32 Inches of Blake in 10 Inches of Snow

When I told Blake we were going outside in the snow he went right to the front door and opened it by himself (one of his latest tricks). Little did he know it would take 20 more minutes for us to get our snow gear on!

But he was very excited to go out, and loved exploring the snow once we finally got out there!

Here he is standing on a pile of snow made by the plow that cleared our driveway.

Dada is sending him down a gentle slope in the driveway on the saucer-sled. I wasn't sure how he would react...

But he loved it! This kid loves a good ride!

Here he is walking in the packed snow and holding Dada's hand. It melts our heart to have those little fingers wrapped around ours while he takes his big-boy steps!

And lastly, Blake has a big-boy haircut! Let's start with a "before" pic:

And here is the "after." As Blake would say, "tah-dah!" 

Since Dada fired Mama from the hair-cutting role, I decided to take him to the local Hair Cuttery, and they did a good job. Blake sat on my lap while she cut with scissors (I asked for NO clippers, since I thought the clippers would freak him out). I showed him his favorite book, and he was only moderately squirmy. At home I ended up "fixing" a few uneven spots, but over-all I think it turned out pretty well (this pic is pre-fix; it looks okay as long as his hair is swept across his forehead like that, but it was slightly longer on the side with the part).

"Crying it Out" - Mommy and Blake

Here is a chronology of the "cry it out" attempts so far:

Night 1:
Blake slept through the night, and we didn't need to let him cry at all. He woke up slightly earlier than normal (6:15am as opposed to 7am) but I decided to get up with him at 6:40am becaue he wasn't likely to go back to sleep at that point.

Night 2:
Wake-up #1, 10:30pm - we let him cry. Unfortunately, however, we were having some electrical problems and had to mess with the fuse box which caused all the electrical equipment in Blake's room to go on and off (night light, space heater, noise machine, and humidifier) multiple times, which freaked the baby out probably even more than the fact that mom and dad weren't coming to his rescue. After 30 minutes of crying hard he suddenly stopped, and about 5 minutes later I peeked in on him. He was looking right at the crack in the door and started screaming again. I thought I had harassed the boy enough, so I decided to go in and rock him back to sleep (as the lights/machines continued to flicker on and off).

Wake-up #2, 2:30am - let him cry and he screamed for about 50 minutes before falling asleep. Very painful, but I was suprised and encouraged that he DID fall asleep eventually. I had planned to go to a back room while he was crying so that I could sleep, but I was too tired to get out of bed, and I still feel like I should know what is going on so I stayed within ear-shot of the desperate cries!

Wake-up #3, 5:30am - let him cry again, and he cried on and off for about 30-40 minutes before falling back asleep briefly, only to wake up for the day at 6:45am.

Phew, the kid does it right when he does it, huh?

Night 3:
Slept through the night, and we didn't need to let him cry at all. Woke up at 7:10am for the day.

Now, I am definitely PRAYING that Blake just starts sleeping through the night on his own consistently and we don't really have to let him cry it out. But we are prepared to continue to let him cry at night. At this point I would find it very hard to believe that one night of letting him cry produced the next night of sleeping. I am more inclined to believe it is just God's mercy on a tired, pregnant mom.

Child Labor

Blake loves the Swifter! And Mom's not complaining.

Also, Blake sees me wipe up the floor under his high chair quite a bit (he always thinks it is very funny, not sure why). The other day one of the dish towels had fallen to the floor and I saw Blake wiping up an imaginary mess on the floor all by himself.

Here is a little art exhibit. He actually did this a couple months ago - he always seems to be a little ahead in his "fine motor skills." That is probably just to make up for his delay in the "gross motor skills" (for example, not walking until 16 months). Presently, while I know Blake can scribble, he is more interested in dumping the crayons out of the bag and (sometimes) putting them back in, and I usually have to watch him like a hawk because he likes to draw on anything BUT the very large paper I put in front of him. (e.g. piano bench, wood floors, coffee table, etc.) Thankfully, "washable crayons" have really proven to be just that!

A Long-Overdue Update - Blake at 16(+) Months

Who wouldn't love that face?

My precious little-big boy...Oh, how I love watching him grow! Here are some updates and anecdotes:

General:

• Blake is walking all the time now, and has many bumps and bruises to prove it. (Notice the purple stripe on this face in the pic above - that is from when he pulled over a kitchen chair onto himself.) It is super cute to put him down in our bedroom and say "go to Dad" and watch him stagger with intense determination all the way back to Mike's office.
• He can open doors that have paddle handles, like our bedroom door (he escaped the other day while I was taking a shower and locked himself in his bedroom). 
• Blake has seemed to be showing some fear of the dark at night, crying for no apparent reason and only comforted when we are the room with him. This was pretty pronounced for a few days and now seems to have improved. His glow worm seemed to help a little, and Blake likes to sing with it, "do do dooo doo."
• He is very afraid of noises the house makes, particularly the wind as it howls in our windows or rattles the house. He often runs to me, crying, when he hears it, or when he hears some other noise he can't identify.
• Blake is still taking 2 bottles a day of EleCare. We have given him some small quantities soy milk and so far it seems like it hasn't bothered his tummy, so we might transition him to soy to get him off the expensive formula. So far he doesn't like the soy enough to drink enough of it to be a substitute.
• He is still waking 1-2 times a night, and when he wakes up he usually gets a partial bottle and a lot of Mama time. =( Mama would really rather sleep, but I still can't bear to let him scream it out. But I might be getting near my whits end real soon.
• He is eating more solids/table foods, really only limited by his dairy allergy (he can't eat much of what we eat because I don't cook dairy-free). He prefers baby food veggies, and I am happy he is willing to eat them at all, so I haven't pushed that really hard. But I try to introduce new foods regularly. He had applesauce mixed with blueberries one day and got a TERRIBLE diaper rash, so NO BLUEBERRIES for Blake for a while.
• In the past week I have mostly weaned him off the Pepcid, and so far so good. Sometimes it takes a couple days for the symptoms to re-appear, since the medicine stays in the system for a while. We'll see how he does.
• We are leaving Blake in the nursery at church more often. This is hard for Mama, since he typically cries when we leave him, and he almost always looks like he has been crying when we pick him up. But I think I believe it is good for him to have time with kids and to learn to go to strangers in a safe setting. I think.

Comprehension: I continue to marvel at his comprehension level!

• The other day I was in the shower and Blake was playing in the bathroom and bedroom like he always does while I shower. He was watching me through the glass and indicated that he wanted the conditioner bottle that I was holding at the moment. I told him, no, he couldn't have THIS conditioner bottle, but I told him that he had his own conditioner bottle (an old/empty one) in his toy box in the next room. Next thing I know he leaves me and walks away, only to return with the conditioner bottle that he retrieved from his toy box! 
• Blake told Dada he was hungry (pointed to his mouth) while in the play room one morning. Mike said "there is food on the chair for you in there" (we often put some cereal on the kitchen chairs after breakfast so that he can reach a snack if/when he wants it). Blake left the play room and went in to the kitchen, only to come back with cereal in his hands and mouth!
• If Blake is stinky I tell him we need to go upstairs to change his diaper and he pretty immediately proceeds to the steps. If I ask him who is stinky he smiles and pats his chest! (Although sometimes he says "Dada." Don't know who taught him that.)

Imitation:

• Blake loves to brush my hair with my hair brush or comb. (I have to remind him to be gentle and not whack at my head in the process.) 
• The other day he watched me put on my deodorant and then when I handed him the (closed) deodorant bar he rubbed it up and down his arm, similar to what he saw Mommy do! 
• When we get in the car he often puts his toy phone to his ear and says "Dada..." followed by a bunch of baby babble, presuably imitating what he has seem Mommy do time after time. (But of course I have NEVER used my phone in the car since it became illegal in Maryland.)
• (see more under "Cute Things" below)

Association:

• He saw my computer camera on the table the other day and said "MumMum" (because we usually talk to my mom, "Mom Mom," via Skype using the camera).
• He often calls the phone "Dada" because, of course, we always talk to Dada on the phone. 
• Every time he sees a CD he shakes his head back and forth in a mini dance because, of course, music comes from CDs.
• The vacuum cleaner is very fascinating to Blake, mostly because it is so loud. Recently he has seen both Mom Mom and Paw Paw run the vacuum, so whenever we mentioned their name Blake would wave his arm back and forth saying "vrrmmm" (the sound the vacuum makes) to remind me about how they used the vacuum.
• Sometimes he points to a bib in the laundry basket, or to his high chair, and then to his mouth (usually the sign that he is hungry), but I am pretty sure he is just telling me that he uses the bib when he eats, or he sits in his high chair to eat. It is fun to see him trying to communicate (and Mama getting it sometimes)!

Verbal: Blake is saying all sorts of things:

• "Mama"/"Dada" (all the time). If we are in the same room he often says "MomDad" as if it is one word and we are one. If one of us is nearby but out of sight he typically says our name until we come back into view.
• "MumMum" - Sarah's mom
• "PawPaw" - Mike's dad
• "Nana" - banana
• "Pada" - pasta (or something like this...I can't remember his exact rendition)
• "Cookoo" = rice cooker, a favorite kitchen "toy"
• "down" (he surprised me one day and said this clear as a bell when he wanted to be put down from on bed"
• "gun" - gone, like we took everything of of one of the kitchen drawers, and he periodically opens the drawer and says "gun!" (it's all gone)
• "PooPoo" (yes, poo poo)
• "Poh poh" - where the poo poo comes out of (German)
• "Thhhss" - "Tschüss," German slang for goodbye. Super cute, like a baby with a lisp.
• "QuaQua" - cracker (very similar to the sound he makes for a duck, but usually in different contexts!)
• "Uh oh" - all the time when things fall
• "Splah splah splah" (with hand motions alternating up and down) - "splash splash splash," a.k.a. a bath or the pool
• He is eager to try to imitate words if you ask him to, with varying success. I appreciate the effort!

