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I might have a slight obsession with this kid! He's been doing the funniest things lately and I've been lucky enought to get a lot of them on video. How could I not share them!?!

 

I was drinking water the other day and Chase wanted a drink so I was trying to teach him how to drink out of a straw. I told him to sip it up and he thought that was the finniest thing ever.

Chase has been doing this chomping thing that cracks me up! The funny thing about this video is, he's not even eating anything!

Chase is quite the mover, which makes diaper changing a challenge sometimes but every once in a while you can distract him long enough to get the diaper on. This was my desperate attempt to keep him still. He thinks my singing is hilarious apparently, or he realized I was singing the wrong words like his dad did.

Heaven forbid he takes the passy out of his mouth!

 

This was the day after we got back from Missouri and Chase couldn't get enought of his dad.

Mastering grandpa's trick!

Grandpa has been trying to do this trick with Chase since Thanksgiving. Chase could do it if he wanted to but he was a rascal and would either do it on one leg or not straighten his legs out. This past weekend my parents were in town and Chase mastered the trick!

Collin's 1st B-day!

One of my dear friends has a little boy that is only four months older than Chase so it's been fun being able to have someone there for advice and also nice to see what we have in store for us. Well, Collin turned one in February and we went to his birthday party. He loves Mickey Mouse, so naturally, he had a Mickey birthday party. Collin dropped some frosting on the floor when he was digging intt the cake and I've never seen Chase crawl so fast, he was determined to get that frosting. Good thing, I'm faster!!

 

 

I did rotate the pics that are sideways and upside down, but apparently didn't save it. So sorry!

Waves and peek-a-boo

When we were in Missouri, Chase and I were at the mall with my mom. As we were leaving a store, I was holding Chase and a lady said good-bye to us and Chase waved! That was the first time we have ever seen him wave and because we weren't sure that's what it really was, we continued to tell him to wave over and over and over. We coudn't get enough of it. We had him wave for his daddy on video when we got home so he could see it too.

 

It cracks me up becuase he just raises his hand in the air. This was about a month ago, so now he moves his arm up and down and moves his fingers. What a doll!

 

Chase loved my parents fake tree that they have in the living room and always climbed up it and wanted to pull the stuff out of it. He was in the tree again and my mom was in the kitchen so she started playing peek-a-boo with him.

8 Months!

I always seem to be at least a week late when it comes to updating Chase's monthly pics but, oh well! This month I tried to take his pics by myself like I have every other month but it was way too hard, he was all over the place, so I decided to wait until I had reinforcements. My parents came in to town on Feb 13th so I had them help me and evern with three people doing it, we still didn't get very many. Chase would rather stand up and or lunge for the camera.....and I think the pictures demonstrate that pretty well.

• About a month ago when Chase woke up from a nap he was standing in his crib out of nowhere. We had to lower his crib becuase he now stands up all the time, it's his new favorite thing. He will climb up anything and everything and is even getting daring enough to transfer from furniture to furniture.
• He's knocked his head a couple of times because of this new found trade of his.
• Before we left for Missouri he started giving me the business with his naps so when we were in MO, I let him cry when I put him down and he cried for ten minutes and now you just lay him down and he goes to sleep.
• Started waking up at 5:30 a few weeks ago. I am really hoping it is just a phase because it's getting old!
• He learned how to wave. He did it out of nowhere when we were at the mall one day and now waves at everyone. He's starting to try to move his fingers too but for now he just raises his arm.
• He would rather play on the outsude of his jumper rather than inside it because when he's done playing on the outside he can just crawl away and be done.
• Hasn't mastered sippy cups yet and doesn't like apple or white grape juice.
• He attacks anyone that has food and insists that you share with him. He will pretty much eat anything.
• He's definitely a people watcher. He loved the airport and loves when we go out to dinner becuae he just sits in the high chair and stares at everyone in the restaurant.
• He loves other kids now too. My friend has a little boy that comes over occasionally and Chase can't get enough of him. He follows him and wants to touch him constantly or tries to climb up him. Poor Collin!

An average day at home...

I thought it would be fun to share some random pics of our average days and how much fun we have. Some days are a little crazier than others, but we sure have fun. Without a doubt, Chase is always exploring new things and trying to get into things. His new favorite thing to go after in his room is his CD player that we have in the corner. I will set the speaker back up and he pulls it right back down. yesterday he turned it on and got kind of scared when music started playing all of the sudden.

 

He also LOVES to open the bottom drawer of his dresser now. He tries to reach the others, but can't. He will just lay there and open and close the drawer over and over and over.

 

 

As I said in his 7 month update, he rarely sits still for his diaper to be changed or needs to get dressed. It's a fight and a chase every time. This pic is just after a bath and he was on the move. He also peed in the floor as he was making his getaway.

