Jumping Beans

This is from two weeks ago at Matt & Ashlynne's house, but I forgot to post it. I just love all the giggling and silliness.

Chase and Sammy, Part 2

Last week, Laura and Sam had Chase, me, Brooke and Henry over for a play date, and Chase and Sam were able to revel in their shared love of Hi-5 (Henry wasn't so into yet, but he'll get there, I'm sure):

Chase and Sammy, Part 1

This summer has gotten off to a pretty cool and rainy start, so on those rare days when the temperature goes above 70 and the sun actually makes an appearance, we make every effort to be outside. Last Sunday was one of those rare beautiful days, so we had the Chewnings, Bun, Zay, Tatie and Pete over for a cookout in the backyard. The afternoon was absolutely gorgeous, and Chase and Sam had an absolute blast together, as usual.

We're very lucky in that KC's job currently has him in the area, so he and Laura and Sam are spending the summer here! We actually get to see the Chewnings on a daily basis -- talk about rare treats! We've been having a lot of fun spending time with them, and Chase usually asks about Sam (which he now pronounces as "Chan") as soon as he gets up in the morning. It's adorable to watch the two of them play together. At our cookout last week, they kept running around Chase's playhouse, chasing each other and giggling. They still need to work on the sharing thing, but other than that, it looks like they'll have a very happy marriage one day!


Splash! The night before, Chase and Sam spent hours playing on a slip and slide at our friend Eric's graduation party, which totally wore them out (Chase slept from 8:30 that night until 9:45 the next morning). We were hoping for a repeat performance with the baby pool (no such luck).

Dinner for 2, please.

Mmmm, cupcakes!

Sam lets Chase know who's boss

KC wrangles the kiddos

20 Months

Dear Chase,

20 months! I can't believe your months number into the 20's now, because it feels like just yesterday that you were solidly entrenched in the single digits (when in fact, it was almost over an entire year ago). People tell you that the time goes so fast, and in the beginning, it didn't feel that way, but now, I honestly feel like we just started spoon feeding you solid foods -- and here you are, eating pizza and pickles and salmon and just about anything else you can get your hands on, all by yourself. You're such a big boy these days, all energy and giggles and noise, and I can't get enough of you.

I feel like I'm getting ahead of myself, but all of a sudden everything seems like it's been fast forwarded. This is mostly due to the fact that your father and I have started to research preschools for you. We don't plan to enroll you until the fall of 2010, but admissions for the schools we are interested in usually begin evaluations and enrollment a year ahead or more, so for the past few days I've been immersed in all things preschool philosophy (luckily, with a lot of help, advice, and input from Courtney, who is an expert in the field!). It's exciting to think about this next step in your life, but also daunting (to say I got a little sticker shock when I found out what the tuition is for some of these schools would be an understatement). It's even a little sad, because I know I'll miss you once you head off to your first day of school and even though I have over a year between now and then, I have no doubt it will be a very hard day for your Mommy.

Anyway, back to present day -- we are flying solo again, because your dad is away on business. It's funny how much easier this has gotten -- that's not to say that we don't miss your father, because we do, a lot -- but compared to those early months, when the idea of being solely in charge of you for days on end with no relief was enough to send me into a slew of anxiety attacks, this is not too bad. In fact, I like it. It's fun that we get to have this Mommy and Chase time, when it's just you and me and we're buddies.

I do feel like you're my little buddy now. We do things together -- shopping, going to the playground, having lunch dates, getting together with friends -- and it's like you and me and our game plan for the day. The more verbal you get, the more fun I have hanging out with you, because we can have actual conversations, although most of these conversations revolve around things like choos and school buses and Murray, the front end manager at the grocery store. You also love to talk about your friends. Noosh, Beed, Gace and Nax, Ben, Henny, Suh, Tun (Tanner), and Yukah Gace (Luke and Grace; you say their names like they're one person, I guess because you've never seen them apart) -- the list goes on and on, and you love to remember different things you've done with them, like go to the swings, or blow bubbles or ride in the wagon.

