First Movie...

The day started off with Kaely's playdate getting cancelled at 7am. Sigh... So I felt horrible for another uneventful, boring day ahead for her. See, Chase and I can be just fine hanging out, reading, painting, or whatever- but for a 7 year old... summer sucks. Luckily, I remembered our "ghetto" theater (it's not really all that bad, just we have a million giant theaters all around, and this one is a small, old one). Anyhow, they do $1 children's movies every Wednesday morning during the summer. Granted, they are movies that are already on DVD, but still- it's the idea of going out to the theater... so, that was the plan.

Today the movie was Rio, which I loved the first time we saw it- actually, I already had Rafael, the Toucan from the movie, sketched on Chase's wall to join the cast of animals... (I think I'm going to add Jewel to it now too- hmm). All I went armed with was the diaper bag and a pair of boobs. We got there about 30 mins early, which helped to get a back seat so it wouldn't be as awkward to nurse in public. He ended up sleeping through half of the movie, then when he did wake up, he sat there enthralled with the movie. Kind of surprised me- but I guess all the colors and music was cool. Somehow it was a success! Very cool :)

Second part of our morning adventure included having to drop off library books finally, and get a couple more... so Kaely carried the books, and I had Chase. While she was in the kids section, I went searching for a couple books for me, when he started grunting...I look around knowing that more sounds were to follow- and why me? Always in the library where everyone can hear throughout the building. LOL. Sure enough... then I noticed my hand had something wet on it- I pull him away from me and the damn thing leaked everywhere! Through his onesie, overalls, and onto my shirt and jeans. Then it was a mission to get Kaely, get our new books checked out, and get the heck out of there. Of course ran into one of the moms from Kaely's class, so the girls wanted to chat- all the while I'm gagging on the smell (he had squash yesterday), and knowing it's just leaking everywhere... somehow managed to make it out- at that point it was either clean him and leave him in his carseat in just a diaper, or put a blanket under him and brave the 5 minute drive home. Considering I left the package of wipes at home today? Opted for the drive home. Never a dull moment...

Gone Bananas

Teething babies are crazy. Babies who are not teething, but have all the same symptoms? Just as nuts. Worst part? Not having a clue which is which. Sooooo... thanks again April for posting the alternative options for teething pain relief. I am not a big fan of running to Tylenol everytime he appears to be in pain- because sometimes I think it's just a mood, exhaustion, or something else entirely. I don't want to over-medicate regardless. The toys we have throughout the house are hit or miss. Honestly- his fingers - or anyone else's that he can find, seem to do the trick more-so than the toys. But... the idea of the frozen banana made me think- hmmm- not a bad idea.

So, this went really great and really bad- but I'm running with the good. He didn't want to hold it at first, and man it makes a giant, sticky, slobbery mess- but he seemed thrilled by the banana either way, and gave a few moments of contentedness. Of course, he got mad at the thing, and then we had to switch things up- but I'm putting stock in this frozen banana for the rest of the summer- teeth or no teeth! What else should I expect from creating  the monkey theme everywhere around him? :)

M-I-A

Yeah, so we've been missing in action in the virtual world the past several days. Since I took on the project of his jungle room, I've had the laptop in the room for reference, and well, too lazy to cart it back and forth. The 4th of July we laid low, tore up the yard, then visited with family and watched fireworks in our back yard... day after I played at the house while Dave had to work, then Friday I babysat the Nathan-ater and made a belated birthday dinner for my other sister. Saturday brought more friends & family visits and dinner with the grandma's and Chase finally meeting his Uncle Brandon for the first time (slacker)... so we've been busy doing a whole bunch of nothin'  :)

Cranky baby over here not enjoying the lack of attention from mom who is taking advantage of dad being here to help out so I can play with paint... Lots of craziness to go around as always!

Here are some updated pics of the room- slowly getting there!

Hahaha- Perspective

Just because I had to:

February 2nd  vs. July 3rd (5lbs vs 16lbs)

 

Time to Play

Not for Chase- but for me. It's been so long since I've "played" on any projects just for fun, I've almost forgotten how to do it. Chase's room has been a big giant source of limbo for me since before he was born. Since we aren't exactly sure where we are going to end up- there was no point to putting in all the effort into decorating his room. Plus, since I had a bassinet, and now crib, set up in our room, "his" room is basically for storage and my craft stuff. But the more of a funk I get into, the more I realize I have got to do something creative- if for nothing else, than to relieve some stress and enjoy myself. Soooo... I decided I was going to paint in Chase's room- and if the effort goes to waste, oh well! I scoured the garage and found old paint that we probably should have thrown out years ago- but hey- it's free!

The details and such are going to take a bit of time- especially since Chase won't nap for longer than 30 minutes at a time today- only because I'm trying to play. But this is the beginning of it anyway... working towards a jungle theme- and planning on making the tree corner our reading/rocking corner... the vines will get leaves and other details- just got the basic outline going for the moment. The cloud "animals" are whatever you want them to be- or happen to see.

