It's only a matter of time.

"I'm gonna thump him one day. He's gonna beg me to stop."  - Baby Gil

{Owen Age 3, 28 lbs  vs. Gillen 8 months, 19 lbs.}

A Trip to the Emergency Room

Well Mr. Gillen let us know just how stubborn her really is upon deciding not to eat or drink anything. He refused to nurse Saturday morning around 10am biting me if I offered. We figured he was teething so we let him be. I continued to try thorughout the day and he wouldn't take even one drop. We had a wedding to go to, and couldn't leave a tired hugry not-eating baby with our sitter so we brought him with us. He was perfectly content, but not eating.

When we arrived home we tried to offer him a cup, water, anything and eventually ended up force feeding him breastmilk with a syringe. No pee all day and we told ourselves that if by morning there wasn't any eating or any peeing... our guy needed to go to the hospital.

So at 10am Sunday morning a friend came and got Owen (we didn't want him along if Gil needed an IV and/or a feeding tube) and off we went.

I had flashbacks of being in that very same emergency room when Owen was burning up and was a complete mess. All the while, our little guy was smiles and happy.

The second the resident walked in the room to evaluate him, he latched on an nurse like nothing was wrong. OF COURSE HE DID.  With that and his adorable smiles, I honestly don't think they believed us. They told us to bring him back if he stopped eating again but as long as he was happy, drooly baby sometimes it's okay to have no wet diapers and an eating strike.

He didn't latch again until Tuesday morning (despite a visit to the pediatrician on Monday declaring him okay to continue his strike). A friend of ours told us her family came down with the most horrible sore throat she's ever had. So perhaps Gil had that and just couldn't tell us.

72 hour eating strike. This guy was letting us know who the boss is :)

Hershey Pennslyvania mini-vacation

Jeremy's time off is few and far between over the next few months so we took advantage of a free weekend and went on a “long car ride” for a “special adventure”.  We landed in Hershey Pennsylvania for what turned out to be one of the best weekends we’ve had as a family. (all of the photos were taken on my iphone)

Saturday we visited Hershey Chocolate World: Admission is free. There were a variety of things to do .  We took the free ‘Factory Tour’ which is a little ride that simulates the chocolate making process. It takes about 10 minutes. You get a piece of candy at the end. We skipped most of the other avities because they were either too advanced for Owen or we didn't want him eating a giant chocolate bar. We spent a few hours at Chocolate World. This was plenty of time for us.  (of course we left with "Reeses" t-shirts. OF COURSE WE DID.)

We stayed the night in a hotel and we were all so exhausted we passed out within ten minutes of laying down.

Gillen had a bagel for breakfast :)

On Sunday we woke up and headed to Hershey Park:  Owen has never been to an amusement park or ridden a ride before. He is also fairly timid. We figured we would spend three hours max at the park. Much to our surprise, we arrived at 10am when the park opened at left at 6pm closing. Owen was tall enough to  ride the vast majority of rides at the park, including one roller coaster! He had a blast on everything, most of the rides you can ride with your child and we saw children as young as 1 riding on some of the smaller rides. There are several rides that will let you wear/carry your baby on. The kids got tired about half-way through the day so they took a nap in the stroller while we walked around Zoo America inside the park. 

 This picture above should be titled BEST DADDY EVER. This was the only ride that Owen disliked. I don't particularly care for the feelings of being dropped either so I don't blame him.

Owen was actually fearless on most of these rides, something we realized will go away once he has awareness of heights and danger. Jeremy took one for the team and went on this ride with Owen which almost made him puke (no way was I riding it, it spun in every direction posssible SUPER high in the air!) 

 

We visited the park during one of three “Springtime in the Park” preview weekends in April. This turned out to be a GREAT time to go. We had a beautiful spring day and tickets were half-price (water park is closed) and we walked on to most of the rides without a wait.

 hanging in the stroller while Daddy and Owen ride go karts.

This was such a wonderful weekend for our little family. We all had so much fun and watching Owen enjoy an amusement park was more fun than enjoying it ourselves. We can't wait to go back next year!

Seven Month Photo Shoot: Baby GIL!

Too Much Love

"Owen please don't lay on Gillen, he can't do a push up with you on his back. 

Too much love, buddy. Too much love!"

Gillen Azar: SEVEN MONTHS

Dearest Gil,

Giggles.

All day long from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep. Full-on belly laughs for everyone, but you find Owen especially hilarious. I remember with Owen your Daddy and I used to sit around with wish for a giggly baby. He was very serious your brother, so much so that we brought our concerns to the pediatrician only to be told that perhaps we just weren't that funny. YOU have proven her wrong! According to you, every person in this house is absolutely hysterical.

And all these giggles continue even on days when you are teething. You still only have the one tooth which is fully in and makes you look like a pirate or a lumber jack with your one-toothed gummy smile. But there is so much drool and everything goes in your mouth. You love teethers and I try to always have one with me.

We've tried a few solid foods over the past month. Sweet potato puree and oatmeal. Neither of which you were interested in. You grab at anything we are eating and love to gum on banana/celery/toast but when I tried to spoon feed you, you push everything out of your mouth. You won't even open up and dribble slobbery food down into your many, many chins which is next to impossible to clean out. Meanwhile Owen sits beside you saying, "He doesn't like that, Mama! He's spitting it out!" So as not to stress out your brother, or myself, I'm backing off for a while. You have plenty of milk and are growing beautifully. You'll eat when you're ready.

You are wearing 12 month clothing now, which sadly is getting snug. You wore a sweater the other day that your brother wore for his one year pictures. You're just... thicker. You burnt the motor out on your swing this week, thankfully we had a replacement motor in the basement but honestly? It's not going to last much longer. I continue to juggle you from the cosleeper/my bed/the swing all night long hoping for a few extra hours. You've been better this past week, sleeping from 830-130, sometimes even till 3am and then not waking again until 530. Let me tell you, that extra sleep feels awesome.

You started babbling, "Ma Ma Ma Ma" and it's so adorable. Daddy swears you're not trying to say "Mama" but I'm going to keep on hoping that you are. You give us big open mouthed slobbery kisses and your face lights up when we sing or you hear our CD from music class.

Your hair is still red and the new hair growing is also red. I never in a million years imagined I'd have a ginger baby. And definitely not a ginger boy! I adore your hair. You have your Daddy's eyes and his long toes, but your hair screams that you are MY child. Whenever we are out people comment on our hair and it makes me so giddy inside. I know it doesn't matter what color your hair ultimately turns out to be - but I find myself wishing and hoping it stays red.

I love you, happy boy.

Mama