Please Stand Still

Getting a good photo of Chase proves rather difficult these days. He is always on the go. He also is great at saying "cheese" while not looking at the camera. Yesterday it was finally time to take our lights down from outside, and I spent a while trying to get a good shot of the wee one.

Here's a play-by-play of us running up and down the walk and driveway.

You can't catch me Mama! Oooh, I see an extension cord to play with.

My shadow looks like I'm wearing Santa's hat!

My car only keeps me contained for a second

Running up the driveway

Oops, too fast. Look at my holey jeans. Just like Daddy!

Here I come, back down the driveway!

The best one of the day

Red Solo Cup

I find it only fitting that this be the title of today's post. Today, yet again, Chase and I got in the car and the station was tuned to "Highway" on satellite- the country station. The song playing when we left to run errands was "Red Solo Cup" by Toby Keith, and for some reason it reminds me of my brothers-especially Uncle Pat:). Perhaps its because at one point they've all lived with us(Uncle Chris currently); and/or the fact that they can run a mean hustle involving a certain game with these said cups.

As you know with most toddlers, anything can be used as a toy. So of course while I was making dinner Uncle Chris and Jas decided to break out those infamous red cups. Today Chase learned to use the cups for the shell game, a microphone, as headphones, a basketball net, and bowling pins.

After dinner, and before our continued fun and games Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Chris and Chase danced around the kitchen a little. The genre wasn't country but oldies tonight, Chubby Checker to be exact:)

Doing the "Twist"

Never a shortage of laughter in our home

I Love My...

UNCLES!!

Chase loves hanging out and being silly with lots of people. He especially loves being around his uncles. It is hilarious to see grown men down on the ground acting goofy, all to get a few giggles out of the little one.

So silly Uncle Chris!

Hmm, what should I get into next?

Fist bumps for you! Pow!

He saw this one time, and is now obsessed. This one has been added to his nightly routine before bed. He tries to make it blow up, but only is able to make the noise so far.

Look at all those toofers

Hat Time! Here I am rocking Daddy's hat, and Uncle Chris is sporting my puppy one.

SIDENOTE-

Not sure if anyone else was involved in creating this mess

This is a small corner of the family room. I try to tuck everything away when he's not playing, but its a losing battle. Shortly after I took this picture he moved to "his" cabinets in the kitchen and left a trail of destruction in there. Chase has also overtaken his bedroom and one of the spare bedrooms with toys as well. Once the basement renovation is finished we'll hopefully be moving a play space down there!

Back to more Uncle Time! Party!

Happy Birthday Uncle Kyle:) I can help you with those candles.

You can't see from the angle, but Chase is trying to reach over to touch the candles. He knows you are supposed to blow them out, but we are still working on the concept of hot.

Oh Boy

"Uncle Kyle, come find me!"

Sleep

Today a few of us had off work. Chase has been a little bit of a stinker and has been waking up during the night, so it took us a little bit to get going this morning. Every once in a while he'll have a rough spell where he wakes up and every time you put him back down he screams. The past two nights this was the case. We can't quite put our finger on what's going on, and frankly it might just be a phase. It however, leaves everyone exhausted. We've been very good about not letting the wee one get in the habit of sleeping in bed with us, and he actually thinks its playtime when we do bring him in our room. One of us will tell him to lay down, he will for a minute or so, but then sits straight up and is ready to go. We will pretend to be asleep and you will all of a sudden feel breathing on your face or little fingers messing with your hair, or even worse, pulling your eyelashes. At other times his head will be on Jas' chest and his feet will be in my face. Now I know why he wakes up wet some mornings. He is the epitome of a squirmy sleeper.

Since sleeping in bed with Mommy and Daddy doesn't work so well we've resorted to other options. We've tried the guest rooms, sleeping on the couch, and sleeping on the floor. Last night Chase and I made a blanket bed in the family room and he slept curled in a ball, while I was pinned near the coffee table. We could have spread out more, but I was trying to stay away from the fireplace. Not only is it completely surrounded by bricks, but Jas had left the flue open because we'd had a fire earlier in the evening. So it was a little drafty! Needless to say, the only thing that slept soundly was my shoulder. It felt fantastic all day today.

I type this as Chase is sleeping and hopefully down for the whole evening. If we have another sleepless night(not totally for him, but for us), we might make some changes. We've discussed adjusting his diet since he eats lots of fruits and veggies that make him toot quite a bit. However, if you look at some websites-most healthy things cause gas and I'm not about to cut out these nutrients. We also put a night light in his room, maybe he doesn't like it. Could it be- Itchy pjs, footless pjs, clicking baseboards? Aargh! It could be a combination of things, or nothing at all.

The funny thing is, his waking up in the middle of the night only happens every so often. Usually he sleeps nearly 12 hrs a night solidly. We're acting like we've never had a sleepless night before! Were those night feedings and standing in front of the running kitchen faucet(that was the only way he'd sleep for a two-week stint) really that long ago? Once you get the little one sleeping through the night, you don't want to go back.

Time for bed for Mommy.

