A lot of changes and events have happened in the last 3 months. read on for more information…
Devin was born on May 3rd, 2007. He is such a great baby. He is very happy and easy going. Devin constantly has full face grins and laughs a lot. When he’s not laughing Devin likes to analyze peoples facial expressions and tries to mimic them. Devin also likes to listen intensely to conversations.
At three months, Devin is cooing like crazy. Devin makes all his vowel sounds and every day he is adding new consonant sounds to his coos. His favorite songs are ABC’s and ABC’s with sounds. ABC’s with sounds is the ABC song rhythm, but I changed the words to A says ahh, b says buh, c says cuh, etc. Devin loves to coo along when they are being sung.
Devin has also started to say words. At 3 months, Devin is able to say who, how, owe, owie, uh oh, hi, I, A, unh uh for no, and yeah for yes. Tim & I also heard him say I love you twice in a row at two months. Unfortunately, we haven’t heard the words I love you all together since, but he is often saying I love you through sign language when he has his gloves off. To hear Devin say who and hi go to http://youtube.com/watch?v=cRAEGp1nhHw
Physically Devin has gown a lot. He is now in 9 month baby clothes, which translates to about 24 in and 14.8 lbs. Devin can roll from side to side, sometimes rolling all the way over onto his back or stomach. Devin can also reach towards objects, which is usually Mommy, Daddy, or his teddy bear. He has really strong legs and loves to stand while being lightly supported. One of his favorite things to do is to stand up and sit down over and over again.
I think Devin’s absolute favorite thing to do is to be tickled by Daddy. He just laughs and laughs. Tim has this crazy method of tickling. He’ll blow on Devin’s feet and then tickle Devin’s tummy like crazy. When Devin’s giggles start to subside, Tim will blow on his feet again and start the tickling all over. After all the tickling, Tim just has to look at Devin and he’ll crack up laughing.
Another game we like to play with Devin is an alternate version of the song: There was a farmer who had a dog and bingo was his name-o. We replaced the words with…
There is a boy who is so smart and Devin is his name
D – E – V – I – N, D – E – V – I – N, D – E – V – I – N
and Devin is your name.
For the song Devin lays on his back. On each letter we raise his legs, on the ‘Devin’ in the last line rub his tummy and then on ‘your’ touch his nose. He giggles and smiles like crazy when we sing it too him. It’s so fun!!! We are having a great time with Devin.
While keeping Devin and ourselves entertained we have also managed to do other things too. During Devin’s second month, I took a 5 credit college course in order to keep my teaching certificate. I have been so focused on Devin’s arrival that I didn’t realize that I was short two credits to renew my teaching certificate. I was taking a course for my Master’s degree, but it wouldn’t be finished in time. So, I had to finish a three month UW extension class in a few weeks. Taking the course while taking care of Devin was much harder then I had expected. So, I drew on the recruits for baby sitting duty. Devin’s Grammy Dana came to the rescue and watched Devin three days for a few hours each day. Devin had so much fun!!! Dana is such a wonderful Grandma. My sister Mary also came to the rescue watching Devin for two days. She even spent the night, which helped me get a little more sleep so I could focus on studying. Mary had Devin laughing like crazy with all their bouncing. Then Tim worked from home a week, so he could help watch Devin. With everyone’s help I managed to finish the course just in time and my teaching certificate was saved.
In early July, Tim stayed home with Devin for two weeks, while I implement my Master’s Project at a summer camp. My Master’s Project focuses on teaching students math by having them learn to program animation. Learning math through programming animation is a fun and safe way to learn math concepts. Mistakes can be seen on the screen, often resulting in funny actions such as a picture moving in very unexpected ways. The camp I implemented my project at was a lot of fun. The kids made some really fantastic animations. My last step is to write up a paper on the overall project. It should be done by the end of Fall quarter.
Tim has also been super busy. He has been working on three computer games while continuing to work at InfoSpace testing a news-content web portal. Tim did the weapon and explosion effects in Galactic Melee which was entered into Indie Game Showcase. If you are interested you can download and play the beta version of Galactic Melee at http://www.galacticmelee.com. Tim is working on Sector 13 which is another 3d space shooter. Tim has been working on Sector 13 for a few years. Sector 13 was also entered into the Indie Game Showcase and can be downloaded and played http://www.indiegameshowcase.com. The third game Tim just started working on is called Goon World as Technical Art Director. Goon World is in the beginning stages of development in the 5 year process and won’t be available to demo for a while.
The rest of the time we have been spending with Devin. We read lots of books, sing songs, and go for walks. We also have Devin do physically stimulating activities like tummy time, stand up/sit down, and practice taking steps. We have also brought Devin to the circus and the zoo. Having Devin around gives us a great reason to revisit some of our favorite sights in Seattle.
If you are interested in reading updates on our life you can go to our blog at www.tagenigma.com. You can also see our family pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lgraup & http://www.flickr.com/photos/73103362@N00.
We hope all of you are happy, healthy, and enjoying life!
Take care,
Linae, Tim, & Devin Graupmann
