Family Vacation 2

Checking out the new WWII memorial

Lucas looking at his future home :)

Mt Vernon

National Harbor

Lucas and I have become quite the travelers! We went with my parents to visit our nations capitol for a family vacation. It was sooooo much fun! We stayed at a nice resort at National Harbor - which is a new area near DC with lots of shopping, restaurants, and a convention center. It is in the first phase of six development phases so it was not too crowded or busy. I think it is going to be pretty amazing when it is all done but right now it has just the right amount of "city" for traveling with a baby.

I think it is probably pretty easy to get swept up in the tourism hubub of a big city vacation but we tried really hard not to do too much and overwhelm Lucas. I did not want to become that parent who was hauling around a tired and cranky child. What is the point of trying to fit in a million sites that he would not even remember? So, we would let him get some crawling/play time in during the mornings and then take off to see one or two things after his morning nap. We would come back to the hotel for a late afternoon nap and then go out to dinner or order some food in. With this restricted schedule we still saw a lot! We visited Alexandria (and the pharmacy museum), Mt Vernon (where Lucas saw his first movie in a theater), the National museum of Natural History, and a bus tour of the monuments. The best part of the entire trip was seeing Lucas interact with his Babby and Grandpa. He is one loved little boy :)

At the peeps store

Playing with Grandpa

Learning to look up to see those T-Rex bones!

At the Natural history museum

Babby playing with Lucas and his new snake stuffed animal

Car ride home - check out his hairdo!

The Big Move

We moved! Ross finished up his three year commitment to the US Navy and we packed up and headed back "home" to Ohio. This is the primary reason I have been a little slow of the blog posting :) I moved several times as a little girl and also a few times after Ross and I married. But no past experiences could have prepared me to move with a baby and two dogs. I am so thankful that my mother was able to come and help me! The packers took 2 days to pack up the house (I guess we have acquired more than our fair share!) and it was really hard to find a quiet spot for Lucas to take naps with all of the tape ripping and the paper folding. When he was awake he wanted his Mommy to hold him. I think this is because he could have a better view of what was going on. On the third day they packed us onto the truck - what a whirlwind that was! I was glad the dogs could go to doggie day care so they wouldn't be locked in the backyard all day while the front door was perpetually open. After they finished my Mom, Lucas, the dogs and I hopped in the Rav and headed to Ohio.

We made a trip of it - staying the night in a hotel and stopping at rest stops as needed. Archie refused to go to the bathroom the entire trip! I was so worried he was going to get a UTI. You know the thing about hotels that allow dogs....they aren't very nice. My mom and I had a difficult time sleeping because the dogs were hyper aware on guard duty barking at every door slam and loud noise. Boy am I glad that night is behind me!

Now we are (almost) settled into the rental I found - seriously one rental with a fenced yard that allowed dogs in 6 months of searching. It is huge! It has 5 bedrooms and was probably glorious in its hey day but years of renters and an inattentive landlord has really worn on it. I may complain that it is my own personal frat house I get to clean up but I am really thankful for the location and to have a roof over my head. And having a pool isn't half bad either :) One of the best features isn't even a feature at all...Garry and Kippy live around the corner so Lucas will get to see them more! I am so glad he will get to grow up seeing his grandparents (one set in town and another just a short drive away).

Archie didn't know what to think about the move

Lucas had fun discovering all kinds of packing supplies

Family Vacation!

It is official! I am way behind on what has been going on in the Gille household! And a LOT has happened in the past month+! I will begin with our family vacation to Virginia Beach. Garry and Kippy (Bompa and Nonni) rented this awesome beach house with enough room for the entire family - plus a pool :) Lucas had a great time meeting and playing with his cousins and we enjoyed the camaraderie of the adults. There is just something about spending time with family that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside (especially after living away).

