Chase Andrew

Chase is 22 months old. He is almost 2! He is such a joy. He makes Alan and I exchange glances and cover our mouths to prevent us from laughing and encouraging his naughty behavior very regularly. He is such a stubborn child. He says, "No!" and "Stop it, Mommy!" on a regular basis. He has his own agenda and is very adament about seeing it through. He has a glare that he will use on anyone who doesn't please him the way that he thinks they should. He will make himself go limp when you try to pick him, throw himself on the ground, and hit someone with out hesitation if they are annoying him.  

And then there is his sweet side. And what a sweet side it is. He is a little snuggle bug. Anytime he hurts himself (which is quite often since he's the clumsiest kid I've ever seen) he will point to wherever it hurts and say, "Ouch! Big hug?" and put those little arms out! Who could resist!? He will come up and just lay his head on my knee sometimes and say, "Aww!" He gives kisses by sticking his cheek up against mine and making a, "mwah!" sound. His precious laugh could melt the coldest of hearts. He blows kisses to complete strangers sometimes and they give him big smiles in return.

He is passionate about a few things. He is passionate about food. The only way we could get him to comply for family pictures was by feeding him while our poor friend was taking pictures. It resulted in a lot of pictures like the one above but at least they accurately depicted this period in our lives. He is also passionate about books. He loves to read and insists on reading many books every day. He'll read to himself. He'll ask us to read. The first thing he did when we got home last week after being gone for over a week was to crawl up into his chair in his room and read book after to book to himself.

He loves his big brother and wakes up every morning with a smile saying, "Hi Momma! Jack Jack? Daddy?" He wants to know where everyone is and to give them all hugs. He loves preschool and his teachers love him. They are frequently telling me how impressed they are by how many words he knows and how eloquently he speaks them. He has no problem at all expressing himself. I think Alan was hoping for one quiet introvert like himself, bless his heart. It just doesn't look like it's going to happen. ;-)

Chase makes me smile every day and I am enjoying my sweet baby so much. I'm looking forward to the next stage as well because it has been my experience so far that it only gets better, but for now, I'll cherish this moment and this day with my Baby Chase.