Adventures on Capitol Hill

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentines Day! We miss you Daddy!

Catch up

2012-02-13T21:19:00.006-05:00

Seems like I am always catching up these days.

While I was gone in Curacao, Nan was here to help take care of O. They had lots of fun making Valentines and sock puppets. O loves the sock puppets, and I love the way he says "sock puppet". So cute! Here is he playing with the sock puppets. He really loves them!

Kissing puppets:
Feeding is sock puppet "soup":
Music with sock puppets:

I was cleaning up in the kitchen and O seemed very quiet - this is what I saw when I looked around into the living room:
Funny - I never could get him to play in the play pen - here he is putting himself in the laundry basket! He has been playing with that little musical toy since he was a couple months old. He still really likes it.

Busy January

2012-01-29T21:33:00.003-05:00

Wow, this has been a busy January, both at work and at home. First things first, I heard Friday about my new job! Tom is going to to be the Commanding Officer of the ASPEN, a buoy tender in San Francisco (yay!) and I am going to be the Sector San Francisco Waterways Division Chief (another yay!). Amazingly, we both got our first choice this year. So we are very happy and now the planning can begin in earnest for the move out west.

O has been very busy too. He says new words everyday, and puts two or three together for short sentences. He is actually very good at communicating what he wants or needs.

He still loves music and his little piano:
Yesterday, we went to roller derby in DC. After the roller derby fun, we had some people, including Kristen back to the house for calzones. O was a charming host, as usual:

He is very focused at times - in this photo he is pretending the giraffe and the drum are a mini-blender like we use to make smoothies, complete with sound effects.
Very focused on his piano playing...
And here, he is pretending that his blocks are faucets and soap dispensers. He put his cups under the pieces and would make water noises as he "filled" them up. Pretty cool to see him pretending like that.

New Friends and Old Friends

2012-01-16T15:19:00.004-05:00

We had quite a weekend here in DC. On Saturday, Nan and Pop came to spend the day and night with O while Tom and I went to a show and stayed out overnight in NW DC.

They brought some new friends for O to watch and play with, introducing Charlie and Goldie...

After Nan and Pop got settled in, we headed out for a nice afternoon to ourselves before meeting some friends for dinner before the show. One of the folks we had dinner with is Ryan, a good friend from high school who Tom has not seen in over 10 years. Turns out, that in addition to his day job, Ryan has started a company making gourmet marshmallows! He brought some for us to try, and they are delicious.

The show we went to was Paul Cebar, at the Barns at Wolftrap, which is an amazing venue. We had lots of fun dancing the night away. I don't think I have danced that much in at least two years! It was a great show.

Today we met up with Marcus and Bea and the kids for a nice walk along the canal tow path in Georgetown and lunch. Nice three day weekend overall. Tom is heading down to Portsmouth, VA for a few days this week, so the little man and I will be on our own.

Snow in DC

2012-01-09T19:28:00.003-05:00

We finally got some snow today. Not just flurries, but big fat snowflakes. It even stuck to the grass. O was not sure what to make of it hitting him in the face as we walked to the house from the car.

Two days ago it was 60, tomorrow is supposed to be in the mid fifties. It is a wonder we are not all sick.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T20:38:00.003-05:00

Hurray 2012!!!

Happy 2012!! Wow, another year has come and gone. It is amazing how fast time seems to be going. Before we know it, our little family will be packed up and moved on to San Francisco and our time here in DC will be gone.

We had a great few days here. Last night, we were hosted at our friends Tracy and Steve's house along with some other great folks. O was great - he hung in until about 8:30 and then told us it was time for night night. He went to sleep like a champ away from home - such a good boy!

As for Tom and I, we had a great evening eating delicious food and hanging out with old and new friends for the New Year.

Today, we hosted an open house for friends. We had about 25 people and lots of good food. It was fun to have a house full and O enjoyed making his rounds and charming the crowd.

Happy New Year from Tom, O and I!

Merry Christmas Travels

2011-12-29T21:03:00.005-05:00

We had a great Christmas this year. First, we went and had fun at Nan and Pop's House. Even before opening presents, O had a great time playing with the truck bank, putting coins in and getting Mom or Pop to shake them out.
Nan and Pop got O this beautiful toy chest - full of wrapped gifts, of course...
Here is O, playing with his new Weebles and Weeble boat.
O really liked opening and closing the doors on his new truck bank.
... and sitting on presents before opening them.
Here we are outside ready to ride his new bike. Unfortunately we did not get any good shots of him riding.
Drilling with Pop. He was so cute copying the technique!

After a couple days of fun with Nan and Pop it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. O was enthralled with the train under the tree.
Christmas morning - straight to the train control box!
Then on to tackling the presents!
Big grown up man with his new backpack...

Spontaneous Mom hugs! I will take that for a Christmas present.
He was very determined to get himself and his owl into this small box...
When backwards did not work, he decided to just lie down with his head in the box.
And finally, O with Santa Grandpa!

Christmas Party

2011-12-19T23:42:00.005-05:00

O's classroom at daycare had their Christmas party on Wednesday last week. The kids and parents all had a lot of fun. His teachers had smoothies for the kids' treat, and O kept on asking for more, more, more.

After smoothies, the kids opened the presents that all of the Moms and Dads bought for the classroom. O really liked playing with the picnic basket he opened. He was very intent on getting everything out and put back in.

Very, very intent...

And, of course, some trucks.

The Bahamas and Back

2011-12-13T22:53:00.005-05:00

Last week our little family traveled to The Bahamas. I had a conference for work so we all went a couple of days early for family time. O had a lot of fun playing in the sand and swimming. While I was working he and Tom hung out at the beach, went to the water park at the Atlantis Resort and to a local bird zoo. Unfortunately, Tom did not get a lot of pictures being on his own with the energetic little man and we had a little camera trouble also.

Here is O having fun in the sand, He would say "dump dump dump" whenever he played with the truck. The hotel had a little beach and they had sand toys for kids to borrow in the little cabana, O would go each morning and ask for his bucket and some trucks. He had those guys wrapped around his finger (just like Mom and Dad).

O was not thrilled about the bird on Tom's hand, but he warmed up a little after a few minutes. They also saw a flamingo show..

We happened to be there for a street parade called Junior Junkanoo. O loved the drumming and dancing - this junior version was a precursor to the big parade on Christmas.

Silly

2011-11-30T20:44:00.003-05:00

Thankful

2011-11-24T20:50:00.002-05:00

We have much to be thankful for, like this guy...

