Chester

Chester
Chester at 5:30 am on his 3 month birthday!

The Chester Diaries: Celebrating the feast and famine known as new motherhood.

Welcome to my blog! My name is Lara and I gave birth in April, 2010 to a baby boy. I've been calling him "Chester" since he was a little chestnut in my tummy. To commemorate his three month birthday, I wanted to write about the crazy, joyous and exhausting ride I've been having as a first-time mom. If you're interested in reading about the highs and lows of uncharted mommy territory as well as my unhealthy obsession with shopping, (particularly baby gear), reviews, and pop culture observations, then you've come to the right place. Be warned: This cute kid has a mommy who can be a bit of a potty mouth.

Note: This blog is no longer active but please enjoy Chester's journey from 3 months to 2+ years.


Thursday, December 30

8 months: The recap

It's amazing how quickly the month has whizzed by!



The most notable thing about Chester is what a happy kid he is turning into.


Until the teeth showed up.


They only showed up on the lower level...




But these two seemingly harmless little inhabitants changed the game.




Suddenly, our happy kid was not that happy...



And it only got worse...



Chester spent most of the time with something - anything - stuffed in his mouth...

 
Lucky he had lots of distractions.





Having his way with the mobile. 

Look at that stare-down!


I found him on Christmas eve morning awake, having turned his mobile on.


Caught in the act!



He's been trying to crawl for the past few weeks.  He has all the components at his disposal.  He just hasn't put it together.



Luckily he has new friends to keep him occupied. 


Ah...remotes.  A boy's best friend.


We're excited to see what adventures this next month holds!

Wednesday, December 29

Chester's first Christmas!

Christmas eve morning.  Waking up the little fella...


He needed lots of time to open up the mountain of presents waiting for him. 


Of course being Daddy's little boy, you know there's gonna be some superhero and Lego in the works at some point...I didn't realize it was gonna happen THIS fast though.


His grandma and godfather came by to spend a lovely afternoon before taking us to the airport.


Chester's first plane ride went off without a hitch.  Most of the passengers had no idea there was a baby sitting near them.


I wonder why...


Chester didn't seem to mind being without his bouncer.


Does this next picture remind you of  a certain scene from The Lord of the Rings?


The Hobbits vs. the Tree People mayhaps?


Chester got to reconnect with his favourite Auntie Barb and his cousin Riley.  He met her when he was a couple of weeks ago.  She was 7 months old at the time.



He's just a little older than she was at the time.  How fast time flies.


Christmas dinner at his Aunt Barb and Uncle Dave's.  You can't tell from the picture but there were lots of people at their home.  Chester has never been around more than about four people at one time.  He took it in stride.


I couldn't pass up the chance to dress him up like a big boy.  A suit jacket, pinstripe shirt and cool red socks to mark the festive occasion!


His Nana and Grampy were thrilled to spend Chester's first Xmas with them.


I left the room for about half an hour, and when I came back, he was entertaining himself in his cousin's bouncer.  A room full of people were sitting quietly watching him.  Better than the hockey game?  I think so.


His Auntie's mother in law, Evelyn, monopolized him for most of the night.  If you wanted to meet the little guy, he was holding court on her lap for the evening.  He seemed pretty cool with that.


The plane ride home had a few outbursts.  Nothing a fast boob couldn't stifle.  On both trips there was always one passenger that just couldn't resist smiling and making funny faces at him.  It was neat to see his reaction.  He'd suddenly start smiling or laughing and I wouldn't know why until I craned around to see what he was looking at.  Such a friendly kid.  When the passengers saw me, they looked a little sheepish - like they had been caught doing something bad.  I've experienced this myself when I've been smiling at a child, only to see their parents whip around and look at me like I was The Exorcist.  Ugh.  I think this is just plain wrong.  Ok, if I was a creepy old weirdo - sure I understand.  But a young woman?  Safety is one thing, paranoia is another.  I would never want anyone to feel the way I was made to feel.  Tim and I both smiled at the passengers who wanted to interact with our son and immediately put them at ease.


All in all, a wonderful holiday and a great first trip.  Thanks to both our families for making it such a memorable Christmas for our new addition!  We love you!

Thursday, December 23

Saturday, December 18

A boy's best friend...

A misleading title for most.  In our household, it's sadly the truth.

Forget boobs.  The heart wants what the heart wants.


Flipping the bird when the feeling is not shared.


Double fisted overkill = Sweet victory

Wednesday, December 15

New neighbours!



Some new inhabitants have taken up residence in Chester's mouth.  We noticed their imminent arrival two weeks ago when we saw some noticeable nubs on the front of his bottom gums.



Last week, they were much more pronounced - just visible below the surface.  But this week, the two new settlers have finally arrived!  They've broken through and are now clearly visible.  These shots were VERY hard to get but I think you'll agree, Chester has some new friends that have vowed to house-sit until their permanent residents take final possession at a much later date TBD.



On another note, my boobs have decided they don't like this turn of events one little bit and have officially declared their intention to move away as soon as possible.  Citing that "the neighborhood has gone to the dogs," they've petitioned that these two new "unwelcome guests" be leashed at all times and have threatened to "throw these varmints in the clink" if any injury should come to them.


Thursday, December 9

It finally happened!

Yesterday, at 2:55 pm, Chester went and did it.  HE SAID MAMA!




Ok, it was more like mamamamamamamama.  But a few times out of that garble there was short enough derivations to constitute a fair likeness - and I'll take it!  He said it in his crib and then again in his bouncer.  I tried to make a video but no dice.  Oh, and this was shortly followed up by another new word, "papa."  Sigh.  lol...

Tuesday, December 7

It's on like Donkey Kong...(almost)

We suspect Chester's getting CLOSE to crawling.
We enter into evidence the following:

Exhibit A:  Good upper body strength.
Motive
The intended victim.

Body of evidence:  Rearing up on his knees.  First witnessed yesterday.
The Verdict:  Failure today (and bitter tears.)  Success imminent.