Crib Happenings

Well, I've often written about how wild Baker is when he sleeps but he's also quite wild when he wakes up and is waiting for us to come get him. We have his little blanket animals (I have no idea what they're really called but it has the animal head with a blanket attached to it...that sounds quite creepy doesn't it?) sitting in two of the corners of his crib (but we make them pretty hard to reach) and Brad's afghan from when he was a baby hanging on the end. Most days, we walk in and there's at least one of them pulled down and nestled up to him. Brad watched him in the monitor on Saturday actually roll from one corner to the next, grunting while he pulled each one down. And the other day, I walked in to get him from his nap and this is what I found:

The sweetest face staring at me as I walked in the door...

with the biggest grin on his face, looking so proud of his accomplishments!
Rear view...poor animals. I love how he has the blanket trailing over the bumper

and out of the crib.
The next day - Baker often wakes up during his naps, talks a bit and falls back to sleep. That's what happened here. He found time to pull the blanket down, wrap up in it and then went back to sleep...so sweet.
Mobile watching. He realizes now that his arms are almost long enough to touch them...uh oh.
Then stupid me sat him up and let him grab them. What was I thinking? I'll be paying for this one in a few weeks/months.

Baker's 1/2 Year Photoshoot

Well, due to our vacation last week and the preparation for it the few days before, I was unable to squeeze in a photoshoot for our little monkey but don't worry - I had it on Thursday! So, I guess it's really a 6 1/2 month photoshoot but there was no way that I would miss this momentous birthday! He is a 1/2 year old...that's so crazy to me! This photoshoot turned out to be a bit different from the others. Now that Baker is sitting up pretty well and in turn has become much more alert to his surroundings, he was pretty difficult to keep still. In the past, I simply propped him up with a pillow and snapped away as my precious one smiled so big. Now, not so much. He insists on sitting up, which is totally great, but then he wants to grab and reach for everything in sight, making photo taking a bit harder to accomplish by myself. I still managed to catch some cute shots.

Baker has grown leaps and bounds in the past 6 months. A few things that have changed: He has gone through 4 size changes (NB, 0-3, 3-6, and now he wears 6-9 or even 12 months in a few things). It seems like only yesterday he was wearing those oversized onesies that swallowed him whole. Baker no longer screams when I lay him down on his tummy - instead he rolls over himself and can play forever like that, which has really helped with his sweet, slightly flat head (it's not so flat anymore *smile*). Now that he sleeps on his tummy, he doesn't get swaddled anymore, for obvious reasons. After a few naps and finding him tummy down while wrapped up tightly, we thought that was probably not a good idea anymore! He not only takes a bottle but eats fruits, veggies and meat like a champ, hence the belly. He also likes to swat at the spoon, thrusting mushy carrots all over us...ah, nothing like it! And finally, he no longer just lays down to play, but Baker is doing so well sitting up by himself and is able to explore in a whole new way. These are just a few of the things - I could list so much more.

Below is a list of our 6 favorite things that we love about Baker in honor of his 6 month birthday. Stopping at 6 was really hard because we could come up with so much more than that!

1. How he sweetly falls asleep during his last bottle before bedtime
2. His coos - They are starting to sound more like words. Just yesterday we heard him say baba dade!! We laughed because it sounded like he said baby daddy...ha!
3. His adorable laugh and toothless smile
4. How he reaches to explore new things and how active he is, rolling here there and everywhere
5. How he loves to watch Bleeker and just smiles when he sees him
6. That no matter where we travel, we can put him in any crib or pack 'n play and he'll still sleep from 8-8!
7. Did you really think that I would stop at 6? Impossible!
8. How dramatic he is - he can go from laughing to crying in an instant!
9. How he strokes our face when he drinks his bottle now
10. How he loves to play the boo! game - our version of peek-a-bo. Our list could go on!

We treasure every day with Baker and I think we were both shocked at how much love we have for him. I never thought I could love another person so much. It has been the most exhausting, sweet and beautiful journey that Brad and I could have ever asked for. We're just so grateful that God trusted us enough to have put him in our hands to care for. If only we can make Him proud of our efforts to do the best we can in raising him.

Love that face!

Eating the candle off of his fake cupcake.

Might as well have a fake one since he can't eat the real kind yet!!

It's amazing the giraffe doesn't seem so big anymore.
I love that face!
Sitting so pretty

Baker is getting so long that he pretty much reaches both ends of the changing table.
This cracks me up! It looks like he's saying "Now let me tell you something".
He cracked himself up here!
He's finally big enough to play his blocks. They used to be bigger!

Wow, he's really excited here! That is some block!

Such a ham!

In the 12 month onesie...doesn't look like we're too far away from wearing this one!
The sweetest profile...it shows how cute his little pug nose is!
It appears he's waving hello but I promise that is not the case! Just great timing!

Sitting Up!

While we were away on vacation last week, Baker hit a pretty big milestone...learning to sit up! Thanks also to the persistence of Nana and Papa, he grew leaps and bounds from the week before where he could only do it for a few seconds. We knew he wasn't far from being able to sit because he is always trying to lean forward and pull himself up while sitting in our laps or in his stroller. He's not quite to the point where he can pull himself to sit but if we do it for him, he can sit for a few minutes (or a few seconds *smile*). Brad and I are amazed how much better is he at sitting even from last week! I've never actually timed it because, not that we don't believe in our little monkey, but we never expect him to sit for that long and before we know it, the clock has been ticking away and he's still on his bottom! There are times when we're certain it's been way more than 5 minutes. A key point he's learned is how to catch himself when he starts to topple and that's exciting! I call him our little weeble wobble. He's even grabbed for toys while sitting, so we're on to something here. The good thing about sitting up is that it opens a whole new world of play time for him, like putting toys in and taking out. Maybe it's my ADD, but I get bored with his toys probably quicker than he does, so I am thrilled that he is able to play in a whole new way now. The video below shows Baker sitting for over a minute! By the time I finally reached for the camera after he'd been sitting forever, his little abs must've been exhausted because he toppled over soon after. I have yet been able to video the really long ones...not that anyone would want to watch a video of him sitting for 5 minutes! Isn't it funny the things that we get so excited about as new parents? Now, if only we can train Bleeker to sit for that long...haha!

One more bit of news...Baker is now taking baths in the big tub. Well, he's still in his little tub, just not propped in the sink anymore. Brad and I decided to try it out since we bathed him like that at the beach and we really liked it so much better. Baker not only has the freedom to move around a lot more but so do we. And he seems to really enjoy it. He holds his little ducky and splashes around. So, despite how tiny our bathroom is, we're gonna make it work! I laughed when I saw Brad the other night squeezed in between the toilet and the towel shelf trying to bathe him...he was like a giant in this small space!

Just take a look at those long eyelashes and big blue eyes.

He'll be able to get anything by us if he bats those eyes!

Baker's new thing as of last night...sitting up in the bathtub. He's been trying to do this for a while. No more laying down for him! I guess we can buy some cute bath toys now.
Giant Brad in our itty bitty bathroom giving Baker a bath.
Bleeker exhausted. We've never seen him sleep like this before. Whatever floats his boat!
This cracked me up! Last night, I took his onesie off and it stayed on his head. When I sat him up, he looked like a captain! I don't know why we get such a kick out of this kind of stuff!
We've recently noticed that during every nap, Baker is grabbing his blanket or blanket animals off the top of the crib railing. I guess he really likes to snuggle, which I find so endearing! Yesterday, Brad went to get him up from his nap and said that he had pulled 2 animals and a blanket down. So, today for his nap, I figured I would beat him to the punch and give him his little bunny first. Later, I found him suffocating that poor bunny and only his head was sticking out. It didn't stand a chance!

