A Zoo at the Zoo

Yesterday, Camp Bibi Croom, Luis & me, Sarah, Will & Matthew Rimicci and Maggie, Ella & Bea Gumbinner descended upon the National Zoo. After several HOT, HOT days, even the weather cooperated.

With 8 kids ranging in age from 3 mo to 6 3/4 years and only 4 adults, I was a little nervous. But EVERYONE was wonderful. All kids played nicely together and behaved beautifully.

Maggie, Franklin & Solomon have seen more than there share of animals NOT in zoos during various times in Tanzania. Never the less, Franklin's favorite site yesterday was the elephant; Will Rimicci's too. We also got good views of an orangutan, lion, tortoise, panda, and hippo.

In our group, we had 2 single strollers and 2 double strollers and usually about 3 or 4 on foot at a time. At any given point, some adult was doing a headcount to make sure we stayed a party of 12.

Bea, Luis and Matthew seemed to be more interested in watching their cousins/siblings than in watching the animals. They were very good sports.

When we stopped for lunch, Maggie G. (a Friend of the National Zoo) treated us to all the pop corn we could eat - which turned out to be a lot! We also snacked on fruits, veggies, crackers and granola bars.

By the end of the trip, everyone was tired. Will graciously shared his seat on his stroller with Maggie and Sarah graciously agreed to push them all.

Now That's a lot of Babies!

Mom is here for two days with Dodie's kids. Maggie is almost 7, Franklin is almost 4 and Solomon is almost 2. They are spending two weeks at Camp Bibi Croom.

This afternoon, we put out a slip-n-slide that my mom has and the kids LOVED it. Maggie perfected the sliding part while Franklin preferred to run the length of the slide and then jump over the end. Ashley got tired just watching those guys and took her own water break.

Luis did not get to try it out; but he had a lot of fun watching his cousins run around.



Solly spent most of the time watching his siblings - enjoying from a distance. But after I took Luis in for dinner, apparently Solly started having a good time ON the slip-n-slide. Sorry, no photos of this.

Tomorrow, we are off to the zoo with Sarah, Will (4 yr), and Matthew (3 mo) Rimicci and Maggie, Ella (almost 2) and Bea (almost 1) Gumbinner. Assuming that I don't lose my mind, I'll post pictures of that excursion tomorrow.

Cranial Technologies - An Update

Before...

Today we went back to Cranial Technologies for our weekly update. The main feedback is that Luis is doing GREAT - lots of growth where we want growth. At each appointment, they bring the mold of Luis's head (before he started the DOC-band), so that we can see what changes there are. It's a little hard to tell, but there is LOTS of change.

Leslie (the PT) thinks that Luis will need the band for only about 3 more weeks! While Luis has been a great trooper throughout this DOC-band experience, I am excited to be done with it. For the one hour each day that he doesn't wear the band, it's much nicer for snuggling with him, nursing him and just watching him. I'm glad we did it, and I'll be glad to be done!

The Car Seat

Luis has upgraded to the "convertible car seat" as he is too long for the infant carrier. He looks so much like a little boy and less like a baby in this car seat!!

Monday

Here are a few pictures of Luis. We had a good day today: played in the exersaucer, played in the baby gym, went for a run/napped in the jogger (you can guess which of us ran and which of us napped), read some stories, played with blocks, had rice cereal for lunch and oatmeal cereal for dinner, and then had a lot of fun in the bath. I also had a good day getting many phone calls made and emails sent while Luis napped.

Tomorrow marks 4 weeks with the DOC-band. The original prognosis was that he'd need to wear it ~ 8 weeks. We go back tomorrow for our weekly check up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good news.

Happy Father's Day Diego!!

Here are a few pictures of Luis from Saturday. It's a little hard for me to believe how much Luis likes to be on his belly these days - considering how much he hated it the first 1/2 of his life (granted, that's only 3 months). If I lay him down on his back, he's barely down before he starts squirming to turn over. Maybe he can better survey his toys that way?












