"Hush Little Baby"

Randy was singing Hush Little Baby to Blake (when Blake wasn't crying I might add). He got to the verse about "if that diamond ring don't shine" and finished it up with "Daddy's gonna buy you a (pause) bottle of wine." Realizing those probably aren't the words, we got curious about how that song really goes and looked them up. Thought I'd share since I'd be surprised if anyone know all the words to this song:

Hush, little baby, don't say a word.
Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird

And if that mockingbird won't sing,
Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring

And if that diamond ring turns brass,
Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass

And if that looking glass gets broke,
Papa's gonna buy you a billy goat

And if that billy goat won't pull,
Papa's gonna buy you a cart and bull

And if that cart and bull turn over,
Papa's gonna buy you a dog named Rover

And if that dog named Rover won't bark
Papa's gonna buy you a horse and cart

And if that horse and cart fall down,
You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town.

Late Pointer

So like any type A first-time mom, with each passing month I look at “the book” to see what Blake should be doing, what he’s probably doing and what he could possibly be doing. I go down the list, such the proud parent...playing peekabook-check, pulling up to standing-check, playing pattycake-check, cruising-check…..pointing to something to get needs met…hmm, Blake isn’t pointing to stuff. I start to worry..why isn’t he pointing at stuff? I make a mental note to start pointing at things in hopes that he’ll pick up on it. I think about it off and on for a few days and then mention to Randy while we’re en route to a Christmas party tonight, “The book says Blake should be pointing at things. He’s not pointing at things.” Randy pauses for a minute and then in typical Randy fashion says, “It’s okay, I was a late pointer too.” Okay, I get it. In the grand scheme of life, the fact that Blake isn’t pointing at things probably isn’t a big deal. Then I made a mental note to chill out a little bit. Thanks to my husband for balancing things out around here and keeping ME in check.

The Train to See Santa!

Yesterday we joined some little friends to ride the Polar Express to the North Pole to visit Santa. It was Blake's first time to see Santa and sit on his lap. Of course he pulled on his beard, but he didn't cry!

Blake sees the train pulling into the station:


One of Santa's special elves...he's going to drive the train to see Santa!


Woo hoo! We're ready to go!


Thanks to Bea for capturing the mad dash to get off the train to see Santa. Blake will surely be part of this crew next year!


Nice to meet you Santa:


A private conversation:


Mom, who is this guy?


Wh..what...what's under there?

Gotcha!

Playing in the winter wilderness:

Don't forget your jingle bell:

Bye Santa! See you at Christmas!

Football & Thanksgiving

We did something a little different this year and met Randy's parents and brothers in Dallas for Thanksgiving. Mamma (Randy's mom) and Blake enjoyed some one-on-one time while the rest of us went to watch the Saints beat the Cowboys 30-27! I'm not a huge fan of watching football on TV but watching this game in person was so much fun! I forgot how much energy there is at those games. Even though Blake couldn't go, he was still cheering on the Saints from the condo:

Blake & Uncle Michael

We were REALLY high:

For his first Thanksgiving, Blake enjoyed sweet potato fries, apples, and turkey meatballs. And he ate every last bite!

This is the best picture we can get of the 3 of us these days:

Another great part of the trip was getting to see James and Mendy for a little bit. They used to live one house over from us but moved to Missouri a couple of years ago. It worked out that they would be in Dallas visiting her family at the same time so we were able to meet up with them to see handsome Logan who is already 2 1/2 and meet adorable Kinsley who is just 4 1/2 months. We REALLY miss having them in Austin but one day we'll get them back to Texas!

Of course I missed seeing my family for Thanksgiving but Christmas will be here in 4 short weeks, which means Blake is turning 1 in just 6 weeks! So much to do before then!

First Haircut!

Mr. Blake was starting to get a little shaggy around the ears so we went in for his first haircut today and $19 later I regretted it. First of all he wasn't crazy about the experience. Thanks to the 2 head colds he's had and having to hold his head to use the suction on his nose, he's not a fan of having his head held so that didn't start things out very well. Plus the lady we got wasn't exactly the cream of the crop. The front looks okay but it's shorter behind his ears than I would like. Next time I think I'll attempt it myself or try somewhere new. I hope it grows back fast!

Something about the "first haircut" was kind of sad. I know he's only 10 months old and he's still a baby but every day he's looking more and more like a little boy. I love him so much!

Before:

Bringing in Daddy's BlackBerry to help things go smoothly:

Nope, that didn't work. Not a happy boy:

Whew, all done! So handsome!

We put him back in the chair for one last pic. I love how he's holding onto the sides and has this "no, not again" look on his face.

Retiring the swing

Now that Blake is 8 1/2 months old we decided to retire the swing. He hasn't used it in months actually but we're just now getting around to storing it away. Had to get one last run in though. It's amazing to me how much he's grown! He's only 10 days old in this first picture and just looked like a little nugget...and now his head and feet hang over the edges!

Summer Fun

The newborn age I did not want to pause, but this age...this age I would LOVE to be able to pause. Blake is such a sweet, affectionate little boy and he's independent enough to be able to sit on his own and crawl but yet he can't move too fast to where he always has to be chased around. He "talks" to us and smiles and laughs all the time but isn't old enough to scream at us or talk back. :) I'm sure there's great stuff about every age ahead but we're just loving this time with him.

He's just started pulling himself up on things which stresses me out. I get so
worried about him waking up in the middle of the night and standing up in his crib. Even though we've lowered it I'm just scared he's going to lose his balance and hit his head. Typical first-time mom worries I guess. It's crazy to think he's going to be walking in just a few months!

Here's some pictures from the last several weeks (you don't have to have a Facebook account to view these). We've been busy!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2090601&id=1390612057&l=d7b82c6e72

--We drove out to Hamilton Pool, which is a swimming hole about 30 minutes outside of Austin. It was a little bit of a hike and the water was a little chilly but Blake had fun splashing around and playing in the water.

--We also went to the splash pad at Pease Park and finally got to meet up with the Baker twins, Amelia & Everett. They are so adorable! It's so crazy when you haven't seen friends in a long time and then when you finally do, you're watching your kids crawl around together! Hopefully Jace and Regan will be moving back from San Francisco soon and there will be more playdates in the future!
--Blake went on his first flight and did great! They were short flights so he slept for 3 out of 4 of them and then jumped on our laps during the other one. Flying with a baby is a little harder due to all the extra gear but it really wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. It was also Blake's first trip to Tulsa to see Mamma, Pappa Joe and Uncle Michael!
--We visited the Dallas Zoo and saw the penguins, monkeys, gorillas, giraffes, elephants, hogs, and alligators. Though Blake is still too young to comprehend everything he saw of course, he enjoyed people watching and seeing new things.
--We took another road trip to Marshall to visit my family. Blake had fun playing with Nonni & Papa and aunts, uncles, and cousins that we don't get to see enough.
--We also went to the splash park in Pflugerville. Blake loved sitting in front of the smaller fountain and playing in the water.
--We've been going to infant storytime at the RR Public Library. There's about 25 other babies that go so it's fun to watch Blake start to interact with other little kids his age. He loves to sing the songs but his favorite part is playing with the huge parachute at the end. All the babies sit in the middle of the parachute and the parents flap it up and down. He just laughs and hits his hand on his knees, he loves it!