Jackson Catches A Fish

This post is from the last time Mommy and Daddy took me up to Lorton Lake. I like to go to Lorton Lake. It is lots of fun! I get to go out on the canoe, and Daddy takes me to Goose Poop Island. I get to go on the golf cart. I get to hang out with my cousin Madelyn. And best of all, I get to go fishing with my Daddy and Grandpa! I LOVE FISHING! I'm pretty good at it, too. I catch lots of fishies.

It was also Tucker's first trip to Lorton Lake. I tried to tell him how cool it is, but then Mommy and Daddy didn't let him go in the boat, or on the golf cart. He's too little to go swimming or catch fish. I think he was probably bored. He had to stay inside with Mommy and Grandma most of the time. Here he is with Grandma and Mads.

Tucker's Kidney: The Official Update

So it has come to my attention that several of you are still curious about exactly what is going on with little Tuck's kidney. As I briefly mentioned in a previous post, they are fine, but I'm happy to tell you exactly how it went. For those of you who are completely lost, during an 18 week ultrasound, they discovered that his right kidney was slightly enlarged, a condition called Hydronephrosis. The condition can range from a very mild case, like Tucker's is, to a very serious case. In its most serious form, a child would need a kidney transplant by 3-4 years of age due to kidney failure. Luckily, the condition is fairly common in boys (particularly in the womb), and it is very rare to be that bad. That worst-case scenario is typically due to urinary reflux, and that is not very common at all. While the prospect of having to deal with a serious medical condition in my perfect little baby was scary, none of the doctors seemed all that concerned so we tried to remain positive about it as well. They followed him throughout the pregnancy, which meant lots of extra ultrasounds (yay!), and since it didn't resolve by birth (which many cases do), they performed another ultrasound before we took him home. It looked about the same, so they decided we needed to follow up on it at 1 month of age. So we did. He got to wear that cute, tiny little gown, too. The ultrasound showed that his right kidney was still slightly enlarged, but just barely. However, the VCUG, an x-ray, showed that he did not have reflux. The pediatric urologist told us that it may just be Tucker's anatomy, and that the case was so mild he did not expect it to be a problem for him. Occasionally, problems do develop over time and he will want to see him again at 7 or 8 months old to be sure that has not happened. Hopefully, he'll decide it's fine and we won't have to think about it any more. Maybe next time I'll be able to produce a child without any excess water someplace it shouldn't be.

Indy Trip

Well, we are back! Tucker's first roadtrip was a resounding success. For an infant, he travels pretty well. And, frankly, he has to if he wants to belong to this family. This was just the first of several big trips planned for the summer. We had a lot of fun, though. Aside from the wedding we went to, the most exciting parts were The Children's Museum of Indianapolis and the train ride through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It was a 3 hour loop from the top to the bottom and back up again. We all had a really great time, that is, until the Spongebob Squarepants popsicle fell apart and Jack fell apart with it. Oh well! Why does he even know who Spongebob is?

In true Amy fashion, we took the scenic route out there. We stopped in Cuyahoga Valley National Park on a whim to see the Brandywine Falls on the way down. That's where we learned about the train ride, but we didn't have time that day. Then, we stopped at Buck Creek State Park in Ohio for lunch. That was a very nice, out of the way location. Jack was bummed we couldn't go swimming. In fact, he was really bummed every time we got someplace, because inevitably we would have to leave to go to "the next cool place" and he was always having too much fun to go, especially since we could never elaborate on where or what that next cool place might be. It must be hard to be 2.

Our first major stop was in Terre Haute, Jack's birthplace. We took him past the hospital, his old brown house (which he wanted to stalk), to the Clabber Girl museum, Fowler Park, Rose-Hulman, and a few other locations. We saw lots of our old friends and generally had a really wonderful time. On Friday, we drove up to Indy and Auntie La came down from visiting her friends in Chicago just to watch the boys while Mike and I partied like it was 2008 at Corey and Antonia's wedding. :) We then dragged ourselves out of bed in the morning to take Jack to The Children's Museum. It is arguably the best museum of its kind in the world. There was SO MUCH stuff, and it is billed as the biggest and I think Parent's Magazine called it one of the best. It was really cool. The favorite exhibits were the dinosaurs (have you ever tried to drag a 2 year old out of a dinosaur digging sandbox? Not fun!), Rock Stars Cars Guitars exhibit, and I liked the Fireworks of Glass exhibit. There were lots of other cool things to see. Jack finally rode a carousel and cried because he didn't want to get off instead of the other way around. Dr. Noize had a concert. Mr. Etch a Sketch was there sketching (or is it etching?) masterpieces on actual toys. We meant to get out of town a little early, but we closed down the museum and were one of the last out of the parking garage. We had so much fun.

The next day, we stopped back at the Cuyahoga Valley NP for one last cool thing. We decided that, all things considered, Jack had been a pretty good kid and he definitely deserved a train ride. We rode from the Rockside station in the north, to the Northside station in the south, and all the way back up again for a 3 hour round trip. He had so much and it was a really great way to see the park. We got back late last night, and we are still looking forward to our other trips. I don't think we can ask for much more than that!

Hello from Space!

I know it has been a long, long time and you are probably more interested in pictures of little Tuck, but we are en route to Indiana and all I have for you is this really cute picture of Jack courtesy of Nona. He was really enjoying his cheeseburger! Tucker is doing really well, though. The urologist seems to think his hydronephrosis is a non-issue. We will have to follow up in 6 months, but he suspects everything will be fine. He does not have reflux, so that is good. He's just a happy 14lb 6 week old who sleeps really well and is no worse for having such a loving big brother. This morning we were all having breakfast when Daddy went to check on Tuck, who was sleeping in our bed. He was awake but quiet, so we left him there. A few minutes later, Jackson came out carrying Tucker. I screamed bloody murder, which scared Jack, but he was actually doing a really good job. He was carrying him way up high, horizontally, using both arms, and Tucker seemed perfectly fine with it. He was just trying to be helpful because he loves his baby brother, and it is kinda funny now since Tuck wasn't hurt at all. I'm just curious about how he got him off our bed. That's pretty high!