Month number nine!

Disclaimer:  this post is extra long and extra detailed for my own benefit.  I don't expect anyone else to read all of it.

He's getting older, but not much bigger!  He still doesn't like to drink as much as is recommended during the day, and because of that, I'm still getting up once a night to nurse him...that is, except last night!  That's right, after nine long months he actually slept through the night!  He woke up 10 minutes after falling asleep at seven, and then about 30 minutes after that, but I think that may have to do with the fact that we forgot to plug in the nightlight.  I didn't realize that until morning, so maybe that's why he slept through the night :)

(I know those pants don't match--he was just wearing them for his nap.  And apparently to play the guitar)

At his 9 month appointment we had to meet with the nurse practitioner again, which I don't like because I feel like everyone there but Dr. Kassees is too high-strung and makes me worry more than I should.  This nurse practitioner wanted to send Chase out for a GI evaluation (because of weight) and a developmental evaluation (because of language), which I don't really think he needs.  She did say, once I told her that he was premature, that he didn't need the GI eval after all (shouldn't they check that in the chart before suggesting an evaluation?).  Also, I think that Chase's communication development is fine since I've noticed lately that he DOES do things that I wasn't sure about while I was there.  These are Chase's stats:

weight: 16 lbs 11 oz---15%
length:  27 3/4 in---30%
head circumference:  43.5 cm---10%

I think Chase is just a small boy.  At least I hope I'm not doing anything wrong.

A lot has happened this past month as far as milestones:  He started crawling, and he's really getting around these days.  I think he would win a crawling race if only he stayed focused on the finish line :)  He can pull himself up on anything within reach (including his pack n' play), and is getting good at getting down again without hurting himself.  He's pretty good at crawling OVER things, too (like when my legs are in the way when I'm sitting on the floor with him).  He finally got his first teeth on the bottom, and we can see and feel one coming in on top.  He says "Da-Da-Da" and "Da-ya" a lot (started saying this two weeks ago), and will imitate me when I say "Da-Da".  It's pretty cute to hear more than just grunts and whines.  He's started to pick things up with a pincer grasp (though he's not too good at it yet), can clap (maybe on accident), and loves to roll balls around.  Today he went all around the apartment swatting a little ball.  It was so cute :)

Chase loves being outside and will cry when we come inside after a walk.  He also loves his dad and will cry when he leaves for school in the morning.  He thinks his dad is hilarious (and sometimes mom too), but you can't use a joke more than one time 'cause it isn't funny any more.  He probably gets that from me.  I'm getting a taste of my own medicine :)  Chase loves to open and close things, including, but not limited to:  laptops, leaptops :), cell phones, doors, drawers, Velcro straps, and curtains.  This skill has been especially useful the past two days when he's helped me with the laundry.  He'll open the dryer door and stand and pull out the clothes so I can fold them.

I try to give Chase a 6 oz. bottle about every 4 hours, he eats 2-3 tbs oatmeal with fruit in the morning, about half a jar of veggies at lunch, and 2-3 tbs rice cereal at dinner.  Chase takes 2-3 naps a day, and lately he's had more 2-nap days.  He goes to bed at about 6:30 to 7:30pm and wakes up between 6 and 7am.

I think he's really close to standing on his own, and he will walk really fast when we hold his hands, especially if he sees his Binky, or it's bath time, or he sees his dad.  He's at such a fun age, and we're so lucky to be this little guy's parents.  We love you so much, Chase!

Thing 1 and Thing 2

Yesterday I was really excited about two things.  They may seem simple or mundane to anyone else, but they improved my mood significantly.  Or maybe I was just in a super good mood so I was getting excited about them.  One of those :)

Thing #1: Nike Basketball Outfit.  In June '09, before I was even pregnant with Chase, Buddy and I were shopping at a Nike outlet and bought a 12 month old boys outfit because the deal was too good to pass up.  And it was a sweet outfit.  We didn't know if we would have a boy any time soon, but we bought it just in case anyway :)  I was so excited when we found out we were having a boy and could use the outfit we bought!  Chase isn't 12 months old yet (he'll be nine months tomorrow), but is was so warm yesterday and Buddy had a basketball game that morning, so I thought I'd try on Chase's outfit just to see.  It fit!  I have to roll down the waistband a bit to make it tighter, but it fits!  And it was totally worth the wait :)  Bonus:  the Puma shoes my sister let us borrow match perfectly!

Thing #2:  Baby "Leaptop".  Anytime we open our laptop around Chase, he immediately drops whatever he's doing so he can come open and shut it.  It helps me not to waste so much time on the computer when he's awake, but we were afraid that he'd break it sooner or later.  I was shopping in Target one day and saw these great baby laptops (I didn't even know they made such things) and got pretty excited about them.  After talking about it together, Buddy and I decided that it would be worth us buying one if it saves us from eventually having to fix a Chase-damaged MacBook.  They cost about $25, but it seems pretty sturdy so far and it has such cool features :)  Chase loves it, and it seems to be successfully distracting him from our computer so far.  I'm even more excited about his laptop, though!  I think it's so cool!  You can personalize it so the computer says "Hi, Chase!" out loud whenever we turn it on, and we can also customize some "emails" that are read to him.  Right now we made some from Nana, Grampy, and Uncle Randy :)  I can't wait till he can understand it more (the laptop is really meant for kids 2 years old and up).  Is a baby laptop a little excessive?  Maybe.  But I love it!
P.S. it's a leapfrog laptop--that's why they call it a "leaptop".  Good one, huh?

