23!

It's been another eventful week! 

Chase had his second ear infection last Thursday (same ear - the right one).  We probably should have known something was up when he woke up at 1 and 3am the night before (since he usually is a terrific night sleeper), but again we got a phone call from the daycare saying his temperature was 100.5  Our regular doctor doesn't work on Thursday, so we visited with a lady doctor in another office.  I think Chase was smitten.  He was smiling at her and giving her googlie eyes.  I can admit it...I was jealous! :)  One of his teachers at daycare said that Chase loves the girls as much as his milk - and that is saying A LOT! 

The experience of giving him the pink medicine is different now that he has gotten a little bit older.  For one, he thinks the syringe is now a play toy.  I have to fight him from grabbing it and pulling it away when I'm giving him the medicine.  Also, I don't know if there is a difference in the taste in the Walgreens brand vs. Kroger brand of pink stuff, but he likes to spit the Kroger pink stuff out!  I think he has spit out at least a third of the medicine I've given him! I don't know if he thinks it's gross or if he's just playing.  I'm just hoping he's getting and keeping enough down!

Over the past week (besides rolling over!- see previous post), we've noticed that Chase has been talking more around others (not just us), enjoying bathtime much more (kicking his feet and splashing water all over!), and laughing more and more.  I will have to create another post when I get more time about some of the things that make him laugh (usually silly songs we make up based on the tune's of popular songs).

Pictures from the week...

Not the happiest face in the world, but looking like a big boy in his Batman shirt and jeans

Rolling over!

First off, I have no pictures to prove this, but on Saturday Chase rolled over from his tummy to his back!  Yay!!  He has been getting close to rolling over a lot this past week.  On Thursday he got right on the brink of rolling over, but then gave up.  Drew gave him a motivational "push" that day to make him go all the way.  On Saturday though, he went all the way over on his own.

He won't actually do this for either Drew or I yet, but he did it 3 times for his Nini on Saturday morning.  The first time he did it, I was in the shower and Drew missed it because he was running to get the video camera (which was dead by the way!!).  The second time we both missed it again.  Then the third time, I saw it, but Drew was outside installing a carseat.  So as of today, poor Drew has yet to see Chase rollover.  So sad!

Here is a picture of him after his big accomplishment!

After rolling over, he also decided he would also start sucking his thumb like a "big boy" instead of just sucking on all of his fingers. :)

Twenty-two weeks

Hello again.  Time for another update!

No major milestones to report this week.  Pretty much each week he's just getting more alert and more coordinated.  He's rolling from side to side, but not yet all the way over.  While lying on his back, however, I notice that he's scooting and turning from the original place he was put in, so he's starting to get a smidge mobile!  He's "talking" more.  All of a sudden, he'll just starting babbling and cooing.  It almost sounds as if he's singing to us.  I also noticed something else over the past week or so - a trait that he picked up from his father.  When Chase is tired, he'll rub both of his eyes with his hands.  Although that doesn't really sound very significant, I totally see Drew in him when he does this!

He's also starting to become more and more interested in Weezie.  When Weez is standing near him, he'll reach his hand out towards her collar or her face. Weez responds by vigorously licking Chase's hand.  Chase will just stare at his hand being licked entranced until the moment that Weez then sneaks a few licks on his face. 

Sunday afternoon, Chase turned 5 months old.  We did an unofficial weigh-in to document the occassion.  He weighed 16 lbs even.  According to this website, that puts Chase in the 45th percentile in weight to age.

Here are some pictures from our fun weekend.

We put Chase in the little bouncy seat and had fun watching him jump up and down.  At first though, his hand went in the wrong spot!

Then he was doing a little jig...

Petting Weez...

Saying hello to the camera...

Now Weezie saying hello to the camera!

Both saying hi!

Loving life...

Since solid foods are now less than a month away, we finally put the high chair together.  Here, Chase is modeling for you in the chair!  His momma loves the little owl pattern!

On to the 22 week pictures.

I'm totally in love with this little boy!

Twenty-one weeks

Chase just completed his twenty first week of life.  Chase is just growing up before our eyes and each day we are just amazed by the new things he can do and laugh at the silly things he does.  This past week, Chase has been loving his Sophie and his Whoozit.  In fact, he throws a little tantrum now when his Sophie falls out of his reach or when he can't quite get her feet or her face in his mouth!!  Earlier this evening, Chase blew a few of his first raspberries and sticking out his tongue.  We got a big kick out of that.  He also talks when we drive in the car, but only when the radio is on.  Over the past couple of weeks, he's begun doing "crunches" when in his carseat and lying in our laps.  He's just itching to sit up.  During our latest tummy time sessions, he can roll from his back to his side, but can't quite make it to his tummy.  When he starts out on his tummy, he just stays on his tummy, but he's been lifting his head really high and scanning the room around him.

