Chase's Birthday

I'm glad that Chase was only turning two so that celebrating his birthday didn't have to be a big deal this year.  We were so busy with moving and graduating that we didn't have a party with his friends (not that we've been in an area long enough yet for him to have friends that he'd remember...).  But we did still have an ice cream cake (that he shared with Buddy--it was a graduation and birthday cake) and a good meal with some long term family friends in Pennsylvania (I had written "old family friends" but didn't want them to think I was commenting on their age... :) ).

Chase got some fun gifts--a basketball hoop, a new spin toothbrush with stickers, a sprinkler, a new book, a Thomas the train toy, and a nightlight that projects stars on the ceiling.  Fun, right?  I think the first time he used the nightlight there was a thunderstorm at bedtime so he associates it with thunder.  Every time we turn it on he says "Fundah? Yight-nin?"  and then hugs us tight.  I'm hoping he'll soon embrace his Hulet genes and learn to love thunderstorms.  We'll see.

We haven't had a chance to take Chase to his 2 year check-up (we're in Canada right now for a month before Buddy starts work), so I don't how how much he's grown, but it's not too much :)  He's still our skinny boy-he gets it from his Beazer genes.

 Chase with his favorite toys at Nana H and Pop Pop's house:  Charlie Brown Christmas music players.  Lucky us, we get to hear Christmas music year round.  Every day.

 Playing with Nana H's new water fountain. 

Chase is such a little goof these days.  He imitates what we say a lot more, still thinks fake coughing is hilarious, and seems to find his own jokes the funniest (wonder where he gets that from?...).  He can count to twenty now, knows his alphabet and all of the sounds--he can even tell you the name of the letter when you say the sound. 

He is still a little difficult to understand what he is saying unless you know the context, but that is coming along gradually.  He is putting words together in 3-5 word sentences, he just doesn't say it too clearly yet.  His go-to phrase is "this one right there?"  And he actually just started retelling past events.  Like today he's been talking about how he jumped on the blocks and fell off and hurt his cheek yesterday. 

He loves ranch dressing, ketchup, and mac n cheese, but doesn't seem to consistently like eating much else.  It changes everyday.  He loves puzzles, and does really well putting them together by himself.  Even some non-wood ones.  His favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and he knows all of the characters' names.

We love having this kid around!

Last hoorah in Cumberland

There weren't a ton of things to do with kids in Cumberland, but there was one thing we really looked forward to doing before we left:  riding the train on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.  Cumberland has a lot of history dating back to 1754, and part of it's history was it importance as a key junction for the railroad industry.  They have an old steam engine that takes passengers on a scenic trip from the historic Cumberland station to the Frostburg station about 30 miles away.

Chase loves trains, so we thought it'd be a pretty cool thing for us to do as a family (no matter that it was more expensive than we would have liked).  The trip lasts 3 hours and I was concerned about overlapping with Chase and Mason's naps, but it worked out fairly well, and we made it through without too many tears.

I thought the coolest part was the old train station-it was built in 1913 and I loved imagining what it must have looked like then and how busy is must have been in its heyday with all of the passengers.  Here we are at the Cumberland station (Mason was  sleeping in a stroller):

The train ride itself was overpriced, I think, for what we got.  The train moved A LOT slower than I anticipated, and it was hard to keep Chase occupied for the whole 1.5 hour ride (there and back).

 on the train

 Mason did pretty well, considering

 The Frostburg station was less than impressive, and there weren't many food choices for lunch.  I did get a rainbow sherbet ice cream cone, though, so that helped :)  I forgot how much I love Sherbet.  I think I stopped eating it around the same time that I realized I had been mispronouncing it all of those years.  A weird coincidence.

I will miss our walks in Cumberland, the library there (they have an awesome kids section with tons of wooden puzzles and toys), and my YMCA membership.  That gym saved my sanity with an hour of free babysitting while I worked out in the group fitness classes.  It was awesome.

 Our last walk together in Cumberland

 These are Masons feet.  Buddy has superlong toes and I'll often catch him sitting with his toes curled under on the ground, and I make fun of him for it.  And then I saw our second son doing the same thing while standing in the jumperoo.  So I took a picture.  The apple doesn't fall far...

First time with rice cereal.

Look at those cheeks!  It's crazy how different he and Chase are, but they are both so super cute in their own ways.