Good morning, Sweetheart

I know, I've been terrible about updating the blog over the past couple of weeks, and boy, do my pictures quickly accumulate.  So to learn a couple of things about the boys and see lots of pictures, of course, keep reading...

Taking the boys to the park is always an adventure.  I now have to walk around holding Chase's hand (which is much better than trying to hold him!).  And what cracks me up is that he'll often go head-first down the slides - hilarious!!!  He is fearless (which is good and bad), unlike his older brother!

Cole made me laugh the other morning.  He and I walked into Chase's room to get him out of his crib, and Cole went over to Chase and said, "Good morning, Sweetheart."  (I guess he's heard me say this.)  Then he said Mommy was Chase's sweetheart.  (I asked him if it was the other way around.)  Then I asked him if Cole was Mommy's sweetheart too, to which he replied, "No, I just a big boy."  Ha ha!

1. Chase is practicing his walking skills with Daddy.

2. Our first stop at our local library is always the fish tank.  That's what Cole always wants to see first.

3. Showing our love for messy pizza...

4. You can say "so big," and this is what Chase does... =)

5. Bath time for the boys is always a party in the water!

 

10. Cole, you make the silliest faces these days!  Having fun playing on the bed with Auntie Tay Tay...

11. Being creative with colorful pipe cleaners...

12. I realize this picture is blurry, but it's hard to catch a moving target!

13. Sweet Mimi gave Cole another hair cut.  (You'll notice in the next picture that Poppy kept him distracted with his phone/game.)

15. Chase loves all things electronic!

16. We tried another ride in the jeep.  Cole is still hesitant about pushing the gas pedal, and Poppy and I had to reach in and steer for him.  I hope he gets this down by the summer...

18. Playing on the bed is a favorite activity!  

Note to self... & Finally walking more!

Note to self... Never ever let your child chew on a colored popsicle stick!  Whether you realize it or not, your child will quickly change to whatever color is on that stick!  I took the boys to the library storytime this morning (which was great, by the way), and at the end, the kids/parents work on a simple craft.  Well, the craft this morning was making raccoon masks, and popsicle sticks were then glued onto the bottom of the mask so you could hold it up to your face.  While I tried to help Cole, I also was trying to keep Chase from eating crayons.  I handed him the popsicle stick, thinking it would be better to stick in his mouth.  We then checked out a few books, talked to a couple of people, and went out to the van.  Not until I went to get Chase out of the stroller did I realize he had blue ALL over him... mouth, tongue, chin, neck, hands... everywhere!  UGH!  I win the dork award for the day. =)

I also wanted to say that I am so proud of Chase.  He took his first steps several weeks ago, and I thought he would really be walking in no time.  But it has just been within the past week that he has really wanted to practice, and he's walking very proficiently now!  YAY, Chase!  I love to see little ones first learning to walk!  They walk with a little bit of a waddle, put out their arms for balance, and stick out their bellies... So cute!

I have lots of pictures from the past couple of weeks, but because it's close to my bed time, I'll post them tomorrow. =)  Here are few from today:

1. Yes, here are Chase's blue hands.  Thankfully, most of it came off of his face/mouth/neck!

2. Aunt Steph met us at the park this afternoon.  Boy, are we loving the nice weather! (And the time change too!)

4. Across the street from this park is a fire station.  Because Cole LOVES firetrucks, he always wants to walk over to see them.  A fireman actually came out and offered to let Cole sit in the truck, but cautious little boy that he is, he said no.  But we got a few pictures with the firetruck. =)

6. I realize neither of the boys is looking at the camera, but this is the best we could get with our squirmy little boys! =)  What a fun afternoon!

"Here comes me!" & Chase is signing

Some recent funny Cole sayings:

• He put a round toy on his finger this morning and said, "Mommy, I got to get married."
• At my sister's the other night, he climbed up their little doggy stairs and said, "Here comes me," before jumping on the bed.
• When I went into his room this morning, he said, "Mommy, I need to hold monkey.  Monkey wants to snuggle.  Ei (Eli) doesn't want to snuggle.  He wants to sleep."  So he left his Eli toy under the blanket so he could sleep, and he closed the door for him. =)
• When I said I needed to brush Chase's teeth yesterday (and by "brush," I mean, stick the toothbrush in his mouth so he can chew on it), Cole said, "That sounds like a good idea." 
• In our weekly BSF Bible study class, I think his teachers go through the Pledge of Allegiance.  Well, Cole has started saying bits of it at random times.  And we've just begun trying to learn short Bible verses.  It's amazing what 2-year-olds can pick up!
• I can still tell that Cole's fine motor skills need work.  When we tried to sing "Where is Thumkin" at the library storytime (and to show Daddy what we learned), Cole makes me laugh because he can't figure out how to stick up only his thumbs. =)

Chase can definitely hold his own with his brother, and he amazes me and makes me laugh too! 

