One Year Old

Well here it is, the last monthly post about Chase! Let's see if I can write this without tearing up...

When I think back to one year ago today I find it hard to believe this amazing little boy had just been born. I can still remember how it felt to hear his cry for the first time, holding him in my arms and feeling so complete and getting to bring him home where his life was in our hands. Being parents has taught us unconditional love, and what is truly important in life. When the 3 of us are playing on the family room floor and Cisco is running around James and I look at each other and say 'this is what it's all about'.

Chase has just amazed us at how quickly he learns things and he is extremely headstrong. When getting discharge from PT we were told he is doing a lot of things that 18 month olds are doing. As you can imagine, we were your typical proud parents lol. I've been around a lot of babies and I've never met a happier one in my life. He always has a smile on his face and is constantly babbling away. Being home with him everyday is a joy that nothing else can even come close to bringing.

As he turns a year, part of me is sad to see the baby in him disappear entirely but, seeing him interact with us and learn at rapid speed is so much fun. James also reminds me, he is going to need us for quite some time still, and he is a mama's boy so I predict many more snuggles are in the future.

We had a busy day on his birthday. It started with his one year check up which went very smoothly, minus getting 3 shots :( It was a beautiful day so we took him to the playground where he had a blast crawling all over the equipment and watching the older kids. Our family from England landed on his birthday so it was off to the airport in the afternoon to pick them up. We were so excited for them to get here. They all had a smooth flight and are here with us now squeezing in every minute they can with Chase. We wondered if he would be a little shy around them but that hasn't happened. He cuddles with them, plays with them and is loving being around them.

Here is Chase's 12 month stats

Birthday week kickoff!!!

I absolutely love to celebrate birthdays and so in our house we do the 'birthday week'! A week full of fun activities and spoiling the one whose birthday it is. This week is quite possibly the biggest birthday week yet as Chase turns one!!! It is hard to believe it is here already, it just seems like it was a few months ago that he came home from the hospital.

We have a lot going on this week to celebrate our lil man and we began today by having his discharge meeting from early intervention/physical therapy. As I'm sure you all remember Chase was diagnosed with torticollis (tilting of the head and lack of rotation in one direction) back in November. He was scheduled to start physical therapy through AI Dupont in the new year but then with us moving to PA we had to find a new office. I found a wonderful therapy place called Theraplay, the only issue was the copay was extremely high. Our therapist recommended we apply for Early Intervention (physical therapy through the state). We were thrilled when Chase was approved for the services in February, it's a wonderful program. A physical therapist comes out to your house once a week to work with your child. We have been blessed with an amazing therapist named Becky. Chase took to her right away which is half the battle. Not only was she wonderful with Chase but she made sure I felt confident knowing all of the stretches and exercises so that Chase could benefit from me working with him also.

Fast forward 6 months and Chase no longer has any tilt issues and his rotation is great. Because of his neck issues we found he was having problems with rolling. Those are now gone and he rolls all over as well as crawling, pulling to stand and 'cruising' along the furniture. He isn't walking by himself yet but he will take steps holding our hands. Honestly I'm in no rush for him to walk by himself anyway.

We are just so proud of our little man and all he has achieved in this area. It wasn't a life threating or life long issue but as a parent you always want your child to have as few issues as possible. There were days when Chase hated the stretches and it broke my heart to hear him scream, but I knew it was for his own good. Even though we will miss seeing Miss Becky every week, we are thankful we have a completely healthy one year old!