Chase at 6 months!

   

Has it really been 1/2 a year since our darling baby boy came into the world? It's hard to believe that he's been here that long, but it's also hard to remember a time when he wasn't a part of us. It's amazing to compare the tiny, skinny newborn to our bubbly, round, smiling happy baby! He has grown so much physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially. And, this means we have survived the first 6 months! It's supposed to get easier from here...or at least different.

This month we got some help with Chase's 6 month pictures. On his birthday, Chase was tired and in a bad mood after dinner. Plus, he didn't really like this sticker on his shirt!



Nasya helped Chase take his pictures. She said "It's okay!"

And helped clean up his drool

He appreciated her friendship

And that she provided a shoulder to lean on


But Chase was done with pics for the night and walked away.


So we tried again today. This time, drool was the problem. But luckily...

Mueller was there to help!





All better!



On Thursday we went to the Doctor's Office for Chase's 6 month appointment and he weighed in at 16lbs 14oz and 27 inches long! Both are at the 50th percentile. He's "SO BIG!"

The Dr said he's doing great and hitting all of his developmental milestones on time. Chase got 3 shots and cried a lot (the flu shot hurt!), but was smiling at the nurse by the time we left.

At 6 months Chase is:

Sitting unassisted for about a minute. He likes to sit and play with his toys or flip through a book. He likes the new perspective on the world. We usually prop him up with pillows or sit him in the Boppy. He's been  sitting in his bathtub too.

 But if he's tired or tries to reach something farther away, he falls over in slow motion. Timber!

"Walking"...only in his walker, but he's clearly gotten down that if he moves his feet and leans in a direction, he goes there. He's even figured out how to turn himself around (although he still drives the walker into the corner on a regular basis). It's quite hilarious to watch him run from one side of the room to the other when he's trying to get to Mueller.

In both his walker and his exersaucer, he bounces. He also does this when he's sitting or standing on us, and especially when he's excited.

Obsessed with Mueller- Chase could spend hours looking at, smiling at, and talking to Mueller. It's hilarious. His face lights up when Mueller walks in the room and when we're carrying him he cranes his neck to look down and see if Mueller is there. While I don't think that Mueller is quite as excited about Chase, he does give Chase some big kisses on the face (the exersaucer and walker put him at the perfect height) and Chase sputters and leans away. I'm not sure if that helps or hurts his obsession...

He's also loving books. After he dropped a board book on his face and got a bruise, we found some soft books for him to use. Then Kristin & Brice sent us some great soft books, including a taggie one that he loves! Here is Chase reading in the tub:

Rolling Over- A couple of weeks ago Chase was rocking and rolling over so much that he was waking himself up at night. Now he's not rolling over nearly as much, but he still does roll from his back to his stomach. He also holds himself up high and locks out his elbows. All he needs is to get up on his knees and he'll be in crawling position!

Still wearing 3-6month clothes, but quickly growing out of them. He's already too long for his 3-6 mo sleepers and will soon be too long for the onesies, but many of his pants and other jackets/tops still fit. He'll be on to all 6-9 month clothes shortly.

Sleeping....or not. The good news is that (thanks to Kayla) Chase is consistently napping 3 times a day. He goes down for a nap 1 1/2 hours after he wakes up for about 45 minutes (while I get us ready in the morning), naps in the stroller on the way to/at the park/library for about 45 minutes in the morning, and takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.
The bad news is that the last time I got a full night's sleep was May 11. Chase is now waking up 2 times a night (around 1am and 4am) pretty consistently and nursing for a good 10-15 minutes. He also has not adjusted to the end of Daylight Savings Time, however, and his 6am wakeup call has become a 5am wakeup call. I swear Daylight Savings Time is an institutionalized practice to torture parents of small children. This morning he slept "in" until 5:45. We're very slowly getting him to sleep later. Needless to say, I am exhausted and about ready to start sleep training. The only problem is that in order to get him to sleep, we'll probably have a few nights with long bouts of crying (no mater which method we use) and frankly I'm too exhausted to do that. Sigh...and yawn.

