Home Living: Family Dreams

Last weekend we took Dean up to DC to visit my brother-and-sister-in-law, Zach and Lauren. Zach works for the Peace Corp in Panama and is in DC for 3 weeks training new volunteers (is this right Zach?). We took advantage of them being in the country and drove up for 2 days. We made this drive around Christmas time to visit family and discovered that you just have to be patient when traveling with a baby, and expect that it will take much longer than anticipated. Normally Josh and I drive 3+ hours straight on car trips. Not so with Dean. The normally 5 hour trip, takes about 6 or so hours. Dean is pretty funny in the car. Sure he has is screaming moments, but those are fewer and farther between these days. Usually he just sits back there and sings to himself, tries to eat his toes while strapped in, talks to his toys, or looks at himself in the baby mirror.

So we piled all of our gear into the car and headed up. Our plan was to put Dean's pack-n-play in the bathroom or closet so that he could sleep in peace while the 4 of us hung out in the hotel room. We even had our room upgraded to make sure there was enough room. Amazingly there was none. The first night we spent whispering and trying not to make any noises, but Dean kept waking up anyway. The next night we were smarter. Now, no one can report me to Social Services for this. We set a laptop up in the room and took one with us down to the common room a few floors below. We used Skype as our baby monitor and were able to hear and see Dean. It worked really well! I recommend it if you are ever in that situation. Dean slept like a log and we were able to play cards and make as much noise as we pleased.

Due to the long car rides we were only really in DC for one full day. We woke up, greeted by a heavy gray sky, 35 degree temps, and rain. Lovely. Lucky for us we had a car with us, although it didn't help a whole lot considering parking in the city. After a long leisurely breakfast, we decided to see what the Holocaust Museum was like. Those of you that have been, you know how intense it is. those who haven't, plan on spending most of the day if you ever go. I was skeptical of how Dean would behave for those hours inside, but again he surprised me and was GREAT! He spent an hour or so in the Snugli, an hour or so asleep in Zach's arms, and a few hours being passed around and shown the sights. All of the things to look at really kept him busy. Like I said, he did GREAT!

We spent our remianing time, eating as much as possible, talking over coffee and tea, discussing plans and dreams for the future, and describing our experiences so far as parents. We explained that so far we don't really feel like parents, as much as caregivers. We aren't really parenting yet, as I understand the word.

It was so fun to see Zach and Lauren playing with Dean, feeding him, helping to put him to sleep. Thank you Lauren for helping me with the "bath" in the sink that was too small for Dean to sit in. I love to think about Dean growing up with his aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. Every interaction seems to trigger a memory that I have of summers at the lake or on the Bay. Josh and I are always recounting some adventure we had with our cousins, or vacation at our grandparents' houses. I hope that Dean gets to have beach trips with his cousins getting a rash on his stomach from riding the waves all day, or experiences a lake trip where he never takes his swim suit off except to go eat at Julia's Talleyhouse, or gets to go out on the Bay with his great uncles and swim in the not-too-salty-not-too-fresh water of the Chesapeake. Maybe he'll get to go hike the jungles of Panama with Uncle Zach, or hike the mountains of Guatemala with Aunt Elizabeth. Maybe he'll go to Cooperstown with Uncle Mark and Deeda, letting them recount their own trip years ago, or maybe he'll stroll the streets of Europe while Jim tells him about the different buildings and where the people from his history books lived years ago. I hope he gets some of Deeda's musical talent and that the 2 of them can play a duet at the Christmas Eve service. I can envision the days fixing things at the farm with Dave and the cookie baking with Grammy. I can't wait to see the adventures in the woods that he goes on with Zeeba, or the dance lessons that Uncle Joel gives him. There are so many things that he is going to do and see withhis family. I love sitting around and thinking about them and wondering what he'll be like. I can already see his sense of adventure and wonderment at the outdoors.

I've included some pictures of Dean with various family members. I'm embarrassed to say that i have a million pictures of Dean, and very few of him with anyone. I don't even have one of Mark or Zach with Dean! If you have any pictures of him, send them to me please.