Goodnight Moon

Chase got a present in the mail this week from friends in Arizona, and he loves it!  Apparently they'd meant to mail it for awhile, but this was perfect timing.  It was a Goodnight Moon set with a soft book, rabbit, and blanket.

He had just woken up, so it took a second to realize what he had in front of him.

Smiling with his new presents - Obviously a little more awake :)

Our happy reader

Concentrating

I'm so glad he loves books!  But it will be a little better when he doesn't always want to eat the books :)  (Thank goodness this cute book is soft.  Maybe that's why he does such a good job reading it.)  Thank you, Merrills!!!

On the Go at 9 Months

We just got back from Chase's NINE MONTH check up.  How is he 9 months?!!?!?  The doctor was pleased to hear that he is very active and adventurous.  He encourages parents to do a lot with their kids so they can have new experiences and learn a lot.  (That may seem obvious, but most parents out here work and use daycare.)

Height: 29 1/2 inches (80th Percentile)
Weight: 22 pounds, clothed (75th Percentile)
Number of Teeth: 6

A few other random stats about Chase right now:

Favorite Stuffed Animal: "Raph" Giraffe
Favorite Toy: Teether Keys
Favorite Food: Probably Receipt Paper...
Favorite Time to Smile: When Chicago is Near
Buddies: Alexander and Cohen

Bath: Loves them!  Especially with a toy in his mouth
Trains: Enjoys looking at all the people and through the window
Cars: Only likes them when they're moving
Books: Is starting to let us read them, and not just eat them
Stroller: Loves to be outside looking at new places
Naps: Usually does a decent job falling asleep and wakes up smiling
Eating: Makes a bigger mess than the amount of food in his mouth
Foods: Started some tiny pieces of fruit but prefers Cheerios and Puffs
Meeting New People: He's usually great with new people, unless he's tired

He is a busy boy.  Always moving and crawling and chatting away.  Here are a couple recent Chase-on-the-go pictures...

Pulling himself up

Adventurous and willing to eat anything :) 

The stare down

Trying to find a favorite book

He really is a happy little guy, at least most of the time :)  It will be fun to see him start to stand more and walk in the next little bit.  The doctor thinks all that is coming soon!  AHHHHHhhh!

Father's Day

The best part about Marcus' birthday being close to his first Fathers' Day is that I got to give him presents on two days back-to-back!  Plus he's a great dad.  Chase loves him-- he lights up every time Marcus opens the door after work.  It's super cute.

It wasn't anything fancy-- a card and a small gift.  But I've had both for three months.  I designed them online and could hardly wait for Fathers' Day.  Seriously, I almost gave them to Marcus dozens of times.  I get so excited about giving presents.

We gave Marcus a card with this picture on the front.

And this tie.
All the pictures are about 6 months -- I had a blast picking a few for this gift.
(This picture is the preview from the company's website.)  

Marcus ready for church in his 1st Fathers' Day tie

Yeah, Chase wasn't quite as quick to get ready for church...

Checking in on the kitty too.

I made Marcus choose what he wanted for dinner.  Guess he wanted some manly food for Fathers' Day.  He picked shish-kabobs.  We used steak, chicken, zucchini, tomato, and green pepper with an Italian dressing style marinade and baked them in the oven.  Oh man, I want another one now.  They were really good!  

   

Adding a little more marinade

Shish-kabobs really are pretty.  So colorful.  And luckily so yummy too.

Marcus said it was a great weekend.  Very simple and full of lots of things he likes.  Marcus jokingly called it "Super awesome [weekend] of Marcus-ness."  Nerd.  :)

HAPPY FATHERS DAY, MARCUS!

An Oatmeal Birthday

Saturday was Marcus' birthday.  Let's just say I had been planning, or coordinating, my idea for awhile.  And the icing to that was having a card making RS activity recently, so I got to make a birthday card to upgrade my fancy gift wrapping.  (I had also stolen all the cards Marcus got in the mail and saved them for Saturday.  He was probably wondering why none had come.)  I decided to do a themed birthday, mainly because I had so many ideas and needed to limit myself.  So Marcus' birthday was all about The Oatmeal.  (He's the comic that does all the crazy cat pictures.  If Marcus has ever forwarded you anything with a cat or a broken printer, it's probably from The Oatmeal.)  I had also arranged for some friends to come over and babysit in the morning so we could go see Man of Steel.  Marcus hasn't stopped talking about this moving basically since it was announced.  He loves talking about the soundtrack and the drumming.  Call him up; he'll talk your ear off.  But it will be interesting :)  When he heard the buzzer for the door, Marcus was outright giddy.  He was surprised!  yay!  The rest of the day was a lot calmer.  It had been a long week, and we both had lessons/meetings on Sunday to finish preparing.  I had tried to keep all the birthday plans hidden, and I think it was a fun and successful day.

