"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.  :)

First trip to the pool

It's always been very important to me to make sure that Chase enjoys swimming or at the very least is comfortable around water. I grew up around water from the time that I was a baby and my parents would take me camping at the lake and then we had a pool for many years after that. My sisters and I have always loved swimming and I really want Chase to as well. Yes, I know that he is only 2. But still. It's never to early to start. Two summers ago he was only a few months old so he would just chill in his float (or in our arms). Last year, however, he would throw a FIT when we would try to either put a life jacket on him or put him in any sort of floatation device. So, now that our neighborhood pool is open, it's time to start again.  A couple of days ago I stopped by Wal-Mart and picked up some size medium Swimmer diapers, along with this Puddle Jumper floaty thingy. When I picked him up from Leslie's, I excitedly explained that we were going to the pool.  I told him a couple of times in the 5-minute car ride home that we would go home, change into our bathing suits, get his cool new floaties and we'd go to the pool. So then when we got home, I pulled the puddle jumper out of the Wal-Mart bag and said, "See??? Isn't this cool??? Let's try it on!" And he grinned real big and let me try it on over his t-shirt. I thought, 'Whew! He'll wear it'. So, we were off to the pool.  Here's what he looked like:

Gotta love the fact that his size 18-month bathing suit is hanging off his little waist.  :)

He did well at first but then preferred to just sit on the side of the pool, with his feet dipped in the water, watching all the other kids play.  He had the cutest little grin on his face while watching them since he absolutely LOVES other kids.  So we'll keep trying.  I'm very glad that I just got him signed up for "swim lessons" starting next week.  Even if all it does is help him get used to being in the water, that's ok.  I'll let you know how it goes...  :)

Fun in the morning

I often think back to when Chase was younger and the mornings were a little bit less 'involved'.  I'd get up just a little bit earlier than I used to, breast feed Chase, dress him and then we were off.  I was even driving 20 minutes to Hillsborough every day and still somehow managing to get to work each day by 8am.  These days, though... not so much. 

Part of it is that I'm not getting up as early as I used to. 

Part of it is that I'm only having to drive 5 minutes to take Chase to Leslie's (and he often spends the night with Don and Betty Ann on their days with him), which is why I feel like I can sleep a little bit later.

 Part of it is that Chase has many opinions about what he will and will not wear in the mornings (often fighting REALLY hard to keep his pajamas on).

And part of it is that we just have a lot of fun in the morning. 

Check out this hair that Chase woke up with this morning.  I mean, look at that face? 

Would YOU be able to go to work in the mornings if you saw that face?  :)

I know that he is only this age once and we are having so much fun with him.  Life is just too short to rush to work in the mornings, right???  :)