Cute bum though!

 

Chase no longer stays on the carpet in the family room, which I wished he would do forever. He has no boundaries anymore. I really need to watch him and make sure he's not getting into anything because he is a lot faster than you'd think.

 

 

And of course, he always loves his jumperoo!

 

 

He's never been a fan of getting into his carseat but lately he really puts up a fight. He doesn't necessarily get mad, he just more or less wants to play. As soon asn I try to put him in, he rools over and stands up. I just let him and go with it and play with him for a minute and pretend he's in a tent and usually after that I can turn him around and get him buckled with no problems.

When Chase was at Cory and Elleny's house, he refused to take his bottles the first day he was there but took them just fine the next day. I don't know what it was about them before that he hated but he doesn't have that qualm at all anymore. The first day we were home from out trip he took the bottle without any complaints. Last night he was playing on the floor when his bottle was ready so Chris put in on the floor across the room to see what he did. He crawled to his bottle and tarted drinking in on his stomach so I turned him on his back and he fed the whole thing to himself. Woo hoo!! 

3rd Annul Yurt Trip!

This is the 3rd year for our yurt trip and it wasn't until the week of that I decided for sure that I was going to go. We asked Cory and Elleny if they would watch Chase while we were gone over Thanksgiving so we knew he would be in good hands, I just wasn't sure I could handle it. I was worried that he wouldn't eat his bottles and that he would cry the whole time we were gone. We really worked with him and gave him bottles before we went so he would be familiar with them again and he was doing really well so I decided to go. Plus. I think it was good for Chase. My fears were legit because he didn't eat but an ounce that first day but did eat baby food and puffs. I don't usually take my phone with me to the yurt either because we don't get service but I did this time just in case we did. Well, we did get service every once in a while and I kind of wish I hadn't brought my phone because knowing he didn't eat made me worry so much. Honestly, I knew he would be ok but I felt bad for Cory and Elleny. The good thing was that he went to bed at 6:30 and didn't wake up until 8:00 the next morning!!!!  I think that was a tender mercy for Cory and Elleny! Chase must have decided that hunger was more important and ate all his bottles the next day as well as his baby food. Phew! It was fun to go, but I was glad to be home with my baby!

Now to the fun stuff!!  Our friends Ryan and Julie and Joe and Linnea are the ones that we go to the yurt with, and they are so much fun!

Ryan and Julie

Joe and Linnea

 

I love Julie, because just like me, she is not the biggest fan of hiking in the freezing cold! We aren't the biggest outdoor people in the world so it's nice to have someone to complain with! ha!

 

 

Here are all our snow shoes with the year!

 

 

It was only 5 degrees when we started our hike to the yurt.........that is SO cold! My toes were numb and didn't warm up until the end of the hike in.

 

Had to sport the scarf Mike got me!

 

In years past, as soon as we got to the yurt and started a fire, we warme up really quick. This year was not that easy. It took several hours for the yurt to warm up even a little bit. We started to get nervous and thought it was going to be that way all night. We all sat close to the fire because the other side of the room was so cold.

 

 

Self portraits of Chris and I!!

 

 

 

 

 

Photo bombed by Ryan

 

 

Julie and Chris had some pretty sweet dance moves which was hard to capture in a picture but still pretty funny.  Sweet moves!!

 

 

Chris was pouting becuase he had a line on his head from his beanie and head light. For some reason I love it when he pouts!

 

 

Ryan was so tired and pretended not to be in the first pic I took of him and Julie but then Julie told him to look how he felt in the second and now he looks tired.

 

 

We all slept up on the top bunks together because it was warmer up there and no one wanted to freeze during the night. We all took turns putting wood on the fire during the night to stay warm and I actually didn't get cold at all at night, except when I had to go outside to pee. There is an outhouse but it stinks and is gross so we all just peed outside the yurt in the snow. A bare bum in -15 degree weather was rather chilly, but still better than going to the outhouse.

 

After a long night of no sleep, we were all so ready to have the sun come up. Good Morning!!

 

 

Because I am still nursing, I had to bring my pump with me and pump while we were up there. It was kind of a pain but Chris was such a bog help. He boiled water each time I pumped to clean every thing out afterwards. I don't know what I would do without him. On a side note, we forgot all the breastmilk I pumped while we were there. Bummer.

 

 

By the second day I just wanted to go home and see Chase. I was so anxious to leave and it seemed to take forever to get everything together and cleaned up so we could leave. I don't think we got home any later than we usually did but it seemed like we would never get there.

 

I don't think I have ever been so excited to be in a McDonald's before! And we were on our way home!

 

 

I really am glad that I went, I think it was good for both Chase and I. A big thank you to Cory and Elleny for watching Chase, we really owe them!