Sunday, December 13, 2009
I taught chase how to give a high 5
A crowning achievement in his young life. I've now taught Chase to give me a 5, it's amazing how exciting the small things become. Especially when he does it for me, but not for Laura. Unfortunately Chase just thinks of her as food.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Chase is becoming attitudinal
Yes that last word is a word which means "having an attitude". We've started the crying when people leave the room phase as well as whining when he doesn't get what he wants. Definitely taking after his mother. :) He's also taken on his mom's spending habits, why do kids have to cost so much? The problem is he continues to top the charts as far as weight and height goes so all the shirts we get him end up being belly shirts because he is a little chubby.
With a kid we also had to go back to the tradition of decorating for Christmas. We haven't had a tree in 4 years, but we broke down and picked up a fake one from Target which we had to fluff to make sure it looked full. We also bought Chase his Christmas presents. I proposed just letting him play with them and then wrapping them later, but Laura said we couldn't do that. She's no fun.
We're still waiting for movement, for now he just rolls back and forth and tries to wiggle his way closer to what he wants. He hasn't quite figured out the whole crawling thing yet, which from what I've heard is a good thing. I've been told I have to take down my bobblehead collection at this time because he might pull them all down upon himself. The sacrifices you have to make for your kids, ridiculous.
We're trying to get Chase to read, but basically he just wants to eat the books so we're not sure how smart he will be. :) He has figured out he really enjoys the television remotes, we try to turn him away from the TV as much as possible, but sometimes he does twist his head around to take a peek. A couple of teeth have sprouted out which hurts when he decides to bite you. He's also started to shake his head "no" towards us, not a good start as far as discipline goes.
Supposedly we are supposed to put together a Christmas card now or something, but it feels like it is getting a little late. You may have to be satisfied with this blog as our Christmas letter, although I really want to buy matching Christmas sweaters we can all wear. If you are looking to get Chase something for Christmas his list includes a new TV, blue-ray player, and a couple of video games. He's trying to build his collection now to be ready when he can start using that stuff.
Merry Christmas
With a kid we also had to go back to the tradition of decorating for Christmas. We haven't had a tree in 4 years, but we broke down and picked up a fake one from Target which we had to fluff to make sure it looked full. We also bought Chase his Christmas presents. I proposed just letting him play with them and then wrapping them later, but Laura said we couldn't do that. She's no fun.
We're still waiting for movement, for now he just rolls back and forth and tries to wiggle his way closer to what he wants. He hasn't quite figured out the whole crawling thing yet, which from what I've heard is a good thing. I've been told I have to take down my bobblehead collection at this time because he might pull them all down upon himself. The sacrifices you have to make for your kids, ridiculous.
We're trying to get Chase to read, but basically he just wants to eat the books so we're not sure how smart he will be. :) He has figured out he really enjoys the television remotes, we try to turn him away from the TV as much as possible, but sometimes he does twist his head around to take a peek. A couple of teeth have sprouted out which hurts when he decides to bite you. He's also started to shake his head "no" towards us, not a good start as far as discipline goes.
Supposedly we are supposed to put together a Christmas card now or something, but it feels like it is getting a little late. You may have to be satisfied with this blog as our Christmas letter, although I really want to buy matching Christmas sweaters we can all wear. If you are looking to get Chase something for Christmas his list includes a new TV, blue-ray player, and a couple of video games. He's trying to build his collection now to be ready when he can start using that stuff.
Merry Christmas
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Chase is sick... and so are we
H1N1 has struck our household and it was our first experience of seeing the little guy sick. We took him to daycare one morning thinking everything was fine, and then we got a call that he had a temperature of 101 and we had to get him within the hour. I went and got him and took him home. Of course we didn't have any tylenol that I could find for him so we waited for the doctor's appointment that afternoon. By the time they took his temperature it was at 102.8 and I believe the doctors were trying to be as calm as possible. It was probably a good thing Laura wasn't there. The doctor starting listing like 6 things I had to do, and I must have had a little bit of a stunned look on my face while I was nodding, becuase she stopped to ask me if she should write this down. In her head she was thinking "I wish the mom was here".
However, I remembered everything and we took the little guy home to get better. Could definetely tell he wasn't feeling well. No bouncy chair, no smiles, content to just sit on my lap, which doesn't happen anymore. So mom got home and immediately started charting everything in excel. Big change from the graphic design major I married 5 years ago, now she's using excel for everyhing.
The doctor said he tested positive for the flu, but she wasn't going to say for certain that it was the swine flu. However she was going to give him medicine like it was the swine flu. So basically, she said it was without saying it. I like our doctor, she's a straight shooter. So then I called the daycare to tell them it was the flu, but I wasn't sure if it was the swine flu, but it probably is, I just can't say for sure message. Which was cool, becuase about an hour later there was an email in my inbox sent from the daycare to all parents saying they had their first case of possible swine flu in the young infant room. Awesome being the first parents to bring an infected kid to daycare. I'm sure no one will figure out who it was. (sarcasm in that sentence) Nobody talks to us now as it is, this won't help.
Well after a couple of days of great parenting he started to get better. Nothing like high fives between us when we got a diaper filled with urine. I also would make him angry just to see if he would get tears in his eyes. Like I said great parenting, had to make sure he was hydrated. We're trying to teach him to cough into his elbow, but it's not quite working. It's also Chase's fault the Twins lost since he had to skip the game because of the flu. I was still for taking him, but I got vetoed on that.
Definetely crazy seeing your kid sick when they can't tell you why. So if you've got kids give em a hug and tell them not to share toys with kids at daycare for the next couple of months.
However, I remembered everything and we took the little guy home to get better. Could definetely tell he wasn't feeling well. No bouncy chair, no smiles, content to just sit on my lap, which doesn't happen anymore. So mom got home and immediately started charting everything in excel. Big change from the graphic design major I married 5 years ago, now she's using excel for everyhing.
