Donovan's One Year

Happy Birthday, Donovan!

I know this is a late post. I realize the formatting on this post is not right, but I'm too tired/lazy to fix it. It's almost 1am. I can't believe that I never did a full post for the whole month of July! We were just too busy with all our adventures, I suppose.
We took D to the Doctor today and he is 26 lbs 3oz. (88th %ile) and between 32-33 inches (95th %ile). So he has definitely plateaued in his weight, which is nice for my back's sake. He sure is tall, though. And he is advanced in his behavior. I guess I figured that, though I haven't had a lot of time to pay attention to the milestones of my baby like I did with Mason.

• D says 5-6 words inconsistently. Perhaps some are only imagined by those of us listening. But the words we know he can say are: Dada, Mama (which he uses for "more" more often than for mom), nigh-nigh, aack (jack), ahdah (all done). We think he may also say a form of grandma for which I couldn't find letters to describe the sounds. He also says "mmmmm" when he's about to get food.

• He runs, climbs, dances, bounces (pretty much the same as dancing), and he's close to jumping. He just started using a fork, which he stabs around the food on his tray, but usually needs help getting it to stick, but then he puts it in his mouth. He can drink out of a regular cup, but we don't often give him one because he still likes to pound everything he's handed on his tray to see what sound it will make before he uses or eats it. So it's just easier to give him a sippy cup.

• He understands a lot of what we say to him. Tonight my mom told him to get a book so we can read, and he turned to where the books are and walked over to them. He loves his books. During the day he'll find a book and carry it to the closest person and set it on their lap so they'll read it to him. He has the cutest face when he does that. One of the only times all day he sits still is when he's in someone's lap while reading a book. He knows when we ask him if he wants food and naptime. If I want to change his diaper, I can show him the diaper, and he either looks at me with his adorably frustrating mischief face and then runs away laughing, or he comes over and sits in front of me and lets me change him. 
  
  
  

•  He's not using sign language the way Mason did at his age. I was always impressed with how well Mason accurately signed, but D kind of does "all done" and that's it. Donovan is getting pretty good at pointing and making sure you see him doing it. The other day he was pointing at a chocolate cake and made sure Grandma was clear that was what he wanted. His eyes got really big, and he stared and pointed at the cake, then stared at Grandma while still pointing at the cake, then stared back at the cake. It was funny. 

• He still doesn't sleep through the night. Ugh. He wakes up 2-3 times. With all the traveling we've done lately and his recent double ear infection, I haven't been as much of a tough momma with making him sleep through the night. However, my brain is suffering from the poor sleep, and my thought processes are a bit muddled. Hopefully this will be repaired with a normal sleeping schedule in the future.

• I'm still nursing him. I keep thinking I'm going to wean him, and then I just don't. I guess I would like to have him first indicate to me that he's ready. I haven't had many problems, only a few instances involving his new teeth, and I love the time with Donovan.
• Speaking of teeth, he has six. Four on the top, two on the bottom. He has at least half a dozen other teeth just under the gums, threatening to appear at any time, and probably all at the same time. We went to the dentist and the doctor and they've both verified this looming event.  

•  When he gets mad he opens his not small mouth as wide at it goes and bellows. It's impressive. He sings (it sounds like a controlled, high-pitched scream), he mimicks sounds from animals (growls and dog barks, mostly), he makes car noises... such a boy!

• He loves to throw balls. He'll run across the yard to get a ball, even with other toys nearby. He can put two mega legos together, and is really good at taking them apart, much to his brother's chagrin. He drives cars around the floor, but only for a few seconds before he's off to another toy. He will turn the pages of books, and likes to pull the peek-a-boo tabs.
• He loves rolling on the floor. Sometimes just lies on his back with his arms and legs out to the side, with a huge grin on his face.  He did that on his stomach today, as well. If I am lying on the ground, he'll come up and bury his face in my stomach, then steamroll me, laughing the whole time.

• He knows how to get into trouble. He makes his rounds several times a day: climb the stairs, splash in the dog bowl, throw or eat the dog food, play with the moss in plants, play with the window blinds, open the cabinets and drawers and pull everything out.  I don't get much done during the day. We've baby proofed a lot of things, but some things are not so easy to fix. I still haven't figured out how to discipline him. I've tried to startle him, I've put on my mean ugly face, I've clapped my hands really loudly, I've yelled really loudly with a mean ugly face, I've put him in timeout, and with all these attempts, he just turns and smiles his adorably charming smile, not feeling at all scolded. This boy is going to give me a completely different ride than my first. I am going to need a seatbelt.

Donovan is such a fun baby! He laughs and smiles most of the day, which makes it impossible to feel sad (such a blessing when my husband is a world away!). He makes you feel so appreciated and loved. He'll walk up to me and nuzzle his head into my neck for a precious second and then continue his playing. He loves his big brother, and has brought out a caring and playful side of Mason which I hadn't seen before. They are having fun together, which is a miracle when you consider where we were twelve months ago.

We still haven't had a party for him here. We celebrated in South Dakota a few weeks ago (a post about that trip will be coming soon), but I just haven't gotten my ducks in a row here. Soon enough. He doesn't know any different, right? Mason asks everyday when we are going to have D's birthday cake, though.
This is a long post. I'll get some more pictures up in the near future. I need to go to bed.

 

 We love you, Donovan!!!!