Play date

We went to visit Laurie and baby Daniel yesterday.  I am truly amazed by how easy Laurie makes it all look.  I'm pretty sure that I would not seem so laid back with a brand new baby and a 20-month-old.  Chase had a great time playing with Anna Grace, though.  He loved her little table and chairs.  I think he enjoyed

playing tea party as well.

He kept pretending to drink out of this play cup:

Elizabeth drove up for the afternoon from Greensboro so she could visit Kelly first, then they both came over to meet us at Laurie's.  Kelly is pregnant with twins (!) and due in August.  She's on modified bed rest and quickly getting bored so I think she enjoyed the "excitement".

Chase was really funny around baby Daniel.  You can see in this picture that he's touching Daniel's nose.  Right before we left, Chase was leaning over towards Daniel like he wanted to kiss him, so I helped him lean in.  When I did that, Chase stuck his finger out, sticking it straight into Daniel's little brand-new, newborn eye... Whoops...  Sorry, Laurie.  We'll work on that for next time.  Great to see you ladies!!

Summer Fun

I don't think anyone would dispute that we (Chase) has a pretty amazing babysitter.  (Well, 2 amazing babysitters, of course.)  But here are some pictures from last week at Leslie's:

Eating popsicles on the back patio during 'pool time'.

Now THIS picture makes me laugh:

And here we have him after taking the towel off his head (but still carrying his necklace), going back for a dip in the pool maybe?

They made dairy-free cupcakes last week as well.  Chase loves 'helping':

He wasn't so interested in actually EATING them after they were made, but he seemed to have a good time helping with the stirring.

Leslie, thank you so much for sharing these pictures!!  It helps make those 40 hours a week that I have to spend away from Chase (at work) that much more bearable...You're the best!!

My perfect child

I know everyone thinks their child is perfect.  Yes, I know that Chase isn't always perfect.  But tonight he came pretty darn close to that...Matt had to work late and then went out with his coworkers for drinks afterwards.  So it was just Chase and me.  We went to Sam's after Betty Ann brought him to me after work.  When we got home I was trying to unpack the stuff I bought, put it away, and fix dinner.  Typically this is not an impossible task but it just takes a little time because Chase needs my attention.  Not so much today.  Today, he very independently played by himself for about 30 minutes while I was watching from the kitchen.  He would very contently go from one toy to the next.  At one point he came in the kitchen, grabbed his sippy cup and skipped off into the living room.  After about 5 seconds of silence (this silence of course will set off any mom's radar), I looked over into the living room to see him rocking quietly in his UNC rocking chair.  Such a good boy.  Then we had dinner and headed upstairs for bathtime.  Even a very disgusting pooping incident in the bathtub (don't even ask) didn't mess up our night.  After the bath it was still kind of early so we went back downstairs to play for a little bit longer before bed.  After a little while, Chase walked up to me, lifted his hands for me to pick him up, then laid his head on my shoulder.  (Melt a mama's little heart, why don't you?)  His head stayed on my shoulder the entire way upstairs then he went to bed without making a sound.  I'm telling you, this silly little boy:

is the sweetest, most perfect little thing EVER.

(Please note that this posting is also documentation to remind myself of these moments so that when he's a holy terror- and I'm not naive enough to think that he's not going to hit that stage at some point- that he can be/is a sweetheart.)

How cool is your dad?

In honor of Father's Day (2 days late...), Chase wanted you to know just how cool his dad is:

                    Happy belated Father's Day, Matt!

Beach vacation, Part 2.

I'm sad to say that today is our last full day here at Emerald Isle.  Here are a few more pictures of what else we've been up to:

We walked over to the beach and let Chase play for a little while:

Then we took Chase to the Aquarium one afternoon:

He was pretty interested in seeing the fish.  He particularly enjoyed smushing his face up against the glass.  I'm fairly certain that he's not the only kid who does that.  The person in charge of cleaning the glass definitely has job security.

This is one of my favorite pictures (below).  I love how Chase is looking at Matt.  He looked in the aquarium, then back up at Matt as if to ask,'What do you think, Dad?'

Now that brings us to yesterday's pics.  Poor little guy had quite a rough day.  He had kind of an 'off' day but I thought that maybe it was just the two teeth that are coming in.  He got up from his nap in the afternoon and we got him lathered up in sunscreen to play in the pool.  However, he wasn't interested in swimming or playing.  The only way I could calm him was for me to hold him close (while in the pool) and within a few minutes the sound of the music, the water, and the wind lulled him to sleep.  I brought him up to the shaded screened-in porch to rock him and let him sleep (see pics below).  This was somewhat alarming considering that the last time he would fall asleep (and stay asleep) in my arms was probably back when he was about 4 months old.  After a while I noticed that he was pretty hot, but I thought that it was just because it was so hot outside and was sitting so closely to me.  But just to be safe I pulled out his thermometor.  Sure enough, he had a fever of 101.8.  Out came the Children's Tylenol (generic of course due to the recent drug recall). 