And this guy is thankful that Mom is making whipped cream for the pumpkin pie!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

You Talkin' to Me?

2011-11-22T20:31:00.001-05:00

This picture cracks me up - he really looks like he is thinking "What, Mom?". Actually his is thinking "When are you going go give me another bit of that granola bar?". Cutie pie.

This next shot is us on Roosevelt Island overlooking Georgetown. We had a nice outing on Sunday - the weather was gorgeous and warm. It was actually much to warm for the fleece I was wearing, but not too warm for the monkey hat... of course.

Nan and Pop come for Thanksgiving fun tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2011-11-20T10:01:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Grandma's Birthday. O got her some nice flowers in the morning before she and Grandpa left to go home to PA.

O had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa over the week while I was gone. He is all better now, we are thinking about heading out for a little bit of a hike today to enjoy the beautiful weather. Maybe we will head over to Roosevelt Island. I have been wanting to check that out for a while now.

I got my Thanksgiving shopping done yesterday, for which I am thankful since I don't want to be anywhere near the commissary on Wednesday!

Panama

2011-11-17T14:44:00.003-05:00

Panama has been very interesting. I learned a lot on this trip about the canal operations and the ongoing expansion project. Panama is also a beautiful tropical place. I am looking forward to coming back again and maybe taking a day to explore. The hotel was right on the canal with a view of the Bridge of the Americas (one of two bridges connecting North America and South America across the Panama Canal.

Here is a photo of the bridge and one of a ship outbound towards the Pacific:

We went to dinner last night at the Miraflores Locks. It is pretty impresssive to see huge vessels in the locks. I will put pictures of it up when I get home (I am in the airport).

I can't wait to get home and see my little guy - I miss him!

Panama

2011-11-14T23:12:00.002-05:00

I arrived in Panama tonight. Iwill be here through Thursday for work. I miss my guys already.

We had visitors in town over the long weekend. Grandma and Jennifer and Jenna came to see us. We had a fun day on Saturday touring the Capitol building and the U.S. Botanical gardens. I think I got some good shots on the tour, I will get some pictures up when I get back home.

In other news O has been a little sick again, but he is on the mend under Dad and Grandma's care at home and some medicine.

Halloween Fun!

2011-10-31T20:40:00.005-04:00

We had a fun Halloween today! O had a parade at school - he did great in his costume, once he got used to it. The parade was a little overwhelming for the kids, but fun too. Nan and Pop came over to school and had fun seeing all of the kids in costume.

Once we got home from work, we headed over to Eastern Market for the "Hilloween" event. I was a little skeptical of whether O would get much out of it, but he had a blast. He loved watching all of the kids and the horses for the hayride.

Stomp, stomp, stomp, the elephant herd is coming...
A little rest...
Happy Halloween from our family to you!
I can't tell you how many comments we got today on his beautiful costume. So many people asked me if I made it, even strangers on the street. Grandma did a wonderful job (as always) - Thank you Grandma!!!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-30T20:47:00.002-04:00

Just a sneak peak - more photos tomorrow...

Goodbye Sylvester

2011-10-23T21:33:00.004-04:00

We had a sad week - Sylvester unexpectedly passed away. Tom and I will really miss him, and O keeps asking for the kitty. He was a very special cat - I don't think I will ever meet another cat like him.

Not Tired - Not at all....

2011-10-15T12:50:00.002-04:00

Navigating by the Stars..

2011-10-13T21:16:00.006-04:00

We spent last weekend in PA at Grandma and Grandpa's house. While we were there, they sent O out in the boat to navigate with a sextant and the constellations.

We had beautiful weather and a great time visiting everyone. It is nice to be able to just go out into the yard to play, and to get out for a walk.

We spent an afternoon at the corn maze. O was not such a big fan of being lost in the corn, but he did like the playground and the ride-on tractor.

Now we have visitors in town from Portland, Oregon. Adam and Jen and the kids are in town to run the Baltimore on Saturday and are staying with us for a few days!

Playing

2011-10-03T20:40:00.006-04:00

Just some pictures of O playing with his tractor, or "choo choo" as he refers to it. He calls all trucks, cars and trains choo choo.

I was away for a few days last week. I had to travel to Ottawa for two nights for work. The trip and meeting went very well, but I missed my boys and was missed by them. Here is my proof...
Just kidding... that is actually O's angry face. In this case, the tractor was stuck against the chair.

Happy again!
In other news, the weather has changed.

It is going to warm up again later this week, but Sunday was pretty chilly.

The Best Toys

2011-09-25T10:55:00.002-04:00

O has been having fun with some new "toys" this week....

Here you can see his multi-purpose pot (hat, drum, seat, block holder), the 40 year old block sorter, and the new favorite.... and empty pretzel jug.

Yup, we spare no expense in this house.

What a Week!

2011-09-17T22:09:00.005-04:00

W e have had quite a week here in DC. O was home sick from school Mon-Wed. He just had a fever apparently caused by a sore throat. Tom and I had to tag team going to work and staying home to take care of the little man. As you can see from these pictures I took early in the week, the sore throat and fever were not keeping his spirits down! He would play and play and just get a little more tired and be a bit more cuddly than normal.

Big Boy!

So, once O was feeling better, it was Mom's turn to feel pretty cruddy - now I am better and Dad is down for the count... we are a very sharing family here.

Here is a funny video of the little man cracking himself up. He was climbing up on the stool and bouncing and laughing for a while before I pulled out the camera. Believe it or not, he was laughing harder the first few times he did it. Enjoy!

In CT

2011-09-03T15:02:00.004-04:00

We are in CT for a few days. We had an uneventful drive to NJ on Wednesday afternoon and another uneventful trip to Mystic on Thursday. It is nice to be back in Southeaster Connecticut. It is nice place, especially this time of year when there is starting to be a little chill in the air, but the sun is still strong.

Here is Dad and O on the walkway overlooking the Mystic Drawbridge:

Yesterday we spend the day at Waterford Beach before heading to our house in New London. It was a gorgeous sunny day, O got to try out swimming in the ocean. It was a big hit once he got used to the idea.

After fun in the sun, we went to see Carla and check out the house. She was so happy to see us and O got to meet "Nona"! Carla has not changed one bit. By the time we left, we had new toys, homemade cookies, bottles of water and fresh cooked pears. Of course, all the while she was lamenting that she had nothing to give us! We miss Carla, she is a great neighbor and a wonderful lady. The house faired the storm just fine, luckily. Now if we could only find buyers...