The doctor said he tested positive for the flu, but she wasn't going to say for certain that it was the swine flu. However she was going to give him medicine like it was the swine flu. So basically, she said it was without saying it. I like our doctor, she's a straight shooter. So then I called the daycare to tell them it was the flu, but I wasn't sure if it was the swine flu, but it probably is, I just can't say for sure message. Which was cool, becuase about an hour later there was an email in my inbox sent from the daycare to all parents saying they had their first case of possible swine flu in the young infant room. Awesome being the first parents to bring an infected kid to daycare. I'm sure no one will figure out who it was. (sarcasm in that sentence) Nobody talks to us now as it is, this won't help.
Well after a couple of days of great parenting he started to get better. Nothing like high fives between us when we got a diaper filled with urine. I also would make him angry just to see if he would get tears in his eyes. Like I said great parenting, had to make sure he was hydrated. We're trying to teach him to cough into his elbow, but it's not quite working. It's also Chase's fault the Twins lost since he had to skip the game because of the flu. I was still for taking him, but I got vetoed on that.
Definetely crazy seeing your kid sick when they can't tell you why. So if you've got kids give em a hug and tell them not to share toys with kids at daycare for the next couple of months.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
It's Football Season
I tried to convince Laura we should get Chase a Favre Vikings jersey, but she's not on the Favre bandwagon yet. Chase is getting his fill of sports with the Vikings, watching ISU get destroyed by Iowa (although we taught Chase to chant "we hate the Hawks"), and hoping for a Twins rally so he can go to the playoffs. He seems to like football, and he enjoys watching the Twins as you can see from some of the pictures online. He's also gotten to see parts of Lord of the Rings already, so he's leading a good life.
We just had the 4 month checkup this week. Still chopping the charts at above 100%. 18 and a half pounds, definitely causing me back pain from carrying him. He's almost ready for the solid foods. We're starting with green beans and the rice stuff I guess. I still have some time to figure out the lies I will have to tell about why I don't have to eat vegetables.
We had the first daycare experience where Chase cried as we took him away from daycare. It was pretty funny from my standpoint how sad Laura got. Chase got over it pretty quickly. My favorite part about daycare is how nice they are about everything. When we ask how the day is, and they say he had an OK day today, he was a little fussy actually means he was pry screaming his head off and wanting to be held all the time.
Sorry not much comedy this post, some of the pictures are pretty comical so make sure to visit the website to see those if you want. Later
We just had the 4 month checkup this week. Still chopping the charts at above 100%. 18 and a half pounds, definitely causing me back pain from carrying him. He's almost ready for the solid foods. We're starting with green beans and the rice stuff I guess. I still have some time to figure out the lies I will have to tell about why I don't have to eat vegetables.
We had the first daycare experience where Chase cried as we took him away from daycare. It was pretty funny from my standpoint how sad Laura got. Chase got over it pretty quickly. My favorite part about daycare is how nice they are about everything. When we ask how the day is, and they say he had an OK day today, he was a little fussy actually means he was pry screaming his head off and wanting to be held all the time.
Sorry not much comedy this post, some of the pictures are pretty comical so make sure to visit the website to see those if you want. Later
Sunday, August 23, 2009
I have no title for this one
Things continue on, Chase is a month older than the last post, getting bigger and laughing more. We've found out he's pretty ticklish now, although it seems to be more painful than making him happy. We found out some words make him laugh like pizza, and when he gets going it's pretty funny. I'll throw some more pictures up online, we finally printed some out ourselves so now we have his picture around the house and in our cubes. I still don't have the wallet shot, although I can use my phone to show him off to people. Still no footprint, but supposedly today's the day.
We had the baptism about 3 weeks ago now, he was very well behaved. What was great is that the other kid was about 2 that was getting baptized and he was running around like crazy. No crying for Chase until after the ceremony, so nice job. He's finished up his tour of different babysitters and will actually start his full time daycare next week. He went to temporary daycare last week and the first day was a little rough. They said he wanted to be held all the time or he would cry, I wonder why that is, maybe because his family baby sitters spoiled him a little too much.
We've also found that he really likes TV to the point that we have to pull his face away from it, he'll crain his neck backwards to catch a glimpse. This is really good when we are watching our R rated movies and shows like weeds and dexter. Only a few more months we can watch that stuff with him. You don't want to be the parents who's kids first words are four letters and cause old people to gasp.
Laura bought some stupid chair called a bumpo which lets him sit up. First of all, his little legs are almost too chubby to fit, second this piece of foam cost $50 bucks for us to buy, and probably 10 cents for them to make, ridiculous. Chase's daycare also went up, so we've told him he needs to find a job to hold up his end of the family budget.
Pretty soon he will be crawling around and eating solid food, so I think things are about to get crazy. I'm posting more pictures now.
We had the baptism about 3 weeks ago now, he was very well behaved. What was great is that the other kid was about 2 that was getting baptized and he was running around like crazy. No crying for Chase until after the ceremony, so nice job. He's finished up his tour of different babysitters and will actually start his full time daycare next week. He went to temporary daycare last week and the first day was a little rough. They said he wanted to be held all the time or he would cry, I wonder why that is, maybe because his family baby sitters spoiled him a little too much.
We've also found that he really likes TV to the point that we have to pull his face away from it, he'll crain his neck backwards to catch a glimpse. This is really good when we are watching our R rated movies and shows like weeds and dexter. Only a few more months we can watch that stuff with him. You don't want to be the parents who's kids first words are four letters and cause old people to gasp.
Laura bought some stupid chair called a bumpo which lets him sit up. First of all, his little legs are almost too chubby to fit, second this piece of foam cost $50 bucks for us to buy, and probably 10 cents for them to make, ridiculous. Chase's daycare also went up, so we've told him he needs to find a job to hold up his end of the family budget.
Pretty soon he will be crawling around and eating solid food, so I think things are about to get crazy. I'm posting more pictures now.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
We have a chunker!
Well I know one thing my kid is better at then 100% of other kids his age. Being huge! He checks in at the 100 percentile for height, weight, and head circumference. His current nickname is the michelin man, although if you ask Laura he's not fat, he's husky.
