First Word - Hi

I was taking a nap & heard a bunch of commotion coming from downstairs. Nana & Papa had gotten Blake to say his FIRST WORD! He was waving & saying "hhhhhhiiiiiiiii". So sweet!

Merry Christmas

Christmas Themed Campbell-isms

• Me (singing): Santa Claus is coming to town! Campbell: No! Santa's NOSE is coming to town!
• Blake & Baby Jesus are cutie pies.  
• (When she bit the top off a Christmas cookie that was shaped like a candy cane:) Look Mama, my Christmas candy cane turned into a Christmas knife!
   

8 months!

Blake is such a happy, good natured, easy going little guy - I feel so lucky! A few things Blake is doing at 8 months:

• Blake is crawling around here like he owns the place. He can go everywhere now & he's even reaching up and trying to climb the steps. So far he's only reached the second step and his feet have stayed on the ground.
  
• If he's fed and not tired, he's content to explore on his own for long periods of time.
• He is so ticklish, especially on his stomach and has this great loud belly laugh. 
• He gave a real hug last weekend. Gabe hadn't seen him all morning and he kept putting his head on Gabe's chest & putting his arms out holding Gabe. He did it over & over. It was the sweetest thing. 
• I think he's just beginning to figure out waving. The other day I was making a meal in the kitchen & he was playing on the floor & I kept waving at him & he raised his little arm & did a sort of wave. 
• He's making a lot of different noises. 

This picture was taken on 12.13 & Blake had just started to reach up the stairs. Campbell covered the steps with her toys and Blake wanted so badly to participate. I had to laugh at how Campbell perched up there on the steps for a really long time, just as happy as could be. All of her toys out of the reach of her grabbing, 'spitting on my toys' (as she calls drooling) Baby Brother. 

 

Then just 4 days later, he's pulling himself up...slow down....please!

Here Comes Santa!

We've had a few encounters with Santa Claus lately. The first time was the week before Thanksgiving. I know - I know...Why was Santa Claus at the Mall before Thanksgiving? And more importantly, why did we go?  I thought we would beat the crowd & not have to wait in a huge line - much less chance for a breakdown! Campbell did great - she was putting on quite the show for Santa showing him how she could jump and spin in her 'pretty Christmas dress.' The first thing she said to Santa was 'why is your beard white?'  When he asked her what she wanted  for Christmas & she said 'Granty Baby wants a kitchen.' (Grant had pointed out a play kitchen in the Target catalog a while ago so Campbell has been obsessed with that.)

The next encounter was a Toys for Tots event that our realtor's company sponsors every year. Campbell was in heaven as she was eating a tree sugar cookie with tons of green sprinkles. If you look closely, you can see it all over her face. And Blake was his happy usual self. We even managed to get a family picture.

And this morning we went to the Macy's display with M & E. This is the second year we've braved downtown together & it's a fun tradition we've started. The girls (and Blake too) stared in amazement at  “A Day in the Life of an Elf.” The dancing/singing trees, the elves, the animals decorating the Christmas tree - it was a lot to take in for me, much less a couple 2 year olds and a baby. Campbell's favorite part was Rudolf trying to break out of the barn door - I think she would have stood there all day staring at it. Then we got a picture with Santa and ended the trip with a treat from Mrs. Claus' holiday bakery. This picture is by far my favorite this season. As you can see, Blake has started to get nervous when people other than Mama hold him.

Gingerbread House

Campbell & Gabe had a great time making a gingerbread house while Blake and I watched. It was quite funny watching the progression of  Campbell getting more aggressive with the frosting. First she was sticking her little finger on the house, so I gave her a little bit of frosting, then I let her lick some from a spoon. Then she was trying to get into the bowl of frosting. Then Gabe was trying to frost the house with the pastry bag and Campbell grabbed the bag and put it directly in her mouth. Isn't that the most efficient way?!?

Bad Sleeper

I don't know what happened to our baby that slept through the night basically since he came home from the hospital. He recently started getting up 2 or sometimes 3 plus times at night.  Teething? Hungry? Or maybe now he's just in the BAD habit of waking up. We ruled out everything we could think of, so we've been letting him cry it out. I remember when decided it was time to let Campbell cry it out how my heart physically HURT - once I literally had to leave the house and let Gabe deal with it. Poor second child - I don't have that same physical pain I had with Campbell when she would cry. I know that it's in his best interest for him to learn how to sleep through the night again. He had a couple episodes of crying and now is sleeping better. But he's still waking up at night - he's not sleeping through the night anymore much to my dismay.
 
A couple random things to note about Mr. Blake.


We stopped swaddling Blake after he started getting up a lot at night because we wondered if it was bothering him. I don't think I've mentioned this, but we discovered the Woombie with Blake. It's awesome & one of only a few things I would recommend to new parents. Not only did I laugh every time I put him in it because he looked like he was in a cocoon, but because he really seemed to sleep well in it until now. I took a picture of his last time in it...

He's started really chowing down baby food. He's an angry eater - yelling when I don't shovel it in fast enough. I can't believe the volume he eats. I better start stocking up food for when he's a teenager!