Diaper Dash!

A few Saturdays ago, Babies 'R Us was hosting a Diaper Dash for crawlers between 7-12 months, so even though Chase had just started crawling we had to go!  I didn't expect to win the grand prize (3 months worth of diapers!), but I thought it would be nice if Chase really did win.  You can see for yourself how he did :)   :

This is Chase with his friend Tegan before the race began.  He's in position already and they haven't even had them line up yet!  He was also talking smack to everyone before the race.  That is, if you can call high pitched screeching "talking smack"...

"On your marks, get set, and....."

Chase and Tegan just hang out at the starting line, letting that other boy literally crawl in circles before he finally crossed the finish line.  It was pretty fun even though Chase just wanted to sit.  He did get to race one more time, and I finally coaxed him into finishing the race, but he was still last :)

Chase's 8 mo photo shoot

We were too busy at Christmas to have my sister take some pictures of Chase, but luckily I have a friend here in Memphis that loves to take pictures.  The day we scheduled to take them it was pouring rain outside, so we had to just do inside pictures.  I think Christina did such a good job even though she said she doesn't like taking pictures inside.  It was just what I wanted.  Thanks!  Here are some of my favs, though truth be told I like pretty much every picture that has Chase in it ;)  :

Chase the Magic Trick-Boy!

ok, it's not a magic trick, but this is Chase's big trick that he learned two weeks ago (January 28th, to be exact :)).  There's no stopping him now!

Christmas with the Hulets (aka "Tradition...who cares?")

I wanted to document our time in Pennsylvania this past Christmas.  Our families don't live close to each other (almost at opposite coasts), so we take turns between the Beazers and Hulets every year for Christmas.  This year was the year of the Hulets!  All of us came home this year (except for my li'l brudder, who is serving a mission in Birmingham, England), and with our spouses and kids there were 15 of us in one house!  Our house isn't that big, so it was quite a feat :)  And there's nothing like driving 14 hours to get there!  The drive actually wasn't too bad.  Buddy drove the whole way, and I alternated between entertaining Chase and entertaining Buddy.  It's hard work, believe me :)  Chase was awesome the whole trip, though I felt bad that he had to be strapped in the whole time we were driving.  We did the drive all in one day, but we stopped for every meal so that we wouldn't all go crazy in the car.  We were the first ones to get home, so it was nice to settle in while things were still a bit quiet.  It wasn't quiet for long, but I love that about my family :)  We spent Christmas vacation playing games (both the board and the wii variety), going skeet shooting, playing volleyball, soccer/chair soccer, eating delicious food, singing/playing the piano, doing puzzles (or was it just a puzzle?), watching movies, taking our hairy little sister on walks, playing with babies/kids,

 skyping with our little brother who's on his mission (so fun!  Usually they are just supposed to call on the phone, but his mission president allowed skype calls in one area at the bishop's house),

and just hanging out together.  It's been a joke in our family for the past few years that we don't keep any traditions anymore, and it's kind of true.  But there are a few traditions we DID keep:  skeet shooting,

Santa coming to visit on Christmas Eve,

 pjs to open Christmas Eve (only for the grandkids this time), and watching Muppet Christmas Carol (best Christmas carol movie, ever!).  It's fun to have traditions, but it's also fun to try new things!  Like eating dinner hosted by an Amish Family at their house (they do it to earn some extra money, and their food is pretty delicious!  mmmm...),

and we tried a new way of exchanging gifts this year.  A lot of us were either poor or were spending a lot of money just to get to PA for Christmas (or both), so we decided to draw names and wrap random objects from around the house  for each other.  Kind of like white elephant (or I've heard some people down here call it "Dirty Santa"), but this idea stems from something we tease our mom for doing:  one Christmas she was giving my two older sisters professional teeth whitening as a present, and she felt that since their expensive present couldn't be wrapped, they would feel bad that it seemed like the other kids had more presents to open.  So she wrapped things that already belonged to them so they could "have something to open."  We love you, mom!  It was pretty funny when they opened their presents and were like "umm...mom, this is the gift my best friend bought me while she was on a trip." :) The end result of our Hulet gift exchange 2010 was pretty funny, and I have to say that my oldest brother wins the prize for funniest present.  He drew Buddy's name, and Buddy opened his gift to find an empty glass jar that he promptly opened:

Then Buddy showed us all what was written on the top of the jar:

I can't believe he smelled it!  And of course my mom didn't actually toot in the jar, but my brother did!  Gross, right?  But funny :)  I don't know why Buddy and I both got bathroom-related presents, but my little sister wrapped up this huge body pillow that we have over the years lovingly called "cuddle poop" or "poop log" (when my mom bought it she insisted it was a "cuddle log").  And what goes best with the biggest log ever?  A plunger, of course!  Sorry the picture has a weird smudge on it.

 This is my bro-in-law with his "Hulet exchange 2010" present.  And this is my sis-in-law with her REAL ipod docking speakers.  Both awesome presents :)

We had such a fun time at home with my family, and we can't wait for Beazer Christmas 2011 coming up this year!

Oh, and to wrap up this post, here's a picture I found on my camera as I was uploading photos.  Obviously taken by herself :)  That's what you get for pranking my camera, Droolie!  Bam!