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!

Summer Days at the Beach

All of you who know me, know that I am a huge beach fan and I was so excited that we got the opportunity to spend the weekend in Wildwood NJ. Not only did I get to spend that time with my 2 fave guys, but also Mom and Bill. The reason for the trip to the shore was to celebrate Mom's birthday, and I don't like to brag but I think we threw her a great weekend at the beach :)

We stayed at an awesome motel, a block from the beach, called Nantucket Inn. It had a really nice pool and was very clean, I would highly recommend it to anyone heading to Wildwood. We had so much fun, mostly because Chase is highly entertaining every second of the day, but it was great getting to spend time with Mom and Bill also. We hit the boardwalk quite a bit; of course ice cream and pizza on the boards are a must. We also tried fried oreos for the first time, which are highly dangerous as they were soooo good.

As you can imagine I couldn't wait to get Chase down onto the sand. It is my goal to make him as much as a beach bum as I am, and I don't think it's going to be a difficult task. Now it wasn't his first time on the beach, but it was the first time going with him being mobile, which made it an entirely different experience. The kid was covered, head to toe in wet sloppy sand, that's what it's all about though right? If Chase could talk I would have to say his favorite thing was chasing after the seagulls, which he did doing his army crawl lol, it was a sight! Anthony and Anita were kind enough to give us their wagon from when Jenna and Justin were small and what a lifesaver that was. Not only did we put Chase in it, but it was piled high with towels, beach toys, baby goods etc. It was much easier to pull in the sand that the stroller.

We ended the trip with a nice dinner for Mom's birthday at the Wharf. We couldn't have asked for an nicer way to end the weekend than with good food, those we love and a beautiful sunset.

Eleven Months

Boy is it tiring keeping up with our little guys these days! I look at him and see more and more of a toddler everyday. He is so determined to do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it. He makes sure to let us know when he is not happy being pulled away from his toys to have his diaper changed. Is it possible for 11 month olds to throw tantrums because I'm pretty sure they are creeping through. With that said 99% of the time he is still a big sweetie and keeps us laughing all day. He and Cisco are becoming better friends every day and I love watching them play together. Cisco even lets Chase pet him now..big strides!!!! I can't believe I only have one more post of his first year monthly update. It makes me sad but I am so excited for all the fun moments we will continue to share.

10 month update

This past month has flown by, probably because most of my day is spent chasing after our little Chase. Now that we have the baby gates up he has free reign of the main level and loves exploring every little nook and cranny, especially Cisco's water bowl. Earlier today I found magnets floating in it lol. Yesterday I'm pretty sure he ate a piece of a dead fly before I got to him in time, but hey that's a boy for ya right? We are so unbelievably blessed to have such a happy, goofy, sweetheart for a son. Here is his 10 month photo and stats.

Nine Months

My how our little baby is turning more into a toddler everyday. He loves climbing into his ballpit and rolling around, he is so rough in there and looks like such a little boy. If he hits his head on a toy while rolling around he doesn't flinch, just keeps on going. But then there are still those moments when you see how little he really is; when he falls asleep while drinking his night time bottle or when he cries when I leave him in the childwatch at the gym. It's such a blessing getting to spend my whole day with him and see him get so excited over Cisco or how pleased he is when he does something. I am very thankful I don't have to miss a single second of it.

Incase you didn't hear Chase has now mastered the army crawl! We thought we still had a few weeks but nope, no Fathers Day at my Dad's house he decided now is the time, and we haven't been able to stop him since. I went into baby proofing mode at our house of course. Chase's new favorite game is to try and catch Cisco, fortunately for Cisco he is still quicker than Chase at this point in time. Chase has decided that he will only eat finger foods now, which is great for more as it mean no more blending all of his food, the only time it gets a little difficult is when we go out to eat as the veggies aren't always soft enough for him to eat. Chase doesn't seem to mind at all though as it means he gets extra bits of Mummy's filet.

His checkup went very well. He was a champ at getting blood taken and having his shots. He has grown but it has slowed down a little. His height is 28.5 inches (50th percentile), weight 19lbs. 5oz (35th percentile) and head 17 .75 inches, I forget the percentile for that. We are going to try taking him off of the zantac and see how he does. If he starts back up with the reflux we will start with the medicine again.

As always he is his nine month photo and stats.

Torticollis Update

As you know Chase was diagnosed with torticollis (tilting of the neck due to a weak muscle) around 2 1/2 months and started receiving physical therapy. Even with insurance our copays were $108 a session, which Chase went once a week. Of course there was never a question about paying it, but it's still a lot of money. In February we got approved for early intervention, which is free physical therapy provided by the county. The best part is the therapist comes to us! For the past few months Chase and I have been working hard on strengthening his neck and teaching him how to roll. I wouldn't call it a delay but due to his weaker neck, rolling has been a bit of a struggle for him. Well, it is all paying off, as at this weeks session the PT told us she wants to reduce Chase's sessions to every other week as she hasn't seen any tilt for the past 3 weeks! Chase doesn't get discharged completely as when he starts to crawl, it can pop back up temporarily. We are so relieved by this news as it really has been a focus each and every day while we play. Even though torticollis isn't life threatening it was still a little nervewracking as you want your child to be perfect and having to stretch a teeny baby neck is a little scary in itself, so we are very happy with this news. On top of this Chase has mastered rolling in both directions! I'm sure it wont be long until he is crawling all of the house now :)