Wow. Three years. 36 Months. 1095 days. All Owen, all the time. We're a little freaked out about all the change that is about to come and how we'll all adapt, but hopefully we've learned enought over the past three years to muddle through.
You can lead a boy to the potty, but you can't make him pee.
Sunday was just about as full as a day can get. We started out the day waiting in line with the crowds for delicious dim sum at Oriental East in Silver Spring with Mom Mom, Grandpa Don, and Jen. Somewhat surprisingly, Owen actually did pretty well eating, although we weren't quite adventurous enough to order the chicken feet off of the secret menu.
After dim sum, we went back to Mom Mom and Grandpa Don's to squeeze in a little swimming in their neighbor Rose's pool before nap time. For the last month or so, Owen has been taking swim lessons every Saturday. So far those lessons have consisted mostly of Owen fearlessly leaping into the pool and trying to doggy paddle back to the edge (with a little support from Daddy). Last time we went with Brad and Marlo to their pool, we remembered to bring Owen's water wings, and Owen had such a great time swimming free in the big pool, that he even convinced a reluctant Mia that swimming could be loads of fun. Well, combine Owen's love of leaping, a pair of water wings, and a diving board, and our little boy had the best time ever jumping and flipping off of the diving board swimming to the ladder, climbing out and doing it all over again. In a little over an hour he probably jumped off the diving board thirty times, and squealed with joy the entire time (the video at the bottom of this post gives just a little taste of the fun).
Exhausted from a big morning, Owen and Daddy took a nap to prepare for an afternoon at the Montgomery County Fair, and Mommy headed home for a well deserved break (can't blame her for not quite being up for lots of walking around in the August heat while nine months pregnant...). Well rested from our naps, we met up with the Brown's for our second annual trip to the Fair. We were joined by Marlo's family to make for a quite the crew, and armed with our knowledge of the fair grounds from last year we made a bee line for the animals, fire trucks, and the combine slide. But the biggest hit this year was something Owen and Mia were too small for last year, the pony rides! Mia was a bit scared at first, but eventually they both had a grand time riding around on their beautiful ponies. To top off the evening we had dinner at the fair with ice cream for dessert, Mia even shared her cone with Owen. Next year the family will be a little bigger, but we'll be sure to go back for more fun at the fair.
Historically we've shied away from big birthday celebrations for Owen, primarily because 1) we have a very small home which will only accommodate a limited guest list; and 2) renting a venue to celebrate a day that will never be remembered by the guest of honor has been hard for me to justify. But this year is different, mostly because we've been a little worried about how Owen will feel about his place in the world once the new baby comes and want to make sure he realizes he's very important to us, but also because Owen is turning three which means there's some chance we'll get credit for this in the future. We decided to go big.
To that end we spent a month or so investigating various venues before deciding to hold his third birthday bash at "The Little Gym" a few weeks prior to the actual DOB (lest baby #2 decided to crash). 15 friends were invited; 12* were able to make it, and for an hour and a half on Saturday August 8th, they ruled. But despite the parachute, the air track, the balance beam, the uneven bars, and even the Conga line to the party room afterwards, Owen informed us that his favorite part of the day was blowing out the "3" on his cupcake.
Afterwards, we went over to Mom Mom's and had a lovely dinner Mom Mom and Grandpa Don as well as Mia, Marlo, Luke, and Claire before getting a very happy and tired little boy back home and into bed.
*Thanks to Leo, Brady, Fiona, Sophia, Tadashi, Will, Katie, Gavin, Chloe, Sophie, Luke, and Mia for making Owen's birthday party such a success!
(click here to see all the pictures)
There's just something about a good stick. Owen's Grandpa Fawcett (my Dad) tells a story about how when he was little, his grandmother (Owen's Great Great Grandma Melissa Fawcett) amazed at all the toys available to her young grandson, told him that when she was a little girl they didn't have all of these toys. Shocked at how deprived his grandmother's youth must have been, Dad asked her the most pressing question on his mind, "Did you have sticks?" When his grandmother said that yes they did have sticks, Dad lost his concern thinking that as long as she had sticks, everything must have been just fine.