STILL teething- I can't believe his teeth haven't come in yet. He's been teething since he was less than 3 months old! The doctor did say that he's actively teething and that it looks like his gum line is thinning so he expects we'll see teeth in the next month. I hope so-- Chase can't keep his fingers out of his mouth!

Eating- So far he's had rice cereal, oatmeal, avocado, banana, sweet potato, apple sauce, peaches, and (starting Thursday) yogurt. His favorite foods are avocado and peaches. I think he could eat avocado for every meal and be happy! He's gotten better at opening his mouth when we're feeding him, although he still wears a lot of food.

6 month post-partum update: Well it's been 6 months since I was pregnant and my body is pretty much back to normal aside from the breast-feeding related changes. I'm still up 6lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight, but then again I only run for about 25 mins/day compared to the 60+ mins/day pre-preg. My hair loss has slowed down- My stylist told me she had the same problem when she had kids and recommended Nioxin (yes, the shampoo for balding men). My hormones are almost back to normal, although I occassionally get super-emotional or anxious about something. Then again, it's usually something related to Chase, so maybe that's just motherhood! I'm also happy to report that I'm still breastfeeding/pumping. We are proud (and lucky to be able) to say that Chase has only had breastmilk and, so far, only eaten food that we've prepared for him. Hopefully we can keep this up until his first birthday.

Gosh, he's so cute!





And finally, this is our 100th blog post and it's 1 year (and 3 days) after our first post. Happy 100th post and 1 year blog. And more importantly, Happy 6 months, Chase!

Halloween Celebrations

The Halloween post failed to fully capture all of Chase's Halloween celebrations. Helen has pretty much been planning this Halloween since LAST Halloween when she was pregnant (pictures).
First, Kayla took Chase & Harley to Halloween Story Time at the library, which obviously meant all the kids had to come in costume. This would have been great, except it was 78 degrees that day. Luckily, Chase has a pumpkin outfit!

(clearly we were working during story time. But here's what he looked like that night)


Which reminds me to discuss the walker. As I mentioned in the Baby Gear post, Chase just got a walker. And he LOVES it. He can move around! He's even learned how to turn around/back up in it.

The only one this is bad for is Mueller who now gets chased around and bumped into. Chase has become very much obsessed with Mueller lately and will smile and yell at him. It's hilarious.


Anyway, back to Halloween. Chase & Harley also came to the Halloween party at my office, which was quite a production.

Harley Mae was a pumpkin.

Close-up

For some of the time, Chase looked like this.

So we just handed out candy and watched the kids in costume- including Mayme the Chicken!

But eventually Chase woke up for some pictures with his mama.

As if that wasn't enough excitement, that night we went to Hilloween- a big Halloween celebration for kids on Capitol Hill. For his 3rd Halloween costume, Chase wore a giraffe costume that his cousin Amelia wore 3 years ago. It was quite a scene and targetted to kids a bit older than Chase, but we got some good pictures with Daddy.

(Here is Amelia the Giraffe from 2007)












And one more with Mommy before the camera battery died.


And on Halloween, we had an adorable Pooh Bear!

Baby Gear

Ugh! I wrote this entire post and then mistakenly deleted it. So here is my re-creation of it. There are links in the text to help display what I'm talking about.

****Disclaimer- Every child is different. What works for one won't necessarily work for another. And we're pretty cheap- if we have something and it works, we don't worry about trying something else. I did a lot of research before Chase was born, but have not checked the recalls (you can check them here) since then. Just a few things to keep in mind.****

Bassinet- MUST HAVE- I loved having Chase right next to me and the bassinet is small enough that he didn't look overwhelmed by it. The only downside was that with my C-section, it was painful to lean over and down to pick him up from the bassinet. I might have been better off with a co-sleeper, which is at the bed's level. Not sure it's worth the price difference, though...

Crib- MUST HAVE- Obviously this is on the definite list. But we didn't consistenly put Chase in his until he was over 3 months old. So while they worry you at the Baby Furniture store that it won't be in in time, you've got a few extra months while the baby is sleeping in your room. That said, you won't have time to decorate the nursery and/or build the crib after the baby is born...

Bedding-Turns out that for the first 3 months, babies can't see colors, just contrasts. I should have gone less for the calming colors and more for bold designs because I wanted Chase to be interested in his bedding. Oh well.

