Turtles, Tunes and Treasures

As promised, here is the tale of our Nature Buddies experience. The program was done through our county parks and recreation office. Our guide was enthusiastic though ill prepared for dealing with a room full of 1-2 year olds. She was trying to share with them facts about turtle habitats and turtle diets while they were more interested in running amuck around the room. Chase was mildly entertained by the puppet she produced, but not enough to let go of the foam toy he'd snagged.
After our circle time, we headed outside to see a real box turtle. The kidlets had a little trouble with the "Don't touch" rule set forth, but the mommies were able to keep little fingers under control.
The next nature buddies presentation will be in October and will cover squirrels. We're wondering if she'll bring a live one out for us to watch. I promise not to let Chase touch it. He might try to step on it though...

After the viewing of the tortoise, we headed out for our nature walk. The little gremlin was not at all interested in practicing his toddle. I kept trying and trying to put him down to have him walk along with us, but all he did was sit and pull up the grass. So this is what I did 20 times during our 20 minute walk...
Later that day, we headed to our play group. Chase discovered the piano in Tessa's living room. He kept sneaking in there to play his concerto for us. Sam has offered to provide him with daily piano lessons, haven't you Sam? He is surely a future concert pianist in the making.
In case you were wondering, monkey's love of cabinet and drawer reorganization extends to kitchens belonging to others as well as his own. Let me know if you'd like to schedule an appointment.
This is my living room. I painted the walls a color from Benjamin Moore called Peacock Feathers and put beachy things in it so that I can go sit in there and pretend that I am on a Caribbean vacation instead of hiding from my child in the middle of suburbia. Anyway, I bet you didn't know that I was a trendsetter did you? Well according to the Home section of Thursday's Washington Post, I am because they chose Peacock Feathers as one of their trendy colors to watch. I am available for color consultations--there is a small fee involved of course.

And finally we have the treasures I acquired from yard sale hopping with my mommy friends. The truck shelf was $10 and the ducky bank was $1. I think these finds were worth having to get my lazy butt out of bed so early on Saturday morning. The shelf will go in the noodle's room and the duck is for me. Obviously.

Teaser post

Here's a photo to hold you over for a bit. Later this weekend, I'll update with tales of our Nature Adventure, Noodle's Mozart-like tendancies, and my mad designer skills. You're sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation, aren't ya?

Touchdown West Virginia!

We very much enjoyed our routing of Western Michigan U 62-24. Go Mountaineers!

Touchdown!!

One stylin dude

Toddle, toddle. Sniff, sniff.

Noodle's really on the move these days. He toddles along pretty adeptly now even though he still looks like Frankenstein. This resemblance to a rather unattractive being hasn't fazed him much however as he feels no embarrassment as he runs all over the house leaving a trail of debris in his wake. The mustard bottle in the pantry and my shoes are the most tempting treasures for him to hide from mommy. He also seems to enjoy scooting into dad's office and lying on Iverson's bed...not really sure what he finds enjoyable about rolling around on a dog bed, but as long as he's not relocating my possessions, I make no objections.

In related news, Mr. Magoo has become an endless fountain of babble. There are a few words thrown into the otherwise incoherent chatter such as dad, yes and dog. He's even begun counting except that he says "one" for every number. You know instead of 1, 2, 3 it's 1, 1, 1. Still not saying mama, unless he's crying and then it's "maaaaaammaaaaamaaawahwahmaaamaaa". The kid likes to torture me you see. He's also taken up the habit of sniffing all of the time. He'll wrinkle up his nose and then draw in two quick breaths. It looks like he's just caught a whiff of something most unpleasant, then he just shakes his head and smiles. Kinda like, "Ew, what's that smell? Can't be me, can it? No way. Must be mom. Hee hee".

Oh and he's a babe watcher my boy. Likes the ladies. In fact, he seems really put out if one goes by him without stopping to comment on his cuteness. Of course this rarely happens as he is the cutest boy there ever was. Yea, I'm an enabler, I admit it.

one, one...

Yea, I'm cute, and I know it. But you can tell me again if you want to.

Can't keep my ladies waiting...

Wedding pictures

We tried to get dressier shoes on him, but the only pair that he'll tolerate on his feet are these Nikes. Guess it's better than being barefoot.

