Morning

Today was one of those mornings when I was truly so thankful to be a mommy. Weekday mornings are usually a frenzied and frankly semi-nightmarish experience, what with trying to get kids fed, ready for school and out the door in a somewhat reasonable timeframe while simultaneously trying to get parents showered, dressed and ready for the day. The last week has been even worse since Chase has decided to get six teeth all at one time. To say he has not been sleeping well would be an understatement, and he (well, all of us, really) has been extremely grouchy as a result of the lack of sleep and general irritation getting six teeth at once brings. There has been a lot of crying (both boys), a lot of screaming (Chase), a lot of sighing (Casey and me), with some attitude problems thrown in (all of us).

I leave you with that background so you can understand the complete shift in the air this morning. First of all, Chase slept through the night for the first time in days. He woke up pleasant and talking to himself in his crib. Then, he let me get him dressed without having a complete meltdown. He giggled a lot. He talked up a storm. Not that we haven't seen glimpses of all of these things during this excruciating teething process, but they have come in bits and pieces speckled throughout long days of aggravation and it was so nice to see all of them together in a 5 minute time-span first thing this morning.

As is typical on a Thursday morning, Casey and I were supposed to have an early morning meeting at work. With that in mind and with both boys mercifully still sleeping, we rushed to get ready for work. As Casey was hurrying out the door, he picked up his phone only to find that the meeting had been cancelled. With extra time on our hands for a change, Casey decided to take Riley to get his haircut while I waited on Chase to wake up. By the time Chase was up and I had enjoyed more of his cheerful company than I'd realized, Riley's haircut was complete. Chase and I met Casey and Riley in the parking lot at the barber shop and the three of us watched as Chase took his turn getting his hair cut. We were still a little ahead of schedule as we made our way out of the barber shop. Casey had to head to work but I took the opportunity to take the boys to Dunkin' Donuts for our traditional post-haircut treat. It was there that a true miracle occurred: both boys sat in their seats, smiled, behaved, were polite (Riley), didn't throw food (Chase) and were generally wonderful to be around. We spent at least 30 minutes watching cars go by, talking to other people enjoying their morning coffee, and eating our donuts. It was the first time in quite awhile that I was able to not rush them along and just enjoy their company on a weekday morning. It was also the first time in awhile that I felt like I had it all together as a mom.

I would be curious to know if the morning was a success because it was not rushed or if it was because Chase's happy disposition has returned or if it was because this morning was the first morning in months where the air was cool and crisp and not humid and overwhelming, or if it perhaps was a little bit of all of those things, but whatever the cause, I am thankful and happy to have spent a morning with two delightful little boys.

Running Buddy

Oh teeth, how I wish you would all just break through already. I want my happy baby and good sleeper back!!! Last night was a brutal night of sleep. Chase spent two and a half hours straight crying, screaming and tossing and turning in his crib. Poor little guy was so uncomfortable and absolutely nothing I did to calm him down worked. I held him, I rocked him, I rubbed his back, I bicycled his legs, I talked to him. He was having none of it. It was almost like having a newborn all over again, except possibly worse because his crying is SO MUCH louder and more agonizing now.

So when he woke up early this morning screaming uncontrollably, I was not exactly bright and chipper, not that I am generally bright and chipper in the morning anyway. Not wanting him to wake up the entire household (Riley had been up late by his standards having a playdate with some friends and Casey had been up extremely late by anyone's standards at the Bears-Panthers game in Charlotte), I decided to pluck Chase out of his crib and get him out of the house quickly. Holding a large, squirmy baby while changing my clothes, pouring a glass of milk and putting on my shoes proved to be a challenge, but I succeeded to do all of the above and get him out the door without him crying.

It was a hot, humid North Carolina morning as we made our way down the driveway. I am completely out of shape, not that it would matter in conditions such as those, but for the next 48 minutes (who's counting) I ran around our neighborhood and Graylyn pushing my sleepy little guy in his stroller trying to coax him back to sleep. Sleep did not happen, but something equally as amazing did: I actually enjoyed this early morning exertion. And Chase seemed to love watching the sun rise, listening to the birds chirp and the cicadas hum, and taking in all of the people and places we encountered. We saw other early morning runners, people walking their dogs, dads pushing their also-tired babies in strollers (must be that Saturday mornings are for mommies to sleep in???), fountains at Graylyn and cats on the prowl.

Don't get me wrong, given my preference at 6:30 in the morning, I'd probably choose to be snug in my bed, but this was a pretty nice alternative. For both of us.

Indy 500

It seems that Chase is obsessed with riding in his "Crazy Coupe" recently. Grandpa Jim and Grandma Terry are here visiting for the weekend and poor Grandpa Jim made the mistake of agreeing to push Chase around in the car. Little did he know that Chase would fall asleep in the car while being pushed (an absolute rarity -- the kid NEVER falls asleep in anything but his crib). I guess he'd had a big day at school. The difficult part of this was two-fold: first, Chase would wake up instantly if my dad stopped pushing the car around, so my poor dad went round and round and round and round in circles around our circular driveway for at least 30 minutes; second, it was extremely hot and humid out during this adventure so my poor dad was drenched by the time dinner was ready and he could stop pushing Chase around. We improvised a bit and did Oberon pit stops where either Casey or I would hand off a nice cold beer to my dad as he continued to do circle after circle. The good news is that the Crazy Coupe has cup holders and since the drink-stealing bandit was asleep inside his car, we didn't have to worry about him trying to snatch it. Poor Grandpa Jim complained about the "marathon" he had just completed, but secretly I think he loved pushing his young grandson around while Riley rode his bike in circles right next to him.