• I couldn't believe it when Chase started using the signs for "more" and "food" yesterday!  I've been showing him the signs for these words for the past couple of months, but he never seemed interested.  But he started using them yesterday.  Amazing!
• Like his big brother, Chase really enjoys me singing fun songs.  He waves his arms around, especially when I sing "This Little Light of Mine."  And he blows on his finger when we sing the third verse.  His other favorites: Pat-A-Cake, If You're Happy and You Know It, The "Shake" song, the Hippo song, Jesus Loves Me, and He's Got the Whole World in His Hands.
• As I mentioned, "brusthing" his teeth is a fairly new thing for us, and it's very funny to me that he gets excited when I get out his toothbrush.  I realize I'm not really cleaning his teeth, but hopefully he'll get used to the toothbrush sometime soon.  For now, it's a good chew toy! =) 
• Chase still isn't walking much these days.  He obviously can, but apparently he's quite content with crawling most of the time. =(  We went to the park yesterday, and I had to work hard to hold his hand and make him walk so he wasn't crawling in the mud. =(

1. Having fun on the couch (jumping/wrestling on the couch is still a favorite activity)...

2. A blurry picture of Chase attempting to walk on the couch. =)

3. Oh, so serious...

4. What a beautiful day at the park!  We have LOVED this mild winter!

Colored Rice & More

Random happenings to share...
I forgot to take pictures, but Cole and I made his daddy cookies last week for Valentine's Day.  Cole was a great helper, and he really loved rolling out the dough and spreading flour everywhere (and I do mean everywhere!).  Then I took the boys to Jamie's office to surprise him with a visit.  Because we hardly ever go to Daddy's work, he had to show the boys off to some of his co-workers. =) 

Chase has been able to walk for weeks now, and I really thought that he would progress faster than he has.  He is still very hesitant when taking steps because he won't practice much!  He knows he's faster at crawling, and that's what he wants to do.  I was really hoping he would be a proficient walker by the time nice "park" weather rolled around so he could play more outside... What a stubborn little boy he is!  (He gets that from his daddy!) =)

I try to take the boys to our local library's storytime often.  They sing songs (with movement, of course), play with shaker toys, read a story, and do a simple craft.  The boys love it, and Cole just recently has started really participating and singing and dancing.  I LOVE watching it all!  The boys are so cute! =)

1. I must confess I've become a little addicted to pinterest.com (it has tons of cute toddler activities), and I found an idea for making colored rice for toddlers to play with.  So I was proud of my non-crafty self for making it with Cole recently.  We put it in a big container, and he spent close to an hour one morning pretending to cook and hiding bowls/spoons in it and then pushing the rice around with a tractor.  Do you realize my toddler NEVER does an activity for an hour?!  AWESOME!!!

3. Cole wanted to watch me cook eggs, and Chase's new favorite activity is crawling under our chairs!  What funny boys!

Nana's 90th B-Day!

My Nana (my mom's mom) turned 90 on Monday, and we surprised her by having a little party at her house that evening.  Nana knew that my parents, the boys, and I would be coming over, but when a few other people showed up, she was shocked.  Aren’t surprises so much fun?!  We had pizza, salad and delicious cake (thanks for the cake, Mama Sue).  And like most people, the boys LOVE pizza and cake!  What a fun time!  Nana, as I always tell you… When you make it to 100, I’m going to put your picture on the Smucker’s jar! =)  Happy birthday!!!  We love you!!! 

1. I hope I can look like this at 90!

2. Cole didn't mind at all "helping" Nana blow out the candle. =) 

3. It was great to see Mama Sue and Papa John. =)

4. My boys just love their Aunt Steph, Uncle Shawn, and Brandon.

5. Poppy sneaking some cake to Chase...

6. Cole needed a little help from Mimi.

7. Chase loves hanging upside down (unlike his brother)! 

8. Isn't this a sweet picture of Cole and his Mimi?! 

Mama, don't think we forgot about you.  We hope you had a HAPPY BIRTHDAY too!  We're glad we got to spend some of it with you!  WE LOVE YOU!!!

Poor sick Chase

The past few days have been very rough for poor little Chase.  He's been snotty off and on for days (or is it weeks?)... He woke up with a fever Thursday morning... He then broke out in a terrible rash (which sent us to the pediatrician on Friday)... and to top it all off, he's still teething!  UGH!!!  His rash looked absolutely awful by Friday/Saturday, and it just now seems to be going away.  My dad and our pediatrican had differing opinions about the rash... It was either Chase's body's way of building immunity to chicken pox/MMR (which he got vaccine shots for the previous week) or it was a nasty virus.  Because we weren't sure, we've been mostly home-bound lately.  I AM SO READY FOR SPRING AND HEALTHY CHILDREN!!! =)

And of course I have lots of pictures from the past week or two.  They are in no particular order...

1. They are truly Poppy's boys!  (Jamie jokes and says that I'm #5 in Chase's world.  These are who/what Chase loves in order: Poppy, Cole, his Daddy, the dishwasher (!), then his mommy!

 6. Chase loves all sorts of things he shouldn't have his hands on - cell phones, remotes, and glasses!

9. It may be hard to see well in the picture, but this was Chase's rash on day 2 (it got much worse than this!). =(

10. Cole loves to snuggle and get covered up with a blanket. =)

11. I tried and tried to get a picture of the boys this morning, but it's impossible by myself.  These are the best 2 that I got.