Duke’s First Birthday

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Mar 16, 2020

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My baby boy recently turned one on February 5th, and I’ve been wanting to share all the images from his first birthday shoot with Caiti Garter Photography! I figured I’m not too far behind yet, so let’s do it! In honor of his birthday, I’m sharing lots of photos and updates on what Duke is up to these days…

It’s a Boy!

This little guy of mine is just what our family needed to be complete. He is mischievous, super snuggly, and sensitive. Duke is my crystal blue-eyed boy that I didn’t know I needed, but is everything my dreams were made of.

I honestly always thought I would be a mom of multiple girls. When Dan and I went into the doctor’s office to find out the gender of our second baby, I was confident it was another girl and Dan was sure it was a boy. Fun fact: this was the same set of predictions we had with our first baby, and I was right that time! Brooklyn was the first in a long line of Flaggs to be a firstborn daughter. There are SO many boys in the Flagg family, so the odds were definitely not in favor of having multiple girls. Still, I thought for sure that my vision of a family of girls was what was in the cards for us.

I couldn’t have been more wrong, and I’m so glad!

Duke is so different than his big sister, Brooklyn. He challenges me in completely different ways, and definitely keeps me on my toes!

“Mr. Man” as I call him, is my stair-climbing, cabinet-opening, wild man. But at the same time he loves to be loved on!

My favorite time of day is getting him out of his crib in the morning and seeing his big smile and arms raised to tell me he’s ready to be picked up. He’ll wrap his arms around my neck and snuggle under my chin. It’s the sweetest, and just what I need to start my day each morning!

The First Year

The first year with our little man has flown by too quickly! While I was preparing for his first birthday festivities, I found myself constantly reflecting on the last year with the newest (and last as far as we have planned!) addition to our family.

Duke has been a great baby from the beginning. He slept through the night by 6 weeks old, and was in his crib full-time by 10 weeks.

He has loved baths from day one, and we started a routine at 3 weeks old that helped us settle him down for bed thanks to a podcast by Little Z’s that I heard. To this day, when Duke hears the bath running, he knows it means we’re getting close to sleep time! *insert praise hands*

Side note for new moms or parents-to-be out there: I definitely recommend checking out Becca of Little Z’s and her super helpful tips on sleep training for newborns and toddlers.

Here are some of Duke’s other milestones over the last year:

Baptism: 5 Months

First Solid Foods: 6 Months

Toes in the Sand for the first time: 6 Months

Crawling: 7 Months

First Tooth: 10 Months

Walking: 12 Months

What’s he up to now?

Duke currently has four teeth and four more have almost popped through. Poor guy! Teething is the worst and it can be so hard to watch on days where I can tell his mouth is hurting. “They” say we could never go through teething as adults because we couldn’t handle the pain! It’s pretty amazing what these little humans are capable of conquering with pretty minimal help!

Mr. Man is also running around all over the place. Literally! He has been the fastest crawler since 7 months old, but finally started really walking right around his birthday, and has since taken off.

At first, I was bummed at the thought of my baby officially outgrowing the infant days and turning into a toddler right before my eyes, but with a yellow lab in the house that drops hair like it’s her job, I was ready for him to start walking by the time he turned 13 months!

Life with Duke is a joy and oh so fun, albeit exhausting! I love seeing the wonder in his eyes for all the new adventures and discoveries he makes every day.

Duke’s favorite things:

  • Strolling in his red ride-on car
  • Swinging on the front porch swing
  • Dancing with Brooklyn
  • Balloons, just like his mama (hence the balloon birthday photo shoot!)
  • Holding hands with his sister in the car
  • Meal time (per usual!)
  • Drinking water out of his sippy cup
  • Knocking over towers that Brooklyn builds
  • Climbing the stairs
  • Testing his boundaries & learning all the things
  • Passies (yes, still a thing for the crib around here)
  • Bath time/splash time
  • Washing hands in the sink
  • Peter Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh and Daniel Tiger
  • Singing “This Little Light of Mine” and “You Are My Sunshine”

To my Duke Anthony-

I love you so much and am grateful to have been chosen to be your mama. Thank you for the light you bring to my life and the joy you share with others. I can’t wait to see all the goodness you continue to add to this world!


I’m looking forward to sharing some photos from Duke’s birthday party soon. It was Peter Rabbit themed and I had a blast putting that one together! I knew since he was just a month old what I wanted his party to look like, and it was so fun! Stay tuned.

And thanks to all of you for following along! If you have young kiddos, I’d love to hear how you are handling the transitions from one phase to another as your babes continue to grow and change!

Much Love,
Jamie