Blake, the Independent.

I don't like to have too much in each post, thus the numerous posts today :)

Blake has decided that he likes to eat by himself. We used to be able to appease him by giving him a spoon to bang around. Well, that doesn't quite work anymore. Now he wants a spoon, a plate, AND wants to feed himself. Earlier, when he just needed to spoon, Scott was trying to feed him and he refused to eat. Scott told me he couldn't feed him, he didn't want the food. I told him to just give him his own spoon. Scott didn't believe me, so I gave him the spoon and instantly Blake opened his mouth for food. Amazing.

Now, he turns his head and buries it in his highchair giving us the Scarlett O'Hara (from Gone with the Wind) look--he turns abruptly away, but still looks at us with his peripheral vision to see what our reaction is. It is quite funny. Well, Scott was again feeding him and he pulled this on Scott. Scott forgot the trick and so did I for the moment. He had just finished being really sick, so we were thinking he was still just not interested in food. After trying several types of food, I remembered he didn't have a spoon. Scott was like, oh yeah, you've told me that trick before. We gave him a spoon and put the food in front of him and he ate happily.

Well, now he doesn't really want to be spoon fed lately either...this sure makes for a messy meal, on top of the fact that he literally "clears" his tray when he is finished. We can't figure out how to cure him of throwing his food on the floor when he is done. He knows he isn't supposed to and sometimes when he is about done, he puts his hand full of food out of his highchair, and shakes his head "no." I say, "no" and shake my head with him. He then puts the food in his mouth with a big smile and I say "yes, good boy." This happens a few times until he decides he really is done, puts his hand over the highchair, shakes his head "no" and releases. He then gives me the biggest, happiest smile ever as I give him a stern "no" and shake my head, trying so hard not to laugh. I think he knows I'm laughing...

When I try to make him stop throwing food, he tries faster to get all the food thrown off his tray as possible and it is a race to beat him by trying to take the food away from him. Oh child, what am I going to do with you??? Well, now that he wants his own food, I have to watch that he doesn't throw the whole plate/bowl off, like this:

Let's just say I'm glad we don't have carpet, b/c even if we did have a drop cloth on the floor, many times he turns around in his highchair and chucks the food behind him as far as he can throw...he's got a pretty good range at the moment. Here's a couple "Blake eating" shots :)

Notice the plate on the floor :)

Oh Mommy, you know you love me too much to be too mad!

And here's our oatmeal breakfast this morning, which was Blake feeding himself for the majority of the time!

The spoon is only slightly effective when most of the oatmeal lands on his bib, so he resorts to his hands most of the time.

 

Licking the bottom of the bowl--love how you can see his face through this!!

Ahhhh

He finished his bowl of food, so I just gave him the pan to finish off :)

Busy at work



Hmm, maybe two spoons will work better.
I'm glad we have a lot of baby spoons b/c we use two at every meal--1 for Blake, 1 for me to actually feed him with



Banging the oatmeal :)

Licking his lips, yum, yum! Wow, he's dirty!

Where is the apple??

Blake loves to eat whole apples so I gave him one this morning since I didn't have his oatmeal ready for him and he was really hungry. He's started to realize that he doesn't like the peel, so he'll take a bite and take the peel out of his mouth and throw it on the floor, leaving a trail of tiny apple peels all over. Yuck. So, I decided to peel the apple and give it back to him whole. After a while, he was reading a book and I couldn't find the apple. Surely he didn't eat the whole thing in that short period of time, plus eat all the seeds!

Finally I found it:

In this toy...

Right where all the other "round" objects are supposed to go!


(This is on the left hand side of the toy, where the balls go and then they roll out his mouth...)
 

I must admit, this one really made me smile. Seriously, it doesn't get much cuter than this--I love watching him learn!

Well, we got more snow here in Wisconsin, just after a ton of rain. And I thought we were going to be able to use the slide in our backyard again! Nope, we've got a nice amount of snow again. I tried taking Blake out on the sidewalk before it was shoveled, but he would take two steps and fall. I guess once he's a little bigger he can master snow-walking :) I'll admit, I love watching it snow--it helped make it a more relaxing day for me while watching the kids and not feeling the greatest.

Scott is thinking of going snowmobiling this weekend with a friend in northern Wisconsin. It is perfect timing b/c of the snow, but we had just told the other family of the child I'll be watching that we were available this weekend for dinner at their place. I e-mailed back and explained the situation saying we could still come if that's what they preferred. I hate backing out of things, but I also hate missing fun events! Scott loves to snowmobile and it is nearly impossible to plan b/c it is so contingent on the weather and unfortunately, we can't trust the weathermen to actually know when and how much snow we are to get, so we've got the grab these opportunities with friends when we can!