Playing with the "Big Kids"

It is so much fun now that Chase can walk around. He thinks it is so much fun to try to keep up with his big brother. Today we went over to our friends' house for dinner. Their daughter Olive is Riley's age (you may recall her from prior posts -- Olive was his first girlfriend and although their romance has dwindled, they still remain friends (thankfully because we like to hang out with her family) and their son Finn is about 5 months older than Chase. It was incredibly fun watching the kids all play together. We still have to closely supervise all of them (and especially the younger two), but it is awesome to be able to enjoy a little bit more adult conversation now that the kids can play and (mostly) entertain themselves without needing us to help them interact. The highlight of the evening (for me, at least) was when we turned on the song "Wagonwheel" and all four kids started dancing. A completely idyllic moment where all 4 kids were having a ball and all 4 parents could sip on their drinks, smile and think, "Life is truly good."

Growing Boy

For the last 12 months, I have worried constantly about Chase's size. As mentioned numerous times, he hated to drink (likely due to severe reflux) and until we introduced solid food to his life, I felt like we were force feeding him every day. As also mentioned, this kid LOVES to eat and he will eat pretty much anything. Well, it's finally paying off. At his smallest, he was in the 7th percentile for weight, which is very close to being considered "failure to thrive." I'm not sure what exactly "failure to thrive" means, but it sounds scary and I didn't want him to get there. I am happy to report that in the last 3 months he has gone from the 9th percentile in weight (which was already a big improvement) to 19th percentile. That is definitely within my comfort zone.

Official stats: 20 lbs 10.5 oz (19th percentile); 29 inches long (50th (ish) percentile) and head circumference is 74th percentile. Doctor reports that he is growing well. Atta boy!

Say What?

It is strange... it's like Chase somehow knows that he just turned one and now all of a sudden his language skills are taking off. That's not to say that he's actually SAYING anything, but it is becoming quite clear that he understands what we are saying to him. His only word (if you can call it that) at this point is "dah" which is always accompanied by him pointing at something, so the loose translation of "dah" is "what's that?" (at least the best I can tell).

The spoken word aside, he does seem to know how to use certain motions to respond to what we are saying. For example, if you tell him to say good bye to someone, he'll wave enthusiasticly (same being true for "hi"). If you ask him if he's "all done", he will shake his hands (sign language for "all done"). This gets confusing at times because he knows shaking his hands is the correct response, but it doesn't always mean that he's actually all done eating. Sometimes he is (which becomes quite clear when he starts throwing food if you leave his tray within arm's reach), and sometimes he'll wave his hands and then keep eating. Oh well.

His favorite, I believe, is giving high fives. If you ask him for a high five and hold your hand out, he will slap it with all his might and then start giggling.

Every once in awhile, I'll swear that he says "mama" (especially when he's crying because I've had the nerve to close the door on him when I go to take a shower) or "dada" (similar context) or "Ry-ry". One night I swore he said "bye-bye, Ry-ry" when I told him to say good night to his big brother before I took him up to bed. Not sure if he actually knows those words or not, but either way, it sure is fun to be able to communicate with him. His sweet little voice is music to my ears (the crying and screaming as his only means of communication were not).

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!!

Dear Chase,

How are you a year old already?!? I still remember like it was yesterday holding you in my arms for the first time in the operating room and bawling my eyes out because you were alive and healthy (and rowdy!!). For nine months, the first thing I thought of when I woke up and the last thing I agonized over before falling asleep was whether or not you would survive. I worried about you so much and then just like that, you were here changing our lives for the better.

You weren't awake much at first and I sure did love you for that. You gave me the time I needed to recover... and then some! Once you woke up, you were a wild man right from the start. You were quite the busy-body, and I couldn't even feed you in the same room as your dad and your brother and the dogs because you were way more focused on what they were doing than you were on eating.

My maternity leave came and went in such a blur. The highlight of my leave was our time in Maine. You loved the beach even as a little guy, and it was apparent right away that you were going to turn into a water baby. You loved the fresh air, the sound of the waves and caught on quite quickly that Maine is a place where stress goes away and life slows down to the pace it should be every day.

By the time you started school, your severe reflux issues had reared their ugly head and I fretted about you, your weight and your happiness on a daily basis. Luckily, you were in the care of two ladies who loved you so much and did everything in your power to make you happy and comfortable for as long as it took for your body to outgrow the discomfort.

I felt like a thousand pound boulder had been lifted off my chest as soon as a combination of eating table food, cutting some teeth and learning to crawl happened what seemed like simultaneously. You started to smile more and laugh (a lot). It took so many months to hear the sweet sound of your giggle that I wondered if you would ever experience the feeling of having such joy that you just could no longer contain it. I'm not sure if it was just that you were finally feeling better or if you were just so frustrated about not being able to do the things you wanted, but either way, the change in you made my world whole again.

And now, well now the sky seems to be the limit for you. You smile, you laugh, you clearly like to make others happy, you crawl, you are getting the hang of walking, you splash around in water like there's nothing finer in the world, your face lights up in delight when I enter the room, you communicate by pointing at things you find interesting, you are making friends, you will hug my legs tight for a quick snuggle when you are particularly proud of something you've done, you crawl into my lap and give me a hug in the morning, you will do just about anything to try to keep up with your brother.

I am so proud of you for being the sweet boy you've become and I am so beyond happy for you that you endured whatever it was that you went through and came out of it as such a happy, mischievous, fun-loving little guy. Watching you dance, smile and toddle around give me more joy than I ever thought possible.

Keep moving to the beat of your own drum.

With all my love,
Mom