Memorial Day Fun!


So sorry for the delay in getting these photos uploaded. Memorial Day was a great day for us. Brad and I decided to have a family day out for the holiday and try out the Natural History Museum with Baker. The weather was great, warm and humid but turned out quite nice. So, we thought that we would let Baker get a short morning nap in before we left, thinking that his mood would be much nicer if he had slept a little...we were right on with that because he was a dream the entire day. We then took the train a couple of stops over to Smithsonian and started out with lunch at the museums food court, which is so great by the way, unlike your typical food court and full of healthy options. I say healthy and yet Baker has pizza for lunch. But he loves pizza so my options are have him eat or get steamed broccoli and have it plastered all over me, Brad and the floor. I'll take the first option. Besides, pizza has diary, tomato sauce for veggies and carbs...a balanced meal!



Then we wandered through the halls, seeing every large animal you can imagine, elephants, lions, giraffes, dinosaurs, sea creatures. It was wonderful and being my first time at this museum, I was definitely impressed. Baker enjoyed it too but didn't have a clue what he was really looking at I don't think. He liked the size of everything but more importantly, roaming freely through the museum, squealing the whole way. We had a difficult time keeping up with him and probably looked a bit silly to the strangers around us.

Brad and Baker - This is the first of many trips that I'm sure we'll be making to the mall!

Nothing like the views from here! We had to cross over the mall from the metro station to get to the museum. As you can see, the inauguration took quite a toll on the, what used to be, pretty lawns of the mall. They are planning on resodding it, thank goodness!

Baker giving me some look as he eats his pizza.

Baker loves to feed us his food.

Sant Ocean Hall

Baker plays in the Discovery Room, a room that's open to kids for hands-on play.

He was very into this skeleton.

Baker was attacked by this alligator! He was clearly not afraid!

A free man - Baker takes off running as we began a wild goose chase after him.

Checking out some dinosaur

Brad, Baker and the T-rex

Okay, I was really into this elephant that is in the main rotunda but when Baker laid his head on my shoulder, that's all I really cared about!

This giraffe was so cute! I hate that the flash is glaring in the picture but you gotta love the giraffes!

Another giraffe!

There were TV monitors that were showing images of water as if it were a creek. Baker kept trying to "splash" in it.

The Hope Diamond - 45.52 carats

After the museum, we walked the mall, loving the views of the monuments and the Capitol Building, and thinking how happy we are that we moved to the district. We spotted a carousel and knew immediately we had to take a ride. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. Baker seemed to like it, he didn't express a ton of emotion over it but he wasn't fussing either. I loved it on the other hand! I was amazed at how fast it went and was worried that my motion sickness would get the best of me...it did a little bit but I was determined to make it through! Brad was the camera man on this venture and captured my every sound on video...thanks babe! You can see it below.
We finished the day by walking home. We thought, why not? We were, what seemed to be, so close to the Capitol Building and we thought, well why not walk home since we just live on the other side of it? Well, the Capitol Building is a massive buiding and looks closer than it is and we just kept walking and walking. It only took about 45 minutes and was a nice walk, a long walk but a fun one at that. We were wiped out by the time we got home though, as was Baker! Overall, this was the PERFECT family day. It was the best combination of family, quality time and a nice day out and just had that sweet nostalgic feel about it. It couldn't have been any sweeter!

Getting ready for our carousel ride!

And we're off! Dear God help me!

Daddy and Baker enjoyed it too!


We stopped on the walk home to let Baker out of his stroller and get some free roaming time.



This was the first time being this close to the Capitol Building. We were shocked that they let you get so close to it without security.

Funny to think that we literally live just a few blocks behind this.

Later that afternoon, Baker tested out his new crayons...he didn't even try to eat them this time! I have tried the crayon thing before but he always put them straight into his mouth. Not this time...I guess he understands that there is another purpose for them now.

And this is the result! The top is the paint art that he made the week before and the one below is his crayon version! He's quite the little artist!

Of course we bought Baker a giraffe from the museum...as much as I am beginning to hate stuffed animals, this one was too cute to pass up!


Video: Carousel ride and me sounding a bit panicky and ridiculous. But for the record, it went way faster than I imagined. I mean, when was the last time I ever rode one of these? I have no idea!

More Wagon Time...

This time, it's Baker's wagon. He still loves to go for a ride in the house and trust me, there is a lot more in the new house. I know it sounds tacky, but I really want to tie a rope to it and pull him down the sidewalk...I think he'd love it, so who cares about being tacky? If I find rope, I'm buying it!

Daddy takes Baker for a ride! Look at his smile!

He is clearly very excited. Note the spatula in his hands -

kitchen items are his new favorite thing.

Saturday, we had Happy Feet playing on the TV when out of nowhere, Baker got his Penguin and started playing with it. Now, we're not sure if he did this on

purpose but it was pretty ironic timing!

Trying to "drink" from daddy's cup.

There was nothing in it.

He's become very cuddlyy lately and we adore every second of it!

