Emerald Isle 2011- Part 2

To continue with pictures from our trip to Emerald Isle, here's Chase playing in the pool:

...and playing one morning on the porch with his car (one of them).

One afternoon Matt and I took Chase to the Aquarium and it was awesome seeing Chase's face light up when we walked in, seeing him sprint accross the room (uh, this is a daily thing no matter where we are or what we're doing.  his name is very appropriate since he seriously runs.  everywhere.  all the time), and sqeal with excitement.

I love seeing this little smile on his face here:

And then, back to the pool, being silly:

Here, he's pointing to something, expressing himself in some way.  Which, speaking of that, Chase's communication seems like it's exploding overnight.  I feel like I saw development even in that beach week.  Chase definitely has no problem expressing himself and letting us know what he needs.  And let's just be honest.  He pretty much gets what he needs (ok, wants.) most of the time.

But, look at this face.  I mean, really.  Would you be able to tell this kid no?  :)

And here are my boys just chilling in the hot tub:

Here's the gorgeous view from the back porch/back yard of the house.  I love that it's overlooking the inlet and so peaceful.  I loved taking a book out to the screened in back porch, sitting in the rocking chair and relaxing with this view.

Emerald Isle 2011- Part 1

I've gotten a little behind with my blog postings since we've had a few things going on the past few weeks, to say the least.  one of the more positive things was our annual beach trip to Emerald Isle with Matt's family.  Chase is the only child in the family and he (and everyone else) enjoyed that fact.  This is his 3rd trip to EI since he was born but this was by far the most fun for him.  The first year he was only 3 months and this is pretty much all he could do:



Last year, he was just over 1, so he was able to have a little more fun (but we were really nervous with all the stairs and other 'hazards' around the house...



Well, this year, was much more fun. 

 He absolutely loved playing in the pool...

He also love his pool that Aunt Lauren (he now says "Lar-nen") bought him:

He also loved the screened in porch (Matt, can we get one of those??). 

He also loved play with this guy.  Pops was sure to make sure Chase had a good time while on vacation.  :)

Now, the ocean and the sand was another story.  He liked playing the sand but it took some getting used to.  The ocean scared him so we're still working on it.

More pictures to follow.  Our home computer takes forever so I only have the patience to add these pictures for now. 

Stay tuned for more vacation pictures... 

"I pee!!"

So, potty training.  What a fun topic.  We bought Chase this lovely potty not long after he turned 2 because he'd started showing a little interest in peeing in the potty.

In those last few months, he's occasionally asked to sit on the potty and even peed a couple of times but has never told us he has to go...Until about a week ago.  Matt was out of town for work and Chase had gotten up pretty early so we were cuddling in bed when he started to sit up and said, "I pee."  This has been what he's said a lot when he's already peed (or pooped in his diaper) so I said "ok, let's go change you."  He said, "No.  I pee in the potty."  So I got excited, ran him into our bathroom to his potty, pulled down his pajamas and diaper and sat him down.  He sat there, smiling, really quietly listening...as he peed!  I never thought I'd get so excited about hearing the sound of pee.  I screamed and cheered and almost started crying (such a dork). 

Yesterday was another really good morning where he went a couple of times (where he initiated it himself) but then today, not so much.

At any rate, we're making HUGE progress towards potty training and I'm so freaking excited I can't stand it.  I'd love to think that the big box of 200 diapers I bought today at Sam's will be the last.  But that's probably not exactly the case.  We'll see.  :)

Future girlfriend?

Chase and I have a weekly playdate/mom happy hour with my good friend, Kristina and her 2 kids, Wes and Parker.  This past week, Wes was out of town with his grandparents so it was just Chase and Parker.  Despite their age difference, Chase is a big fan of Parker.  He let her help him with his 'work' on the computer:

Look at those pretty blue eyes.  Do you blame Chase for being a big fan?  :)

Twins!!!