This week Chase went to his first baby shower for his future BFF Walter.  Chase gave Walter his first pair of BabyLegs.  We can't wait to see him in them.  Of course, since I bought baby Walt some Legs, I had to buy Chase a pair as well.  Oh, they are precious!  They are football legs!  He wore them on Sunday and then again today!

Here are some other pictures from the week.

Also, if anyone reading this can recommend a good photographer in the Memphis area please let me know!  I'm wanting to finally have some professional pictures taken of Chase sometime over the next month or so.  I'm kind of wishing I had some professional newborn pictures taken during his first two weeks since he has changed so much since then, so I definitely want to make sure I get some pictures taken before he becomes an older baby.  Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Valentine's Card

Chase really enjoyed his first day back at school.  He took a 3 hour nap there today!  I think he's been exhausted by our lack of routine the past week.

When Drew picked him up this afternoon, there was a Valentine from Chase to us!!  It's so cute!  I need to now come up with a system to begin keeping all of his little arts and crafts projects.

Twenty!

I have to first mention that as I'm typing this, I'm hearing Chase's little snores through the baby monitor!  Too cute!

Chase is now 20 weeks old.  In 6 short weeks, he'll be half a YEAR old!!  How did that happen? 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this past week has been a little stressful because of Chase's bronchiolitis diagnosis.  I'm happy to report that he's doing fantastic!!  He has a lingering cough that pops up every couple of hours, but besides that, he's totally back to normal!  Whew!  That means tomorrow he'll be going back to daycare after an 11 day absence and we can finally get back in our normal work week routine.  I'm very excited about that!  Although we love Dr. Owen, I'm hoping we don't have to see him again until our 6 month checkup in March.

I would also like to introduce you to Sophie.  This is one of the first toys I bought for Chase because this thing receives such rave reviews on the internet and it's so darn cute.  When I received it in the mail, I must admit, it looked, felt, sounded, and smelt (did I just make that tense up?) just like a dog toy.  Weezie is still convinced we are playing a cruel joke on her by letting the baby play with HER toy.  Chase didn't really know what to do with Sophie until recently.  Now, he can't get enough of her.   He makes such a droolly mess when chewing on her face and legs!

Nom, nom, nom...

True love

Who is that cutie in the carseat?

Dirty Little Valentine

Why do brand new, clean clothes make babies so sick they have to spit up all over them literally 15 seconds after putting it on them?! 

As a result of this "baby fact", Chase didn't wear his Valentine's shirt on Valentine's.  But here's a picture of the shirt he would have worn, taken shortly after his spit up!

Today's health lesson

The cold Chase had turned into something more serious...Bronchiolitis. 

By Wednesday, Chase's cough that I mentioned on my Monday post hadn't gotten any better and in fact, he was coughing so much Wednesday morning that he was having a very difficult time breathing (but no fever at all). It seemed like he was choking on all the mucus in this airways and he was extremely irritable (and I don't blame him for that!). I scheduled a doctor's appointment Wednesday morning, and Dr. Owen diagnosed him as having this bronchiolitis. There isn't really a treatment for this virus. All we can do is make Chase more comfortable. That includes elevating the top of his mattress a little when he sleeps, running the humidifier at night, and keeping him well hydrated.

This illness has really tested me emotionally! Chase is just so uncomfortable and so miserable, particularly in the morning. He just crys and hacks and just can't seem to find any peace! He basically just wears himself out in the morning in such distress that he passes out from exhaustion. His symptoms get a little better as the day progresses, but he's still sad! I just hate that I can't really do anything to help him. When he gets in his coughing fits, I just keep burping him (like that will do anything!) trying to force all that mucus out of him.  Dr. Owen said that this illness usually "peaks" by the 5th day. Since we noticed this illness Sunday night, I think Thursday was the peak of the illness.  Thus far on this Friday morning, he does seems to be improving just a little.  Of course, now I'm sick!  He's been out of daycare all week and will (hopefully) return on Tuesday since they are closed for President's Day.
 
