HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Chase turned 2 years old on Wednesday!  He is just such a sweet little boy now.  It just blows my mind to think that he is two and all the new things he's into now and what a little personality he has developed in this short period of time.

First to start off this post, I will go into his birthday party which we had on the 25th - his original due date. 

The weather was trying to tick me off most of that day by threatening rain, but we moved the party up an hour and that decided to be the best plan ever as I will note later!  When I woke up that morning, I hadn't really thought the party would happen because of the weather forecasts, but when we ultimately decided to forge ahead we had no more than 5 hours to get everything ready.  That included going to the store, making homemade cupcakes, straightening the house, organizing and putting up all the party gear, buying Chase a birthday present (we are awful with giving presents to each other in this house!!), and ordering and picking up the food.  We were exhausted by the time people started showing up!

I didn't really have much of a theme this year.  I guess if anything it was a "ball" theme since that is one of the few words Chase says.  The ball theme then turned into a bouncing theme and before I knew it, I decided to buy a bouncy house, a bouncy "pool", and 900 plastic balls!  Here's a picture of the day they all showed up on our front porch!

Here's our invitation

Chase gets red really easily when he gets just a little hot, so we had a little "pre-party" in the backyard before most people showed up, so when we came back inside for pizza and cake, Chase was RED!

Here he is being really sweet and shy when we started singing happy birthday to him.

I didn't get a picture of any lit candles because Drew blew them out as Chase was reaching for the cake! 

These are my homemade vanilla bean cupcakes.  They were very good, but VERY sweet.  The gumball on top represents the "ball" theme.

Here are some pictures of the boys enjoying the bouncing and the balls!

Chase had a great time at his birthday party!  He got lots of great presents and he is thoroughly enjoying all of them!  He received a (toy) workbench with a power drill.  He loves pulling the nails out of the table and putting them somewhere else on the table!  He got a new DJ keyboard and loves making all sorts of noise with it!  He got a shopping cart filled with fruits and veggies.  He loves to push the cart all over the house and pick up each piece of food and show them to us over and over again.  He got a tricycle, which he loves to ride even though he can't reach the peddles yet!  He got a Captain America doll and movie, a Mr. Potato Head, a fast Buzz Lightyear car, Toy Story books (which he is fascinated with!), dart guns, a talking Cookie Monster, and some spending money from Great Meme and Pops.

By the time the party was over, Drew and I started deflating all the stuff in the backyard and no less than 20 minutes after we brought everything in, the tornado sirens went off!  Like I said before, moving the party up one hour was the best thing ever.  Even after all the threats of rain, it was warm and sunny the entire time - well, until the tornado sirens!

Almost immediately after the party, I had to go out of town for work for three days, which meant I was going to miss seeing the birthday boy the morning of his actual birthday.  I was ok with this as long as I got to be there for his "birth moment"!  It was awesome.  I just love acting like a fool as soon as the clock turns to be 5:00!  Drew was able to be there with me this year since he was in class during the birth moment last year!  We clapped and cheered and sang happy birthday to Chase.  He had the biggest grin on his face the whole time.  I think he thought we were crazy!

Here are some pictures of Chase in his birthday suit on his birthday that night.

This afternoon we had Chase's 2 year well baby visit.  We chatted with Dr. Owen about Chase's random red spot on his arm that all the daycare teachers worry about so much, his speech or lack thereof, and food options.  The red spot is not a big deal (as I expected!).  Dr. Owen is recommending Chase for TEIS, which we expected going into the appointment.  I'm looking forward to it and seeing how a professional would evaluate him.  Chase now has no food restrictions so I suppose we could allow him to eat shellfish and peanuts, but I'm still so scared!!  I asked Dr. Owen if we could try peanut butter in the doctor's office at a future date and he said we could.  I think I'm definitely going to take him up on that one!  I was surprised when he didn't think I was crazy when I asked that.

