The Harvey Family: Blake

This week, Blake:

has a renewed love for rattles and things that make noise when you shake or bang them together. I can say "shake, shake, shake" and he knows what it means. He'll either shake what he has in his hand or look for a toy that he can shake and he'll go get it.
has been much more snuggly. He'll be playing around and then come by and rest his head on me or my lap and just hang out for a minute and then be on his way again. He has always been a very "together" baby but it's becoming even more apparent. I have to admit I really love this new phase. =) He also has been hugging/kissing his stuffed dog Scout which is really sweet.
started sleeping in later in the mornings. He used to wake up closer to 6AM but he's been pushing it to 7AM a lot more recently. It is wonderful to get some extra sleep in the morning but since Daddy waits until Blake gets up to get ready for work, he gets a late start most days.
seems to be on a growth spurt. He has been eating a lot more and drinking more, including wanting more water with his meals. He really just wants more to drink with his meals but I only make so much milk so we've had to supplement with water. I guess it's ok to start giving him more water as his activity level has been increasing anyway.
has started sleeping a little longer for his afternoon nap. He'll typically take a 30 min nap in the morning sometime, and then after lunch he takes anywhere from a 1 - 2.5 hr nap most days.
has been running along the furniture. We have a game where we put one of his letters on one end of the couch and he cruises over to get it, then we put one on the other end and he runs along the couch and gets that one. He'll do this over and over for a few minutes until he falls over enough times to get tired. Every day he gets a little closer to taking steps without needing to hold onto the couch. He is still too cautious to venture straight away from the couches though.
started nesting his stacking cups. He used to always take them apart and that was the end of the cup game. After us showing him how to nest one inside the other enough times, he started doing in. Most times he gets too frustrated and just throws them, but he's gotten the small one inside the big one quite a few times now. We'll start working on more than one once he's got this phase mastered. He never really seems that impressed with himself once he gets 2 cups "together", unlike other accomplishments he's had.
has been throwing toys over the gates of his play area. He'll get on his tip-toes and drop them over just to see what happens. When he realizes he can't get them he fusses and waits for someone to rescue them for him. It is similar to the "drop the letter from my highchair" game.
took his first trip to the beach. Yes I'm aware how close we live to the beach. It was a great day to take him since it was nice and overcast (UV=0) and the temperature was in the low 70s with a slight breeze. He liked the sand but not the water, I guess it was a little too chilly for him.
got sized for shoes since we were curious how big his feet were. He measured at a 5 so the lady said if we got him shoes we should do a 5.5 wide which was definitely above average. She said the average 1 year old wears a 4-5. No wonder his footie PJs don't fit...