He's Young....

This afternoon my precious little baby fell and skidded across the tarmac along his right cheek.

He screamed! He wailed! He was beside himself!
Until he got in the elevator and started pressing all the buttons and the crying stopped right away. Having to stop at every floor is a small price to pay for a happy baby.

He has a graze across his cheek, but he is just fine.

And he will fall many more times and get many more scrapes and bruises as he explores this big wild world of ours. And as much as I don't want him to be hurt, I do want him to learn and grow and discover! That means falling. It also means getting up and trying again and again and again.

Like his dad always says, he's young, he'll bounce back.

Itchy, itchy head

Last Saturday I had an itchy head. Thought I had nits so I went to see our school nurse. We ruled out headlice and she thought it was dandruff, so I began using Scott's Head and Shoulders. But my head kept getting itchier and itchier.

Today, at work I went back to the nurse, she said I had no dandruff, but she thought I had ringworm. Ringworm! Two of our colleagues have shingles so we needed to rule that out too.

I left school and headed into our local clinic where the doctor started to examine my head using his regular hand and a tongue depressor to lift my hair. He excused himself for a moment and came back with 2 colleagues. All of them came back wearing gloves and face masks! That's a little scary. The doctor told me he's like to send me for a consult with a dermatologist, but he thought I had scabies, only he didn't know the word scabies, instead he said, "little bugs tunneling in your head." What a terrific verb tunneling is - so vivid.

The dermatologist took one look at my head and said that it wasn't scabies, ringworm or shingles. In fact he didn't even need to look at my head to rule out scabies because people can't get scabies on their heads. Turns out I had a bit of a dry scalp and a serious allergy to Head and Shoulders. Got some antihistamines and I'm good to go.

What a drama!


Here's Blake using his new stool to climb up to the top of the bookshelf. That's where we keep the medical books and he was just trying to help.

Sleepyhead

Even when Blake was a little tiny guy he was a good sleeper. And for this we are very thankful.
Once he is asleep he sleeps long and he sleeps deeply. However, getting him to sleep can sometimes be a bit tricky.

Lately, though, things have taken a turn for the better. When we take Blake into his room for his nap or bedtime, he lays his head against our shoulder and cuddles in for a song and a pat and then he goes down, sweetly and quietly.

Blake has never been the snuggliest guy in the world, so these bedtime cuddles are LOVELY. I never want to let go.

I don't have any photos of the bedtime cuddles or any recent photos of Blake sleeping, so here are some unrelated photos of Blake playing my guitar. Little cutie!

Trucks, Cars and all Toys with Wheels

There is a little boy down stairs who is car crazy. He also likes to line stuff up.
Scott and I always know when he has visited because every car in our house is lined up along the edge of the couch. He chooses cars first, but also lines up any toy with wheels - we have a phone with wheels and a ducky with wheels too. Blake has never been too interested. Books, blocks and balls have always been more to his liking.

In the last day or two, though, Blake has discovered cars. He can't get enough! He 'drives' them up and down the floor, the table, the bench, and any other surface he can find.

Another quick story about cars:
Blake has two superhero toys, the first of many, I should imagine. One of them is a little car that has the Superman S on the side. When Blake chooses that toy to play with it, I always tell him that is how Superman drove to the Daily Planet just to bug Scotty a little bit. He is very quick to correct me and inform Blake that Superman didn't drive, because he didn't need to drive, because he can fly.

Who needs an Ayi?

We do.

I'm not even sure what to write about this picture. That smile, the broom & dustpan - they say it all. Isn't he just the most incredible boy you have ever seen?

Being a mom is a crazy thing - every kid in the world goes through the same phases - the sitting, the crawling, the climbing up, the walking, the sweeping, the pointing, the waving and on and on it goes. But when your baby reaches these milestones it's as good as climbing to the top of Everest. Nothing is surprising, but everything is amazing. He astounds me and knocks me off my feet every day just by being Blake.

Exciting news!

Blake has been saying da-da-da-da for months now. He's been saying mum-mum-mum-mum for quite some time too. He says other sounds like ya-ya-ya and na-na-na and ai-ai-ai-ai-ai but none of them meant anything, just noises - sweet, lovely noises.

Then on Saturday I asked Blake if he would like a bite of banana and he answered 'na-na,' and then went on to eat half a banana in one mouthful, but that's another post. I was floored, but I figured it was just a coincidence. It happened on Sunday and then after school today he did the same thing, so I'm pretty sure Blake's first word was banana.

Sorry Grandma, but it looks like you're going to have to stock up on bananas again this summer.

