Europe Travelblog  -

+ 9 - 12 | § ¶Happy Six Month Birthday!

Douglas turns six months old today.  It was quite bumpy at first with his surgery and hospitalization, but everything is much better now.  He's been off medication for a couple of weeks now, so there are no signs anymore that he had major open heart surgery except a fading scar on his chest.  At his recent six-month followup appointment with the cardiologist, they said that everything looked great, from the EKG to the echocardiogram to the sound of his heart (well, we are still waiting for the results of one test, but we don't expect any problems).

That means we are cleared to take a trip.

Next month, we are going to Singapore and Malaysia for a couple weeks, and Douglas is coming with us.  He has his passport and his pack to walk with Daddy, so he's ready to go.  It'll be a very interesting trip; my first real trip to Asia (not counting Siberia), Jenny's first vacation to Asia (not counting 3 days in Tokyo for work), and our first big trip with a child (who is taking his first plane ride).  We've long said that we want to continue traveling when we have a family, and the only way we'll know if we'll be able to do that is to try.

We're nervous, of course, about flying for 24 hours each direction with an infant, but Douglas is doing well enough that we think it's worth the try.  He loves new people, and he's a generally happy baby, and he'll have his own seat and a bassinet on the plane, so he'll be able to stretch out a bit.  Lots of people say that the time before the baby is crawling is the best time to travel - that's what we're trying.

Also, Douglas is developing very well, particularly with his gross motor skills.  He even stands up on his own if propped against a wall!