Goodbye Amanda

So this week Amanda was voted off American Idol. I was a little disappointed but not terribly surprised. I knew she wouldn't go all the way, I just wish she had gotten far enough to do the tour. I think she was what I call a "one trick pony." She was good at one thing, one style... but she wasn't versatile at all in that she couldn't pull off anything else. Watching her do the group numbers every week was a little painful.

But I thought she was a pretty cool chick. She really came out of her shell the past few weeks. Actually I think I liked her better before she did that, because she was really reserved and humble. The last few weeks she turned into more of a rock star. I'm sure she had to because, hey, she's a rocker... but I thought her calm, cool, collected side was endearing and that's what I liked most about her. Bummer, Amanda. I was pulling for you to tour. You were fun to watch and definitely deserved to tour more than some others that got through to the top 10.

It's that time of year again....

Time to start up my weekly American Idol results posts again, where I offer up my "professional" opinion of the Idol contestant voted off each week.

This week David Hernandez went home. I am disappointed. I agree that he didn't have one of the strongest performances this week but in the talent pool I think he had one of the most amazing voices and I wish he had been given another chance. Of course you have to wonder how much of America's decision had to do with his previous profession and all the recent publicity about that. Poor guy. He is a great talent and was one of my favorites from the start. I was very sad to see him go home so soon.

Speaking the Same Language

Children never cease to amaze me. It's like all of a sudden they just KNOW stuff and you're left standing there dumbfounded like, "Wait.... What just happened here?"

Sunday morning I went into Chase's room to get him and he didn't have his pajama pants on. I laughed and said, "Where are your pants?!?" He looked down at his legs, then up at me with a look that screamed, "Whoah! You're right! I DON'T have any pants on!" and then looked all around the crib. I was shocked. "Did you just understand what I said?!?" No way. He's just a baby! It must have been a fluke, I thought.

After breakfast we were all on the floor playing together and Brian asked me, "Where is his big red ball?" I responded, "I don't know, I haven't seen it in awhile" and Chase crawled across the room, went into the little nook between his crib and the wall and came out with his big red ball. Brian and I just looked at each other wide-eyed. Could he have understood us? Naw....

So last night we tested the theory. He was sitting in the middle of the floor and Brian said, "Where's your ball?" He looked around, spotted it and crawled across the room to get it.

When did this happen?!?!?!? It's the coolest thing in the world, I swear! Just when I think he can't possibly get any cooler he comes up with something new.

Birthday Bash in Alma

Chase and I drove to Alma this weekend to celebrate the birthdays of my Dad, my step-brother Kory, my step-sister Kim and my step-niece Courtney. Brian couldn't join us because he had to work at NIU. Kory's entire family was sick (ugh, it seems like EVERYONE is these days!) so we didn't get to see them, but the weekend was fun nonetheless. Chase LOVED playing catch with his cousin Kailey!

In addition to the party we went to the little Alma airport and Chase got to see a helicopter land right in front of him! He thought that was pretty cool. He also got a new toy from Grandma... a drum (everything in the house was a drum to him, anyway, so we thought we'd give him the "real thing" to pound on)!

Sunday we went to church where Chase had fun in the nursery, despite a mildly traumatic choking incident with an animal cracker (I'm so glad I wasn't there for that). After lunch with Grandpa at The Main Cafe (as is tradition), we headed back home.

On the way home Chase was getting antsy in the backseat so I stopped at a McDonalds playland. In the past we have done this on long drives and just let him crawl around on the mat with some toys to get some energy out and stretch a bit and it has worked great. This time I found out it is no longer a brilliant idea.

Chase discovered stairs. You may remember our heart attack post when he miraculously crawled upstairs all by himself without our knowledge. Well this weekend at my parents he decided it is his new favorite thing to do and we could not keep him away from them! So when I sat him down on the McDonalds playland floor he TOOK OFF and climbed the steps into the playland tunnels. Oh my lord. I pulled him away from the tunnel time after time after time until it started getting crowded and I got worried he was going to be trampled to death, at which point he got really mad at me for making him leave.

