Last Days in AZ

Blake went to his first MLB game on Father's Day and a week later he is in Arizona watching a Diamondbacks game. Now first of all, here's the truth about how the Mets game came to be. I was looking at things to do while we were in Arizona. I knew we would have to head back to Phoenix from the Tucson area for our flight home and I knew that I didn't want to make the two hour drive and 5 hour flight happen the same day. I asked Keith if he would want to go to a Diamondbacks game and he was all in. He had never been to Chase Field and he loves visiting new stadiums. It was a little while later that he realized Blake's first MLB game had to be a Mets game.  We decided Father's Day would be perfect.

Here's the funny thing. We watched about 14 seconds of the Mets game. Maybe. I'm not complaining...neither is Keith. We had a blast. The fact remains, we did not get to watch the game. See Keith's post. The Diamondbacks game though...we watched the entire thing. Including extra innings.  Typical Blake made friends with everyone in our row. The funniest part of the day came when I was trying to find Blake something to eat. I ended up grabbing a personal pizza because I knew he would eat it and there weren't really many options. I bring it back to our seats and I'm holding it. I look at Blake and I say, "Blake, this is your very own pizza. It's just for you." And Blake smiles the biggest smile and laughs his little chubby laugh. He knew exactly what I was saying. If you've seen the video Keith has on Facebook and Instagram you'll see what I'm talking about. If not, look it up. If you're not friends with him, sorry, you should be, he's pretty awesome.

 

We spent the entire day today in the pool. Blake cries when you try to take him out. We swim with Blake so much and he just loves being in the pool. Last summer after we knew Blake loved the water we decided to enroll him in swim lessons. We both thought it was really important. We looked at a lot of places but ultimately decided to enroll Blake at Goldfish Swim School. The pool was brand new and there wasn't a specific session we were enrolling him in. Lessons keep going all year. Blake has been in swim lessons since he was 4 months old--since September. We see how comfortable he is in the pool and it's so important. I don't remember not knowing how to swim and that's what I want for Blake. We are so used to the way Blake swims that we don't always realize how far he's come or how much swim lessons have helped. SO many parents of kids Blake's age came up to us in the pool today completely blown away with how comfortable he was in the water. The pool had a gradual entry and Blake could stand. The further he walked in the less he was able to stand. He just didn't care though. He would walk until he was going under and we were grabbing him. He still didn't care. Blake has no fear. We realize this will probably land us in the hospital a few times but he's a tough kid. People just couldn't believe that Blake was so comfortable running around in the pool on his own. I am SO thankful we found Goldfish and Blake loves the water. I'm also thankful because we made some awesome friends who happen to be the parents of Blake's adorable little girlfriend.

 

That photo has nothing to do with anything. That's just Blake's typical, "I'm about to eat!" face and it's my favorite.  So anyway, after a week all three of us have finally adjusted to the time change and we are headed home tomorrow. Of course. Blake has been so good. Aunt Allison is in love with him. Blake is in love with Aunt Allison as well. Back to reality tomorrow. I'm not complaining--my reality is spending the next two weeks at the lake with my little family before heading to St. Maarten. We are SO very lucky. 

 

Now wish us luck on the flight home!

Giraffes and Elephants and Goats, Oh My!

The number of photos in my last post may have been obnoxious. I've actually really struggled with taking photos of Blake. When he was first born I took photos constantly, but he mostly just hung out there because he couldn't do anything else. As he got older and could do more I realized that the problem with taking a lot of photos is that you have to choose between taking photographs and having memories or actually participating in things and being a real part of those memories. I totally want photos, but I also don't want to experience everything from behind a camera lens. I've been trying to snap some photos for memories and then putting my camera down. This way I have them, but I'm still part of things. I don't want to be the mom who remembers everything ONLY by the photos I take, and I don't want Blake to remember me as the one hanging in the back taking photos. Hopefully I'm finding a good balance. So anyway, excuse the excessive number of Blake photos in the last post.

