Swimming Classes

BD and I signed Blake up for some swimming classes. He generally loves the water. Loves splashing in the bath, doesn't mind water running over his face, and he falls asleep to the sound of water.

We planned for his first birthday party to be a pool party since my parents have an in-ground pool at home. I figured "why not get Blake used to a bigger body of water?"

Last week was the start of his swim classes.  I guess technically they aren't really swim classes. They're Mommy and Me classes so I am required to get in the pool with him. Errr... Daddy and Me? Grandma/Grandpa and Me? Any adult we appoint can get in the pool with him but I decided to do it since the swim school has a class on Thursday mornings. And what a coincidence it is that we have no plans on Thursday mornings. ;-)

The basic idea of the Mommy and Me class is to get the babies accustomed to water and show them what they are capable of doing in the water.

We missed last week's class but made it to yesterday's class. It was ADORAAAAABLE!

A little crowded, but all of the kids in their little swimsuits killed me.

Blake and I got in the water and he was all smiles and giggles! He kicked his legs and splashed around! I wish someone was there to take pictures of his first time in the pool!

We went back and forth from wall to wall "swimming" after a little sailboat and a rubber ducky. We played catch with the rubber ducky by throwing it a couple feet ahead and swimming to it to catch it. Blake floated on his back like a natural, too!

Then came time to play "Humpy Dumpty" where the kids sat on the edges of the pool while the mommies and daddies held them up. We sang the little song and when Humpty fell off that wall, so did the kids. Well, they didn't fall but the mommies had to lift them up off the edge and help them "fall" into the water with their heads going under.

Holy sh*t... that was tough!

Blake took in some water and was definitely caught off guard. But he wasn't crying... so we did it again.

That's when all hell broke loose. I don't think I've seen this boy cry and scream and disagree with me that hard... ever. From that point on, he didn't trust me, the water, or anyone around us. Almost all of the babies were crying. Screaming. That definitely didn't help calm my Blakey down...

We had ten minutes left in the class and I gave up. Blake and I sat against one of the walls and I tried to calm him down. I tried helping him splash but he didn't even want to let an arm free. He hung on tight around my neck and refused to let go. My poor boy... so distraught and... well, probably just really pissed the eff off. :-/

Getting him dressed was another battle we had. Goodness gracious. A wet, squirmy baby in a cold changing room with no changing table or nothing to lay him down on. I looked at the stark, chilled room and just shook my head. Now mommy was pissed. I was still soaking wet and Blake was still crying his little eyes out. We probably took the longest in the changing room, but you know what... I didn't hear any other babies crying so I hope the other parents understood or realized I was having a tough time.

Finally dressed and buckled up in the car. Blake almost instantly fell asleep. *whew* There was hope!

But instead of just driving off and enjoying the peace, I sat in my car for about 15 minutes to just catch my breath. My hands were far from being steady and I felt like maybe that was an anxiety attack? I started to get a little bit of a headache so I shut my eyes and took deep breaths...

Oy.

Am I going back next week? I should... huh? At least now I know about the changing rooms and I can prepare myself a little better.

We Kind of Missed His First Easter

Blake hasn't been feeling well the past week and a half. He woke up on Easter morning with a temperature again so his dad and I decided it was best to keep him home.

Easter turned out to be a pretty gloomy afternoon and quite chilly so that took some of the guilt away from not taking him out of the house.

My parents bought Blake his "My First Easter" bib and they were in charge of hiding all of the eggs at a big celebration we go to annually. It was sad that they went without Blake but they left some eggs for him to use for play.

But now that it's getting warmer outside, and the sun is shining, I'd love for him to be out and about. Get some fresh air. We went for an hour walk yesterday, in the 60 degree weather, with the sun shining down on his adorable little face. Brought Langston along with us, too! Once Blake fell asleep, Langston and I played fetch in the field behind my house.

I feel kind of bad because Langston hasn't been getting as much attention from me lately. Not because he has been bad, but because I have so much to do and Blake is all over the place now. That and Blake and I usually go to all of his activities during the day time before he naps in the afternoon.

I would love to take both of my little boys out to DC or for a mini hike. Does anyone have any suggestions around Maryland? DC kind of intimidates me. I don't know if I can handle the metro by myself with Blake... and I wouldn't be able to take Langston there. If I do take Langston and end up driving into DC, I get really nervous with all the one-way roads and tricky streets.