Standing on a dock at the sound

Outer Banks or Bust

Okay, so I'm sure many of you have been thinking when on earth are they going to update the blog? Well, the reason it's been over a week since I've posted anything is because we've been on our family vacation to the Outer Banks, NC, a first for the Blackmon family. We rented a 2 bedroom oceanview condo in Kill Devil Hills with Brad's parents and had a fabulous time! I haven't been to the OBX in over 15 years so I forgot what it was like. What gorgeous beaches they have! The homes are stunning and the area is a little less commercial than Atlantic or Myrtle Beach, places we used to vacation as kids. And considering that last year, Brad and I spent our vacation in the Dominican Republic (we vow to never go back there) where Brad became terribly ill and my morning sickness started at 6 weeks preggers, this vacation was bound to be better...and it was!

This time, we were vacationing at the beach with our own baby and boy does that make vacations different! What's funny is that in our minds, or at least my mind, I envisioned our sweet family sitting on the beach, Baker playing in the sand, napping under the tent, letting the waves crash on his little feet. Instead, it went more like this - lather Baker in sunscreen (which he HATED the spray on kind...way too cold for the little guy), put on bathing suit, Brad and Andy head to the beach to put up the tent - not a small feat, take Baker to the beach, sit under the tent but notice that he doesn't the heat and beach very much so we take him to the water. The water is quite cold and he doesn't like that much either, cries just a wee bit when the water comes over his feet. What to do next? This isn't working. After spending probably 15 minutes on the beach (it likely took Andy and Brad longer to put the tent up!), we take him to the pool instead. After time in the pool, go back upstairs for his nap. Total outside time with Baker - maybe an hour. But thank God for the pool! Baker loved the pool and enjoyed floating in his crab float that his Nana and Papa brought for him. We gave the beach one more shot on Friday and he did so much better! I wouldn't say that he loved it, but he definitely tolerated it!!

And thank God for Nana and Papa - they were so kind to watch Baker every day to give us some time on the beach! Not only that, but on Wednesday, they gave us our first date in 6 months. Brad and I went to Duck and Corolla to spend the afternoon alone. We shopped at the cute stores, went to the Currituck Lighthouse, and had dinner on the sound. It was so nice and peaceful but we missed our little guy! Plus, they kept him so that we could do a jetski tour on Friday afternoon. Brad and I on a jetski, so funny! I was petrified because it had been years since I'd been on one but it was so much fun! It was 90 minutes of fun, cruising down the sound with our guides and about 6 other jetskis touring the southern shores and seeing the Bodie Lighthouse. It was so much fun! By far the best part was riding through the marshes and feeling like we were on CSI Miami...wow! Thanks you guys! Come Saturday, the endless seafood dinners, beach and pool time, and hearing the waves crash from our condo all had to come to a sad end. It was truly a great vacation! I apologize in advance for posting so many pictures but there is so much to tell from our week and I didn't want to leave anything out! Enjoy the two videos below too!

Bleeker running free on the beach. It was sweet to see him look so happy!
With his best buddy...Andy
Sunrise on the beach
Baker learning to swim
Baker's first trip to the beach!
And he didn't like the water too much at first.
Nor did he like the sunscreen!
Bleeker tugging at the ball

Dinner at the Collington Cafe
Seriously, you can't tell it here, but this was the biggest Seagull I've ever seen!
Bluecrab...and yes, it's dead. I wouldn't dare get this close if it weren't!
Relaxing in the water
The boys in the pool
More sunscreen
We loved this little suit!! He just bopped around!
Baker's first taste of meat...chicken! While we were there, he also started eating beef. It's amazing to me how he seems to like most everything he tries! We were certain that he wouldn't like the meats from the stories we heard, but he did!
In his crab float
Family shots on the beach!











Currituck Lighthouse
Shopping on the waterfront...date night!
Sweet toes in the sand
Last sunrise on the beach
Dinner at Tale of a Whale
Sitting in his big boy high chair
Looking out at the sound





We really don't want Baker to be afraid of the water, so we were told to put his head under to help with this. As awful as it was for us to see his little face when he came up, we know it will help in the future. So, this video documents it!

Baker enjoying the ocean, well, sort of enjoying it!

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