It has been pure joy to watch our little boy develop and grow over the past 12 months. He has lost any last little bit of baby that clung to him and he is now a full on little boy. Constantly running, bumping his knees and trying to give me a heart attack are all daily requirements he must meet. I am beyond blessed to still be a stay at home mum and not have to miss out on all the big things (first steps, first words etc) and all the little things in between. Both Chase and I appreciate James making this possible more than we can ever express. I can't imagine spending my day any other way than teaching and loving our little boy.
Stats: weight 24lbs 8oz (10th percentile), height 34 1/4 inches (55th percentile) , so while he seems to never stop eating and is growing he is a smaller 2 year old which I find hilarious seeing he still has rolls on his thighs and wrists. Chase got fitted for a helmet back in January for a flat spot that had developed on his head due to his torticollis. He wore it 23 hours a day until April time and then just for nap and bedtime until the beginning of June. At that point we (us and the dr) were satisfied with the progress and change in his head shape that we decided to stop treatment. He now has a very nice round head :) He was such a trooper wearing that thing. I don't know how he slept in that but he did. I'm just thankful he got to stop wearing it before the summer hit as he would sweat like non other in it.
Sleep:
Thank goodness Chase is STILL a good sleeper. He has been such an easy child in this department that I feel we are really in for it with baby #2. We have a pretty set bedtime routine and I think that really helps. We usually head upstairs around 7:45pm for bath time, followed by run around crazy time and jump all over Daddy for a little while. I love sitting and watching them go nuts together and do 'boy' things. Once Chase has gotten his last bit of energy out we head to his room for story time which is usually 3 to 4 books of his choosing. Lately his favorites are 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie', 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', any of his Thomas the train books and 'Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site'. After lots of hugs and kisses it's time to turn on nightlight turtle, sleep sheep and the house is quiet. At night he sleeps a solid 11 to 12 hours and during the day his naps average around 3 hours so no complaints here!
Social: Last fall I made a huge effort to get us involved in some kind of regular activities to get us out of the house and for Chase to interact with other kids seeing that he doesn't get that kind if interaction through a daycare. We started attending story time and music time once a week at our local library and they have both been wonderful activities for him. Story time is by far his favorite (might have something to do with the bunny puppet) and I have seen a huge difference in his interaction during that time from last fall to now. Before he was always in my lap and not wanting to leave it, now he quite happily sits on the floor next to his friends and will willingly go up and get bean bags and other items from the librarian. He also will follow along with whatever actions are being done with a certain song now.
It is at the library that we meet some of our closest friends. Turns out not only did they live in our same neighborhood but on the same street! Through them we met a few more Mum's and kids in our neighborhood and have really created a fantastic little playgroup. We usually see a handful of them once or twice a week whether it be at a play date at one of our houses, a community activity or a field trip (the pool, horse farm, strawberry picking) one of us has planned. Chase has become such a social child thanks to these friends we have made and for a 2 year old shares pretty well with others. The only down side is he never wants anyone to leave as he has so much fun playing with them.
We did put Chase in swimming lessons last fall and while he enjoyed being in the water we temporarily put the lessons on hold as wasn't learning too much with the age he was. Now that he is a little older the plan is start up again with those but it probably won't happen until the new year.
Diet: This is another area in which Chase has been incredibly easy. He will eat pretty much anything and everything we give him. That includes vegetables (they are usually the first to disappear off of his plate), meat and fruit. These are the few things he won't eat: sweet potatoes, bananas (unless James is eating one then he is all about it), and eggs aren't his favorite but if I make up an omelet with lots of zucchini and tomatoes in it I can usually get him to eat it. He eats 3 solid meals a day and 2 snacks in between with 2 sippy cups of milk (morning and evening) and water during the day.
Skills/Milestones: Wow I don't even know where to begin, this is the area Chase has changed the most of the past year. At his first birthday he cruising the furniture but didn't fully walk by himself until January, 15 1/2 months old. I feel like he went to full on running pretty soon after that, now he NEVER walks, typical boy I guess :) One of his favorite activities is to race around with any of his ride on toys as fast as he can, trying to hit Cisco along the way....poor dog!
The past month or so he has started to try to jump, though it looks more like an old man hobbling along but cute none the less and I'm sure he will master that skill any day now.
I don't really remember when the climbing started, maybe around 18 months? but he can't get up on all of the furniture now and thinks it's funny to climb up onto the kitchen table to get either mine or James cell phone.
Talking has always been Chase's strongest skill and it's amazing to me how much he can say. 'No' of course is still a favorite word of his but I love the way he says 'yessssss'. Family members names he has down; Mummy, Daddy, used to say Kiko for Cisco but now has shortened his name to 'Woof' (the best is when he actually yells 'Woof' because Cisco is doing something he shouldn't be), Mom (Mom Mom) Pop (Pop Berry) and 'Oo-oo" for Grandma Oo-oo. Other random words; pee, duck & quack, bird, tizzer (tigger from Pooh), Toma (Thomas the Train), bllooon (balloon), hide, beep beep, truck, trash truck, vroom, turle (turtle), milk, circle, and the list goes on. He has also been putting together basic sentences like, 'I want (insert object)', 'I see (insert person)', 'I bring (insert object)'.
Even though he doesn't say the name he knows all of the basic colors and shapes if asked to point them out. This next year our focus is going to be letters and numbers. He can point out and say all body parts.
Favorites: playing with Cisco. When Daddy gets home from work. Playing any kind of pretend whether its fixing his toys with his tools, pretend cooking or playing doctor with his stuffed animals. Making his trucks crash and fall off of any kind of ledge. Balloons, balloons and more balloons, you will always find more than one balloon in our house at any give time. His blankie. His toy guitar and signing songs to me and Cisco. Finding any kind of buy or animal outside. Being read to. Laurie Berkner on repeat.