     Chase only likes Chamois sheets. We've tried two other sets, but these are the only ones he'll sleep on.

     We had a cute bumper to match our bedding, but once Chase started rolling it made us nervous about SIDS. So now we've got the not-as-cute-but-less risky breathable bumper.

   
     Sleepsacks/Swaddlers- We practiced swaddling (with a blanket- these are the best) a lot before Chase was born and Stephen pretty much had it perfected by the time we got home from the hospital. But as time went by Chase, became stronger and could get his arms out of the swaddled blankets. That's when we discovered the swaddlers- Chase was not strong enough to undo the velcro and the effect was the same. But as more time went by, Chase would wake himself up struggling to get out of the swaddlers...so we transitioned him to sleepsacks. I wish we'd registered for these sleepsacks- we need 2 of these (in case he wets one, of course!) and they need to be of varying thickness for different weather.

Changing Pad- Not much to say, except you need these to put on top. I recommend getting at least 6 as Chase seems to go through them faster than we can wash them (and they come in packs of 3)

Video Monitor- MUST HAVE- There is nothing better than being able to see your child when he/she is sleeping. We LOVE our video monitor. It is so worth the extra cost to be able to look and see that everything is okay when your child makes a noise.We love this one because it's small so we can hook it to us, it zooms in, the video turns off after a minute to conserve battery, and (best of all) we can add another camera when we have another child. You can't do that with a traditional monitor.

Mobile- We have it and Chase loves it, but there's not really a good time to use it because he gets excited watching it. Mostly we put it on when we're doing other things in his room and want to entertain him in his crib. There are some remote control mobiles that might be worth looking into- turn the mobile on from the other room and keep the baby occupied during the middle of the night.

Car Seat- MUST HAVE- Obviously. We got the Graco Snugride 35 and while Chase can use it up until he's 35 inches or 35lbs, it's too heavy to carry around much (especially now that he weighs more). I'd recommend a lighter car seat.

Car Seat Strap Covers- MUST HAVE- We were home for about 2 days before I went online and ordered these. The straps looked like they were cutting into his delicate little neck. I imagine he'd hate the car seat even more if we didn't have these covers.

Car Seat Mirror- MUST HAVE- Chase doesn't spend much time in the car with only one of us, but when he does, this mirror is essential. It keeps him occupied- he loves to watch the animals "move" and listen to the music- and the driver can see him in the rear-view mirror. I never would have made the 3-hour trip from Boston to NY with him at 6 weeks without this thing.

Stroller- We love our stroller. Love it. It has EVERYTHING: A bassinet that can be used without the stroller as a bassinet. A plastic cover for the bassinet and for the regular seat. A screen to keep bugs out of the bassinet and one for the regular seat. Sun shades on both the bassinet and the regular seat. They can face towards the driver or away. The seat reclines to like 5 different positions. The length of the handle extends. It folds up with the seat on it very easily. It's pretty light. You can get a car-seat attachment and put the car seat on it. The wheels are rubber (not air) and sized so they will last on the tough city streets. There are options for both a second seat (and it doesn't have to just have the butt view) and a jump seat. We love it.

Would we need all of these features if we lived someplace with flat sidewalks (or where we didn't spend as much time outside)? Probably not. We also got the Jeep Jogging Stroller as a gift (although we have yet to use it because Chase isn't 6 months yet). A lot of people in our neighborhood use BOB (Beast of Burden- how awesome is that) or CityMini jogging strollers as their everything stroller- they get the attachment for the car seat until the baby is big enough to transition to the jogging stroller. When they want something smaller, they use the Snap N'Go. Definitely some options there.

But make sure you buy a cup holder to go on your stroller- You'll use it!

(I've been accused of being a "stroller stalker" and awkwardly following people to see what kind of stroller they have. Stephen used to pretend he didn't know me).

Baby Carriers

    Moby Wrap- This was the first carrier I used. Basically it's a big long piece of fabric that you wrap around yourself and the baby to hold him up. It took a while to figure out how to wrap it, but it was great when Chase was tiny because he could be upright and against me. Now I don't use it as much because many of the holds have to go between his legs and it just looks uncomfortable. I'm looking forward to using it to carry him on my back when I figure out how to do that...I got mine on Etsy where there is a lot of variety of colors and fabrics.

