Day 127: Rock Star Baby

This kid is a rockstar.  We were out and about all day, running around from place to place all over the state (well, the central part at least), and she really did not get her normal naps in.  She just worked through it, even though she was obviously tired.


Late in the day, we went to visit friends and spread some cheer.  I was worried about how she would do, given the nap situation, but she was outstanding.  Hanging out, showing off her skills, rolling around, and even pulled out a few tricks, like pulling off her sock.  


I think she's really starting to get those top two teeth in.  Every chance she gets, it is fingers in her mouth (or socks, in this case).  I have a feeling her smiles are going to get cuter!

Day 126: Botanical Garden Day

Today was National Public Gardens Day, and since I was able to score one of the free admission tickets, I planned a garden outing for the babes and myself.  There were a few options available to us; I chose Tudor Place, located in Georgetown, one of my favorite areas of Washington DC.  


Tudor Place was built by Martha Washington's granddaughter, Martha Custis Peter, and her husband, Thomas Peter.  In 1805, Thomas Peter purchased the land comprising of a city lot in Georgetown Heights with an $8,000 legacy from his wife's step-grandfather, George Washington (I'd like to see what return they got on that investment - homes in that area are extremely valuable), and Dr. William Thornton, the architect of the US Capitol, designed the home.  The home was completed in 1816 and remained under the ownership of six succeeding generations of the Peter family until 1983.  It's amazing to think that this place has witnessed so much history and change in Washington DC and the country, and I have to imagine that with such a prestigious family, some pretty impressive people must have graced its halls.  Unfortunately, I did not purchase the extra ticket for the tour of the home, as I did not want to test Michal's endurance in close quarters.        

 A view of the front of Tudor Place.  The front lawn faces south and contained a wide expanse of grass, with a few tulip trees at the far end.  We did not venture that far, so I took their word for it.

One thing that surprised me about the garden was how green it was.  I guess I assumed there would be wild bursts of colorful flowers, but the flowers were few and far between. Michal did love reaching out and demolishing investigating the textures of the various leaves and flower petals.  She did get a little too friendly with a red rose.  She's quick; I had to remove a few petals that were swiftly making their way to her mouth.

 It wasn't so easy getting her to look at me for the pictures - there were so many more interesting things around us!  Grass blades, other people, a fountain (the object of her gaze in this picture)... she is so inquisitive and observant of all things, big or small.

 A view of the back of Tudor Place, with the flower knot garden in front of us.  You can get a sense both of the proportion and verdancy* of the garden.

 Ha! We've seen more of that little pointy tongue lately.  She's hilarious.  At one point this afternoon, I swore she was imitating the dog, whose tongue was lolling out of his mouth.

Oh the shoe drama.  We came into this adorable pair of shoes, just a tad too big for her feet (she clearly has not fully inherited my boats).  They work perfectly for the summer and go with pretty much every outfit.  She is constantly fiddling with them.  She is able to wiggle her toes out so that the shoe is hanging only from the ankle strap.  And apparently she now knows how to pull it off.  I have a sense we will not have a complete set for very long.


* I slaved over this word.  I love the word verdancy, but it feels rather arcane.  However, no synonyms truly fit this garden, so there you go: verdancy - the state of being verdant, green with vegetation, covered with green growth.

Day 125: Standing!

Michal is getting much more comfortable with standing, and she can do it for a good amount of time when she has a support.  There were multiple times today where she only needed one hand to stabilize herself against a toy or me, and there was even a brief period today where she was able to stand, without any support, for a few seconds.  Very exciting!  It's this type of progress that totally alleviates any worry I might have over her seeming lack of desire to MOVE, and I wouldn't be surprised if she just skipped crawling and starting walking*.  Then again, maybe she'll crawl tomorrow - who knows.  She is just a content kid.  If a toy she is interested is out of reach, well, there must be another toy somewhere.   

I can't help it - I love her fluffy,  Ooga Booga butt!  

You can definitely see here, she's really stable when standing!

She is freaking hilarious.  This is her huge smile.  She seems to think that if she opens her mouth REALLY wide, this connotes extreme happiness.  Hilarious. 

Another funny face.  She was in a hilarious mood this afternoon.  You wouldn't think she was cutting two (potentially four) teeth!

