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Daniel has had a very big week!
First off, he turned a year old on Friday! It's hard to believe how the time has flown (especially when the first 3 months in the NICU seemed to go so slowly)!
On Sunday, we had a ceremony at our church for him. He was baptized in the hospital when he was about a week old, but it was of course pretty basic. Paul and I weren't even there - we had requested that it be done and didn't realize that the priest would do it when he next came in, without letting us know a time. We were a little disappointed, but of course given the circumstances at the time, we were glad that it had been done. Anyway, on Sunday we got to have the actual ceremony part with our family there. Daniel wore the christening gown that has been in Paul's family for literally 100 years. Afterward, we had a little party for him at our house to celebrate his baptism and birthday. He is getting completely spoiled, especially by his grandparents. ;) He was up way past his bedtime and got a little cranky towards the end of the day, but overall he did really well considering what a long day it was and that he kept getting woken up every time he tried to nap in the car.
There's also been a couple new milestones. He's been able to sit up on his own for a while now, but not for very long. In about the past week, his balance has greatly improved. He's able to sit and play with toys for a good long while, and if he starts to tip over, he can usually catch himself. He does of course still get tired, or too enthusiastic in reaching for a toy that's a little too far away, and then he does fall over, but there's a really big difference all of a sudden, which is really cool to see.
He's also just decided that solid food is pretty good. A couple weeks ago, he was tolerating it if I could get it in his mouth, but he really wasn't all that interested in getting it in there in the first place. About a week ago, it got easier to convince him to open his mouth, and on Saturday he started opening his mouth on his own and leaning forward to take a bite. He also did it for a couple bites of cake at his party, which was surprising. Of course cake is very sweet, but I wasn't sure he'd go for it at first since it's a completely new texture and preemies often have texture issues. He opened right up though and had several bites. Obviously he won't be getting cake all the time, but I do think it's a good sign that he didn't seem to mind the new texture. :)
We haven't had a chance to take the 12 month pics yet....hopefully that will happen in the next couple days, and then they should be posted shortly afterward. :)
--Amy
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So we've been slacking again on the posting. Part of that was because we were out of town this week, and before that there was a lot of prep going on. We went to Orlando and spent a couple days at Sea World and a few days just hanging out, relaxing, and shopping. It was quite nice. This was our first real trip with Daniel, so we had to make sure we thought of all these things we've never had to bring before, and figure out what he could hopefully live without for a little while. I think we did a pretty good job, since there wasn't anything baby-related that we were kicking ourselves for not bringing. :)
Daniel had a lot of fun....we wore him out a few times, but he was really tolerant of being up past his usual bedtime and he slept pretty well. He did wake up around 1-2am instead of 6-7am, but he went back to sleep without much fussing, and he's not really used to sleeping in his playpen in our room anymore (which he was at the hotel). Between that and being in a strange place, I think he did pretty well.
The big hit of the trip was the pool. We started him out in the 6-inch deep kiddie pool and he and Brad (Karen and Mike's little boy, 6 weeks younger) discovered splashing, which was very interesting. Then later I took him in the big pool, and he really liked being held out in front of me and kicking. He was grinning and laughing and it was absolutely adorable. I'll definitely be taking him to the community pool here soon. :)
The big news for this week is that he started saying mama. :) Paul didn't want to admit it at first, but since Daniel's saying it pretty regularly now, he kinda had to. :)
Daniel's still not quite sure what to make of solid foods. He does like to hold the spoon and put it in his mouth himself, but he doesn't generally open very wide, so I'm not sure how much is actually making it in. Sometimes he's agreeable to at least eating a little, sometimes not. I'm not sure yet if it's just that he's not in the mood at those times or what. So far, he hasn't gagged or spit anything out, but sometimes he's just completely uninterested.
We ended up not being able to make it to the March for Babies. :( The day before, Paul threw his back out. He's better now, but when we got up that morning, he could barely walk, so going was out of the question.
I'm not sure how much Daniel weighs now, but he's definitely growing. We retired most of his smaller clothes a couple weeks ago and moved him up to the next size (3-6 month, or 6 month, depending on the brand). He's also in 6-9 month sleepers now. I'm guessing he's around 13 pounds, but he's also pretty long, so he tends to grow out of things like sleepers and onesies before he hits the top of the weight range.
We did take 11 month pics, and hopefully they will be posted soon. They didn't turn out as well as usual, so we had been planning on trying again the next day, but we never got the chance. We have some vacation pics too, which I think Paul is currently sorting through. Stay tuned! :)
--Amy
Daniel had a lot of fun....we wore him out a few times, but he was really tolerant of being up past his usual bedtime and he slept pretty well. He did wake up around 1-2am instead of 6-7am, but he went back to sleep without much fussing, and he's not really used to sleeping in his playpen in our room anymore (which he was at the hotel). Between that and being in a strange place, I think he did pretty well.
The big hit of the trip was the pool. We started him out in the 6-inch deep kiddie pool and he and Brad (Karen and Mike's little boy, 6 weeks younger) discovered splashing, which was very interesting. Then later I took him in the big pool, and he really liked being held out in front of me and kicking. He was grinning and laughing and it was absolutely adorable. I'll definitely be taking him to the community pool here soon. :)
The big news for this week is that he started saying mama. :) Paul didn't want to admit it at first, but since Daniel's saying it pretty regularly now, he kinda had to. :)
Daniel's still not quite sure what to make of solid foods. He does like to hold the spoon and put it in his mouth himself, but he doesn't generally open very wide, so I'm not sure how much is actually making it in. Sometimes he's agreeable to at least eating a little, sometimes not. I'm not sure yet if it's just that he's not in the mood at those times or what. So far, he hasn't gagged or spit anything out, but sometimes he's just completely uninterested.
We ended up not being able to make it to the March for Babies. :( The day before, Paul threw his back out. He's better now, but when we got up that morning, he could barely walk, so going was out of the question.
I'm not sure how much Daniel weighs now, but he's definitely growing. We retired most of his smaller clothes a couple weeks ago and moved him up to the next size (3-6 month, or 6 month, depending on the brand). He's also in 6-9 month sleepers now. I'm guessing he's around 13 pounds, but he's also pretty long, so he tends to grow out of things like sleepers and onesies before he hits the top of the weight range.
We did take 11 month pics, and hopefully they will be posted soon. They didn't turn out as well as usual, so we had been planning on trying again the next day, but we never got the chance. We have some vacation pics too, which I think Paul is currently sorting through. Stay tuned! :)
--Amy
Just a quick reminder, the March for Babies is this Saturday! Please consider donating to this very worthy cause....every little bit helps! There is a link on the right side of this page. Also, consider joining us at the walk! Thanks!
--Amy
--Amy
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