Blake's 16 and 17th months

To Blake:

Well, things got a little bit crazy the last couple of months, so I've missed some posts. A summary goes something like:

May .... sick, molars, sick, molars
June .... climbing, running, jumping, talking, exhausted (me, not you)

You are getting more and more fun, and also more and more sure of what you want and when you want it. This translates to the cusp of a temper...close but not quite there yet. I'm enjoying the teetering on the edge, and hoping we don't fall into terrible twos too soon.

So far, you are learning more and more words. Your "thank you", which you've been saying for ages, is quite clear now, and you've added "more milk", "more cheese", yes/no (head movements), dog, gramma/grampa, nana/papa, "I did it", and many more to your vocabularly. You have no trouble making yourself understood now.

The other big accomplishment for this month is your ability to climb....on everything. You scared George one night by climbing over the back of the couch onto the console table to type on the laptop. That was just the beginning. You can now officially climb onto the kitchen table at will, and push the chairs all around the main floor to climb up to the counter, sink, and stove (!!!!). Thank god I had my hair dyed a couple of weeks ago as the gray hairs are multiplying. The other night I got home to find out you had pushed the chair up to the buffet which holds our laptop. You were apparently surfing the 'net and using the IPod. The IPod also mysteriously had green crayon on it. George would only say that this "was a long story".

You are also quite good at climbing things you are meant to, such as our playset out back. You scramble up this quite easily so that you can slide down on your belly. You've recently graduated to sliding down the right way, on your bum. This is much better than your penchant for running off toward the road, which I swear is only to see me run after you yelling, "Blake...stooooop!"

I swear you have notched up the energy level, as if that were possible, the last couple of weeks. I took you to the library this week so that Faith could sign up for the summer program. This involved her doing a few crafts and games, and me chasing Blake from place to place in the library as he caused various types of havoc, including throwing the little alphabet magnets from the play corner all over the place, trying to use the phone, and climbing on the coffee table in the reading lounge. Who needs exercise classes? I was sweating by the time we left!

So, here's to an energetic summer...and hoping we all survive without stitches.

Love,
Mom