Wordless Wednesday: Smiles!

A Week of Firsts

In that last seven days there have been a handful of firsts around here:

1. First trip to the pediatrician for a 'sick' visit. Little Man had been running a low grad fever on and off for enough days that it was time to kick the Tylenol and see a doc. His nose was a little snotty, too, and he'd thrown his naps completely out the window. The doc's report was good: no illness to speak of, keep up the tylenol, call if the fever spikes, sometimes 4 month old babies stop napping, no teeth, and good luck!

The next day, I came down with a rockin' summer cold that I'm still trying to get through...thanks Little Man.

2. That same day, we had an earthquake. What?! Yes, an earthquake. And a reasonably sized one, too! LM and I were at home, just in from the doctor's appointment and our house started shaking. Like every other DC resident I assumed it was a low flying military plane, but then it didn't pass and the shaking got stronger it became clear that the ground was actually moving. LM and I got into a load bearing doorway, called Hamilton over, and waited it out. This was my first earthquake, too, so we got to share in that!

Our damage was limited to a few soap/shampoo bottles falling into the bathtub and a slightly broken iron that fell off of the ironing board in the basement. I haven't tried to use the iron yet, so I'm not sure if it is superficial damage, or if we indeed 'lost' our iron to the 'quake.

3. A hurricane! Seriously, who has an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week? Lucky for us, it was not very bad here. It was a lot of rain and some high winds over night on Saturday, but by Sunday afternoon it was a beautiful day with some branches on the ground.

None the less, this was a big week for our Little Man. I expect many more doctor visits in his future, and as long as we're east-coasters there will be more hurricanes, but I'm hoping that LM doesn't get to experience any more earthquakes...that was a first that I wouldn't mind being an 'only' as well.

William

Rutledge has a new home, and a new name; William.

He lives on Capitol Hill now, and is having a ball! His new owner is a sweet woman who loves bassets and has quite the resume for it. She has worked with every basset rescue group in the region, as well as a handful of general canine rescue groups. She has owned many bassets, usually adopting them in old age, so she knows all of the ins and outs of basset ownership.

William lives only a couple of blocks from a fantastic dog park, has a 3yr old yellow lab for a roommate, and has already been on two weekend field trips to the dog beach and a house full of bassets (House of Puddles)! I'm pretty sure he has completely forgotten about us, and that is ok.
Our decision to re-home him has been affirmed for us in many ways, the biggest of which is Hamilton's health and happiness. It was almost immediately noticeable, Hamilton is so much better off as the only dog. He is happier, healthier, and more interactive than he's been since we first brought Rutledge home.

I still miss Rutledge/William, especially because he was so snuggly, but life is much better here now that he is gone. I can handle walking Hamilton and pushing a stroller by myself, I never could have managed two dogs and a stroller. Hamilton likes to sleep in on weekends, so when Henry allows it, too, everyone gets the extra rest. Hamilton has become more loving with us, and spends more time in the room with us rather than away from everyone in another room like he used to do. William already has, and will continue to have an awesome life on the Hill, and now Hamilton will get that same chance at a happy long life with us.

Thanks for the snuggles, R, you're a sweet dog and I'll always love you!

A Boy and His Dog

We've been going on a few family walks lately, what with the weather starting to cool down below "surface of the sun" and all. The BOB stroller has been a huge hit with everyone, and it gives us a chance to get Little Man out for some fresh air.

Little Man has also decided that Hamilton is the most interesting, and hilarious thing he has ever seen! When we go for walks he just stares at Hamilton the entire time. When we are at home, LM will start to smile and laugh any time that Hamilton gets close enough. It is so fun to watch them interact!

We're still a ways away from them having a two-way relationship (Hamilton is not nearly as fond of LM at the moment), but it is fun to look ahead to how their dynamic will shift and change over the coming years.

For now, just getting them both in the picture is still a challenge!

Little Man's Dedication

Last Sunday, Frank and I made some big promises to Little Man. We made promises about how we will parent, how we will teach him, how we will love him, and how we will do better than our best with the help of the Lord.

The Pastor who lead the service is the Pastor for children & families at our church. He is a very nice man and I'm excited about the prospect of Little Man getting to grow up attending the fantastic programs that Pastor Owen has implemented.