Nora's wedding is tomorrow, then we head back to NJ for a night before making our way back home to DC. We are having a nice little vacation. It is always nice to take the time to just spend time together and see old friends.

Irene

2011-08-29T20:27:00.002-04:00

Not much damage here from Irene. The reality was much lighter than the forecasts in DC. However, we are not in Halifax, as planned. My trip was postponed to the end of the month (and moved to Toronto, for that matter). We are going to be heading up to New London for Nora's wedding in a couple of days, with a quick stop in NJ on the way to break up the ride for all of us, but especially for O.

It should be a nice little trip, and I am sure the wedding will be fun.

Big Hit!

2011-08-22T22:07:00.002-04:00

I picked this little piano up in the neighborhood last weekend. O really likes it! It plays different drum beats and he really enjoys sitting on his stool and playing the piano. Of course, he also likes to climb on it.

I was away in San Diego for most of last week. I sure did miss this little guy, and I think the feeling was mutual. We are heading out to Halifax on Saturday. I have a conference there next week and the boys are coming along for the ride.

Weekend Visit

2011-08-07T20:57:00.004-04:00

We like to keep busy around here with visitors and fun outings. Last weekend was Grandma and Grandpa, and this weekend O was luck to have Nan and Pop visit.

We had some fun at the park yesterday before Tom and I headed out on the town with some friends and left Nan and Pop to enjoy O without us hanging around.

Nan brought O a fun little car to play with at home. It is a big hit! He really likes to climb on and get pushed around or to give his toys a ride around the house.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

2011-07-31T14:16:00.006-04:00

O had lots of fun with Grandma babysitting this week, and he was a very good boy for her. It has been so hot that Grandma probably felt trapped in the house, but O kept her entertained.

Grandpa came on Thursday and then the little man was in heaven with both Grandma and Grandpa on Friday and Mom and Dad added to the mix for the weekend. I don't think he is going to be happy about going back to daycare on Monday.

We had fun at the park yesterday morning before it got too hot:
Big boy can ride the springy motor bike all by himself now:

In the afternoon we tried out the new baby pool! O decided the sprinkler was for drinking from.

Now the Grandparent are gone and Joe is here from New Orleans. It is like a revolving door here. I will get a shot of Joe and O later today.

Fun Time of Day

2011-07-20T20:42:00.002-04:00

One of O's favorite activities is taking a bath. He gets excited when we say "bath time". He does the sign for bath and goes right to the gate to get upstairs. It is very cute. Of course, I seem to think everything he does is cute.

Here a couple of shots of tonight's bath. The second one is a bit fuzzy because I did not use the flash, but his face is so cute I could not resist sharing.

And just for fun - here is a bath just barely over a year ago...

Wow is it hot here. I know that everyone is having a heat wave, but, wow - 101 degrees is hot! There was no playground time today, that is for sure, and I don't think there will be for a few days now.

We spent the day at Artscape in Baltimore on Saturday this past weekend. It was a lot of fun, we saw a band and enjoyed the artist vendors. Artscape is the largest free art festival in the U.S. and it was not too terribly hot on Saturday. Of course, it was crowded, but that is to be expected, although I hate crowds.

15 Month Checkup

2011-07-12T20:07:00.002-04:00

We had O's 15 month well-baby checkup today.

The official stats:
weight: 29 lbs 0 oz, 93rd percentile
length: 31.5 inches, 61st percentile
head circumference: 49.4 cm, 95th percentile

He is doing great, hitting all of his milestones and obviously very healthy and solid! He is also very happy and funny too.

In other news, O has been saying more and more words. Among the new words and phrases are:
"Hi, Sylvester" - this is possibly the cutest thing I have ever heard, I need to get it on video
"Front Door!" - thanks to the alarm system.
"Water"
"Shoes"
and, my favorite.. "I love you"

Hope everyone is doing well. My new job is going just fine, I am in my second week and it seems like I will be busy and challenged.

Happy Fourth of July

2011-07-04T21:06:00.002-04:00

Happy Fourth of July and Happy Birthday to Uncle Chris yesterday, Uncle Jimmy today and Marcy tomorrow!

Making Uncle Jimmy Proud

2011-07-03T17:08:00.003-04:00

We found out that O likes his corn on the cob, just like his Uncle Jimmy.

O does have some catching up to do - he only had half an ear, compared to the dozen or so Uncle Jimmy can eat, but based on how much he seemed to enjoy it, he may not be far behind!

Yesterday we spent the day at Kristen's neighborhood pool near Baltimore. We had a great day swimming and sunning. O loved hanging out in his pool float and being thrown up in the air in this pool float too.

2011-07-01T21:41:00.004-04:00

O and I had a great extended weekend visit in Pennsylvania this past week. He was a really good traveler in the car and had so much fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He got to run Grandpa's big lawn tractor.

I think he is a natural.
O was very excited to play with Grandpa. He would yell whenever Grandpa came into the room.
My little daredevil...

We also had fun swimming at Aunt Jenn's friend's pool. I had a video I will get posted soon. He definitely loves the water. I think he would have swam right out of my arms if I let him.
We played with Grandma and Katelyn and Jenna at the park. He is a great driver.

Getting chased by his cousins in the tunnel:

Here he is on the other side of the bubble!
We both had a nice relaxing time. We are looking forward to the next visit.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T21:09:00.002-04:00

What a face!We had a nice visit with Nan and Pop this weekend. We spent the day on Saturday at a beautiful winery near their house. There was live music, O had a great time dancing and we enjoyed the beautiful weather and wine.

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day celebration.

Reader

2011-06-16T21:32:00.003-04:00

O has been really into books lately. He mostly likes to bring them to Tom or I and sit in our lap to look at them, but sometimes he just looks by himself.

We are off to NJ for a quick visit tomorrow - then Tuesday is my last day of work at DHS!

Funny Faces

2011-06-13T21:02:00.004-04:00

We had fun playing at the park this evening after dinner. O is getting good at climbing around, and the bigger boys tearing around the playground gave us a glimpse of our not-so-distant future. He really likes looking out through the plastic bubble:

In fact, he was having lots of fun looking at Mama through the bubble!

I love his little profile...

My week away went fine, O had tons of fun with Nan and Dad, and he was very happy to see me when I got home. We had a nice quiet weekend at home hiding away from the heat. The weather has broken and we have a week of weather in the low 80s in front of us, we are going to take advantage of it before the 95+ weather sets in for good!

Dancing Man

2011-06-06T07:42:00.003-04:00

O love music and loves to dance. Lately he has been going over to the speaker to hold on and dance when we put music on.