My good friend from college Kelly and I made a trip to Geensboro last weekend to visit our other good college friend, Elizabeth and her brand new twins!  They are so tiny and so gorgeous.  Pretty hard to believe that it was just over 2 years ago that Chase was this size...

Here are the sweet babies Caroline and Andrew:

I can't imagine having 2 tiny babies at the same time...But Elizabeth and her husband Mark are doing great so far!!  :)

adventures at Marbles

We ventured over to Marbles Museum last weekend so Chase could play.   I have been there several times and every time I think about how cool it is and how many things there are for kids (of all ages) to do.  Chase particularly enjoys plugging in this electric car (we all know how obsessed he is with all things involving cords, plugs and buttons, so this way perfect for him).  He was content letting other kids drive the car just as long as he could handle the plug/cord...

 

 After lots of driving, he headed over to the kitchen to do some cooking....

 

 Then we went over to the ship and he and Matt climbed up to the very top ("Hey Mom!").  :)

 

 Then went went upstairs to the "money" room.  He wanted to help these kids make a pizza:

 

 ...And then he needed to ride the bike to deliver the pizza that he'd just made.  Maybe that's good practice for him to learn about working a real job one day?

 

What a fun morning.  We got a lot covered in a short amount of time.  Marbles needs to understand that we mean business when we visit.  :)

swimming

We are now on week 3 of swimming lessons for Chase and he's been doing pretty well.  On Tuesday he put his face in the water and went under!  Unfortunately today is the last day but I had to post a cute picture from Tuesday.

Thomas at Tweetsie

We took Chase to see Thomas the Train this past weekend at Tweetsie Railroad in Boone.  Chase is a big fan of Thomas so we were pretty excited to see how he would react to a life-size version of the train.  I have to admit that while I was excited for Chase to meet Thomas, I didn't think Tweetsie would be that impressive.  I went there years ago with my family but I just don't remember being that impressed.  Maybe because I was an early teenager, I imagine?  Something about seeing the same place through the eyes of the mom of a little 2-year-old boy who loves trains that makes it a little bit different than seeing it through the eyes of a teenage girl.  You know what I mean.

 So, here's Don with Chase on one of the many trains at Tweetsie.  This one happened to be in a gift shop.

And, here we have Chase with his # 1 fan (and trust me, he's got a LOT of fans)  :)

We got Chase this cool hat to keep the sun out of his eyes (and to make him look even cuter than he already does.  you know).

Aunt Lauren (or as he says, "Ont Larn") was holding him while he made an important phone call on his new Thomas the Train phone.

 I was a big fan of this chair lift that took us up the mountain to a smaller train with other shops and things to do.

And, people, here you have it: Thomas the train.  I can't believe how cool it looked in person (Yes, I know.  I'm such an enormous dork).  I just didn't expect it look so real.

I'm pretty sure Chase had a good time.  What do you think??

As Chase would say, "Bye, Bye, Thomas!"  We'll definitely see you again next year.  :)

Swim lessons

Chase's swim lessons started Tuesday.  I have been very excited about this ever since I signed him up a few weeks ago.  He was most excited about the lockers in the locker room.  They are the perfect size for him to climb and hide in.  

Unfortunately these are the only pictures I took since I had to be in the pool with him the whole time, of course.  Maybe I can find a way to get someone to take a video at some point...

Haircut

I'm all about the frat look (anyone surprised?) so rather than run out and get Chase a hair cut every few weeks or so Matt and I opted to trim it up ourselves about a month ago.  It worked for a while but when we realized that it almost would go in small pony tail we realized that it was time for professional help.  (Check out that pool picture below to see what I mean).  I hated to admit it, but it was time.  So, off we went to Peek-a-Do, the cute little kids salon with all the fun amenities that Chase loves...

 Like this little plane that he could drive while getting a haircut:

 After:

He looks like such a little man (sniff, sniff)...But a very handsome one at that.  :)