Elephants!!

Just a quick post, as my moms are paying bahts per minute for this internet thing. Today I got to ride an elephant. Yes, that's right- 6 months old and already an accomplished elephant rider. We checked out the elephant conservation center run by the government. We saw the elephant show that shows how the elephants are trained to work in logging and forrestry, saw elephants painting (we bought one for our house!), visited the "elephant hospital" and recovery center where they treat sick elephants free of charge, and rode on the elephant for 1/2 hour. What fun- I even wore an outfit with elephants on it for the occassion. Now we are resting and tonight we will go to the night bazaar, our last sight to see before we leave Chiang Mai and head to Koh Samui in the morning. Hope everyone is doing well back home and that our yard and basement are not totally flooded out! (when you hear about flooding in your local area on the news in Thailand, you can guess it might be pretty bad!) [JUMP TO FULL POST]

Sawasdee!

Greetings from Thailand to all those in blogland. We're here with my moms, Nonna, and Nonna's frient Cindy. At the end of the week Mama's cousin Beth is getting married on Koh Samui here in Thailand, and we've been exploring the country for a few days beforehand. It's been a busy few days. On Thursday we started an over 24-hour journey by way of LAX and Tokyo to Bangkok. It was a bit tough on my moms, but I seem to have come out okay. On Japan Airlines, we had these great shell seats which extend to 6 feet long and almost flat. I may have to adopt this first/business class lifestyle!! Mama and I could both fit in it together to snooze. More important than the seats, I was soooo good, barely crying and sleeping or happily playing most of the time. One of the women behind us commented on how good I was and that I was the first baby she'd ever flown with who was that good. I amaze even myself sometimes!

We landed in Bangkok at around midnight Bangkok time (noon back home) and headed out to the Peninsula hotel. Wow. The bathroom was probably half the size of our uentire upstairs at home and the service was fantastic- they met us at the car upon arrival and checked us in in our room. Too bad I'm not on solid foods yet because they gave us wonderful fresh exotic fruit every day. The service was incredible- best I or my moms have ever seen. Don't know if it is Asia, Thailand, Bangkok, or the Peninsula, but it is service to appreciate. Despite the comfort of the hotel and the oppressive heat and pollution of bangkok, both broken only temporarily by the sudden downpour of thunderstorms almost everyday, we did venture out of the hotel. I'll post pics when I get home, but we had a great time seeing the sights of bangkok, including the grand palace, the golden buddha, and the monks bowl village. We rode almost every form of transportation they had except buses- taxi, subway, skytrain, private limo, water taxi, longtail boat, paddle boat, express boat, tourist boat, etc. We also ventured out of town to the floating market and did a tour of the area's canals. It was really interesting. (Mommy still wants to go to venice though. )

One thing I've noticed about Thailand is that they love babies. Or at least me. They say I look like a doll, which is probably true. I have made many friends here in Thailand, and my moms say I am a ticket to special treatment, like an airconditioned minivan from the plane to the gate instead of a regular crowded bus, skipping the immigration line altogether and getting checked in to thailand at a desk where the airline crews check in (with comfortable seating and no lines!), etc. I get smiles wherever I go (and give them back of course), and have even met some other babies here from Thailand. Nonna thought it might even be good luck in Thailand to touch a baby, the way folks keep petting me and wanting to hold me (drives Mama up a wall, of course).

We spent 3 nights at the Peninsula, rated one of the top 5 hotels in asia, and we had a bit of culture shock when we boarded an overnight train to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Whoa. What a difference- an adventure, but you could probably fit both our compartment and Nonna and Cindy's compartment in the bathroom at the Peninsula. But it was an adventure. Squat toilets and all. We arrived in Chiang Mai this morning, and went to a ""handicraft village to learn how they made silk, silver products, and umbrellas. Then we went to Doi Suthep and saw another Wat complex. So many wats (temple complexes) that my first word might be Buddha!! I gave an offering to the Buddha and got a blessing by a monk (who loved me and cooed and made faces at me just like all the other Thai folks here!!). We're staying at a guesthouse which is no peninsula, but fun in it's own way. And way cheaper, which means more money for souveniers. That's why I waited so long to post- the internet at the Peninsula = 10 baht per minute, here it is only 2 baht per minute. Chiang Mai is also easily walkable and we're able to find more good restaurants and stores so in a way it is more fun than Bangkok which is so huge you have to know exactly where you are going to get there!

