3 Years and 8 months

 Dear Colt,

I'm a little late because I wanted to write a 3 1/2 year blog and you're now 3 years and 8 months.  Almost 4! I can't believe it.  You are at such a fun age and I just want to remember all the details. You are such a cool kid and I really mean it.  I'm not just saying that because I'm your momma.  

You are an amazing big bro.  AMAZING!  You always make Chase laugh and you help out even when you aren't asked.  You love your baby brother but sometimes you forget how little he is.  When you get too rough with him he laughs at you.  You are always doing silly things just to make him laugh.  When we drop him off with Nanny you always try desperately to get to him in his car seat, while still strapped in yours, to give him a hug.  You always talk to him so sweetly. 

 Your meltdowns and fits are getting much better.  You still have your moments, as we all do, but you are working on staying calm.  Time outs work best as your punishment. 

You are so creative.  I love to watch and listen to you play. 

You have an amazing memory for the most random things.  You remember things that we can not believe you could remember.
You HATE brushing your teeth and you got in a habit of sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed so we started rewards chart.  You're doing really well sleeping in your own bed and you work to earn cotton balls for brushing your teeth.

You love ice cream and sprinkles.  You love watermelon and goldfish. You love cereal or waffles for breakfast and cheese and crackers or grilled cheese for lunch.  At night, sometimes, you eat what we eat.    You are still a very picky eater but slowly but surely you are trying new things.  You also eat very slowly. Were working on speeding it up. 

                                                       
 You sort and collect all kinds of odd things paper clips, cupcake cups, coasters.

  You love camo.  Anything camo.  In fact you would like everything in our house to be camo from the walls to the kitchen sink to the toilets.  Every time something has to be replaced you say we should get it in camo.
You love monster trucks and cars, play dough and painting, trains and planes, legos and blocks. You love nerf guns and marshmallow guns, you love wrestling and tackling, you love pretending and your playfood.   You like to watch movies on your baby tv and you really enjoy "your shows".
You are in your new big boy car seat and you complain that you "hate" it but you look quite comfy in it.

 You are really into learning new things.  Lately, you have such an interest in learning.  You are always talking about shapes, singing your abcs, and counting objects.  You only count to about 12 because you loose interest.  We are still working really hard on colors.  Well, Mommy's working hard on teaching you. You couldn't care less and make it a game to frustrate mommy because I know you know your colors.  You sort and match colors you just won't tell me what colors objects are. You are recognizing letters and you even wrote your name the other day. (The bottom one we wrote together with mommy guiding your hand the top you did all by yourself!)

Mrs. Guerrero stopped me in the hall the other day to tell me she was impressed at all you were showing her you knew.  It made me so proud because we've been working hard!
You are such a  sweet, kind, helpful little man.  You are shy and timid in new situations but you are loud and crazy when you're comfortable.  You are quiet and well behaved at school and at home you are silly and active but you follow directions really well.

You love school.
Your best friend is Wilston and you love Mrs. Guerrero and Mrs. Leeanne.
You love tractors and you love being outside. We've been through a few pairs of pants lately because you've got holes in them playing on your scooter and tackling.

 You have imaginary friends.  B and Wilstona and Mrs. Guerrero and Mrs. Leeanne join us at home quite often.
You like to help me cook and you actually are a big help.

You love your camo pillow but  it's seen better days.  In fact I had to sew up a hole today.  We now play gently with "pillow".
You are still a great sleeper.  You go to bed about 9 pm and wake up around 7.  You still really need a nap.  If I let you, you would  sleep 3 hours at nap but I usually wake you up because you go to bed even later when you sleep that long.

 You are tough.  You don't get hurt easily.
You have great direction sense and you are always asking which way we are going and what road we are on.
You are only wearing a diaper at night and half the time you don't need it.
You are creative.  You turn anything into a game.

 You love playing on mommy's phone and can navigate it as well as me.
You love photos and you love looking at yourself! :)

You are growing way too fast.  I cherish ever day I get to be with you.  I am so thankful we have so much quality time together and I get to be there for every part of every minute because you're growing too fast.  Your daddy and I love you so much.  Thanks for being the coolest kid around.Love, Mommyxoxo

9 Months

 Dear Chase,
Where on Earth is the time going?  Nine months?!?!?!  I can't believe you are nine months old.  In just three short months we will be celebrating your FIRST birthday.
This month you've been up to lots.
You are wearing mostly 9 months clothes with a few 12 month here and there and you are in size three diapers.
You are still nursing 4 times a day.
You have three solid meals a day and sometimes I skip baby food and give you real food.  (Cheerios, waffle, grilled cheese) You love your big people food, specially Ritz crackers!
All this new food seems to be messing with your tummy and prunes are a daily occurance.  :(
You still have that piercing scream when you want attention, but not as often.
You are doing pretty well with sleeping at night.  You have occasional nights where you get up, but for the most part, since we did cry it out, you are doing better.  It only took a few nights of CIO for you to sleep through the night.
Nap is another story.  You do not sleep in your crib well.  You only nap twice a day and I try, when we are home, to lay you down every time.  Most morning naps you wake up as I lay your down and you wont go back to sleep.  At your afternoon nap I let you cry it out and you are now falling asleep pretty quickly.  You never nap in the afternoon.
You are starting to play with everything but you don't like to be left alone for too long.  You like to have mommy in your sight.
You are 100% a Mommas Boy!
You like to be held and cuddled.
You are making so many sounds.  "baba" "gaga" "dada" "mama".
I'm not 100% sure but I'm pretty sure you have said "Mama" to mommy and "Dada" to your daddy.  You also just babel and talk a lot.
You love to play in the diaper box.
You love to chew on paper, card board books, really anything your not suppose to.
You are always playing on your tummy.
One time you sat up from playing on your belly.  You pushed off of something but you haven't done it again.
You are not crawling but you are days away.  You scootch backwards on your tummy and get yourself stuck under everything. Last night, you finally got going forward.
You get up on your knees and rock back and forth but you just can't figure out how to work your hands and legs.
You always settle down when I sing.  (I don't know why! I know it's not pretty!)
You got your first sun burn at  a car show this months.  Sorry buddy.  It wasn't too bad.
Your hair is starting to curl at the ends.
You still only have two teeth but I know more are coming.  You are a drooly mess!

Chase Zakary.  We love you so much.  Each day we love you more and more.
Love, Mommy

iPhone Dump

 My iPhone has become my primary way to document our days since it's always with me.   I take pictures of the good bad and ugly parts of our days,  I text Zak and family (too much I'm sure) throughout the day to let them know all of our going ons. With 1,000+ pictures on my iPhone (That I've only had for 7 months) there are always pictures that I love that never make it into a blog.   I thought I'd go through and pick a few of my favorites.  These only go back through December.  

I had to start with this one.  Makes me laugh.  It's just how our day goes some days.  

Colt thinks everything that is Chases  is his too.

 Playing tough with daddy.

 Intense playtime.

Intense game time.

 Nice hats!

 Colt took this picture while we played outside one afternoon.

 Colt and Uncle Bob reading Yo Gabba Gabba.

 Out for a little Sunday drive.

 We love you THIS much Daddy!

 Crazy hair!

 Daddy's new toy and his "Robinhood" arrows.

 Must wear a helmet and welding glasses while riding.

 Where's big brother?

 Sleepy boys.

 L.O.V.E.

 Playing in a tent out front with Noah.

 P and Chase.

 Colton's dream bed at Rooms To Go.

 Fun at the park.

 Party City. Colt Chose a pink balloon with a pink string. Chase thought he was so funny.

 Colton matching his colors.

 Picnic inside on a rainy day.