new words

In addition to these words, Blake has picked up a few more:

up-This word is probably the clearest he can say besides Mama and Dada.

go- usually said as he looks out the window or while throwing a fit because he wants to go outside

dog-sounds like "dah...g" when he says it

Nana- in reference to his great-grandmother or a banana. natch.

no- The dreaded "no". I try to counter it with lots of yeses. <------ that looks weird...

juice- Well, we're still working on this one. So far Blake makes the "j" sound for juice. Eh, close enough.

cold- Whenever Blake touches something cold he says, "cole" with a cute o-shaped mouth.

hot- Sometimes Blake says "cole" when he touches something that is hot. He also blows on almost everything he eats whether it's hot or cold. And just today he held a piece of food up to my mouth for me blow on to cool it off. I mistakenly tried to eat it.

It really is incredible how quickly he's learning how to say new words and how much he understands. Today I told him he was going downstairs to play with our neighbor's son. He immediately ran to the door and started crying when we didn't leave right away. I didn't know he actually understood what I meant! He also walks straight to the kitchen when I tell him it's time for a snack. And he's even potty trained now! Ok not really. But man that would be awesome.

Time Out

Meltdown mode will commence in 3...2...1...

I think Blake wanted to watch videos of himself on the computer and I didn't want to. I probably could have just sat at the computer for another 15 minutes, but we had already watched videos earlier that morning and I wanted to take him to the park before it got too hot.

Apparently he didn't like that idea. So a full-on tantrum was in order. I tried to ignore it. I tried to say things like, "I know you want to watch videos of yourself, but let's go to the park! Can you find your shoes?" I tried getting ready to go outside, but the tantrum continued. I thought it would help if I just got him dressed and in his stroller. Usually once we are outside he gets distracted and he's back to his happy self.

But then I could smell the trash. Ugh, the trash needed to be taken out. Couldn't I just do it when we got back from the park? I suppose. But then as soon as we walked into the apartment we'd be knocked over by the smell of whatever was rotting in our trash. And I knew we were going to be hot and sweaty when we came back. The thought of sweating and smelling rotting trash wasn't so appealing. So I proceed to get the trash ready to take outside.

Enter Angry Blake.

Angry Blake, the early years

(This is the only crying picture I have of Blake. No one takes pictures of their kid's tantrums!)

Taking out the trash is a relatively easy, although loathsome, task. But it's anything but easy and 10 times more loathsome when Angry Blake is around. He was already upset because I wouldn't let him do what he wanted to do. So he decided to do everything I didn't want him to do. Like play with the dustpan. Or the trashcan lid. I could feel my sanity slipping away. I needed a time out. He needed a time out. THE WHOLE WORLD NEEDED A TIME OUT!

Blake is only 14 months old, so I don't generally handle his tantrums with time-outs. I try to distract him with something else, explain why he can't do something or why I need him to do something (like wear a diaper), and give him lots of love after he's calmed down. But this tantrum was getting out of control and I didn't feel like I could deal with it in an appropriate way.

So I put Blake in his crib with his blanket and pacifier and turned off the lights. There was no crying. He laid down and in a few minutes I could hear him laughing. At that point I was ready to get him and take him to the park. And we had a blast! (Although seriously how hard is it to throw your trash away, people! There are trashcans all over the playground for you to use!)

Regular Blake

I don't know why, but I've never been a fan of time-outs. Maybe it's because when I've seen them used they don't seem to work. I'm not opposed to using something if it works. But I don't think I'll be using time outs on a regular basis because I feel like Blake is still too young to understand why he's getting a time out. For now I'll reserve them for the times when we both need a few minutes to calm down.

Just curious, do you use time outs and how early did you start? Do you feel like they are effective?

1 year

1 year ago today, Blake looked like this:

Evan looked like this:

And I looked like this:

1 year ago today, Blake and I started our adventure in Brooklyn. I was naive. I knew life would be different, but the New York I was picturing was not the New York I would come to know. A few days ago I was standing in my kitchen washing dishes and I thought to myself, "I've finally decided that I hate it here."

Over the past year I've tried really hard to love Brooklyn and NYC as a whole. And while I haven't seen all of NYC, I can definitely say I do not love this place. And some days I really do hate it. And other days I don't hate it as much. And still other days I don't mind it and think it's not so bad. So how do I feel about New York? Well, I've decided it's an awesome place to visit, but not such an awesome place to live. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with my life. As difficult as it is to admit, I do believe that one's circumstances don't determine the level of one's happiness. (Sometimes I have to repeat that to myself several times a day...)

Some days I feel like I'm still "new" here. I don't feel like I have mastered city life. But I don't know if I'll ever feel that way (and I don't really want to be here long enough to.) And even though if I could choose to live anywhere it wouldn't be here, I do feel that Brooklyn has taught me a few things:

1) I can do hard things (such as lugging a 25+ lb baby in a 9lb stroller up and down subway stairs...or running to catch the train with that same baby in the same stroller.)

2) Target is not the same everywhere.

3) I should probably learn Spanish...or Chinese...or Russian...

4) It's ok to display good manners when they seem to be in short supply.

5) I'm glad I don't have a Brooklyn accent but chuckle when I hear people speak who do. (And then laugh at myself when I try to imitate them.)

6) The church is the same anywhere you go (well, kind of.)

7) The pizza here is pretty good. ;)

Who knew a year ago that Blake would look like this:

Evan would look like this:

And I would look like this:

Oops! I mean this:

Ahh, much better.

Here's to another year in Brooklyn!

40

That's how many marathons a person would have to run in order to burn 30 pounds of fat.

Or at least that's what someone told me yesterday. I'm not really sure why she told me that. Maybe she thinks I have about 30 pounds of fat to burn. And she's probably not that far off. I think she was trying to prove how it's more effective to alter one's diet than to start a rigorous work out plan. But then she started talking about how important working out is. I was confused. And she probably weighed about 2.3 pounds so I stopped acting like I was interested in her conversation and tended to my little one.

But with a number like that, 40 marathons, it doesn't make me want to start training for one. It makes me want to go eat a cookie or something. 40 marathons?! I'll count my life accomplished if I ever have the desire to start thinking about running 1 marathon.

This lady was a health coach. I'm not sure what that means.

Apparently it means I need to run 40 marathons.

not that kind of blog

You know those blogs, the ones with the cute moms who are really stylish and crafty and make their own bread and stuff?

Ya this isn't one of those blogs. I'm not stylish. In fact, I hate shopping. I get tired easily and these days things just don't fit me like I want them to. I think I could be really stylish, but I'm not willing to put the energy into it. That's sad. Anyway, I can be crafty when needed. I've made bread before. It turned out ok.

But this isn't one of those blogs. Maybe one day I'll find something I'm awesome at doing and can write about it on my blog. Then I'll have thousands of people following my blog, asking me to teach them to be as awesome as I am.

Until then, I'll just leave you with photo evidence of why this isn't one of those blogs.

whiter than white

 Look at those legs. Mine, not Blake's.

Can you tell they haven't seen the sun in...a while?

White? No, not white.

Translucent.

bye bye baby

 

14 months old and almost no sign of a baby left. 

(I wish I could say that about my hips...haha!)