2 year stats:

Weight: 32 lbs 13 oz (90th percentile) - up 3 lb 10 oz from 18 month checkup
Length: 37" (97th percentile) - 4" longer than month 18
Head: ??cm (65th percentile)

At the visit, they weighed Chase fully clothed for the first time and they weighed him on a normal scale.  That didn't really work out very well, and we resorted to putting him on the "baby" scale because he was hopping up and down on the regular one!  He had his iron levels tested (with a finger prick), got his last vaccination for a while, and got the flu shot.  He was upset with us by the end of the appointment!

23 months!

Next to last monthly update!  We have a crazy 23 month old running around our house, jumping from one piece of furniture to the other!

23 Month Stats:

Unofficial weight: approximately 32 lbs
Clothing size: Same as last month.
Shoe size: Same as last month.  We bought him much bigger socks though because his old ones looked like they were cutting off his circulation.  He's in 4T-5T socks now!
Diaper size: Same as last month.
Favorite toy: Buzz Lightyear.  Most favorite toy ever!  Never puts it down and has a tantrum if he separates from Buzz.  And it's been like this for a month now!
Favorite foods: Chicken nuggets, cheese, apple juice, animal crackers.  He's an official toddler now that he finally LOVES apple juice!
Least favorite foods: He hasn't been too picky.  His appetite has been huge lately!
Words: No huge change from last month.  I can see the wheels turning in his head though.  When I say something funny to him that he wants to repeat, he'll stop and think about it and almost whisper an attempt, but the words don't quite come out.  Obviously this is something that will be talked about with his doctor visit next month.  He's just so sweet though.  There is no frustration on his part with us because of a lack of communication or understanding.  I think he's just taking his own sweet time!
Teeth: No change since last month
Daily Routine: No change since last month

Latest happenings

Sometime over the course of the past few weeks, he started to develop a love for trains.  Or as he calls them "choo (long pause) choo"'s.  He also loves to point to the airplane in his picture book.  I don't think I've mentioned this before on the blog, but he loves the logos and emblems on cars.  He's always touching the trunks and fronts of people's cars trying to touch the Honda or Toyota logos.  I always get a little freaked out when he does that to any cars but our own!

He got promoted to the 2 year old room in Sunday School today.  Such a big little boy!  Apparently they learned about Noah today!

We've developed a little routine in the morning that helps my sanity and has reduced the amount of tears that I have to see every morning (although sometimes there are still a few).  First we have to hide Buzz Lightyear.  If he catches a glimpse of Buzz in the morning, the day is shot!  Chase's least favorite part of the morning is his diaper change and getting dressed.  I've helped that my grabbing a few animal crackers or goldfish and taking them with me when he gets changed.  He lays down in the floor on our designated "changing blanket" and I give him just enough goldfish or crackers to keep him happy while I change his diaper and get his pants, socks, and shoes on.  The tears usually start when I then try to put his shirt on.  I don't know why, but he hates that part!  Once we get to school, I sometimes let him try to walk into daycare, but he never walks past the second set of doors.  Instead he just wants to run from one side of the hallway to the other and point to the apple pictures, say apple, and then laugh at me trying to get him to move any further!  I pick him up and then walk him down to his classroom.  As soon as I get to his classroom, he puts his head on my neck and pretends that he's sad or shy.  His teacher, Ms. Melanie, then walks up to us, says Hi Chase, and then he quickly flings himself to her so she will take him in her arms.  He then waves bye to me and never looks back.  EVERY MORNING!!

He gives me the sweetest kisses one or two times a day straight on the lips.  Most of time he gives them to me in the morning after he gets done drinking his milk and we are watching Curious George together.  I just live for those kisses!!  I've been trying to get Drew to ask for them more often so he will get some too.  I think he finally got his first one yesterday! Poor Drew just isn't home when Chase is his most cuddly!

