Lean, Mean Swimming Machine!

Wow, 7 months already! I can't believe our little man is already more than 1/2 a year old. It still seems like yesterday when Dr.Soni placed him in my arms for the first time, just minutes after he was born.


I still look at him every day and can't believe he is here. We hoped and prayed for so long, that it all still seems so surreal. He is my sweet little angel and I thank God every day for making our dreams come true. I prayed and hoped to be a Mommy for SO long, but never imagined it would be this amazing!

At the park with Daddy

Blaze continues to be a little cutie. We are so blessed. He had his 6 month appointment earlier this month and Dr. Gentile was so surprised to see how much Blaze has grown. He was all smiles for the Doctor and got a thorough check-up to which the Doc replied, "he is very lean and tall." Only 16 lbs (25 percentile) now, but a long 27.5 inches tall (74 percentile). The good thing is that I bought a ton of 3-6 months clothes for the summer thinking her could have worn them year round here in Arizona, but we have had an unseasonably cold winter and hasn't got to wear many outfits. He still fits into most of the outfits with the exception of his sleepers that won't fit his length. WHEW!!!! So no obsessive baby clothes buying for me for a while.

Just like my Daddy

He is changing SO much. And getting so active. He is doing GREAT in his swim classes.

He is so chilled out and just goes along with the program. The only dilemma is that our class is early evening and Blaze fights the urge to fall asleep while he is chilling out during class. We dive him under and Coach Bryce swims him over to us. He swims up and holds on to the edge of the pool to grab his toy of choice. He loves to float on his back and even dives from the edge of the pool with a little help from us.

Best dressed swimmer in the pool

He loves the water and is a real natural in the water. He is kicking under the water and loves to visit Papa and Grandma's heated pool and squeal and scream for all the old folks who just smile with delight.

Fun at Papa and Grandma's big pool

He is my precious angel. My boss is complaining and now wants me to be more 'flexible'. I look into Blaze's eyes and say. Hell NO! He is my world and I won't do it. I took this position because my previous position required so much of my time and energy. I won't compromise! This happens once in a life time and I can't repeat any of it so I am not going to miss one moment to work extra hours and be stressed out over "just a job!"

Sporting a Mohawk in the tub

He continues to eat like a champ! He just loves all of his stage 2 foods. We like Earth's Best and Gerber. A while back I started giving him his Sassy teething feeder and I put frozen banana's and mandarin oranges, apples and pears into it and he sucks the mesh dry. Messy for sure, but he loves it!

MMM..oranges!

He is like a toddler with his sippy cup, he holds it by the handles himself and drinks away, stops, then drinks some more...he absolutely loves all of the Gerber juices, especially white grape and apple.

His DVD player in the truck has been a true Godsend. Blaze wasn't a huge fan of being a passenger, riding backwards, but now barely makes a peep when his favorite DVD's are on. As soon as we turn it on, his eyes light up. He chats with Elmo and loves to watch the kids on his Baby Signing Time DVD.

He is a true jumping machine in his Jumperoo. It took a bit of time to get the hang of it, but now he will spend an hour at a time just jumping and playing and squealing with delight.

My favorite toy Mortimer Moose from my big sister Jessica and nephew Aiden.

He is sitting in his Bebe Pod chair really well and now loves to grab his feet and suck his toes.

And in the tub too...

He loves sticking his tongue out and blowing and spraying us with spit. He is happy almost all of the time and his smile will light up a room. His giggle is contagious and we can't help but smile and laugh along with him.

His manual dexterity is really improving. He reaches and grasps items and of course pretty much everything goes straight to his mouth.

He loves chatting on the phone, well more just listening intently and smiling to the voices on the other end, is another favorite.

He rolls and rolls and rolls when he is playing on his mat and when in his crib. We check in on him before we head off to bed and he is usually on his belly and knees with his butt up in the air. He starts out at one end of the crib and ends up at the other end upside down. This made me decide to put breathable bumper pads up, since we found him one too many times with his legs through the crib rails.Our little man is till sleeping through the night (we are SO lucky!). One of his favorite things he still loves to do is stand up tall with very little help from Mommy and Daddy.