Laura and I had very different reactions when we heard this news. Laura's first question to the doctor was, "Am I doing something wrong, should I stop feeding him, how have I created this huge kid?" My reaction was, "That's Awesome, let's keep it going!" They say it means absolutely nothing long term, but at least we know he's getting enough to eat. I can still hope for a 6'6 athletic kid, even though the likelihood is very low.
We apologize to everyone who doesn't have a picture of Chase that normal people sent out. We still haven't gotten professional pictures or done his footprint yet. They don't do that in the hospital anymore. Don't feel bad about the pictures though, Laura and I haven't actually printed any either, they are just all on a computer or online, so when people stop by my desk asking for a picture I'm the bad parent that says I don't have one.
Otherwise everything is going along in a pretty normal fashion. Laura had to come back to the working world this week, so far so good. Although she did float the idea out there about possibly going part-time. I said that wasn't part of the excel life plan we have, so that won't work right now. :) Baptism next week, 3 weeks away from heading to daycare. Everybody tells us to enjoy this time because pretty soon he's not just going to sit there anymore, we'll have to chase him.
By the way, the Twins are horrible so if anyone wants tickets, I've got some to sell you.
Laura and I had very different reactions when we heard this news. Laura's first question to the doctor was, "Am I doing something wrong, should I stop feeding him, how have I created this huge kid?" My reaction was, "That's Awesome, let's keep it going!" They say it means absolutely nothing long term, but at least we know he's getting enough to eat. I can still hope for a 6'6 athletic kid, even though the likelihood is very low.
We apologize to everyone who doesn't have a picture of Chase that normal people sent out. We still haven't gotten professional pictures or done his footprint yet. They don't do that in the hospital anymore. Don't feel bad about the pictures though, Laura and I haven't actually printed any either, they are just all on a computer or online, so when people stop by my desk asking for a picture I'm the bad parent that says I don't have one.
Otherwise everything is going along in a pretty normal fashion. Laura had to come back to the working world this week, so far so good. Although she did float the idea out there about possibly going part-time. I said that wasn't part of the excel life plan we have, so that won't work right now. :) Baptism next week, 3 weeks away from heading to daycare. Everybody tells us to enjoy this time because pretty soon he's not just going to sit there anymore, we'll have to chase him.
By the way, the Twins are horrible so if anyone wants tickets, I've got some to sell you.
Friday, July 3, 2009
We got rid of our first mistake as a couple
Well, say goodbye to Gertrude, or as I said, good riddance. We call it our first mistake (the house we live in being the 2nd :) ) because we were morons when it came to negotiating for that car. We were just graduating college and Laura had her other car totaled. So we went out looking for cars. First of all while test driving, Laura states loudly, with the salesman in the car. "I Love THIS CAR, We have to get it!!!" As you can imagine it was tough to negotiate after that. I fell for the stupid, well we can give you $500 dollars off, but you would have to buy right now! I stupidly reply "OK". About a month later we started referring to the car as our fist mistake.
I feel like we do a little better now when negotiating. All negotating online, make the dealers compete against each other and keep driving the price down. Because if there's one place I do not like, it's car dealerships. (sorry if anyone is a car dealer) It just always takes so long to get anything done. This time after we had bought the car, he wanted to give me a tour of the dealership, I don't need to see the lounge at that point, just get me out of there. We could have looked at the lounge during the other hour we sat there doing nothing. We bought Chase along in case it started taking too long. The plan was to pinch him to make him cry and make the salesman uncomftorable . Because at this point the crying doesn't really bother us. We can pretty much just sit there and watch him cry. We actually find it kind of funny. I know, we're mean. So anyways we got a Toyota Rav4, so we've given in and already gotten a bigger car, although it's not a minivan.
Chase is pretty excited today, it's his first Twins game. (Quick break - Chase totally just punched Laura in the face, hilarious) We are going to show him how to keep score. I'm sure he'll fall asleep just like his mom usually does. The little guy is up above 15 lbs now, which we are finding out is prettty huge. First doctor's appointment is still a couple of weeks away, but to all those people who bought us newborn clothes, sorry he only wore that size for about 2 weeks.
I'll probably post pictures more than I blog, so if you are curious check there first. Val got married two weekends ago, so Chase did some dancing there in his little tux. I'll try to throw some more Chase pictures up today. One you can see how excited he is to wear the ridiculous clothes his mom dresses him in. This week it's a dragon bath robe with slippers. He loves it. :)
As for mistake number two, if you know anybody willing to overpay for a townhome in Ramsey, let me know.
I feel like we do a little better now when negotiating. All negotating online, make the dealers compete against each other and keep driving the price down. Because if there's one place I do not like, it's car dealerships. (sorry if anyone is a car dealer) It just always takes so long to get anything done. This time after we had bought the car, he wanted to give me a tour of the dealership, I don't need to see the lounge at that point, just get me out of there. We could have looked at the lounge during the other hour we sat there doing nothing. We bought Chase along in case it started taking too long. The plan was to pinch him to make him cry and make the salesman uncomftorable . Because at this point the crying doesn't really bother us. We can pretty much just sit there and watch him cry. We actually find it kind of funny. I know, we're mean. So anyways we got a Toyota Rav4, so we've given in and already gotten a bigger car, although it's not a minivan.
Chase is pretty excited today, it's his first Twins game. (Quick break - Chase totally just punched Laura in the face, hilarious) We are going to show him how to keep score. I'm sure he'll fall asleep just like his mom usually does. The little guy is up above 15 lbs now, which we are finding out is prettty huge. First doctor's appointment is still a couple of weeks away, but to all those people who bought us newborn clothes, sorry he only wore that size for about 2 weeks.
I'll probably post pictures more than I blog, so if you are curious check there first. Val got married two weekends ago, so Chase did some dancing there in his little tux. I'll try to throw some more Chase pictures up today. One you can see how excited he is to wear the ridiculous clothes his mom dresses him in. This week it's a dragon bath robe with slippers. He loves it. :)
As for mistake number two, if you know anybody willing to overpay for a townhome in Ramsey, let me know.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
The first word is...
HI
Or at least that's what it sounds like. :) Next up is Dad. The funny thing is you can see he is trying so hard to say something, and then finally a sound comes out. Plus you have his ridiculous parents just staring at him with stupid faces and saying hi a lot. People make the weirdest faces when talking to a baby, including myself. Interesting to know what they actually think.
Otherwise its been about a month since the last post. We've kind of fallen into a rhythm and he's not walking or crawling yet, so not much excitement to talk about. He's been to Iowa 3 times already, I know some people in Minnesota who have never been to Iowa. At Mike's graduation he was passed around to about 40 different people. I tried to get pictures of all of them but I got tired.
He's been to church a couple of times now which is definetely different with a kid. You spend half the time concerned that he is going to start wailing during a sermon. 2 for 2 so far with being quiet.
There was also one weekend Laura decided to go to a wedding and I stayed home with him. That night I found out why they make babies cute. He cried pretty much from 1 until 3:30 in the morning. He's lucky he smiled one time in the middle so I could keep my sanity. I made my mom come up that weekend and she finally got him to sleep at 3:30. Definetely a stinker, I asked him if he wanted a spanking, and that didn't seem to calm him down at all.
He's already outgrown most of his newborn clothes, so there's about 40 outfits down the drain that he never wore. Sorry to all the people who gave us newborn onesies as gifts. We weighed him last week at 13 pounds. The good news is he can now wear his Twins clothes. He's getting pretty pumped for his first game coming up the 4th of July weekend.
Well that's it for now, Laura got him some fancy clothes for Val's wedding next week so we'll post those pictures in a couple of weeks. I'm also going to throw up a bunch of new pictures right now as well.
Or at least that's what it sounds like. :) Next up is Dad. The funny thing is you can see he is trying so hard to say something, and then finally a sound comes out. Plus you have his ridiculous parents just staring at him with stupid faces and saying hi a lot. People make the weirdest faces when talking to a baby, including myself. Interesting to know what they actually think.
Otherwise its been about a month since the last post. We've kind of fallen into a rhythm and he's not walking or crawling yet, so not much excitement to talk about. He's been to Iowa 3 times already, I know some people in Minnesota who have never been to Iowa. At Mike's graduation he was passed around to about 40 different people. I tried to get pictures of all of them but I got tired.
He's been to church a couple of times now which is definetely different with a kid. You spend half the time concerned that he is going to start wailing during a sermon. 2 for 2 so far with being quiet.
There was also one weekend Laura decided to go to a wedding and I stayed home with him. That night I found out why they make babies cute. He cried pretty much from 1 until 3:30 in the morning. He's lucky he smiled one time in the middle so I could keep my sanity. I made my mom come up that weekend and she finally got him to sleep at 3:30. Definetely a stinker, I asked him if he wanted a spanking, and that didn't seem to calm him down at all.
He's already outgrown most of his newborn clothes, so there's about 40 outfits down the drain that he never wore. Sorry to all the people who gave us newborn onesies as gifts. We weighed him last week at 13 pounds. The good news is he can now wear his Twins clothes. He's getting pretty pumped for his first game coming up the 4th of July weekend.
Well that's it for now, Laura got him some fancy clothes for Val's wedding next week so we'll post those pictures in a couple of weeks. I'm also going to throw up a bunch of new pictures right now as well.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
We got a smile.... or it was gas
We've been told that babies start to react in the 4 weeks to 2 months range, but we're pretty sure we've gotten him to smile at us a couple of times in the last couple of days which is pretty cool. We also find his huge belly kind of amusing, skinny chest, skinny legs, huge belly. That's what happens when you eat all day. Other than that not a lot to report on the little guy.
His first visit to Iowa was amusing. He was quiet the entire time we were driving until we crossed the border then he started crying. Go figure. So the new game to play is where can you pull over to feed him without drawing attention. So far it's been next to a grain bin and an empty daycare parking lot. It was also comical trying to leave and come back home. Trying to pry a baby from its grandparents arms is impossible. I finally had to say, "Put the baby in the car seat" My dad was trying to get him to play with toys, little young for that.
First mother's day came and went as well. Laura got both her mother's day present and a push present. Suprisingly Target doesn't sell push present cards yet, looks like a big opportunity.
We are also starting to recognize faces and what they mean. When he snorts and shakes his head, he's hungry. When he's happy he will just sit there and stair at the wall. When he tries to avoid eye contact and gets really quiet, watch out something's going to happen. You have to be really careful of this on the changing table, never trust a quiet baby on the changing table. I had a perfect streak going until this morning with a clean baby, oh well. One night I got up to change him and stepped on a wet spot on the floor. You couldn't be angry with the kid, you had to be proud for his range.
We'll try to post some more pictures today as well.
His first visit to Iowa was amusing. He was quiet the entire time we were driving until we crossed the border then he started crying. Go figure. So the new game to play is where can you pull over to feed him without drawing attention. So far it's been next to a grain bin and an empty daycare parking lot. It was also comical trying to leave and come back home. Trying to pry a baby from its grandparents arms is impossible. I finally had to say, "Put the baby in the car seat" My dad was trying to get him to play with toys, little young for that.
First mother's day came and went as well. Laura got both her mother's day present and a push present. Suprisingly Target doesn't sell push present cards yet, looks like a big opportunity.
We are also starting to recognize faces and what they mean. When he snorts and shakes his head, he's hungry. When he's happy he will just sit there and stair at the wall. When he tries to avoid eye contact and gets really quiet, watch out something's going to happen. You have to be really careful of this on the changing table, never trust a quiet baby on the changing table. I had a perfect streak going until this morning with a clean baby, oh well. One night I got up to change him and stepped on a wet spot on the floor. You couldn't be angry with the kid, you had to be proud for his range.
We'll try to post some more pictures today as well.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
He peed on himself
I was going about my business changing a diaper, which are now more frequent again and nastier, when I felt his clothes and noticed they were all wet. Then I felt above his head and that was wet too. So I'm pretty sure he peed on himself which explains why he got really angry. I told him to warn me next time so I can have the video camera ready to see what kind of air he can get.
