Chase is TWO

Chase is a fantastic two-year-old.  He loves to run in circles, pull out every toy he owns, rip apart papers, make a lot of noise...  Seriously, he is great at being two!  And he loved turning two and getting to celebrate.

Lucky for him, we had several days of birthday.  We had opened the kitchen a few days early so really extend the excitement of the gifts.  He still loves it.  Apparently all he ever makes is "coooookies."  Can't blame him :)

Playing with the Kitchen

Chase was pretty sick all week, so his sleeping schedule was completely crazy.  He fell asleep right before dinner the day before his birthday and woke up at 10:00 PM ready for the day.  Since that would obviously throw off his birthday morning, we decided to give him his presents then.  It was practically midnight anyway :)  

Marcus and I had bought him some pants, which he's been wearing all week, and a Buzz Lightyear.  Chase is really into Toy Story right now.  He would watch any of those movies every single day if I'd let him.  He has a Woody doll, but he didn't have Buzz yet.  Marcus was especially excited about that gift.  He took it out early to inspect it and make sure it was in proper working order.

Marcus and Buzz

Chase finding his Buzz

Chase really understands this whole unwrapping gifts thing.  He loves to open everything.  It makes me excited for Christmas and more wrapping paper :)

Opening a present

Chase really loves getting cards in the mail.  (He must think more birthday cards are coming because now he opens bills left on the table too.)  He will carry the cards around and "read" them multiple times.  It's super cute.  He has a paper bag from Magnolia Bakery where he keeps his cards and carries them around the apartment.  It's really fun.

Re-reading birthday cards

This was a little late, but it was technically a birthday gift too.  We'd been talking about getting a rug to put in the bedroom by Chase's bed but hadn't.  Finally we had the idea to get a fun rug that could also be played with.  It's working out great.  Chase loves to line up his cars on it, and it's great to have something on the cold floor when we get Chase in the morning.

City Rug

We also went to the park on Friday and met up with some of his buddies.  I asked Chase if he wanted to bring cookies or cake.  Obviously he said cookies :)  I don't have any pictures from that, but we all had a great time.  It was a low key yet fun birthday.

A thank you from Chase...

Chef Chase

Chase turns TWO on Wednesday.  Isn't that crazy?  Seems like he should still be little, but no.  He's huge.  Anyway, we decided to open part of his birthday gifts early because Wednesdays are tricky here.  Basically, none of us are home at the same time.  So to fully enjoy the wonderful gift from his grandparents, we set up his new kitchen during his nap.  This is a video of him coming into the room and seeing his kitchen, which he LOVES.   

"Pank you.  ... cook!"  

Love, Chase

Chase Videos

Every once in awhile, I realize that I have several fun videos on my phone that need to be shared.  So here's a blog post of videos that have been stored up for awhile.  Sorry...

Chase has been a huge fan of swings since he could barely fit into a swing.  That's all he wanted to do at the park, and he'd be happy to stay there for hours.  He had been scared of the big, curly slide.  Well, our big Almost-Two-Year-Old (gasp!) has no fears anymore!

Chase's vocabulary really isn't that big yet.  He does copy words and occasionally (and very randomly) count to five.  My favorite word he says right now is "octopus."  He loves to read his ocean book and look at all the pictures, including one of an octopus.  I probe him a lot to say it in this video, but he finally says octopus at the end.

Chase got in trouble this week for intentionally throwing food across the room and then squishing it.  He knows he's not supposed to do that, so he got a Time Out.  We really didn't think it would be effective, but it totally was.  He must have been super tired or something.  I didn't want to use his bed or stroller, so I moved his chair by the door.  He cried for awhile and then just talked to himself until he was calm.  It was really funny and super cute. :)

Well that's it for now -- I am positive there will be more soon!

LES MISÉRABLES BROADWAY

About once a year Erica and I pay our way to see a show - usually during broadway week. This year we caught the new production of Les Misérables. It was fantastic. While the staging and selection of actors were different than productions past, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

In particular, we enjoyed the production's lead, Ramin Karimloo (Rah-meen) as Jean Valjean, Kyle Scatliffe as Enjolras, and the terrific Earl Carptenter as Javert. The whole show, while a little different than we'd either seen it before was fantastic and as powerful and tear jerking as ever. Mr. Karimloo's rendition of Valjean, in particular, was exciting and heart-pulling. There was a constant sensation/tension as he built up to the high points of the performance of "here it comes, he's going to nail it," - and every time, he killed it. Just killed it.

He also has an interesting backstory as told by the NY Times: Flexing His Might as Newest Valjean

Also, I apparently have a man-crush. Seriously though. Listen to this man sing:

Anyhow, we had a fantastic time and would highly, highly recommend the show to anyone searching for something to see on Broadway. Even if you've seen it before, it makes for a wonderful night. It certainly didn't feel like it was three hours long and I've never seen a Broadway theater that excited, about almost every single cast member at the end of the show.

Just for fun, here is one final video: