All About Chase

Chase is almost 2. We've not been nearly as good at documenting his life as we were with Adie at this age. I don't even know what kind of chance the next child has of knowing anything about his growing up years. I'll try to be better. Chase is in a fun and challenging stage.

Here are some bullet points (for the grandparents, of course):

-Tantrums are in full swing around here, especially if he gets hungry or tired at all. He's hungry almost any time he's awake, so keeping up with that can be tricky.

-He's been a pickier eater than Adie, although he's branching out some more, so hopefully, this picky stage is nearing the end. He will eat almost any fruit you give him and is great at eating green smoothies so I can pump him full of good stuff with those.

-He still doesn't talk much. He's been saying certain words since he was only 1. Adie was his first word. However, it seems after he masters a word he stops saying it. Right now, we can get him to say a few of the animal sounds and cheese because that's his favorite food. He also has the greatest siren sound which we need to get on video. Any time he sees anything relating to fire trucks, police cars or ambulances he makes the siren noise and I love it.

-He loves animals and driving his cars and trucks all over the house. He really likes babies too, so hopefully, that will make his transition to being a middle child a little smoother.

-We just weaned him from his binky. I was deathly afraid of doing it. I didn't want to lose any sleep, but it was so easy. I just didn't give it to him during his nap one day and that night I didn't give it to him when he slept. He never complained, so I just trashed them, didn't even mention it to him, so easy!

-He loves books, especially Goodnight Moon or any book that has animals or cars / trucks in them.

-He loves to steal cups from people. He starts to have a tantrum when you offer him his own cup if he has found someone else's that he wants.

-He wasn't sure at the start of the summer if he liked going swimming, but he has mastered his water wings and now really likes the pool.

-We have started (very casually) potty training him. He does tell me sometimes when he needs to go to the bathroom, so we've caught it in the toilet a few times, but I am just going to be as low-stress about it as I can, like I did with Adie. I don't know how the new baby will affect him so I figure it may be a little while still. I don't think it will be too long though. I can tell he is starting to get the concept.

-In the last month he got a nasty high fever (but it passed quickly), fell on the garage floor carrying a lock that made a half inch long gash near his eye and it might leave a permanent scar and got nursemaid's elbow (elbow out of socket) while trying to thwart Brett's attempts to have him come in from outside for lunch which resulted in an ER visit. However, he still remains a very happy kid most of the time and has fully recovered. He's a total toddler boy.

Told you he like Goodnight Moon. He always wants to take a book to naps or bed with him. I guess he falls asleep reading to himself.

He's always willing to help out with projects around the house. Here he is testing out the cabinets we hung in our laundry room (post on that should be forthcoming).

This is a pretty average meal time scene. He likes to collect cups, stack them up, move food from one receptacle to another and, in general, make a huge mess. As long as he's getting the food eaten though, we just let him do his thing.

I can't believe this kid is almost 2. I still call him Baby Chase but I am going to have to retire that name. Maybe having a new baby in the house will help with that, but I am enjoying having him be my youngest for a little longer.