Thursday, September 27, 2012
Damn Internet
Quick update. A couple of days ago, we hit our limit on uploading and downloading for the month. Rogers only gives us a paltry 60 GB so unfortunately, I have to wait until our next billing cycle to upload more photos. Otherwise, it's gonna cost us. The good news is that our new cycle starts on the 28th so I should be able to get some more pictures up this weekend. Keep an eye out!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Rory Update
We received some odd news last week. Marilu had gone in for a followup appointment with her OB/GYN. I believe it was the first time she's seen him since everything happened back in May. According to the pathology report, it turns out Rory was, in fact, a girl. Because of everything that happened, we never got confirmation of the sex when we were at the ultrasound, and I guess they never thought to bring it up when Marilu gave birth.
When Marilu told me, I'll admit I was stunned. I wasn't sure how to take this news, and to be honest, I'm still not sure how I feel. To a much lesser extent, this must be what it's like when someone finds out they were adopted. In the sense that something you took for granted is proven otherwise.
I suppose it's good that Rory is a name that can be used for both boys and girls, although the middle name Gerard doesn't really work.
We haven't told Lucas yet, and we're probably not going to for at least a few years. He still mentions his little brother from time to time, and I'm not sure what he would think about this. That said, I don't want to wait too long since I don't want it to be a major shock when he is a teenager or something.
Anyway, that's the news for the week. I thought writing about it might help me make a little more sense of it, but it's still weird. Guess it will be for a while.
When Marilu told me, I'll admit I was stunned. I wasn't sure how to take this news, and to be honest, I'm still not sure how I feel. To a much lesser extent, this must be what it's like when someone finds out they were adopted. In the sense that something you took for granted is proven otherwise.
I suppose it's good that Rory is a name that can be used for both boys and girls, although the middle name Gerard doesn't really work.
We haven't told Lucas yet, and we're probably not going to for at least a few years. He still mentions his little brother from time to time, and I'm not sure what he would think about this. That said, I don't want to wait too long since I don't want it to be a major shock when he is a teenager or something.
Anyway, that's the news for the week. I thought writing about it might help me make a little more sense of it, but it's still weird. Guess it will be for a while.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Massachusetts 2012 - Part 3 (Aquarium and Golf)
One other thing I did with Lucas before Marilu arrived was to bring him miniature golfing. My mom came along to assist, in case he got out of control. I'm not sure if I mentioned it on this blog, but the last time we went mini golfing him was on the cruise in March, and he ended up flinging his golf club around the 9th hole. I guess that's practice for when he's older and slices it. We also went to the same place (Crystal Caves in Auburn, for those of you from central Mass) last year, and he lost patience with mini golf within a couple of holes. So I was happy to see he made it through the whole course this time. He got a little antsy toward the end and wanted to crawl around the cave, but for the most part, it was a successful outing. Lest I forget, he got a hole in one on the very first hole without any help from my mom or me!
The next day, Marilu flew into Boston. Since we were there, we decided to make the most of the trip and went to the New England Aquarium. We were going to stay over and do some more stuff in Boston, but hotel rooms were around $300 a night. Yeah, I don't think so.
I wanted to comment on some of these photos, but Blogger decided to upload them out of order, and I can't easily fix it (this blog can be a pain in the ass when it comes to managing pictures). As such, enjoy our day at the aquarium.
The next day, Marilu flew into Boston. Since we were there, we decided to make the most of the trip and went to the New England Aquarium. We were going to stay over and do some more stuff in Boston, but hotel rooms were around $300 a night. Yeah, I don't think so.
I wanted to comment on some of these photos, but Blogger decided to upload them out of order, and I can't easily fix it (this blog can be a pain in the ass when it comes to managing pictures). As such, enjoy our day at the aquarium.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Massachusetts 2012 - Part 2 (The Dinosaur Place)
Quick update before I get to the meat of the post. Lucas had his first week of senior kindergarten last week, and for the most part, it went well. The only issue that cropped up was that he got in trouble on the school bus. When he and his friend Ryan get together, they get a little "energetic," and I guess he was getting up on the bus, which is a big no-no. We've told him to sit in a different seat from Ryan, and so far, it seems to be working. Other than that, everything is great as he is happy to be back at school. Tomorrow night is a pizza party and "meet the teacher," so we'll get to see his classroom again (since he's in the same one as last year).
So, back to Massachusetts. As you may or may not know, Lucas and I drove down a week ahead of Marilu, who then flew down. During that week, I had to come up with stuff to do to keep Lucas busy and to prevent me from going crazy. One of those things was a trip down to south Connecticut to The Dinosaur Place. It's a neat little place that has a walking trail with plenty of lifesize dinosaur models, and it culminates in a good-sized splash pad and playground. We ended up killing a good 4-5 hours there. Below you'll see the highlights.
