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 :)

Summer Summer Time!

The pools are open and lifeguards are on duty, it is officially the beginning of summer season! We decided to take advantage of James having a long weekend by heading to the beach. We all know I'm a beach bum at heart, so I was already pumped to be heading there, then combine that with taking Chase for the first time...I was in excitement overload :)

We decided to stay just outside of Ocean City NJ as we figured it's a nice family beach, plus our good friends and their daughter live in that area also. We arrived Sunday evening and headed right to the Ocean City boardwalk. We walked from end to end, grabbed dinner, spotted many Pauly D wannabes and had a blast listening to Chase babble the whole time.

Monday was a beautiful day, we couldn't have asked for better weather, 70 and clear blue skies. After a lazy morning at the hotel we headed to Sea Isle beach. I have never been there before and it is easily my favorite NJ beach. We bought Chase, aka James, a bucket, shovel and sand toy set before heading onto the beach. From the second Chase was taken out of the stroller he fell in love with the beach, a kid after my own heart. He laughed at the waves breaking, loved eating the sand and rubbing it in every crevasse on himself he could find. I thought tops he would last 20 mins, we were on the beach for an hour and a half and he was not at all happy when he was put back in his stroller to take a break from being in the sun. After enjoying a nice lunch on the boardwalk we headed to see the Smith family and take Maddie her birthday present. We had so much fun hanging with them on their little beach front and it was so cute watching Chase and Maddie interact. Maddie loved handing Chase toys and Chase thanked her by grabbing her butt lol. Both kids were fast asleep by 8pm which left us adults enjoying a few drinks and catching up. The day sure wore Chase out as he slept until 9:15am! I was one happy Mamma about that as we are usually up at 6:30am.

Here a few pics of our first trip to the beach as a family of 3

Dinner on the boardwalk

Relaxing and taking it all in

Loving playing in the sand with Daddy

Watching the waves

Playing with Maddie

Buddies for life

Eight Months Sees a Lot of Changes

I feel this has been the biggest month of changes for Chase so far. Everyday it seems he is learning something new, from spinning on his belly to get to toys, to putting his play saucepan on his head (which I showed him a week prior) to doing really well with finger foods. I am so proud of him for learning these new things but I can't help but think, where is my little baby going?

I love that he is becoming more interactive with us, he gives hugs and kisses and goes crazy when Cisco gets near him. Poor Cisco better watch his back and Chase is constantly trying to pet his big brother. His new thing is doing a fake cough, which gets Daddy in a panic as Chase likes to do this doing food time. Of course Chase burts into fits of laughter afterwards. He is going to keep us on our toes I can feel it.

This was my first Mother's Day, well with Chase being outside the womb at least, and for me it isn't about the gifts but spending time with Chase and doing what I love, which is being a Mum to him. James, Chase and I went to a little local zoo and we had a lot of fun. We ened the day by going out to dinner, anyone that lives in the area, check out Winberries in Devon, it was great food.

With the nicer weather we have been spending more time outside at the park and reading books on the blanket under the tree.

I'll leave you with Chase's eight month stats