My current favorite thing that he does is his snort. It sounds just like a pig and he usually does it when he is hungry. Still working on getting him to sleep in his crib or the pack n play, he usually tries it for about 20 minutes and then starts crying. So sleep at night involves sleeping in a chair with him on the chest. Fine for now, but I told him this will not last past age 12.
I have to go back to work tomorrow, although we are going to buy a lottery ticket tonight to see if I can become a permanent stay at home dad. More pictures down below including a demonstration on how to play video games with a newborn and his patented fist under the chin sleeping move. Time for us to eat, Ginny made us lasagna on Sunday and we've been eating it for every meal since, so time for some variety although obviously it was really good because I usually eat leftovers once at the most.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mbecker0410/20090428MoreChasePictures#
My current favorite thing that he does is his snort. It sounds just like a pig and he usually does it when he is hungry. Still working on getting him to sleep in his crib or the pack n play, he usually tries it for about 20 minutes and then starts crying. So sleep at night involves sleeping in a chair with him on the chest. Fine for now, but I told him this will not last past age 12.
I have to go back to work tomorrow, although we are going to buy a lottery ticket tonight to see if I can become a permanent stay at home dad. More pictures down below including a demonstration on how to play video games with a newborn and his patented fist under the chin sleeping move. Time for us to eat, Ginny made us lasagna on Sunday and we've been eating it for every meal since, so time for some variety although obviously it was really good because I usually eat leftovers once at the most.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mbecker0410/20090428MoreChasePictures#
Monday, April 27, 2009
Day 3 of Parenthood
We've decided we are going to keep the little guy. We've made a little progress over the last couple of days, especially after the nurse showed up today and told us we were doing everything wrong. So get the bumpers off of the crib, when he cries feed him no matter when he last ate, and pretty much let him do what he wants. We followed these rules and immediately he sleeps for like 3 hours straight. Best part of that is he slept on my belly while I played PS3. So now he hardly cries and sleeps a lot. Exactly what he's supposed to do. He also let out the loudest belch today, uncle Rich would be proud. You also know you've reached a new stage of your life when you start looking forward to a poopy diaper. (so you know he's actually eating enough) Plus he just threw up in Laura's hand. Yeah!!! It's the little things.
We had to get his earmuffs out today as we watched the movie Role Models. Their are a few words he probably shouldn't hear in the movie. We also made sure he faced away from the TV since it is the unrated version. We have to enjoy this while he still doesn't understand what is going on. Then it's all Disney movies and Nickelodeon. Can't wait for the telletubbies. Not much else going on, he timed it right so I got to miss a couple of classes, so he's scored some points from me already. We may try to venture out tommorow, so we'll see how that goes.
We had to get his earmuffs out today as we watched the movie Role Models. Their are a few words he probably shouldn't hear in the movie. We also made sure he faced away from the TV since it is the unrated version. We have to enjoy this while he still doesn't understand what is going on. Then it's all Disney movies and Nickelodeon. Can't wait for the telletubbies. Not much else going on, he timed it right so I got to miss a couple of classes, so he's scored some points from me already. We may try to venture out tommorow, so we'll see how that goes.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Chase is here!
For some reason blogger is blocked here, so I’m keeping track in word and then you are seeing it all at once.
Friday Morning - 4 AM
Well, we’re assuming today is the day. It’s 4 AM, we’re in the hospital, Laura has her drugs, and she’s trying to get a little sleep. At the doctor’s appointment this morning they sped the process up and it obviously worked as by 8 tonight the process had begun. Tough to know when you are actually supposed to come in, but with us being 40 minutes away we didn’t want to risk it. We got to the hospital at about 1 and by the time laura got drugs it was 3 hours later. She kept emphasizing that she wanted drugs though, and made sure the nurse did not forget.
At the time of the epidiral I was just standing in front of her and holding her hand. The doctor had just relayed a story about how a guy fainted and hit his head on the sink and had to go to the ER. Luckily I have practice in fainting so towards the end, I felt it happening again. This time instead of trying to shake it off, I sat down. So Laura’s getting a needle shoved in her back during a huge contraction, and the nurse has to get me some juice since I look green. Good thing I’m not having the kid. They have informed me there will be a chair ready for me during the actual delivery.
Pretty crazy to think that we will not return home by ourselves after this weekend. I was playing some PS3 when it started, so I got my last bit of that in as well as our random suppers of chicken wings and fries. Laura’s doing really well. Comments she has already made.
- I don’t want another kid
- Get me drugs
- Get me drugs now
- Did I mention I want drugs
- My husbands a fainter, watch out for him
I’m going to try and get some sleep now, obviously at the end of this there will be a link to pictures.
Friday Morning - 6:49 AM
Pretty rough last hour, the pain medicine wasn’t working and Laura was in a lot of pain. At first the machine distributing medicine broke and stopped letting medicine come out. They checked everything 3 times and then decided to just redo the epidural. When she sat up they realized that the first one had come out, so whoops. Laura had some pretty bad contractions at that point and was thinking she’d have to deliver the baby naturally which scared her the most. They restuck it in though, this time no fainting worries, and it looks like she might actually be sleeping again now. So I believe this sets the timetable back another few hours, hopefully she can get some sleep though. Kind of stinks when there’s basically nothing you can do to help. Plus I would say Laura and I tend to skew more towards the sarcastic side when talking with each other, that doesn’t quite work when you are feeling the most intense pain you have ever felt. Sun is coming up, we’ve been at it for around 11 hours now. Still hasn’t had her water break, so I think they might force that at some time.
9:22 AM - Saturday
So then it got a little busy after the last post. Laura was actually able to sleep until about noon and then we started the final part of labor. At the beginning she asked how long it would take, and I think we both thought “maybe 30 minutes”, obviously forgetting the class we took where it said it was a couple of hours. An hour and a half later, Laura was starting to get mad, which helped the situation. Finally, after 2 and a half hours, Chase Cameron made his way into the world, and man was he a lot larger then expected at 8 lbs 7 oz and 22 inches long. I got to cut the umbilical cord and then we took him over to get cleaned and warmed up. He came out with extremely wrinkly hands and feet due to some circulation problems, but everything was fine after a couple of hours. Overall the process was long, but Laura said it wasn’t too bad. She’s ready for the next one already. :) Laura did a great job, I tried not to laugh when she went for the 4th push during a contraction, but there was just this look of, “I’m sick of this, and I’m not wasting a contraction.”
