Zippers

If I could pass on only one piece of information for raising a baby - up to 10 months old - it would be zippers. Avoid snaps, buttons, Velcro and elastic at all costs. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to snap 17 buttons on a screaming, crying baby on 4 hours of sleep. I can vouch that the quality of your life will improve in direct proportion to the number of zippered garments your child wears whereas the rest of this post has no basis outside the previous 10 months of experience with my unique child.

The advice you get from others - including me - is useless and invaluable. It's useless because they've told you something that worked for them, for their baby, on that particular occasion and does not apply in a bazillion other cases. It's invaluable because you might be the bazillionth case. For this reason you need to seek out information from others. The more advice you get the more likely you will be able to apply it. Many times advice can easily - sometimes rightly - be perceived as critisim. Don't take it as criticism.

Parenting is not a twelve hour job. You do not have the right to a full nights sleep.

In parenting, consistency is important but rationality is paramount. Try Ferbering, Babywise, Dr. Sears, etc. Don't bet all of your chips on anyone of them. Be flexible enough to abandon your strategy and start over. Pick and choose the parts that work for your child.

Babies haven't learned consistency. Just because they ate every two hours for three months doesn't mean that today they won't want to eat every 45 minutes.

Your child is going through a growth spurt. It ends when they are twenty.

The first 24 hours are magical. The baby sleeps for most of them and hasn't learned true hunger. Savor all 24 of them.

Get out as much as you did before your baby was born. Go shopping, to dinner, on hikes, and visit your friends. It's twice as much effort and half as much fun but still very worthwhile. Make sure not to overdue it.

Your kid is the cutest. No matter what they looked like when they were born. Keep taking pictures. You'll have 1582 pictures from the first three weeks and 50 from the the next three months and it'll be work to get those. After the first four months they don't change as rapidly so get in those daily shots.

Your baby is smarter than you think. They learn from watching you. They are trying to learn the routine. Read to your child. As long as they aren't crying they enjoy it. Even if they don't pay attention to you, pay attention to them. Let them play. Parents and other adults teach children by interacting with them and, most of all, allowing them to play.

2009 Year in Pictures

2009 was a quite the year in for Megan and I. Having a child is by far the biggest challenge I've had. To say my life will never be the same would be an understatement. Most times in life, change is gradual. Not with a baby, one night you get 9 hours of sleep and the next (300+) you don't. But I'm getting ahead of the story...

Starting in December 2008, 2009 was a rather wintery year for the Willamette Valley...

Megan loved being pregnant (except she couldn't eat pizza (heart burn) and couldn't sleep on her back or stomach)...


Seems very long ago...


On February 11th Chase was born. Here is the first picture I have of him. He was blue when he was born...


After the initial scare, mother and baby where very healthy...


And we brought home a beautiful baby boy...

We stayed home a lot those first few months. It was much less stressful than going out...


Chase spent much of his first year in either a sling, a backpack or a frontpack. Not that he was awake for much of it...


Our little baby slowly showed us his personality...


Sometimes he looks like me...


Other times Megan...


We had our first house guests (looks like Oliver wants to fly away)...


It's no wonder that Chase dances whenever he hear music...


Finally some outside time...


After a pretty stressful plane ride we go to visit Pennsylvania. They had a very nice reception for us...
At one point Chase was in the 80th percentile for weight. He was chunky. Here he his next to his best bud Troy, three months older...


In July he even spent a night in the woods...


He did a lot of sleep packing (that's backpacking while sleeping). Opal Creek...


Hart's Cove, Oregon beach...


At some point, he got really good at smiling. One might even say he was addicted to it...


He also got good at blank stares...


One form of non-baby recreation I had was gardening. I would say it was a success (except the squash, the tomatoes took them over)...


For Chase's second plane ride we went to California. It was the first time he was with all his cousins (from my side)...


We stretched out the hiking season well into October. We were well prepared for the colder weather thanks to this puffer we received as a gift...


(No caption needed)

Once mobile he kept us on our toes. We purposefully didn't try to baby proof our house too much. He was quick to show us the areas we needed to pay special attention too...


Oliver and Chase have learned to get along pretty well. Especially with now that Mom and Dad watch their every interaction. They definitly had some good moments...


Chase fit the stereotype of liking the packing of the present more that the actual presents he got for Christmas...


We finished out the year with some skiing and sledding in Central Oregon. Chase enjoyed the action. Mom and Dad would have preferred to stay home and just do day trips...


Here's to 2010 and bathing with other people!

Baby's First Christmas

Dancing Baby

Original Video

Just so we remember...

On the Wednesday night church service before Thanksgiving, Chase was especially sleepy and cuddled with us, even wrapped his arms around us. Since then, he's been more affectionate than he has in the past. Particularly when he wakes up (he likes to be held and nuzzled) or when he's overwhelmed (he comes for a reassuring hug).

Chase loves water and anything that has to do with water. In addition to his pool time each Tuesday, he still goes nuts over a cup of water, or a wet wash cloth. Most parents have to fuss to wipe their baby's face, but not us. Chase dives right into it and likes to suck on it.

And Chase got his 5th tooth today (or maybe last night).

First Step!

This morning Chase took his hands off the chair and took very small step towards the Christmas tree. At which point he could have both hands on the Christmas tree. And tried to eat a glass ornament.