Hey mommies in the area.. anyone want to try and trek out with us some time?!

Traveling with Blake

Two weekends ago, I went up to Rochester with Blake and his dad to celebrate BD's cousin's first birthday. I would really love for Blake to know how loved he is and appreciate the company of both sides of his family.

The last time we took a road trip with Blake he was only about 2 months old. During that time he slept for most of the day and would only wake to nurse. Now that he's 9 1/2 months, it's not as easy to get this kid to sleep especially if he sees me in the backseat with him.

The trip to Rochester, NY from Maryland is about 6 hours. When we went up, Blake already had a little bit of a runny nose, but we already made arrangements to travel so we decided to take the risk. We left in the evening around 8 pm and had him in his jammies already. He slept for most of the ride up and woke every two hours to nurse. Then again, we also gave him a little dose of Children's Tylenol since he had a cold. So that may have contributed to him napping.

Now the ride back was a little worse. It seemed like he got a little more sick while we were up there for the weekend, so that may have contributed to it. But we also left mid-afternoon so Blake probably thought it was time to play. He hated being in the carseat, which doesn't happen often. He was screaming and crying most of the way. I tried nursing him in the car and that didn't even work.

We finally stopped halfway home to fuel up and stretch our legs. Took him out of the car to see what was going on and change his diaper.

Mommy had to get some Advil because all the crying and sitting in the backseat just made me feel sick and gave me a headache.

The sun finally went down and around 7:30 pm, Blake started to get quiet. Once it was darker he fell asleep. And he slept for the rest of the way!

I'm sure his cold played a part in his fussiness but I'm trying to figure out how it's going to be traveling with him on a plane.

BD and I agreed that taking a family trip would be a good idea for Blake and would give him memories to last forever. So we're taking a family trip to California in a month. Plus... Blake flies for free until he turns two! Our flights and hotel are already booked. Counting down the days!

If anyone has any tips on traveling with a little one, please share some tips and tricks in the comments!

Still sick

Just when I thought Blake was over the worst part of this sickness, it got worse. Of course.

He had a runny nose and hoarse throat the past few days but he got his voice back on Wednesday so I thought we were almost in the clear.

When he's sick, I continue to breastfeed but I also thaw out frozen breastmilk to see if there are any antibodies that could help. He started showing interest in solid food again yesterday. We had soup rice soup with chicken. Yummy dinner for mommy and Blake!

But then while we were playing before his bath, his nose started running again. I ended up skipping his bath and have him a lukewarm wipe down instead.

He pooped in his diaper, which doesn't sound surprising but it is for me since he hasn't pooped in his diaper for awhiiiiiile. He goes on the potty... So that's how I knew he was still sick.

It was incredibly tough getting him to sleep last night. His nose kept running like a monster was inside his nose scaring the snot out. Ha! I took the NoseFrida out a few times and he hated it but at least he could breathe.

He finally fell asleep around 8... About an hour later than he normally does. He woke up a half hour later and his body was hot. I unsnuggled him from his blankie and laid with him until he fell back asleep. He woke up again... 30 minutes later and he had the saddest, little cry ever.

His bottom lip curled and he covered his eyes with his little hands. Then the heartbreaking cry came out and the tears started flowing. My poor baby...

He had a temperature of 103.3 F last night...

And of course neither of us slept.

I finally broke down and called BD early this morning. He doesn't usually visit on Thursday nights but I needed a hand and some shut eye. He didn't answer... And honestly, I started crying.

I was so heartbroken seeing my son so miserable and I was extremely exhausted. I was mad at the world at 5 am. Ugh...

BD finally got back to me around 7:30 am but I was so flustered and tired. Blake finally went down for a morning nap so I tried to go down for a nap too. 20 minutes later he woke up. We went downstairs so I could make coffee and saw BD was here!

Thank goodness!

I started getting tears in my eyes and BD just gave Blake a big hug. Then he sent me to bed.

I slept for an hour then BD had to really get to work so here I am. Up and at it! All I needed was that one hour.

I doubt BD reads this blog but if you do, thank you for the help this morning!

So today will be all snuggles and love for Blake. Hugs and kisses and as much fluid as he can drink. He can even watch some TV today! I'm kind of sad we'll miss his playgroup's egg hunt but if we stay home and rest, hopefully he'll be better for the real big egg hunt on Easter!