We then finally invited the grandparents in to see their new grandson. Let’s just say Laura and I didn’t hold him very much over the next 8 hours. My dad just kept using the word Grandpa a lot, and people were making phone calls left and right. We then went through seeing some of his firsts, like a bath and his first meal. Unfortunately after everyone left we also got to experience the first diaper change. Good times. I faked like I was sleeping the rest of the night when he needed his diaper changed, so Laura took care of those. We actually slept pretty well during the night, he would sleep between feedings for the 3 hours without a lot of crying, so we’re feeling a little more rested this morning. I almost forgot that he got to see his first Twins game last night, although he pretty much slept through it, just like his Mom. 1-0 during his lifetime.
He stayed with us the entire time, and he actually just left us for a procedure. So hopefully they bring the right one back. I think we are planning on heading home today, so he’ll get to see all of the cool baby shower gifts he got. He can see the bobblehead collection, the PS3 that he won’t get to play more then an hour a day unless it is against me, and his basketball hoop that he can start shooting with. He should be able to start taking grounders in the next couple of weeks to get ready for baseball. :) That’s all for now, I’m sure when I’m up at 3 AM some night I’ll be able to write some more.
9:23 AM - Sunday Morning
Last night was a little longer then the night before. We think his current crib is a little big for him as every time we laid him down he would start crying. So we basically traded off holding him all night. That's not lasting much longer this week. :) He's pretty content now after eating a little bit. Grandma Friedrich has figured out that putting him in his stroller keeps him pretty content, so he's hanging out there now. Laura probably got around 3 hours of sleep last night, including an hour on the floor, so we've sent her back to bed for hopefully a good 3 hours. Overall he seems pretty happy, we already have the diaper changing down, and he seems to like both of us, so that's good. Here's a link to some of the first pictures, as we have more we'll post him. The 12th picture is my favorite, because he looks like an evil doctor or something with his old man hands in front of his face. His hands are back to normal now and he has lost his cone head, so supposedly that means he's starting to look cuter.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mbecker0410/20090424FirstBabyPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCKTrkuPh_s-YjQE#
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
30 days and counting
Well, it's crunch time. Something that felt very far away is now down to the final month and you know that it could happen any day now going forward. Laura's starting to get a little nervous, and wondering if we are all ready to go. I'm pretty much not trying to think too much about it, and hoping I figure it out once he is born. My dad asked if I've been reading a lot of books on how this all works, and I said not really, I'm more of an experience learner I would say. How hard can it be, right?
Good news is we do have a lot ready to go now. Two weekends ago Laura and Ginny worked on putting all of the bedroom furniture together. If you're wondering where I was as, I was putting together bookshelves downstairs, so don't think I was just playing video games or something. So the rooms all ready to go, and we have all these really tiny diapers that seem too small to be real. Just crazy how small he will be.
Laura has had some baby showers. What exactly the purpose of some of those games is, I really have no idea. What's the point of cutting a piece of string for how big you think the mom's stomach is. You are going to lose either way; either you cut it to small and lose the game, or you cut it to big and the mom hates you, you can't win. Laura supposedly cut her string 2 feet too long, to which she responded "that's how big I feel". We did get a lot of Twins and ISU clothes so we should be good to go. I'm proposing that for the kid's first picture, but Laura doesn't agree yet. My work team got us all of that stuff you don't know you need. It's also stuff you don't ever want to have to use. A lot of creams, ointments, and other awkward devices. This is going to be interesting.
We had our first of weekly doctor visits this week. Laura completely offended the nurse. Laura weighed in and she made a comment about how big she is. I'm pretty sure she still weighs less then the nurse, who's not pregnant. The nurse responded with a simple "You're pregnant", with a little attitude. So I don't think Laura made any friends. The stomach is pretty much growing straight out, almost to the point where Laura can eat off of it, which has been her dream all along. Everything seems to be in order, the little guy is already in the correct position, and things seem to be on track.
We head home this weekend for my Alumni basketball tournament. Which is a little scary that it's now been 9 years since we've graduated so we are now the oldest team in the younger division. Crazy. Next time I write will probably be after the baby is here, so look forward to that. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to update as I'm wide awake at 3 AM feeding him or something.
Later
Good news is we do have a lot ready to go now. Two weekends ago Laura and Ginny worked on putting all of the bedroom furniture together. If you're wondering where I was as, I was putting together bookshelves downstairs, so don't think I was just playing video games or something. So the rooms all ready to go, and we have all these really tiny diapers that seem too small to be real. Just crazy how small he will be.
Laura has had some baby showers. What exactly the purpose of some of those games is, I really have no idea. What's the point of cutting a piece of string for how big you think the mom's stomach is. You are going to lose either way; either you cut it to small and lose the game, or you cut it to big and the mom hates you, you can't win. Laura supposedly cut her string 2 feet too long, to which she responded "that's how big I feel". We did get a lot of Twins and ISU clothes so we should be good to go. I'm proposing that for the kid's first picture, but Laura doesn't agree yet. My work team got us all of that stuff you don't know you need. It's also stuff you don't ever want to have to use. A lot of creams, ointments, and other awkward devices. This is going to be interesting.
We had our first of weekly doctor visits this week. Laura completely offended the nurse. Laura weighed in and she made a comment about how big she is. I'm pretty sure she still weighs less then the nurse, who's not pregnant. The nurse responded with a simple "You're pregnant", with a little attitude. So I don't think Laura made any friends. The stomach is pretty much growing straight out, almost to the point where Laura can eat off of it, which has been her dream all along. Everything seems to be in order, the little guy is already in the correct position, and things seem to be on track.