Little Man was very attentive through our part of the service. He has gotten really good at looking at whomever is speaking, so he did a great job of following the action. The congregation had a few opportunities to laugh, and while LM looked shocked he never cried!

The Pastor threw us an unexpected question (LM's birthday) and Frank wasn't prepared to answer. This was the source of congregational laughter, but in his defense we didn't know the question was coming and I would have hesitated, too.

My favorite thing (and the one thing we didn't take pictures of) was that we had more than 15 people come to support us and Little Man! Frank and I felt so blessed to have so much love poured out on our little guy. We have some awesome friends, and they made that day one that will be remembered for a long time.

Don't do it, Will!

I just read an article about the actress who portrayed Little Orphan Annie in the 1982 movie, "Annie." She is 40 now, and back in LA hoping to get her acting career going again. She seems like a reasonable person because she said that she wants to act again, but knows that it is unlikely that she would ever get another iconic roll like Annie.

She comes across as normal in the article, which is nice. In a world full of Rebecca Blacks, it is nice to occasionally come across someone who doesn't have a desperate need to be super famous.

The thing that struck me in this article was buried at the very end. After the bit about how the music from the 1982 movie won Oscars, about how it was an iconic movie with great actors and a fabulous story...there was a small blurb about Will Smith.

Wha?

Yes, it would seem that Will Smith wants his daughter, Willow (of "I swing my hair back and forth" fame), to headline a remake of "Annie." Wait, it gets better. They want to collaborate with Jay-Z for the soundtrack.

Dear Will Smith, Please stop. Please stop creating 'remakes' for your children to headline. Karate Kid was a stretch, a new Annie will make me cry. If you must, please have your kids act in movies that are 'kind of like' old classics rather than 'remakes' of classics that completely change things and give our current children horribly warped ideas of what the original stories were. You're a cool dude, and seem to be a great dad, but please stop before it is too late.

There is a list of people in Hollywood whose movies I won't (voluntarily) see, and you are about one 'remake' away from making that list.

Thank you,

Annie

The NRCC

I stopped by the NRCC yesterday to pick up new Congressional directories for the office.

I was in and out in a matter of minutes, but I just have to share what I saw.

It was a flash of seersucker, embroidered belts, jack rogers and sperrys, sweater sets, and good-boy haircuts.

For a moment, I was home.

I momentarily forgot that they pay just above nothing, and considered dropping a resume. Then I remembered that Daddy bought those shoes, and probably pays rent, too...

Sorry!

Elevators and I have issues.  I have always had these issues, but living in urban space makes them much more prominent.

You see, in SC there are significantly fewer elevators than there are in DC.  I didn't realize the extent of my issues until I moved to the Land Where One Cannot Be Inconvenienced By Stairs.  (don't get me started on the reactions to broken escalators...oh, the humanity)

Elevators have doors that close automatically.  There is a button that one can press to hold an elevator door open, it is often placed next to the button one can press to close the elevator doors.  This causes my issues.

At some point in my life, my slightly dyslexic brain told me to push the 'close faster' button when I intended to push the 'stay open longer' button.  (my autotext just turned button into byron.  really?)  This was traumatic for me because, 1) an older woman was trying to get into the elevator and 2) there were other people on the elevator who witnessed my unintentionally savage act.  To the others on the elevator with me, it looked like I looked the older woman in the eyes, smiled politely, and then mashed the 'close faster' button, thereby doing the elevator equivalent of slamming a door in her face.

As you can see, this incident has never left me.

Today, just now, I tried to hold the elevator for a man in my office building.  Still harboring a fear and distrust for the 'stay open longer' button, I reached out to grab the door and trigger the 'I'm programmed to not crush children' mechanism.  IT DID'T STOP THE DOOR FROM CLOSING!

The elevators, they have it out for me and my attempts to maintain some politeness in this city.  I will not bend to you, I will not stand in the back with my face in my phone so as to ignore those rushing toward me! 

At least this time it was obvious that I tried.  Maybe next time I'll even be successful...

Wordless Wednesday: Cool Edition

Hair!

Little Man's hair is really coming in and I couldn't be happier! We've gone from the long wispy newborn hair...

To the loss of most of it...

And now his real hair is coming in!

I can't wait for his first haircut, there is just something so adorable about a little boy's hair after a trim!