I think Owen is in a similar boat now. He has lots of toys, but his favorite is his stick. He's managed to keep the same stick for over two months now. The stick is his violin, his microphone, his baton, his horn, his chimney broom, his lollipop, his birthday candle, his ice cream cone, and his constant companion in all outdoor activities. It's not allowed in the house, but every time he goes inside, he puts the stick down in its bed on the windowsill. At night he wants to go outside and give his stick a hug and a kiss to wish it good night.
Someday he'll break this stick, and while I'm sure he'll find a new one, I think we'll all be a bit unreasonably sad at the loss of such a great stick.
We've been a little nervous about Owen's first dental appointment as an introduction to our dentist last year didn't go too well (Owen spent most of the interaction cowering in Allen's arms). Moreover, we figured that the moment of reckoning regarding Owen's "be-be-bes" was upon us as dentists are notoriously anti-pacifiers and while we are loathe to go against a doctor's advise, we are terrified of what should befall us should we actually take Owen's sleep companions away.
But Dr. Sheila Samaddar and the rest of the crew at the South Capitol Smile Center allayed all our fears. They quickly got Owen to sit in the big chair, allow them to put their hands in his mouth and not freak out when the big toothbrush tickled his teeth. After gushing about how well he did, their only comment was that he had a little bit of plaque on his front teeth and that we should keep doing what we're doing which means the battle over the "be-be-bes" has been deferred a bit.
Usually when we go a couple of weeks without a blog post it's because nothing particularly notable has happened in our lives. And while we're not above memorializing the mundane --we have blogged multiple times about Owen's diaper count, after all -- we generally like some hook to accompany our online ramblings.
The truth is that a fair amount has happened over the past two weeks, we just haven't found time to write a blog post about any of it: Owen started swimming lessons (and in order to enroll him in said class Allen and I made multiple phone calls, had some words with a Capitol police officer, drove around a street blockade, and begged); Owen went to a birthday party; Owen and Daddy went on a field trip to the Botanic Garden; Owen taught Grandpa the lyrics to Blitzkrieg Bop; Mommy & Daddy went to the Wilco show where Captain Slurry made a special appearance (thanks to Brad and the store which provided him both with the alcohol and the free tickets).
The main reason we haven’t had any time to blog is because Owen has decided to make our lives a little more difficult -- it seems someone might be less thrilled with the prospect of a sibling than initially appeared. Potty training has completely stalled. Tears are a frequent companion. Bedtime has drifted to what is considered late night in the Central time zone.
We haven’t quite found the right strategy to get potty training and bed times back on track. But as the baby is set to be here in seven weeks and we're running out of creative parenting strategies, we thought we'd open it up for your suggestions as to how to improve our current lot (and keep in mind that I'm not allowed to drink).
Congratulations are in order for Chris & Elise, and their beautiful new baby girl, Hazel Marina Pearson, born on July 2nd. Head on over to their blog (mochi) for some great pictures of the new family!
Uncle Dave and Aunt Kara were in town for three full days last weekend. Despite the brevity of the trip, they managed to hit several museums, the Capitol and the Library of Congress. But probably most importantly, Allen and Dave formed the band, 2454, toured the country and earned a jet before breaking up due to artistic differences (as well as geographical ones). Expect a reunion tour come Christmas (assuming we can fit Rock Band and it's accessories in the minivan)...
Elaine and Owen gave me the game 'Rock Band' for Father's Day, and Owen has decided he loves to play it with Daddy. He likes pretending to play along with the guitar, and he really likes grabbing the microphone and singing. So far his favorite song is 'Biltzkrieg Bob', especially the "Hey Ho, Let's Go!" part, but as soon as the song is over he wants to play, "Hey Ho, Wait For Me!"
Aside from all the rocking out, we celebrated Father's day with a trip to the pool with Brad, Marlo, Mia, and baby Ben. Owen and Mia had a great time playing with the killer whale torpedo (which Brad and Allen also found fascinating), and Elaine enjoyed relaxing in the water and not feeling the full weight of baby number two. We also finally got to see the finished product of the great Brown family home renovation, and we were of course suitably impressed.
