The 12 Blakes of Christmas

1. Pre-Holiday: All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth (to come in all the way)!


2. Christmas Eve: Up late, and Blake doesn't even know about Santa yet...


3. Christmas Day: Look at some of my new toys!


4. Blake quickly learned: Christmas always comes with crazy family time.


5. And don't forget Christmas also comes with a lot of food!


6. The next day: more Christmas jammies, and surrounded by presents. Are these all for me???


7. Blake in a box.

8. Mommy!!! What is this bow on my head?


9. Blake and his Daddy wave to the camera. Hours later and Blake's still in his post-Christmas jammies.


10. Tuckered out on grandpa after two big Christmases. What a lucky kiddo.


11. The day after the day after: Check out my new ride!


12. Beep, beep! Thanks to all my aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas who gave me such nice things. I'm counting down the days until Christmas 2011....

Daily Discoveries

It seems like every day Blake discovers something new.

Here's a picture from several weeks back, when he discovered himself. This was not his first time seeing himself in the mirror, but the picture is cute nonetheless!



Last night and today, he discovered the washing machine. As he watches our clothes go around and round, I can practically see the gears in his brain doing the same thing.


What will he discover next? If only he could discover how to actually do the laundry. Maybe in another 10 years. Sigh....

Blake Is Finally A 9er

Ryan and I spent this past weekend in Tahoe, celebrating Ryan's birthday. Doing so meant we had to miss Blake's 9-month mark. Don't worry! I made sure his grandparents took the proper pictures, as evidenced by the blog below.

Blake got to spend the weekend with Gramma and Papa. He likes to spend the night at both of his grandparents' homes because they all have so many fun toys!


The weekend was especially exciting for Blake, who got to ride a train for the first time and meet Santa. Although I don't think he was super confident about either experience, I'm confident he was in good hands and had a good time.




As for the 9-month pic, check this out. As my mom said, make sure to note Blake is now as big as Billy Bear.



So big... he might have to measure up to Merry Bear!



Now for the official photo lineup:

Nine Months



Eight Months


Seven Months


Six Months


Five Months

















Four Months


Three Months


Two Months


One Month


One Day

Oh Christmas Tree!

Blake, Ryan and I stuck to an annual Becker tradition this year. We went and picked out a very special Christmas tree... from Home Depot. (Maybe in a couple years, we'll break tradition and actually go cut one down.)

Here's Blake and me at the tree lot.



I spent the better part of the weekend decorating our tree. Ryan loves a lot of lights and a lot of ornaments. The truth is, I do too. I just don't love hanging all of them. Blake, once again, takes after his Dad. He is simply fascinated by the ornaments. But given that he's a crazy crawler now, you can understand why we only have the cheap non-breakable ones toward the bottom.


When he gets close to the tree, we say "Uh oh!" And Blake gives us one of his cutest faces yet: "Who, me?"

My Mom Thinks She's So Clever

Happy Blakesgiving

Things Blake is thankful for:


A Papa to Play With



A Loving Great Grandma



A Table Set With A High Chair



A Grandma to Go To Sleep On

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

He's Got Moves

Footloose: Blake can dance.

Football: Blake can score.

And.... drum roll please.... No need for feet: Blake can crawl!

Say Cheese

I took this picture a few days ago, when Blake was feeding himself some chunks of cheddar.

Blake is a great eater! Occasionally, he shows his dissatisfaction with something. You might remember this pic from a few months ago as he tried a banana for the first time.


As you can see, he much prefers his veggies.



These days, he's onto much bigger and better things. On the right hand side of this picture, in the red container, is a yummy mixture of banana, pear and tofu. Blake loved this! On the left side is a blended mixture of green beans, rice and ground beef. Blake likes this, too. And you can see the obligatory cheerios in the background.



If you are what you eat, then Blake is many things. Here's a list of all the things he's eaten in his first 8 months of life (not including formula and Mommy's milk):

peaches, pears, apples, plums, tofu, bananas, avocado, chicken, ground beef, green beans, broccoli, turkey, peas, garbanzo beans, carrots, cauliflower, rice cereal, oatmeal, wheat crackers, cheddar cheese, eggs, pumpkin, squash, cheerios, dinner bread

YUMMY!

Eight Is Gr8!

Blake is now eight months old. As Ryan reminds me, that means he's been out almost as long as he was in. I say time flies a whole lot faster once he's out.

It seems like Blake is learning something new just about every day. From clapping, to waving, to celebrating non-existent touchdowns, he's a very active little boy. He crawls a little -- but really only backwards. We're working on the forwards part. Mostly he likes to sit, stand, or dance -- and play with all his toys.. or well, things that aren't toys but are fun to chew on anyway. For example, Blake puts the fun in funnel!

As with each passing month, here are the month-by-month pictures so you can see how big he's getting. Don't worry about the mark on his head in the 8-month picture; that's a big lipstick kiss from Grandma Carol! That alone is proof-positive of how great eight (mos) is!


Eight Months


Seven Months


Six Months


Five Months


















Four Months


Three Months


Two Months


One Month


One Day