    Maya Ring Sling- I haven't gotten much use out of this because some slings were recalled towards the end of my pregnany and I was so freaked out that he would suffocate if I cradled him in it. Now that he's older, I can have him sit up on my hip in it. Maybe I'll try that this weekend...Anyway, you can get these in a variety of colors and fabrics to match your outfits for events like weddings. (also available on Etsy)

    Ergo- We were told this was "the" carrier to get and that we'd use it when he was an infant all the way up until he was 3 or 4. I had some trouble figuring out the infant insert, so we didnt' use it much when he was tiny and now he hates facing backwards against me. So it hasn't gotten much use. Yet. Again, I need to transition him to carrying on my back and expect to be able to use the Ergo for that for a long time.

    Baby Bjorn- We didn't get a Baby Bjorn because we heard you don't use it for long and it's expensive (~$100). But around 3 months it became clear that Chase wanted to face outwards in the carrier and the Moby didn't seem supportive so we went to Buy Buy Baby armed with a coupon and ready to get the Bjorn. The saleswoman talked us out of it. She said he wouldn't be in it for long because the weight would become too much and instead showed us the Infantino brand carrier. We couldn't pass up the $30 price tag and, after 2 1/2 month of use, we have no complains. Chase is happy in it and my back is holding up from carrying him in it almost every day.

Pack N Play- MUST HAVE- Especially if you live in a 2+ story house and have a C-section. We set this up downstairs and it was our changing station and napping spot so I didn't have to go up and down the stairs every time he needed to be changed (which was all the time!). We've used it as a bed while traveling, and plan to use it more in the future. I'm looking forward to the play-pen functionality of it when Chase can sit up- we can put him in it surrounded by toys in the living room and not worry about Mueller licking him.

High Chair- MUST HAVE (but not for 4+ months)- Ours goes on top of a chair, therefore saving space. Genius!

Swing/Chair- MUST HAVE- I combined these because after getting this swing and this chair, we discovered that there are tabletop combination swing/chairs! I would say both (or the combo) are necessary because, at some time or another, almost all babies love the swing. Some will only sleep in the swing. The chair is an essential place to put the baby down when you need to free up your arms.

Gym- MUST HAVE- By now you've probably noticed the millions of pictures of Chase on both of his gyms. He LOVES them and we used them all of the time. He spends his tummy time on it, as well as playtime on his back. I'd say a mirror on the gym is a must-have. He loved the musical light toy on his Under the Sea gym and literally would stare at it for hours if we let him (we call the tune it plays "Summer 2010 Theme Song"). The best part of these gyms is that they have loops on them so you can trade out toys and hang other ones.

Exersaucer- MUST HAVE- You've also noticed the recent increase in pictures of Chase in the exersaucer because he loves it! As anyone who has held him will tell you, the boy loves to "stand" and the exersaucer gives him the support he needs and the entertainment he wants. It plays all kinds of music and lights up and has so many toys.

Walker- maybe a must-have- Because he wants to move so much and they needed the exersaucer at his nanny share, we got Chase a walker for our house. So far, he loves it! He's just learning how to move it (basically he just makes his feet go and go and go like he usually does and leans in the direction he wants to go and he's there!) and in the meantime is entertained by the new music, lights, and toys on it. Of course we are only keeping it on the lower level of our main floor.

Boppy- I go back and forth about whether this is a must-have. I expected to use it for nursing in the hospital and actually didn't use it for the first couple of weeks because Chase was too small. Then I used it constantly for bfing for a couple of weeks. Then I'd prop Chase up on it. Then, for about a month, he hated being propped up on it. Now we use it to support him when he fully sits up. So, I guess this is a must-have. I have gotten 5+ months use out of it (which is more than I can say for some of the gear!)

Breast Pump- MUST HAVE- I invested in the Medela Freestyle and I must say that I love it. It doesn't need to be plugged in so I can pump anywhere (like in the car--which I've done) and it's very efficient. Since I've been back to work, I've been pumping about 4 times a day so I get a lot of use out of it. It comes with most of the supplies that I needed too. I did get the extra bottles and storage bags and use them all on a regular basis. We haven't tried different bottles or nipples with Chase- he likes the Medela just fine so no need to change it up. As a sidenote, we got the pump at the hospital, where they gave us an extra 10% off. It's worth looking into similar discounts at your hospital.

