Here we go again...

We got through the biting and the pinching phases of Blake's young life relatively unscathed.

Blake's newest thing? Eye gouging.

Ai - ya!

Possibly the Cutest Hat Ever

Spring is here and sunny days have come to Shanghai. Yahoo for me who loves the sun! But it also means the beginning of worrying about sun protection for the Big Gunner.

Our friend Colleen calls Blake the Captain of the Pale Force. And she's right - sun screen is definitely something we need to be concerned about.

I went out on the weekend and bought Blake the cutest hat ever! I then took 34 photos trying to get one with the hat still on his head. 34! He's pretty fast. This is the only one that I caught before he ripped it off and threw it down.

Maybe we'll have to resort to using duct tape this summer.

Puzzling

Blake has discovered puzzles in a big way. Our active little guy will sit and play with his puzzle for many minutes at a time. He takes all the animals out of their holes and then move them around on the mat. Next he'll place them really close to where they belong and slide them around a bit in the hopes of getting them in the slot. See how close purple hippo is to where he belongs? Clever baby!

Climby McClimberson

These days Blake is a climber. He climbs stairs, he climbs rocks and he climbs people! Here we see him beginning his acsent of Mt Scooter.

He has a little step stool that he uses to step up to the bench behind the couch or to reach the top shelf of his book case. Sometimes he just climbs to the top to be a little bit taller.

We are so proud of our curious little guy and excited to be part of the adventure as he explores this fascinating world around him, and above him.

Weekends

I can't tell you how much I look forward to weekends. I love spending the whole day with Blake! Especially warm, sunny, outdoorsy days.

On Friday night a bunch of teachers headed to a local pub to enjoy the lovely weather we've been having. And celebrate that there are only 8 weeks til summer. Here's Blake with Malin and Riley.
On Saturday we went for a big long bike ride. We started here, at the bike shop for a tune up, and ended up at Slice for a smoothie. We biked all over Jinqiao, up and down the canal, and through some local villages. Blake carried this flower the whole way!

Peekaboo

This video is a over a month old. I took it on Scott's camera awhile back and forgot to post it. Or maybe I tried and it wouldn't load.

Anyway, here it is.... my broccoli eating boy playing peekaboo.

Feeding the Fish

As I understand it, the word for good fortune and the word for fish are very similar in Mandarin. Naturally fish are very lucky and you see them everywhere - stuffed ones and the real deal. At the shopping complex across the street from us there is a fish pond and today Blake and I went to have a look. We bought two little canisters of fish food and fed the RAVENOUS fishies. They were jumping out of the water to get to the food! Blake wasn't really interested in the fish, but he did like the containers. Lid on, lid off, lid on, lid off.

Pretty cool that he was very his big gunner, big fish shirt for the photo - not even planned. It was pretty hard to get good photos because I was too worried he would topple in to the pond when I was getting the shot.
Later on, we went grocery shopping. I guess Blake likes cottage cheese - he put about 12 packs in the trolley.

Chucking Rocks

Today has been so beautiful! Warm and sunny!!
We have been outside all day - walking, running, shouting and, Blake's favorite, throwing rocks into the river.

We (I) collected dozens of rocks and then we (Blake) threw them into the water. It was super fun. We're home for a nap now, but plan to head out again as soon as the big gunner wakes up.


It was fun to watch where they landed even though it freaked mum out a little bit.

Some black and white pics.

Ben came to play for a little while, too.

Sick Baby at the Doctor's Office

Yesterday I took Blake to the clinic.

He's not been sick, sick, but he's not been himself lately. He's been running a low grade fever for 4 or 5 days now, a bit whingy, and not eating very much. We know at least 3 sharp teeth have just popped through the gums, so maybe that is what's been bugging him, but I just wanted to check that everything is okay so off we went to the doctor.

My sick baby was HILARIOUS at the doctor's office and not acting very sick at all. He began by running over to the pamphlet holder and grabbing two large, illustrated hand outs about Self Breast Examinations and ran around the waiting room to show everyone.

Next he walked up to each person, arched his back and lifted his shirt and showed them his big belly and then ran away laughing.

Finally, when he got up on the scale to get weighed, he started dancing and wouldn't stop.

Not surprisingly, the doctor said he was fine. Must bring my camera next time we go to the doctor.

Playing Around the House

Blake is pretty physical kid. Sometimes it seems like he is in constant motion.
One of his favorite games these days is to stand up on the bench behind the couch and then throw himself over the top and land on the cushions below.
We are constantly amazed by the number of times he can do this without getting tired and how much joy he gets by simply tumbling over the sofa.
As an added bonus for mom and dad, he stops from time to time to play peekaboo with us behind the cushions.