Other Brochiolitis "fun" facts:

• Infants show symptoms within 4 to 6 days after infection and most will recover within 1 to 2 weeks.
• Almost all children have an RSV infection (the leading cause of bronchiolitis) by their 2nd birthday.
• This virus has outbreaks like the flu, where a lot of kids will get it around the same period of time.  Dr. Owen did mention he had seen a lot of it lately.
• The most common age to get this illness is 2 to 6 months of age.
• It affects boys more than girls.

Sorry there are no pictures to post.  We are all too tired to photograph our sick selves!

Dear Internet

Chase had a little message to share with the internet...

19 Weeks

This afternoon Chase turned 19 weeks old! Unfortunately, he entered his 19th week with a bit of a cold. We think the cold started last night and by this morning he had a pretty phlemy sounding cough. No fever though, so I'm trying not to get over excited about it. We'll keep on the lookout for a fever just in case he gets another ear infection.

Chase also entered his 19th week with ANOTHER snow day. He's had 4 now in his short little life! It all worked out for the best though, because he needed his mommy (and daddy, i guess...just kidding) here with him to cuddle him when he was feeling crabby from the cold. Throughout the day, I played the role of the nurturer and the hugger and Drew played the role of the entertainer and the diaper changer. And there was no lack of diapers to change. We counted 5 "fun" diapers (and two outfit changes) before noon.

To add to his list of milestones this week, we are fairly certain he now knows his name. We've suspected this over the past two weeks, but could never really be sure. Now when you call out "Chase", most of the time he looks in our direction. He also can now hold his own bottle for a short period of time. Drew told me about this "trick" earlier in the week and I tried it out when we went out for lunch on Saturday. Sure enough, he gripped the top of the bottle and held on. Very impressive! I think the daycare workers must have taught him that one!

I don't know if this counts as a milestone, but this week I finally packed up all of the 0-3 month clothes in his room. Now I'm also beginning to wonder if I need to pack the 3-6 month clothes up! The 3-6 month clothes seem to be a little short on him and giving him what I lovingly call a "diaper wedgie". While Drew and I were out on Saturday, I stopped by BabyGap and bought a few 6-12 month clothes (!!!). I tried them on him when we got home and they fit! What's scary is that they fit the same on him as the 3-6 month clothes fit back in December. He must have had quite a growth spurt in January!

Now on to what I think you really check out this blog for...

 Am I the only one who thinks he looks like a Shrek baby in this picture??  Maybe it's just the green shirt.

 This is as close as he got to the snow today due to his cold.

 I left the room to get him a new pair of pajamas and a stuffed animal (I was gone 1 minute tops), and he was out like a light when I returned.

18 Weeks

Chase turned 18 weeks old yesterday.  It's amazing how much he changes week by week.  This week he's been blowing bubbles, blabbering more (I think I heard him pronounce a "G" early last week), and laughing more.  As noted in an earlier post, tummy time has made significant improvements this week.  I've also noticed he's become quite the wiggler.  I lay him down on the bed next to me and he wiggles back and forth constantly.  I think he's just itching to rollover!  Thankfully we aren't quite there yet as then I will really have my hands full!  He's a lot more interested in his surroundings now and will follow Drew as he walks from one side of the room to the other.  I've also been able to keep him entertained with various things in my bedside table - a package of dental floss, a (child-safe) bottle of prenatal vitamins (I know...I am totally mother of the year!).

Teething may also be right around the corner.  Chase has been drooling since month 1, but lately it seems like he's been wanting to put everything in his mouth and instead of sucking on things, he's making chewing motions.  We'll see if I'm right or not.  I thought for sure I felt teeth around Christmas, but obviously I was totally wrong.

Flirty face...

Bubble-making face...

Per Drew's request... "Luke join the Darkside"**

**I haven't seen the Star Wars/Trek movies, so I don't get this reference.

In case you are wondering what is going on with Chase's parentals, here is a little rundown.  Drew starts graduate school this week, so he'll be very busy on Thursdays for the next two months and then on Saturdays the next few months after that.  Teaching is going well, and he's especially loved the snow days and holidays you get when becoming a teacher!  Nothing really new going on with me except for that I'm losing all my hair (apparently this is common in women who have just given birth).  My favorite part about the hair loss is I'm losing my brown hairs, but the gray hairs just refuse to fall out!  I should be especially cute when it all starts growing back and I have 2 layered hair!.  Chase is sleeping fantastic through the night (from around 8pm to 5am), but we're still going to bed really late (between work, dishes, and tv shows...notice that cleaning is not really on that list...and it shows!).  Hopefully once work slows down for both of us, we can go to bed sometime before midnight!