Friday night was the 75th birthday celebration for the National Archives, and Mom Mom and Grandpa Don decided that it would be fun to celebrate the occasion by taking Owen to the Archives birthday picnic so Elaine and I could go out to dinner and celebrate our sixth anniversary a few days early. To cap it all off, after the picnic Owen spent the night at Mom Mom and Grandpa Don's house, his first night away from Mommy since he was seven months old. By all accounts, Owen had a great time at the Archives picnic, and with all the excitement of staying at Mom Mom's house, he didn't miss Mommy and Daddy at all (though I'm not sure we can claim the converse is true, even if we did have a lovely dinner ;-)
We did it. 28 hours round-trip in a car with a potty-training 2 1/2 year old and a 7 months pregnant woman. This was not a roadtrip for the meek or for those that can't handle listening to multiple readings of The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. No accidents (either vehicular or urinary), no speeding tickets, and Allen even managed to take a conference call despite Owen belting out "Step in Time" while watching Mary Poppins in the back seat with Mom Mom.
And it was worth it for an all too brief a visit to the homeland. We had two nights in Cleveland where Owen was able to release some pent up energy with Aunt Katherine and Uncle L. We managed to get in a trip to Des Moines to see Ethel (sans Allen who had to work). Shared some quality Pond time both with Owen's and Allen'scousins. Had all sorts of fun with Grandpa and Grandma Z. Owen had lots of play time on the farm (he even got to drive the tractor, though that almost ended disastrously and reaffirmed Iowa's good sense to not issue licenses to the under-3 crowd) and got to feed Kendra's horses. We even convinced Uncle Bernie to make a trip down to see us in order to get some adorable Owen time (which we neglected to capture on film since Allen was working again) and for Elaine to beat him in a Russian Bank grudge match.
We're thinking that next summer we'll try and coordinate the baby's baptism with the Fawcett Sweet Corn Festival and make it a two week stay. Until then, feel free to enjoy all the pics here.
Shortly after I got to work on Wednesday the chills and aches began. I bravely put on my rain poncho (the only additional layer I happened to have in the office) took my allowed allotment of extra-strength Tylenol and continued working on some health statistics for the Hill. A few hours later the sweats began at which point the poncho was removed. By the time we sent my numbers off, I felt good enough to cheer Allen and the rest of "Bad Air Daze" while wrangling Owen at the softball season opener against the "Reg Soxs."
After a brief celebration we went home to discover that I had a 102 degree fever. It broke a bit after Owen went to bed, but returned around 3 am, breaking again around 5 am. I woke up for work, and a series of meeting, with little trace of the previous day's issues, but they quickly resurfaced as soon as I got to work. I went home and continued the series of peaks and valleys well into the early hours again (this time reaching all the way up to 103 degrees).
Friday we decided I should stay home and try and get a doctor's appointment, which isn't the easiest thing to do at 8 in the morning on the holiday weekend, particularly when your illness concerns 2 specialties. Multiple calls later, OBGYN decided that it was an internal medicine issue, but internal medicine wasn't sure what to do with me. My fever having broken again, I'd decided to forget the whole thing, but alas Allen was there on speaker phone when they called back and informed me I should go straight to the ER.
I protested, but Allen insisted, so off we went. Upon arrival, ER took one look at me and escorted me to to Obstetrics. Upon hearing my symptoms, Obstetrics moved me to an isolation room, put on a mask and order a swine flu test. Eight hours and once incredibly painful and intrusive procedure later (with nary a temperature above 98.6 recorded officially the whole time) I was informed 1) that the baby was fine; 2) that I officially didn't have swine flu; and 3) they had no real idea what was causing the temperature spikes (which recommenced shortly after we tucked in Owen that night, who was still wired from hours of play with Grandpa Fawcett).
Saturday continued to be unpleasant but on Sunday I rested comfortably (thanks to Mom Mom who kindly watched Owen for the day). Now I'm feeling much better and ready to celebrate Memorial Day with friends.
Elaine had a sonogram on Monday, and once again we were told that the due date was considerably earlier than we thought. Owen's original due date was August 16, but after the first sonogram his due date was estimated as August 6, and after the second his due date was moved all the way up to July 26. Of course Owen wasn't born until August 20, which meant that we had a full three weeks in a hot DC August expecting a baby anytime (plus Grandma Z came out a wee bit earlier than needed).