Jitter

I recently got a Moka. It makes 6 cups of espresso. I don't really love coffee but enjoy a latte from time to time.

This morning I split it's contents with Megan and we're both very buzzed. Turns out 3 shots of espresso can do that to you.

No Title

Winter has hit Oregon with a swift kick in the booty. Our kick came yesterday when we had a pipe burst. Thankfully, it was part of the sprinkler system which has its own shutoff valve. Also, thanks to my dad and neighbor who helped me pry off the cover to the street shutoff for the house. Since we were able to shutoff the sprinkler system we won't have to worry about the water until spring, when it will be warmer to deal with.

As of tomorrow Chase will be ten months old. There are currently three teeth in his mouth, I kinda miss the toothless grin. He's a super sweet heart, always sharing a smile with me. Since he loves to laugh, he pretend laughs all the time. This can sound a bit like a cough and a grunt which makes me laugh prompting him to pretend laugh harder. It's one of the many games we play. Getting him to laugh for real is quite a challenge. I haven't yet been able to do it consistently. The best time to get him to right around bed time. Playing with him around bed time is like playing with fire though, as soon as you quit playing he'll probably start crying.

Today Megan dressed him in an outfit that was a gift. I thought it made him look like a girl, Megan said "It will let him crawl better and keep him warm." In the evening as I was holding Chase a girl made a comment "She looks like the Gerber baby." At least he is still cute.

Tomorrow is also Megan's last day at work. She's going to become Chase's full time Mamma. I'm really glad we can make this happen for our family. People always ask us if we're having another kid, we do plan too but there won't be one in the next nine months.

That's all for now. Here's a picture of Chase on Halloween...

Outdoor Fun

In addition to all our holiday and birthday (Troy's) fun, we've managed to get outside to enjoy Andrew's vacation days. On Friday, we went up to HooDoo for some skiing. Andrew and I took turns skiing and playing with Chase in the lodge. So much fun, I'm so happy to be skiing again. Today we went to Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge. We had sunny mild weather and saw 18 deer and thousands of geese. Chase slept on Andrew's back in the baby backpack as we walked.

The Decision to Stay Home

Well, after a great deal of deliberating and praying, the decision has been made! I will become a full-time mommy on December 12th (so long as I get my grades in on the 11th). The math department, and Chase's sitter have been informed, so it's very final. Why? I want to be with Chase, and I think it's best for him!

We're going to sell the Saturn, so we'll have 1 car and 1 motorcycle. Andrew will usually take a vehicle to work, so I plan to take the bus to get to the gym (Kroc Center) and a mom's group (church), and possibly for groceries. I hope to walk (with Chase in the baby backpack) to a few playdates in the neighborhood (the furthest is 2 miles).

Just a few short years ago I was completely immersed in math and research - totally career oriented. I could not have imagined wanting to be a stay-at-home-mom. So really why? It's been fun and interesting to hear what questions people have about this decision. So what are you going to do all day? Is your schedule too much for you to balance work and parenting? Are you pregnant? Are you trying to get pregnant? What about money?

Note, I had to defend my decision to go back to work as well! So, I'd like to encourage other moms and families just to figure out what's best for your family. :o)

So after Chase was born, I certainly didn't want to leave him and go back to work. But, I thought there was a strong possibility that once I went back to work and got into that routine, that I'd enjoy the time away and together all the more. And there was no way to find out, but to try it. We did try it. I still do love to teach, but I found I just want to be with Chase. I spend my days at school counting the minutes until I can pick up Chase. He's only 9-months old once!

I'm not pregnant, nor do we plan to have more kids very soon. Let's get this family caught up on sleep before we add to it! Chase still nurses once each night.

As for money, it came down to me working now so we could have more family time later. Well there are few garantees in life, so we're taking family time now.

Chase's sitter, Kasyn, is absolutely amazing. Chase has great care and lots of love during the 4 days (7 hours per day) when I'm away. He gets tons of attention and interaction with her and the other kids. He learns a lot there, imitates the older kids, and has fun. We are even planning a regular playdate when I am finished working. So quality childcare is not the issue.

How about the schedule? Well, working and parenting is crazy. But, after the first few weeks of adjusting, it's not all that much crazier than being home with Chase. And anyone who's spent a good deal of time with young kids knows being home is no vacation. Sometimes, working is easier than being home. Even during his naps, I'm doing housework (not so easy when he's awake... how does my sister manage 2 babies?!), there's always plenty to do. You don't exactly get time to yourself. Still, it is much more enjoyable to be home with Chase, rather than away from him and at work. What am I going to do all day? If you mean this when you ask this, you haven't spent a day with a baby (or you have a poor memory). I'll try to do a "24 hours" post in the future. Some othere mommies have asked me this, and I think they mean, won't you go crazy all day alone with your kid?! Yes, I think I would. That's why it's going to be so important for us to go to the Kroc Center (swimming!), mom's group, Kasyn's playdate, and a couple other regular playdates with neighbors, and I assume grandparents. On top of that we're going to cram in housework, yardwork, learning to walk/talk/read/sing/color/potty/share/count/etc.

I'm really looking forward to this time with our baby, and I'm so grateful that Andrew is giving us this time together. :o)