Obedience/Disobedience: Blake is starting to show his rebellion and we are seeking to be faithful to discipline him. If anyone has questions about our use of discipline, I recommend the book "Shepherding the Child's Heart" by Paul Tripp for more info the principles and practices we are trying to apply.

• Sometimes if I ask him to give me something that he doesn't want to give up he will comply and hand it to me, only to walk away and let out a delayed shout of protest. I am glad he obeys, but we are trying to correct his attitude, too.
• While Blake eagerly complies and goes upstairs when I tell him I need to change his diaper, he almost always arches his back and yells when I try to pick him up to put him on the changing table. 
• Blake usually comes when Mama says come. It was a huge blessing when we were in Costco the other day and I let him walk around in the eating area. When he strayed a little too far I just said "Blake, come to Mama" and he came back to me. I must say, I was pretty surprised.
• Sometimes when I pick Blake up to discipline him (and he knows what is coming) he bites me, and then I discipline him right away for the bite and then discipline him for whatever he originally did wrong. (I need to get input on exactly how to handle this...I hope we are doing it well.)
• I often see him surpess an urge to bite me in anger. If I tell him "no" to something, particularly if we are on the changing table and I tell him he can't hold the petroleum jelly, or he has to lay still or something like that, Blake will reach for my face to pull me in close to him and it looks like he wants to bit me, but he almost always kisses me instead. I think this is a very interesting (and surprising) act of restraint. 
• Blake tends to melt down (respond in disappointment or sadness because I tell him 'no' to something) more than he reacts in anger. I find this harder to correct - it seems hard to justify disciplining him when he is already in a sad puddle - but I still need to do it. God knew what kind of boy I needed to challenge me and make me more like Christ!
• We are starting to flick less and actually discipline with a rod. I need to continue to seek to be consistent, particularly regarding what gets a spanking and what gets a flick. And I need to place more "rods" in convenient places around the house because a 16 month's memory is very brief, and I can't take 5 minutes looking for the rod before I get back to him!

Cute Things:

• Blake still loves to kiss my belly. Often out of the blue he will "ask" me to pull up my shirt so he can kiss it. This can be awkward in public, but it is particularly endearing now that I am pregnant. We have also told Blake that there is a baby in my tummy, and sometimes if we ask him where the baby is he points to my tummy.
• Blake also likes to "sneak up" behind me and hug me from behind. He still loves to kiss my lower back if ever it becomes exposed. I think these are all things we have done to him and he is just imitating us.
• As a follow up to the biting point in the section above, Blake, Mike and I were playing on the floor one day, and I bent over and crawled a couple steps to retrieve a toy. Blake quickly crawled after me, and I thought he was going to kiss my back like he often does. Nope. Instead he BIT MY BUTT! Huge shock, and after bursting out in laughter I tried to compose myself to remind Blake that he may NOT bite Mommy!
• Blake has become used to the fact that, as I crawl behind him while he climbs up the stairs, I often kiss his cheeks and tickle his belly. So now, while he climbs he often pauses to lean to the side to present his cheeks to me to kiss! Very sweet, and I love to comply!
• Mike often gets up with Blake in the morning and gives him breakfast to let me sleep in a little more. When I come down and find Blake playing with Mike, once Blake sees me he usually runs into my arms and gives me a big hug. Absolutely melts my heart.

I feel like it is hard to capture all the daily, spontaneous, delightful, smart, silly fascinating things he does, so consider the above just a small taste of "a day in the life." Blake brings us so much joy, and Mike and I love sharing stories about the things he does.

I love being a Mama. The kitchen floor isn't as clean as it should be, the laundry isn't often put away, the play room is in a constant state of chaos, and I have a hard time planning creative/new meals. But I am cherishing every moment with my little boy! 

Blake's 15 Month Stats

Now that Blake is more than 16 months, here are his 15 month stats! His percentages are unchanged from his 1 year appointment - our cutie pie is still wider than he is tall, with a big head!

I'm slowing chipping away at the blogging I hope to do. I have already composed in my mind a post about all the wonderful, cute, endearing things he does each day, but that will have be be composed another day.

Puffs

Turns out Blake can take the clip off a bag of puffs, effortlessly and quickly! He was quite pleased as he spread them all over with his hands, after the initial dumping of the bag.

And then he proceeded to eat puffs by the handful off the floor (and I let him)!

I owe myself a lot of posting, including 15 month stats. Coming...some day...soon?