Yesterday we spent the day at the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts for the Louisiana Swamp Romp. We had a great time, it was a beautiful day and there was ample shade to keep the little man cool.

I am heading out for a three night work trip today. I sure will miss the little guy!

Playgrounds and Pools

2011-06-01T21:01:00.005-04:00

A video of O sliding at a playground in California. I am very excited that he is doing the sign for "more" now. I think it is too cute!

And here he is in the pool on Monday:

Is Vacation Over?

2011-05-31T20:45:00.013-04:00

We had a wonderful time in Northern California. A nice vacation away from it all was exactly what we needed. We spent one night in San Francisco when we landed and then headed out to the Point Reyes National Seashore, where we staying in a little cottage on a beautiful piece of land overlooking Tomales Bay and spent our days hiking and relaxing. All three of us had a great time. The trip is well photo-documented, so standby for lots of pictures.

After we landed on Friday, we walked around in the city for a bit, visited the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and enjoyed the sunshine near a water fountain.

On Saturday, we were up early thanks to the time zone changes and headed out to take in some of the city before heading north. O loves the backpack, and started the day out chipper and excited.We rode the cable car down to the water and did some walking at the waterfront. O got to see Alcatraz (from San Fran).

He seemed to like riding the cable car:
Here is Tom and O at Pier 39 watching the sea lions.
By the end of the morning, he was just plain tuckered out and ready to get in the car and get away from the noisy city.
Sunday was David and Elizabeth's wedding. The ceremony was very nice and O had a great time dancing at the reception.
Our first hiking adventure on Monday took us out to Chimney Rock on Point Reyes. It was a great hike, but very windy. I don't think O appreciated the wind much, but we had him very well bundled.
The wildflowers are in bloom now, and there was quite the variety to enjoy.
On the way back to the car, we made a side trip to a historic lifeboat station. Unfortunately, it was not open, but we did peak in the windows at the boat inside and enjoyed the break from the wind. The area is also very near an elephant seal breeding ground, so we got to see some elephant seals up close. As you can see, O was very impressed.
Unfortunately, the steps down to the Point Reyes Lighthouse were closed due to high winds. As you can see from the whitecaps, it was very, very windy out there.

On Tuesday, we got a later start, because somebody took a long morning nap...Once he woke up, we headed out to hike in the Tulle Elk Reserve on Tomales Point. It was beautiful, and we saw a herd of elk. O was yelling at them and all of the elk were looking at us!

The trailhead for McClure's beach on the ocean side of the point. Here is proof that I wear the kiddo sometimes too:
He really liked the beach. Of course, he also really liked putting sand in his mouth so we had to watch that.

On Wednesday, it was raining in the morning, so we headed out to Sonoma to sample some wine and cheese. We had a very nice day. The highlight was our visit back to the Benziger Winery which we visited 10 years ago back when Tom was courting me with a whirlwind tour of San Francisco and the surrounding area. Here is the little guy, getting an appreciation for the "terrior".
We ventured out on a short hike in a State Park on the Point on Thursday. Instead of exploring the drive-up beach, we did a one mile nature walk to "Indian Beach". The trail was marked with interesting facts about the medicinal and nutritional benefits of various native plants. The beach is on the bay and boasts quite the view.

There were two replica Meewok Indian teepees at the beach. O was very interested in exploring...

Our last little jaunt on Friday before we left the area was to do the easy "Earthquake Trail" from the National Park visitor's center. The trail has signs that explain earthquakes and some features from the big one in 1906. The fence in this picture was in one piece before the earthquake shifted the ground 30 feet. Even though this area was quite far from the epicenter, some of the worst damage and biggest movement was recorded at the farms around Point Reyes.
O made a great friend on our long flight home. The flight attendant just loved him, she took him up to the cockpit before we took off and then to keep him busy during the flight, she strapped him in her jump seat and played with the phone. He was actually really good on all four flights - I don't think we could have asked for better behavior from a 13 month old.

We arrived back to 90+ degree weather in D.C. Welcome to summer. The weekend was nice and relaxing before heading back to work today. We took O to the pool on Monday to try and beat the heat. I will post a video of him splashing around soon.

Blocks

2011-05-19T12:20:00.005-04:00

A short video of Baby-O playing with blocks:

And, walking across the kitchen, notice his amazing new ability to regain balance:

Mid week fun

2011-05-13T15:56:00.004-04:00

Just some fun shots of the little man chattering and having fun.

"Dodododo"

"Ahhhh!"

An action shot - blurry, but fun!

He is walking more and more as his primary means of getting from place to place. His balance seems to get better every day.

Beautiful Day

2011-05-07T21:48:00.005-04:00

It was supposed to rain today but it was gorgeous out all day - hopefully that holds until tomorrow. We spent the afternoon enjoying the lovely weather on the patio.

One of Baby-O's favorite games is to steal hats to war for himself. And to play peek-a-boo with too.

This outfit came from Uncle Chris and Aunt Peggy - it is getting a little small, but it fits (sort of) for now.

This was his reaction when I walked away from taking the pictures through the fence...

"Just checking to see if you are looking, Mom."

Walking!

2011-05-04T21:20:00.004-04:00

The little man has been taking a few steps since a few days after his birthday. Lately he has been getting better and better. He has started walking to things other than Tom or I. He gets so excited about walking, it is very cute.

Some more from fun in the garden yesterday:

Perched

2011-05-02T21:05:00.006-04:00

We made a short trip to New Jersey this weekend to see Tom's Pop Pop (and Nan and Pop, of course). We had a nice little visit and Baby-O got a good view from up high.

It seems that I am not taking as many pictures as usual lately - I think I am too busy playing with the little guy to stop and get photos.

I did get this little video clip the other day - as usual, it is a little shaky. He loves putting blocks in and out of the oatmeal container. The video is actually up now - sorry for those who checked and it was not here.

2011-04-24T20:45:00.003-04:00

We had a nice Easter today. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining and Baby-O was smiling!

We had brunch at home this morning and then went for a walk and lounged in the park for a while. The little man was not quite sure about the grass at first, but he came around to it.

A few shots from earlier in the week with his lion pillow from Grandma. He loves to tackle and hug the lion - it is pretty cute!

Of course, once he sees the camera he comes right for me.

Big Day!

2011-04-10T19:06:00.003-04:00

We had Baby-O's first birthday party yesterday. It was a big success - thanks to lots of help from family!

Happy Birthday!

