Beaded Pillow

Every day Chase and I play with toys. Well, let's be honest...every day, I play with toys while Chase watches and wonders what is wrong with me. According to all of my books (and believe me, there are many), Chase is supposed to be reaching for his toys and sticking them all in his mouth (just for fun), right about now. Now I know that I am not supposed to compare Chase to the books and not all babies are the same, blahblahblah, but I think it is impossible for a parent to secretly hope that their child is not only on track.......but maybe even slightly ahead of the curve. So, every day while I play with toys, I hope that Chase reaches for one and slyly sticks it in his mouth where he can sufficiently soak it with slobber.

However, it is with great satisfaction that I can tell you that this morning Chase did not grab a toy. Nope, Chase decided that today would be the day that he became completely fascinated with a beaded pillow much like this one***:

All morning long he has been playing with the beads, laughing at the beads, hitting the beads, and all around making friends with the beads. The pillow may not have been designed with baby development in mind, but this morning my beaded pillow made me very happy!

***As you wonder why I did not put a picture of Chase and the real pillow on the blog, note that my forgetful new mother brain left the camera at grandpa and grandma's house last night so I am not able to take his picture. This online picture of a beaded pillow is all I have. I will be getting my camera soon and will try to recreate the event.

He Made the Move!

This week, Chase showed me that he is more aware than I realized...in his short 12 weeks of life, he has discovered that if he wakes up and whines just the littlest bit in the morning then mommy picks him up and puts him in bed with her where it is warm and cuddly.

I know that he is conscious of this because as soon as he is in my bed, the whining stops. This was becoming quite the ritual and although I love it dearly, it was obvious that Chase was picking up the ritual and turning it into a habit. I then realized that Chase is a growing boy and as such, he should probably make the permanent move to Casa de Chase (his bedroom). Although I am more than happy to bring him back to my room with me in the mornings, I didn't want him to think that our room is his room...SO....much to my broken heart, we have moved him to his room to let him grow and flourish as an independent being (but if it were up to me, he would be warm and cuddly with me for ever).

Here is Chase last Tuesday night in his big boy crib....

and in the morning after a night of waking almost every hour on the hour....

and posing post bath...

And in other family news, Lauren and Shane are yet another year older and wiser - we had their joint birthday celebration last Tuesday as well. Happy Birthday Girls!

So I totally wanted to put a new video of Chase up on the blog, but unfortunately, I am having technical difficulties. Therefore, I am going to post this post and spend the next week trying to figure it out. I am sure you all cannot wait to see Chase doing a lot of nothing on video, but it makes me happy :O)

Confessions

#1: The Twilight series is addicting. So much so that I finished all four books in less than a month. Scary, but true. (while admitting my fondness for teenage love stories, I feel compelled to throw Mike under the bus...he read them all too...before I did)

#2: For the first time ever, I took only one picture of Chase all week...and this is it:

I did, however, take a few pictures of Mike's reunion with his fraternity pledge class:

...and their wives...

and just for fun, here's a sweet pic of Mike & Chase from last week...

Now on to a more productive picture taking week. I think all of my rampant blogstalking* of people that I don't know is taking time away from my own posting!

*Wikipedia defines blog stalking as "the use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk someone. Stalking is a form of mental assault, in which the perpetrator repeatedly, unwantedly, and disruptively breaks into the life-world of the victim, with whom he has no relationship (or no longer has), with motives that are directly or indirectly traceable to the affective sphere. Moreover, the separated acts that make up the intrusion cannot by themselves cause the mental abuse, but do taken together (cumulative effect)."

This definition does not make me feel better.

All Good Things Come To An End....

Thanks to our good friends Ryan, Stephine, Ricci, Blair, Theresa & Kyle for hanging out at our house with us on New Year's. We had a blast and are so thankful for you and all of our great friends and family who have made this year so special. Thank you especially to Mike for being the best father and husband that I could ever ask for. His neverending support and love makes my life just that much better. 2008 brought many great new friends, a new job for Mike, and of course our beautiful healthy boy Chase. I couldn't ask for a sweeter gift and I can't wait to watch him grow!

Much love to all and best wishes for a healthy and happy 2009!

Merry First Christmas!

Twas the night before Christmas....

Tamales and beans at Aunt Julie's house

Chase's VERY FIRST Christmas Day!

Dad can now make sure he runs on time with his new Garmin

And Rigley got a new bow...(and bones, her favorite!)

Chase sporting his new sweater...

and his new velvet Christmas outfit (everyone should have a velvet Christmas outfit!)

Nana came for Christmas!

Chase's first Christmas was perfect...in our eyes anyway. It was just another day in the life for him, with the exception of a lot more pictures being taken on one day. We had a great time with family - we were able to spend Christmas Eve with Grandpa Rudy and Aunt Julie, Christmas morning with Nana Linda and Christmas day with Grandpa Tom & Grandma Elizabeth. We sure made the rounds but it was so much fun to be able to celebrate our very favorite gift, Chase. While we look forward to the years where he can really participate in the fun, we were able to have plenty of Christmas cheer just having him with us. It came and went so quickly, I am sure this is just the beginning of how fast time will fly from here on out!

Yesterday Chase had his first round of shots. The shots themselves were not so bad.....but......the next 12 hours were HORRIBLE. Poor Chase was SCREAMING. This is not a kid who cries. He may fuss a bit, but crying just really isn't his thing. Well, not yesterday. Poor guy...it took a lot of consoling, rocking and baby Tylenol before we were able to get him to eat and sleep a bit. Today he woke up like nothing ever happened and he was happy as can be. Rough going, but at least we know he won't be getting Hep B anytime soon :).

He is gaining weight and growing in length right on pace, but he has apparently inherited yet another of Mike's traits - a small head! I had to laugh when the doctor was telling us, wondering just how many characteristics will be Mike's and not mine. If I hadn't delivered him I would be wondering if he really is mine at all!

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's Eve tomorrow night - be safe!

XOXO