"A cousin is a ready-made friend for life."

Yesterday (6/27) my older brother James, his fiance Erin and their baby, James stopped by for a visit. James is 24 days older than Blake. And, despite the angles in which I took the photos, they seem to be about the same height (one of our doctor's must have measured wrong). James does weigh 1 pound more. Watching these two grow together is going to be so much fun!

James and Blake

Do you see a resemblance?

Gavin, Blake and James

Too cute!

Tummy time!

"A smile is a language even a baby understands."

I came across this quote online and isn't it the truth?

These photos were taken yesterday (6/27). This is one of Blake's first big smiles that I have been able to capture on camera. It absolutely melts my heart!

Blake, loves chewing on his hands.

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

The boy's Aunt Karen has been traveling Europe with a girlfriend since June 4th, we are wondering where she is now. We can not wait to hear all about her trip. We hear she is having fun. Here is a cute photo taken the night before she left.

Gavin, Blake and Aunt Karen

Visit with the Byrom's

What a fun family! John, Tracey, Courtney and Catelyn (absent from the visit), are childhood friends of The Conley's. They were in town from Arizona, enjoying our beautiful summer weather, so Cindy had everyone over for a delicious dinner.

It took Gavin a few minutes to warm up to everyone, but once he did he had a blast, especially with Big John! It brought back such great memories of Caydan (Little Tony) and John (Big Tony) at Lake Mead about 6 years ago. Caydan loved John and Gavin was loving him too. John quickly became a friend of Gavin's by feeding him cheese. John taught Gavin "ALL GONE!" and he would throw his arms in the air. He had so much fun!

Gavin's Magic Trick...ALL GONE!

Courtney lulled Blake to sleep like an old pro! And Gavin hammed it up next to her, actually posing for photos. That is an extremely rare event these days.

Gavin, Courtney and Blake

She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy!

Tuesday (6/24) playing on Grandpa's "toy" tractor. It is the cutest thing! Gavin can not yet reach the pedals, but he scoots around on it. Notice that he is not even sitting on the seat, this allows him to drive it "Flinstone" style. Yabba-Dabba-Doo!

Notice blankie (na-na) in Gavin's left hand?

He goes everywhere with Gavin these days!

Caydan's Summer Agenda

As was already mentioned in an earlier post, Caydan is in Arizona visiting Geoff and his family. By the way, he is having so much fun! He returns home on Sunday and then we leave for Mexico on Monday.

Caydan has some new summer plans that have been in the works the past couple of days. He will be going on a 7-day Alaskan cruise with his Noni Linda. They leave on August 2nd and return home on August 13th. Lucky boy! Last year Caydan and Linda flew to Boston and made their way up to Maine. They had so much fun together and I know they are both going to have a ton of fun on this summer's trip too! I am so grateful that Caydan has so many loving people to share these experiences with. Here is his itinerary for Alaska:

Anchorage 8/4

College Fjord 8/5
Glacier Bay 8/6
Skagway 8/7
Juneau 8/8
Ketchikan 8/9
at sea 8/10
Vancouver 8/11

Gavin's ISR Training

Yesterday (6/25) we went to playgroup for the first time in months. It was hosted by our friends Maria and Carter. They have a lovely pool in their backyard and the toddlers got to swim. The weather was perfect and the water was warm!

Gavin (and the other kids) pretty much just played on the steps and splashed around a bit. I held Blake while standing in hip deep water. He was sleeping. During Gavin's playtime on the steps he slipped down (3 times) to the last step where I was standing, putting him in water that was deeper than him. The other moms saw him and sort of panicked, but since we have been trained through ISR, I was confident that Gavin knew what to do. And, he did. I let him figure it out for a few seconds and he went straight to his float. I then let him float for a few more seconds and then prompted him to a rollover so he could find the steps himself. Yay Gavin! I was so proud to see it in action and the other moms that saw were pretty impressed. Most importantly, Gavin was proud of himself, he had a huge grin while I was praising him. Thanks ISR!

