Growing up!

Chase's first birthday is fast approaching and it's so hard to believe that it's almost been a year already! He's learning so much every day and always anxious to try out any new skills. Here are some of my favorite:

-he waves "hi" and "bye" at everyone and everything
-he claps spontaneously... maybe just because he's happy?!
-yesterday I caught him trying to put his shoes on!
-he doesn't have any words yet, but he "talks" constantly! He'll hold up objects and says, "Ga?", like "What is this, mom?" and waits for me to respond.
-he understands so much... probably more than we know! When it's bathtime, we'll say, "Chase go take a bath!" and he'll crawl directly from the living room to his tub.
-he likes to try to put toothpaste on the toothbrush by himself.
-he loves to be upside down and we often find him trying to stand on his head when he's alone!
-I haven't really been good about teaching him baby sign language but a few days ago he started signing "all done" pretty consistently! It's pretty exciting to see your child start to communicate with you in ways other than crying!
-and finally, Chase's best skill of all: emptying every box, drawer, and cabinet that he can find! He was quite proud of himself for taking all of his clothes out of his dresser yesterday!



Post Script: I have to add these 2 things! First of all, Eric and I think that Chase is definitely saying his first word now... and it's "mama!" He's been babbling "mama" for a long time, but this morning it became really clear that he knows what he's saying. He only says it when he first sees me, instead at random times like he used to. So that's exciting!!! And the other thing I left off the list, which I LOVE, is that Chase knows how to "play indian"... he pats his hand over his mouth and says "aahhh"! So cute.