You also love to ask where people are. Each night when we get ready for bed, you do a run down of family members, everybody from Nana to Zayde to Jodi to Bun to Tatie to Dziadzi (which you pronounce "Juju") to Pete to Pop Pop. You want to know where they are, whether it's "in the city" or "in Savannah" or "in New Jersey." I love that you care so much about all these people, because they all care so much about you. You have been blessed with a very loving family, and I am always very touched by how much love and attention you receive from everyone. Your Tatie and Pete can't go more than a day or so without seeing you, and will make special trips in from the city just to get to spend a half hour with "Mr. Wonderful," as your Bun still calls you.

As is the habit these days, I started this letter weeks ago, and am only coming back to finish it now. Part of that is due to the fact that you keep me so busy, but an even bigger part of that is that when you're around, I don't want to spend time in front of the computer -- I want to play with you, and sing songs, and read books and have fun. You've started speaking in full sentences, so much so that the other day we were at Laura & Sam's house and you announced to everyone that you "don't like kitty cats" (this is not even true, by the way -- you LOVE kitty cats so much that you insist on tackling them and kissing them -- the slow and patient ones, anyway), and then changed your mind and informed us that actually, you "ONLY like kitty cats." To hear you actually make declarative statements is amazing; to listen to the way your brain is piecing together new bits of information on a daily basis is just incredible. You are all over the place, climbing and running and being a wild toddler, and the other night I was looking at pictures of you from a year ago and you were still such a baby. These days, you're all boy -- no more rolls of baby fat on your legs, and your big buddha belly has actually turned into a 6-pack! This shouldn't surprise me because of how active you are, but it's startling to see those last baby parts of you fading away so fast.

20 months seems so amazing to me because you're that much closer to being TWO. Two years old! How did that happen so fast? It seems like such a milestone to me, because that's the time people generally stop counting their babies age in months and start saying things like "2" or just "2 and a half," or -- gulp -- "almost three." I can't get over how much you have changed both mentally and physically, just in the past month or so. You really are Little Man Chase these days, even though you will, of course, always be my baby.

I love you.

Love,
Mommy

Lunch play date (with Grace M.)

Lunch + toddlers = chaos

Honing soccer skills at CHOP's Healthy Kids Day at the Mann

I so wish this picture weren't blurry: Chase & Brady

Goin' on a wagon ride!

Naked boy bath time!!

On the trampoline at Nolan's house

It just tastes better fresh from the hose.

Chase, you've got a little something on your chin...

Big hugs from the future Mrs.

Tatie Jill, Attorney-at-Law

About a month ago we attended Chase's Tatie Jill's graduation from law school. We were a little apprehensive about what to do with Chase -- we knew it would be a very long day, but we weren't really comfortable leaving him with anyone for that amount of time (especially since just about all of our potential babysitters were attending the graduation ceremony). We also thought it was important that he be there for such a momentous occasion, so we brought him along.

All things considered, he did very well. Luckily, the ceremony was outside, and he was one of many restless children, so he was able to run around and explore the campus while Tatie went about the business of becoming a real live lawyer (it also didn't hurt that we came armed with an arsenal of new toys, books, and a portable DVD player).

We are so proud of our little Tatie and it was great to be there together as a family!

Chase was not impressed with Patrick Murphy's speech, instead preferring to zone out to his favorite Hi-5 DVD

Chase and Bun

Yay Tatie!

Tatie and Pete

Mother's Day 2009

I know this post is very late but I wanted to make sure I got these pictures up before I forgot about them altogether.

This Mother's Day was as great as it could have been (except that my own mom wasn't here to celebrate with!). I enjoyed a very relaxing day and the company of my two favorite boys (that's Andrew and Chase in case I'm not being clear), as well as getting to sleep in AND take a very nice nap in the afternoon. Which was followed by an absolutely delicious dinner at JL Ivy in Princeton with the Palskys.

It was a perfectly lovely day and here are a few of those pictures:

Chase got all dolled up in his very first suit just for the occasion. Here he is looking handsome with his beautiful Tatie!

...And here he is looking less than happy with his parents. Come on, kid, it's Mother's Day!

