Bad Doggies...

(Blake trying to play with a sleepy Lily Lovemuffin.)

(Timber supervising Play Time.)

I'm pretty sure the phrase 'bad doggies' might be Blake's first word/phrase, it is definitely giving 'Hi' a run for it's money!

When I was pregnant I heard stories from everyone about how I was either going to hate my dogs or how they were going to get put on the back burner or how my love for them was going to change once B was here. I am not joking when I say that some stories I heard had me in tears and added to the anxiety and worries I had about bringing Blake into our 'pack'. While some things I was told had held some truth, the matter of fact is that I still love my dogs just as much as I did before. Maybe even more when I see Blake try to play, tug, or pet Lily Lovemuffin, my first 'fur' baby. The one thing I have less to almost no tolerance for is the potty-ing in the house.... Believe me I KNOW it is absolutely disgusting, but having a dachshund- a breed that is notorious for never fully being potty trained, and a 7 year old rescued German Shepherd, it is something that I have learned to live with. (Also, the reason we spent almost $8,000 replacing our carpet with tile...) However, with Blake around when I see an 'accident' in the house it absolutely sends me through the roof, I scream and yell and my 'fur' babies get an extended 'time out' in the garage. The other day, as I was screaming, yelling, and having an absolute fit I looked over at Blake and he was just staring at me. He didn't look scared but just had this confused look on his face. I looked at him and said, "Chicken, you have baaaaaddddd doggies!" He looked at me, gave me a huge open mouth smile, and continued on with his play. I guess my lesson of the day was to tone down the madness when the dogs decide the inside of our home is one giant grass patch.

But that is what mommyhood is, a bunch of lessons and a whole lot of potty accidents! =)

(He may look cute and cuddly, but underneath that is a pee monster dying to be unleashed!)

(My sweet, sweet girl... She doubles as a poo machine...)

Cousin Love...

This weekend we took Blake on his first overnight trip to visit his Uncle Gabe for his birthday. Overall Blake did very well, he wasn't so crazy about sleeping in his pack & play. In fact, he only lasted maybe two or so hours. So he spent the majority of the night with daddy in a recliner in the family room and the rest of the night in bed in between us. The best part of the trip was that B got to spend time with his cousins. He gets so much love from them! I love knowing that he is going to grow up with them!

(B & his cousins, Keaton and Grace)

Last week, we went to his other (2nd) cousin, Quennie's, wedding. He was so cute all suited up & playing with his cousins from his mommies side of the family! How cute is my little man?!?!?

(Posing with Duck!)

(My beautiful little family minus the fur babies!)

Nom, Nom, Nom... Food is such a messy thing!

(Day 2 of eating solids, way less messy, & in a brand new high chair!)

Blake's 5 month rite of passage was the introduction of solid foods and a brand new high chair! I have to admit I was both excited for this day and dreading it as well. I was excited because it was something new and exciting for Blake and Mommy, plus baby's first food is a huge milestone. I was dreading it because I have heard that it is super messy and takes forever, and of course it meant that hitting another milestone meant that my little baby was growing up!

(Day 1 of eating solids...
"I don't know about this mom...")

We started with runny rice cereal which he really did not like too much, he didn't like the mashed up banana I served with the rice cereal either. I have heard from other mommies that when babies start to eat food they really love it, so when Blake was less than thrilled I thought I would just wait a little bit longer. But before throwing in the towel I would give it one more try the following night. I had noticed that Blake really did like solid foods, I had given him pizza sauce and frosting (okay, I know, not the best baby foods... but I swear I was only giving him a teensy weensy bit!) So I decided to thicken up the rice cereal and start with some green beans. HE LOVED IT! He ate the whole thing, which was half a tub of green beans and a tablespoon of rice cereal, plus 4 ounces of milk to wash it all down!


(Hmmm... Ummmm...)

(I don't think my messy baby likes it...)

It is now the end of the first week and he is eating the whole tub of food, plus cereal, plus milk! I am so serious when I said he was a little beefcake! Right now it is only once a day and I will start giving him solids twice a day when we start introducing fruits and oatmeal. Surprisingly, aside from the first feeding, which was a feeding explosion, Blake really isn't that messy. And, he is also able to hold his own bottles... I swear I have such a good baby!

(Hey mom... Look a new trick... I can hold my bottle!)

Torticollis, Therapy, and Tummy Time.

(B & Goose on Mommy's birthday San Francisco trip.)

When I took Blake to see Doctor Benjamine about his latest eczema outbreak, he noticed that Blake's head was tilted in addition to him never wanting to look to the left. He diagnosed him with a minor case of torticollis. Torticollis is basically the term that describes Blake's inability to turn the other direction, from what I gathered from the doctor, it was a neck muscle thing and that his case wasn't too bad. What I gathered from the internet is that it is pretty common in babies and many different things can cause it but it is very fixable. So, Doctor Benjamine referred us to a physical therapist.