Tonight, before bed, I gave Luis a little turn in the exersaucer. He used to get a bit frustrated because he couldn't quite get his paws on the hanging toys. Well that's no longer a problem. He has also gotten much better at standing up (and I think he's a bit taller, too).











We always miss Diego - but we'll especially be missing him tomorrow, on Father's Day.

Big Changes

On Tuesday, the house officially went on the rental market; we have the sign out front and the lock box on the door. I'm definitely a bit sad about this. Next month will mark 4 years that I've lived in this house - the longest I've lived anywhere since I was 5 (which was 27 years ago!). Even though the plan is to come back to this house, it will be hard to pack up all of our beautiful things and move out.

(Note: All of the branches in the back ground are a result of the tree-trimming that happened today. Over the weekend one of our trees dropped a branch with enough momentum to put a whole in the windshield of the Prius. Seemed like a good time to have an arborist come out and give our trees a little TLC.)

Check Out All That Hair

Luis was born with a full head of very dark, very thick, very long hair. Over the next couple of months, he slowly lost almost all of that hair. Well, Luis's hair is finally starting to fill back in. I was a bit concerned when he got his DOC-band that it would have negative affects on Luis's hair. Our PT there said it's actually usually the opposite case - the DOC-band tends to act like Miracle Grow. I'm not sure if that's the case, or this was a natural hair-growth-spurt time for Luis. Whatever the case, he has a nice head of hair now. Some days it looks light brown like mine, some days it looks a little reddish.

Hand-Eye Coordination

Luis has gotten a whole lot more coordinated in the last week. He uses both hands to handle a toy and passes the toy from one hand to the other. He reaches out and picks things up - and on occasion scooches himself to reach for something. Also, Luis will continue holding a toy when you pick him up (as opposed to before when he would immediately drop it). Earlier this week, he got a toy all the way from downstairs, through a diaper change and into the crib.


These days, Luis spends a lot of time on his belly. I tend to lay him down that way. But I also find that when he's on his back, he tends to roll over to his stomach. Here, Luis is doing one of his favorite exercises - push ups. He does this 100 times per day. He is working hard to build his muscles in anticipation of figuring out how to crawl.




This last series of pictures shows how he likes to rotate - a little at a time. He actually got about 270 degrees around, but I'd already put away the camera.

A Morning Surprise

This is what I saw when I came into Luis's room this morning! On Monday, he turned over from his back to his stomach for the first time (without any help). But I guess now, he really has it down.

Yesterday when I went to get Luis out of the crib in the morning, he was in a very different location than when I set him down the night before. Looks like Luis is officially on the move!

Baby Jogger - An Update

While I don't have a picture of the event, I did want to note that the Baby Jogger has now been used for jogging with the baby! Luis, Ashley and I went out for a jog yesterday afternoon. Ashley was thrilled and loved it. I felt good for having gone - which is not the same as feeling good. Luis was unimpressed by it all and slept the whole time. If the temperatures cool off a bit, I hope to repeat the event.

My Other Roommates

I know that most of you readers are interested in Luis, but I wanted to devote a little space to Ashley and Muffles - both of whom have been very good sports about the addition of Luis to our family.

Ashley is not a big fan of Luis's but puts up with him very nicely. Ashley still likes to lick Luis in the face, but she becomes more leery of Luis as he becomes more mobile.

Muffles has taken to napping in Luis's room, with or without Luis. Her two favorite spots seem to be under his crib and under the changing table. On more than one occasion, she has been in his room when I've closed the door at the beginning of a 2 hour nap. I'm not sure she even notices.

There used to be lots of pictures of Luis AND Muffles on Diego's or my lap. She has given up competing for the space. I think that happened about the same time Luis started reaching for Muffles (and occasionally grabbing a handful of fur).

Johnny Jumper Swing

For several weeks now, Luis has really enjoyed the kicking game. It's quite simple, really. Luis just kicks and kicks and kicks. He plays it in the tub, when he's in the baby gym, when he's in his car seat, and seems to especially enjoy it when he's sitting on my lap and can kick me in the chest or stomach. Last week, I pulled out the Johhny Jumper Swing (thanks Alison!!). The first couple of times I put him in it, he was not so impressed. Mostly he sat there and looked around. Oh, and kept his feet from touching the floor.

