Allergies

Laura has been sick for the past few weeks so she finally started Zithromax to try to get better. The problem is that she is still breastfeeding Chase. We used pumped milk on day 1. She breastfed him on day 2 and he had a minor rash (that looked more like heat rash), but we decided maybe we should try to give him formula since we didn't have enough of a backup supply of milk to last for the entire time of taking the antibiotic. This morning, we gave him a bottle of formula for the first time. He was a little fussy with the formula but finally ended up drinking about 4 oz. He was fussy, but we thought he was just tired, so we put him down for a morning nap. He fell asleep pretty quickly, but he woke up 15 minutes later crying. I went in and he had hives all over his body, a swollen face and his tongue was sticking out. We called Laura's Uncle Danny and he told us to give him some Benedryl, but he didn't seem to get much better so we went to the ER. They gave him a steroid shot and our baby boy was back again. The problem is that we aren't sure which issue caused the reaction so we will be seeing an allergist soon to find out.

Birthday Season

Brody has been busy lately as it is birthday season.

At Nicholas' birthday party he conquered a couple of fears. He has always been hesitant to do the petting zoo at birthday parties, but he was really good about it at this party. He also rode the pony for the first time.

Vinnie's party was great for Brody too, as he climbed and jumped and did some of the more athletic things that he is also a little hesitant to do. As you can tell, Brody is a pretty cautious kid. Sounds like his father.

At Cody's party, he found the football helmet and was running around like a crazy man. Don't worry, the kid grabbing the facemask got called for a 15 yard personal foul penalty. Also, check out Brody's form on his jump shot.

Brody had his 3 year old checkup last Friday. He weighed in at 32 lbs and is 37 inches tall. Growing up so fast!

Brody's Birthday Party

Brody had another great birthday party for his third birthday. The theme was Thomas & Friends. Brody is a huge Thomas & Friends fan. He is amazing with his knowledge of all the trains on Thomas & Friends. Thank you to all the many friends and family that came to Bayview Park.

Christmas Day

We had a great Christmas morning with Brody and Chase. Brody's big gifts from Santa included Woody and Buzz Lightyear. He, along with every other 3 year old, loves Toy Story. Brody still loves Lightning McQueen and Thomas & Friends and got many gifts geared towards them as well. Brody also did a great job of helping Chase open his presents.













Here are some other highlights of the Holiday Season.

Chase Is Eating Food

We were very fortunate to have Aunt Stephanie watch Chase the last few months after Laura returned to work. Chase had so much fun playing with Cousin Jack everyday. Stephanie did a great job and we can't thank her enough. Stephanie is getting ready for her second baby, so Chase spent the days last week with Laura's friend Trina and her son Declan. He has such a great time there as well. We are really blessed to have such great caretakers for Chase. That is definitely part of the reason why Chase is such an easygoing baby.

All credit goes to Trina for getting Chase to eat baby food. She worked some kind of magic to make it happen. Now he is doing terrific. He eats cereal, butternut squash, carrots, and this week we are trying green beans. Laura cooks up a big portion of each and puts them in the blender. Next, she puts them in an ice tray. Two cubes are one serving, so we are left with 6 servings in each tray. Laura will be first to tell you that I was skeptical, but it has worked out very well. And she will quickly point out that it is all organic.

Chase's 6 Month Update

Chase had his 6 month checkup yesterday. He is growing up so fast. He weighed in at an even 17 lbs and he measured 26.5 inches. He is just a little bit lighter than Brody was at this point.

Chase got off to a little bit of a slow start with baby food. We gave him carrots yesterday for the first time. He wasn't that big of a fan. Hopefully he gets the hang of it soon.





Brody has been a terrific big brother to Chase. We haven't had any jealousy issues which is a relief. I can't tell you how much he loves his little brother. Here is a video of him reading one of his favorite books, Go, Dog. Go!