First driving lesson

Ace gets instruction in proper hill descent from Grandpa, who arrived today for a delightful early winter visit. Tomorrow's lesson: "Double declutch!"

Hide n' Seek

Despite our best efforts to hide, Daddy found us.

Go West, young man

Despite throwing up a few times this morning, Chase enjoys a ride with his pal Erin in the covered wagon at the Denver Zoo. The girl in the back is a stowaway.

Stripes

While folding laundry, Chase demanded Mommy's socks. Then he asked her to put them on his feet. This led to raucous drum playing and, finally, a bum drum.

Wild Imagination

The Kid has begun to engage in creative play: bobbing toy animals up and down and declaring that they are "running," putting his doll into the crib to go "night, night," and, in this case, putting a handful of wood chips on the table at the playground and declaring them "cronie, cronie" (a.k.a. macaroni & cheese).

Daddy did need to step in to ensure that the play didn't lead to the actual consumption of the wood chips, but it was advanced creativity, all the same.

Pancakes! Pancakes!

Ace enjoys some Black Friday diner fare at Snooze. Afterward, he enjoyed an hour at Lil' Monkey Bizness and another hour at Ikea, where we supported the economy by spending exactly $0.00.

Giving Thanks

Chase enjoys his second Thanksgiving with our Denver family, the Cassetta-Waxmans. We are so thankful to have friends and family both near and far.

Ace was thankful that he was welcome at the big-people table.

Captain Chase

The Little Engineer discovered a complete airplane cockpit right in the middle of the Green Valley Ranch branch of the Denver Public Library this afternoon. He successfully landed the jet between the children's section and the DVDs.

Where'd Mommy Go?!?

An all new and novel way to play peek-a-boo. Just close your eyes and everyone disappears!

Still Cute

Even on a slow photo day, the Kid looks good.

Lovey

We all know Chase loves Snowman. But did you know that he likes to rub Snowman's tag on his nose?

Cleaning up the joint

Chase stuffs his face with grapes while Mommy continues her pre-holiday cleaning frenzy. This involves, of course, the vacuum, so it's been a fantastic day for the Critter.

Sittin' Pretty

Hey, look -- I have a new booster seat!

...and a tongue!

If the shoe fits

Chase went into a closet today and emerged with new footwear. Walking in shoes 10 sizes too big while drinking juice from a sippy cup proved no problem for this coordinated tyke.

Bromance

Chase and Jamey gear up for a high-five.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Chase enjoys a stroll through the Botanic Gardens today.

Boxed In

Remarkably, this did not result in injury.

Finding Refuge

On our third attempt as a family, we finally managed to visit the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge when it was open to visitors.

Just a few miles from our home, the Arsenal has an amazing history involving munitions for World War II, Cold War bomb shelters, and 165 million gallons of hazardous waste pumped into the ground. And now there are bison running around. Pretty amazing.

By the way, Chase is looking out on Lake Mary. What do you think of that, Nanna?!?

What a pear!

Chase has moved beyond finger foods.

Little Drummer Boy

Ace gets an early start on practice for SOAR's African Drum corps.

Better believe it...

I'm even cuter in person.

Overworked and underpaid

This is how tragic accidents involving train pile-ups occur. This motorman clearly need more sleep.

Dinner for Three

A failed Groupon redemption attempt at a neighborhood Italian restaurant left us scrambling for an alternative dining establishment, which turned out to be a cool restaurant/diner called Steuben's.

Ace must have loved it -- it was the best behaved he's been at an eatery in quite some time.

Dinner for One

Chase opens wide as he scoops more yogurt into his mouth. His mouth is usually yapping about dump trucks and cars, but this moment was one of the rare times in the day when he wasn't talking.

Ice, Ice Baby

Riding on Daddy's back, Chase conquers some trails at Chautauqua in Boulder. We didn't make it up the path very far -- too icy. We had a nice time walking on the trail roads nearer to the ranger station though.

Three on the Swings

Caleb joined Chase for another morning of babysitting. Chase sure was tuckered out from all the activity. It's clear Caleb and Chase will be life-long buds.

Simple Physics

The Little Engineer examines snowball trajectories with Daddy.

y=ax² + bx + c

Keep on Truckin'

Chase enjoys a spin on his "new-to-him" ride-on dump truck. With winter weather descending upon us, Mommy decided Ace needed some heavy machinery for indoor use. He agreed!

Dustbuster

The Little Engineer enjoys gadgets, fans, motors, and noise-making-machines of all types.

Might as well put him to work in the process.

The Calm Before the Storm

Chase enjoys some outside time today at the infamous Sand Park before the second snow storm of the season hits tonight. Anyone venture a guess what Ace is pointing at?