Well, fool us once, uh, shame on you, fool us - well we can't get fooled again. This time we won't give any heed to the sonogram technician's silly August 21 due date. We're sticking with September 1 thank you very much, and surely this time all will go according to plan...
Having learned our lessonfrom years past, we kept our plans for Mother's Day fairly simple this year: Owen and I baked some fresh blueberry muffins for breakfast, and we planned on a trip to the Arboretum before nap time. We also thought we'd swing by Frager's to pick up some pepper plants before heading up to the Arboretum, and in this small, little detail, the seeds of our plan's destruction were sewn. As we drove down towards Lincoln Park on our way to Frager's, we hit a bizarre Capitol Hill traffic jam -- we could see up ahead that the police had blocked off the road ahead for "Rolling Thunder", a parade of motorcycles. Trapped on a one way street with cars behind us, we were lucky enough to be next to an open parking space, so we parked the van and changed our plans. Owen had a lovely Mother’s Day morning watching the motorcycles roar by and there was eventually enough of a gap for us to cross the street and play in the park as the parade of motorcycles turned into a parade of Corvettes.
We headed back home for lunch and a nap, but we weren’t done with the park quite yet. Our friends Andrew & Claire and their son Luke were down at Eastern Market in the afternoon, and gave us a call from Lincoln Park right as we were waking up from nap-time. So we went back to the park so Owen and Luke could play together, making salad in their hats and chasing monsters around the grass. We topped off the evening with all of us heading back to our place to grill some sausages for dinner. Nothing went according to plan, but we had a lovely Mother’s Day none the less.
Ever since we went up to Boston in February, Owen has been talking about wanting to see Kaden again. This past weekend the Hyatts were in town and Owen finally got his wish. On Saturday morning we drove out to McLean to Nabeel's parents house for a morning playdate and burgers on the grill for lunch. We had a great time seeing Nabeel, Megan, Kaden, and Liam (who is looking much bigger than he was back in February), and it's always fun catching up with Nabeel's parents. After heading home for naptime, the whole crew (minus Elaine and Megan who both wisely stayed home) gathered at the Air & Space museum. Kaden and Owen decided they owned the place and had way too much fun chasing each other around and pointing out all the airplanes and rockets. We finished up the day with a walk to Tortilla Coast for dinner (which in retrospect was a pretty long hike on a hot day with three kids and two grandparents, but oh well, the fajitas were tasty). I'd put up pictures, but I didn't manage to take any good ones, and I'm still waiting for Nabeel to post his ;-)
We'd made plans to attend our niece Olivia's First Communion in Chicago a couple months ago. We didn't realize at the time that I would be horribly ill that weekend and that Allen would be under a White House imposed deadline. We made it to Chicago (though Allen arrived 9 hours later than Owen and I after missing the flight for a meeting with White House staff and flying stand-by) and we're able to attend the festivities (though Allen was working on the analysis throughout most of the day with only a slight reprieve for breakfast and the ceremony), but it was a bit of a haze for us all. In the end, Olivia looked beautiful and is now a Communicant, Owen had an amazing time with all of his cousins, the White House approved Allen's analysis of the Houses' latest climate change legislation,* and the only the losses were my voice and Owen's beloved baseball hat (which got left on the flight back).**
* For the wonky out there, the above link is to the executive summary, here's where you can find the rest of the analysis.
**Also possibly Panda, the Zimmerman kids' pet hamster who went MIA after the party. We're hoping he shows up soon.
We've been fighting with Owen about nap time -- we're all for it while he likes to fight it for 2 hours before ultimately surrendering which in turn messes up his bedtime. While we have no control during the week when he's at daycare, we decided that on the weekends we'd just skip a formal siesta and instead allow him to rest his eyes if the opportunity should arise. Unfortunately, we decided to implement this new regime change Easter weekend.
