A, B, C...Chaz!!!!

Disclaimer: This post took me FOREVER. Been working on it in my spare time (which is very infrequent). As a disclaimer update, I am no longer at the job referred to in this post. That is a whole other post for a whole other day, but I didn't want to cause any confusion..... :)

I was super reluctant to take this new job, as I was worried about what I would do with Chaz during my training time, and until I gained enough seniority to choose hours that would allow me to not have to leave Chaz sometime during the day. However, through a very inspired chain of events, I was able to get Chaz in the Intermountain Child Development Center. This is a daycare that only takes children of Intermountain employees. I feel like Chaz has had some great opportunities there. He only goes there 2 days a week, so I think it's a perfect mix and a great way for him to get some social skills and some fun play time outside of the home. In August, they switched rooms. When he first started, he was a butterfly. Now, he has changed to the dolphin room. During his last week in the butterfly room, we got all of these cute pictures on a DVD to have as a keepsake. If I can't be with him, this is definitely the next best place. In fact, sometimes, because of the resources and other children there, I actually think it is better for him to be there a couple of days a week. Chaz has learned A TON of new things lately. So, with the back to school theme, I wanted to do a post of the A.B.C's of Chaz:

 A is for Animal Noises: Chaz loves to make animal noises. His faves include: pig, cow, dog, & cat. Seeing that he was having so much fun with these noises, we decided that we thought he would have a lot of fun seeing all of the animals at Wheeler Farm. Not so much! He was OK with the chickens that we saw first. After that, we went over to look at a baby cow. The cow was being quite noisy, which scared the soup out of Chaz. He was also afraid of the baby goat as well. Silly Boy! :)
B is for Blanket: Chaz loves his blankets. He is not particular to one, but has 2 similar light blue fleece with dark blue on the other side that he tends to end up with most of the time. When he is tired, he will ask for his "Baba" he also still asks for a real "Baba" (a bottle) that he still has once in the morning and once at night. We have to listed closely to hear the difference between the two. He is not super attached to the bottle. I just like knowing he is getting that little bit of fat in the whole milk a couple of times a day (he's quite the little boy).
C is for Cars: This little guy is a CARS FAN, and he came that way because I have no idea how he even got exposed to the movie Cars. For his Birthday (watch for future post), I bought him a little cars push toy, and that started the beginning of his pure obsession. We went to Disneyland right after Cars land opened (also watch for future post), and he was the proudest little guy I have ever seen getting his picture taken with Lightening McQueen. We brought him home a Cars playset, and he loves to play in the bathtub with these Cars characters. The other day, Chaz had a fever. It was so sad. He felt awful, and he was still in the tub making a "BROOM BROOM" noise with his shivering little lips. It was so sweet and sad all at the same time.

D is for Drink: Chaz is our first child to actually drink milk, which is great. But, he thinks that anything he drinks out of a straw is "coke". Tonight, I was drinking out of a straw, and from across the room, he started loudly yelling "coke, coke". The funny part is that I am 99% sure he has never had even a sip of "coke". He must just know whatever comes out of a straw usually tastes pretty good, and some people call that drink a coke.
E is for Elmo: Chaz has a pair of pajamas that has Elmo on the shirt. He will always look down at it, and say "melmo". so sweet!
F is for Flip: Some of you who know Josh may know that one of his favorite "Nay Nay" words is "Flip". Recently, Chaz has started mimicking this word. When you ask Chaz to say Flip, he puts his lips tightly together, and partially spits as he proudly pronounces "Plllllop", which actually sounds like a very close version of Flip

G is for Goke: When Chaz got his little car push toy for his birthday, he couldn't decide whether he wanted to say "Go" or "Truck". Somewhere in that confusion, the word "Goke" was created by Chaz. His little push toy is always lovingly referred to as "Goke"
H is for Handsome: Every day after Chaz gets ready, we bring him into the bathroom mirror to do his hair. We say to him "Say, 'I'm Handsome'". He wholeheartedly responds with "I ha ummm". He tries so hard to tell us how cute he is!!!!
I is for Ice Cream:  Chaz loves to sit with Josh and eat ice cream. The other day, we asked him if he wanted to eat some ice cream. He shook his head yes, and walked over to open the freezer door. Smart kid!!!!! Definitely mine and Josh's kid as well!!!!!

J is for Jesus: When Chaz was super tiny, we would ask him where Jesus was. He couldn't even make many sounds, much less, talk, but he would turn his head right towards a picture of the Savior that hangs in our living room. As he has gotten older, he calls that same picture "Dada" which I find to be interesting (I am sure that Jesus looks like our Heavenly "Dada"). It's a sweet testimony builder to me that Chaz knows EXACTLY who he is.
K is for Kandace: Kandace has been in a play this summer. Whenever Chaz would see her on the stage, he would yell "Kanda, Kanda". He knows she is his sister and he sure loves her. He cannot say K'Lynn. We have tried to work on "Goose" (A long time nick name), or Sissy. He know who she is as well, but we haven't really found a title for her that he has jived with quite yet.
L is for Loves (Reading): When we are home, Chaz is usually walking around with a book in his hand. He has books that say things that the babies are doing, and he will act them out (laugh, hug, crawl, wave, clap, etc). He LOVES flap books, except we are having some issues with those because he also thinks that it is fun to tear the flaps off (what fun is a flap book without the flaps?)

