It's Climate CHANGE, Not Global Warming....

We are having such a crazy, cold winter! 15 degrees tonight! William and Daddy braved the snow for some playtime today and I don't think I have ever seen his little cheeks that red when they came back in!!

One Flew Over the Baby Gate....

So, William as you may know has for the last 21 and a 1/2 months been a CHAMPION sleeper! He has been sleeping at least a solid 8 hours from about 10 weeks and has been sleeping 11 to 12 hours for the last year and a half. "We are so lucky!" we said to each other every day. Then Christmas happened. We had relatives visit, so Will had exciting roommates, first us and then Aunt Molly. This seems to have inspired a desire for communal living, something Jason and I don't enjoy one bit! The first obstacle: William can easily, and I mean EASILY climb out of his crib, he just couldn't climb back in. He also knows how to open the door to his room and our room in a snap! Combine that with the fact he is getting older and requiring less sleep, plus this new found feeling of Independence and you can imagine how life has been around here. Crazy. We still do the same routine for bed; bath,book,bottle,brush teeth, rock and sleep, and he seems fine with going to sleep then in a few minutes we hear the knob and the nightly floor show starts! "HI!!!" he says brightly "How you doin?" Then we catch him and take him right back saying simply "Night Night". ( A La' Super Nanny) We repeat it over and over and over. Ugh. So last night we got smart thanks to Dr Ferber and put up a baby gate to his room. Last night we only had to redo bedtime ONE time. Today at nap I had to repeat 3 times, but that's not as bad as it was. So, we will see. I can only imagine it won't be long before he can pole vault that baby gate and then we are in big trouble!

National Building Museum...

Once you've lived in DC long enough, you start to run out of new things to do. Hence, we decided to visit the National Building Museum, which was surprisingly delightful. Though it didn't have the best exhibits for us, there was a large area for Will to run around and a construction room that Will decided was also useful for his deconstructions.

What lovely towers. But can they withstand an F9 on the William scale?

Down it comes!

Guess the design could use a little work.

Will was fascinated by this checkerboard stage. He was running on it while the workers were installing it.

Playing with massive rubbery legos.

And only some of the mess in the background was due to Will. We figure they must use a large snow shovel to pick up the scattered items.

Look, Ma! No cavities!

Today was William's first visit to the dentist. We wanted to get his chipped tooth checked (from back in December). Thankfully, she said it didn't need treatment because it was a baby tooth. He had a great time at the dentist's office, though! His favorite thing was a display of diseased teeth. Everything checked out great, and they don't want to see him again for six months!

Sunny Day....

Bits and Bots...

For comparison, this is the REAL Ponte Vecchio...
Molly is proving to be a marvelous Magna Doodle artist! She was doing this completely from memory! Wow!

William was none too certain about the alligators at the National Aquarium.

He seemed fascinated by this peep hole though!

This Anti Slavery book was quite disturbing, but William was enjoying saying his ABC's with it!

The Town Crier!

By far, the most appropriate outfit for William!

Even a Monkey can play this piano!

Fun in the barrel at Romp and Roll!

We haven't actually been too busy lately. I am recovering well and preparing for my next surgery on 1/20 for my left hand. William has a nasty cold and has now given it to me, so I am hoping we will both be recovered by next week. William is really enjoying having another person around, though he is a really crummy roommate! He climbs out of his crib and wakes Molly up very early every morning. He is singing more and more these days, and was up early serenading Molly with the Teletubbies theme song this morning!

Is This Glass Bullet-Proof ?

William observes the Snowman with some interest mixed with trepidation...
The Snowman scared me more than William!

We passed by many,many broken down and abandoned structures...

Old train cars...

Makeshift dumps...

Graffiti emblazoned scrap metal recycling yards...

Graffiti emblazoned train cars...

More refuse....(note the Church Steeple in the background)

Part of the B&O Museum experience includes a 30 minute ride on a real train. It runs on the actual original mile of track that was first laid in the United States! However, it turns out that this is also one of the most run down miles of track in the United States... The odd thing was, as we were passing by row after row of tenement buildings and a virtual dumping ground for all things metal, no longer used, the train was playing Christmas music and we got a visit from Frosty the Snowman handing out candy canes. It was a really strange contrast!

B & O Railroad Museum...

Engineer Molly!
Notice how huge the engine is next to William!

Richard takes the controls!

Molly, William, and Richard sitting in the caboose...

They had TONS of model trains set up for the Holiday...

William peeking out through the end gate of a train car...

A coal heater in a train car...

William actually got to put coal in it!

Molly and Pudd peeking out of a train car...

Mommy and Pudd...

William looking out into the roundhouse...