The Incredible Eating and Sleeping Boy

Scott and I have cut way back on Blake's formula according to our Pediatrician's advice. He now has a little bit in the day and a bottle at night.
Is the little fellow wasting away, I hear you asking?
Not a chance.
This guys eats everything.
Yesterday for breakfast he had half a banana, some of mom's toast, 2 mandarin oranges, some pear, a glass of water (including 3 ice cubes) and a scrambled egg.
Ling Ling told me that right after I went to work he went back to sleep for a THREE HOUR NAP!
I guess eating all that food wears a boy out.

Riding in the Elevator

We have two elevators in our building.
One is slow and has a window, the other is fast, but windowless.
We live on the 9th floor and I think it is nice to get where you are going as quick as possible.
Blake disagrees.
He definitely prefers the sightseeing elevator.
Here he is looking out across Green Court on our way to Scotty's birthday dinner at the Howitt's.

Another thing Blake enjoys about the elevator is the acoustics. Much banging and loud 'talking' occurs within. Good fun.

Happy Birthday Dear Scotty!

Today is Scott's birthday.
We spent the day at work, of course, and then went to Cody and Lynsey's for dinner and the world's most delicious chili!
And as I type this Scott is on the other computer skyping with his mom and dad.
Not too grand a day, but lovely friends and lovely family.



In other exciting birthday news, when I was at the store buying Scott's birthday present, a mobile phone that actually works, I won a dvd player. Yay.

Laughing

There is nothing quite like the sound of my little guy laughing.

It has kind of amazed me what lengths I would go to to make him laugh. I didn't think I would be the 'play peek-a-boo 5 thousand times in row' type of mom, but I am. I thought I might be the 'play peek-a-boo a few times til I get sick of it' mom, but I'm not. I will do it as long as he enjoys it. I will also hide in the curtains for Blake to find me, pull funny faces, make silly sounds, blow on his belly until he gets sick of it.

And he laughs a lot. He really is the most smily, laughy, wonderful boy.



Laugh often,
Dream big,
Reach for the stars!

First Haircut

There was no putting it off anymore.

The baby's hair was too long and it needed a cut!

Our friend Kristi cuts her husband's hair and he looks pretty good, so we were very happy when she volunteered for the job!

We plunked the long, curly haired baby in his chair, gave him some goldfish crackers and she went to work.  Quickly.   I think we all knew that this would have to be fast.

Blake was a very good boy, but he made her job a bit tricky by always trying to watch the scissors.

We thinks he looks fantastic!!!  Thanks Kristi!

I should have asked her to cut my hair too.

The Musical Stylings of Blake W Hossack

I just had a quick look at recent posts and noticed that the last three entries featured a naked or almost naked little fella, so I was bound and determined to get some shots of him in clothes today. And if I didn't tell you, you'd probably never realize that he's not wearing pants in this picture, would you?

For Christmas, Blake's lovely friends Sharon and Tony gave him a band in a box, which was absolutely perfect because Blake loves to make noise. Santa brought him a set of bongo drums so the baby is all set! Every day he treats us to some little performance, banging the drums, shaking the shakers or clanging the clangers.

Today was extra special because today he banged the drums with the maracas, making one heck of a sound. Our little prodigy.

Ice, Ice Baby

Lately, one of Blake's favorite treats is a cube of ice, or cubes of ice is more like it. If you pour yourself a drink and forget to share the ice cubes with Blake it is a BIG DEAL!

I did a little research online to see if all babies did this and it turns out lots do. Some even develop a 'condition' called Pica where they only eat non-nutritional foods such as ice and this leads to iron deficiency and other nasty stuff. Other non-nutritional foods listed were chalk, dirt, sand, paper, etc. I'm no expert, but doesn't every baby eat that stuff some time or anytime they can get their hands on them? The internet doctor cautioned that this only becomes a problem when the child forgoes nutritional food for the non-nutritional stuff. Not a problem in our household! My little sweetheart packed away a gigantic portion of broccoli tonight with a little mango on the side.

Back when Blake had no teeth and chewed everything, I tried giving him some little ice chips to soothe his wee gums, but he wanted no part of them. Now they seem to be a snack he enjoys. They're cold and delicious and crunchy. What's not to like?

The Naked Chef

Tomorrow it is back to work for Scott and I. Back to 10 hour days and back to missing Blake like crazy while we are away. It is bearable because we know that he has such a loving, capable, kind & wonderful caregiver in Ling Ling.

It is also bearable because it is only 7 weeks until our next holiday. And 19 weeks til we head home to Canada for the summer. The life of a teacher, always counting down to something.

I cant type long because I need to get ready for school in the morning, but I will leave you with a gorgeous photo of a gorgeous boy. Scott calls this one The Naked Chef. He just can't get enough of those pots and pans!!