Chaddy Update

Hello!  We're still alive down here, just super busy!  But here is a quick update on what's new in Chad's world!
Here's a pic of the little guy!

Look how tall he is!

Chad had a little play date with a 14-month-old last weekend.  Things started off friendly enough, with Chad sharing his fish sticks and handing her a toys.  But then he suddenly became very concerned that she was going to steal all his things.  My favorite part was when he picked up his basketball hoop and carried it into the kitchen.  Then he peeked out to see if she was following him, let out a little scream, and ran to push it further away.  I guess we'll be working on sharing before his next little get together.  He blew her a kiss when she was leaving, so at least things ended on a good note.
He's been very busy at school, and is starting to get over his "I'm going to cry like a fountain so you don't leave me" phase.  Last week the class made animal masks.  I told Miss Simone that he liked birds, so she let him make a bird mask.  And the bird mask was the coolest of them all!!  The other kids made a cow and a seal and maybe a dog, but they were mostly just decorated with crayons and construction paper whiskers.  But for the bird they gave Chad a bunch of feathers, and told me that he glued them all on himself.  It is quite the work of art, but he hasn't let me take his picture with it yet.

Showing off his recent artwork to Fen

He also had his school pictures last week, and supposedly the photographer told Miss Simone "He likes to smile, doesn't he?"  But Miss Simone also told me that he's been known to throw a few tantrums when he isn't allowed to do something he wants to do.  I think she still loves him- she told me he's her "boo".
He's getting to be very helpful around the house, although he still hasn't figured out how to bring me coffee in bed.  Here he is cleaning up after dinner:

Yay, he shut it!

Last weekend we ventured out to a restaurant with him.  We don't go out very often because he's been known to start screaming over some small injustice, which can be kind of embarrassing.  The place we went to had kids meals that came with a drink, applesauce, and either chips or fries.  He chose the cheeseburger meal.  And I had him get the chips because I knew he wouldn't eat them, whereas if he saw fries he would gobble that trans fat nastiness down faster than you can say "atherosclerosis".  My plan was a success-- he wouldn't touch the chips.  Unfortunately, he wouldn't touch any of the burger either.

Kind of a humongous burger for a "kids meal," don't you think?  He didn't know where to start.

He tasted the bun....

Nope, not interested.  Instead he squished the bun and threw the chips on the ground.  Birds love Chad!

But he loved the applesauce!

Oh, I have to tell you about his newest quirk: when he gets tired he starts sucking his tongue.  It's his way of saying, "Oh, so you won't let me have a pacifier?  Who needs that when you have a tongue!"  He sticks his little tongue out of his mouth and sucks on it until he falls asleep.
His big 18-month check-up is Thursday morning.  Andy is taking him because it conflicts with my transmission electron microscopy training, and I can't miss that excitement... it doesn't happen every day.  (Trust me on this- I've been waiting about three months to get into this thing.)  Andy will be armed with my list of random questions for the doctor (Sample question: Does Chad poop too much?) that he is very happy to ask and is not at all embarrassed about.  So think pain-free shot thoughts for Chad, and hopefully in the next blog post I'll be able to tell you all exactly how much poop is too much for an 18-month old.
Can you handle one more cute picture?  OK, here it is!

Cheerios and dino jammies!