Snuggling up to Bun during dinner

Big hugs for Daddy

Taking Zayde's glasses for a test drive

Playground Picnics

Recently I have fallen back in love with our neighborhood, and I think one of the biggest reasons for this is Chase. Our neighborhood is great for kids. The people are friendly, they all generally look out for each other, and now that spring is here, we can all be outside again. To make things even better, there are two playgrounds within walking distance of our house, one at the top of the street and the other at the bottom of the street. Since the weather has become nicer, we have been taking full advantage of this fact, and you can usually find us at one of the two parks on any given morning and/or afternoon.

Last week, we got together with Courtney, Grace & Jackson and Katie, Grace & Luke for an impromptu pizza party at one of the playgrounds. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we had a great time. The kids ran around and played and we all ate pizza and enjoyed the sunny weather. I think this may become a weekly tradition!

Chase and Jackson tackle the twisty slide

Jackson the Jailbird

Beautiful Miss Grace E. on the swings!

Squeeze the lemon on the slide!

Chase's first shiner -- about 20 minutes before we left for the park, he tripped and hit his eye on the corner of a chair in the playroom. He ended up looking like he'd been in a bar fight, but as Bun put it, "you shoulda seen the other guy."

Moms and babies on the swings

Action Jackson

Chase loves pointing out the planes that fly overhead

Time out for hugs with Grace M.!

Sweet little Lukey

Grace M., Queen of the Jungle Gym


The Graces playing together


Smiling, happy boy. Chase's face lights up like this anytime he sees either one of the Graces. I think he is in love with both of them!

Broad Street Run

A couple of weeks ago, Andrew participated in the Broad Street Run, which is a 10 mile race down Broad Street through Center City into South Philadelphia. This was his first time taking part in the race and we were so proud of him. He started running on a regular basis about three years ago and has kept up with it spectacularly, running between 5 and 8 miles every night. Chase and I were so excited to go down to Philly and watch Andrew cross the finish line that we decided that a little rain wasn't going to get in our way. We convinced Zayde, Bun, Tatie and Pete to come with us, too. Of course, "a little rain" turned into "a lot of rain" which turned into what was just shy of a torrential downpour. Chase was ten kinds of miserable, and we were all soaking wet, despite our ponchos and umbrellas. But it was totally worth it to be there for Andrew when he crossed the finish line! I wish I'd taken more pictures but by that point we were ready to get the heck out of there!

Reaching out to touch the raindrops when they first started to fall...

"Uh, mom? This stuff's coming down kind of heavy now..."

Andrew/Daddy, post race

Andrew and his proud Mom, aka Bun

Chase & Henry

Last week Brooke and Henry came over for the afternoon, and Chase had the opportunity to meet his newest friend. I was a little nervous, given the unpredictable and rough and tumble nature of toddlers (or at least of this one in particular), but Chase was as sweet as can be. Since that first meeting, Chase has started talking about Henry all the time. His favorite thing to tell people is that he kisses Baby Henry. "Mmmmmwaaaa!"

Choo Choooooo!

In addition to loving buses, Chase also loves trains. He knows where all the railroad crossings are near our house, so as soon as we are within 300 of yards of one, he starts to squirm in his car seat and clap and yell "chooooooo!" We have a ritual every morning of crawling into Mommy and Daddy's bed and OnDemanding an episode (or three) of "Thomas the Tank Engine." And once breakfast is over, it's over to the train table to set up the "cracks" (tracks) so he can play with his toy "choos."

Last weekend, Zayde had a great idea -- he and Andrew would take Chase to the New Hope-Ivyland Railroad! Despite the fact that it's practically in our backyard, this had never occurred to me, and I thought it would be a wonderful treat for the little guy (not to mention it would score me a few hours of free time). So last Sunday, Zayde, Andrew and Chase set off to take a ride on an old fashioned train. Andrew said that Chase was really excited when they first got there and he saw the train and the station, but the ride up to Ivyland and back is an hour long. That's a considerable chunk of time for a toddler to stay in one confined area, so by the time they arrived back in New Hope, Chase was done with that particular train. But by all accounts (including Chase's -- he still talks very excitedly about Zayde and the Choo and Daddy) it was a great afternoon!