Hands-free pumping bra- MUST HAVE- A coworker sent me the link for this and said "We'll never speak of this, but it is an essential." And she was right. This device makes it possible for me to pump hands-free so I can actually do other things (like type blog posts) and walk around while I pump.

 Drying Rack- MUST HAVE- This was given to us by Sarah with a note that it was the best. While I don't have anything to compare it to, I will say that it's great. There are enough prongs to hold everything and it drains the water nicely. Not only does it come with a bottle-brush, but it has a place for it to stand so it dries.

Dishwasher Rack- MUST HAVE- We didn't get one of these until a couple of weeks ago and boy were we missing out. We use this a lot. It's not only easier, I get some peace of mind knowing that the bottle parts went through the dishwasher cycle and are really clean.

Ice cube trays- We just bought these a few weeks ago and we've actually gotten a lot of use out of them. We're using the Super Baby Food book and making all of our own babyfood. We use the ice cube trays to freeze the baby food we've made and then we have single servings. We bought the ones with the cover- you don't need all that.

Bottle Warmer- Not worth the money. We heat a 1/3 full mug of water in the microwave for 1 minute and put the bottle in it for about 2 minutes, and it works the same as the bottle warmer!

Binkies- My recommendation is to get many different kinds of these. Chase didn't like the "Nooks," he only liked the binkies that went straight out-these. Binkies come in all different sizes so be sure to have newborn or 0-6mo sizes on hand when trying to figure out which your baby will use. Finally, once you find one your baby likes, buy MANY of these. You'll need them. Chase doesn't even like the binkie that much, but it feels like we're constantly looking for one. You can't have too many. Also, get something like this to keep the baby from dropping it all the time.

Bumbo- This isn't essential, but we get a lot of use out of it because Chase really likes to sit up and look around. I recommend getting the table attachment because we put his toys on it and he can sit and play without losing them (within 10 seconds. He does lose them within about 2 minutes). Since it's all plastic that can be cleaned, this is the type of baby product you can get at a yard sale.

Bathtub- MUST HAVE- Ours is pretty basic, but has some great features like the newborn mesh piece and the within-tub thermometer. We like it.

Sophie- Not a must-have, but babies love this toy. Seriously. Every child puts her in their mouth. We held out as long as possible, but wound up getting Sophie when Chase started teething.

Glider- Not a must-have, but definitely a nice thing to have around the house. We sit in ours when we feed Chase and rock him to sleep every night. It's comfortable and looks like a piece of furniture we'd have in our house. And it rocks. (Stephen wanted to clssify this as a must have)

Fan- It's not worth buying a special one, but I've read that having a fan in a baby's room reduces the risk of SIDS. You know that's all I had to hear to ensure that my child would have a fan in his/her room. The added bonus is the white noise. (NOTE: Not sure what we're going to do about the fan during the winter...)

Garbage Can/Diaper Genie- After reading some reviews and getting advice from friends, we just bought a garbage can with a foot pedal and a lid that seals tightly. It works great and will be useful when we're no longer changing diapers.

Humidifier- MUST HAVE- There's not much you can do for an infant with a cold except put the (cool mist) humidifier on when they sleep. It's also supposed to help them sleep through the night, particularly if the heat is on or you live in a dry place.

Belly Bandit- MUST HAVE- I've probably mentioned that I was shocked by how pregnant I looked for a few weeks after I gave birth. Without this, it would have been longer. I highly recommend it. I got the bamboo since I'd had a c-section, but it never actually touched my scar so it probably wasn't worth the extra $$-- I could have just gotten a regular one.

Housekeeper- MUST HAVE- We finally hired someone this past weekend to come and clean our house. I don't know how we lived without her. I want to spend my time away from work with Chase, not cleaning. She makes it possible.

The things you need the most, namely humor and sleep, are not available at Buy Buy Baby or Babies R Us or even Diapers.com. This is an evolving list so stay tuned for changes as Chase grows up.