2011-04-07T20:14:00.003-04:00

Wow - it has been a whole year - it is hard to believe! Baby-O has grown so much and our lives have changed so much, and I would not trade it for anything.

Here he is a year ago...

And today...

Two Sundays

2011-04-03T19:48:00.003-04:00

April 4th, 2010

April 3rd, 2011

Baby-O and I ventured down to the Tidal Basin for the Cherry Blossoms today. I wanted to go because Tom and I spent the morning down there the Sunday before he was born last year. The lesson of today: don't go the Tidal Basin on the only nice weekend day during the Cherry Blossom Festival. There were so many people, it was insane! But, I got my picture - so it was worth it.

Opening Day

2011-03-31T21:18:00.002-04:00

Tom and I went to opening day at Nationals Park today. They played (and lost to) the Braves in beautiful 40 degree and rainy weather. We actually stayed for most of the game - the little man was in daycare. Today was his last day at the Bolling daycare - he will miss his caregivers there and I know they will miss him too. He is starting at Coast Guard Headquarters tomorrow - Tom will be able to go down and see him during the day now, and I will be able to when I transfer there July.

Funny Boys in Matching Hats

2011-03-30T20:22:00.002-04:00

Click Clack Alligators

2011-03-28T21:23:00.005-04:00

Baby-O's new favorite thing is his walker. If he keeps it lined up right, he goes all the way across the house and when he gets to the end he turns around with one arm up in the air as if to say, "Come over here and turn me around!". He is such a cutie!

More Visitors

2011-03-24T20:11:00.005-04:00

Baby-O sure is popular. Grandma and Grandpa left on Wednesday and Nan and her friend Cindy came to visit on Sunday:

We had a nice time with them, and our little man is getting used to having extra people around.

I think Nan enjoyed it too...

We recently learned that it makes different noises if you cover your mouth with your hand while yelling. It is pretty cute to see him do it, even if he does have beets all over his face:

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa.

2011-03-18T21:37:00.003-04:00

Baby-O had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa. Here he is playing with Grandma:
How big is Olin? He is soooo Big! He has started putting his arms up just to get us to say Sooo Big!
He loves hanging out with Grandpa.

Big hug...

He has been a great time walking back and forth across the house with his walker.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T19:03:00.002-04:00

From our Little Leprechaun to you...

Pictures with Grandma and Grandpa coming soon!

Anybody Want a Hug?

2011-03-14T22:14:00.005-04:00

Baby-O is a great eater - usually more of it makes it into his mouth than this...

We are having a great time here with Grandma and Grampa! Baby-O took right to them and is a big fan. I need to get some shot of him with them. For now, here are a few very cute shots from this afternoon after school while we were waiting for the sight-seers to return home.

Babies and Boxes

2011-03-09T20:29:00.003-05:00

What is it about empty boxes that attracts babies and cats? Baby - O loves to play and beat on empty boxes and Sylvester loves to crawl in and hide from the world!

Here is Baby-O playing with Dad and some boxes:

The kitty cat and Baby-O love to play in the boxes together and to "fight" over who gets which box. It is pretty funny, even when there are two boxes they both want the same one.

The bouncy seat saw the end of its service life quite a while ago, but Baby-O still seems very interested in his good old woodland friends.

2011-03-02T21:34:00.002-05:00

Baby-O made the trip across the room to Mom a few times before I got the camera out, so he was starting to get tired. Still, he is doing pretty well on two feet!

Climber

2011-02-26T20:55:00.003-05:00

This is Baby-O's new thing. When I am in the kitchen, he crawls over and pulls himself up to stand and hold onto my legs. It is a very cute habit! Cute, and rather immobilizing for me...

but, with a face like this, how can I resist?

Baby Proof

2011-02-21T20:25:00.002-05:00

We set out to spend the long weekend baby-proofing since the little guy is very mobile now, and likes to find things to point out to us just how woefully not baby proof our house is (was). So, instead of just picking things up and putting things away, we decided to rearrange the entire downstairs. Now, our sun room is the new dining room, the old dining room is the new living room and the old living room has the sun room furniture. We actually really like it. It is hard to believe, but we never really finished moving in to this house - probably because we thought we might not be here long. We recently found out that we will be in the D.C. until summer 2012, so it was time to really finish the process of making a place we want to be in!

We will be in DC because neither of us were selected for the teaching jobs at CGA. We are both sad and disappointed, but we do like it here and now we don't have to worry about being apart for a year or more.

Here is Baby-O having dinner with Sylvester in the new dining room...

He laughs so easily, especially at Tom, who was making surprised faces at him in this picture.
Although he does not feed himself with a spoon yet, we do let him hold one during his meals. He mostly puts the right end in his mouth. Actually, I think he turns it around sometimes because the cool metal feels good on his gums.

The lack of updates last week was due to baby sickness. His eyes were really red and gunky, so we took him to the doctor and it turned out he had ear infections. He is feeling much better now.

Will You Be My Valentine?

2011-02-14T20:09:00.005-05:00

This is Baby-O with one of his two girlfriends at school. The other lucky girl was not in school today

Some action shots of playing at daycare.

A better look at his snazzy Valentine's Day duds

Happy Valentine's Everyone!! Hugs and Kisses to all!
.

Overalls

2011-02-13T22:06:00.003-05:00

It should be illegal to be this cute from the back...

He loves to stand next to this cabinet, I think it is the inlaid pattern in the wood that he likes to look at.

We had a quiet weekend here - back to the grind tomorrow.

What's So Funny?

2011-02-09T21:30:00.003-05:00

Special Delivery

2011-02-07T19:37:00.005-05:00

Did someone send a package to D.C.? A box arrived today with a surprising occupant...

Baby-O was quite happy in the box! He hung out in there more than once today...

I think Sylvester is jealous - he usually has first dibs at hiding in empty boxes.

Mini Vacation

2011-02-05T19:55:00.007-05:00

Since the blizzard in the Midwest spoiled our travel plans to Oregon, we went on a mini vacation adventure closer to home. Tom and I both felt in need of a little get away, and the trip we took to Bedford, PA to stay at the Bedford Springs Resort was just perfect (and the great deal we got made it even better). The resort is a beautiful old hotel which was recently renovated. We had a nice relaxing time lounging on the big bed...

Hiking to the springs...

Swimming in one of the first indoor pools in the U.S.

The hotel had big open spaces and long hallways for the little guy to crawl around in. He had a great time exploring and tiring himself out! Sometimes he was able to hitch a ride, I just love the way his little hand is stretched out on Tom's arm...