M is for More: Before Chaz started talking, we did teach him some sign language. The only one that really came is useful, and he used a lot before he could talk, was the sign for "more" (putting both "O" shaped hands together). He us usually so intense about it that he will shake while he is making the sign.
N is for Name: The other day, it dawned on me that it would probably be a good time to teach Chaz his name. So, I said to him, "What is your name?" He happily replied with "Chaaaaaaa". I was so stunned. I called Josh and asked him if he had been teaching Chaz his name. He said no. We concluded that he must have learned this at daycare. Sure enough, we found out about a cute little game they had played at the daycare that taught Chaz his very own name. Update: Since starting this post, Chaz can now say his whole name: "Chaaaazz"
O is for Ohhhh.....: Sweet little Chaz has a little monkey that he got from one of our very good friends for his Birthday. We got a video of him with that the other day (I will do my best to try to post it to the blog). Anyhow, in the video, Josh was telling Chaz to give his Monkey a hug. When he does, he pats the monkey's back, and consoles his little stuffed animal with a simple "Ohhh....". Recently when he is tired, he will take my arm and do the same thing while laying on my arm. It is so very precious.

P is for "Pottle": This word was made up with Chaz language. Here's the deal: Chaz is very much into being interested in the concept of a potty Chair. It is actually the funniest thing. He started asking to go "Pottle" every time we took off his diaper. So, of course we let him experiment (how awesome would it be if my only boy potty trained himself?). The big toilet was obviously very large for Chaz. So, we recently bought him his very own Cars "Pottle" It's got a little gear shift on it that makes a car engine sound. Chaz loves it and seems pretty obsessed with figuring out exactly how to use it. Details to be continued......
Q is for Question Answering: Chaz has recently figured out that questions are answered with a "Yes" or with a "No". I think he can tell by the vocal tone of a question. Funny thing is he goes in spurts. For quite some time, everything was answered with a simple "Yea". Recently, he has moved on to answering everything with a "No". I must admit he is getting quite good with his No's and what exactly they mean.
R is for Row Row Row Your Boat: When we were on our cruise in 2010, I won this trophy that they called a ship on a stick. Believe it (or not), I won a dance contest. ;) Anyhow, that trophy is one of Chaz's favorite toys. He has recently started playing with it. He will point to it and say "boat, boat". Within the the last week or so, he will start singing this darling little tune that is his rendition on "Row Row Row Your boat". It is quite adorable.

S is for Sorry (Sawee in Chaz lingo): Yes, Chaz does have this word down, and has to use it here and there. The worst thing Chaz has done to date is bite another little boy at the daycare (YIKES!!!! I was mortified). Most of the time he is sweet SWEET, but he is still a toddler, so it is still best to watch out!!!! :)
T is for Thank You: Chaz will always say "Da uuuu" when you hand something to him. The sweetest part about this little phrase is that he also says it (instead of you're welcome), when he hands something to you.
U is for Unlike: There really aren't too many things that Chaz doesn't like, but one of those things is when we sing the song "Silent Night"! We have no idea why, but every time we sing it, he literally instantly bursts into tears. I like to think that it reminds him of being in Heaven. Nonetheless, if you do want to make Chaz cry, sing "Silent Night". Poor little guy!

V is for Vroom: Chaz will play with his cars. As he is driving them around the room, his playtime is never complete without the "VROOM" sound he makes for his cars.
W is for "Wadu" and "Wadu": Chaz has 2 phrases that sound nearly identical, yet mean something completely different. The first "Wadu" is what Chaz says when you tell him that you love him. He says "Wadu" and that means "Love You". The other one is what he says when he wants a drink of "Water". Good things moms know what these things mean! ;)
X is for "Pano" (huh?): Chaz loves playing with Xylophones. He has been playing with one in nursery at church, as well as also playing with one at the gym daycare. The only problem is, he thinks that they are pianos (lovingly referred to as "Panos" by Chaz). The other day after I picked him up at the gym daycare, I noticed he had a little bruise on his forehead. I asked him what happened and he stated: "Pano". I think he may have hit himself in the head with what he knows to be a piano.
Y is for Yessie (and Buzz and Woody and Horsey and Baby and Dino): Chaz was originally obsessed with Cars. However, recently he has become totally infatuated with Toy Story. He LOVES Woody and Buzz. He lovingly refers to Jessie as "Yessie" and calls all of thee other characters by their object names (Baby, Bear, Dino, etc). Chaz has a darling orange stuffed animal dinosaur. He has had it since he was born, and has always LOVED it. When he was tiny tiny, I would put it in the corner of his Bassinet (only when awake, of course), and he would stare at it for quite some time several times a day. Anyhow, nowadays, you ask him what color that "Dino" (as he calls it) is. He will carefully think about it for a bit and respond with "punkin" (orange). So very cute!
Z is for, well, ZEEEEEE: Recently, we hung a picture of Chaz's name above his changing table. When you ask him what it says, he will reply with "Chaz" Then you ask him how to spell it. He knows it starts with C. He then has to be coached through the other letters. However, when he gets to the end, he proudly proclaims "Zeeeeeee"