UMMM...some assistance here folks!

The mirror never hesitates to get a smile! He loves to see the baby looking and smiling back at him.

A few weeks back we picked up a Baby Bjorn Active carrier from Craigslist. He really likes it and so do Mommy and Daddy. We can't wait for our first trip to the Phoenix Zoo to really try it out.

Neyla is now in school, well she started in dog training classes last week and she is doing great too! The trainer comes to our home and does one-on-one training. The trainer told us that our Neyla girl is going to be a fast learner, and after only a couple of classes she has already picked up 'sit', 'come' and 'stay.' We look forward to working on 'park it' in the next couple of weeks. We have already seen a huge difference in her and its great!

Well, it's that time of year again...Papa and Grandma head back up to the great white north and leave us for another 5 and a 1/2 months. We are all very sad, Grandma especially! She has become very attached to her newest little Grandson and we all know how much he will change in the coming months. We will be keeping in touch through Skype and be sure to save tons of hugs and kisses for them when they return in October.

Bye, Bye Papa and Grandma we sure will miss you!

Like Father, like Son

Everyone has been saying how much Blaze looks more and more like Gerry, so I pulled out some old photo's (compliments of Grammie Wile):

Daddy

 Blaze...

You be the judge?!

So this is just a quickie post for now.  I know, I have so much to catch up on, but time is not being kind to me these days.

Gerry has been away for the last 2 weeks on a rescue training course in San Angelo, TX and he finally returns on Friday.  So, I am trying to hold down the fort here at home until he returns.  I am learning to have a lot of respect for single Mom's.

We missed celebrating Gerry's birthday yesterday as a family, but will definitely do so when he returns.  So if you are reading this Daddy...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE, YOUR LITTLE BUDDY, BLAZE AND NEYLA GIRL!!! WE LOVE AND MISS YOU.

Blaze is doing great!  6 months and counting already, and getting taller and cuter by the day.  We are busy with swim classes and a new puppy in the family and work and getting ready for the summer, etc. etc. etc.  Here are a few photo updates of our little angel until next time...

I love bath time!

Meeting my newest friend Cooper.

Starting him early...

First swim class

Cool Dude!

Using my sippy cup all by myself!  I am such a big boy.

 Already starting with the cell phone...we are in real trouble!

Styling

Blueberries...MMMMMM!

OH, maybe not such a great idea!

I love my Grandma!

What a beautiful Angel, if I do say so myself!

This thing tires a guy out!

And I couldn't forget our newest family member, Neyla NOT letting me make the bed!

Our newest family member...

NO not another child...just yet! One is certainly enough at this point. We spontaneously went out and got a fur baby 3 weeks ago, a rescue dog. We called her Neyla (which means 'fulfilled wish').

 

We adopted her a week before Valentine's Day from a 'no kill' dog farm here in Scottsdale. She was on the 'E' list when Carrie rescued her just 2 weeks before we got her. I found her on the Humane Society website and we decided on a whim to go and see her.  Honestly, had we not chose her before we got there, we definitely would have after. She had the greatest tempermant of all the pups. We wheeled the stroller in and Neyla immediately came over and sniffed Blaze. I placed his little hand on the edge of the stroller and she leaned over and gave him a few licks then sat very purposefully next to him. In that moment she became ours!!! She even laid on my feet as I completed the paperwork to bring her home with us.

Neyla is a one year old, tri-color (white, gray and black) blue merle Catahoula Leopard Dog with ice blue eyes. Our Frankie girl was the same breed and so we thought we couldn't go wrong. And we were right...she has fit right into our little family and she will be a great companion for Blaze in the years to come.  She is full of puppy energy and loves to sneak things away with her... like our shoes, Blaze's socks and pretty much anything else she can get her teeth on. So far we have had only 2 casualties, my work shoes (it was time for a new pair anyway) and one of Blaze's little stuffed toys. Not too bad for a pound puppy.