Tomorrow we are getting visitors - Nan and Pop are taking advantage of our unplanned weekend home to come see Baby-O. We will probably watch the Super Bowl tomorrow. Go Steelers! Go Packers! I have no compelling reason to cheer for one team or the other, so I will probably cheer for whichever team is losing.

Strong Little Man

2011-02-01T22:38:00.002-05:00

Little Shopper

2011-01-29T20:03:00.002-05:00

Baby-O browsing in the L.L. Bean catalog.

Silly boy.

He can now pull himself to standing up on just about anything. Pretty soon, I think this walker is going to be motoring through the house.

Earlier this evening he pulled himself up an empty box which did not quite have the stability he was expecting. Tom and I looked over to see him and the box tumbling over - no tears, just a look of confusion and then he tried the same thing again!

Making Music

2011-01-27T20:19:00.004-05:00

Baby-O having fun shaking it up with Dad...

Poor guy is plagued by paparazzi. Please, no pictures...

The Best Medicine

2011-01-25T19:24:00.004-05:00

The sound of Baby-O laughing is a good treatment at the end of a long day...

Yes, technically he is playing with garbage, but it is clean garbage!

Oh Boy!

2011-01-22T22:04:00.004-05:00

First crawling and now this..
That belly just kills me!!

He actually moved a few steps along the couch by himself, and pulled himself up to standing at the couch. Now we are really in trouble around here!

Baby-O has started waving almost anytime someone says bye bye. It is very cute. Of course, everything he does is very cute.

I shocked Tom on Thursday by announcing that I wanted to go out to dinner and invite friends to go with us on Friday night. I am generally cautious about taking the little man out to a restaurant at night, but it is restaurant week in DC, so I thought it would be good to get out. He was so good. He ate his dinner very well and then just sat and played and looked around while we ate. Yes, I did have to pick his book up from the floor 50 times, but the people next to us did not have their meal disturbed and we all had a great time.

We are having a lazy, easy weekend here. The most exciting part of my Saturday was using my new vacuum cleaner again. Well, that and playing with my charming baby all day.

Here he is making his way across the room. The disturbing noise is him clacking and grinding his teeth together. It drives me crazy, but the doctor assured me it is normal behavior and nothing to worry about yet.

Growing Boy

2011-01-20T20:25:00.004-05:00

Baby-O had his 9 month checkup at the Pediatrician today. The official stats: 22 lbs 12 oz (44th percentile), 28.25 inches (77th percentile), 48cm head circumference (97th percentile). I measured my head to compare - my head is 55 cm.

He is doing great - meeting or ahead of all of the expected milestones - clearly he is brilliant.

The crawling continues - he gets better and better at it actually. The water soaking his shirt is the result of poorly supervised sippy cup usage....

Proof of his brilliance:

Moving Forward

2011-01-17T20:52:00.007-05:00

Baby-O is on the move! He started on Friday taking one or two "crawl steps" forward at a time. Today, he is moving to reach what he wants. It is exciting!

Sorry to have been off-line for a bit. We traveled down to Williamsburg for work last weekend and spent my birthday with the Meuses. Katie made me a delicious dinner and cake, and our friend Nora came up from Norfolk to see us too.

The Meuses found out that they are moving to New Orleans this summer. So, after a couple of tours in Virginia it is on to new adventures further south.

Baby-O was sick last week with an ear infection, very sad, sick baby. No pictures of the little sicky. As you can see, he is in much better spirits:

We are doing well here in DC, we are expecting some winter weather tonight, maybe work will be delayed!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T21:24:00.008-05:00

We had a very nice Christmas and New Years. We traveled to see family, spent the whole week away from home, played with Nan and Pop, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Jimmy, Katelyn and Jenna. It was relaxing and fun.

Our first stop was in NJ - Here is Baby-O (the champion traveler) at Nan's work. He did not mind wearing the antlers at all, and not surprisingly, he was a big hit!

Opening gifts with Nan and Pop:

Merry Christmas - Baby-O and Santa-Claus (also known as Grandpa). I think Grandpa makes a great Santa!

Santa-Grandpa with three reindeer...

Christmas morning with a new favorite toy:

Loving on Aunt Jennifer:

Starting early with a love of reading!

In other news - Baby-O pulled himself up to standing on the low benches at daycare today. AND he got one more tooth today!

The White House

2010-12-20T21:11:00.007-05:00

Tom and I visited the White House today and did a self-guided tour of the East Wing of the Residence. We were able to go because Tom was nominated by his boss for the slot - it was nice, I thought it would be a smaller group, but there were a lot of people. Christmas is the only time you are allowed to bring a camera in. I got some good pictures, although not as many as I would have liked because the lighting was sort of difficult. I also thought that I would not be allowed to have my camera bag, so I took the small camera instead of my nice camera. I did get some good shots though, and here are some to share...

This first tree was dedicated to the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. There were table with postcards that visitors could fill our to be mailed overseas from the White House.

There were many beautiful decorations, but I think my favorite things were these amazing wreaths along the entrance hallway. They are really beautiful, made of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
This one is made of artichokes....
I may go rummage through the White House trash after Christmas to see if I can take one home...

Christmas Is Coming..

2010-12-19T22:12:00.003-05:00

We are getting into the holiday spirit here! We put up the tree this weekend, got some shopping done, decorated the house, and Baby-O got an early, Smurfy Christmas present in the mail (he had permission to open it early).

After posing nice for a few shots, he decided to show that Smurf who's the boss...

I did not get to baking this weekend, but hopefully tomorrow night I will get a little bit done. It won't feel like Christmas if I don't do any baking.

Tomorrow we are going on our White House tour! I am very excited to see the White House decorated for Christmas, especially since I missed my opportunity to go to the National Tree Lighting ceremony. My friend had extra tickets, but it was too cold for the little guy, so we stayed home.

The Waiting Game

2010-12-15T22:20:00.003-05:00

My trip to New London went well this week, and Tom's went well last week. We both feel really good about our interviews and teaching demos. So now we wait for the decisions to come down. The estimated timeline is that we should know by the middle of February. It takes a little while because the decision has to be approved by Congress.

One More Thing...

2010-12-05T14:13:00.002-05:00

I forgot to mention yesterday that Baby-O sprouted his two top teeth on Thursday. Teeth total: 4 (and more on the way)!

