Happy Halloween Eve!

Chronicles, Volume III: The Storc Boys

It's been a busy few months in our household...

I started back to work Oct 1. It's been a tough transition, mostly from the aspect of efficiency and productivity. For so long, just changing out of my pajamas was an accomplishment...

Chase joined Tate at school and is doing very well. After a month, he's still the youngest in the room, but he no longer looks so tiny next to the older infants. His eating and sleeping have really regulated since starting school, which has really been great for me. Yay, school!!

As of today, Chase is 4 months old! Height and weight pretty much follow Tate's -- 25% in weight and 75% in height. His smiles are easier to get and he's actually laughing now. Tate really like it when he smiles and laughs; he says "Happy!!" and tries to make him laugh more. It's very sweet!

Here are some photos to catch you up on Chase:

Chase sitting in the Bumbo. You'll see later that Tate likes to take his turn...

Goin' on Safari...

Just hangin'...

Photos of Tate "embracing" his big-brotherhood:

He does like to hold Chase. He also kisses his head when it's time to go to bed.

But Tate thinks the Bumbo is still his, and insists he get a turn sitting in it...

Same with the Exersaucer...



These photos were taken on Chase's first day of school.
The camera was running out of juice so the flash was really weak.

Last, but not least, some photos of our Tater just being...Tate:

Yes, that's Loca's crate...

Cowboy Tate! C'mon cows, let's go!

Tim bought Tate a full golf set, complete with bag.

These are real clubs, not plastic. Tate thinks this is great!

The Chronicles of Chase

Here are a few recent photos of Chase. Hopefully I'll have time this week to put in a full entry and an update on Tate, too.

In the hospital:

Our first car trip, going home:

At home:

Introducing...Chase Meier Storc

Chase was born Monday, June 29th at 9:44 am.

He weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20.5" long

It was a quick delivery, and he came out perfect. Good color, not even a cone-head!

The Delivery Story:

I am one of the lucky ones...I don't really know when the contractions began. I was a little uncomfortable when I got up to use the bathroom around 5am. If I wasn't so tired or had bothered to turn on the light, I would have thought more of that early-morning bathroom trip. Oh well...

The alarm went off at 630 am as usual. I took my shower and started getting dressed. The plan was to work from home the rest of the week, or as long as I could. Around 7, I told Tim that he might not bother going to work. At 730, I called my OB to tell him my progress. There was a little blood on my last trip to the bathroom, so we figured it was the "plug". He instructed me to come on to the hospital.

So we finished getting dressed. I had some breakfast. We dressed Tate. I packed my bag (I had a list, but I didn't even have the bag out of the basement. We took Tate to school. Tim went inside while I waited in teh car, starting to get truly uncomfortable.

We checked into the hospital around 830. I think the clock said 833 when I sat down on the bed in the labor and delivery room. At that point, I was "between 6 and 7 cm" and my water had already broken...it was just broken very high and so was a slow leak. This is when I realized that my plug had dropped at 5am and the 730 call was prompted by my water breaking...woops!

Things were progressing pretty quickly. They took my blood to get the order for the epidural. I answered a lot of questions and signed a bunch of forms.

Woosh! What was a slow leak overflowed all at once, and then things really started moving! I remember at one point looking at the clock and saying "I've only been here an hour!" And I was continually asking about the epidural. I knew it wasn't going to happen, but I was going to ask, anyway! When the doctor said it was okay to start pushing, they still hadn't finished the lab work.

I won't go into the details, but I can say that I was very lucky to push for such a short time, given the lack of drugs. Chase rocketed out - and I do mean rocketed! - and it was all over.

Chase was perfect from the start. He cried out, but not like Tate did, sparing himself a trip to the NICU. His color was perfect, his head round. Tim counted all the fingers and toes while I watched the nurse clean him up. He ate right away...and hasn't stopped since!!

The hospital was totally unprepared for us and we didn't get a room until after 1pm. So we just hung out in Labor and Delivery for awhile.

We did have a little hiccup the second night; they noticed that he was grunting a little bit and tested his O2 and glucose, both low. They took him to the NICU about 4am to watch him, but brought him back to me about 9am with a clean bill of health. This sort of thing isn't uncommon for babies born very quickly; apparently it's important to have time to transition to the oxygen-breathing world!

Chronicles: Tate enters the Terrible Twos

Tate had been practicing being a Terrible Two for about 4 months before the big birthday, so the trantrums and independence of the last few months haven't been a total shock. I didn't say it has been easy, only that he has allowed us to ease into this stage of life, the frequency, and the intensity. We are just so lucky.

The best part about the current form of his trantrums is that he *gently* gets down on his knees, then assesses the need to lay all the way down. Usually, by the time he gest all the way down there, he's forgotten what he was upset about and just lays there, staring up at me.
The toughest manifestation is the diaper change. He simply doesn't want it and will roll off the cahnging table. if you try to do it with him standing up, he'll run away from you. Sometimes with the diaper in his hand.

