The Harvey Family: Blake

Family Update:

Chris's antibiotics must've done the trick since we didn't have to go to the ER (thank goodness!) and his neck is back to normal. Yay! Hopefully he can stay healthy for a while now since that was really freaky.

Blake:

is quick to ask for help once I showed him how to sign "help". If he runs into the slightest problem, instead of figuring out how to solve it, he'll look at me and say "hot, hot, hot" and sign help. He doesn't even bother attempting to figure out how to do what he wants to most of the time I have to remind him that he needs to try and figure it out before asking for help. Most of the time he's trying to bring something huge (train, bike, diaper box) into the living room which is already filled with his other toys.
has been putting the letter t on the end of most words. A lot of words end in that sound and he uses it correctly (hot, hat, salt) however he puts it on the end of words that don't need it as well (help, cup, puffs, sink). He's also become quite the parrot and will try and repeat a lot of words that we say.
loves to fill up containers with smaller toys and then either dump them into other containers or onto the floor and do it again. I have no idea what he is learning when he does this but he does it constantly. At first I thought maybe he was starting to enjoy cleaning up, but then it would always end in him dumping everything back out again.
is starting to really like the pool. There was one day where everything just clicked and he started getting so much more confident in the water and wanting to put his face in and head under and even jump off the side to me (sit on the edge and lean until he fell in and let me catch him). He still hates spray grounds but loves the still water. He'll just hang out on the shallow steps and fill up cups with water or pour one into another over and over.
has had scraped up knees for a few weeks straight now. He trips outside on the sidewalk every few days and as soon as the old scabs are about to heal up he trips and opens up the wound and makes it bleed again. Poor boy, he just wants to run and doesn't look out for the cracks in the sidewalk. Either that or he gets tired and clumsy.
is actually starting to say the second syllable of words instead of just repeating the first syllable twice; potty instead of pa-pa.
has become a super picky eater. He has given up on almost all meats that I offer to him except turkey sausage and turkey hotdogs (which he turned out to be allergic to). He'll sometimes eat other meats if I am eating them and he wants bites of mine but obviously that is far from ideal. He has started eating whole eggs now so that is a nice addition to his menu. Also, the last couple weeks he's been obsessed with pineapples. I've never liked the texture of canned ones so I learned how to cut up real ones and together we go through 2 pineapples a week now, yum!
has been going to music class (Music with Mar) once a week and he's really getting into it. We sing songs, read books, play with rhythm sticks, play musical instruments, and dance. They also are teaching him how to get in a line since we march in a circle and play instruments, and then for story time all the kids go sit together in front of the teacher to prepare for school. Blake is still too shy to leave my lap but we'll work up to it eventually.
is starting to try and jump. At music class we sang a song about jumping and all the older kids in the class were jumping around. Shy little Blake waited until we got home and then started trying on his own. He's making a lot of progress and has even left the ground with both feet a couple times, granted you could barely slip a piece of paper under his feet, but it's progress!
learned the rest of his letters (uppercase). He still gets a few mixed up (K/X and Y/V and M/W) but overall he is doing great with knowing what they are and saying the letters. I also forgot to mention that he knows a few shapes as well (circle, heart, star, and triangle).
is starting to transition to one nap a day finally. He goes to bed at a reasonable hour if he only takes one nap, but he seems much happier when he takes 2 naps. Without a specific routine though, he's been waking up in the middle of the night at all different times. We're going to have to change around our whole schedule to get him back on a routine but it seems like having his first nap be a longer one at home (instead of a 30 min one in the car) seems like the way to go.
is quite good at going up and down stairs now. He obviously needs to hold onto my hands for big steps but he can go in and out the front door by himself now. He used to stand like 8 inches from the edge of the step while going down the steps but he's figured out it works much better if he gets closer to the edge.
has 8 teeth now! The upper teeth next to the front two came in this past week which means he only has his eye teeth and 2 year molars left on the top. There still don't seem to be any signs of the teeth on the bottom that are next to the front ones. I think his 1 year molars on the bottom might be coming in since his gums are a little swollen there.
has been testing me like crazy. He does things that he knows are wrong and says "no, no, no" under his breath and looks at me and smiles. The biggest thing is throwing food, drinks, and utensils on the floor while in his high chair.

Pics:

He loves sitting on the big kitchen chairs and it was even more fun when Daddy let him use the tv remote. He would just turn the tv off and on over and over again and thought it was the greatest thing ever.

Boys bonding over the tv remote.

Riding his "car".

He moves so fast these days it's hard to get a shot of him just looking sweet and smiling.

Using his cube as a seat (everything is a seat to him lately) while he puts his cups (cuts as he calls them now) together.

We just brought this cup out so he has to see what all he can fit inside it. I just love those smushy cheeks. <3

Sitting in his seat that he made out of a shipping box.

I think this look is hilarious. You could really assume he's saying just about anything.

He has been super snuggly with his stuffed animals lately. He'll bring one over and use it as a pillow against Chris or me.

Making use of the back patio that we finally got rescreened and cleaned up.

We finally got the slide set up on the back patio and Blake loves it.

I asked him what letter that was and he's saying X.

Seeing what will fit in the new toy (cocoa container). I basically wash all containers I'm done using and they become the newest toy for Blake. Who needs fancy toys??