Wagons Forward Yo!!!

November 10th: Duke is up to 17 lbs and is 28 inches long and rocking daily and by rocking I mean coughing. Poor Duke has been on and off having colds for about 3 months. The good part about his day care is the kids are amazing and adorable, the bad thing is between them and his nephews he has a cold once a week.This is him on cold 2 of 3. I thought the shirt would make him laugh....Poor thing didn't find the humor of the situation.

Duke is a very quiet baby when people are around. He will smile and laugh at anyone, but will only talk when there are a little amount of people around he is a jabber jaws talking to his toys and the ceiling. His music preference is moving more towards faster pop songs where he can wiggle and dance.

Trivia: John Wayne's Birthday is May 26th 1907

September 16th: Happy Birthday Duke!

"When I started, I knew I was no actor and I went to work on this Wayne thing. It was as deliberate a projection as you'll ever see. I figured I needed a gimmick, so I dreamed up the drawl, the squint and a way of moving meant to suggest that I wasn't looking for trouble but would just as soon throw a bottle at your head as not. I practiced in front of a mirror." -John Wayne

September 14th: I am a supper slacker who hasn't posted for the past month, however little man has been moving so much lately who can blog and type when baby is moving around. So my inventive son can get all around the house and everywhere. Duke's critical thinking skills crack me up because he may not have the arm strength to get him going, so he said you know what...I have a head, let me use that instead.

Duke got his first earache, and how does he react...he doesn't get upset over 5 seconds and is laughing at the doctor. I also learned that a scarf will substitute for a blanke any day of the week.

Duke's interaction with kids is developing and he is becoming more of understanding about wrestling...thanks to his nephews thinking he is their baby and wanting to carry him around.

Trivia: "The Greatest Cowboy Star of All Time" was the caption to a series of comic books dedicated to him. The "John Wayne Adventure Comics" were first published in 1949.

August 6th: Duke's 6 month evaluation went great, he has meant all but one goal (Met: Reach for Toys, Roll, support self on arms, In Progress: Propped sitting). We still have 2 months for that goal in progress, but he makes such large leaps and bounds so quickly I love seeing how big man is progressing.

Duke's new favorite toy is a hammer, it's hysterical. It's from my nephews play tools so it's meant for big boy play. He swings it around and I am shocked how he doesn't smack himself in the face. is will use it on his toy box and will flip it between hands..I am begining to think this Halloween he will be Thor (still debating).

Duke's social skils are really high, it's probably because he wa around so many in the hospital and I'm a believer in pass the baby. It's only going to get him use to new faces. He loves playing with his cousins and still gets time with his buddy Caleb twice a week.

I offered my brother $100 if he would get Duke to crawl one weekend, Boy did he try. He would get on the floor and work Dukes arms to show him how to crawl while singing the theme from "Rocky."

Trivia: John Wayne was a director in The Green Berets, Big Jake and The Alamo

July 20th: In a matter of 1 week Duke has done the following to every one's amazement and cheers
1. Clapping
2. Can give High 5's (with a lot of prompting)
3. Said his first word "Ma Ma"
4. Said his second word "Yeah"
5. Recognizes shaking the head no, and will do it when you ask a question(it's really the question alliteration in your voice he gets)

Any day now a tooth will be coming in, he'll be crawling....and going to college (insert crying mom here).

Trivia: He made several films early in his career as a "singing" cowboy. His singing voice was supplied by a singer hidden off camera.

July 17th: Duke like Katy Perry

"When people say a John Wayne picture got bad reviews, I always wonder if they know it's a redundant sentence, but hell, I don't care. People like my pictures and that's all that counts." -John Wayne

July 14th: Duke's first time at the beach, long story short Duke's new rolling trend means we had to watch him from rolling in the deep......sand (Duke's an Adele fan now too he claps to her).

"You're going to think I'm being corny, but this is how I really feel: I hope my family and my friends will be able to say that I was an honest, kind and fairly decent man." John Wayne

July 8th: Duke had his 9 month physical this week. He is 15 lbs 8 oz and 26" in length. Keeping him on the examination table is a challenge because all he wants to do is flip and roll and explore his surroundings. To show you how much little man has grown I give exhibit A. Here is his holding his teddy bear from the hospital, note that he is now bigger than the bear.

