Blake is 4 Months Today!

Blake is 4 months old today. We are both amazed every day by how much he has grown and how he continues to change and learn. He "talks" all the time - non-stop. His favorite "exercise" is to pull him knees to his chest and slam his feet on the floor. He does this a lot when he's trying to fight off sleep. He's no dummy!

He has learned that if he looks at me with a pouty face he'll get attention and then he laughs- he already has me trained!

This week he also showed some interest in some Playhouse Disney cartoons. Mickey Mouse, which to my surprise looks nothing like he used to, and Little Einsteins are his favorites. Just let me say that this is while I'm in the shower and getting ready - I don't park him in front of the TV all day.

Everything is funny to Blake right now - he's always smiling or giggling.

He continues to think I am crazy with my camera and tends to freeze in front of it now.

He really likes to sit up - though he can't do it alone just yet. And he always has his link rings in his hand.

He still isn't a big fan of tummy time, but he cooperates sometimes just to make Mommy feel better- he'll let you know when he's had enough!

He has figured out how to maneuver around his crib - this is usually how I find him in the morning.

Tomorrow is his doctor's appointment - we'll find out how much our big guy has grown and make him mad with a few shots too!

For The Record

Joe has a slight betting problem. Tell him the sky is blue and he'd respond, "Wanna bet?" This led to our latest wager regarding Blake. (We didn't actually wager anything - winner just gets bragging rights - not that I would brag about it or anything.)

Blake is 17 weeks today and Thursday he will officially be 4 months old. That means another trip to the doctor and more shots. I have been amazed lately by the rate at which Blake is growing and outgrowing clothes. He is so long that one piece outfits have to be 6-9 months in order to be long enough! I know, it probably normal, but it happened overnight. Any one piece outfit he had that was 3-6 month size never left the hanger. Unbelievable!

Back to the bet. Joe wanted to bet me Blake will be less than 16lbs at the doctor's visit. HA! I had to take that one. I figure Blake will be close to 17lbs. 5 weeks ago at the doc Blake was 14lbs even with a wet diaper and clothes on. So...we'll say 13.5. The child is significantly larger than he was at 12 weeks. I think I've got this one, don't you? I'll let you know on Friday.

A Walk in the Park

This was Blake's FIRST walk in the park, actually. He wasn't a fan of the carrier at first, but he warmed up.

Visiting Daddy at Work

Sunny Day Pictures

You should have seen his face when I laid him on the grass...our boy is very ticklish! Today is another gorgeous day and Daddy had to work so we will probably be taking some more pictures! Meme bought him this outfit he has on and it just fits so we wanted to get some pictures in it. Plus, Blake likes to have as little clothes on as possible.

Have a great weekend!

Oh my dog!

Everyone wants to think that they are animal people. Who doesn't love cute little puppies with that infamous puppy breath? Nobody is going to admit that they don't just love little baby animals. They DO NOT stay little, people. Sure, they learn to pee outside and sleep through the night, but they get bigger, smellier, and dirtier. I have realized though that perhaps not everyone is made to co-habitate with animals. The problem here is I fear that I may be one of those people and my husband is NOT. Joe will tell you that he can not live without dogs.

I like dogs, don't get me wrong, but not in my house. I complained about the nasty Labrador hair tumbleweeds on the hardwood before, but now that Blake is here it is really getting to me. Our dogs stink (yes, I do have a superhuman nose). You know how when you go into someone else's house it has a unique smell? We all know that you can't tell what your own house smells like because you are there all the time. I am super paranoid that our house might smell like DOG to other people. That drives me insane. Then there's the dog hair, muddy dog paw prints that are always on the carpet, scratches on my leather furniture, pairs of shoes with teeth marks...oh it goes on. I just know that when Blake is mobile, scooting around on the floor, I am going to lose it. The kid will constantly have dog hair in his mouth - guaranteed.

In the neighborhood we live in we can't really have outside dogs (not that I am crazy about that idea anyway). We have only been here for a year we aren't going to move for the sake of the dogs. We have an invisible fence system for them right now and Lilly drives the neighborhood crazy barking at everything. She has a bark collar now...I swear the neighbors must hate us.

Friday I found out I got a new job (so excited!) that doesn't start until July. This means I will be home with Blake until he is 6 months old (so blessed!) Anyway, my new employer sent me a package of paper work on Monday via FedEx, while I was out of town with Blake. Apparently the FedEx guy left the package on the front stoop. Joe came into the house through the garage and did not see the FedEx package. He let the dogs outside when he came in and they found it immediately. Joe came outside to find my new hire paper work blown all over the yard...nicely shredded.

Point is...as cute as they are, I could live without them.

Oh, and I put Blake in the Exersaucer yesterday because he is doing so well holding his head up now. The kid hates tummy time, but he has a really strong neck. His feet just barely touch the bottom of the Exersaucer and the seat is way too roomy, but I put a folded blanket against his back. I only put him in for a few minutes, but he was thoroughly amused. It won't be long before he spends a lot of time in there I'm sure. By the way, I need to knock a layer of dog hair off of the thing before Blake uses it again.

NOT Cheerios

I just wanted to share some pictures of Blake's first experience with rice cereal...and let you know that Joe thought we were going to feed him Cheerios! I guess he thought we just made them soggy like you do with puppy food - oh my! I'm not sure how Blake felt about the cereal, but the dogs sure were interested. It was not as messy a venture as I had expected.

First Bite

House is Cooler

Associate director in the Office of Public Liaison...what's that? Joe and I always watch the TV show House - always. It was a shock to the system when Dr. House got his new team a couple of seasons ago. We got over it and grew to love the new docs. Last night our favorite new doctor on the show died. Dr. Kutner committed suicide. I, of course, was waiting for the punch line. I figured it had to be a mistake, a Vicodin induced hallucination from House, something...they wouldn't really kill Kutner, would they? Joe was livid. I was pretty sure he was not ever going to watch the show again. I. fixed. that.

I found out that Kal Penn a.k.a. Kutner asked to be written off the show in order to join the Obama administration. I know...now you are waiting for a punch line. He is going to be the associate director in the White House Office of Public Liaison - whatever that is. After telling Joe about Mr. Kal Penn's career change his mourning is over. He is not exactly an Obama fan. In our house, Dr. House is definitely much cooler than Pres. Obama. Bad decision Kal, bad decision.

Do Brunettes Have More Fun?

Before I tell you about my current hair situation I think I should explain the history of my hair. Well, maybe not the total history of my hair, Blake probably won't be asleep long enough for that. I have had my hair a lot of different colors and have worn it at various lengths. My hair was indeed blond when I was younger and would turn very blond in the summer time. This, of course led to an unfortunate dark roots situation in the winter and to me getting highlights in junior high. Oh my, if only I had know what a viscous cycle that is!



My hair has been everything to very blond to medium brown and even red once, but that was an accident. Most of my adult life I have been a blond and that's what most people are used to seeing on my head. During this whole bed rest/maternity leave/laid off period I have had much more visible roots than I can usually stand. I guess I just figured that when you're living in your pajamas and hanging out with the dogs (and Blake now too of course) all day nobody expects your hair to be perfect, right? This time my roots were very visible and I realized just how dark my natural hair color has become.



I went to the salon and paid to have it done, which I hadn't done in about 10 months. I was sadly disappointed. I am not someone who goes back and insists that the salon fix my hair when I don't like it. Maybe I'm too nice or perhaps just too chicken, but I just don't do that. After a week or so of hating my hair I decided to bite the bullet and color it myself, which I've done dozens of times before. I stared really hard at the box of light/med brown like I always do, but I came home with a Dark Ash Blond as usual.



Long story short - my hair is brown. Don't know what I did, but I think I like it even though it doesn't match the box. I think it is pretty close to the color my hair should be, minus the grey I found lately, and it's going to be easier to maintain. I don't know how long this new brunette me will last, but for now I'm good with it. I must say though - now Blake really looks nothing like me. Oh well.

Chuckles and a Little Bit of OCD

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I can't tell you how excited I was when I managed to get the first real laugh out of my little man. Okay, so the first one was an accident, but it really does warm the heart to hear a baby chuckle even if the baby isn't your own. I decided later to try to pull out the camera and capture some chuckles (please ignore the fact that I sound like a moron). Apparently Blake is getting to be a wee bit ticklish.

Oh, and as for my hoping that I wouldn't feel the need to do and redo every page of Blake's scrapbook - I already failed. I have now redone every page I had already completed and am much more pleased with the product, though it's not nearly finished. Yesterday after looking at the pages I had finished I didn't like that I had just made cute pages at random and there was no method to the madness. I knew it would happen - if I don't hurry and get it finished and printed OCD will get the best of me again I'm afraid.

I also have to say the Jillian Micheals kicked my butt today. I had been really lazy this week and was dreading that first workout back at it. Thirty Day Shred is no joke - just pray I can pick up a 14lb baby when morning comes! The first time I did the DVD I wasn't sure I was going to make it out of the bed the next day (and I might have taken a few unauthorized water breaks that time).