We went to the Reid Park Zoo and Blake had a blast. He got to feed the giraffe some carrots. We were acting like Blake was so excited to feed the giraffe when in reality, we were. That's how it is with most things. Our life has become a huge, "Yay this is all acceptable now that we have a kid!" I still think I'm 16. 

 

We saw tons of animals Blake doesn't see at his zoo back home such as tigers, lions, and elephants. There was the cutest baby elephant! The zoo was super quiet because it was a Monday morning. When we left, a sweaty and tired Blake passed out.  He also apparently doesn't fit in his car seat anymore.

 

Speaking of Blake passing out, he has been napping like a total champ since he's been in Arizona. That clearly means one thing--we need to go on vacation more.  He has still never slept as well in his life as he did when we were in St. Maarten last year.  Blake taking naps lasting more than an hour and a half are usually so rare that I find myself sitting there wondering what to do with all my free time. Why does this never happen when I'm home trying to get things done?!? 

Totally unrelated but worth mentioning...the Babymoov Up & Go Booster. I still love it, I do, but you just have to make sure that your maniac kid doesn't push off the table and fall backwards. Not sure why I would know anything about that, but my maniac's chair has now been bungey-corded to the table.

In the afternoon yesterday Blake went to the neighbor's house and saw all their goats. They have about 22 goats and 10 of them are babies. They are THE CUTEST. I never knew baby goats were so cute. Blake loved them and ran around petting them. He even got to take some goat milk home to try. He had it with dinner and seemed to enjoy it. I didn't try it yet, simply because I don't like goat cheese and I'm associating it with that. I'm so open minded.

 

Keith is out golfing right now because Dan got a 6:30 AM tee time so that it wouldn't be a million degrees. I just went to Dunkin Donuts with Blake and it was already 92 degrees at 8AM. Also, Dunkin Donuts was a 30 minute round trip AND I went to the drive thru AND there was no one in front of me. I can walk to Dunkin faster at home. We live in such a different area. People around here are just not in a rush. I'm always in a rush, but I like it that way. I need a fast paced life. Blake just doesn't even know what time it is because he woke up before 6 again this morning. He was super cute and cuddly though so I think I can forgive him. Except that he's already napping now. Seriously, WHY does this never happen when I have things to do. Or a house to clean. Or I'm exhausted and just want to sit on my couch for 5 minutes or go to the bathroom without Blake sitting on my lap?!  Now I'm sitting here wishing he was awake because I just want to play with him!

 

Look at the joy on their faces. Blake has been spoiled. Everywhere he drives he gets a friend next to him in the backseat. It has done wonders for our ability to strap Blake into his car seat without having to bribe him with puffs to get him to stop arching his back. When we get home we may have to tape a photo of Aunt Allison to the backseat. Better yet, maybe one of those foam cut outs of her head?

Lookin' Sharp

When we arrived in Phoenix we went to pick up our rental car, a "standard size suv." The gentleman looked at my paperwork, pointed to a bunch of SUVs and said, "take whichever one you want." What?!?! I get to pick?!? I can take a Jeep Grand Cherokee because I am comfortable in it. Wait, Keith wants me to get the Durango...the Durango actually feels the same on the inside, and has a ton of space. Ok sold, I take the Durango. Thirty minutes later I'm going, "When my lease is up I'm getting a Durango! It has a third row!" As if I'm about to pop out 3 more kids. I'm not. But it does have some great features such as vents that give Blake air despite being rear facing in his car seat. Also I'm the chauffeur for the week because it was $12/day to add another driver. No thanks, I'll just take one for the team.

Anyway, we spent the night in Phoenix so Blake wouldn't have to spend two more hours sitting in the car. We grabbed some lunch at Sun Up Brewing company and Blake already started making friends.