Saturday, after a fairly relaxing morning we headed out (with Owen napping en route) to meet the newest addition to the Brown family, Ben. While Allen and I were focused on observing the dynamics of balancing a newborn and a toddler, Owen was all about playing with Mia on the playground right outside their temporary digs. We intended to just stay an hour, but with the swings beckoning, it was a good 3 hours before we headed out to dinner with Mom Mom & Grandpa Don and Aunt Katherine, Uncle "L" and Makayla. We eventually carried one tuckered out little boy to his bed.
The lateness of the previous night and the required search for Easter Eggs in the morning, threw a wrench in our schedule and meant that we had to attend a later mass service. Despite that, as Owen pointed out, "Daddy doesn't want to go to church," and that "this is another church," it turned out to be serendipitous as the belated service allowed Owen to watch the pipe organ player conduct and even to briefly meet the Easter Bunny (which only sort of freaked him out).
From there we went directly to Mom Mom's where Owen participated in a much more elaborate Easter egg hunt with Makayla, who was gracious enough to help Owen search. After a lovely dinner and far more chocolate than was probably advisable, we headed home where the entire Fawcett clan ignored our previous directive and took a collective 2 hour nap.
(click here to see the Baby Ben pictures) (click here to see all the Easter pictures)
Our plan for the weekend was to try to get together with Brad & Marlo before their new baby arrived, so Owen and Mia could give each other a little pep talk about being big siblings soon. Andrew & Claire and their son Luke were also joining us, and we all were planning on meeting for brunch Sunday morning followed by an outing to Wheaton Park. The weather was gorgeous, and we were about to head out the door when the phone rang. Brad was calling with a slight change of plans: James Benjamin Brown (Ben for short -- going by his middle name just like his daddy) was born a little after 6 Sunday morning and so the Browns would have to take a rain-check. We're extremely excited for the Brown family, and we can't wait to see the new baby. We'll put up a link to Diade Mia (their now misnamed blog;-) as soon as there are pictures.
Owen was disappointed we wouldn't be seeing Mia, but he was very excited that she is a big sister now -- though he's decided he's content to wait until after his birthday for big brotherdom. With Brad and Marlo otherwise occupied, we met up with Andrew, Claire and Luke at Woodside Deli for a lovely brunch, and then drove over to Wheaton Park, which turned out to be a little boy's paradise. There was a gigantic two story slide, that was part of a massive old-school wooden playground complex; a train that took us on a very scenic ride through the woods; and a carousel with a zebra for Owen to ride! Owen had a great time playing with Luke, and we'll have to be sure to go back to Wheaton Park sometime soon.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Life's been a bit of a roller-coaster of late for our hero. Last week Owen's best friend Leo threw up all over him. Owen seemed largely unfazed by the experience and immune to the viral exposure so apparently, no harm no foul. Besides, there was Valentine's Day to look forward to complete with a class party (minus Leo), card exchange and more than a few hugs. Still feeling the love, Owen had another play date with Mia that culminated in a kiss and some hand holding. All seemed perfect in the world, but then yesterday, he was accidentally kicked in the head by his friend Fiona at daycare, resulting in his very first shiner. It seems that there's always a bit of drama around Valentine's Day for our little Owen.
Taking advantage of a business trip I had last week up to MIT, Elaine Owen and I all spent a few days up in Boston visiting our friends the Hyatts. It had been a while since Kaden and Owen had seen each other, so it was great to see the boys have such a fun timeplaying together. We also were excited to finally meet the wonderful but seldom blogged about Liam Hyatt.
The whole trip was great fun, but the highlight had to be our outing to the Boston Children's Museum. As if the museum itself wasn't going to be enough fun, we got there by walking through the snow to the bus stop, riding the bus, riding the T, and walking across a bridge before finally arriving at the museum. Not wanting to be overshadowed by the journey, the museum immediately awed Owen with it's gigantic undulating wood and steel net climbing structure. Kaden led Owen on an adventure climbing through the structure as Nabeel and I looked on somewhat enviously. The boys tired themselves out climbing the structure, and playing all over the museum, before we went around the corner to meet Megan and Kaden for a delicous lunch at Flour.
All and all it was a great trip, we always love seeing Nabeel, Megan, Kaden and now Liam too, and we're looking forward to our next adventure together.