I did say not too short

So Noodlet had his first haircut yesterday. His screams could be heard throughout the mall, and he was squiggling around so much that it's a shear (get it shear, cut ha ha) miracle that his new look is relatively straight and even. It's sad to have all of his hair gone, but it will grow back. The next time we get it cut, I will make it clear that I want it to be just a trim.
I'm headed out for my mommy's weekend with the girls, and then we'll be off to the lake. So, I'll catch ya on the flipside. Peace.

Where's Mommy's Sanity?

For Chase's first birthday, the Cord Blood Registry sent him a book called "Where is Baby's Belly Button?". It's a bright, colorful book that has little lift up flaps to find various baby body parts--you know eyes, toes, bunions. For example, one page says, "Where's baby's mouth?" and when you lift up the flap it says "Behind his cup". Cute, no?

When we got the book, I thought that it was a really nice thing for the CBR to do and was thrilled to read it the little man. Now, however, I have to admit that I have contemplated wrapping the blasted thing up and sending it back to their laboratory so that they can store it in their cryogenic freezers to be thawed only in the year 2050. Why the hostility you ask?? Because my dear son, shoves this book in my face 30 times a day expecting me to read it to him--which might not be that bad, but I can't just read it through once. Oh no. I have to read it at least 3, but up to 10 times through before he moves on to something else. And don't even think about trying to ignore the little chap when he brings the book to you. He'll just start beating you with it until you pick it up and look at it with him.

I'm including a picture of Chase walking (Yea!), eating his lunch, and a picture of that lunch. I think if I would let him, Noodle would be a strict carnivore. He loves meat--today's lunch was chipped ham, cheese, juice, macaroni, and banana. That list is in order of his preference, with the banana or any other fruit being next to strychnine on the scale of things he'd readily choose to eat. This of course could explain his current bathroom woes...

Please buckle your safety belts and keep your hands and arms inside the plane at all times.

Chase is a stuffer.He lives to take objects from their rightful home and cram them into new and unusual crevices. For example, he likes to relocate all of his sippy cups into various drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. Also, he enjoys transferring his toys from their bins and baskets into a myriad of locations that include closets, bathrooms and pantries. He also has become quite adept at taking the dirty laundry from it's sorted home and placing it with the clean clothes in the dryer. And then there is the squishing of his sleepy blanket between the rails of his crib and onto the floor which of course leads to angry squeals when the lovely blankie refuses to magically fly back into the crib.

His latest joy has been in shoving every stuffed animal and blanket within reach into his plane. He crams them into the single seat so they are piled one and top of the other and then takes them for a ride by bouncing the plane and twirling the propeller. This particular instance was a little irritating for him though as his lovey and red puppy kept falling out of the bottom of the plane. He'd stop twisting the propeller, pick them up, plop them back into the seat and then return to rocking the plane--which of course made them fall out again. He repeated this process several times getting more and more frustrated and then gave up and moved on to bigger and better things--like hiding under his blankie.

Not quite a surfer yet

We took little noodle to the shore this past weekend. Our dreams of a future professional surfer in the family took a hit as little noodle was a tad terrified of the ocean. He was all good with the water until a wave hit him smack in the face. After that he was not about to go near the water unless he was safe in the arms of a trusted adult. While his Mama was completely enthralled by the discovery of sand crabs, Chase was less than thrilled by the little crawling crustaceans. He did enjoy the sand, but I think his biggest thrill was chasing after the sea gulls.

Nana and PopPop were staying there with us, so we took advantage of the free babysitting by hitting the town three nights in a row. Our second evening started out rather poorly as my zipper busted in my new dress minutes after arriving at the casino. Luckily we were at Caesar's where they have the new pier shops, so I rushed into Juicy Couture and found a lovely sundress that-oh joy--fit and had no zippers! So I had the sales girl ring me up while I was wearing it--it's not like I had anything to change back into. The broken dress went right into the trash--no more DressBarn for me. Given this rather unlucky start to the evening, you'd think that we'd be crazy to gamble, let alone gamble on a game--say Black Jack--that we'd never played in a casino before. Well you know us...