Speaking of Curious George, I've almost dumped Nick Jr all together.  Chase doesn't love, love Fresh Beat Band anymore (although the occasionally episode one a month makes him smile!) and they've changed their morning schedule up so only really boring cartoons are on from 6:30 to 7:30am when we might be possibly watching TV.  So PBS has come to the rescue!  It's our ritual now that we watch Curious George every morning at 7 (give me a few minutes to dry and straighten my hair!) and then we watch the very beginning of Cat in the Hat so he can listen to the Go, go, go song if we have time.

Picture of Baby

About a week and a half ago, we got a good long peek at Baby #2 when we went to the doctor for our NT scan.  One thing I remember vividly is that the very moment the lady put the ultrasound wand (??) on my belly, the picture of the baby moving all around just instantly popped on the screen.  There was no need to search for the baby, he/she was just there!  Baby was moving all around and rubbing its eyes and squirming all around!  He/she made the ultrasound technician work for her paycheck that day!  During the NT scan there are certain specific measurements that the technician needs to get and our little mover and shaker wasn't letting her get any of those easily.  I think the total scan took about 20 minutes or so, but she was finally able to get the measurements she needed.  Baby was measuring about a week ahead - measuring at 13w5d as opposed to the 12w5d my doctor told me I was based on my first ultrasound.  Next time I go to the doctor I'll figure out if that changes my due date any.  I'm expecting my due date will be anywhere from February 17th to February 24th.

Here's a picture of our little squirmy thing!  My scanner is apparently dusty, so please look past all of the crud on the picture!

Chase's Big Announcement!

Chase is going to be a big brother!!



He doesn't quite understand that fact yet, but he still has another 6 or so months to figure it out!

As of right now Baby is due February 24th.  I went in for my 8 week appointment and Baby was only measuring 6w6d, so apparently I had an irregular cycle, but our due date will be confirmed later this week when we go in for another ultrasound.  The big ultrasound to determine gender will be in about 7 weeks or so.  I'm predicting another boy!

So far this pregnancy has been similar to mine with Chase, except that my nausea hits at night with this one and with Chase it was in the morning time.  With Chase I craved Chick-fil-a and roast beef sandwiches.  With this one, I seem to want fruit and pizza more!  I started taking belly pictures with Chase around 15 weeks, but I was looking at them the other day.  I'm now a little over 12 weeks pregnant, but I appear to look the same as when I was 16 to 17 weeks pregnant with Chase!  I think that is part of the reason why I told work sooner this time around than last time!

Part of the reason why I couldn't update my blog much lately is because one of my strange aversions this pregnancy has been my camera and looking at pictures.  I can look over at my camera and see certain pictures on Facebook and I immediately start to feel sick to my stomach!  Strange, strange!!  Luckily, I'm almost out of my first trimester so I hope to return to normal soon!

Anyways, Drew and I could not be more excited and nervous for this new addition!  As soon as we are in a very easy groove with Chase, it's all about to change...but I'm so ready for it!  We can't wait to see Chase as a big brother.  He already loves the babies he sees at school, so it should be really interesting to see how he is when one comes home with us!

22 months!

This is late, but that's the way I do it now!

22 Month Stats:

Unofficial weight: approximately 31 lbs
Clothing size: Same as last month.
Shoe size: He's officially a 7M according to our visit to the shoe store.
Diaper size: Size 5
Favorite toy: His Bloks.  He's recently rediscovered his popcorn popper things and runs around the house with them. 
Favorite foods: Same as last month.  Also bananas, strawberries (although we have taken them away because of severe diaper rash!), and pretzels.
Least favorite foods: Hot dogs are back on the list!
Words: Again, there doesn't seem to be a significant change in his list of words each month.  A lot of his words kind of sound the same.  Auburn = Abuh; War Eagle = Gull; Ball = Aball; Book = Buh; Peek-a-boo = Aboo; Dog = Dog or Gog; TV = De; Bubble = Bubble; Bath = Bath; Banana = Nana; Cow = Mmm; Go; Bye; plus some others
Teeth: All his teeth have started finally coming in.  I think we are now just missing the last set of molars.
Daily Routine: He sleeps a ton now!  He routinely sleeps 12 hours (maybe an hour more if we'd let him!) at night, plus a 2 1/2 hour nap at school.  Milk is still a big part of his day!  I can't imagine breaking him of his morning and evening milk!