 

Then we went to check into our hotel and went for a swim. Blake smiled as soon as he got in the pool and we relaxed for a while. We all passed out at about 7PM and slept til 5AM. Not bad for time adjustment part 1. We grabbed a power breakfast for the ride to Vail at Rainbow Donuts. If you've been following, you'll know donuts=power breakfast. One final swim at the hotel and we were off to Vail. Check out the shirt I picked up a couple days before we left. I couldn't resist.

 

Blake slept the entire way to Vail. Two hours and twenty minutes. It was great. We arrived, Blake explored Aunt Allison's house and within 15 minutes decided that he owned it. Blake never wanted another nap so keeping him up was rough. Then he didn't have the best night sleeping and woke up at 5AM. Not bad for night 2. 

We went out to breakfast Sunday morning and Blake ate pancakes. When the waitress came to clear our plates she said he eats better than her 6 year old. Again, he's definitely my son! 

 

Allison's boyfriend Dan's parents live a few blocks from them and they have a beautiful pool. Blake went to check it out after breakfast and decided he owned that, too. Dan's dad has a huge grapefruit tree and picked us some fresh grapefruits. They were delicious. 

 

We spent some time later in the day at a few breweries and Blake was a champ. We went to Nimbus, Barrio and Thunder Canyon Brewery. Barrio was our favorite, and Blake's favorite as well. The waitresses there loved him and he could tell.  

 

When we left Thunder Canyon Blake took a long nap and when he woke up he got to go swimming again! 

 

We're in Arizona!

My sister lives in Arizona and she’s only seen Blake for a visit when he was about 6 weeks old and another around Thanksgiving.  It’s been SO long since she’s seen him so I’m super excited for them to spend some time together.  Blake flew to St. Maarten when he was two months old and he was so good that the people in front of us did not even realize he was behind them until we landed and they saw him.  We still talk about that today as if we are the greatest parents ever when it really had nothing to do with us.  Like, "Remember when Blake was so good on the plane that the people in front of us didn't even know Blake was there?! Bahahaha! We are so great!" Um, no, Blake was two months old and an easy baby!  The same thing happened on the way home.  He didn’t make a sound.  The problem right now is that Blake doesn’t like sitting still.  He’s definitely my son.  

This flight was also 4 ½ hours as opposed to last years 3 ½.  In case you didn’t know, an extra hour with a one year old is a lot!  We will be in St. Maarten 2 weeks after we return from Arizona so this was our trial run. Going into it we figured it would either be awesome and we would do everything exactly the same, or the entire plane would hate us by the time we landed and we would hang our heads in shame as we walked off. An hour in we were thinking we were great. Then another very slow hour passed and we were already beginning the head hanging. Finally Blake passed out for almost two hours and woke up as we were landing. Blake doesn't nap like that so it was a game changer.

 

Luckily I impulsively bought this Hungry Caterpillar neck pillow the night before leaving and it ended up saving my back while Blake slept!

 

We left for Phoenix at 8:30 AM and We didn't give Blake breakfast until we took off.  Breakfast can easily take an hour and we were good for about that long. I’ve read a thousand things about flying with a one year old, but ultimately every one year old is different.  We packed up Blake’s backpack with toys and books.  I mean, shouldn’t he have to carry some stuff?! He’s one now.  The first time I packed his backpack I put it on him and he literally fell backwards because it was too heavy for him.  We did what any good parents would do and fell over laughing.  As previously mentioned, Blake does not watch TV.  On the plane I was seriously hoping TV would be a huge treat for him.  He had no interest and part of me was happy. Blake travelled on our laps because I truly didn’t feel like spending another $1,000 between the two flights this summer if I didn’t have to.  I know, I know, it’s “safer” to fly with him in his own seat.  I’m clearly missing something because if my plane goes down I don’t think it matters whether he is in his own seat or on my lap.  Ignorant? Morbid?  Whatever, enlighten me...

