All Aboard!

Summer doesn't officially start for a few months, but Blake and I got a new summertime tradition started by taking a Sunday train ride down the Sacramento River.

The above picture makes him a look a tad nervous. I really don't think he was. He was excited all afternoon when I told him where we were going.
 

 Once we got going, he was more and more intrigued with everything passing us outside.

The train trip is fairly short, just a brief trip south down the river and then back again.. about 45 minutes in all. Plenty of time for a quick nap on what quickly became Blake's sleep train.
 

B in the Bee

From the better late than never file...
Check out who made an appearance in the local paper a few weeks ago. Who wouldn't buy this paper??


That's one advantage to having parents who work in the news biz. Guess Blake's mom will need to find a way to get him on TV soon, eh?

Blake Turns 2 (Doggies)

When you ask Blake how old he is, he will tell you with no hesitation, he is now "two doggies." If you haven't heard him, be sure to give us a call because it's super cute!

Nonetheless, Blake had a great birthday. Ryan and I took him out to breakfast at the Pancake Circus, which has now officially become an annual tradition.


(Check out how he compares to last year at the Circus here: http://blakethebaby.blogspot.com/2011/03/big-one.html)

After breakfast, Blake had a BIG day at his favorite park.

There were BIG balloons...


There were BIG presents...

And lots of them.

There were BIG steps on the playground...


There were BIG moments (make a wish!)...

There was a BIG group of family and friends, both BIG kids and little kids.


And finally, there were BIG smiles.


This blog wouldn't be complete without a BIG shout out to Aunt Heather for making Blake two awesome birthday cakes, capturing Blake's favorite theme.


As you can tell, Blake appreciated it.

(plug for Heather here: http://beckersdozen.weebly.com/)

Blake completed his birthday weekend on Sunday with a trip on the train at the zoo -- an activity which combines two of his favorite things (choo-choos and animals).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR BEAUTIFUL BOY, BLAKE.

The 1st Blake Blog of 2012

Blake has had a busy holiday season! Apparently so has his mother which is evident by the lack of blogging. (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.) We had a busy couple of weeks leading up to Christmas...

... hanging out, eagerly awaiting Santa's arrival...

...shopping at the mall with Aunt Katy...

... and even paying a visit to Mom's work.


Finally, Christmas was here. Blake wasted no time, ripping into the wrapping paper. He really got into it this year!

He didn't take off his new Giants cap as he tore into the next one.

Why are all of Blake's presents so big???
A lot of them make noise, too, like his new guitar. Cool!

The next morning, he got to open more presents at his own house.

And then more still at Grandma's and Papa's house. Check out his new Giants bat!

And in between all the presents and the food, there was plenty of family. Aunt Katy took great care of Blake a lot of days while his mom and dad still worked. Thanks, Aunt Katy!

Blake even got to go out to dinner a few times.

One time, his mom forgot to pack a sweatshirt.
No problem, though, he just wore Grandma's.

Continuing in the theme of Blake The Goofball, here he is donning someone's sunglasses along side his Auntie Paula from Minnesota.

And these days if you ask Blake who lives in Minnesota, he knows right away you're talking about this guy: Uncle Dodo.

Blake's certainly not short of family members who love him.

After Christmas was all said and done, Blake dug right into his new toys. Here he is in his new SCUBA shirt, playing with his new puzzle.
He puts it together in less than two minutes.

And thanks to our dry December, he's had some fun trips to the park.

Blake even stayed up past midnight to ring in 2012.
(I took this picture at about 12:15am.)

From Ryan, myself and Blake... we want to wish everyone a very
Happy New Year!

Tree Time

I begin this blog with a confession. This year, we broke Becker family tradition. Previously at Christmas time, we have always gone to our special place to get a tree: Home Depot. We even took Blake there last year (see: http://tinyurl.com/7ocn49y)

This year, we decided to do something a little different. Something non-traditional, if you will. We drove up to the foothills, grabbed a saw, and cut one down.


We hiked all over the lot, until we found the right one. Blake helped pick it out!

Blake even got to meet a snow man.

Once we got the tree home, we realized it was a little too big. Little did we know, we brought home a 10-footer. Our ceilings are 8 feet. Oops. Oh well. We, ahem, "adjusted" the tree, and Ryan and Blake worked their magic, getting the lights on just so. Here's the tree all lit up.


Then Blake and I got started on the ornaments. You can imagine how Blake liked to help.


Then, finally, the final product. Ta-da! May I present the
2011 Becker Family Tree

11/11/11 & 1 Special Lady

Blake has two of lots of things: arms, legs, parents, grandmas, grandpas, doggies and elbows. But he only has one Great Grandmother, better known to him as GG. Today, Blake got to celebrate GG's birthday, and how special on Veterans Day.

November 11, 2011

And while they honored the men and women who have served our country at a fun celebration, I want to honor my Grandma Sonya. Thank you for being such a great grandmother to my little boy! Love you.

March 10, 2010............Thanksgiving 2010

Blake On The Ball

I think Blake really misses his (and America's) favorite pastime. If you've spent anytime with him, you know what I am talking about. He immediately walks into any room with a television and, while pointing at the screen, demands "Ball!" He also points to any Giants logo (on our shirts, hats, cups, etc) and does the same thing.


Here are some photos I snapped during the World Series, as I tried to explain to Blake that this would be some of the last ball he watched for a while.



This was actually game 6, which looked to be the last one. Until it wasn't. Those of you who watched must remember what I mean.





In the end (of Game 7), we would say goodbye to baseball... at least for 150 days. Really, as of today -- that's how many days away we are from Giants' opening day, but who's counting (except Blake, of course)?

So for now, we'll resort to our Sunday morning ritual: Football. Go Niners.