Do I sound like a broken record?

Blake has not stopped moving, climbing and getting in to things he's not supposed to. For example....

He is by far our strongest and most coordinated child and nothing stops him. It is mostly exhausting and somewhat irritating that every time I turn my back he is getting in to something he shouldn't be, but when I have a moment to sit back and watch, it is quite amazing. I told a woman in a store the other day after she commented on how busy he, that he will accomplish so much in life and be successful at anything if only I can get him through his toddler years alive! Just the other day he climbed up the ladder of Wyatt's bunk bed and back down again (the next day he fell off the 4th step while I was in the shower)! Lovely.

But he is also starting to understand more and that has been lots of fun. He doesn't say much, but does have several words that he does use when he needs to. He says "ma" for milk and a slightly different sounding "mor" for more.....due to him getting up so early in the mornings (5:30-6am), he usually helps Matt or I make the coffee and loves it, saying "hot cof" for hot coffee..."uh-oh" is another common phrase....and of course "da-da" whenever the phone rings or the door opens....but mostly he just walks around quietly reaching into drawers that we didn't know he could reach or see into and climbing things. He is understanding quite a bit now and will take something to someone if we ask him to or put something back (if he wants to!). But often we can ask for something back and he just grins and runs away. He does love to give 'open mouth' kisses and everyone in our family loves it! He's been using a fork quite proficiently and wants to use it all the time now. (It doesn't hurt that he has a serious audience cheering for him when he picks up food with his fork and puts it in his mouth!)

Pretty hard to stay frustrated with this face

He continues to adore his big brother and gets a serious belly laugh whenever Wyatt does something funny. They love wrestling together and as you can see, Blake is really tough. He rarely cries, despite the many bumps and bruises on his head!

We love him and he's a great little guy, but boy is he a LOT of work. Just before I put him down for his nap today, he reached into a drawer in the kitchen and pulled out a pair of scissors....they were in the back of the drawer and I didn't even realize he could reach them or see in the drawer! By the time I put them away and rearranged things, he was standing on the coffee table in the family room with his arms raised above his head as if he'd just climbed Mt. Everest!