And sickness hits!

Our little Blakey hasn't been sick until this last weekend, unless you count the occasional cold. This sickness he actually acted sick and it broke my heart! Not entirely sure what he had, but he seems to have had the symptoms of the flu, but not the stomach flu thankfully. He would just cry a lot and want to be held. Not snuggled on the couch, but held while I stood--some things never change, do they Blake? :)

Thankfully, he only acted really sick for two days. On Friday, he was started to act sluggish, and Sat and Sun he was pretty sick. Scott stayed home with him on Sunday while I went to church. It was a nice break and I was glad he was ok with that. Blake slept most of that time anyways. The rest of Sunday was pretty miserable and Blake wouldn't eat or drink much, even though we kept pushing the liquids especially. It made me really thankful I have not yet given up on breastfeeding b/c he would've nursed all day if he could. Poor baby.

Well, no one has gotten a ton of sleep in our household these past couple days so that led into me getting a cold as well. Yesterday, I was thinking it was more, got really nauseous and had a terrible headache, but after sleeping for about 3 hours, I felt much better. Unfortunately, that was in the evening after Scott got home, so it was difficult to sleep at night for yet another restless night.

I think in a couple days we should all bet tip-top again as long as Scott can hold out!

No pictures for these days--wasn't thinking much about the camera :)

Baby brother comes to visit

William came to visit last weekend and I can't believe how bad I can be at taking pictures! So, no current pictures of William, but in honor of his visit to Madison, this is a good recent one of us (and Mom) :)

We found "I'm Board" which is a game store for...how did you guess..Board games! We bought Alhambra and Innovation. We played Alhambra several times, but didn't take the time to figure out Innovation yet. It was a fun strategy game. Not sure if it is one of those games you wouldn't get bored with though....we'll see :)

Thanks for coming William!

So, I'm am now introducing myself as the "hider finder" in our family. Scott and I searched and searched and searched again for the remote control to our TV. As you know, Blake likes to use these remotes as a telephone since I won't always give him my cell. Well, when Scott was napping on the couch, Blake snuck up and stole the remote from him, and hid it in an undisclosed location. We hadn't been able to find it for a couple days until the "hider finder" came along and discovered Blake's hiding spot.

As you know, we do cloth diapers. Well, I found this cloth box to be excellent at storing his diapers and Blake found it to be excellent at storing remote controls. This box was nearly empty and both Scott and I had looked in it a couple times briefly, but for some reason, we didn't pull all the diapers out. I decided to look one more time, and there was the missing remote!

Blake also got a toy which has 6 little balls which he LOVES to throw everywhere. Unfortunately, they are small enough to roll under furniture, which is where we find them at the end of every day (and throughout the day). Well, we've been missing 2 for a while and Scott found one of them under our kitchen sink, but where oh where was the 6th?



This is the locked cupboard under our kitchen sink. Blake pulls the handles as far back as he can and drops his toys through the crack. Thankfully, they either fall through the crack on the bottom, or rest on the shelf. They have not yet fallen in the trash. His first ball rolled behind the trash, the SECOND ball, fell onto the shelf, rolled to the back, hit a groove behind some plumbing, and hid there until the "hider finder" found it!

 Thanks Blake, for keeping us on our toes!!

New Nanny Job

So last week was my first official week starting my nanny job. I'm currently just watching one girl right now, and in middle of February I start watching a little boy. We had Caitlin for 4 days last week b/c her mom is in training at her new job and will be 3 days/week until end of Jan/beg of Feb, but after that, it will just be 2 days/week. Wow, was I tired after last week! There were many reasons for that, but mostly, I just wasn't used to watching two kids and it sure is more work!

Caitlin likes to sit on my lap a lot and be held, which Blake doesn't usually like to do for very long at all. So, I'll sit on the floor and let her come up and sit on my lap. She'll come up, sit down, go play, come back, repeat. Blake is semi-ok with this, but when I start reading to her, oh, then he wants to sit on my lap too. Once he sits down, Caitlin gets up. It is a constant competition between those two, it seems.

Blake is learning how to share. It is hard. Mommy and Daddy usually give him a toy if he wants it, so he thinks he can come and take Caitlin's toys whenever he wants, which is every time she takes a toy, so we are working on that. The other thing I didn't expect was the whining. They both whine some, but Blakey is the whiner when she is here. Once she leaves, he goes off to play by himself and is just great, but oh no, not when she is here. It is like he needs to let me know he is there and I better give him full attention even though he usually doesn't want it.