6 Month Checkup

Well- we made it this far! He was a big flirt to all the ladies in the doctor's office- they all had to come around to the desk and oooh and ahhh over him... he got the compliment that they see a lot of babies, but he's gotta be one of the cutest- that's right!!! :) hehe

The data came in at:
Weight: 16 lbs (even)           (Birth was: 4 lb 2 oz)
Length: 25 1/2"                    (... 17")
Head Circ: 42 cm                (...30 cm)

Actual (6 months):
22nd percentile for weight
17th percentile for height
10th percentile for head circ

Adjusted (4 1/2 months):
just over 50th percentile for weight
just at 50th percentile for heigh
just over 25th percentile for head circ

The simple facts are, the child is not going to be a giant- unless he gets some wild crazy gene that gives him height, between Dave & I, I don't see it happening. So for him to be on the charts at all now is awesome :) He was going bonkers on the scale and the exam table- trying to roll around and check everything out. He started squealing and making all sorts of noises at his doc... on some things he's right on target for a 6 monther- on others, he's right on for a 4 monther... so all-in-all, he's doing really great, and very healthy.

The paper we got said development expectations for 6 months is:
-Rolls from back to tummy and tummy to back (working on it- has done both- just not consistently)
-Sits in a "tripod" position" and sits with support (yes on the sits with support, working on sitting alone)
-Transfers objects from one hand to another (he has begun doing this- okay, most the time it goes into his mouth first, but still!)
-Squeals, vocalizes, and laughs (yes to all- except the laughs are still rare- which makes them that much more special)
-Places objects in the mouth, drools a whole lots, and brings feet to mouth (yes, yes, and not yet! lol)
-Works for toys and objects out of reach (this is what inspires him to scoot and turn around- he'll twist and reach and scoot backwards to grab his favorite toys)

So see? He's not far behind- just gotta make him "work out" more often :) (now I have that song in my head...) Didn't seem to have any teeth coming to the surface- her response? You'll know he's teething when they came through. Well... duh... but her point was that a lot of the teething "symptoms" are the same things that they normally do anyway- drool, chew, fuss, etc... oh well :)

A million immunizations later- poor baby. It was 3 shots (DTaP, Polio, Hib, Hep B, PCV13) and the 1 oral one (Rotavirus)...Had to stop by Target to get more acetaminophen- so grateful for generic brands- $2 and change helps a lot compared to some other stores charging $5-$8 for the same thing. And what did the checkout lady ask while in line? Oh yeah- "Oh my- is he hungry??" (I am not exaggerating! I even brought a bottle today- tried feeding him while walking through the store)....anyway, so we're cuddled up on the couch- I plan on spoiling him this afternoon because I know he's gotta feel like crap. My sweetheart... he gets 3 months off, then we enter into flu (vaccine) season... time's flying!

How Babies Save You Money

Yeah, yeah, yeah- so diapers suck, and if you buy things new- the "gear" and clothes can add up... but... if you don't mind hand-me-downs, garage sales, and consignment shops... plus you coupon for those diapers & wipes- the cost of a baby in the long run isn't so bad.

For example- today we (ok, me) were determined to go out to eat, using a gift card we had- I was craving some awesome bread and a "spring menu" that was going away soon... So we planned on hitting lunch after running a couple of errands- but, I didn't think too far ahead, so we left the stroller and any sort of bottle... by the time it was around noon, Chase was wide awake, and starting to get fussy. I realized he hadn't eaten since around 9, so obviously was starved. Choices to make- either sit in a parking lot or bathroom somewhere to feed him, then have our meal- or go home and eat leftovers. Okay... went for leftovers and privacy. Then I was determined to go out for dinner- but oh yeah- someone was cranky all afternoon- so the idea of trying to sit through that made me realize it was not going to happen. So I ran to Publix, spent $3.50 on half a pound of salmon, $1 on a baguette, and $2 on a Caesar salad mix. If you consider that they also had bottles of wine, buy one, get one free ($9 bottles), which we didn't even touch- we were still at a dinner that totaled $6.50 for the two of us. Throw in $0.27 (also BOGO at $0.55 each) for a jar of baby food, and we're under $7 for the 3 of us. LOL.

Compare that to a dinner out- same food, salmon, a nice caesar salad, and bread- and okay, a glass or so of wine- and you're looking at $30-$50 minimum. See? Saved $20-$40 right there.

Thinking back to what we did a year (or so) ago on the weekends- concerts, restaurants, hotels, festivals, etc- I mean, come on now- LOL, all the driving around and admission fees, food & drink tabs, etc? Hundreds of dollars saved simply by having the fear of taking Chase out in public :) Or, by it not being appropriate to take him to say, a concert at House of Blues. Ahhhhh... sure, may be are temporarily fuddy-duddy's, but all it takes is a cheesy, peach-covered face to make it all worthwhile...