It was a marathon of a playdate. After months of scheduling conflicts we were finally able to coordinate with the Browns and arrange a day of cultural stimulation for Owen and Mia. Naps were missed. Antebellum line dancing was interrupted. Lunch was delayed. And hand dryers had to be employed after a little too enthusiastic splashing at the Portrait Gallery's atrium. But it was all worth it, if for no other reason than the visit afforded Allen and Brad the opportunity to build a truly tall tower that was the envy of all the other dads at the Building Museum.
Living on Capitol Hill means that we were extra popular this past week. Elaine's cousin Molly, who as a 19 year old managed to be a delegate from Iowa at the Democratic convention, flew out to stay with us for the inauguration along with her friend Justin. Also, my old friend Billy was in town this month from Beijing and he stayed with us before the inauguration as well.
Originally, I was planning on staying home all weekend and avoiding the crowds, but with guests in town I started to waiver. The tipping point came when my cousin Adam came into town to help with the sound at some of the inaugural balls. Everyone wanted to go to the 'We Are One' concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday. Since Elaine was more than happy to stay home with Owen, my sense of adventure took over and we ventured out to vie with the masses for a piece of the experience.
Despite the bitter cold, the concert turned out to be tremendous fun. We managed to find a good spot right on the edge of the reflecting pool to watch the concert from. The coolest part (aside from hearing Bruce Springsteen, U2, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Pete Seeger and many more all play at one concert) was turning around and seeing hundreds of thousands of people all the way back to the Washington Monument. After the long walk home from the Lincoln Memorial (and some hot chocolate to warm back up) the whole adventure was too much fun not to try it again on Tuesday.
We decided the key to a good time on Tuesday was to manage our expectations and try to avoid standing out in the cold for too long. There would be plenty of people willing to stand out on the Mall starting at 4 am for a prime spot, and we clearly were not those people. After a nice leisurely morning, Billy, Molly, Justin and I left the house around 8:30 am to walk down to the Mall. We saw on television before we left that the Mall was already filling up all the way back to the Washington Monument with the crowds gathered around the jumbotrons. Our best bet was to head south of the Mall and see if a little local knowledge of my old neighborhood could help us find a way to the Mall. By the time we got down by the House office buildings it was clear we'd have to get creative to get pass the ticketed lines. The orange tickets jammed Washington Ave., and the purple tickets were in a line that went all the way through the 395 tunnel. We cut through some of the orange ticket crowds to get to the highway, then with the help of a salt truck climbed a wall to make it to the other side of the highway. (Molly just made it before the driver decided he didn't want people climbing on his truck.)
Once on the other side of 395, we just needed to make our way to Independence Ave. and walk down far enough so we could find a space on the Mall. The problem with this plan was that we needed to cross the mass of people with silver tickets waiting on 3rd st SE. We started our way across the line, but it quickly became apparent that we were stuck. Slowly but surely the mass of people started moving, guided by hundreds of police and national guardsman forming a human barrier at the edges of the crowd. When we finally made it free of the crowd we weren't on the other side of the line on Independence Ave., we were inside the Silver gate! After trying a few spots we ended up with an amazing view just behind the center of the Capitol reflecting pool, and we had hard time believing our luck.
As Barack Obama took the Oath of Office it was hard not to feel a sense of civic pride in watching this peaceful transition of power from one President to the next. Turning around we could see from our vantage point on Capitol Hill literally a million people crowding the length of the Mall and waving American flags, all here like us to witness this moment in history. There was a palpable sense of amazement that we were watching, "a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant" stand before us and take this most sacred oath. Listening to his inaugural address, a tingle went down my spine as I heard this great orator say,
With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
On our walk home, there was one more moment that perhaps the most poignant of all. Having skipped past the crowds waiting for the metro, we walked up First Street on the east side of the Capitol just in time to see Obama, Biden, and their wives standing on the steps as now former President Bush and his family took off in what was once Marine One to start their journey back to Texas and into private life. In the picture below, President Obama is waving goodbye to President Bush. It's not a moment of partisan gloating, it is a moment between two people who now share a bond from experiencing the ultimate burden of power and responsibility. Two people who have a most intimate experience of that peaceful transition of power enabled by the wisdom of our forefathers. Two people who have sworn to the best of their ability to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States.