On the Move

2010-12-04T20:40:00.006-05:00

Baby-O is not quite crawling yet, but he does manage to get around. He rolls and scoots his way towards toys, the cat, me and Dad. Here is a sequence of his skills:

We are having a pretty quiet weekend here. Tom has his interview in CT on Thursday so he is busy preparing for the teaching demo and interview. My visit is next Tuesday, so I have a bit more time, but still need to get to work on my preparations. We have decided that I will travel to New London alone... that will be my first separation from Baby-O, but it seems to make more sense than hauling him up there, especially since we will be traveling for the holidays soon.

I need to get cracking on Christmas shopping too! No home-made pasta this year, too many other competing priorities.

Good News

2010-11-29T21:45:00.002-05:00

Tom and I both found out today that we were selected to advance to Phase 2 of the PCTS selection process for teaching at the Academy. We will both be making trips to CT for the on-site interview and teaching demo in a few weeks. We will keep everyone posted!

Gobble Gobble

2010-11-26T17:28:00.007-05:00

We had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday. Our guests enjoyed the day and left stuffed full of good food. I have to say that all of the work was worth it. I did think of Mom though, when it seemed like less than 20 minutes after we sat down, we were all done eating. She always commented on how quickly the meal goes after so many hours of preparation. I enjoyed the excuse to spend so much time in the kitchen, and all of my chopping and prepping on Wed did pay off yesterday; my morning was not crazy and I was able to enjoy the cooking part with all of the chopping and measuring done already.

Baby-O was looking particularly cute in Thanksgiving outfit #1.

Here are a few shots from dinner time.

The table before:

The spread:

The fam:
After dinner we walked off some of the calories with a trip down to the National Botanical Gardens. The Christmas display opened yesterday. There is an artist who does replicas of all of the buildings and monuments on the National Mall out of all natural plant materials in addition to a great train display. Here is Baby-O sleeping at the "White House":

And, Thanksgiving outfit #2:

Can you believe this?

Thanksgiving Preps

2010-11-24T21:25:00.004-05:00

I spent a good part of the day today doing preps for dinner tomorrow. Hopefully, that will save me the craziness in the morning and set me up for an enjoyable cooking experience. That is the plan, at least.

We also went for a nice walk down around the Tidal Basin and visited the Jefferson Monument, the FDR Memorial, the Lincoln Monument, the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam Wall and the WWII Memorial. That sounds like a lot, but they are all fairly close and it was a gorgeous day today. The bonus of the day was that DC clears out at Thanksgiving, so there were barely any people around - just the way I like it.

We will be hosting dinner tomorrow for Mark and Marian, and our friends Kristen and Becca.

Here are some photos from today:

It is hard to capture the people and the monument sometimes, here are Tom and his Mom and Dad at the Jefferson:
Our little family with the Tidal Basin and Washington Monument in the background:
The Lincoln Monument - Can you see Mr. Lincoln?
Here is he is - and he is HUGE! The Lincoln is very impressive:
Mark and Marian in front of the Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument:

I did not take any photos at the others, but they are all impressive. The war memorials are very moving, as well.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I will get some Thanksgiving pictures of our little turkey up tomorrow!

More weekend fun...

2010-11-21T19:08:00.003-05:00

Before we get to the weekend adventures, I feel compelled to share these pictures from the other night. I like to call him Mini-Tom!

On Saturday we met Marcus and Bea, our neighbors from Guam, and their two kids for a nice walk in at a wetland meadow just south of Alexandria. It was a beautiful day, and as usual, Baby-O loved spending time outside.

We are gearing up for Thanksgiving here, looking forward to the visit from Nan and Pop.

First Report Card!

2010-11-17T18:25:00.005-05:00

We had Baby-O's first ever parent-teacher conference on Monday. The daycare observes the babies in different areas, the ladies keep notes and then have a meeting once a year to inform the parents of what they observe while the babies are with them. So, our little guy is doing great! He is right on track with is developmental milestones and is a very social baby who loves to play with the other children and recognizes his regular caregivers. Of course, all of that social adeptness also means he is too interested in what is going on to take good naps at daycare...

Even though we think he is doing great, and the doctor assured me he is right on track, it is also nice to hear it from the "pros". Miss Sandra, his lead caregiver, has lots of experience with babies so it is good to know she thinks he is doing great too!

Great Day at Great Falls

2010-11-14T21:20:00.004-05:00

What a lovely weekend! The weather here was perfect - low 60's, sunny and clear. We spent the day today walking at Great Falls Park.

Too cute!

2010-11-07T18:02:00.009-05:00

This photo is almost a month old now, but too cute to pass up on sharing!The video is also about three weeks old, but also a cute one - I call this the la-la song...

Marcy and Baby-O sitting on the porch waiting for Trick-or-Treaters!

Yesterday, hanging out in the exersaucer - he really likes to play in it...

And, just for fun, a little comparison.

Tummy time in June:

Tummy time now:

He is growing so fast!

Happy Halloween!!

2010-10-30T14:51:00.002-04:00

Baby-O in the pumpkin patch!

Thanks for the costume Grandma!

2010-10-28T21:34:00.003-04:00

Some random pictures from the past few weeks, mostly of Baby-O, but here is one of Tom and I on our 6th Anniversary earlier this month. We had a very nice dinner out.

Yummy - carrots and green beans!

We were so busy with the visit last weekend, I did not seem to get any photos. Baby-O had fun with his Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Jennifer and cousins Katelyn and Jenna though!

Sick Momma, Sick Baby

2010-10-21T19:08:00.002-04:00

Hello all - I have been sick. I was completely down for the count from Friday night until Tuesday, and still not feeling great today. Unfortunately, Baby-O is now also sick.... poor baby. Just wanted to let everyone know we are still here, just trying to get those applications turned out and get better!

Teeth!

2010-10-15T18:39:00.002-04:00

Yes, teeth - not tooth! Baby-O was sitting on my lap gumming my hand this evening, when I felt a tooth. On closer inspection there are two tiny bottom teeth just poking through the gums... I think we just figured out the recent cranky mood swings! My baby is growing so fast.

Music Making

2010-10-11T17:02:00.004-04:00

We had a nice weekend; I plan to post some pictures later on tonight, but for now, enjoy Tom and Baby-O making music together.

New Car

2010-10-07T17:58:00.003-04:00

Life is busy here! We bought a new car over the weekend - that took up quite a bit of our time unfortunately, but we did squeeze in an evening wedding on Saturday and a lovely afternoon with friends on Sunday. The weekend was so busy in fact, that I did not even pick up my camera.

So, the new car: it is a 2010 Subaru Forester (sage green). It is Baby-O's car, really, but he is letting me drive it for 16 years before he gets it.