Conveniently enough this also was the day that Matt and I had been planning our 'date night'.  After deliberating quite a bit we decided that Chase would be in good hands for us to go out and grab dinner.  I figured that tylenol and rest would be the best thing for him.  After getting to the restaurant, taking a few sips of our adult beverages and placing our order we got the dreaded call: Chase's fever had risen to 102.8.  Everything I've read/heard says to call a doctor when a baby's fever reaches 103.  Close enough.  We shoveled the food in our mouths, immediately asked for the check and rushed to the Urgent Care center where Matt's parents and sister were meeting us with Chase.  That was the longest 30 minute drive of my life.  Of all places to be we had to endure 30 mintues of a 2-lane road with a speed limit of 35-45 mph.  Ugh.  I had a hard time sitting still.  At any rate, we were really lucky to find an urgent care center that was open.  The doctor looked in his ears and quickly diagnosed him with an ear infection in both ears.  Yikes.  We started the prescribed Amoxicillin and Motrin and put him to bed at a much later bedtime for him- 10pm.  Whew what a night.  He's much better today but we had an eventful night that is for sure.  Needless to say he won't be playing in the 95 degree heat today.  We'll be feeding him Motrin, Amoxicillin and plenty of fluids.  What a way to end the vacation, huh?

Beach vacation, Part 1.

So today is Wednesday, Day 4 of the annual Emerald Isle beach trip with Matt's family.  We got here Sunday afternoon, unpacked and Chase started exploring his new environment.  Here he is Monday morning on the screened-in back porch, pushing his new golf bag.  He likes to take the clubs out of it so he can push the bag around with nothing in it.

Nothing funny about this one.  Just a sweet look that he gave me.  'Okay, Mama.  Just take the picture please so I can get back to playing.'

After lunch we blew up this cool kiddie pool that he'd gotten for a gift recently (birthday?  Christmas?  Sorry I can't remember who gave it to us and for what holiday, but thank you). 

Aunt Lauren got Chase this cool bubble gun that he also had a lot of fun with.  His Bebe took a break from cooking dinner one night to help him use it.

I like this picture below because of the way Chase is looking at Olivia.  Kinda like, 'I guess you can play with me.  But I'm still a little hesitant.'

I love how his hair is curly after a day of fun in the sun.  (For all those interested, sunscreen can also be used as a volumizer).

Okay.  Now let's talk about this picture:

When you're on vacation and you're with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who love you like crazy (AND you're the only kid), you get to do THIS:

We don't really do that at home.

Stay tuned for more pictures to come!

Multi-tasking.

Matt's week at work

This is where Matt was for work this past week:

No, I'm serious.  He had a conference at the Westin hotel in Hollywood, Florida.  So this is the view of the pools in the hotel.  I felt pretty bad for him.  What a rough week.  :)

Who's ready for the beach??!!

We are leaving Sunday for our beach week with Matt's family.  Chase was just getting some stuff together for our trip:

'Got it, Mom.  I'm ready.'  (Just for the record, that is the 'I mean business' face).

And -just in case anyone's wondering why he's wearing nothing but a diaper and shoes- we'd just finished a very messy dinner of pasta with tomato sauce and it was all over everything but his shoes.

Weekend festivities

This is a little late to be posting about our weekend plans last weekend since it's Wednesday and all, but we had a great one.  I've really been wanting to be more "social" and that's exactly what I got.  We started the weekend by going to our neighborhood pool party.  We weren't sure what to expect but I really wanted to go because we've never been to any of the neighborhood events.  It was complete with a DJ and games that required clearing the entire pool every 10 minutes, which was awesome.  It wasn't that bad, but I think we might've had more fun if we were ages 7-15.  It was ok since we didn't stay long anyway.

After the pool party, Chase took a nap and then we headed to my coworker LeAnna's house for her birthday party.  It was really cute seeing Chase interact with all the "big boys" that were there.

But mostly, Chase enjoyed playing with this phone:

He was on a pretty important phone call in this picture.

