Blake - 2012 (Jan through April)

Blake is getting WAY TOO BIG!  He is definitely a toddler these days vs. my baby.  Makes me sad when I think about that.  Sometimes I will just sit and watch him play, walk & run around, say words, etc/ and I can't believe he is already as big as he is.  Why does it go so fast?  Ugh!

Blake saying "Cheeeeeeeeeese"!

 From January to now, he's definitely changed.  Just looking at pictures is crazy to see the difference to me.  He is still my little cuddler.  Seriously - the best cuddler most of the time.  He loves to tuck his head right under your chin or on your shoulder.  Even my friends will comment on his cuddles and other moms at our daycare. 

It might be safe to say if he keeps up the good cuddles, he'll probably melt the hearts of ladies when he is older just like he melts his mama's heart and some of the ladies as a 1 year old. :)

Blake loves loves loves his bath time.  If you mention bath, he drops what he's doing and goes straight to the bathroom.  He could play in there for hours if you let him.....

....which is good - when you are a messy eater like this:

He is SUCH a boy at the dinner table.  Or at least, what I think of when I think of little boys.  I didn't have brothers, so he is just confirming the stereotype in my head!  He gets baths almost every night because of this.  (oh yeah, and trying to put bibs on him is a waste, he gets more distracted trying to pull it off then eating).  Most nights he eats shirtless!

After-bath cuddles.  Pretty sure that is this mama's favorite type of cuddles.  Both of my kiddos are good at after-bath cuddles!

Blake loves to keep up and follow his big sis around.  He tries to do EVERYTHING that she does.  The good thing is, Addy loves to have him follow her.  There are very few times when he is occupied in his own toy or something and Addy wants him to play - she gets sad/mad sometimes when that happens because she wants him to follow her!  They play together well, giggle a TON together and rarely get in fights.  In fact, I'm thinking of trying to separate them for bed - they currently share a room.  If Blake isn't asleep before we bring Addy in to get tucked in, they end up giggling and playing for a while before sleeping.  Grr!  It was cute at first, but now they prolong bed for WAY. TOO. LONG.

Just playing "nuh-night" together in Addy's bed (Addy likes to put band-aids in random places!)

 Blaker is usually up in the morning before Addy.  We've started a little routine where he cuddles up on the chair with his pillow, monkey (which he calls "Bear"...since that is what Addy's bear is called of course!) and he watches something on Disney while I finish getting ready. 

It's another close favorite time of mine with him, other than the after-bath cuddles, to be awake with just Blake in the morning.  He is again, very cuddly and happy.  We usually play some games together and he giggles with me and likes to sit in my lap and relax.  When I am awake with enough time to just relax with him for a bit - I take advantage of it.  Most days it ends up making me rushed at the end of our morning before heading out the door - but oh well!

Just relaxing watching some morning Disney shows :)

 My little man loves sweets like his mama!  He's a really good eater in general, but he does love chocolate like me, and also suckers.  Seriously loves suckers! 

Fell asleep with a sucker in his mouth...on a 5 minute drive from the store where he got it from and home :)

 Blackmale for the future:

Did I mention he likes to copy EVERYTHING his big sis did???! Yep, that includes dress-up! 

 Although Addy is 95% daddy's girl - I think I can safely say that Blake is more of a Mama's boy - but it isn't as obvious.  He definitely has many days where he is ALL ABOUT HIS DADDY.  But, this kiddo, with his blue eyes and long lashes and the way he looks at his mama...well, he's got me wrapped pretty tightly around those tiny little fingers!

Mr Blake at 18 months is just as fun as my 'almost; 3 year old girl.  I seriously love every stage of life for these kiddos.  I love watching him try to say more words, be more confident in his steps and more independent.  Although, showing independence definitely has its down side!  He shows off his temper at times (I might be able to blame that one on Aaron :)  Not that I don't have a temper - trust me - I do! --- but if I'm contributing Addy's drama to me, I'll give Aaron Blake's temper :)

He is definitely learning to test his limits, and has found himself in time-outs.  Which, he sometimes thinks is funny.  STINKER. 

He is starting to say lots of words: mama, daddy, Addy, puppy, drink (which he says 'mik' meaning milk but he says it for any beverage), eat, love you "wuvu", bath, nuh-night, bye, hi, yeah, book, Bear (for his favorite monkey, LOL!), shoes, socks, and many many more words.  He also repeats a lot of phrases, where the majority of it just babble but you can pick out the phrase from his tone and the last word.  For example, he says "I love you to the moon and back" but it comes out "babble babble babble back"! 

He sleeps through the night, going to bed around 8 and usually waking around 6-6:30.  He always sleeps with him monkey-man and a sippy.  Right at the beginning of 2012 we got rid of his pacifier, around 15 months.  We did it a little later than we did with Addy - that was because of the holidays and traveling for December.  We waited until we were home again.  It took about one night of tears, another night of wimpers, and he was golden!

Blake has almost all his teeth - I think the only ones missing on both top and bottom are his 'fang' teeth and 2-year molars. 

He loves to read books, play with some trucks, Little-People, dolls, and things that make noise :)  He really enjoys being outside -- favorite thing to do out there is run after bubbles.

He has a few nicknames: Blakers, Blaker-boy, Lover-boy, Mr. Man, Little Man, and Blakester -- most of them mine.  Blakers is one that was developed at daycare and pretty much the only thing his daycare friends and Julie call him! 

He's such a handsome man...!

I <3 Him Tons!