The first couple days I bundled them up to go toddle around outside (I say toddle b/c they can hardly move in their snowsuits). :) It is kind of a lot of work to get them ready, but it is good for them to get outside. The last day, I couldn't wait for time outside b/c they are good outside and afterwards is nap time.

Overall, the days went very well and Caitlin is very good. We just have to get used to having her around. I was hoping that Blake would enjoy having a playmate like he usually does, but I think he felt this time his turf was being threatened. Usually, we see other kids at places other than at his home, so it isn't a big deal and he likes to explore. Also, other Mommys or adults are around, so the other child doesn't usually want HIS Mommy.

I'm glad that I started doing this. It keeps me motivated and gives me a drive that I lack when I don't have a job. Even though it was tiring, it was a good week!

Here's a few pictures that I've taken recently that I really enjoy :)

The newest dishwasher addition

Oh wait, I got a phone call

 

Uh-huh. Yep, let me go somewhere quiet.

Reading in his favorite spot.

Oh, that was a good book!!

Blake trying to give me a good smile with his "phone." Too bad he doesn't know how to look natural yet :)

Hi Mommy :)

Oh wait, got another phone call.

Another fake smile :)

Trying real hard this time.

This was after church on Sunday. Blake has a hard time with Sundays b/c he skips his morning nap and then has to eat lunch before taking his first nap.

His face got real dirty b/c he kept rubbing his eyes, haha. Poor boy!

Happy New Year!

Yep, we made it through the Holidays. We decided to stay in MN for a week and a half since we had a Christmas gathering the weekend after Christmas and a party for New Year's Eve. Turns out it is hard to be away from home for that long. It sure was nice to get home and sleep in our own beds (unfortunately without our pillows, which we forgot at a friend's house!!). Blake is back to waking up only in the early morning and then sleeping til about 7:30. The whole week and a half that we were gone, his schedule was more like, wake up at 2, wake up at 4, get up at 6:30. This is a big part of what makes it hard to be away from home. I get so exhausted!

 I found it humorous that our New Year's Eve party started to show that most of us are now parents or pregnant. Other years, we rang in the new year, and then continued our games or talking. This year, we could hardly stay awake for the new year, and after ringing in the new year without a kiss for me (because Scott was all the way across the room), everyone promptly got ready to leave. It was still fun to see friends, but kind of sad that we can't stay up late like we used to!!

Wisconsin Snow!

Ok, so I know this is late, but just wanted to share some cute winter photos of Blake and some of our great snow. Hopefully we won't have to refer to it as our only great snow of the winter of 2012/2013!

So, I decided to take Blake out in the snow and get some pictures for our Christmas card. I then ordered the cards and wouldn't you know, the very next day we got DUMPED on. Oh well, at least it was white in the background!

 

One of my absolute favorite things is to be snowed in. Scott's final was canceled, so it was a true snow day in that sense! We really enjoyed spending time together in our warm house and frequently watching the snow blanket the yard in all its beauty. At times like these, it is easy to thank God for his marvelous creation!

 



Child's wonder at the outdoors. Wish I still had that for my front yard!

Thinking he can take off by himself...

I seriously can't get enough of this kid!!

I was disappointed he was so washed out in this photo. This would have made it to our Christmas card, otherwise!

Our little family--makes me happy.

The great 18" snow of 2012!! It was just gorgeous.  

Snow depth on our patio table when we woke up.

Snow depth on our patio table near the end of the storm.

And, this wouldn't be a complete post without mentioning Blake's first sledding trip the day after the snow. Scott was bound and determined to take the little guy out, and wouldn't you know it, Mom had to come with. Let's just say I was still in my "snowed in" mindset which meant I wanted to be warm and cozy. Anyways, we ventured out to the park (the backyard wasn't good enough). :)

Yay, look how much fun Blake is having!

Again Daddy, again!

Blake didn't have a scarf and it was windier than we expected, so we put Scott's neck warmer around his neck. He couldn't move. :)

Face of pure joy.

Me and my baby. Note that we were walking through the park in deep snow, no plowed trails or anything....



Hmmm, note to self. Don't wear Scott's hat again and make myself look like a cone head....

This is our "mad at Daddy" face for making us come out here

Blake, should we try that again?

"Mad at Daddy" face, take 2.

This is the new path we found on the way back...better? I guess...slightly...but it WAS beautiful!!

Trying unsuccessfully to get a picture of the depth by taking a picture of my boot...

Mailbox on our walk back.

Yay! We're home!