Update on Blake!

Its been five months since I posted anything new on Blake. Sorry for the lack of commentary and pictures! He sure has grown in the past few months and is nearing his first birthday! I can't believe a year has almost gone by. Thankfully Blake was what you call an "easy" baby and I was armed with my "baby-wise" knowledge so I can honestly say his first year has been wonderfully smooth sailing! Here are some things that he is doing now...

Language: He can say "dada" and sometimes will call James that but mostly he uses it as his top babbling word. He said "mama" twice but its still not one that he knows well at all. "Uh-oh" is probably the word he says most clearly and correctly the majority of the time. When something falls, its "uh-oh" in the sweetest voice ever. He can sign more than he talks. His signing words are night-night, eat, play, more, milk, no, and all done. He waves bye-bye and hi and will clap his hands anytime you say "yay" or "good job". He can give high-fives, and will give open mouth kisses when you ask, and he will stretch his arms out wide in response to "so big!", when you ask how big he is. He'll also move his head from side-to-side when you say "dance, dance!", and the move is so uniquely Blake. He also will say "ow" when he is pulling my hair or pinching my skin and I saw him do it to a stuffed toy today as well. He babbles a lot and is trying really hard to pick up new vocabulary or expressions. I think he is just as smart as can be!

Physically: Last doctor's appointment he weighed 20 lbs and is above average for height but in the normal range for weight. He is a quick crawler and has even tried the stairs a few times. He is really good at standing now and can pull himself up quickly but still doesn't have full balance to stand on his own. He likes trying to cruise the furniture but realizes that crawling gets him places faster. I am in no hurry for him to walk anyway so he can take his time with that one! His hair is finally growing in so at least it looks like he actually has hair. Its a light brown with reddish tones to it. He has James' hairline of the widow peaks so it looks like he has a very high forehead. haha He still pretty much looks exactly like James but once in a while he'll look like me. =)

Eating: He is pretty much done with baby food and has moved onto full adult foods. He eats anything and everything and hasn't turned his nose up at a single thing just yet. Yesterday he even wanted to try some really salty green olives and I gave it to him expecting to see a really sour face but he gave no reaction and absolutely loved them! Go figure. Soft, manageable foods are still on the menu but its getting easier and easier to find things I can give him since he can handle bigger chunks now. So that is nice. He has 6 teeth now, 4 on top and 2 on bottom. He decided to stop nursing at 9 months old so we have switched to formula. I tried for a month to continue nursing but it was obvious that he was done so I gave up. I would've preferred to go at least 12 months but it was what he wanted and I am perfectly fine with that. Plus nursing in public with a wriggling 9 month old that likes to pull the cover off was getting old so in some ways I am really glad that part is over! He drinks other fluids from a sippy cup but is perfectly content to have me hold the cup and/or bottle that he is using. He has no desire to hold his own drinkware which I find a bit amusing and a bit exasperating. Depending on the circumstances. When I have the time to sit and cuddle with him while he takes his bottle, then its nice. He likes to hold my hand or stroke my arm instead of holding the bottle, but when he is having a snack and wants a drink while sitting in the highchair and I am trying to get dinner on the table, then its exasperating that he won't try to hold his cup to drink when I know he can. Ah well.

Personality: He loves all his grandparents and loves entertaining for them. Even when he is not feeling well or is tired, he'll perk right up for an opportunity to have all eyes on him! He still is very friendly and will smile at any stranger that passes him by. He makes goofy expressions and loves to scrunch his face up when told "no" in protest. Sometimes he will even fake cry at times. Ai yi yi. He plays well on his own but loves to go exploring and finding other fun things he can get into. He likes it when I hide behind a corner and he has to come find me or when I try to chase him on my knees. He loves music and seems to be pretty rhythmic. He will try to mimic James when he pounds out a beat on the table. He loves learning and likes to point to things and have you tell him what it is. He is starting to get more into books now which is fun. I caught him "reading" the other day as he went through a book and said very distinct and different sounds from one page to the next. It was so cute!

He certainly has changed a lot and its been so much fun to see him pick new skills up and to see who he is becoming. He is an awesome little baby!

I haven't done very well in taking photographs lately. Its so hard when he is constantly on the move! But here are a few pictures of various times over the past months. If everything cooperates, I might even post some videos.

The Gregga cousins








The resemblence is strong, eh?





Enjoying a fall day




First time in a pile of leaves





Still entertaining even when he is sick!

New Year Musings

Do you ever feel as though you are running on a hamster wheel and never going anywhere? You're doing so much to try and keep up yet it feels as though you're getting nowhere? I feel like that a lot lately. At the end of a long day, I lie in bed and think of all the things I didn't get done and of all the things I need to get done the next day and it seems as though the list just grows longer. Whether its physical things like housework and errands, financial goals or failures, long held goals or dreams, or just dailyies "I-should-start-doing-this-or-that", its as though I'll never reach the end of that list.

As the new year has come upon us, I feel as though its time to start weaning myself off the wheel and actually accomplishing some things. I have not done Resolutions in years because by Jan 5, I have already failed at them. But I think I was taking the wrong approach to it. Setting high and lofty goals that would never be attained: don't drink sugary drinks, stop eating chocolate, exercise everyday (notice they tend to be of the physical improvement department), and not really giving myself any help in these areas by making the goals more manageable. And besides, for my resolutions to be geared toward the outside is boring and predictable! This year I have decided to focus more on things that I actually want to do and am motivated to do it. I also work really well when I have a goal set in mind and a time-frame to do it, so instead of thinking how I will do one thing for a whole year I am going to break them up into monthly objectives. Things that have been on my mind...

*Monthly date night
*Monthly Sunday dinners with various church families
*Monthly project goal (like do 3 pages of scrapbooking, or complete Blake's baby book, etc)
*Read some more theological books (not sure how I will break this one down, maybe one every quarter or something)

As you can see, these items are a bit more specific and have always been on my mind in various forms but I need to actually set some manageable goals to get them done. With things like having people over on Sunday, James and I have been saying for two years how we want to do this but then we inevitably forget and don't ever do it or just do it on occasion. No more!! We will set the third Sunday as the Sunday to have someone from church over. So that way its on the calendar and we don't forget.

I just feel as though I need some concrete goals in place so I can feel as though I am accomplishing things. I thrive on organization and I hope this will help me to become more orgnanized and see that list grow shorter. Here's to a great 2010!