I called asking about a lap infant months ago and I was told that I could add Blake on at the airport. Of course we get there and we are told that there is already an infant in our row and two infants can't sit in the same row. Apparently we were supposed to do it in advance which is why I called and I was clearly about to lose it. She tells us we will probably not get two seats together now. She said she would look. About 10 minutes went by and she hands me two tickets as if she saved my day. They said "seats assigned at gate." What!?!? What was I standing here for?! I zipped through the TSA pre-check line with Blake and ran over to the gate. I nicely explained my situation and I was told that if I was willing to sit in the last row, we could have an extra seat and take the entire row. Things were looking up. Then on the plane we had THE. NICEST. CREW. EVER. I mean, seriously, these people were the sweetest. They talked to Blake and danced with him, played peek-a-boo with him and took him for walks up the aisle. We couldn't have gotten luckier. Most people would hating sitting next to the bathroom but Blake waved at EVERYONE. We even got extra snacks. Shoutout to the crew on Delta Flight 2819 - they took all our stress away. Such sweet people.

All things considered Blake was SO GOOD. He was good enough that one of the flight attendants said she wanted a baby now so I'll take that as a compliment!  

 

We decided we were also going to do this trip without checking a bag. Looking back it was probably not a smart decision, but here’s what we packed for Blake:

1. Skip hop backpack filled with Blake’s favorite things. See above photo. It's so cute that I almost want one for myself, but then I realize it wouldn't be cute on me, it would just be weird. I wore it through the airport anyway. I'll shove the rest of his entertainment in my diaper bag along with two changes of clothes for Blake, Keith and myself. You can never be too prepared for diaper explosions and when said diaper explosion can happen while traveling with Blake on our laps, it becomes everyone's problem.
2. Lotus Everywhere Travel Crib - I was super pumped for this.  I hate the pack and play as a crib, but I also don’t ever want to use a hotel crib, not to mention when we won’t be at a hotel.  The pack and play is a pain to travel with and does not even seem comfortable.  This is a crib that you can carry as a backpack!  I saw it advertised on Facebook because I clearly look up baby things constantly, and I decided I needed it.  They make these advertisements for people like me. Blake was exhausted so he slept well...hopefully he will continue to like it.
3. Babymoov Up & Go Booster - see previous post with Blake in seersucker pants reading a book at a tea room.  He loves it.  It allows him to sit at the table like a big boy and makes any chair into a high chair while still folding up into something small and portable.
4. iPad with baby headphones - He had no interest. We did have other toys, of course.
5. Snacks - most importantly, Puffs. These got us through that rough hour.
   
   
    
   

Guest Post: Father's Day Baseball Weekend

So my wife has been writing this awesome blog that is sort of acting like our digital baby-book for Blake.  She asked if I would ever want to write a guest blog post, so I figured what better topic for a post than writing about Father’s Day Weekend.  Soooo here we go:

So if you’ve been reading her blog, or know anything about me, you know that I’m a baseball guy.  I played my whole life, and I have been coaching at the high school level for the past nine years.  This weekend was kind of a baseball weekend for my family.  The weekend began with a wagon ride to Glaze Donuts for a little power breakfast (that’s what I have decided to start calling donuts).  After hanging out with the little man and Hayley for the first part of the morning, I then went to my alma mater, Waldwick High School, for the third annual Waldwick High School Alumni Baseball Game.

I don’t play in any leagues any more.  That stopped in college when my shoulder just couldn’t do it anymore.  Coaching keeps me around the game, but there is still nothing like actually playing an actual competitive game.  Needless to say, I was pumped.  Wait...this blog is supposed to be about Blake….oops…

Anyway, although I did smoke a double in my first at bat (I was walked my other two at bats...most likely out of fear) the best part of my day was seeing Blake there.  His little face lighting up when he realized it was me in all of my catchers gear is all it took to just make me melt.  I never thought I would turn so soft after having a kid, but I did man...I really did.  

I know that he really had no idea what was going on during the game, but my dad always had me around the game, and I want to do the same for Blake.  It’s a game that I love, and I want to share that with Blake.  I don’t ever want him to not remember being around the game.  That’s why Blake takes batting practice before bed every night.