      After the appointment we were told to start trying him on solid foods or table foods. He is to be socialized in his high chair at dinning times and should be given something to eat such as puffs, cheerios or a bagel. I'm not sure about the bagel yet but we will see. Dukes first attempt were puffs and spaghetti strands. He did a good job pinching the puffs, but when in his mouth he tongued them out. The Spaghetti was funny because it would go in his mouth then come right back out.

      Duke had a very full weekend and week. We went to a party at my friend Laura's parents house and Duke was, as usual, a gem. He would laugh and smile when people were around and was so fascinated being outside.

     
      At the party there was a teenage boy hanging out, mostly people there were in their late 20's and up. He came over to look at Duke and talk with him, then he took his shoes off and got on the blanket and played with Duke. He's talking to him, shaking the rattle and getting him to roll; which was difficult in the grass. Duke is laughing so hard at the boy he can't catch his breathe at time, and I am laughing too. I found the whole scenario to be mezmorizing because he's a teenage boy, who didn't have the "I don't care" mentality and brushes things off. He was geniune and caring with this little baby. Duke...learn something from your buddy Marcus.

"You can't whine and bellyache because somebody else got a good break and you didn't."- John Wayne

June 23rd: Sometimes I don't know how to respond when someone asks me how Duke is doing. There are fine lines between closing people out about information about your child (i.e. poop, spit up, and other things that are TMI) and overly sharing (i.e. hourly updates on your child). I tell people Duke is awesome when they ask because....he is. He is always happy, he doesn't cry, he doesn't whine and every time I see him I can't believe he is mine. He sleeps through the night, he cracks up consistently and doesn't mind having other people hold them. It's funny when he plays with his bat and makes him fly, though he doesn't know how to fly yet. Just an awesome awesome kid. That's the best adjective for him.

"Westerns are closer to art than anything else in the motion picture business."- John Wayne

June 22nd: Come on....how cute is this kid! Uncle Charlie said the cutest thing today. I told Duke I love him, he said "Who doesn't love the Duke"

"Don't ever for a minute make the mistake of looking down your nose at westerns. They're art--the good ones, I mean. They deal in life and sudden death and primitive struggle, and with the basic emotions--love, hate, and anger--thrown in."- John Wayne

June 8th: When I go to Target there are rows and rows and rows of dresses, pink sleepers, ruffly bathing suits. What does my son have 3 racks (one of sleepers with animals, one of plaid shorts and polo sets and one of lame jumpers). I have to scope the internet and other options to pastels....Duke is not a pastels and winnie the pooh kind of kid. My son is a comic book/ rocker/ skull and cross bone punk kid.... this is expected from a child with a natural Mohawk. I think the lack of selection for boys is sad, but I am sure I will appreciate it when he is older. I am so proud of Duke in this picture because it took forever for me to get him to smile for a picture of him smiling.

Duke is the best sleeper. When 8 hits he starts talking to himself in his hungry voice and we have to get his bottle on. He falls asleep while drinking all but an ounce and stays asleep until 5 or 5:30 am. He is adorable when he falls asleep too. He was cuddling with his ugly doll dog tonight in his Nemo Pajamas and I am not sure I could love him more than I did at that moment.

"I was overwhelmed by the feeling of friendship, comradeship, and brotherhood"- John Wayne

June 1st: Babies first day at the pool was this weekend. Duke took it the same way he took his first bath, with consistent looks of "what is this about?" The funny things is he was so interesting to the little girls at the pool, they came over asked his name and why he was in a raft. Duke just looked at them like why are you bothering me. He and I will work on our social skills.

Duke is up to 14 lbs and has cute baby arm rolls. He's a fan of bananas and applesauce, he hates peas with a vengeance. He is rolling in the deep and knows how to get his butt u,p but he has to work on his abs to get him to scoot  more to crawling. He talks to himself, but mostly to his bee that is on the edge of his pack and play, the bee doesn't respond, but Duke keeps talking.

When fast music is on, he will kick his legs in a furry, in this little video you can see his "Paws Up" at the end. Notice, he only dances on the chorus.

