Trivia: John Wayne's real name was Marion Robert Morrison.

March 29th- Duke is doing a great job with starting to pull himself up to a a standing position. He will stand for some time then realizes I'm getting laughs so I'm going to sit and clap. Clapping has become Duke's Cryptonite.

"I made up my mind that I was going to play a real man to the best of my ability." -John Wayne

March 21st: One of my earliest memories is singing with my father Rainbow Connection in the car. I've loved music and have always had a song in my head or one out of my lips as I am walking. Duke and I have been excited about The Muppets movie for months. Duke has practiced his standing against the couch as we watched the preview. For Christmas he got a Kermit puppet and we have used it to sing with him and now he initiates play with it. Last night Duke initiated play with his new finger puppets and we all enjoyed how he carried poor Gonzo in his mouth and Combat craweled to Miss Piggy (which would have been true to form for Gonzo).

Another area Duke has taken on personalitywith is with his singing, or his interpretation of singing, which is screeching, which is similar to my singing (have to work on that). His dancing, as in the video, could use some work also. At first I thought he was fighting but realized he was dancing.

"I don't act . . . I react." -John Wayne

February 18th- Duke is super excited about everything now. Puffs...excited, Rolling....excited, Socks.....excited. Lately he is getting more vocal and when he sees something new once he has determined it doesn't move he will start to loudly talk/ yell at the item (I think it is to show he is dominant.) When things do move, he sits up and plays with them for long periods of time. He recognizes his toys when the are on the tv (The Muppets and Elmo) and looks for me to acknowledge that I recognize his toys too.

I love Cupcakes!!!

Happy Valentines Day!

Trivia: In John Wayne's Movie Flying Leathernecks the Leathernecks of the film's title is military slang. Leatherneck is a common nickname for marines of the United States Marine Corps (USMC).

Each month of this year Duke and I are going to visit somewhere new he has never been before. This month we went to the John Wayne Museum in Bowie Maryland. How is there a John Wayne Museum in Bowie, well allow me to tell you how Bill Atkins was in Flying Leathernecks with John Wayne when he was 19 years old. Bill has turned half of his real estate office into a mini museum with items from the movie and stills where you can see Bill in shots of the movie with The Duke. When we came to the door I introduced Duke to Bill and he was tickled/ surprised by my son's name. He was very excited to talk about the different items and had a partner he use to work with who was a John Wayne impersonator.

I asked Bill if he would mind taking a picture with Duke and he didn't mind, but didn't think he would come to him. Duke, as usual, took to Bill and cuddled with him as Bill talked with him. I was only nervous because I wasn't sure if my baby may have been to heavy for Bill, but Bill walked around and showed Duke pictures. At the end he gave Duke and I a "John Wayne Dollar" he makes for all visitors. He was a sweet man and I loved that this was our first adventure for 2012. For information about going to the John Wayne Museum you can call Bill at 301-262-0153 and make sure you tell him Duke sent you.

 

"[on being asked about his "phony hair" at Harvard in 1974] It's not phony. It's real hair. Of course, it's not mine, but it's real." John Wayne

January 16th: Guess who learned to Raspberry.....

"[on America] I can tell you why I love her. I have a lust for her dignity. I look at her wonderfully classic face, and I see hidden in it a sense of humor that I love. I think of wonderful, exciting, decent things when I look at her . . ."

January 13th: Duke is a wiggle worm in bed he starts in the same position when he goes to bed (on his belly with his hands up, but everymorning he is in a new area of the bed. At times it is like he is doing sleep breakdancing. We have switched from him waking me up to me waking him up in the morning to ensure he is getting his full bottle. I love when I see him and playing with his toys in the morning. The bear he had in the hospital melts my heart when I see him playing nosies with him. Nosies is the game his PopRock came up with Duke, it is where Duke touches noses with different things.