Sunday was the day I was looking forward to.  Father’s Day.  Blake’s first Met’s game.  We are going to visit Hayley’s sister who lives in Arizona in a week and we are going to a Diamondbacks game while there.  No offense to any D-Back fans...but I could not let my son's first professional baseball game be an Arizona Diamondbacks game.  It had to be a Met’s game.  I told Hayley I didn’t want any gifts or anything, I just wanted to go to the Met’s game with my son...so that’s what we did.

We bought nose-bleed seats because we figured we wouldn’t be in them much, and we were right. Blake is in his ‘I can walk, don’t hold me, I’m not a baby, you don’t control me, I do what I want’ phase.  We knew the day would not be sitting in a seat watching 9 innings of good baseball.  Luckily Citi Field is a beautiful park that is conducive to walking around...and Blake wanted to walk the whole thing…

I gotta give it to the little guy...he is determined.  He was determined to climb the steps in section 521 today like a big boy...and he figured it out.  Didn’t use his knees at all, he just put one foot up, used all of his strength to pull himself up with his arms, and got the other foot up.  This kid is going to be trouble.  He also figured out pretty quick that when everyone else clapped, he should.  Any time there was a big pitch or a nice play in the field, everyone clapped...and so did Blake.  And he was very happy about it.  He thought it was the coolest thing ever that he knew when to clap.  He was very proud of himself.  

Another thing that Blake loved while he was there was the music.  Every player has a walk-up song...and Blake enjoyed dancing to every one of them.  He does his little arm in the air butt wiggle thing...classic Devereaux dance move.  He really was engaged the whole game.  He had so much fun...except for the whole having to sit in a seat thing.  But it really was such a great day.  Spending Father's Day with my wife and son at the Mets game was something that I knew I wanted to do ever since I found out we were pregnant.  

So I have to say that this was my best Father’s Day yet, and I’m looking forward to many more!

Tylenol, Taylor Swift, Sleep, Repeat

We had some rough days and nights but yesterday one of Blake’s molars finally popped through!  I’d be much happier if there weren’t three more to go, (for now), and I’m sure Blake would agree.

On Monday night the poor guy woke up as soon as his Tylenol wore off screaming his little head off. We gave him some more Tylenol and he was still screaming.  It was 1:30 AM and we were exhausted.  There is nothing worse than hearing my baby cry in pain and I would do anything to make him feel better.  Fortunately it doesn’t always take much to get Blake’s mind off something and cheer him up.  We did what any parent of a screaming, teething baby would do in the middle of the night--we played Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off.  Blake dances to it by day and apparently falls asleep to it by night.  The second he heard his girl T-Swift he took a deep breath and calmed down.  Keith and I stared at each other in disbelief for a second.  The song ended.  Blake was back asleep and within a few minutes we were too.  Four hours later we have a repeat as Blake’s Tylenol has, again, worn off.  We normally only have to give him Tylenol once in a night but this molar decided it was breaking through.  Tylenol, Taylor Swift, sleep.  Why is Blake falling asleep to Taylor Swift in 10 seconds?! More importantly, why are we just discovering this?!  Most importantly though, will it continue to work!?

In a crazy turn of events, we woke up this morning at 6:20 AM and panicked for a second.  WHERE IS BLAKE!?!?!?  I HEAR HIM!! Blake slept through the night.  In his crib.  WHAT?!  He hasn’t done this, literally, since before Christmas.  Not that he is a terrible sleeper, but he wakes up any time between midnight and 4 AM every night.  We haven’t gotten an uninterrupted night of sleep since before Christmas.  Clearly we were all super rested this morning.  Most of me was thrilled, but a little part of me is wondering if he will keep sleeping through the night.  While it is amazing, it also means that chapter is over.  I won’t get ahead of myself though.  I’m not at all convinced this is going to happen again tonight, especially because there are many more molars to come! This is our usual night. Look at that little face...I'm not complaining!!