Lucas and Wesley in the makeshift playpen

Lucas and Annie

More playing

Beach time with Gretchen

Taking in the site and sound of the ocean

The 3 story house with a pool! I have secretly always dreamt about what one of these houses might look like on the inside and now I have seen one!

Gretchen and Annie in the pool (it took a million shots to get this one)

Lucas in the pool - on day 3 he finally smiled in the water :)

Funniest picture ever...Uncle Clint with all the kids at the end of the photo shoot. As you can see most of them had had enough posing for the camera.

Duke, Part 2

Lucas did great at his last appointment with the pediatric gastroenterologist. He was really quiet and still while Dr. Lin listened to his gut noises and didn't fuss too much when his abdomen was being felt for abnormalities. According to the Dr. everything seems normal...if it weren't for those pesky liver enzymes that are still elevated. After the appointment we had to take Lucas for some more bloodwork to test for thyroid issues, muscular dystrophy, and celiac disease. The muscular dystrophy results were slightly elevated but not enough to confirm a diagnosis. Just another piece of the puzzle :-/ The next step is to go to a liver specialist at Cincinnati Children's...Here's hoping this will be the end of this medical nightmare.

I must make a special mommy note here - it is not fun having to hold your child for routine care like shots and otoscope investigations. It is even less fun having to hold your child for countless blood draws. I find that Lucas is harder to hold now that he is mobile and screams louder. I can remember a time that he slept through a blood draw! Oh how I miss that. His little cries make me want to crawl in a hole and cry but as the parent I have to be strong. sigh.

Product Review: Fresh Food Feeder

Yummy watermelon!
Lucas is finally old enough to use his fresh food feeder which I got at one of my showers from his Aunt Nicole. This product is pretty awesome - you can put fresh fruit inside the little mesh bag and then your baby can munch on the fruit without the worry of choking! It took Lucas a little while to figure out how to use it because the opposite end is a great teether and he would become preoccupied with that and forget about the mesh baggie. But now he has figured it out. So far he has had pear slices, bananas, and watermelon and made a glorious mess each time. I guess that might be the downfall...this product is not for the faint of heart when it comes to cleaning! You will inevitably find fruit (chunks or juice) EVERYWHERE! But it is totally worth it :)

I would be interested to hear from other mommies what else you have put in the feeder and suggestions for cleaning the mesh bag. It does take quite a bit of soaking and massaging to get all the banana goo out of the mesh.

#3 Have one of my dogs become a Canine Good Citizen

Archie and me after the test for the beginner class
Archie and his awards

Archie and I have been taking training classes at a local dog training club (www.adtc.us) in hopes of earning his canine good citizen certificate....and after a few months of dedicated time, he did it! CGC is a program put out by the AKC promoting responsible dog ownership and good doggie manners (www.akc.org/events/cgc/program). There are 10 tests Archie passed in order to gain this honor :)

1. Accepting a friendly stranger

2. Sitting politely for petting

3. Appearance and grooming

4. Out for a walk (walking on a loose lead)

5. Walking through a crowd

6. Sit and down on command and staying in place

7. Coming when called

8. Reaction to another dog

9. Reaction to distraction

10. Supervised separation

Archie has also passed 2 training classes (beginner and pre-novice) with 3rd place and 1st place honors. Some of the above tests are harder for Archie than others (specifically reaction to another dog and walking on a loose lead) and all of the tests can become more difficult within a new environment. So, I guess he will always be a work in progress - as all dogs are :)

And of course Lucas likes to pretend he is a dog...or maybe this is just a result of him having as much interaction with dogs as he does with humans.

Man's best friend

Lucas loves to interact with Lizzie and Archie...probably because they follow us around all day long! I was interested to see how they would react when he became more mobile. It turns out Lizzie loves him and will just relax back and let him crawl, pinch, grab, etc. Archie is not so sure about crawling Lucas. He will just get up and run away whenever Lucas is within 5 feet. Poor Archie hasn't been able to nap peacefully since Lucas began crawling!