We head home this weekend for my Alumni basketball tournament. Which is a little scary that it's now been 9 years since we've graduated so we are now the oldest team in the younger division. Crazy. Next time I write will probably be after the baby is here, so look forward to that. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to update as I'm wide awake at 3 AM feeding him or something.
Later
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Baby Class
So you know that perfect Saturday morning. Nothing going on, no plans, very relaxing, do what you want. My last Saturday was the complete opposite of that. It was time for baby class at 8:30 in the morning which meant we got up the same time as normal, although I do hear that you don't get to sleep in after you have kids as well so maybe they considered this to be part of the prep.
Let's go over topics you don't want to hear about at 8:30 in the morning
- mucus
- discharge
- stages of color in baby poop
- Different positions of labor - here's a link to my favorite ones
http://picasaweb.google.com/mbecker0410/20090310BabyPositions?authkey=Gv1sRgCPax_uDk6fKt1AE#
All very exciting and educational. Then there are the movies. I think the instructors secretly love showing these videos. If you don't know what I'm talking about, consider yourself lucky. I'm pretty sure we walked in the room, she said good morning, and then she said "Yes, we are going to watch two videos today." She threw it out there like a sneak preview of something to look forward too, which it definetely is not.
So let me do a quick movie review for you. These movies take you through the process of labor, the whole process of labor. Especially that part you don't want to see. Also whoever the casting department is for these movies should be fired. Although honestly, who signs up to have this video taped. I just imagine meeting this person in the street and saying "I think I know you from somewhere, wait I just can't place it, oh now I remember." And then I quickly run away as fast as I can in fear of that picture flashing back in my head. For some reason Laura felt anxious about the whole process the next day, I wonder why. What's the point to the ending of those movies. Although my favorite part is that the husband in the second movie said to practice changing diapers he practiced on his cat. Sounds like a great idea, if anybody has a cat I can borrow, let me know.
So that pretty much wrapped up day one of baby class, we did get a tour and i learned that labor lasts a little longer then the 30 minutes it usually seems to take in the movies. So definitely some valuable stuff. We're supposed to go back Saturday for round 2 and all the breathing techniques.
The little guy is rolling all over in Laura's belly and we are starting to be able to see body parts, so pretty crazy. 7 weeks to go. I think Laura's ready anytime. We're cleaning out the baby room right now, so things are moving along.
Let's go over topics you don't want to hear about at 8:30 in the morning
- mucus
- discharge
- stages of color in baby poop
- Different positions of labor - here's a link to my favorite ones
http://picasaweb.google.com/mbecker0410/20090310BabyPositions?authkey=Gv1sRgCPax_uDk6fKt1AE#
All very exciting and educational. Then there are the movies. I think the instructors secretly love showing these videos. If you don't know what I'm talking about, consider yourself lucky. I'm pretty sure we walked in the room, she said good morning, and then she said "Yes, we are going to watch two videos today." She threw it out there like a sneak preview of something to look forward too, which it definetely is not.
So let me do a quick movie review for you. These movies take you through the process of labor, the whole process of labor. Especially that part you don't want to see. Also whoever the casting department is for these movies should be fired. Although honestly, who signs up to have this video taped. I just imagine meeting this person in the street and saying "I think I know you from somewhere, wait I just can't place it, oh now I remember." And then I quickly run away as fast as I can in fear of that picture flashing back in my head. For some reason Laura felt anxious about the whole process the next day, I wonder why. What's the point to the ending of those movies. Although my favorite part is that the husband in the second movie said to practice changing diapers he practiced on his cat. Sounds like a great idea, if anybody has a cat I can borrow, let me know.
So that pretty much wrapped up day one of baby class, we did get a tour and i learned that labor lasts a little longer then the 30 minutes it usually seems to take in the movies. So definitely some valuable stuff. We're supposed to go back Saturday for round 2 and all the breathing techniques.
The little guy is rolling all over in Laura's belly and we are starting to be able to see body parts, so pretty crazy. 7 weeks to go. I think Laura's ready anytime. We're cleaning out the baby room right now, so things are moving along.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Beards and Bellies
Wow, it's been a month since the last time I wrote. I know I left the big beard cliff hanger last time too, so think of the past month as a writers strike, but I'm back and will try to update a little more often. Not very much is happening on the baby front, it continues to grow, everything seems to be fine, it moves constantly. Laura thinks she felt the shoulder last night. She does wake up at 3 AM sometimes and wants me to feel the belly. Depending how awake I am I throw my hand over. Of course he usually stops moving when I do that. I'm to the point where I'm ready for the real thing, or at least I think i am. We also had to stop for Ramen noodles last night, that's pretty much the only craving she's had. I did post some pictures of both my beard and her belly as of today. So 6 and a half months along, 10 weeks to go from today. We have no name yet, so who knows, the kid may just be baby Becker for awhile.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mbecker0410/20090219BeardAndBelly?authkey=bwmKPgXCW_M#
We had a very exciting last Feb 14th without kids, otherwise known as Valentine's Day with Ray. If you ever want to be humbled, try doing something you know you are terrible at, for me that is manual labor and working with my hands. I have no idea why this is, genetically I should be good. My dad's good at it, my grandpa builds things like a firepit on wheels, I can't even build a birdhouse right. I felt bad leaving Ray here by himself the first couple of days, but then I realized it probably went faster without us here helping. :)
I did learn how to put up trim, I learned that I can't operate a manual saw (couldn't get the thing to cut), and how to putty nail holes. That's a fun job. I even pulled a hammy on that one, don't ask me how, I have no idea, took 4 days to recover. Give me an excel document, no problem, give me a hammer and watch out. But hey, carpet is on the way in the next couple of weeks and then our 4 year basement project is over. Laura has decided we won't try finishing things ourself again. Thanks Ray, basement looks great.