Tomorrow we ride an elephant. [JUMP TO FULL POST]

6 Months on the Go

 

We're getting ready to go on vacation, so I've just been running errands with Mama and haven't yet slowed down to celebrate. But it is my 6 month birthday!!!! Half a year- can you believe it? I can't either. I'm getting so big and looking forward to crawling and starting solid foods when we get back from Thailand.

(thanks to Jenny, Erika, and Genevieve for house-sitting, cat-sitting, dog-sitting, and plant-sitting  [JUMP TO FULL POST]

doctor, passports, and more

I had my 6-month appointment today. Official Gus-stats are 27 and 1/2 inches long, 19 pounds 9 ounces, and 44 1/2 centimeter head size. And four more shots. But next time, I've been promised only 1 shot, and I'm very looking forward to that. Well, not to that one shot, but to only having 1 instead of 4. Developmental milestones are on target, and the doctor warned that now is the beginning of separation anxiety. Great. Just a few weeks away from daycare! :-)



I'm also getting ready for our trip. The passport agency *finally* came through, and we're planning our itinerary. Can't wait!


That's all the news that's fit to blog here in Gus-ville.  [JUMP TO FULL POST]

Happy Important-Man's Day

Happy father's day to one and all!
althought his year I am quite small
I'm sure that it will not be far off
til some folks think of me and scoff:
"but Gus, aren't you so sad?
it's father's day and you've no dad"

I have no dad - that's okay though,
I have two moms who love me so.

And I think it would be really sweet
to recognize men who make my life complete
on this, my first "father's day"
so this is what I want to say:

To my uncles, ross, todd and scott
you know I love you all alot.
I have a wonderful poppy too,
He's kind and warm (and 82)
that guy Bob, a good grandpa and such,
even though I dont see him all that much.
And rj, sean and rick my friends
your funny antics never end
I'm glad you go where Nonna goes
and glad you keep her on her toes.
Uncle Mike and Uncle Dennis, too
Without you I dont know what I'd do
you've been there from the very start
I love you both with all my heart.

So as you can see from what I say
I'm not lacking on this father's day.
Some folks have dads and some do not
I'm happy with the guys I've got
They carry me, they teach me things
and encourage me - help give me wings
and help as I grow into a little man
they give me hugs and hold my hand

I love them and they love me
And that's the way it's meant to be! [JUMP TO FULL POST]

A day at the zoo

Today I went to Mama's work party at the Zoo. I got to hang out with Henry who morphed into a cheetah for the day. We got to see Tai Shan (aka butter stick), as well as elephants, giraffes, praire dogs, cheetahs (the real ones) and more. The best part was I went all day without a nap (too much to see ya know?) My moms don't think that was the best part of the day, but I do.  [JUMP TO FULL POST]

Thumbs Down, Thumbs Up

Thumbs down:

The Us State Department- Passport Agency. As we are going to Thailand soon and my thrice-revised (twice for errors, once for a new legal mommy) birth certificate finally arrived last week, Mama called the Passport Agency to get an appointment to walk my passport through. The automated line gave her an appointment time of 11:30am on June 16 and gave a confirmation number for the appointment. She gathered all the paperwork, including a notarized form from Mommy saying, yes, I can have a passport. We went down to the city and waited in line. The appointment lady said "you aren't on my list." Mama said "well I have a confirmation number. 11:30 am today." The woman said, "yeah, but you aren't on the list so sorry, you'll have to come back next week." At no time did they do anything with the confirmation number. You know, to try to CONFIRM that we had an appointment.... Anyway, Mama finally convinced them to take the paperwork, it was stamped "approved," and, because of our confirmed non-appointment, we have to go back on monday to pick it up.

Thumbs Up:

Zappos.com- shoes ordered on Wednesday night for Thailand with regular, free shipping arrived today, courtesy of an upgrade to 2-day shipping. I L-O-V-E them.

Rubbermaid Blue Ice Ice Blanket- Mama got this for keeping my bottles cold on the go. It's great because you can cut it to fit any cooler compartment, can wrap it around the bottles, and it fits flat in the freezer so it doesn't take up much room.  [JUMP TO FULL POST]

Arizona

This weekend my moms and I went to Arizona for one of Mama's work functions. We stayed in Scottsdale at the Hyatt Regency at Gainey Ranch, where I enjoyed what they call their "2.5 acre water playground" which had 10 swimming pools, including a sandy beach area that was perfect for me. I did pretty well, even though there is a 3-hour time difference in Arizona, due to their lack of use of daylight savings time. I got to see Nathan and Laurel, and even got to see my Mama play water volleyball with some of her work folks (the DC team made it all the way to the championship game but came in second to San Diego... booo).