Apparently, my fairy godmother must have decided that I'd had enough woe for one night because, according to an experienced gambler at the table, I was hitting when I should have been staying and staying when I should have been hitting. Amazingly enough though, I actually won money playing Black Jack. While I was cashing in my chips, the guy in line behind me said that I was so charismatic that I would surely win anything I chose to play. I think he may have been a wee bit intoxicated.

On our final night, we went shopping at the Pier for clothes that wouldn't be worn that minute, watched Harry Potter at the IMAX, and had a nice quiet dinner at PF Changs. When we returned to the house, I finished reading Harry Potter VII and then crashed before 11. What can I say, three nights of being out and about really took a toll on me. I'm not a spry young thing anymore you know.

It's a giant sandbox!

Come here little birdy...

Don't let go Nana!

I don't care about your sand crabs Mama...just take me back to the sandbox.

Anchor's Aweigh my boy...

Sailing the High Seas of our new backyard...

The little noodle who could

We went to Tessa's birthday party on Saturday. There were over 60 guests, and when I saw that the play area was crowded with strange kids and adults, I was worried that Chase would be a little apprehensive about all of the commotion. Couldn't have been more wrong. He just pushed himself right into the center of the action and began playing as if it were his party, not Tessa's.

There was a little boy there who was being a bit of a bully by not letting the younger kids play on a toy. When our friend Joshua was bearing the brunt of the tyrant's anger, Chase rushed to the toy, crawled over Joshua, and faced the threat head on. It was if he was saying, "Listen man, I know you're having a bad day and all, but you just need to chill. Now, let my buddy Joshua on this here contraption, or else you and I are going to have a little problem, see?" I always knew my son was a super hero in disguise.

Later, Mr. Joshua fell and bumped his head and started crying. Once again, Chase raced to the scene. I thought, "Wow look at my little man, going to comfort his friend in his time of distress." Well, once again I couldn't have been more wrong. Chase had merely discovered a weakened enemy whose trinkets were there for the taking, so being the opportunistic little chap he is, he quickly swiped away the blocks that Joshua was holding. I can only assume that this action was done as a ploy to cover up his membership in the Justice League.

A dog's life

As you can see, Iverson is enjoying our new yard too. Sadly, the baseballs did not survive the romp. Guess it's back to tennis balls for the canine member of the family.

Been awhile eh?

So yea...July has kind of flown by--I can't believe we're in the 20's already. Where does the time go? This past week we have been recovering from moving, the party and having grandma here giving us attention 23 of the 24 hours in a day. Yep, we've been crankdified for sure. I think Chase is also getting more teeth, and he isn't adjusting super well to digesting this new fangled drink that we've been giving him called milk. In other words, it's been a very long week.
He has been making some effort to keep himself entertained though. A few of his new favorite hobbies are: trying to pick up the mole that is on my left leg, pointing at puppies in his book, hiding his new cars in multiple spots around the house, and riding in his car while his daddy crashes him into the wall. Good times.
Here are a few shots from his party. We have to thank our friends Chris and Sam for these as our camera died, and I couldn't locate the charger. Good to have friends who have your back in such times of tragedy. Other than that and a few minor wardrobe changes, the party was a success.

It's my birthday,and I'm ready to par-tay!

Had to have a little help with the candle, but next year man I'll be ready!

General partying

More general partying

Even more general partying


Playing with Nate in the pool

Pictures are worth a 1000 words...

which is good because my brain is toast. Thus the only thing that I can think to say is this brief note to self: get some self tanner woman!

Abort search and rescue mission

Just checking in real quick to let you know that I haven't been buried alive by an avalanche of boxes. So, you can call off that Saint Bernard you were sending in to disentangle me from my cardboard prison.
The little monkey is slowly adjusting to the move. By adjusting, I mean that he's developed a new scream that he unleashes when Mama has the audacity to not grant him his every wish. There is nothing cute about this new bellow of his, so I won't say anything other than this: if you really love me, you'll send massive amounts of Excedrin my way.

We're headed to the lake tomorrow for a little 4th of July R&R. I'll leave you with this picture of Chase enjoying a Raspberry Beret Smoothie which is a fancy way of saying "sugar coated sugary goodness". The concoction was so tasty that he kept trying to grab the glass so that he could chug the stuff instead of messing with the slow delivery offered by the straw. I'd say he's well on his way to fitting in at WVU--Go Mountaineers!