Ages + Stages

I am struggling...with the fact that my last baby has turned one. I am blessed beyond measure, but I can't help but feel a little sad with all of these changes and transitions.

Chase, on the other hand, wow, what a champ, he is taking this all in stride. In fact, he's embracing these transitions. He has been such an easy-going child, I know I shouldn't be surprised. I guess he didn't get the memo from the older three on how weak I can be and easily I can give in :)

Here are the promised month to month pictures of Chase.

As I mentioned, these last few weeks have included so many changes for the little guy.

A week before his birthday he finally decided to sleep through the night (having done so only ONE night before--on my own birthday earlier in July.) And he has slept through the night every night since with the exception of a few times of fussing himself back to sleep. Wow. Sleep-wise, he is also starting to drop his morning nap already.

We are down to nursing only once every day or two. This is the hardest one for me. I have enjoyed nursing all four of my babies through their first birthday, and the realization of being done with breastfeeding is tough. I will NOT miss pumping however!

A few days before his birthday, we ran out of bottle liners at daycare so we switched right over to a sippy cup. No more bottles!

Baby food....we are down to just these few containers in the cupboard and will be buying no more.
We even have him doing chores already! Not really, but he has watched his siblings unload the dishwasher and pick up toys, and he seriously does both now. He hands the silverware to Kennedy and she puts it away and he sometimes picks up his toys, crawls over and throws them into his toy box.Although he is not walking yet, he is standing more and more. He is also attempting to climb stairs.
This past weekend I finally had an hour to devote to my car. It severely needed cleaning out. Once I accomplished that goal I re-installed his carseat to the forward facing position. This is probably his favorite transition point :)

Words.....he says dada, thank you and mama (not to me but at daycare).

And tonight, he got his first haircut. So now he even looks like a big boy.

Wow, I love that guy. And I love how gentle and sweet his siblings still are with him. And I know how quickly that is going to change as he approaches the toddler years and is in all their stuff!

Barrel of Fun!

Chase's first birthday came way too fast...why does that first year fly by?! Even though the actual planning for the party started just a few short weeks before his birthday, I had a theme in mind months before. We often call him "monkey" and he has a few monkey inspired items in his possession (shirts, loveys, stuffed animals.) And who doesn't love monkeys?!

Aunt Erika of course made an adorable celebration shirt for the big day. Her creation determined my colors for the party...red, brown and gold.

The front door sign. I found the cute monkey paper at H*bby L*bby.Right inside the door I posted his month to month pictures. I will show an up-close version in a later post.I made this name block for his room. The monkey and bananas will be removed though. And I asked the guests to sign this 12x12 paper, it will go in his first scrapbook.

The birthday banner...my first one and it was super easy. I had this leftover rope from a project I did a few years ago, and the "vine" look fit perfectly!

Entertainment was easy...the older kiddos naturally gravitated to the toy room downstairs and the babies and toddlers busied themselves in the living room and with each other.

I found these cute baskets on clearance at W@lm@rt. They were perfect for the burgers and veggies we served up!

Kid friendly Jungle Juice!

Chowing down!

The treats!!! I posted my favorite pictures of Chase from the past year behind all the goodies.
We had "monkey chow", "banana taffy", "monkey vines", "monkey sticks", "banana nut cheerios"
Here is our sweet birthday boy, Chase!!

See his cute little monkey tail on the back of the shirt?!

Chase's smash cake and birthday hat, made out of the cute monkey paper

We had a banana split bar and monkey cake pops in lieu of a cake, they were a hit and fairly simple to make!Almost too cute to eat (almost!!)

The hat lasted maybe 30 seconds, ha! Long enough for a picture.

The moment we've been waiting for...

Time for the gifts; he was infatuated with this bow. He stole it early in the party and played with it the whole night.Chase and Lora, our daycare provider and good friend!Chase, Grandma and Aunt ErikaSo many sweet gifts!A monkey blanket from Grandma and Aunt ErikaA new winter hat crocheted by Maria!Thank you gifts for our guests, "Five Little Monkeys" books for the babies, a monkey matching game for the toddlers, and monkey notebooks, pencil boxes and markers for the big kidsAnd each family received a loaf of banana bread!
Catherine reading her new monkey bookThis little monkey fell asleep. He partied hard and is now snuggling with his little monkey lovey! Happy birthday, Chase, sweet dreams....I love you little monkey!