Thanksgiving Break

Some of the things I did on my first Thanksgiving break
by Blake.

My mommy had the week off from school and my daddy had a couple extra days off, too, so we spent a lot of time together! We had lots of family in town to celebrate Thanksgiving, and I had so much fun. I like getting to explore new things now that I can crawl everywhere. I'm getting really fast! Here's some pictures from the last week.
I read the newspaper,
did some laundry,
did a little hot-tubbin',
had lunch with my cousin Santiago,
spent some time jumping around,
and got to see lots of family! Here I am with my Great-Grandpa Hollis and Great-Grandma Dorothy.

Movers & Shakers

Cousin Santiago brought his jumper with him this visit and after watching him have so much fun in it, Blake decided she would jump, too. (Sorry the video is sideways!) I think we're going to need to get a jumper for our house!


Also, I guess I'll go ahead and say Blake is a crawler now. She still falls every once in awhile, but she's pretty good at crawling! She's fast too.

Update

Doesn't a face like this just brighten your day? It does mine! I don't have a lot to talk about today, but I just thought I would put a couple cute pictures up. These were taken last week when Tim's parents were here. Grammy got to babysit Blake all week while I worked and Grandpa came in Thursday night through the weekend. Big thanks to them! Blake had lots of fun with her grandparents! Here she is sitting by Grammy.
And bonus... Blake got lots of new bows, and has enough hair to wear them without a headband or anything. I think she looks like such a big girl!
Blake has been a little fussy due to teething lately. It's her top front right tooth coming in. I keep looking to see if it's all the way through yet, and this morning when I looked I got a surprise! Two new teeth are through! The top front right one I knew about, and another tooth on the top next to the top left front tooth. This morning we were playing, and Blake starting making her "I'm-getting-tired" noises, and the next thing I knew she just layed her head down and went to sleep. Did I mention I'm home from school again today??? No complaints from me!!! I took yesterday off as a personal day to pretend that I'm a stay-at-home mom, and today the sitter's daughter is sick, so I am home again.

8 Months

Today's conversation went something like this...

"Mom, I'm way too busy to sit still!"
"Really? You wouldn't rather watch me crawl?""Mama, I'm outta here!" then as she spots the camera case nearby and grabs it....
"Oooooooh! pretty!""Nnnnummummuummmmuuummm" (Check out the eyebrows!!! ha ha)

Blake Michelle is 8 months old today. We think she is the prettiest little girl ever, with the spunkiest personality. She is quite entertaining!
At 8 months, she is wearing mostly 12 month size clothing, (for the length only... she is still fitting in size 9 month stuff but the pants are so short!) and is in size 3 diapers. Blake can roll and scoot to get anywhere she wants to go. She is just about crawling, being able to rock back and forth and move her legs or arms forward and then falling. As soon as she gets both arms and legs going at the same time, there will be no stopping her.
Blake now has 3 1/2 teeth (ha ha), really 4. Her two bottom front teeth are in, along with the top left front tooth. Her top right front tooth is just peeking through this week (so count that as the 1/2!) She is chewing/gnawing on everything she can get her hands on more than ever: toys, fingers, Daddy's watch, and even a TV tray leg!
Blake can pull up to her knees, and from the crawling position, she can just about push backwards into sitting position. She can say "da-da," "ma-ma" and other consonant sounds like "na, ba...." She loves to jump, blow bubbles and raspberries, make gargling noises, snort and crinkle her nose, pull on long hair, give hugs and kisses, be outside, dogs, peek-a-boo, sing along as others sing, and listen to music (especially music videos on CMT). Blake is a really good eater, and is starting to grab for the spoon to feed herself. I'm sure there is so much more, but I'll try to update more in the coming days. That's Blake in a nutshell so far!

26

Didn't I get the best present this year?? I have a beautiful, energetic, funny daughter who lights up my life! Happy 26th Birthday to me! Tim and Blake gave me a wonderful birthday (and weekend). We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast (we had our celebration dinner last night) and will be going out to Clear Springs Cafe with my parents tonight. I received a sweet card from Tim and Blake, the Snow White DVD (because I'm building a Disney DVD collection for Blake to enjoy one day!), some new clothes and a new baseball cap. I cleaned up pretty good!

Also, Blake gave me a wonderful present all by herself!! As of Friday, she can now say (or rather babble over and over) "ma-ma". I love it!