Bloodshed

A few months ago Blake was biting everything in sight, including Scott and myself. I was getting a little bit worried that he would be that kid at preschool, you know, the biting kid. But then one day I realized he hadn't bitten anyone in over a week. We had made it through the biting stage without any bloodshed.

Lately, Blake has been pinching us. Like biting, he does it when happy and when sad, when joyful and when miserable.

Today while riding on Scotty's shoulders he reached down and gave his dad a big, loving pinch on the cheek. And cut him! It bled and bled and bled.

Hope he's not the pinchy kid at preschool.

Shanghai Ocean Aquarium

Today Scott, Blake and I went with some friends to the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium. By Chinese zoo standards it was a pretty nice facility. Clean, safe, organized, full of cool stuff.
Hard to say which part Blake hated the most. It could have been the crowds, though he's certainly been surrounded by that many people before - we do live in China. Though he clearly wanted to borrow someone's camera and no one would let him. It might have been the gigantic fish. Maybe it was the dim lighting or the ocean sounds piped in. We know he's not a big fan of the ocean.
Whatever it was, Blake did not have a good time at the aquarium. He started whining, by the middle of the tunnel he was full on crying and when he started screaming we said goodbye to our friends and high tailed it to the exit.
Outside, Blake cheered up pretty quickly, happy to be away from the fish, dark, music & whatever else was bugging him down there.
That's when things got sucky for Scott and I, though. Some cheeky devil unzipped our backpack and lifted my camera right out!
So no pictures of the cranky baby in front of the fish tanks.

Surprises

Surprise #1
Today when Scott came home from practice he poured himself an ice cold glass of lemonade straight out of the fridge. Out came the lemonade AND two pencils!!
I know what you're thinking - sue the company and win a million dollars. Good idea. Only these were Shanghai American School pencils, which means they were put in the carton in our house, not at the factory.

Surprise #2
Later on I was making some pasta for dinner and there in the spaghetti canister was a blue bouncy ball.

Blake is a curious kid. He loves exploring indoors and out. He loves opening and closing doors and putting on lids and then taking them off. And clearly he likes putting stuff in other stuff.

Everyday is an adventure.

Spaghetti for Dinner

Blake had just had a bath and was ready for bed when he decided to have some of dad's spaghetti. He got sauce on his face, tummy, legs and even in his nappy.
So after Blake's second dinner, he had a second bath in the sink.

Blake just loves noodles.

Bathtime

Bathtime around our house is a pretty fun time.

And there's nothing cuter than Blake sitting in his towel after getting out of the tub.

Blake Comes to School

Blake came to visit us at school today. We went out to the Kindergarten playground.Blake headed straight for the slide.
He and dad slid down together.
Like every other child in the world, Blake likes going up the slide as much as he likes going down.
Scott got a big cuddle at the bottom.
But then it got too cold and we headed inside. On our way home we stopped in the library and found Corduroy the Bear and gave him a little love.
A great day!

And we found his ninth tooth tonight while brushing!

Blessings

If I was the kind of person who counted her blessings, very high on the list would be our wonderful ayi Ling Ling.

Yesterday I was home sick. Not feeling badly, not stuffed up or headachy - I was genuinely sick, as sick as a dog and didn't move from my bed all day.

Mostly I slept, but when I woke up I could hear lots of noises from the other side of the door.
Running noises - he's small, but sounds a bit like a wild elephant.
Talking noises - Ling Ling talks away in Chinese and Blake grunts back in his own sweet baby language.
Crying noises and comforting noises.

We don't see eye to eye on everything. I think Blake should eat meals in his chair and Ling Ling allows him to graze all day in his play area. And we will never resolve the 'how many layers of clothes does he really need' debate. But it doesn't matter. What really matters, what is so so so important, what makes me the luckiest working mom in the world, is that Blake is loved and cared for by a kind, compassionate woman in our home where he is safe and happy.

I definitely should start counting my blessings because I have a lot to be thankful for.

A little while ago I blogged about Blake's new nighttime snuggles. Here is a picture of Blake cuddling with his dad on his way to bed. Beautiful.

Crayons

Today I visited our Pre K teacher and pinched some big, fat, non-toxic, washable crayons and then emptied half of our scrap paper basket and put it all in my school bag.

Blake has been showing a lot of interest in us while we are writing recently and is always desperate to hold the pen or pencil, so I thought I would give it a go.

At first he seemed very interested in the crayons. He lined them up. Then he held each one up on the paper like a little soldier. Next he tried to eat them. Finally he rolled them across the page which made some of the marks you see on the paper below.

And then he was done and ready to get out of the chair.


Maybe we'll try again next month.

Something Different Everyday

It's so exciting to watch Blake try new things and discover what he can and cannot do.

For example, he's doing a lot of backward walking these days. Sometimes he just turns around and walks backward.

Lately he's been spinning a lot, followed by crazy walking and eventually falling. Another thing he's been doing is standing with both feet on the ground, arching his back and sticking his tummy as far out as it can go - which is pretty far. Why does he do this? I get the spinning, that's fun, but this archy back business is a mystery.

Also, I am sorry to report, he is experimenting with tantrums. Lying down on the floor and crying so hard until he either gets what he is looking for or gets distracted. A glimpse of what is to come, I guess.

Today I came home to see Ling Ling pushing Blake around IN his trolley with a piece of melon in each hand. Bless. She is so lovely.

Some things haven't changed - he still enjoys 'reading' books - especially his favorite baby face book. Lift the flap books are also a huge favorite, though I am concerned about the safety of these books as their flaps are lifted very vigorously.

Cuddles

Lately Blake has begun to show an interest in soft toys. This is new.

Naturally, he likes to throw them, poke them in the eyes and occasionally bite their noses. From time to time, he also likes to CUDDLE them!! He holds them up to the side of his head and gives them a nice hug!

It is just about the sweetest thing I have ever seen.

My boy, the cuddler.