Well we have our classes coming up first weekends in March and some baby showers on the way. I'm sure the classes will be entertaining. Laura and I don't take many things seriously, so it may be tough to have a straight face and not make some sarcastic comments. For Valentine's day Laura did buy me a baby's bib from the Minnesota Twins. I need to order the kid's first outfit for coming home, a Twins outfit. Laura and I are still discussing this one. I think their may be a game May 1st, so the plan is to have the baby the 30th and then go to the game the next day. I think that will work. I'll try to get the next update out after our first class!
http://picasaweb.google.com/mbecker0410/20090219BeardAndBelly?authkey=bwmKPgXCW_M#
We had a very exciting last Feb 14th without kids, otherwise known as Valentine's Day with Ray. If you ever want to be humbled, try doing something you know you are terrible at, for me that is manual labor and working with my hands. I have no idea why this is, genetically I should be good. My dad's good at it, my grandpa builds things like a firepit on wheels, I can't even build a birdhouse right. I felt bad leaving Ray here by himself the first couple of days, but then I realized it probably went faster without us here helping. :)
I did learn how to put up trim, I learned that I can't operate a manual saw (couldn't get the thing to cut), and how to putty nail holes. That's a fun job. I even pulled a hammy on that one, don't ask me how, I have no idea, took 4 days to recover. Give me an excel document, no problem, give me a hammer and watch out. But hey, carpet is on the way in the next couple of weeks and then our 4 year basement project is over. Laura has decided we won't try finishing things ourself again. Thanks Ray, basement looks great.
Well we have our classes coming up first weekends in March and some baby showers on the way. I'm sure the classes will be entertaining. Laura and I don't take many things seriously, so it may be tough to have a straight face and not make some sarcastic comments. For Valentine's day Laura did buy me a baby's bib from the Minnesota Twins. I need to order the kid's first outfit for coming home, a Twins outfit. Laura and I are still discussing this one. I think their may be a game May 1st, so the plan is to have the baby the 30th and then go to the game the next day. I think that will work. I'll try to get the next update out after our first class!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Names and Cleaning
So I cleaned this weekend and last, man that's tough work. I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I realized that in the 4 years I've lived here I've never used the swiffer on our floors. But hey, there's a first time for everything. I think I know why Laura's back was hurting.
Just to reitirate a point from the last blog, I really don't notice dirt. This is a talent I picked up very early in life. Supposedly I used to walk right over things on the stairs that my parents had placed there for me to carry downstairs. My wife will ask me, did you notice the bathroom needs cleaned, "nope". She's even tried tests of not cleaning or doing laundry for 4 or 5 weeks to see if I notice, I don't. Only when I run out of boxers or socks does the thought run through my mind that the laundry may need to be done.
Don't blame my mom though, she just wants it to be stated that it's not her fault. Don't blame my dad, he's a crazy cleaner when he gets going. Just so you know he's not a perfectionist, he just likes things always done right. My favorite quote from him. I told my wife she's an enabler for allowing this to happen, but hey, that's why we're having kids, to do the chores.
You don't realize how hard it is to name a kid until you are going to have one. Every name you come up with you realize you know someone you don't like with that name, like Christian. (I kid, good friend) We haven't gotten very far, we like to try names out on our work teams to see what they think. Right now the list is Max, Sam, Chase. I was told Max sounds like a dog's name, people like Sam as a nickname for Samantha, and my current favorite Chase caused my mom to gasp and turn her nose up in disgust, which I'll be honest makes me like it even more. "It sounds like someone running" was her comment. True, that is what Chase means. I think my concern would be if we had a slow kid who couldn't run very fast and kids would tease him by saying "Chase me, Ha, Ha" So who knows, we have the whole middle of the name book to go through yet.
To compare the current stage of pregnancy with one of Laura's favorite movies "The Lord of the Rings", it's kind of like the middle of the Two Towers where you're waiting for the cool battle to start but you have to go through a lot of talking first. In other words, not much happening. We go to the doctor, they ask how she feels, we say fine, we go home. And yes, I compared the baby being born to the final battle in the Two Towers, it has a happy ending. :)
So not much new, he still kicks constantly, Laura's in maternity clothes, and I'm cleaning. Oh by the way I'm growing a beard for two weeks, it's a challenge at work, I'll post pictures on the progress. So now I've given you a cliffhanger to keep you coming back. Kind of like 24.
Just to reitirate a point from the last blog, I really don't notice dirt. This is a talent I picked up very early in life. Supposedly I used to walk right over things on the stairs that my parents had placed there for me to carry downstairs. My wife will ask me, did you notice the bathroom needs cleaned, "nope". She's even tried tests of not cleaning or doing laundry for 4 or 5 weeks to see if I notice, I don't. Only when I run out of boxers or socks does the thought run through my mind that the laundry may need to be done.
Don't blame my mom though, she just wants it to be stated that it's not her fault. Don't blame my dad, he's a crazy cleaner when he gets going. Just so you know he's not a perfectionist, he just likes things always done right. My favorite quote from him. I told my wife she's an enabler for allowing this to happen, but hey, that's why we're having kids, to do the chores.
You don't realize how hard it is to name a kid until you are going to have one. Every name you come up with you realize you know someone you don't like with that name, like Christian. (I kid, good friend) We haven't gotten very far, we like to try names out on our work teams to see what they think. Right now the list is Max, Sam, Chase. I was told Max sounds like a dog's name, people like Sam as a nickname for Samantha, and my current favorite Chase caused my mom to gasp and turn her nose up in disgust, which I'll be honest makes me like it even more. "It sounds like someone running" was her comment. True, that is what Chase means. I think my concern would be if we had a slow kid who couldn't run very fast and kids would tease him by saying "Chase me, Ha, Ha" So who knows, we have the whole middle of the name book to go through yet.
To compare the current stage of pregnancy with one of Laura's favorite movies "The Lord of the Rings", it's kind of like the middle of the Two Towers where you're waiting for the cool battle to start but you have to go through a lot of talking first. In other words, not much happening. We go to the doctor, they ask how she feels, we say fine, we go home. And yes, I compared the baby being born to the final battle in the Two Towers, it has a happy ending. :)
So not much new, he still kicks constantly, Laura's in maternity clothes, and I'm cleaning. Oh by the way I'm growing a beard for two weeks, it's a challenge at work, I'll post pictures on the progress. So now I've given you a cliffhanger to keep you coming back. Kind of like 24.
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