Funny story, the car was ready for pick up on Tuesday. Tom and I left work at lunchtime and headed back to Rockville, MD for the third time in four days to pick it up. I got back to work at around 2:00 pm, parked between two MINI Coopers at the hotel where I pay a monthly fee, and walked to my office. Fast forward to 4:00 pm when I departed my horrible little cubicle to go get my darling baby boy from daycare. I was all happy and excited as I walked to the parking lot to get into my brand new (35 miles on the odometer) car and go enjoy the best part of my day! I was excited until I got to the parking lot, and stood in an empty parking space between the same two MINI Coopers. Yes, an EMPTY parking space where my nice new car should have been. After freaking out, calling Tom to tell him that our brand new car was stolen, frantically walking around the lot to see if I had actually parked in another spot (which I knew I didn't) and calming down with Tom's rational assistance, I walked into the hotel lobby where the desk clerk informed me that the car had been towed. Yes, the brand new car was towed because I forgot to put the parking pass in the windshield, which I could have sworn I actually remembered doing. So, the hotel gave me a ride to the towed vehicle lot, where I confirmed that I had NOT, in fact, placed the pass in the windshield. $115.00 later I was on my way to the daycare. Not everyone can say they got towed on the day they picked up their new car, but now I can!

That was a long story. In other exciting news, late last week the solicitation was posted for Permanent Commissioned Teaching Staff positions in Oceanography and English at the Coast Guard Academy. We have both been busy getting our application packages together. Those are due on 22 October! Tom and I are both very excited to have the opportunity to compete and would both love to go back there to teach. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Finally, today is Tom's 36'th Birthday and Baby-O's six-month Birthday. I honestly have no idea where the past six months have gone. I don't know how my baby boy has gotten so big that he sits on his own and plays with his friends at school and eats cereal. Tonight he is going to get sweet potato for the first time. He does not think much of the cereal, but I have a feeling the sweet potato will be a different story.

First Baseball Game

2010-09-28T21:15:00.004-04:00

Baby-O sure does get out a lot! He went to his first professional baseball game on Sunday with great seats along the first base line. I was nervous about foul balls, but none came our way and we were very attentive to the batter.

We had a perfect day as far as weather goes, and he was a very good baby. He loves to look around and take everything in, so he kept himself very busy until he fell asleep right in the middle of the game!

He woke up just in time for the Seventh Inning Stretch and got to enjoy seeing the Nats win a home game against the Braves. We all had a nice time.

He is doing very well with sitting up - he can sit unassisted for at least a good minute or more now. He is getting stronger every day!

2010-09-26T20:10:00.002-04:00

Baby-O had his first cereal meal this week. I am not sure if likes it - you can be the judge...

Nan and Pop came to visit and go to a National's game today. I will post pictures tomorrow, we had fun; it was a perfect day AND the National beat the Braves.

Pictures

2010-09-20T21:29:00.009-04:00

More pictures from the end of last week and the weekend. Baby-O is definitely teething - I think we may see some new teeth soon, he sure likes to chew on everything that comes his way...

Robin and Baby-O playing on the floor; they are great friends already.

Big guy sitting up in the high-chair...
On Sunday I pulled out an outfit that I thought we still had months before he would fit into, seeing that it is a 9 month size. I was wrong, and it is a good thing I put it on him!

We tired him out so much with all of the picture taking that Baby-O fell asleep guarding the lighthouse...

Sleeping on duty....hehehe

Big Weekend

2010-09-19T21:35:00.002-04:00

We visited Williamsburg at the end of the week last week, and we had a great time. Baby-O did lots of new things, including...

sitting up!!!

OK, it was only for a few seconds at a time, but he did it on his own!

I have a lot more pictures from the weekend, I will get them posted tomorrow or Tuesday - just wanted to share the news.

Bubbles

2010-09-15T13:16:00.004-04:00

This video is from about two weeks ago, but I could not find the cord for this camera until today. Can you believe it was actually put away where it belongs?? The nerve.

Anyway - here he is; and this outfit does not fit anymore. He is the Incredible Hulk Baby is some of his clothes!

We are off to Williamsburg this afternoon. I have a work speaking engagement Thursday and we are going to spend a couple of days with the Meuses! We are all excited - especially Baby-O. He has not seen the Meuses since he was a two month old cry-baby. Now he is all grown up and fun to be with!

He was doing the funniest thing with his mouth last night. He looked like a ventriloquist dummy, but I knew if I ran to get the camera he would stop. Hopefully I will catch it on film one of these days, it was really funny.

Mushrooms

2010-09-12T20:55:00.004-04:00

This weekend we had a family adventure to the Mushroom Festival in Kennett Square, PA. Kennett Square is the self-proclaimed "Mushroom Capitol of the World". The area around the town provides greater than 50% of the mushrooms sold in the U.S.

We saw some very cute mushrooms:

Kristen went to the festival last year, and has been talking it up since. We met her and Gary there. Baby-O was very interested in her mushroom ice cream...

And, yes, I did mean mushroom ice cream. They had two flavors: Cream of Mushroom and Pumpkin Mushroom. Tom tried a scoop of each - I had peppermint chip. The mushroom wasn't bad, but I was happy with my decision.

Baby-O had fun with the mushrooms! Tom and I did too - we ate lots of delicious mushroom dishes and got to see a new place.

We have also found a new use for the clothes Baby-O is outgrowing at record pace....

cat torture!

Speaking of growing at a record pace, we took the baby to the doctor on Friday for his cold (he is fine, we just wanted to be sure). He now weighs in at a whopping 16lbs 14oz. That is four pounds in just one month. He really is growing like crazy!

A New Record

2010-09-09T09:29:00.001-04:00

I am afraid to even announce this - but it is just so exciting: Baby-O slept from 8pm until 5am last night! A fluke or a new habit???

Big Boy

2010-09-06T20:44:00.002-04:00

We had a busy weekend with lots of friends stopping by to visit. Baby-O was a really good boy all weekend - he is getting so big! Today he grabbed and held onto an orange juice bottle with both hands, and he has stated grabbing for the things he wants and pulling them to him. He is still changing every day.

Weekend Visitors

2010-08-29T18:33:00.004-04:00

Nan and Pop visited this weekend, we had a good time. They got to see one of Baby-O's favorite new passtimes - standing up!
And we played with finger puppets...

He sure is getting big. In the past few weeks Baby-O has really filled out, he just keeps on growing and growing.

Just for Fun

2010-08-25T20:04:00.001-04:00

Playing on the floor..

He loves the mirror!