Puddin’ Tane: How Doster Got His Name

Creating Doster’s name was one of the most important jobs that we had as parents-to-be.  

It’s a big decision and your child has that name forever— what an incredible responsibility!

I always knew that I would want a name that was a little different.   There are so many options and paths to go: trendy, hipster, nontraditional, family names, vintage names…It actually didn’t take us long to come up with our “boy name”.  In fact, it was a really easy 
choice.

Doster is James’ mother’s maiden name.  James was named after his Grandfather, (Commander) James Doster who was one of the most influential people in his life. “Granddaddy Bo” was one of the happiest, loving, caring people that I have ever met.  I am so thankful that I was able to spend time with him while James and I were dating.  He and James are so much alike and it helped me fall even more in love with the Gilbert family. 

James and Granddaddy Bo showing off their school spirit socks!

So as you can see, Doster was an easy choice for the first name.  Plus, it sounds cool, right?  For those of you wondering about the pronunciation – just think of Foster but with a D ;)


 I’ve always really liked the name Patrick.  It is my dad’s name and my brother’s name, and I just love the way it sounds.  Maybe because it has the word “trick” in it…  Go ahead, say it aloud.  It’s fun to say, right?

I am so lucky to have such a close relationship with my Dad.  He is one of my favorite people in the world and I Do.Not.Know.What. I’d.Do. Without.Him.

My Daddy

Getting used to life with my first little brother, Patrick.

We are so lucky that we have such influential people in our lives that we can honor by naming our son.  AND we really love the name.  I can’t remember exactly when we decided on the name… probably way before I even became pregnant.

On a nickname note: for some reason, we’ve started affectionately referring to him as Puddin’ Cake, Puddin’ or Big and Awesome.

Has anyone else ever heard that old saying:
What your name?Pudding Tane. Ask me again and I’ll tell you the same!

Just wondering.

Anyway……


I don’t know what we would have done had Doster been a girl.  We could not agree on a girl name and it was stressing me out a little towards the end (for new readers: we did not know the sex of our baby).  Luckily it all worked out and we had a boy so there was no last-minute deliberation necessary.  

I’ll never forget the first words James said to me as Doster was presented to us after the c-section:

“He’s here!  Doster’s here!”

And now a recent pic, just for fun:

Okay, one more!

My Guy - 2 Months!

My little man is two months old today.  It’s hard to believe – but not in the oh-my-time–is-going-by- so-quickly kind of way.  To me, it seems like I’ve had him for a year already.  Is that weird?  I guess that’s what house arrest will do to you.

The last few weeks have been the BEST yet.  We’ve started going on more adventures including walks, errands and we even took him to a restaurant.

First Family Walk-- A Short One Due To The Heat!

Our First Restaurant Trip As A Family-- A Quick Place During Non-Peak Hours (Just In Case!)

His sleep improvements have been awesome and have made me feel more balanced and normal again.  We still have some work ahead of us on achieving an earlier bedtime but for now our schedule works and that is okay with me!

Our biggest venture the past month was definitely visiting Palmetto GBA and WLTX (workplaces of James and myself).  It made me realize how much I actually miss the people that I work with, which is a great is blessing in and of itself I suppose.

I plan to get out even more over the next coming weeks now that I have a little more confidence.  I head back to work around Labor Day and I want to make the most of these last few weeks at home. 

And now for the monthly details:

Size:

We won’t have his official weight until our appointment next week, but I’m guessing 13ish pounds.  He weighed almost 11 a few weeks ago so I am excited to see!  He is wearing 0-3 month clothing and occasionally wears a 3-6 month outfit.  As for diapers, we are officially a size 2 kid!

Feeding:

Doster continues to be very serious about his food.  He eats about 26-28 ounces per day, sometimes a little more.  About 8-12 ounces a day come from me, depending on how much I can pump.  I’m obviously still having supply issues but I am at peace with our feeding situation now.  If I can give him 2 or 3 “Mommy Bottles” per day, I will keep pumping as long as I can!

Sleeping:

We’ve seen SO much sleep improvement in the last month. He typically sleeps at least 6 hours now, and last night he actually slept 7 and a half! His sleepy parents are very grateful!

The problem I am facing is the TIME that we actually start the long stretch.  He usually goes down around 12:30 and wakes up at 7:30 or 8.  After a morning bottle, he’ll sleep another 2 hours.  I’d love to push the bedtime back earlier and am trying very hard to do so.  This week, my goal is to shorten the morning nap in hopes that this helps.

Doster does not like to nap during the day and fights sleep with all his might! 

We’ve started a nighttime routine that includes a bath, and this baby LOVES the water.  Baths seem to make him pretty happy and calm so it looks like we’ll have a clean baby on our hands if nothing else.

Personality:

I love this guy.  He is very happy when he is playing on his mat, looking at his toys or being held by anyone.

He is starting to have more non-gas-related smiles which are heartwarming.

Doster loves to be around people and is not so keen on being by himself; this is perfectly fine except during naptime when he cries if I leave the room.  He’s a social guy, what can I say?

Development:

Doster’s skills include: eating, pooping, peeing, crying, spitting, looking around, smiling and passing gas.  Our new skills for this month are: turning over from his tummy, looking at his mobile (thanks Janine for letting us borrow!), holding up his head constantly, grabbing our faces, and chillin’ on his play mat.   He is not such a fan of tummy time, but we try to do a few minutes of it daily anyway. 

Our Little Photo Shoot: