The Harvey Family: Blake

Eczema Update:

Blake's skin has been doing so much better on his arms and legs this summer. We even got the spot on his right foot to clear up with higher powered cortizone over the course of a week. The problem spot we're now facing is his belly and chest area. It is covered in dots and when we visited the dermo, he said it looked like classic eczema. So now that is being incorporated into our lotioning routine to see if it goes away. As far as foods go, we've been adding more foods to Blake's diet and he's done pretty well with most of them. The problem foods that we're concerned with are almonds and possibly beef and corn, although we don't know for sure.

Life Update:

The last couple weeks have been quite stressful for us since Chris interviewed with a smaller company in Houston and we were on the edge of our seats waiting to hear their offer. They really liked him and felt he was a good fit for the company but the offer didn't end up working out. It would've been good to be closer to family (in Dallas) but the start date was going to be 4 weeks out which had us stressed out. The whole family ended up getting sick in some form which made things worse. Chris is still fighting an incredibly swollen lymph node in his neck and if the antibiotics don't kick in soon, he might have to go to the ER to have it taken care of. Hopefully it continues to go down now that the stress of the possibility of moving has gone down.

On a brighter note, Blake has gotten to be SO MUCH FUN at this age! He is so interactive and understand and tries to communicate so much more. He has such a fun little personality. He is still more of an introvert (probably got that from me) but loves to smile and dance and figure out how things work (still). We've been trying lots of new things out and he is so excited with all of them. It can be as simple as getting more comfortable with the pool and putting his face in, to sitting in the big chair at the kitchen table. He still loves to give big hugs and "rhino" into us so I hope he doesn't outgrow the snuggling phase for a long time.

Blake:

loves his water table. He loves when I fill it up with the hose so he tries to empty the water out as fast as he can, whether it be with a cup or the biggest bucket we have out there at the time. We still like setting it up on the driveway since the hose is right there. I normally fill it the first time and then refill it 2 times until I call it quits. More recently he's just into the hose and that's all he really wants to play with and the water table itself takes second place.
gets so excited for his bath. As soon as Chris goes into the bathroom to run the water for the tub, Blake is beside himself with excitement and can't wait to get in there. We've been playing with foam letters in the bath and they have helped with learning his letters or at least reinforcing them. He starts with a bunch of letters on the wall and a bunch of nesting cups and water bug toys in the tub and he likes to throw them all out one by one. He always has to make a mess!
knows just about all his letters and can say them (even if some aren't fully pronounced). He loves to point them out on storefronts, shirts, and anywhere else he sees them. His favorite letters to point out are C and G and he'll just repeat them incessantly until we acknowledge what he's point at. I was really shocked at how quickly he's picked them up. At first we tried doing them in order and using the letters from his alphabet train and then the foam letters in the bathtub. Then I figured I'd point out the capital letters at the beginning of each sentence in his nighttime story books and on the covers. The ones he doesn't know as well are Q V U and X.
is saying tons of words. His language has exploded finally and it's tough to keep up with all the new words sometimes. His words don't sound completely like the real words yet but they're getting closer. I can't even list all the things he's saying now. The ones that sound the most like real words are apple and bubble... they're so stinkin' cute! His favorite phrase seems to be "got it" and he says it everytime he does something. I guess we would always say "you got it!". He's also obsessed with the sink and faucet now and knows the difference. When we play with his kitchen he also likes to point out the salt and pepper.
is still not ready to drop down to one nap. Some days it works well to have only one nap if he has a super fun morning activity, but most days he is too cranky to make it past 10am without a nap. Sticking to 2 naps a day seems to be the best for him since he usually doesn't sleep more than 10 hours at night.
has started helping me clean up his toys at night. Not too long ago, he would put 2-3 toys in a bin and then have to dump them out immediately. I'm so glad he is starting to move past that!
is definitely testing me. He does things and I tell him "no" and then he repeats the activity and says "no" while doing it, like standing up and seeing if his foot fits in the back of his toy dump truck. Oiy.
has been putting things on his head and saying hat "hah". It is so cute when he gets the recycling bin from his play kitchen and puts it on his head, then he runs over to the mirror to see what he looks like.
loves sweet potato chips. I'm so glad there's a way to get him to eat his veggies that he practically begs for. He's been trying a few new foods (apples, zucchini, zucchini bread, pineapples) since he's started to get sick of some of the old favorites (chicken and sunbutter sandwiches).
cut his 1 year molars on the top! I was so busy waiting for the ones beside the front 2 on the top that I didn't even realize it until they caught the light just right one day so I stuck my fingers back there and sure enough he has teeth 5 and 6!
loves to point out trashcans when we're out and about. I think he calls them tashys.
gets overboard with putting toys in our laps if we're sitting somewhere. He wants you to take them from him and hold onto them, not just place it next to you. Sometimes it's hard to get up with the huge pile of toys on you.
is obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I normally let him watch a little in the morning and then some before bed but now he gets the remote and hands it to (shoves it at) either Chris or I and says "Minnie!". I think he means Mickey but he is quite forceful about it and will just whine. I try to explain to him that there is more to do than watch tv all day but he just doesn't believe it.
has fun with his alphabet cookies now because I can quiz him before he gets each one.

Pics:

Buckin' broncos.

He loves wearing this as a hat. Silly boy.

Then he had to check himself out.

Had to break out the teething biscuits for all the teething this poor boy has been doing. Sadly, now that he has a few teeth he basically just eats them.

He is so big in his high chair these days!

Loving bath time.

He needs lots of utensils to stir his noodles.

Apparently the lotion bottle didn't fit down the shoot for the letters.

Pointing out the letter C on the screen.

Blake got the sink all loaded up with dishes for Daddy. His work is done, so now it's play time.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread has become a breakfast staple with Blake and I... mmmmm!

Playing with Mimi.

Another hat.

Playing with the alphabet pal in his "hat".

He's gotten so good at putting letters on his alphabet train. He doesn't match them up with the book yet but can turn them the right way and says the letters.