So many exciting adventures await.  Sunday Blake will be going to his first Mets game for Father’s Day and in just over a week we are headed to Arizona.  Stay tuned for a pre-Arizona post as well as a guest post from Keith!

6 More Days of School...

I stayed home yesterday because Blake had a weird rash on his face.  Fortunately it turned out to be nothing but, possibly, Blake inhaling too many berries.  Who knows. I've accused Blake of faking before when he seems sick until I take the day off, and then seems fine.  He doesn’t like to drink during the day so we’ve been trying to give him fruits and vegetables that are super high in water content, hence the excessive berry eating. Blake's sick day became Blake and Mommy's Day of Fun.

Blake went to visit Daddy at work after lunch and made a loop around the school saying hi to everyone.  He was a little overwhelmed in the first classroom but after that he just walked in and waved at everyone. He’s so confident.  Blake got lots of compliments on his clothing choice for the day.  

After school we went to the zoo and decided to hop on the train first.  Blake loves the train.  After that we went around and said hi to all the animals.  Blake goes to the zoo all the time with my mom but we haven’t been with him in a couple months.  So much has changed in that time.  He notices everything now.  The one thing that hasn’t changed is Blake grunting at all the animals.

The newest thing Blake does that cracks me up is his “I don’t know” arms.  He knows how to use it and I think it’s hilarious.  I’m playing with him yesterday and I hit a ball.  It goes under the couch and Blake isn't sure where it went.  He stands there, looks at me, and shrugs, “I don’t know!”  I did hit him right in the forehead at one point.  I obviously didn’t mean to, but Blake just stood there.  No reaction at all.  He’s tough. The above photo was before I hit him in the head. He looked exactly the same after.

We’ve been trying to teach Blake how to clean up.  We were showing him how to put his blocks away, and he was sort of trying to help.  We finished and told him that it was bedtime.  He went over to his blocks and dumped the entire thing on the floor.  He proceeded to stand there looking proud of himself. Yup...definitely bedtime!

Six more days of school. Six more days until I get to be with Blake all day every day. We are going away twice and have tons of fun things planned so I CAN'T WAIT!

Blake Understands English

Blake is SO much fun right now.  If i haven’t already said this, I’m saying it now - this is my favorite age so far.  In the last couple days SO many funny things have happened.  

First, Blake has been really into this super cheesy smile.  It started out with him doing it every now and then.  He realized really quickly that I thought it was adorable.  Can’t get anything past this little dude.  Then, of course, Blake gets smart and starts doing it when he is doing something he knows he shouldn’t be doing.  He takes his milk and throws it on the ground.  I pick it up and look at him--cheesy smile!  I don’t smile or laugh, and he does it several more times.  I finally get really serious and look at him and say to him, “Blake, do NOT throw your cup on the ground.”  It takes everything in him not to laugh.  I can see it in his face.  He’s literally holding in his laughter with a little smirk.  That, of course, means that I have to hold in my laughter.  It seems to work until Blake realizes that I’m not going to laugh at him.  He realizes I’m actually serious and his bottom lip starts to quiver as he holds in his cry.  Cleary, I also need to hold in my cry now, too.  

A couple days ago, Blake took the cheesy smile to a new level.  He understands that we call his cheesy smile, “cheesy smile.”  If we tell Blake to give us a cheesy smile, he immediately does it.  I think it’s the cutest thing in the world.  

The other adorable thing Blake does is dance.  He hears certain songs and immediately starts to dance.  Arms in the air, little butt shaking.  It’s just the cutest.  Not only does he break into dance when he hears music now, but if I tell him to dance, he dances.  

It’s so exciting to know how much Blake understands, but equally frightening.  We tell Blake to get a book, he comes back with a book.  We tell him to go to his chair, he goes to his chair.  He totally understands SO much.  And just like that, we realize that we need to stop speaking as if he doesn’t understand English, because he does.