A day in the life of Donovan

This week wasn't too out of the ordinary, except I took a BUNCH of pictures and video.

Donovan and I were in the bathroom looking in the mirror to get him to calm down (the only mirror we have in our apartment right now is in the bathroom) and he kept looking at the sink, so I decided to put him in it and he loved it (don't worry, I had just cleaned it the day before). He liked it so much that I was able to take a shower one morning while he was still awake! It only worked once. He kept trying to stand up and I was afraid he would roll right out. But it was fun while it lasted. Donovan loves reflections. Sometimes I think he likes my reflection better than me. He is getting so big. He has almost mastered sitting up by himself, with the occasional face dive to get a toy. He is also a master at rolling onto his tummy, but still won't try to roll onto his back. I guess I should cherish this time while it lasts. I have to feeling that as soon as he is mobile he will never stop! He already tries to crawl all over us and gets mad when we try to lay him down. He tries to sit up by himself whenever we put him down.

This week Donovan lasted a little bit longer playing by himself.

He read a book. He played with his cups/bowls that his Aunt Hannah got him for Christmas. And played with his soccer ball...almost.

I have been working on keeping him awake a little longer throughout the day and I have him down to 2-3 naps a day. I have been trying to get him on a better schedule so he will sleep better at night and have less grouchy time during the day. The first few days were a little rough, but it is getting better and I am becoming a little more patient with him. We are definitely growing together and he knows who his mommy is! He also knows his daddy! Every time Brad walks in the room Donovan lights up and gets so excited. They have so much fun together. I love to watch them play together...maybe because I get a break, but I'm sure it is mostly because they are so cute and so much alike already!

Hanging out with Mason

This week, Donovan got to play with his cousin Mason. Mason's babysitter was out of town so I watched him for Lenna and Scott. I love Mason, but it really made me not want to have kids that close in age. Mason is just over a year older than Donovan so he still wants a lot of attention, but doesn't like it when I play with him while I am holding Donovan. He likes to play with Donovan's toys and gets mad when Donovan plays with them. It was pretty funny, but by the end of the week he was sharing a little bit better...mostly because he was bored with Donovan's toys. Donovan loves to watch Mason, he always watches him with a big grin on his face Sometimes I think Mason likes Donovan, and then he gets annoyed by him and doesn't want him anywhere near him. I'm sure they will have a lot of fun once they are both a little bigger. Mason did show Donovan some tricks on the cell phone though.

Donovan can now officially roll over to his left and right. He still can't go from front to back, but we are working on it. Being able to roll over makes him want to spend a little more time on his belly, so hopefully he will build up those muscles so he can start crawling in a few months. It seems like he is always moving. It is very rare to get a moment of him just wanting to snuggle while he is still awake. He always wants to be moving or eating. Sometimes he will pause to watch what is on TV, but as you can see, Mason's attention span is much longer (they were watching Baby Einstein "World Animals"). I took a lot of pictures this week because Mason always wanted to pose in pictures with Donovan. He would sit on the couch, point at Donovan and pat the couch, then he would say "chee" (cheese). It was so cute, I had to humor him. I hope Donovan is fun like Mason when he gets older, but I could do without the "yeah" (no offense Mason). Tia and Lenna-if you want any of these pictures, shoot me an email and I will send them ASAP.

In other news, Donovan has a very cute tushie (how would you spell that?) We borrowed this from Mason and had to take a picture before he grows out of it (which has probably happened by now). It should be a pretty embarrassing picture when he's older, but I think it will be hilarious!

More of Donovan in Utah

Donovan can't get enough of himself.

Me, Brad, and Donovan

We went on the perfect night. It was cold, but it was so beautiful with the snow.

Donovan started laughing at his Uncle Caleb's goatee for some reason.

Donovan's middle name sake...I always thought Grandpa Newville was so much fun, apparently Donovan doesn't feel the same way :)

On the plane ride home with Hannah
Random videos I took shortly after returning home.

Donovan can roll over!!!

I guess I will have to start at Christmas since I haven't posted since the beginning of December. We had an awesome Christmas in Utah. We got to see a lot of people we haven't seen in a while. There were a few people we missed and I apologize for that, it was a pretty fun filled trip. We had plans almost every night. Brad and I spent our first night away from Donovan. It was a nice break, but we missed the little guy. We also finally had Donovan blessed. It was nice to see how many people love Donovan and how many people showed up to support us. We also got a chance to go to Park City and a Jazz game with Scott and Lenna. As you can see we were pretty high up, but it was a lot of fun and the Jazz won! After the game we met up with Tiva, Becky, and Derek Waddups (a guy from the singles ward we met our first year in Iowa). It was nice to see them.

Donovan also went sledding for the first time. He went down the hill with his mommy 3 times! It was difficult to tell whether or not he liked it. He tolerated it very well!!

Christmas itself was nice. We were pretty spoiled by both families. We had to borrow 2 bags from Brad's parents just to get everything home. I didn't get any pictures from Christmas morning because my mom was taking a lot with the digital camera she got from my dad...a few days later, they were erased by one of my brothers. It's okay though, I am sure we will make up for it next Christmas. All I can say is, we are very blessed to have 2 families who love us so much.

We rang in the New Year with stomach aches this year. Brad's friends decided to have an eating contest. Brad ate about 19 cinnamon rolls and I ate about 3/4 of a pan of rice krispie treats. I made a double batch but I only ate 3/4 of one batch. Tiva mocked me when she found out so now when she gets back from her mission, I am going to make her eat a pan in under an hour and see how she does!!! I will remember Tiva. Which reminds me...when would you like to eat that whole chocolate cream pie Bex? I wish I had the pictures from that night though...they were great. Brad's friend Dave gave me the idea to roll the rice krispie treats up. It was the size of a small log. I really thought I could do it, but I didn't take into account how long it takes to chew them.

Well, now for the moment you've all been waiting for...Donovan rolling over!!! Now that he knows how, every time I put him down on a blanket and leave the room, when I come back in he is on his stomach. I hope this video works! You can see the determination in his face right before he makes it over.