Just for fun...

...Matt gave Chase a new hairstyle during his bath last week.

Too young??

Chase's first golf lesson.  (Not really.  Just the first one we captured on film.  :)  )

Bedroom fun

Shopping, anyone??

So I'm not really into all the cutsey little preppy baby boy outfits.  I mean, don't get me wrong.  I'm a complete prep and I dress my son the same way.  We are all about some polo outfits, khaki shorts, new balance shoes, and button-ups (wait.  Are we talking about Matt here or Chase??).  I'm just not into all those little monogrammed, plaid, rompers with matching turtle necks.  (I'm really sorry if I'm offending anyone who loves those).  I just really like it  when Chase looks like a mini-Matt.  A little mini-man.  But I think it's really funny that given the fact that Chase is ALL BOY, he loves to grab any purse/bag and put it on his shoulder.  We were shopping last weekend and when we walked past the purse section he started squealing to get down.  As soon as he was out of his stroller he grabbed a purse.  (We added the hat just because.)

'What?  You know I look GOOD.'

'I am SO FUNNY!!'

This last picture makes me laugh.  He is such a silly boy.  Full of personality.  This 'photo session' is even funnier to me because of Chase's shirt: "Don't bother me.  I'm on vacation."  Apparently it's acceptable to act effeminate when you're on vacation.

Adventures in eating.

Taking Chase out to dinner lately has become quite a challenge.  In fact, the way I described it most recently was that it really is an aerobic activity.  [And, I mean, to give the kid some credit, you really can't expect an almost 17-month (!) old to just sit still for an hour an a half.] 

This is basically the requirements for taking Chase out to dinner:

- (immediately) remove all the breakable, shake-able, spill-able things on the table (i.e. salt/pepper shakers, plates, silverware, glasses of water/wine/beer, etc.)

-  keep him out of the butter, cheese, and other milk products that he would have an immediate allergic reaction to (he wants to eat them, dig in them and/or otherwise just play with them)

- prevent him from hitting his head on the table as he tries to slide his body under the table 

- (try to) keep him from squealing too loudly as to offend anyone sitting near us

The good thing about taking Chase out is that he absolutely loves people and attention.  He stares at people until he catches their eye and then smiles really big or giggles.  He's such a social creature (no idea where he got that from...).  Here is a picture {above and below} of some lucky people who sat beside us recently...Lucky for us they were troopers and played a few games of peek-a-boo with Chase, who was about as happy as I was to have a glass of white wine in front me.

I had to catch a shot of Polo and Polo, Jr. before leaving...  :)

Sweet.

Chase has gotten pretty good at following directions.  In the morning, when he gets up and I ask, "Where does your paci go?", he pulls it out of his mouth and throws it down in his crib.  When he's finished eating dinner, he starts trying to stand up in his highchair.  We ask, "Are you done?"  And he shows the sign for 'Finished/All done'...(well, at least his own version, which is holding one hand up like he's waving and twisting his hand back and forth.  I'll take it)

...Lately he's been good at giving kisses.  When you say, "Can I have a kiss?"  (like this:)

...This is what you get:

He is seriously the sweetest.  child.  ever.  With all the full-speed running, loud squeals, screams, and wild times this energetic little boy brings, he also brings lots of sweetness.  :)

Silly.

These sunglasses could quite possibly be my favorite purchase ever from the dollar section at Target...

And to think...Matt didn't think we "needed" them...  :)

You're not a baby...

(See??  Look at all the crap in the background on the bed...Ugh...  Thank God it's now clean and organized!!.)

We have a 'bonus' room in our house that is basically where we put all the crap that we don't otherwise know what to do with. (We actually have another name for it that's not exactly appropriate for the world wide web...). At any rate, Matt and I have been talking about organizing this mess of a room since 2 years ago when we moved in. I finally decided that it was 'time' so we got started last weekend. I also decided it was time to clean out Chase's toys and move some of the ones he never plays with into the bonus room as well. I knew this would happen (or at least I was hoping). Chase acted like our house was freaking Toys R Us. He had a ball. He particularly enjoyed playing with the 'baby toys'. Like this one:

And this one:

Even though he's 16 months old and still wearing many 9-month-size clothing, I had to remind him that he's a little too big for the bouncy seat.  I was scared it was going to break...

Hair

It's funny to think back to when I was pregnant.  Just like every parent, Matt I talked at length about what we thought Chase would look like.  We fully expected him to inherit Matt's bright blue eyes.  We laughed about what combination of each of our physical traits Chase would have.  One thing that almost always came up not only in my conversations with Matt, but with most people was would Chase have my red hair.  I'm the only one in my family with red hair so we wondered if I would pass it along to him.  We go back and forth but I think Chase's hair at this point is strawberry blond.  So, the color is one thing that is surprising.  The other thing is simply that he even has hair.  My sisters and I all were completely bald until we were at least 2 years old as was my nephew, Justice. 

Not only does Chase have hair but it has been growing at a rapid pace.  He had a little bit of a mullet going on for a while so Matt and I trimmed it up in the back some.  I really am not ready for him to have a real haircut yet.  I just don't want him to have that miniature man look yet.  (Plus I'll admit it.  I kind of like the frat hair.  So.  Since I can't convince Matt to let his hair grow any then at least I can let Chase sport the frat look.)

 

But.  His hair is getting a little bit out of control.  It's getting long.  I still think it's precious but I do have to admit that we're not far from getting that first 'real' haircut.

We may try to see how long we can make it with the quick at-home trims here and there.  We'll just have to see.  :)

Sleeping beauty

Girlfriend

Chase and I went over to Laurie's house Monday and he and Anna Grace had a great time playing together.  It's crazy to see how much they've grown and changed from the babies below. 

Yikes. Please excuse the way I look here.  Chase was only 10 days old and I was sleeping about 2 hours at a time.

Now, fast-forward 16 months and look at them playing below.  They both stood back for a second like they were sizing each other up.

It didn't take long for them to warm up to each other:

In fact, Chase decided to try out his new kissing skills out on Anna Grace.  Here he is going in for the kill:

Anna Grace is thinking, "I don't know about this..."

Mama?  Make him stop!

I love this picture (even though Chase is hanging upside down) because of the cute look AG has on her face here as she's giggling. 'That silly boy was trying to kiss me!'