Friday Playdate at the Park

Baker and I started our holiday weekend with a playdate with our next door neighbors, Gracie and Danica. Gracie is just 2 weeks older than Baker. What are the chances of that? So, when we met them on the sidewalk to head to the park, to our surprise, Danica had their wagon out for the kids to ride in! I was so excited to take Baker on his first real wagon ride. He and Gracie immediately swapped sippy cups as we walked over to the park. Amazingly enough, Baker didn't try to stand up or get out of it even once! I think he was so excited to be riding in it that standing didn't even cross his mind, until the ride home. At first, he just had the cutest little smile on his face, as if he was thinking "Wow, this is so much better than the stroller!" but couldn't express it in words. All I could think was "My baby is growing up so fast".

Gracie and Baker proudly arrive at the park.

The entire time at the park, all Baker wanted to do was play in the wagon, opening the door, getting in, discovering the compartment...forget all of the exciting playground equipment!

Okay, so he did play on the equipment some, but I had to entice him to do so, including carrying him at one point to slide down the slide together.

The boy who lived in a bubble.

Baker thought he would take Gracie on a ride. This little man is strong...that stroller is not light! He almost pushed right into the bridge but when we called out to him to pull her back, he did! Such a smart boy!

I wonder where he thought he was going in his imaginary mind?

Danica took the kids, and some other little girl, on a ride through the playground. The wagon seems to be a hit with all kids!

When we got back, I put Baker in his flip flops. We bought these several months ago from the GAP. I loved that they made them for kids his size and could not pass them up...they were just too cute! So, I've been dying to put them on him. No, they are not practical for his age and honestly, I thought he'd have a hard time walking in them, but he did really good when I tested them around the house. I just laughed and laughed at how funny he looked in them with his little feet! Oh, and his little shirt came from Nana and Papa. They bought it for him when they were in Italy. Translation: If mama says no, ask Nana. Too cute!

Shoe shot - Baker made a great foot model.

Later that afternoon, I attempted painting with Baker. Yeah, not the brightest idea I've ever had. While at Target, I had it in my mind to find big chunky crayons for Baker to be creative with but instead, I found these cute paint pens by Crayola for 18 mths old (a little early but I thought why not?). My recommendation - do this if you have a kiddie table but not on the floor. I thought I was being a genius when I taped the paper to the floor but wasn't thinking that Baker would want to crawl through his artwork, smearing paint everywhere. I also didn't realize how fast the paint would come out of the pens but he was enjoying it so much and I was happy to see him actually doing it. But before it turned into a disaster, I called it quits, immediately. I just wasn't prepared for it at all and didn't think it through. When I ripped the paint from Baker's poor little painted hands, he had a fit and was so upset about it. It just turned into an emotional and dirty mess. I wisked him to the bathroom to scrub his and my hands, arms and legs. Note to self, save the the paint for later! At least I managed to get Baker's first artwork out of it and it's hanging on our fridge!

Video: Baker pushing Gracie in the wagon.

All in the Day of a One Year Old

DC had some great weather this week, therefore, we had a great week! Good weather means time out of the house and afternoons at the park, which Baker loves. He loves to be outside and when we're at the park, he always runs over to the big kids and wants to play with them. Bless his heart, the older kids (as in 3 and 4 years old) often ignore him and he just has this "I want to play with you" look and it makes me sad. I feel that protective mommy coming out in me. Funny right? But if you were to see how eager he is around them, you would be sad too. ;) But he always finds a friend in the younger ones, however, those always end up in some tug of war or tantrum over a toy. I've heard the horrid playground stories and now I'm living it. Oh, the joys of city parks. I have a lot to look forward to!

This could very well be one of my favorite pictures of him ever! He is absolutely perfect! You can't see them that good but he's wearing the cutest little monkey slippers Nana and Papa gave him last Christmas but he's just now able to wear them without constantly pulling them off. They jingle when he walks so the minute he gets them on, he walks all over and can't take his eyes off of them.

Our sweet baby dog takes a nap, that is until his mommy takes a picture and disturbs him.


"Whatchu lookin' at Willis?"

"Hey, fancy meeting you here!"

He'll find anything to climb on to get into something. He even tries to climb into the drawers now of the TV cabinet...of course I have to stop him because he'll break them!

Breakfast disaster - The other morning, we had a service guy come to the house right in the middle of Baker eating his breakfast. I was getting ready to help feed him yogurt when he got there so instead of helping him, I had to put the bowl on his tray and pray for the best so I could talk to this guy. Well, moments later, I returned and my precious Baker had it all over his face, all down the front of his bib, his hands were all in it, it was not pretty. It could have been a lot worse, like in his hair and all over the floor so I have to give him credit. I'm not sure much made it into his mouth, but he gets an A for effort!

The other day at the park, Baker played with his first toy stroller and he couldn't get enough of it. So much so that I am now in the market to buy one for him, only we prefer it isn't pink. That's all I'm finding so far so if anyone knows where I can get one that looks more like a boy, let me know! Thanks to the nanny that let Baker play with it! Poor little guy, when the little girl came and took it from him, he was not a happy camper. We had to head home after this!

Ha! Baker walking with a bag over his head. I hate this picture is blurry but it still has great memories for me. Baker put this bag over his head and was walking all over the room with it. When I took the picture, the flash was off but oh well! You get the idea! He is one funny dude!

Baker found an old lock and key and was so into it for 2 days. He knew that the key went into the hole but couldn't figure out how to get in there. He was playing in his playpen quietly and when I looked to see what he was doing, he was very intensely trying to figure out how. I had to catch a picture of his curiosity but when he saw the light from the camera come on, he immediately gave me a smile!