"When people say a John Wayne picture got bad reviews, I always wonder if they know it's a redundant sentence, but hell, I don't care. People like my pictures and that's all that counts." John Wayne

May 8^th: Yesterday I was leaning over to Duke to tickle his stomach and he held my face for the first time with both hands and smiled. He is so incredibly sweet. He then proceeded to take the glasses off my face….that he got from his cousins. It’s amazing how big he is now. Here is comparison picture of the first time I held him to now. He is a person.

Today is our first Mother’s Day together. We started off the day very happy and smiley. It seems like Dukes is never in a bad mood (except that time when he was on the Roids). We spend time with the family enjoying our time together. It’s funny to see Duke when people hold him now because his neck and shoulders are much stronger and he is going to be sitting up on his own soon.

I was not expecting anything for Mother’s day, Duke is 7 months old and can’t make anything yet. I am totally looking forward to future works of art by my little bird. I think homemade cards and gifts are sweet.  When we were giving gifts Pop Rock came out with my “gift from Duke.” My money bags of a son got me a Kindle…however he didn’t know Mommy had one. For the rest of the day I got several guilt trips because I am returning my first Mother’s Day gift from Duke (totally feel like a heel).  Duke found a replacement that I didn’t have.

"When I saw what our boys are going through - hell - and how the morale was holding up, and the job they were doing, I just knew they had to make this picture."

May 1st: Duke has been sick. Poor baby sounds like an 80 year old smoker. He has a case of bronchial virus and now has the pleaure of nebulizer treatments every 3 hours. The cool thing is the mask is a dragon and looks like it is blowing steam, but the 3 hours is between feeds and through the night. Needless to say, I am exhausted! They put him on steroids for a day, but he was beyond angry and fussy, which isn't him even on his worse days. The doctor recommended taking him off and I was greatful because I just wanted my darling smiling baby back. It's funny, even when he was getting bloodwork and constant check-ins he was always content hand cheerful, if he is in the slightest bit whinney, you know something is wrong. When he is done he cracks his smile again.

Good News Duke is up to 13 lbs and finally has baby fat rolls on his arms, legs and feet.

"I have tried to live my life so that my family would love me and my friends respect me. The others can do whatever the hell they please"

April 24th: Happy Easter to Duke. The question of the week was what do you give a 7 month old for Easter.....babyfood and a duckie.

We all had matching outfits (which I am sure to hear "moooooommmmmm" for eventually but he can't say anything now). Everyone cooed over Duke, but the poor baby was hot after a while because it was 80 degrees. The sweater was the first to come off then the pants. I found it funny that he was chillying in a onsie in the family portrait with his 9 cousins.

Trivia "He made several films early in his career as a "singing" cowboy. His singing voice was supplied by a singer hidden off camera."

April 10th: Duke is almost 7 months old and has gotten to 12 lbs. He is super healthy (I mean one cold and one fever over this time: he totally got my amazing immune system). His hair still rocks the widows peak which naturally mohawks. His eyes are 100% blue, which are very clear and lovely. His favorite tools are the light honeycomb balls and his zebra rattle.

Duke's music taste keeps expanding from classic rock, he likes Ce Lo, B.O.B., Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney and Lady GaGa. When we are doing his exercised on the floor or ball. He has started to sing a bit when he hears music too, which at first I thought was him fussing, but realized he only did it when music was on. Then it was cute!

He's holding his head up and has a cute table Pop Rock made for him where he sits up and rolls trains to help develop his motor skills.

Duke has shown a lot of personality and it is all positive, he very rarely cries and sleeps through the night (blessing!). He laughs in the morning and the night and has very ticklish feet. He is a total cuddle bug in the morning and after his 5am bottle we sleep together until I have to go to work.

"When I started, I knew I was no actor and I went to work on this Wayne thing. It was as deliberate a projection as you'll ever see. I figured I needed a gimmick, so I dreamed up the drawl, the squint and a way of moving meant to suggest that I wasn't looking for trouble but would just as soon throw a bottle at your head as not. I practiced in front of a mirror." - John Wayne

February 15th: Duke is 5 months old today. He is so big, well as big as a 10 lb baby not at birth can be. He has found his favorite toy, which he stole from his Cousin Abram. It's a honeycomb ball that he will swing around, put in his mouth and pass from hand to hand. He is eating so well that I can't believe we were having the difficulties we were with him eating.
(the patch says it all)

John Wayne's Birthday is May 26th ( along with Helena Bonham Carter, Pam Grier and Peggy Lee)

February 5th: Oh Duke your birthday gift to me was fantastic... a 5am wake up call of you choking on your saliva. We are spending the day together and he is tagging along with me to my eye doctor appointment, I know I am the next Paris Hilton party girl.

