Very Good Day!!

This has been a very productive morning for Blakey-Boo and me! Obviously, I know it isn't technically morning time, but it is for me since I work overnight and don't fall asleep until 8am. ONTO THE POINT! This morning was like any other morning. Kyle had to go to work, so he woke me up around 1:20pm and said that he had to leave in about ten minutes. This gives me enough time to moan and groan and speak of how I don't want to wake up...so it works out. Kyle puts Blake in bed with me around 1:30pm, and then leaves for work. Blake must have missed me, because he put his forehead to mine, then smiled the sweetest smile ever! He has always done the forehead touch whenever he has missed someone a lot, or when he is trying to show he loves you. I've noticed this about him. It is actually very cute the way he has made up this way of showing affection!

After our foreheads were done cuddling, he decided it was time to play "MY PILLOW!!" This game is so much fun. My son is only 10 months old, and he is very understanding of what this game means! He usually starts it - which is why it makes it so much fun! He smiles and cuddles you, acting like he is just so cute and affectionate...then he sits up and looks at you with the sweetest little faces. However, OUT OF NOWHERE, he flips over, and spreads his arms across your pillow and lays on it. This is when I flop down on a section of the pillow and say, "HEYYY!! That's my pillow!!! You can't take my pillow! This is my pillow!!!" This makes Blake overly excited, and he scoots further up the pillow and keeps his bum in the air. Does he mean to be this cute? HA! This is one of our favorite games. I absolutely adore this game.

I wanted to check my bank account online. This takes me all of about 5 minutes. Apparently that is just not good enough for Blake. I set him in his Pack-and-Play and gave him one of his favorite toys. He played with it for about two minutes, then stood up and started looking around the room. I had just typed in the banking website (after waiting for my mac to start up) and I was typing my user name. Blake started crying a little, and I said, "Hold on buddy, Mommy will be done in a few minutes!" I got my password in, and my account started to load, and Blake decides to SCREAM! This worries me (even though he was right beside me) so I hurry up, take a glance at the available balance in my account, and close the window and jump up. He stops screaming, then proceeds to put his arms up in the air and make what looks like the "milk" sign with both hands. I kind of figured that he wanted up, but I honestly wanted to see if HE knew what he wanted. So I asked, "Oh, would you like some milk?" He gave me a little shriek and got upset for a minute, then started the motion again. So I picked him up, and he was fine. I was highly impressed by this because I had never seen him do it and actually follow through with what he wanted. Sometimes, he would look like he was motioning that he wanted up, but he actually just wanted out of the Pack-and-Play to crawl around. This time was different though! He clung to me like a little leech and I loved it!

I decided to take the little guy downstairs so that we could have a nice little lunch together. I put him on his "big boy chair" after heating up some food for him, and began to feed him. I started doing what I always do, and asking him if he wanted more, and motioning the sign for "more." He watched me do it a few times and let me ask him a few times. He even laughed a few times! However, I put down the bowl and spoon in order to take a drink of my tea, only to look at Blake and notice him staring at his hands, then trying to move them together, then apart, repetitively! He didn't point his fingers together like the sign is meant to look, but he still made his own way of signing for the same thing I wanted him to sign for! And he did it pretty well for being 10 months old! The sign that he makes looks more like a clap, but its his sign! I'm so proud of him! I was very excited and yelling "YAYYYYYYYYYY" in his face for every time he did it, and I would clap. He loved this, so he kept repeating the "more" sign, laughing the entire time that he wasn't chewing. I'm so proud of him! I feel like he is so smart and it makes me so happy to see this much progress in him. I can't wait to see what the rest of the day has in store for us. :)

Did I mention that he can stand for a few seconds? He is doing really well with it. He does the best when you hand him something that you usually don't let him have, (cat toy, car remote, cd, glass candle holder, tv remote, etc.) This seems to intrigue him and he holds the object with both hands, and doesn't realize that he is standing on his own. My mother's cat's toy has been a HUGE deal to Blake since the first day he spotted it. We usually have it sitting up on something where Dolce jump up to get it, but Blake can't reach it. However, yesterday, my mom decided to give Blake the cat toy, and see what would happen. The reason he usually doesn't get this toy is because it has a small bell on the end on a very thin string. This can easily be ripped off if Blake decides to put the bell in his mouth. Also, it has feathers all over the other end of it that Blake has ripped off before. It's just not a good toy for a baby to get possession of. Nonetheless, mom gave him this cat toy, and he grabbed it greedily with both hands and pulled it toward his body as tightly as he possibly could. He just stood there, not even realizing that there was nothing holding him up, not realizing that he wasn't holding anything stationary. I WISH I would've gotten a photo or something to add onto here. He did a wonderful job, until Pappy came bursting through the door yelling, "TINA!!!".....I feel like I live in a sitcom.....