Two happy guys-- I intentionally dressed Chase in a collared shirt "Marcus-style"

Presents!

Banana OATMEAL bread for breakfast

Finally opening the presents I bought probably 2 months ago :)

A shirt from THE OATMEAL

THE OATMEAL's newest book about dogs

A business card holder with vouchers for Superman and THE OATMEAL comics inside

Birthday Cards-- he was excited and displayed them out for us to enjoy

One of his favorite messages :)
Those two seriously have the same sense of humor.

Marcus' OATMEAL -- he posted this on facebook, but no comment back from The Oatmeal yet...

Then off to see Man of Steel

Told ya, he was excited :)

We went to the AMC in Times Square.  It's freaking amazing.   Huge building!  A million escalators.  Beautiful.

And check out the awesome ads out the window-- this is for you Grandpa :)  We're all kind of obsessed now.

Fun Birthday, if I do say so myself ;)

And his requested dinner.  French Dips.

And I found a great dessert: A Twix Ice Cream Cake!  We have a ton left...

I had been so excited to share my creative birthday presents-- at least I thought they were creative.  Not super fancy, but I'd like to think they were thoughtful.  And the day went by so fast.  Luckily he'll have another birthday next year, so I have a little time to come up with my next idea.  No pressure.

Happy 26th Marcus!

Hoarded Videos

I was having problems uploading videos recently, so I have quite a collection of clips of Chase doing random things around our apartment.  He just keeps growing and moving and smiling and squealing and eating and crawling and chewing and sitting and going...  Here are 5 videos of our little man.

Holding his own cup-- like a boss.

Getting all the way up ON HIS OWN.  AHHH!

Playing in the tub.  Love that laugh.

Moving, Chewing, Squealing, Sitting, Playing

On the Go

He's getting so independent!  :)  Sitting up on his own!  Brand new skill!  And that was the first time I had ever seen him pull himself up on the couch!  Holy cow!  At least we're moving into the stage where he really knows his parents and rushes back to me smiling (or crying).  I finally understand how everyone says kids just grow so fast...

Friends

Last weekend, we went to Cohen's 1st Birthday Party.  

He and Chase are destined to be good friends :)

Cohen was clapping, which would make Chase smile

This one cracks me up

Trying out Cohen's Scooter Toy

Michael, Cohen's dad, and "his twins"

Early in the week, Alexander came over for a few hours.  I don't have pictures of the two boys together, but I have some of Alexander playing with Chase's toys.

Arranging some on the couch

Hiding behind the big dog

And of course, trying on Marcus' sunglasses.  Sorry Marcus :)

And then last night, Winnie (also one year old) came over for a little bit.  The missionaries stopped by and asked if they walked in on a date.  :)

Making messes together

There are some great kids out here in our area.  It is fun watching them all grow and start to interact more.  I hope they will all be great friends!

The Joys of 1 PM Church

As many of you know, having a baby and 1:00 church really isn't a pretty mix. After that opening song, Chase squeals the rest of the meeting, no matter how tired he is.  Plus that start time destroys his nap schedule.  This week, Marcus took him out during Sacrament Meeting...

Guess he was tired.  :)

Shhhh... Don't wake it!

Hanging with the Hardys (Morins)

On Sunday, we spent the day with Marcus' family.  We saw his parents, sister, one of his brothers, one of his aunt & uncles, and his Oma & Opa.  And Chase loved it.  These pictures are from Marcus' mom and grandma, and they show Chase's many expressions.  Such a ham :)

Playing on his grandpa

Cheese!

Entertaining the group

Chase and Tracy

Chase with his great grandpa

Love this happy boy

Our Family Portrait

(almost) Crawling across the room