital!  You are still a teeny guy but you're catching up quickly.
Your stats on 2/22/11:
Weight: 7lb 4oz
Height: 20.5"
Head: 35.5cm 
The last two weeks you've been practicing smiling a lot - mostly in your sleep, but we know what that smile is going to look like when you officially melt our hearts with it.  You love to do whistle lips, you've spotted your hand a couple of times and you are awake a lot more during the day, mostly just looking around and absorbing your new home and our faces.  When you are upset the only thing that helps you stop crying is bouncing on the pilates ball.  You REALLY love bouncing.  Don't tell your doctor, but you will only sleep at night right next to me.  You hate your cradle.  It must be cold and lonely in there (even though it's right next to me) because you will only fall asleep curled up next to your mama.  I sure love it a lot....but sometimes I wish I could stretch out and relax for just one or two hours at night. We'll keep trying out your cradle and i'm sure one day you'll surprise us and stay asleep in it.  Until then, i'm going to appreciate every minute my baby boy wants to sleep right next to me.
You've been on a couple of walks, a couple of meals out, a trip to Trader Joe's and you walked to Staples with your daddy alone.  You guys were gone for kind of a long time and I did get a little worried, but I forced myself not to call and check up on you and of course you made it home just fine.  This week our favorite nickname for you is "mama's little sweetie roll".
Keep growing little boy....we love you!
~mama

February 23, 2011

Long Weekend

We had a great long weekend (thanks President's day!) full of relaxing, hanging out, small adventures, eating and staring at our baby.  We tried out our stroller for the first time and let me tell you....it is one of our best baby purchases.  We went with the Quinny Buzz 3 and couldn't be happier.  It's easy to use (after a bit of practice), strolls smoothly and easily, is lightweight and the perfect size.  One of the back wheels keeps deflating so we've got to figure out how to fix that, but overall we're very happy with it.
On Sunday we drove to the Johns Hopkins campus for some lunch and a walk.  It was pretty chilly but felt good to get out of the house and get some fresh air.  We also met up with some friends who have one year old twin boys.  Their little guys seem SO big compared to Duke.  I can't believe he's going to be that size a year from now!





Ritch has a bunch of work travel coming up so Duke and I will be going it alone for much of the end of February and March.  Of course it's not my favorite but I know baby boy and I can do it.  I am doing my best to appreciate the fact that I have so much time to spend with my baby and not dwell on the fact that we'll be on our own.  Ritch went to work late this morning and let me sleep for 3 uninterrupted hours AND take a bath.  It was heavenly :)

Love,
C  

February 20, 2011

Happy Sunday

I hope your Sunday morning looks a lot like ours


Our agenda today includes a sunny day, a walk around the Hopkins campus (trying out our stroller for the first time...Duke has been a sling/moby wrap baby when out and about so far), lunch out and a visit to some friends who are very anxious to meet this little guy.

Love,
C

February 18, 2011

Out of Room

My lap is officially full.


Plus, we were wondering if you have two spare seconds and two clicks to keep us listed on the "Top Baby Blogs" site?  We really appreciate it! 
ps - you can vote once a day using the link below or on the right side of the blog...

Click To Vote For Us @ the Top Baby Blogs Directory! The most popular baby blogs


Love,
C

February 15, 2011

Tears

This picture captures the moment Duke met his Grammy Patti, my Mom.    


Today my mama left to go home to Colorado.  I'm blue.  There were tears.  Lots of tears.  I already started missing her the second she got out of the car at the airport.  I hate that we live so far apart from each other.  


I am so happy she was able to hop on a plane in a moment's notice and stay with us for almost 3 weeks.  I can not imagine these three weeks without her and my heart is happy that she was able to be here to watch our family of two turn into a family of three.  Duke is so lucky to have her as his Grammy.  My ultimate goal is for our families to live closer together.  Life is too short to live so far apart from the people you love the most.


Grammy spent hours crocheting this beautiful turquoise blankie for her boy.  It is already one of our favorites.

Thank you times a million for taking such good care of us.  We love you and miss you so much already!! 

Love,
Chels & Baby Duke

February 11, 2011

365 Days of Duke

We decided shortly after Duke was born that we wanted to capture a photo of him every day, by himself, for the first full year of his life.  Baby boy was two weeks old yesterday and we've managed to get his first 14 photos.  The hardest part so far is choosing our favorite every day....little mister is dang cute if I do say so myself!















Baby Duke, on your two week birthday I wanted to remember some of your favorite things in the world so far in your first 14 days.
~ You love holding your hands in front of your face and sleeping with your hands over your eyes.  I am certain you were in my belly with your teeny hands covering your face and it brings you comfort to lay that way.  You rarely have your arms by your sides and hate to have your arms swaddled in your blankie.  You also like to suck on your hands and sometimes your thumb.
~ You love sitting in the rocking chair in your bedroom with mama, nursing and listening to music.  Some of your favorite music so far is Sia, Van Morrison, Radiohead lullaby, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Eddie Vedder Into the Wild soundtrack, Zero Seven, Adele and Beach House.  Your daddy made us a "mama mix" before you were born and we've listened to it over and over and over.  We'll need him to make us a new one soon.
~ Before you wake up from a nap you make the cutest squeak, usually 3 times.  We haven't figured out what it sounds like yet.  The little sound is all your own and I hope you do it for a long, long time.
~ You sneeze a lot and you always do one fake sneeze at the end.  Why do you do that?  It's pretty funny.
~ You have had the privilege of spending the first days of you life with your Grammy who loves you more than words.  You love sitting with her when you're sleeping and looking at her snuggling when you are awake.
~ You love taking a nap on your dada's chest and listening to his heartbeat.  He loves you so much and is so thankful that you are finally here.  He loves that you are so tiny and new, but he also can't wait until you can smile and play and do jumpie and go on adventures with him.
~ When you get upset and start to cry you squeal like a hawk.  You kind of sound like the eagle at the intro of the Colbert Report.   Sometimes we call you little hawk boy.
~ You are really good at eye contact.  When your little eyes are open you love nothing more than gazing into all of our eyes.  Those little blue eyes have sucked us all in and it is literally impossible to love you any more than we do.  We can't wait to see what color those little peepers are when you get bigger.
~ You had your first check up this week with your pediatrician.  You did such a good job.  You are still such a teeny little guy but you've been nursing like a champ and I know that you will grow big and strong in no time.  You gained all of the weight back that you lost after you were born and you were 5lb 12oz at your two week check up.  You already have such strong arms and legs and can lift your little head all by yourself.
~ We have taken a few outings in the last week, including lunch out twice, a drive out to the country to look at the horsies, one trip to Target and three doctor's visits.  Everybody loves to look at you and the general consensus on your name is that "it's a big name for such a little guy".  
~ Some of your nicknames right now are: tiny pants, bright eyes, sunshine boy, snack cake, hawk boy and sweety pants (even though your pants are usually stinky).

we love you our precious baby boy,
mama

February 9, 2011

February 5, 2011

We've been doing a lot of this lately






Recovery from my c-section has been slow and difficult.  I'm feeling better day by day and this little mister is definitely helping me along.  Today has been our best day yet.
Love,
C
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