(Baby B & Daddy doing tummy time.)

Blake's first physical therapy appointment went really well. Erin, (the PT) showed us some stretches and excercises we have to do with him and told us we are going to have to do tummy time at least 30 minutes a day. She said that he is a little behind since he doesn't roll over and the ability to sit up is very common in babies like Blake who would just rather sit up then roll over! Baby B was a total trooper, as he always is, he didn't make a peep when she was wrenching on his neck, or showing us odd positions to carry him in to help correct his head tilt. He didn't even cry when she had him on his tummy. (If you are wondering why we never really did tummy time with Blake it's because he used to HATE it... He would scream and smother his face into the ground. Even now he only tolerates it and does it for maybe ten minutes at a time.)

(This tummy time stuff is hard business!)

It has been two weeks since we have seen Erin. Blake is doing so much better. He has a better range of motion looking to the left and can roll over really well with just a tiny bit of help. Hopefully we can get him caught up and get him to look in all directions! =)

(There's a whole new world to the left!)

Another Month Down...

(B & his Valentines toy on Valentines day.)

Blake has turned 5 months old this month and time has sure been flying by! Unfortunately he still has eczema & his doctor also diagnosed him with torticollis which I will explain in another blog entry. There are no new stats to report as he won't get them done again until his 6 month appointment but we did see his doctor for his ezcema and he was 17 pounds, 7.8 ounces. He is becoming quite the little beefcake!

(Mommy's little Chunk after his bath.)

I absolutely love watching him grow because everyday is something new and exciting. He is getting to be very very good working with his hands, he picks up his toys and puts them in his mouth, and he can push cars across his high chair tray. He still loves his swing, duck & goose, his jumperoo, and the tv (though we try sooooooo hard to get him to not look at it! The sneaky little guy can find a TV anywhere!). He is really starting to like his Fisher Price Little People animals, and like I said he still loves his swing but we had to make it a little more interesting!

(Wow! It's like a whole new swing!)

He has really really discovered his feet and will bring his legs up, almost creating a half-ball to grab them. He is still not rolling over, but he will roll over to one side & he is super strong and can sit up on his own! And the best thing of all, he is a total ham! He will smile when the camera or phone is put in front of him! He also grew out of his whale infant bath tub so we got him a bigger quacking duck tub... He loves it!

(Hey mom, check this thing out!!!)

(Ooooooooh, feet...)

I know I say this in almost every entry but time really does fly! He is almost half a year old, soon he will be walking and crawling and talking...

(Baby B, sitting up all by himself...)

If only I had another hand...

So much has happened since the last time I posted that it will take a few blog entries to catch up! But let me start here in the present! As we speak I have Blake in his jumperoo, daddy is playing Battlefield on the XBOX, and Blake has me in hysterics! Currently he is giving me his 'fake' cough, smiling, one hand on his hanging elephant, the other on one of the 'play stations' on the jumperoo... There is also a dangling teether elephant that he so deperately wants to put in his mouth, but, he doesn't want to take his hands off anything else:



(I got it... I don't need another hand!!!)

Well Baby B, we all wish we had an extra hand every once in a while!!! =)

Mom... Are you Serious?!?!

(Ummm... What is this?!?!?)

This blog entry isn't as exciting as previous ones, so bear with me. I thought this evening was humorous... Baby B however, not so much!

In the last two weeks or so Blake has learned a new trick... How to scratch himself! Very relieving for B, not so much for his skin! He scratches his chest, his knees (which are a new discovery this week!), and apparently his face at night. Much to my dismay every morning he has a plethora of new claw marks on his face, some of which are open wounds. I try to clip his nails every time he is in the bath tub, which is every other night, but those puppies grow like crazy.

While the Eczema on his face is clearing he still scratches which led me to take drastic measures; I bought him mittens. Apparently, only newborns have the ability to scratch themselves because I only found mittens in 0-3 month size, but they work!

(Hmmm... Socks on my hands???)

So tonight I got him ready for bed, lubed him up, & put those mittens on him! Having a lapse of judgment, I put them on him prior to feeding and bedtime and guess where they went... Right into his mouth, which meant that I had to put on a new, not-so-wet, pair on him! He looked at them and gave me this facial expression that said, "Ummmm.... What the hell are these for? I am NOT an Eskimo..." Poor kid.

(I guess i'll try them out!)

(This picture is from the package of Blake's new baby spoons and is totally random, but it is our life in a nutshell!)