I am looking forward to swimming with him in Mexico!

E-i-e-i-o!

On Monday (6/23), we snuck in a quick visit to Banning. For Gavin, it must have been like a page out of our Barnyard Boogie book, one of Gavin's favorites right now. He got to see horses (neigh), cows (moo), a donkey (hee-haw), chickens (cha-cha) and of course dogs. He loves to look at the animals, although he definitely likes to keep his distance. Grandpa pulled him in the wagon, taking him out to see the animals, but he was much happier looking at them from the comfort of his own "ride".

Grandpa, I'm ready to go!

Aubrey, Grandpa and Gavin

Gavin, talking to the horses

Blake, on the other hand, it still too young to know what he likes, so Grandpa held him up for a quick photo.

Blake's first "pony ride"

That's all folks!

Blake Bennett, 4 months

Well, Blake won't officially be 4 months until the 28th, but he had his check up today since we leave for Mexico on Monday (6/30). Here are his 4 month stats:

Blake Bennett

Weight: 16 pounds, 11.5 ounces
Length: 26 1/4 inches
Head Circumference: 43 centimeters

Now, let's compare him to Gavin at 4 months, checking...

Gavin Scott, 4 months
Weight: 18 pounds, 11 ounces

Length: 27 1/2 inches
Head: 44 centimeters

A two pound weight difference and Blake is definitely lacking the "Michelin Man" rolls that Gavin was famous for. Blake does have his own version of chub-a-lub that we all love, especially the double chin.

After our visit with Dr. Neglia, we went over to the imaging center to have Blake's hips x-rayed. They like to x-ray the hips of breech babies to make sure that their hips are correctly positioned in the sockets. Update: Phone call received, his hips are normal.

Happy 4 month birthday Blake!

Photos, as promised!

Blake's first attempt at Bumbo

Hoover Dam
Notice the beginnings of the new bridge?

Mommy's Baby!

Daddy's #1 Boy

Gavin posing with Blake

Gavin, staying hydrated!

Blake, all geared up and ready to go!

Uncle Nate, Gavin, Papi, Caydan and Grammie
He passed 6th grade!

Caydan's monogrammed Black Belt
So official!

Father's Day Weekend

Scott's Father's Day wish came true! He had, what he thought, was a brilliant plan...to take the boys to Lake Mead for their first time. I pretty much just spoke my peace and then went with the flow.

We headed out on Saturday morning and a long 6 hours later arrived at the Loews Lake Las Vegas resort. First, let me comment on the drive. As I already mentioned, it was long. We have done this drive so many times in the past, but never with a 21 and 3 month old. One of them was always fussing. I climbed back and forth between the front and back seats the whole drive. I even have to admit that somehow I breastfed Blake while he (not I) remained buckled in the car seat. I guess that takes skill! Once we got settled in the hotel, I think Scott quickly realized that his brilliant idea was not his greatest one yet. We then reloaded into the car and set out to launch the boat so that we would not have to deal with it in the morning. Well, as we should have known, the launch ramp was complete chaos. I knew the boys would not last in their car seats that length of time, so we decided to drive back to the hotel and call it a night. We ordered room service at 9:30pm.

Even though Gavin went to sleep at 10:00pm, over 3 hours past his regular bedtime. He was still up at 7:00am. Rise and shine Daddy! Scott did not think he was actually going to sleep in did he? We got packed up and headed out for a fun day on the lake. After a quick run to the grocery store, we were on the lake about 11:00am. It was already pretty darn toasty out. Gavin and Blake did well. They both kept their life jackets on and never fussed about them. Blake slept laying on the seat with his jacket on, and he actually looked pretty comfy too. I feared Gavin running around the boat, but he sat so nicely on the seat while the boat was moving. Overall, the boys were great while we were on the lake. I worried the whole time that it was too hot for them. I kept Blake under the bimini the whole time. I was worried he was thirsty, so I nursed what seemed like every hour. I never even got wet, until the last hour. This is where I went wrong. I ended up with heat exhaustion and by the time Scott got the boat on the trailer, I was in the truck throwing up. My head felt like it was going to explode. The pain was so bad I was in tears. I continued to throw up on the drive and one last time in our hotel room. I took a short nap and then woke up feeling almost back to normal. Whew! What a way to end our fabulously hot day on the lake.