...But he told his girlfriend to hang on for a second so he could take a quick picture with his Mama.  :)

Soy is toxic

SO.  One of my coworkers informed me today that soy is (how shall I put this?)...not at the top of everyone's list of healthy and nutrient-rich foods.  Huh.  That's interesting.  Because I'm pretty sure I've seen all kinds of commercials lately saying otherwise.  AND I was just starting to feel really good about how well Chase is guzzling down his recommended amount of soy milk each day so that he's getting the calcium he needs.  I have been so proud of the smoothies that I make him some mornings with soy yogurt, soy milk, bananas, blueberries (it's a superfood, you know!), and/or any other fruit that I have to throw in.  I watch him gulp down this healthy concoction and feel like I am really doing something good for my child's growth and development.  It's close to how I felt when I was pumping my breastmilk at work for (what felt like) 4 of the 8 hours I was there so that I could  ensure that Chase was fed the best I could give him.  In face, I just went to Trader Joe's and stocked up on soy yogurt and was about to make a trip to Sam's to stock up on the case of soy milk that they sell.  Until today.

It's a long and unexciting story of how my coworker and I got on this topic.  To her credit, I asked.  She did not force her opinion and knowledge of this particular subject.  She knows all about Chase's milk allergy so I could tell that she didn't want to say too much or step on my toes.  But, again.  I asked.

So after she left my office, with my heart pounding I googled "Is soy bad?"  (Yes, I know.  Even in my google searches I am really profound and intellectual).  Up pops 11.1 million (I'm not kidding) results, all showing research about how soy contains natural toxins, can cause thyroid problems, and even reduce fertility.  Several things said that soy is even considered a carcinogen (something that is cancer-causing).  Some women said that after years of eating their bowl of cereal every morning with soy milk, they were diagnosed with breast cancer.  Ok, maybe they had more soy than just with their cereal, but this is definitely the connection.  Soy caused their cancer.  Awesome.  So all these "experts" are telling me that my precious baby is going to have thyroid problems (whatever that means), have trouble conceiving children one day (why am I already worried about this when he's only 14 months old?) and also will get cancer of some sort.  Of course my impulse is to throw out all this:

But I also wanted to make sure to get all the facts.  I hate researching stuff.  I don't have any patience (anyone surprised by that?) and I am apprehensive about how skewed the 'data' is.  I'm not saying that I don't believe any of this.  I'm just saying that I don't want to overreact.

However, after reading all about hormones and processing of food I suddenly decided against getting Wendy's or Hardee's for lunch...  Instead, I went to Whole Foods and got a salad.  (Don't be impressed.  I pretty much drowned my spinach, cucumbers and tomatoes in cheese and Ranch dressing.  But I feel like if Whole Foods made the Ranch dressing then how bad can it be, right??)  Then I strolled down the dairy/fake-dairy aisle.  And I purchased this:

The Dickerson's very first container of almond milk.  All those experts on the internet who say that Chase is going to go into early puberty because of all the estrogen-like hormones in his soy milk agree that almond milk is like liquid gold. 

So we'll see.  My plan is to see what Chase thinks about this almond milk tomorrow.  Don't get me wrong.  I will not be throwing out all 8 containers of perfectly good Trader Joe's soy yogurt.  I just may be spacing all his soy intake slightly.  We don't want him growing boobs or anything.  Let's just hope that he'll outgrow the cow's milk allergy so we can get back to the real stuff soon anyway.  I'm not so comfortable as this researching, Whole- Foods-shopping, UNC Allergy Specialist kind of mom.  I guess it's just a lesson in life, right?

This is what I get for saying last week that I didn't have anything to blog about.

Playin with Pops

Lauren and Betty Ann have been in Boston since last Tuesday.  I think Don missed being able to see Chase the 2 days a week that Betty Ann normally keeps him so he stopped by to visit on Wednesday.

He and Chase had a pretty good time.

Chase showed that the console of Don and Betty Ann's new car can be used for things other than drinks.  He seemed to make himself pretty comfortable as he plugged in the cell phone car charger.  That child loves anything with cords or plugs.  I swear, it could entertain him for hours (well, not really but you know what I mean).

'What?  Is it not normal for someone to be sitting here??'

This was pretty funny.  At one point Chase had the windshield wipers and the hazards on at the same time.

This may have been when he turned on the wipers.  This is what grandparents are for, right?  :)

Hello??

I haven't really had much to blog about lately.  I feel like I have to have pictures for every posting (not that what I have to say isn't profound enough all alone or anything) but I haven't really been that excited about any pictures lately.

For now this is all I've got.  Maybe I'll get inspired soon.  We'll see.