So the rule is a child has to be 3 years old to climb in the playland. Any bright ideas of what I can do on road trips for the next 21 months?!? Since he isn't walking yet and it's winter, it's not like I can let him run around a rest area. I need ideas!!!!

Some photos of our weekend are in our Photo Album. I only took a few so the album right now is pretty skinny, but as soon as I get the photos my mom took I'll add those as well.

And now for the answer to... Name That Crud!

Brian and I bought Chase this cool toy for Christmas:



He LOVES it. We put it in his playpen and he has a blast in there. He will put all sorts of toys on it, including blocks, stacking rings and sippy cups. It's great fun.

Thursday he was playing with it while I was getting ready in the morning. I heard the music coming from the table but something was different. I looked over and the piece in the middle wasn't spinning, so none of the balls were doing anything. They were just sitting there. Huh.

So that night after I put Chase to bed I grabbed the table and immediately realized something was up because you could hear pieces of something rattling around inside and little white flakes were falling to the floor. I took it down to the basement and while I got caught up on my American Idol episodes I took a screwdriver to the table and dismantled it. What you saw in the "Name That Crud" post (see previous) fell out of the table all over the floor when I finally got the thing apart.

It's dried milk.

I gagged, too.

I guess the milk from a leaky sippy cup (or 20) flying around the table must have seeped in through the table's speakers or something. I spent over an hour taking the insides of that table apart, cleaning everything out and putting it all back together again.

No more sippy cups allowed in the play pen!!

Time to play... Name That Crud!

This is a photo of how I spent my night. Any ideas what this stuff is on my carpet?

Leave your best guesses in the comments section. Answer coming soon!

Tampa Trip

Chase and I got back from Tampa yesterday. Brian had a conference scheduled there so we tacked a little family getaway onto the front of it. We all went down there last weekend for a few days and then Brian stayed after Chase and I left and is doing his conference thing now.

We have a lot of family down there and I'm happy to say we were able to spend some time with all of them, though not as much time as we would have liked!

This is by no means representative of our entire trip but here are a few photos from my camera. The rest are in our Photo Album.

At the Tampa Aquarium, Chase got up close and personal with the fish:

Aunt Jen (Brian's sister) and our nephew (Chase's cousin) Ryan took us to Picnic Island, where we played at the beach...

...and made use of a park there:

Jen and Ryan had a lot of fun together on the swings:

We also were able to introduce Chase to his only living great-grandparent, Great-Grandma Paine:

We also spent time with Brian's Uncle Carl & Aunt Elaine, cousin Jason and his wife Glenne (and their adorable son, Smith) and his Uncle Rodney & Aunt Carol. Unfortunately I don't have photos with them but I'm hoping they share some of the ones they took (and if/when they do, I'll add them to our Photo Album).

Chase and I had an OK trip back. It's hard traveling with a kid by yourself! I missed the extra set of hands, definitely. We had a connecting flight and the first flight was a tough one. You know, I love that people love my son, but when you're trying to get your kid to sleep it's the most frustrating thing in the world to have people come up and try to play with him.

He fell in love with a flight attendant on the first flight. I mean, he fell in LOVE. She came up and said hi to him when we first boarded the plane and the minute she walked away he started to cry. So as I tried to get him to sleep the entire flight I constantly prayed she wouldn't walk by. But of course every time he started to get comfortable on my shoulder, there she was.... "Hi, cutie!" His head would pop up and he would smile and lo and behold, she would walk away (because I guess they have other things to do than entertain my son), and he would cry and crane his entire body around to try to see her. So then I would calm him down and get him relaxed, almost ready to drift off to sleep again, and then BAM! She was back. We went through that cycle over and over and over again the entire flight. Needless to say on the 2nd flight he was passed out before we even left the ground. PHEW.

When we got back to Chicago we dug our coats and hats out of our suitcase and started the trek to my car. Let me tell you, carrying a 23 pound child on your hip while pulling a 50 pound suitcase with a diaper bag over your shoulder that feels like you filled it with rocks is NOT an easy task... especially when you didn't plan your son's outfit very well and dressed him in a slippery jogging pants outfit. I have no idea how I did it. Seriously.

Anyway, it was so nice to get out of the cold Chicago weather, if only for a few days. Next time we need to go for a longer period of time!