My First Game

We weren't sure if this was going to be a good idea or not...but we took Chase to his first Flyers' game this past weekend!

And he loved it!!

Pregame shot. Chase has his signed jersey on:)

Our Sign Guy-He sits a few rows over from us on the glass, and is at every game. He has a file box full of them.

Love my camera! The best gift I've ever received paying for itself once again. It doesn't hurt that our family has great seats:)

Bryz wasn't ranting about the Universe today. Gotta stay focused:)

Go Danny!

Yeah Roux!

Intermission

One of Mommy's favorites

Aunt Zandy's favorite:) He is a cutie

It wouldn't be Philly without a few tussles

The man of the day. Briere had the game winning goal, a hat trick, and a little fight:)

By the end of the game Chase was pooped. He cheered, banged on the glass, and made friends with lots of fans. All in all, I'd say he enjoyed himself(crab fries included). Go Flyers!!

Bubble Bath

We finally bit the bullet and moved Chase out of his inflatable duck. I know, I know, you are all saying "Seriously? Isn't he a little too old for that thing?" I know this was long overdue. The little man's legs were getting pretty smushed in the duckie; but honestly it was just easier to fill for mommy and daddy. And he still is pretty small. I just didn't want him to be traumatized by the purple monster:) Anyway, I am pleased to report he officially had his first bath in the tub!

"I am not going in the big tub!"

Chase's past two bathtimes have been preceded by him peeing on the floor in the bathroom, so maybe I will actually break out the potty seat. It can't hurt I suppose.

Picking Toys

And now peeing

My Elmo sprayer works much better now

Laughing our Way into 2012!

Who is Having More Fun Around Here?

We like to have a good time here in the Swanson household. Chase never ceases to keep us on our toes or entertained on a daily basis. Jas and I like to participate in the antics as well of course. So much happened last year, and I can't believe the Nutter is now 19 mos. old! He has quite the personality and I thought I'd share some of the recent hilarity from our home. Besides displaying the occasional "terrible twos" moments, Chase is quite the chatterbox nowadays and tries to repeat a lot of what you say(oh no!) He identifies himself as Chase and is proficient at indicating his wants and needs with Yes/No. For a while he was only signing "yes", but now his does a full body nod. In addition to the over exaggerated gesture he moves his eyebrows up and down. You have to see it, its absolutely hilarious. I swear we laugh nearly every time he tells us "Yes" he wants or likes something.

He has also recently decided that as he does laps around the house that he would like to carry a shopping bag with him. At first it started with a small paper tote filled with his toys. He likes to stop every 10 ft. or so to make sure everything is in the bag. You know there might be a black hole or something:) Now he tends to gravitate towards handle bags nearly as tall as he, and/or grocery bags that at times are still filled with items. Give the boy a box or a bag, and he'll occupy himself for a good thirty minutes or so.

Like I said before, Chase isn't the only silly one around here. Dancing and singing(which most of you know do not fall under our repertoires) occurs on a daily basis. Daddy has us now hooked on the Highway station on satellite radio. Jas has always been a fan of a wide variety of music and like he said country music is like 80's hair band tunes, addicting! FYI-Chase enjoyed "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" in the car yesterday:) In my opinion, country is much better and more entertaining than those kids' stations.

One way our days are filled with music-we have a nightly ritual, we listen to tunes while making dinner together. While rockin' out Chase plays in "his" and "not his" cabinets in the kitchen, and we also practice animal sounds. The little one has an odd mix of sounds in his vocabulary-he does ducks, dogs, pigs, cows, and dinosaurs(which also sound like bears and lions) We probably should have taught him a cat says "meow" earlier on like most normal parents right? Oh well. As we went through one of his many animal sounds books Jas and I however, came across a sad realization...neither of us can make an elephant sound. Try as hard as we may, both of us end up sounding more like a dying horse than anything else. We start off with the best intentions, but end up rolling in laughter because we can't manage to muster up the right sound. It really is kind of pathetic. I guess add the inability to make proper animals sounds to the list of things we might pass on to Chase. No rhythm, can't make an elephant sound, and oh yeah most likely terrible vision. Sorry buddy. I guess it could be worse.

Toddlers get so excited over the little things, so besides being easily entertained by mommy and daddy making fools of themselves, Chase is obsessed with things that fly. He squeals, no correct that, screams, anytime he sees a plane or bird. You will be driving along and all of a sudden he starts screaming and pointing at the sunroof because he's spotted something. As soon as I got him out of the car at Lowes yesterday he started screaming because there were a flock of seagulls in the parking lot. Needless to say we garner a few glances. We also live close enough to the Philly airport that we live under a few flight patterns. Chase will stop(and drop) whatever he is doing to run to the nearest window to catch a glimpse as soon as he hears the faintest rumble. Since Jason taught him how to breathe on the window and draw with his finger, the little one will also occupy himself long after a plane or bird has passed. Sometimes he resorts to licking the windows, and I've given up wiping the smudges. He and Summer share nose and lick prints some days. You gotta pick and choose your battles right?

"Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves-for they shall never cease to be amused."

"I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose."