Friday, March 20, 2009

Baby's First Taste of Rum, Sodomy and the Lash

Almost exactly three years ago, we took Owen to his first prenatal rock concert, a great show with the New Pornographers and Belle and Sebastian at the 930 Club. In our efforts to make sure baby number two doesn't feel left out, we enlisted Grandpa as a babysitter on Tuesday night so Elaine and I could venture out to see the Pogues play a St. Patrick's Day show at the 930 Club. Grandpa and Owen had a great time staying up late and playing with puzzles. Elaine and I had a blast at the show, and I think baby number two will feel a little more Irish after hearing Shane MacGowan and company tear through a great set (including Sally MacLennane, Dirty Old Town, and The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn -- some of my favorites off of Rum Sodomy and the Lash) and mumble through some unsurprisingly unintelligible drunken Irish stage banter.

The Pouges on St. Patrick's Day at the 930 Club

Friday, March 13, 2009

By Any Other Name...

Owen has known Sophia since he was 4 months old and started daycare. Theirs is a somewhat complicated friendship, but for the most part they've gotten along well, which is pretty impressive given that they spend about 40 hours a week together.

Recently, for reasons known only to herself (I checked, her mom has no idea what prompted), Sophia started referring to Owen as "Bob." Were she merely a Bob-calling island unto herself, this would simply be one of those odd quirks that Sophia's parents would be blogging about instead of us. But Sophia is a rather persuasive two-year-old, and has managed to convince most of Owen's class to also refer to him as "Bob." Most disturbingly, she's even gotten Owen to call himself "Bob" on more than one occasion.

Nothing against the name "Bob" but we're partial to "Owen." Moreover we think completely changing one's identity for someone else, even someone as cute as Sophia, is probably a bad idea. As such we are aggressively trying to stomp out all "Bob" references. It's mostly worked, but only because Owen has now started calling himself "Bruce" from Finding Nemo.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

What a Difference a Week Makes

March roared in like a lion this year with the biggest snowstorm of Owen's life bringing 8 inches of snow to DC on Monday. While not quite enough to close the federal government, it was enough for a two hour delay that gave us some time to dawn snowsuits and venture out into the snow. Owen had a great time marching about in the snow and catching snowflakes on his tongue. The cold start to the week was just fine with Owen as it gave him a chance to indulge the serious puzzle kick he's been on lately. After seeing Owen play with Kaden's puzzles in Boston, we realized it was time for him to get some more advanced puzzles. Turns out we were holding him back with the simple little puzzles he'd had for so long. Now he's putting together 48 piece puzzles on his own and playing with puzzles morning, noon and night. By the end of the week, the only lions left roaring were at the zoo, as the week's early snowstorm had given way to 70 degree temperatures and sunny skies. It was time to pull Owen away from the puzzles and take advantage of perfect zoo weather. We saw lions, tigers, elephants, cheethas, zebras, and gazelles. But the most excitement was seeing the gorillas. We saw a giant silver back gorilla up close eating a 'gorilla popsicle', and we saw the adorable new baby gorilla nursing with it's mommy. On Sunday the weather was still wonderful, so we visited Lincoln Park in what seemed like the first time in ages. Owen brought his green soccer ball and showed off his skills dribbling like a pro. Hopefully the weather will hold, because as much as we enjoyed the last gasp of winter, now that we've had a taste of spring it would be hard to go back. soccer p.s. For those of you wanting a little more info after last week's post, yes you heard it right, Owen is going to be a big brother. The due date is around Labor Day, but as we learned with Owen, due dates are non-binding and subject to change. p.p.s. In other news, our good friends Chris and Elise are not only expecting their first child this summer, but they've started a blog!