Recent happenings:

(Part of my post is going to be ever changing as I remember stuff that has happened over the past month!)

Chase has been getting over a virus this past week that started almost immediately after we came back from the Zoo last Saturday.  Toddler vomit is so much worse than baby vomit!

Chase was a real good waver for a while when saying goodbye to folks.  Now, he's big on blowing kisses instead!  When we visited the shoe store last week, he blew kisses to the store worker as we left.

He loves his Pixar movies and Dreamworks movies!  He's been a little burned out on Shrek since our beach trip, but now he loves the Toy Story movies (and can say Buzz!), Finding Nemo (and can say Nemo and try to say Anemone!), and Wall-e.  He especially loves the Pixar opening scene with the bouncing desklamp!

He's starting to love blankets at nap and bedtime.  This started shortly after the beach trip as well.  He would love a pillow too, but I think I've heard maybe they shouldn't have a pillow until they can ask for a pillow.  We currently keep about 3 to 4 fluffy blankets in his crib and he just gravitates to them when he lays his head down!

His least favorite part of the day is diaper changing time.  I've noticed when he has a dirty diaper, he'll move away from me and act really playful with his toys.  I think he's trying to delay the inevitable as long as possible!

When he wants to watch TV, he'll smile and put one finger on each cheek and say "De!".  We have no clue where he learned that from!!

Here are some pictures from our visits last week to the Children's Museum and the Zoo.

Beach Week

About a little under a week ago, we came back from a relaxing week at Rosemary Beach in Florida.  We went with my sister and her family and my mom.  In the mornings we went to the beach.  At noon, it was naptime.  And the afternoons were pool time!  It was such a nice change of pace from the norm!

The nine hour drive to the beach went pretty well.  On the Sunday drive down, the first 5 or 6 hours were relatively peaceful, but Chase got real antsy the last 3 hours.  I have to say I was pretty antsy too.  I definitely had "beach fever"!  Our can of Gerber veggie puffs and cooler of milk definitely saved the day for Chase during those last few hours.  The nine hour drive back was uneventful and Chase behaved perfectly the entire way back.

I believe we already knew Chase was a little water baby, but that was just confirmed in Rosemary!  He was never happier than when he was in the swimming pool or the ocean.  He even learned to kick his legs a little in the pool by the end of the week and could move a little on his own.  He was fearless by "jumping" (more like falling forward) into the pool into Daddy's arms (he also did this off the coffee table!).  The sand on the beach was not his favorite.  Just getting the grains of sand on his hands made him fuss.

Chase surprised us and slept on his little toddler air mattress really well during the week.  We even settled into a great bedtime routine that has come home with us.  He no longer requires rocking at night.  We can put him in bed with his little cup of milk.  He'll drink all he wants.  He'll give us the cup back and then turn over and go to sleep!  Amazing!  I can even manage to put him to bed now!

On to the pictures....

I could bet serious money that the boys here are watching either Shrek or Spongebob.  We watched A LOT of that during the week.

Since Chase has eartubes, we tried to be careful and keep his ears dry.  He's wearing his "Earband-it" here.  It makes his face a little squooshy!

Here he is "diving" to Daddy!

The ONLY time he liked the sand.  We should have given him the shovel earlier!

I'm imagining him saying here, "Can we please stay here forever??"

Chase's cousins who kept him thoroughly entertained all week!  Gray refused to smile for the camera!

This pool made me seriously reconsider getting one!  If only I got huge bonuses at work!

Swimming on his own!