Lesson learned...no houseboat, no babies or toddlers on the lake. It is much to hot to enjoy. This was our first time out since the houseboat was sold. We missed it so much that we had to do a quick drive-by to reminisce.

We headed back home on Monday morning, stopping once for fuel and pulling straight in to Gavin's swim lesson. It was a whirl wind weekend, but fun nonetheless. Hope you had a fun Father's Day Scott!

Photos to follow tomorrow...

Caydan Update

Well, Caydan just finished a great season, his last, with the Solana Beach Little League. The team did great, they were the #3 seed in the division. That entitled them to play in the Coast Cities Tournament. They played yesterday at Ecke, our old stomping ground, but unfortunately lost 1-0. Nice try boys! Next season he will play with the Coast Junior League for 13 and 14 year olds.

I guess the biggest thing for Caydan right now happens tomorrow. He will officially be done with elementary school. Yay! They have a little promotion ceremony and then we will have lunch with family. I am so excited for Caydan. He has done a super job with school thus far and hope he keeps it up next year, 7th grade at Earl Warren. Way to go Caydan!

Caydan is also embarking on his first ever 2-week summer trip to Arizona to visit with Geoff. He leaves on Saturday. I sure hope he survives the heat. I will miss him for sure! Good luck!

Blake Update

At 15 weeks today, Blake is growing like a weed. He let out his first little giggle two days ago. So cute. He loves to smile. He is sleeping well, although not through the night yet. I have to admit that I still have him in bed with me most of the time. It is just so convenient for night nursings, especially while Scott is away. He wakes up once or twice for a quick feeding and then back to bed. He is such a great baby. Anytime we meet someone new or someone new meets Blake, they comment on how mellow he is. He really doesn't cry, unless one of the standard issues arises, hungry, wet or tired. We are blessed.

Gavin Update

Gavin has almost completed 5 weeks of "aquatic survival" swim lessons through Infant Swimming Resource. I actually do not even have photos to share. I need to take some tomorrow. The program is wonderful, although a big commitment. Gavin swims Monday through Friday for 10 minutes, for 6 weeks. He is doing really well. The first few weeks he cried through the whole 10 minute lesson. Now, he doesn't so much cry, but he does fuss a bit. He loves the swimming, but does not always love the floating, rollovers, flippy-doodles or popscicles. They teach a sequence of swim-float-swim. Next week will be our last, so during 2 of the classes he will go in fully clothed to simulate what it might be like to accidentally fall in. I am really impressed with the infants that I have seen complete the program.

Gavin has also been learning how to use the potty. I try to let him wear underwear while we are at home. He definitely understands and is doing a good job. He has a few accidents here and there, but I think he is doing great for 21 months old.

Photographic Incompetence

After downloading 200+ photos from the last few weeks, I realized a couple of things. First, I need to take better photos. Trying to capture a good posed photo of Gavin these days is pretty much impossible. And, I have decided that I have not done a good job of capturing candid photos either. The other thing is that I am usually toting Blake around while taking photos, so I feel like I do not take enough photos of him. Sounds like a case of "third child" syndrome to me.

Better Late Than Never...

Ok, so I caught the Blog bandwagon a little late.

Just recently, I have convinced myself that we need a family blog to showcase our trio of boys. Emailing photos just does not happen, so maybe this will make it fun for me and easy for family and friends to check at their convenience.

This is really going to make Scott think that I have too much time on my hands. But, in my defense, this is all sort of for him. He is out of town so much that this is a fun way for him to keep up to date on our life in Solana.

I need to start by downloading the photos off my camera, the card has been full for days...