The Hyatt is a beautiful hotel, meant to be an oasis in the middle of the dramatic desert scenery of Scottsdale. The pool system is the highlight of the resort, with plenty of room for kiddos like me and adults. The property also has some really beautiful architectural and landscaping touches, like lagoons and the main terraced courtyard set between the pool area and the huge lobby. It's an interesting mix with a great pool for kids and some other kid-friendly amenities like a kids club (for kids older than me, of course) and gondola rides, with an atmosphere that is otherwise geared to an older crowd - live flamenco and other music at night, three sit-down eateries (none of which are particularly casual), a heavy golf-focus, and an amazing spa. The service was average for a resort this beautiful and otherwise indulgent, especially the housekeeping service which was horrible. All-in-all it gets 4 out of 5 Gus stars!!

I also did pretty well on the flights there and back, on Southwest. Ialso did fine in the car to adn from the hotel. Now having used it in 2 rental cars, both a "compact" and an SUV, my moms are still not a fan of the LATCH system on the Graco Comfortsport carseat (our "travel" carseat), but we are certainly getting lots of use out of it.

A good weekend, despite the heat, which was dry.




  [JUMP TO FULL POST]

Arizona

  [JUMP TO FULL POST]

Ready for the Pool

(thanks Henry for the suit!)

  [JUMP TO FULL POST]

Development-Update Tuesday

Why yes, I can sit up and play with my toys. At least until I fall over.

Yup. Still teething.

Although it makes for a yucky picture, I can also do fun yoga moves like arching my back like this.

I am also flexible enough to eat my own feet.

  [JUMP TO FULL POST]

passport pics

  [JUMP TO FULL POST]

Mama's Birthday Presents = Presents For Me

Among the presents that Mama got for her birthday were the "strolling tote" (for diapers, wipes, keys, etc) and the "double thirsty tote" by BuiltNY.  I love them, they fit in the bottom of my stroller or can even snap around the handle, and they've replaced my bulky diaper bag for short trips.  Love them!!

[JUMP TO FULL POST]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!!!!!!

Today was Mama's birthday. We woke up and she opened some presents ( I like to eat wrapping paper), Mommy made chocolate chip pancakes, and then we went to the Orioles vs Yankees game. My moms, me, uncles Mike and Dennis, RJ, Sean, Nonna, and Rick. I am proud to report that the Orioles kicked butt, starting from the first inning. In fact, it was pretty boring for a while so I took a nap. I even got a signed certificate with my name on it for attending my first O's game. After the game, we went to Nonna's house and had dinner and cake. Uncle Dennis saved my life by scooping the cake and frosting out of my mouth that Poppy tried to feed me. Chocolate cake, even, and I don't even eat regular food yet! Anyway, my Mama's pretty old today, but not as old as Mommy yet.

[JUMP TO FULL POST]

Childcare in the DC Area

Waitlist and Application Fees at 7 daycare centers: $500

Au Pair Agency Application Fee: $99

Gas to visit 5 daycare centers and multiple home daycare centers: $50

Stress and anxiety of being told there are no spaces available in any daycares, ever: immeasurable

Yearly salary offered for nanny: $37,000

Number of candidates interested: 1 (who had no experience and wanted more money)

Number of potential nanny shares that fell through: 3

Phone calls to friends, neighbors, city councilmen, daycare centers, licensed and unlicensed home daycares searching for an option: at least 25

What happens on the very day that we are approved by the au pair agency and are supposed to start searching for an au pair? (after applying, being interviewed, sending references etc)? We get a call from our first-choice daycare center that has told us for 6 months that we have no shot of getting in. They have an opening for Gus that is reasonably close to the time we need care.

Times I almost peed my pants: 1 [JUMP TO FULL POST]

Shout out to Miss Yoo Mi

Miss Yoo Mi is traveling to Sunny California soon to work at Berkeley, and I just wanted to wish her good luck! My Mommies and I are going to miss her, and my doggy Cady is going to miss her too.  [JUMP TO FULL POST]

Another Mommy-Baby Day

Today we had playgroup at our house! So many friends came to visit! And I found my female equivalent in Cayla- we were born 4 days apart, have lots of the same habits, and are pretty much the same size. Who knew?

Natalie (she's getting big, huh? and those cute cheeks!)

Emmett looks a bit surprised in this picture!

You all remember Owen!

And here's Cayla and moi

[JUMP TO FULL POST]