Funny Face

Blake's been making that face lately. He started pulling himself up this week and has been doing it nonstop. Yesterday I went in his room and found him standing up in his crib. He's growing up so fast.

First Hair Cut

Bite Me

Blake and I went to visit Eric's sister, Keri, and her family last week. We hopped on a train with Eric's mom and headed for Wisconsin. Eric came up later in the week after school. It was very fun to spend time with these cute little kids. The youngest, Abbie, referred to Blake as "Bate." Eric and I took them out a few places and it was fun to watch other people stare at us wondering if they were all ours.

I had one crazy day while I was there. I went for a run around their neighborhood and as I was running I saw two little dogs across the street. They started to run toward me so I stopped so they would calm down. They didn't calm down and one of the dogs bit me! I yelled "ouch!" and kept running to get away from them. It really hurt but turns out that it didn't break the skin. Now I am terrified of dogs.

Later that afternoon we went to a small petting zoo. There were animals that you could feed and there were random ducks, geese, and roosters loose. The kids were feeding the animals when Keri started to warn me about a goose that was behind me. Before she could finish telling me, the goose started biting my legs! I immediately started screaming and running while holding Blake. I was so jumpy from earlier that morning. We did laugh all the way home but what is going on with animals biting my legs?

Spring Break

Eric had spring break this past week so we went home to St. Louis to relax. Eric especially wanted to go so he could watch basketball on a big screen t.v. While we were there we went to a lake and rode bikes around it. It was so fun and I decided we would be a bike riding family some day. We also played a little frisbee. While we were in St. Louis Blake's first tooth started coming in. He was a little fussy but not too bad. On our drive back to Chicago we stopped to visit my Grandma. It is always great to see her. She took us out to lunch and we got some ice cream at Dairy Queen. Mmmm.

8 Months

*Blake is able to get around the room now. He doesn't crawl but it looks like he's doing the worm. He lifts his body with his toes and then gets back on his belly while pulling forward. It's pretty fun to watch. Sometimes he even grunts to get up enough umph to move.

*He loves doggies. He breathes faster and smiles when he sees them in a book. He saw a real dog today and did the same thing. Too bad that Eric doesn't want any pets in our future.

*Blake has recently become sensitive. He'll mostly cry when unfamiliar men look at him. The other day we were in the elevator with two older men. Blake was in his stroller and was looking at them. They were waving and smiling and Blake turned to me with a horrified look on his face and was on the verge of tears. Poor baby.

Fun Visit

Our friends the Gertsch's came to stay with us for a couple of days. We spent a fun day downtown as we walked the magnificent mile, stopped in the American Girl store, ate really good hot dogs, and went to the Field Museum. It was great to catch up with college buddies and their cute kids!

This is at the American Girl store. I had no idea that these dolls were such a hit! It was a big store full of dolls, outfits, and accessories. I got a kick out of this hair salon for these dolls. They sit on little pink chairs and get their hair done. You could pick the hairstyle and pay up to $20 for it. Such a magical place.

Here we are at the Field Museum with Sue--the largest and best preserved T-Rex.

California

Blake and I went home to California for 10 days. We played at the park, went for walks, shopped, visited friends, played games, and made crafts. I had so much fun hanging out with my mom. She is the best and was so helpful with Blake.




Blake, Grandpa, and Aunt Kim


When we asked Blake "Where's the doggie?" he would look around on the floor for her. Missy was a good source of entertainment.

Blake and Grandma

This is Blake's latest attempt at crawling. He gets so frustrated!