First Day at Daycare

Chase went to daycare for the first time today. Even though Brian is staying home with him most of the time, he has to leave to teach before I get home on Wednesdays. So Chase will be spending Wednesday afternoons this semester at KinderCare, and then random 1/2-days here and there when needed (if Brian has to meet with a professor or a student... or just needs to get some work done)!

I'm so glad I'm not the one who had to drop him off. Brian said it was REALLY hard, but that Chase was very happy... lots of smiles for the teachers. I can't wait until 5:00 today to pick him up! It's killing me!!!!

Alma Visit

Chase and I went to Michigan this weekend while Brian taught his weekend class. He got to meet some of the step-family (the healthy ones!), celebrate Grandpa's birthday, go to Zoe Hedrick's benefit (you can learn more about Zoe at www.teamzoe.com), hang out with my dear friend Holly and her little girl Noel (where he laughed for the first time!), and go to his first church service (where he met many people who fell in love with him instantly)! He was a very good traveler and a very good boy in spite of (or because of?) all the excitement. And of course Grandma took lots of great pictures (coming soon to our Photo Album)!

We did have one travel incident on our way to Grandma & Grandpa's house. I stopped at a rest area to feed him about 4 hours into my trip. Of course the rest area I picked didn't have anywhere to sit down, and no baby changing station in the restroom. So we ate in the car and afterwards I was burping him and he started grunting.... Yes, THE grunt. He filled that diaper like he had never filled it before. So there I was, without a decent place to change him.... I had to change him in my car and he was too big for the seat, so keeping him stationary as he wriggled all over the place was a challenge. He got it all over himself, his outfit.... And my car didn't smell pretty, either. That was my official baby travel initiation, I think. Eeewwwwww....

Help Zoe!

Zoe Hedrick will be 2 this year and she suffers from a very rare illness that hospitalizes her frequently. She is the daughter of someone I grew up with and they are trying to raise money to get her the treatment she needs at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Please visit www.teamzoe.com to learn more about Zoe and her illness, and what you can do to help. Remember, every little bit helps!

Thank you,
Christine

Shots!

Chase had to get 4 shots at his doctor's appointment yesterday. We felt SO bad because he was such a great baby all day, and having a great time at the doctor's office... not a peep while they examined him, and we even got him to smile some. Then the lady came in with the needles and we felt horrible that we were "punishing" him after such good behavior! He was not a happy camper, but I think between the 2 of us I was in worse shape. I literally cried... it just broke my heart! He recovered much more quickly than I did.

Stats: He is now 12lbs and measures 23 1/4" long. He's growing out of his newborn outfits! It is sad to put some of the cutest ones away. :(

As for us, Brian was offered 3 more classes to teach at Concordia this summer. He's going to take 1 of those classes (after realizing he took on way too much this semester teaching 3 classes and trying to work on a grant and a dissertation)!

I'll be going back to work full-time next week. I'm ready for it. It feels good to be back in the swing of things and not cooped up at home. Now if I can just get this body back into my work clothes...! ;)

More Chase photos... and a video, too!

Photos of weeks 7-9 are now posted in our Photo Album! There are some great pictures of him smiling in Week 7 that are guaranteed to make you smile, so check them out!

I also downloaded a small video clip of Chase playing on YouTube. Check it out!

Back to work!

Well, Monday's the day I return to work. I'll go back part-time for a couple weeks to ease my way back into it. I don't know how I'm going to get my butt out of bed at 6am Monday morning, but I guess I'll have to find a way! :)

Chase is doing great. He's getting more independent, which is a huge relief for us... especially for Brian, since he has to find a way to work on his dissertation while watching him all alone during the day!

Brian is enjoying teaching his classes at Concordia and Northern. His first Argosy class starts at the end of the month.

I've also been working on Soapbox Theatre Company's next play, so that has given me something to do while at home!

More Chase photos coming to our Photo Album page soon!