* Apparently Josh skipped crawling and went straight to walking.  Maybe she'll be just like her daddy!

Day 124: Drama

I hate putting Michal down for naps.  She is typically a good sleeper, especially at night, and even when she naps, she routinely sleeps for an hour to an hour and a half.  So, why, you might ask, do I hate putting her down for naps?

That is why.  She eventually comes around and realizes that we know what we're doing and she really needs/wants a nap.  But those first few minutes in her crib?  The cries just break my heart.  She will cry for a bit, then flip over onto her stomach, and then silence.  Asleep.

Day 123: 1 Luftballoon

During this crazy amazing project of taking at least one photograph every day for 365 consecutive days, and then trying to string some sort of narrative thread through that collection, it is inevitable that there are days when the theme of the day is not readily apparent.  Today was one of those days.  In order to avoid the last minute dinner/bath/bedtime snapshot, I took pictures throughout the day of Michal and her cuteness.  Pictures of her playing with toys, pictures of her feet in cute new shoes that she refuses to allow to remain ON her foot (that might crop up in a future day's posting), pictures of her playing with my co-worker's four year old son, staring up at him as if he is GOD.  Any of those would have made a fine post, but they are everyday occurrences and best saved for a day when a post topic is elusive. 

I work late on Tuesday evenings, so Josh picked up the baby from my work, where she spent a few hours) and took her home, stopping to grab pizza on the way.  Apparently this pizza joint is prepared for the arrival of small children, as Michal left with not only a cookie (I think Josh ate that) and..... 

 A BALLOON!!!

 Apparently the balloon was a HUGE hit - who knew!  Apparently she would not let go of it, pumping her arm up and down to make the yellow orb bounce and dance in the air.  

I'm not sure which she thought was more awesome - the balloon or the string.  She does love to inspect the small details around her (the fibers in the carpet, the zipper on my jacket), and I can see her playing with the end of the string instead of staring at the balloon.  Josh (the iPhone photographer today) says that she played with the balloon for a long while once they got home.  Although at one point she let go.  And didn't realize she needed to look up.  So much to learn and discover!  

Day 122: Cranky Pants

I do not know what is in the water lately*, but boy do we have a cranky pants on our hands!  In any case, it did yield for us a decent number of funny pictures today, the highlights of which I treat you to tonight.  

I have no idea what was going on in this picture, except it was one of the few shots I was able to get with the phone that didn't include her hand coming at the screen, batting away the offending device.

 I think she meant to be happy and smiling here... it just doesn't come across.  

Not sure if she's angry or just saw a ghost!

Hair slicked back, cool expression on her face... don't mess with this baby! 

Ehh... whaddya lookin' at, bustah?

She finally gets what she wants - her bottle and then bedtime.  

She looks like a normal baby here, but beware of what lurks below the surface!

* I think we know what is in the water actually - teeth, nap issues, and growing!  But sometimes it isn't so apparent!

Day 121: National Pastime

I started to upload and edit the photos today when we started to hear some buzz on Twitter that the president was going to make an address to the country at 10:30 pm.  While the main theme of today's post is on the lighthearted side, I do want to say that it is rather amazing that Michal will grow up in a world without Osama bin Laden.  I cannot find words aside from that - anything else just feels a bit trite.

Being big baseball fans (read: Josh is a big baseball fan, I go along for moral support... and soft pretzels), we deliberated over when to take Michal to her first baseball game.  Do we go as soon as possible so as to solidify her status as a baseball fan, or do we wait until it is an experience that she will remember.  Luckily, it is not mutually exclusive - there will be a point when she remembers the first game she attends with her daddy (maybe with me, we'll see), likely wearing a glove, hoping for a pop fly.  

We took advantage of a California team being in town to catch a game with some friends.  After a couple of rough nap days, Michal got enough of a nap boost in the morning to get her through the entire nine innings - just barely; it took a good deal of waving to every person she met, as well as lots of jumping, dancing, and general good times, to stave off a Michal-sized breakdown.  

What have we here?

 Getting comfy with Daddy.  I love this picture... especially since it is so typical Michal to NOT look at the camera when I'm making an idiot of myself to encourage her to do so.  

Just stares right off to my right, pretending like I'm not even there.

Finally, the nap situation caught up with her on the walk to the car.  

Totally passed out baby.  Baseball is EXHAUSTING!