But now, he's getting into the swing of things a bit. He still doesn't really JUMP, but he's a little more mobile each time he's in it. And he mostly keeps his feet on the ground.

New Crib Picture

Here is a pic from Luis's mid-day nap today. You can see how the crib mattress has been lowered considerably. That in and of itself makes Luis look so much bigger in the crib. But in addition, he is now usually in a different position when I go to get him up than he was when I put him down. Often, it's some amount of rotation, but on occasion, he pushes himself backwards (up towards his head).

When in Rome (Or, When Moving to Mumbai)

Diego and I both were excited to decorate Luis's DOC-band. I promptly went to the craft store and bought cool, shimmery stickers. Diego, on the other hand, downloaded different pictures of Ganesha (a hindu god) and drew one (free hand) onto the DOC-band. Ganesha is worshipped as the lord of beginnings. In Mumbai, at the start of every project (big or small), Diego said that there is a Puja or ceremony which includes an offering to Ganesha. Diego thought it would be fitting to have Ganesha with Luis during this "project".

Then, a friend showed us how to write Luis in Hindi, and Diego added that as well (second photo, in green). Pretty cool, I have to say.

Baby Steps

The last week has marked many changes for Luis - signs that he's growing and growing. He upgraded from the infant carrier car seat to the convertible one. Currently, we are borrowing one from Sarah to help me decide if I like that model. While he looked so BIG in the infant carrier (mostly because he'd outgrown it), he now looks so little in this other car seat. (I don't yet have a photo of this.) Second, before Diego left, he lowered the crib mattress. On his stomach, Luis can push himself backwards a bit. He can turn over from stomach to back. On his back, he can rotate his body 180 degrees. With this new mobility, I wanted more distance from Luis to the top of his crib.

Third, Luis has graduated from the infant tub to the bath tub. The first two tub baths he took produced very little reaction from Luis. Mostly he just lay still and looked around. Tonight, however, he figured out that there is now considerably more water to splash around. He spent a good long time kicking and kicking and kicking. While Luis still fit into the infant tub, Diego made an excellent point: We are getting ready to embark on lots of changes and lots of travel. This would be a good time to wean Luis off of a piece of equipment (the infant tub) that is bulky and would be cumbersome to travel with. Bathtubs are a little more universal.

Luis's Noggin

Today we had an appointment with Cranial Technologies (the people fixing Luis's flat head). He's been in the DOC-band for two weeks now and we are already seeing improvements! This means that his head is growing where previously it wasn't - the flat spots are rounding out. This is great news!

Saturday

Luis continues to enjoy watching the world from his stomach. Although he can roll over from stomach to back, he doesn't seem to opt to do so very often. I think he enjoys this new perspective. The mirror has become a new staple to the baby gym play area (that is our living room floor). Luis will be happily playing with toys when he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror. It almost always causes him to pause and watch himself for a bit.

Saturday, Mercedes, Hernan & JF came over for a farewell lunch with Diego. While it was good to have everyone together, it was sad that it was the last time for a while. Luis seemed to have a good time playing with Mercedes & Hernan. I'm hoping that M&H will come back a couple of days to play/help with Luis while I get some work done.

At first, Luis was only interested in sucking on his toes while in the tub (as you can see here). But he is much less picky now, and spends most of his awake time trying to stuff his whole foot into his mouth. So far - limited success.

Was it a Dream?

This afternoon, Luis and I dropped Diego off at Dulles - he flew back to Mumbai. It was a sad day for all of us and it was tough to say goodbye. Usually, I wish that Luis and I had a personal photographer to capture moments of the whole family (not just me snapping shots of Luis). But today, I was glad that there was no one to take the pictures of me feeling so sad. Diego was home for two weeks. That's the longest he's been home since he started working in Mumbai in February. Yet it already feels like it was a dream and now I'm awake.

We miss you Diego.