I think Casey looks like Aunt Cristen when she was a l'il girl here. 

And here he looks like me. 

Here he's very happy.  He LOVES this slide. 

When we got home yesterday Casey pulled his car out of the driveway and climbed in. Backwards. I turned him around & we went for a stroll through the neighborhood. He said hello to everyone we passed and beeped his horn at every car he saw. Even the parked ones. When we got home & I took him out of his car, he screamed and twisted himself around because he wanted to stay outside...his shrieking went something like this: NONONONONOOUTSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once I wrangled my writhing child through the door, he became silent. He stared in wonder at his newest toy. While we were at work/prison yesterday Papa came and put together a fabulous indoor slide I got when I was a lass (yes, many years ago). He LOVED it and had a look of glee on his face the entire evening. He wasn't thrilled about having to stop playing on it to eat dinner, and once finished eating he ran over to it.

The camera phone picture doesn't really do it justice, but I didn't get to upload the other photos yet.

Casey will be getting a permanent seat at the big kids table to eat at prison by the end of August. Now he sits there when a seat is available, and he really likes it. He eats with a fork, drinks out of an open cup, and says "done" when he's full. Sometimes he does all of those things at home...and sometimes he pours his drink on the floor or throws food. But he's one, so we'll work on it.
He said hello (really, it's he-LLLOOOO), car (caaaaaawwwww), and oh no. All fruit is an apple. He spits out blueberry muffins like they're poison.

Surprise

Matt had a little surprise party for me today.  I went wedding dress shopping with Cristen & my mom again (for Cristen's wedding, I'm not planning another wedding).  I came home to a house full of people.  It was a nice surprise & we had a lovely time. Matt didn't document the event with photos, so these are the only 2 we have...

I showed someone the pictures below this morning & said person told me Casey should lose the sunglasses because they're "not very tough". He's only one! He doesn't need to be tough yet.

I found another tooth last night during the struggle I like to call toothbrushing. We now have 3 of 4 molars-- the one I found yesterday is on the bottom right.
Casey said mote yesterday, meaning remote. He says talk all the time (and picks up the phone like he's talking into it). He knows cows say moo, dogs say woof, and he usually gets the elephant sound pretty close. And he knows Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street. Now, when asked a question, he will say no if he's not interested. He also knows poo poo.
He had a lovely conversation with Uncle Scotty before he went to bed last night, and he yelled bye at the end.

little man

Since the beginning of his time in prison, Casey has always been very excited to see me when I rescue him at the end of the day.  He used whatever the quickest method possible to get to me--crawling, pushing other kids out of the way, walking, and most recently running.  Then I would grab his bag & carry him out to the car.  Earlier this week he was not in a rush to leave & kept playing with his friends.  Today, he came over to me, we said goodbye to the wardens and left the cell block.  As soon as we were in the hallway, he wanted to get down.  He grabbed my hand & we walked out to the car.  He walked like a little person, waving and saying bye to everyone we saw on the way out.  He WALKED to the car...like a little boy...he's not a BABY anymore.   

Children's Museum

It was got. The house has no air. The Rubzukes clan headed to the Portland Children's Museum.

First we strolled around Portland a little, and stopped for lunch at Wild Burrito where we dined on delicious burritos. Then we meandered through some kind of farmers market with organic everything and earth friendly vendors. We finally made it back to the museum. Casey had fun...and we enjoyed the air conditioning.

Riding a tractor

Water table
Moving Earth at the touch of a button

Casey did not enjoy sitting on in front of the giant tick as it inflated. Not even a little.

He did enjoy the full rainbow we saw over the ocean after we got home, though.

Casey got this empty water out of the pantry and carried it around the house for most of the afternoon...

from the kitchen 

to the living room...
and back.  

Later, he joined the rest of us for an early game of Yahtzee.  He bounced between the laps of Papa, Daddy, Grandma and me.  He seemed to enjoy the game, and even got his own foam dice to throw.  He helped me get a Yahtzee on one of my turns.  Then he tried to eat some of the dice. 

Some of the group...and Aunt Berta's cast.  

a day at the beach

Matt & I took Casey to a playground for some afternoon fun.  Aunt Cristen came along for the ride.  He tried out the swings, the slide, a climbing toy, saw a furball of a dog, strolled around, and then ate mulch.  I think the mulch eating was the highlight of the playground for him.  On the way home we stopped to get some onion rings at Rapid Ray's to go with dinner.  Casey liked the breading, but didn't so much enjoy the onion part. 

July 5

Casey has a little fever yesterday evening. This of course caused endless worry for me. I'm guessing it had something to do with the new tooth I found this morning when he clamped down on my finger like a crab.

Happy 4th

We departed for our summer vacation in Maine last night at around 10PM. Aunt Cristen rode in the back to entertain Casey...and after about 5 hours (most of them while sleeping) he tired of her and whined for most of the rest of the trip. Overall, not a bad middle of the night ride. We arrived around 6AM, which left us all exhausted. Sadly, because of the sleepiness we missed the Ocean Park 4th of July parade. Rumor has it the parade wasn't so hot anyway. Grandma Z invited her old college pal Mrs. Jaquith & husband over for a bbq.  I believe a good time was had by all.

This afternoon Casey & I went to visit friends Susie & Nicole at the beach. Casey slowly warmed up the the sand (I worked the slow to warm up phrase in for Susie), and then proceeded to throw it at us and coat himself in it. I forgot the camera, so there are no photos.

Casey did some light reading (he enjoyed his new book from his new friend Kathy).
Tried out my sunglasses


and did some cleaning.


Then he giggled with delight after chasing us with the broom. Seriously, he guffawed. Who knew brooms could provide so much entertainment. He screamed like I was injuring him when I took the broom away for his bath.