Save Your Money!

You know we spend all of this money on fancy toys but Chase just really loves the everyday objects we have around the house. He played with that shovel for about 30 minutes, pushing it back and forth. Sometimes it really looks like he is working hard at something. He also loves the ironing board. He stands up holding on to the legs and shakes it all around (no, there isn't an iron on top). When I am trying to cook a spatula, wooden spoon, or whisk is sure to keep him entertained for at least 10 minutes. Yesterday I even let him play with an empty ice cube tray.

Tube Travel

Here is my little cutie in his new tube. It has given us another fun crawling activity, although before I know it he is going to be walking and not want to get down and crawl.

We had a wonderful weekend just relaxing at home. Ryan managed to knock a few things off of our To Do list.

Chase is doing well. He is full of spirit and keeps me running all day! I can't turn my back on him for a minute. His new thing has been to try and get up to touch the TV. He is constantly pulling up on our TV cabinet, I think to get closer to the people on the screen. TV must be such a mystery to a little guy. It is especially concerning because the cabinet has glass panels and we worry that he might fall into one. Unfortunately my "No, No" doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent. Hopefully he will get bored with it soon.

Bedtime has been an interesting challenge, as well, now that he can pull up to standing. It has become an exhausting game of mom lays me down, I stand up, mom lays me down, I stand up. I can't leave him there because I know he can't get down when he gets tired and he tries to walk around and I am afraid he could fall and get hurt. Always something new!

Bon Bons and Soap Operas NOT

I thought I would give you a small glimpse into my life. If Chase had his way we would spend the day playing with vacuum cleaners and lights. I hope these give you a little giggle.

http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=218922&cdate=20070123&ctime=190730

Are we done yet?

Another round with our bathroom renovation this weekend. Mom and I spent the our time shopping, napping, and playing while the men folk worked on the bathroom. They managed to put down our new tile floor, install our new white toilet (it was pink) and finish the waines coating on the walls. It really is starting to look like a new bathroom. We will still need one more extended trip to finish the whole project as our shower tiling will take many days but we are optimistic that we (and by we I really mean my Dad) will be able to finish it soon.

We also managed to squeeze in a trip to the famous steak house, Peter Luger's. My dad is a serious steak man so we have been taking him on a tour of steak houses in NYC.

Chase celebrated his 9 month birthday, which also meant a trip to the doctor's office. Chase is normally so easy going when we go but this time he recognized the doctor and as soon as his clothes came off (Chase's of course) he started crying and grabbing onto my neck and clothes. He wasn't even getting shots, although he did have to have a finger prick test for anemia. It was quite traumatic for us both. The good news is we don't have to go back for 3 months, hopefully he will forget everything he knows about the doctor by then.

Chase is into pulling himself up to a standing position. He spends most of his day pushing away the toys I give him so he can pull himself up on me. The funny thing is he doesn't understand that some object aren't solid enough to use as leverage so he will try to push up on flimsy objects, I have to watch him every second to keep him from banging his head. He is still obsessed with the stroller tires and makes a mad dash for them whenever he thinks I am distracted.

We are having so much fun with him. He is growing so fast and soon his first birthday will be here, amazing!

Cheers!

A few nights ago I was helping Chase drink from his sippy cup when he decided it was time to be independent so he took the cup and started drinking on his own. At first he was just letting the water fall from his mouth but with some discouragement and encouragement of swallowing- he picked it right up :) (He loves to please) It was pretty impressive to watch him raise and lower his cup to drink. He continues to amaze us with his growing abilities. Yesterday when we were playing (which now involves a lot of "let's crawl all over Mommy") I challenged Chase to stand on his own, and surprisingly he can for a few seconds before he either tips forward or back, which he finds very amusing. Then this morning he was crawling up on me until he was holding my arm and standing up and then suddenly he let go. HE was trying to stand on his own. To have a walker...I'm not ready, not to mention that we have yet to really baby proof the house. Our style of baby proofing is close supervision. Maybe this weekend?

Our sleep situation has been going very well. Chase has been going down without even a whimper and last night slept for four and a half hours solid. I have to admit as much as I enjoy getting the extra sleep on my own, I really miss the snuggle time :(

Gymboree is going great. Today Chase was all over, he did not want to sit still. He was laughing hysterically when we puffed the parachute up and down over them. We might need to buy a few fun gym toys for the house. This is when a playroom would be nice.

http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=230491&cdate=20070117&ctime=124642

Big Boy Bedtime

Well, we finally did it! We started sleep training. As Chase has gotten older his sleep has gotten worse (I know it is hard to believe it could get worse), being totally dependent on me to fall asleep and stay asleep. We needed to do this months ago but then Chase started getting his teeth in, then he got sick, and we went to FL. So now that we have settled back in and we are all in good health, it is time. The first night was absolute torture! Chase screamed and called for us, about 20 minutes into it he started gagging which led to throwing up everywhere. After we got all cleaned up we put him back down and he continued to scream for 30 more minutes. He slept pretty good after that only getting up every 3 hours. The next two nights the crying was limited to 15 minutes and he slept for 4 hours at a stretch. Maybe tonight he will go straight to sleep :)

He is crawling around like crazy. He has already identified the "No, No" items, such as electric chords and stroller tires and of course he is always working to get to them unnoticed. He even smiles and giggles when he is caught.

Class Clown

Last week when we were riding in the car Chase started pulling on his car seat straps making the funniest face (see above). Of course I started laughing hysterically. He kept doing it over and over and I was just rolling. The next day we were with my mom and he started doing it again and my mom and I were both in stitches. Since then he has been crazy about making this funny face. Sometimes he even holds it until his head turns bright red. In the picture it likes like we are moving at super sonic speed :)
Chase is getting so big. For those of you who haven't seen us recently, Chase has started crawling. It was very gradual but a few days before Christmas he started moving forward and staying up and now he is crawling like a big boy. We started Gymboree today. It should be a great opportunity for Chase to get physical activity. Three other mothers from music class have also signed up with us so we already have lots of friends.
Chase has started saying Ma Ma. He has only been saying it when he is upset or tired- which is fitting because he wants me. It is so sweet to hear him call for me.
Chase and I have been having an excellent week! We are getting back into our routine and visiting our friends. And winning the National Championship certainly brightened our week, too. GO GATORS!

http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=230491&cdate=20070110&ctime=174359

Home Sweet Home

We just returned from our extended vacation in Florida. We had a lovely time visiting lots of friends and family. Unfortunately, Chase came down with a cold on Christmas Eve, which carried over into our vacation. He was a bit out of sorts for the first half of our trip. I guess between new places, new faces and feeling under the weather he was a bit clingy, but by the end he was back to his old happy self. We stayed with Randy and Jeannie for most of the trip. Chase was quite entertained with the dogs and fish tanks. Randy paid his uncle dues when Chase began coughing which led to him throwing up on Randy's leg! We spent some time with my oldest friend Krista and her daughter, it was the highlight of my trip. We went to St. Petersburgs to spend New Year's Eve with Ryan's family, of course we were all in bed before 11 but we tried. The weather was sunny and warm and it was great to spend some time relaxing at the beach in early January, but it is good to be home this morning!