The most common manifestation is the appearance of Captain Destructo, where toys are beamed at walls and people, the play mat it totally dismantled, and all the cusions are removed from every piece of furniture. This is accompanied by squealing and peals of laughter. It's hard to be mad when he finds such joy in it. Until, that is, you become the target and then "rules" must be followed.

Newest catchphrases:
- Airplane! (this is screamed at the top of his lungs every time)
- Choo choo, mommy, CHOO CHOO
- Lighting McQueen (this is tough to make out - it sounds like Yightning McKeen)
- Light....
- "Get on the rope, Tate" (I guess he often wanders away at school)
- Where? (this is accompanied by the ASL sign for "where" and a concerned furrow of the brow)
- WHAT!? Oh, right-right-right. Okay. Bye.
- Jelly bean?

Some recent pics of the little guy:

Tate with Nana playing with the new tracks and new freight cars that he got for his birthday. Thank you Nana, Grandma, and Grandpa!

LIke his Grandma, Tate likes the licorice flavored jellly beans.

Luckily, they don't stain (for long).

Tate's birthday party at school...

Nana and Mommy made these very cool cupcakes

Tate and his buddies Aidan, Maddie and Andrew...

Tate's other classmates enjoying their cupcakes. Actually, after they all exclaimed "Lion!", they all just looked at it, like "what do I do with this?". So we had to break them apart so they knew how to eat them! We also had Jungle Juice (orange and cranberry juices mixed) that they thought was really cool.

Easter morning

Discovering what the Easter Bunny left for him...

Oh, man! There's a Lightning McQueen in there!

It must be played with immediately!

It was a long day of eating and entertaining...Tate is wiped out!

The Chronicles - The Last Days of Babyhood

In the last months of Tate's Babyhood, he has shown himself to be smart, sweet, and very funny! Who couldn't love life when accompanied by this giggle-monster?!

Tate catchphrases:
- I need! (and he needed everything!)
- Blue! Blue! Blue! (Tim taught him to chant this whenever blueberries are mentioned or seen. Very funny in Costco...)
- E-I-E-I-Oooooo
- We go!
- Whoa! (this is said after anything that is just really cool, like watching a ceiling fan turn)
- Car!
- Cookie? Cookie?! (the second "Cookie" is sort of a desperate request, complete with furrowed brow)
- Lowells! (this actually refers to pretzels, but Lowell at school gives them out...)

Here are some photos for January through April:

Tate's starting to get the idea of "Cheese!"


The silly apple doesn't fall far from the silly tree


Changing into pajamas is like playing a game. And when Tate sees his Lightning McQueen shoes, he absolutely must wear them. Clearly, his european heritage is strong...


Tate had an upset tummy, and we were just trying to protect the couch. But it was already too late at this point. Did you know you can launder the sofa cushions even if they tell you not to?


More Cheese...


Tate comes from a long line of meticulous people. While he can certainly do whatever he wants, we already see a theme forming...


Loca is such a good sport...

Expecting July 2009...another boy!

We had our ultrasound Tuesday morning and found out that the newest Storc will be another little boy!

Our first thought was "what in the world are we going to name this one?". We debated for so long over Tate that there seriously may not be another name out there. Not really, of course, but it could be d-day before we agree to something.

The little guy is developing well, on par and on schedule. He was sleeping during the ultrasound and was quite annoyed at being bothered. And so it begins...

Tate had pinkeye this week and a virus that acted like Strep. He was a miserable little guy for a few days, but we saw a few glimpses of Well Tate today and are assured he'll be back to normal in no time. Besides, he got quality time with Grandma and Grandpa (which means cookies and no naps).

Expecting...July 2009

Ready or not, here comes another Storc!
This one's due July 1st. Tate will be 2 years + 3 months old.
We'll find out the gender of this on on Feb 10, so stay tuned.

The Chronicles - closing out 2008

So the last few months have been super busy and I haven't taken the time to update the blog with the most recent pictures of Tate.

December

Ridin' home from Nana's


Christmas morning waiting for Wyatt so we can open presents!


Tate's very own chair...



Chillin'...


Game Day! This was clearly the hightlight of the day.


The Christmas play at school. Tate was a shephard!



"Go Tell It On a Mountain..."



November

Spagetti!!!



Ridin'...


The aftereffects of Hurricane Tate...



October

Halloween was a blast! We went Trick or Treating with our neighbors Phoebe and Aidan. Tate wasn't a huge fan of asking strangers for candy, but he did enjoy watching the big kids race from house to house.

Phoebe the Tiger


Aidan the Tiger


Duck on a Truck!


Quack!


Octoberfest! Tate and Hayley flew to Richmond to attend the annual Octoberfest. Fun, fun!



Hangin' at Nana's


Silly...


Daddy time...



September

Transport...


Watch... (notice his "chair")


Laugh...


Be Super...


Play...


Grin...


Read...


Conduct


Scream