     Duke has been doing very well with his movements, but he works a little more if his pants are off (which is weird) but when the pants are off the Flash dancing begins. He is a wiggle worm to the 10th degree and I love it. He will not perform for a camera though, the second he realizes it is there he freezes like the Warner Brothers Frog.

     His sense of humor has gotten so much better, he finally believes we aren't going back to the hospital. My favorite laugh is when you hold him and make him dance because his grin is on his full face and he cracks himself up repetitively. His neck and head strength are amazing! We had a photshot last week and he was holding his head up so well for the photographer.

"Some people tell me everything isn't black and white. But I say why the hell not?" - John Wayne

January 23rd: Duke had his 4 month check-up yesterday, which he handled very well. He is up to 9 lb 9 oz and 22 1/2". Dr. Schneider said he was doing very well for a baby who was 4 months old and his motor skills were those of a 4 month old rather than a premeie who wasn't even 3 months old yet gestationally.  The great thing is Duke is a smiling and laughing fool now. He is a very smiley baby in the morning and is a big fan of clapping. He also get the biggest smile when you play/ mohawk his hair.

"I want to play a real man in all my films, and I define manhood simply: men should be tough, fair, and courageous, never petty, never looking for a fight, but never backing down from one either." -John Wayne

September19th: My new chair.....

"I would like to be remembered, well . . . the Mexicans have a phrase, "Feo fuerte y formal". Which means he was ugly, strong and had dignity."- John Wayne

January 15, 2011: Duke has a sense of humor finally. Last weekend his ticklish spot was found and exploited, making him laugh like crazy. Since then he has been cracking smiles more. His smile is like a little treasure when you see it you just stare and smile as big as you can. He has also gotten a snarl, which he uses to let you know he is about to throw a fit.

     Duke loves spending time just kicking it. He reacts to music and likes to catch his football rattle.

     He is such a good baby I can't handle it! He just moves like crazy and is getting to be better with his rolling. Side to back is never a problem and he is going back to belly more frequently. We tried him in a swing, which he did fine with for about 10 minutes.....then was done quickly. He likes his lamb chair  and when the vibrations stop he has the funnies face (he's like "What... what happened? Why did it stop?").

     Duke is 4 months tomorrow. He is still not even 3 months gestationally, but he is in 3 month old clothes, he is doing better with keeping his head up, he is super alert, and is up to 3 1/2 ounces for his feeds. He is fairly consistant with sleeping from 9pm-5am (which I appreciate). The only thing he is missing that a 4 month old will do is batting at his mobiles (he stares at them and talks to them, but he's not batting at them yet....though he does kick up a lot). They say babies also start to show preferance, but Duke has been showing his preferance for adults....his PopRock. When my dad enters a room his head goes right for his voice, it's giving Grammy a complex.

"Screw ambiguity. Perversion and corruption masquerade as ambiguity. I don't trust ambiguity." -John Wayne

January 1, 2011: Happy New Year From Duke!!! Duke spend New year's eve with a photo shoot with mommy. He did very well with the photographer, but the SECOND we were done taking pictures he started smiling (little punk!). The pictures are adorable and his eyes are beautiful. What cracks me up is his eyes are still blue. The doctor says his eyes will be determined by 6 months, but at 3 1/2 months he still has dark blue eyes.

(You can see how long he has gotten)

      Duke's new years resolution is to walk. Now my dad says of course he's going to do that, but knowing Duke if I give him a goal he is going to exceed the goal by months as he has with his bottle feedings and rolling.

       Duke is taking less naps during the day and is a lot more active. Since I have been home for the holiday breaks we have been spending a lot of time doing fun floor time things, walks and visiting people. Duke got to meet my elementary Sunday School teacher and her husband (Janie and Emmett Stanley). They are the most amazing, sweet people you would ever imagine. Janie has been battleing alztimers for some time; which Emmett has been amazing with helping work with her. When they came by you would think her seeing Duke was the second coming. She just loved and kissed all over him and telling me how perfect he was. So Duke has an 80 year old girlfriend, which I don't think Emmett minded too much.