From the moment we got her home she made it her home too and within hours was curled up on the couch asleep.  She sleeps in the bed between us every night and greets us with a big smile (yes a smile, she lifts her lip and shows her front teeth when she is really excited).  She used her doggy door right away and seems to really enjoy her big backyard...certainly no farm, but she doesn't have to share with anyone else.  She is such a joy to have around.  Our home just wasn't the same since we lost our 4-legged Frankie girl in August.  Neyla has so many similarities as Frankie (Gerry says she may just be Frankie reincarnated), but she also has a very different personality in many ways too.  She has helped to fill that void that has been sadly missing in our home since Frankie passed.  She certainly has not replaced our Frankie girl, but she is a wonderful addition to our little family.

 

 

We even took her into our local groomer and got her a pedicure (well just a cut and grinding no polish).  She is learning to walk well on a leash and next month we are taking her to a personal trainer here in Mesa to get her some real doggy training.  So much is new to her...the back seat of the truck, the vacuum, the pet store, etc.  It is fun watching her explore her new surroundings.  She has already figured out that if she nudges her electronic feeder with her nose she gets a little treat.  We can't put anything past her.  Even our wonderful Nanny is loving having her around during the day while we are at work.  Grandma and Papa took an immediate liking to her too, who wouldn't???  She is a real sweetheart.

 Now, if I can just keep her away from my shoes...

Belly Giggles with Grandma...

Our happy, happy boy!

Well, that is until he gets startled at the end but he still continued to giggle. Mommy had to put the camera down since she and Grandma were laughing too hard!

5 months and counting...

Just a few photos of our little man.

  

 Mom's Prince

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

All this fun tuckers a guy out

  

 Watching TV with Daddy

  

  

 Fun with Dad

  

 I am not a fan of socks

  

 More fun = tired boy

 

 Fun with Papa

  

 I am such a little squirmer 

  

 Visiting Daddy at his Fire Station

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

A great big CONGRATULATIONS to Gerry on his promotion to Engineer.  Only 2 out of the 15 Firefighters that applied were chosen after months of testing. 

WAY TO GO FIREFIGHTER DADDY!  

We are so very proud of you.

Blaze is truly growing leaps and bounds daily.  He officially starts his Parent and Tot swim classes tomorrow night.  We are probably more excited then he is!  That goes for just about everything we are doing with him right now...

I think we may see some teeth very soon as he is slightly Mr.Cranky Pants lately and chews and bites down on just about everything, not to mention the endless drooling.  Poor little fella.

So many changes are happening almost daily...

Blaze's hair is growing and really filling in now.

He can now touch the ground flat footed in his jumperoo.

Aunt Tracy will be happy to know that he has officially graduated from his 'straight jacket' (aka swaddler).  He had been getting out of it and so we figured we would let him go free.  Thankfully he is STILL sleeping through the night even without it.

He is eating great!  He is into Stage 2 Gerbers and really enjoys Earth's Best brand the most.  He is a huge fan of the apple-blueberries and most all other fruits.  So far no real dislikes and will even eat the chicken as long as it is in with sweet potatoes, corn or another veggie.

I recently ordered some baby sign language DVD's online and have started playing them for him.  I am learning so many signs and hoping he will learn too when he is able to.  Gerry remembers a lot of the signs from his childhood as well.  His Uncle who lived across the street was deaf and they communicated with sign language.

Blaze loves to be upside down and would probably stay like that for hours if we didn't turn him right side up.  He watches TV upside down, he likes to be carried around upside down and he plays and kicks him self right side up when lying on our laps.  He is way too funny.

Lastly, a big shout out to our fellow blogger friends Neils and Alexander on the birth of their twins and also to the many SI clients who have had babies born (Stan and his wife, Todd and Alper) and those who have just received the great news of positive pregnancies or are about to begin their journey of cycling or soon to be picking up their little ones.  Things are very, very busy in Mumbai right now and we couldn't be happier for everyone.  It feels like yesterday that we were there in all of their shoes...with anticipation, nervousness, excitement, stress, exhaustion, and pure bliss!