Thanks for listening to my overjoyed motherhood stories. :)

New Stuff

Some updates...

Blake is now 29 inches long.

21 lbs

Talks a little bit - mostly babbles, but he is getting some words in there.

"dada, day, mum, daday, nun Na, gee (Angie), Kay, no, umm" and probably others that I can't think of.

He walks along things and stands by himself, but refuses to stand himself if you try to place him away from something to hold onto. He has taken a very clumsy step a few times.

My favorite entertainment that he has provided me with so far, is that he is quite the musician! I love music, and so does Kyle, so this is very important to us! Blake has his own drumset, and he can beat on it pretty well! He hasn't established any steady beats yet, but he has the concept of hitting the actual drum rather than just swinging his arms rapidly. However, when Kyle and I get too excited about it and say "good job bud!!", he tends to also get overly excited and swing rapidly until his drumset - sometimes followed by himself, falls over.

Another instrument he has taken a liking to is a guitar! He has officially learned the strumming technique. He understands that strumming includes hitting every string from top to bottom! He really likes to strum! He can even keep a semi-steady tempo with plucking one string at a time. We haven't tried letting him use a pick yet. We are too afraid he will eat it. However, his fingers seem to be effective enough! We are very proud of him!

There is one more instrument he has taken a liking to, but he doesn't get to play it very often. The piano at Kyle's mom's house is very interesting to him! After carefully watching me and Aunt Mandi play it, Blake decided he would join in. I was surprised for a while just because all he was doing was watching, but when he finally joined in, I was rather impressed! He didn't BANG on the keys - he actually pressed them with just one finger on each hand. No music was really made. But he seemed to understand that you can either hit one key at a time, or you can hit both at once! He exparamented with the same two keys for a few minutes. Then he accidentally moved his hand, and hit another key. This made him pause for a moment, then he hit that key again. My little guy seems so interested in music!! Let's hope this interest stays with him throughout his whole life!!

As for shows, movies, cartoons, etc. Blake seems to love his Baby Einstein DVD set the most! His favorite DVD of the set is "my first signs." I love this because it is my favorite too! He has learned a few signs from it, but I'm not sure if he legitimately wants the things he is asking for. He has made the sign for milk, which I praised him for, then went And made him a bottle. When I came back with the bottle, he didn't want it, but he was happy about the fact that I was so excited that he made the sign! He also does an odd version of the sign for diaper. He scratches at the front-right side of his hip when he would like a diaper change. He doesn't always do it as soon as he needs one. I've noticed he usually cries and does it when I am busy cleaning or putting clothes away. The crying gets my attention, and then I am able to see him scratching at his diaper, so it is helpful!

He also likes the sign for "all done." He doesn't ever mean it, but he does the sign with one hand, then I say "all done!" and he gets excited. However, when I start to walk away with the food or drink, he cries. So he doesn't exactly mean it, but he acknowledges the fact that he can do it, and that I like it when he does it.

One thing I have been impressed with, is his ability to copy what we do. He once had a habit where he would get upset because he wanted us to put more food in his mouth, even though he still had food in there! This was a problem because he would get really upset with us! Well, we had a little progress one day at Nun-Na's house. I was feeding him, and he kept opening his mouth for more food before he was done chewing. I kept repeating, "no, not until you're done!" Blake heard this about 15 times. Then, I repeated it again, and to my surprise, he chewed his food, and said "done done done!" I was amazed! He said it for the rest of that meal, and he hasn't said it again yet!

I've also realized that he likes it when someone mocks him. He yells, we make the same sound. He says something, we say it too. He smiles excessively and keeps playing the game with us! I absolutely love this! The first time he did it, we were playing with "talking Tom" on my phone. Tom repeats everything we say. Blake tested it out and realized he could do it too! Ever since then, Blake loves it when someone mocks him.

That's all I have for today. Blake needs a nap which means cleaning time for me!