This gives you an idea of the scale of the dinosaurs. They were really well crafted. I have to admit I was impressed.
I told Lucas to stand under this dinosaur and try and look scared. It didn't work out so well...
...so I joined in.
This next photo is probably my favorite one from the entire trip. It came out exactly as I hoped. (that is, Lucas fleeing from a charging Styracosaurus)
If you look closely, Lucas is pretending to steal the dino eggs. My direction, once again.
"Are you ready to rumble?!"
Some photos from the splash pad.
I'm not sure what it is about upward-shooting streams of water, but both boys and girls love them.
And we wrap up with some photos from the playground. They had a very unique spiderweb-like structure that Lucas loved climbing on. I've never seen something like this anywhere else so it was nice to see him play on something less common that swings and slides.
A better shot of the entire structure. It goes up pretty high, and I was a little nervous about Lucas from time to time, but we made it through the experience concussion free.
So, back to Massachusetts. As you may or may not know, Lucas and I drove down a week ahead of Marilu, who then flew down. During that week, I had to come up with stuff to do to keep Lucas busy and to prevent me from going crazy. One of those things was a trip down to south Connecticut to The Dinosaur Place. It's a neat little place that has a walking trail with plenty of lifesize dinosaur models, and it culminates in a good-sized splash pad and playground. We ended up killing a good 4-5 hours there. Below you'll see the highlights.
This gives you an idea of the scale of the dinosaurs. They were really well crafted. I have to admit I was impressed.
I told Lucas to stand under this dinosaur and try and look scared. It didn't work out so well...
...so I joined in.
This next photo is probably my favorite one from the entire trip. It came out exactly as I hoped. (that is, Lucas fleeing from a charging Styracosaurus)
If you look closely, Lucas is pretending to steal the dino eggs. My direction, once again.
"Are you ready to rumble?!"
Some photos from the splash pad.
I'm not sure what it is about upward-shooting streams of water, but both boys and girls love them.
And we wrap up with some photos from the playground. They had a very unique spiderweb-like structure that Lucas loved climbing on. I've never seen something like this anywhere else so it was nice to see him play on something less common that swings and slides.
A better shot of the entire structure. It goes up pretty high, and I was a little nervous about Lucas from time to time, but we made it through the experience concussion free.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Another milestone
I wanted to take a quick detour from the Massachusetts photos to announce Lucas's latest milestone: he's riding a bike without training wheels!
Marilu noticed a few weeks ago that when he was on training wheels, oftentimes he would have the bike balanced so that the training wheels weren't even being used. We asked him if a few times if he wanted to try riding without them, but he kept saying no. However, while we were playing in the front yard on Saturday, he saw our newest neighbor go by, helping his son (who is a year younger than Lucas) ride without training wheels. I guess this was the catalyst Lucas needed since he immediately asked to try it himself. A couple of minutes later, and I had the wheels off.
Even though we knew he was probably ready for it, Lucas surprised us by achieving success so quickly. After one or two unsuccessful tries, he made it about 30 feet, and from that point, he just kept doing better and better. Marilu got this video of his second "long" ride.
This picture is from a little later, when he was more comfortable and we were riding up and down the street.
On his first day, he was able to ride well but he was having a lot of problems getting started. He needed us to give him a little push about 95% of the time. That number plummeted on Sunday, and by evening, he didn't need any assistance at all. Here he is, hotdogging it at a block party we went to.
I should note that about 10 seconds after this video ended, he tried to turn too sharply and crashed, smacking his head into the ground. The helmet did its job though, and he was back up and riding within a minute or two.
So that's my interlude for the night. Back to Massachusetts tomorrow!
Marilu noticed a few weeks ago that when he was on training wheels, oftentimes he would have the bike balanced so that the training wheels weren't even being used. We asked him if a few times if he wanted to try riding without them, but he kept saying no. However, while we were playing in the front yard on Saturday, he saw our newest neighbor go by, helping his son (who is a year younger than Lucas) ride without training wheels. I guess this was the catalyst Lucas needed since he immediately asked to try it himself. A couple of minutes later, and I had the wheels off.
Even though we knew he was probably ready for it, Lucas surprised us by achieving success so quickly. After one or two unsuccessful tries, he made it about 30 feet, and from that point, he just kept doing better and better. Marilu got this video of his second "long" ride.
This picture is from a little later, when he was more comfortable and we were riding up and down the street.
On his first day, he was able to ride well but he was having a lot of problems getting started. He needed us to give him a little push about 95% of the time. That number plummeted on Sunday, and by evening, he didn't need any assistance at all. Here he is, hotdogging it at a block party we went to.
I should note that about 10 seconds after this video ended, he tried to turn too sharply and crashed, smacking his head into the ground. The helmet did its job though, and he was back up and riding within a minute or two.
So that's my interlude for the night. Back to Massachusetts tomorrow!
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