Catching Up

Since Blake has been crawling, I haven't really had much time to get things done. This boy is all over the place!

We definitely need to start babyproofing soon...

I have most of the stuff, like outlet covers (which by the way, I can hardly take out of the outlet... those things are tough) and door handle locks. I'm not worried about him opening and shutting doors just yet.

What I need to invest in are baby gates, cabinet locks, and drawer locks.

When he's not crawling, he is moving around like crazy in his walker. Back, forth, side-to-side, diagonal... every which way!

Aside from crawling, he's learning a ton of other stuff and it's just been so fun playing with him. I can't help but just bask in the happiness he brings me. He can point his finger on command and meet it with your finger (the funny thing about this is that his dominant finger on his left hand is his middle finger... so you'll probably see a lot of pictures with that thing sticking up), clap his hands, high five, and he is picking up on the sign language I've been teaching him (like how to say "more", "all finished", and "milk").

Yesterday we went out for a little "car" ride around the neighborhood and we brought Langston out with us. Blake had a little cold the past few days so we really needed the fresh air. I strapped him in his car, leashed up Langston, and out the door we went.

Blake loved the sunshine! He loved driving his car. But what he loved most was holding Langston's leash! Ahhhhhh... the sweetest sight I ever did see!

When Langston started to wander off, Blake took his leash with both hands and gently pulled on it to get Langston to come back to us. Man... that kid is a quick learner. Here's a quick little video I made with the Vine app. :-)

Anyway, that's my reasoning for not blogging as much as I'd hoped lately.

On another note... I've been giving Blake's old clothes away. He had a boatload of baby clothes that he grew out of and I sold a huge trash bag of them and kept the "special moment" ones. But then as I was cleaning the other day, I found two more bins of clothes! Not even sure how a little baby had so many things. I can't even remember how I fit all of this into his room.

I started selling some of his clothes on Instagram (you can follow us at @fromblakewithlove). We set it up kind of like an online pop-up shop. There really are some internet/phone-savvy moms that came up with this idea. I wish I was original enough to have come up with it first lol!

instagram @fromblakewithlove

I was surprised to see that most of the items sold! I shipped them all out yesterday and tried to make the shipping boxes cute so when they arrive, the buyers get excited. I know that usually helps me accept and enjoy the things I purchase online lol!

"one of the secrets of a HAPPY LIFE is continuous SMALL TREATS"

He Finally Did It

Blake's third tooth finally broke through his gums last week. Or maybe earlier, but I just found it last week. He's been drooling like crazy but no major complaining. Just chewing on whatever he can and soaking bibs all day!

The past few nights, Blake has been flipping over onto his belly to sleep and he has never done that before. It's frustrating because he'll do it while he's sleeping and then wake himself up. That just means mommy has to wake up, too.

Last night, after his bedtime bath, he flipped over onto his belly and... CRAWLED!

I was honestly starting to think he would never crawl. He enjoys standing and jumping and trying to walk but he always hated being on his belly. But he did it!! All on his own! Like it was nothing. Like he's been crawling all along behind my back and finally decided to share it with me. Lol! I'm thinking all that flipping in the middle of the night was him DREAMING of crawling!

I wanted to cry and giggle and jump for joy all at the same time. I was shocked. He started crawling 5 minutes before his dad came by to visit. When BD walked into the room, he saw the look of amazement on my face and asked what happened. I put Blake down and let him crawl over to his dad. My jaw dropped open again...

I saw the joy and excitement on BD's face. Blake was all giggles and smiles because he reached his dad by himself. And I was just happy. So super happy that my baby reached another milestone!

BD ran to get the camcorder and I cleared some of Blake's toys from the floor so he could have more room to crawl around. Naturally, he wanted to crawl to all the things he can't usually play with... Like my iPhone, a plastic bag, the iPad, and all the wooden furniture. BD wanted to run to Home Depot to start babyproofing lol!

Now that Blake figured out how to crawl, that's all he wants to do. Even when I tried to put him to bed. He flipped over onto his belly and crawled all over me and under and over the blanket. He was up a little later that night and I'm guessing it was because he was so excited. He didn't even want to lay still during story time.

And now that he's crawling... mommy's getting a little more of a workout with him. LOL!