(click here for pictures of the concert) (click here for pictures of the inauguration)
Allen and I met in graduate school, and while his sequence focused on environmental and computational economics while mine was more centered on labor and marxist economics, our first year of instruction was almost identical. Both of us survived Stincombe's Problem Set #3, both of us suffered through Zhang's Prob Stats, and both of us took Freeman's Macro 1.
So imagine my horror when Allen introduced a time consistancy problem at dinner last night -- a scenario where the socially optimal plan is not incentive compatible in all periods -- by offering to let Owen eat a cookie, provided he had 2 additional bites of pasta after he finished said cookie.
Owen readily agreed to the proposal, and after some complaints that the initial cookie offered was broken, happily devoured a sugar cookie with sprinkles and chocolate chips courtesy of his friend and neighbor Gavin. Afterwards, Allen spent several minutes reminding Owen that he needed to live up to his end of the bargain until finally Owen grudgingly ate 1 and only 1 additional bite of pasta.
Which means: Allen doesn't remember anything about macroeconomics and Owen is a less rational but more obedient child than two economists might expect.
We've been talking about moving Owen to a big boy bed for months now, particularly since Owen keeps referring to himself as a "big boy." (Owen also refers to his friend Leo as a "big boy" but insists that his friend Tadashi is a "little boy." We're not really sure what criteria he's using or how official it all is). However, the pain of finding a bed that would fit in the 39"x79"x33" space in Owen's room in order to avoid blocking the vent, window or closet coupled with our fear of what would transpire once Owen was allowed to rest without any sort of barriers, has induced us to keep putting it off.
But after the first of the year, we broke down and after some intensive searching, managed to find a bed on E-bay within our narrow specifications. It even has two underneath drawers on wheels which allows Owen additional storage as well as some alternative sleeping options if he wants some extra privacy.
We're not sure that will be necessary, however. Owen was so excited to see his big boy bed with his very own pillow and tractor/car/plane/bus sheets, that he spent most of the day playing on it, took a 2 1/2 hour nap and demanded to go to bed at 8:00 pm (he went to sleep closer to 10:00 pm). We'll see how long it all lasts.
***Update***
This just in from Mom Mom, some old pictures of Allen's first big boy bed for the sake of comparison...
We were originally going to do, "The Year in Language," for our annual retrospective and list all the words that Owen now says. But that would require more typing that we're willing to do -- Owen's vocabulary was over 200 words before his birthday and has been increasing exponentially since -- and wouldn't make for the most fascinating of blog posts anyway. So instead, we've decided to share some of our favorite (and most used) phrases uttered in 2008:
Don't touch my haircut.
I too big for Daddy to carry.
Mommy, go cook something.
Thank you for cooking, Mommy.
It's very delicious.
It's fine.
I'm putting stars on the window.
Daddy doesn't go to church.
I hurt my butt.
Don't eat me.
I'm conducting.
That's forbidden, Mommy.
It's party time!
Move back.
I need my privacy.
I did a great job singing.
I like to move it, move it.
The camel waited for me.
Watch out for doggy poop.
Watch out for zebra poop.
I'm doing stuff.
I want to watch the muppet dvd.
I'm a sleepy lion.
I'm a waking up lion!
I have lots of gas.
Silly, Daddy.
Don't be silly, Mommy, the Hinkel-Horn-Honker is for waking up.
We're just hanging out here.
Wahhhhh....you better get a tissue.
I don't want to be crying.
Don't get the boogers out.
I cough a lot, Mommy.
I don't know.
Don't do me now.
I need to build a tall tall tower.
I need to knock down a tall tall tower.
It's dark in here everybody!
We're inside the Capitol everybody!
I better get my pasta out of my pocket.
You did a great job everybody.
I look pretty...I look beautiful.
See you later alligator.
After awhile crocodile.
You better wait right there daddy.
I'll be right back.
I want my blue bee bee bee and my orange bee bee bee.
Grandma and Grandpa Z came into town the day after Christmas for some quality time with Owen and some adventures in and about DC. With some very cooperative weather, we've packed in quite a bit of site seeing into the last few days.
Over the weekend we walked by the new Capitol Visitors Center and seeing the long lines decided to save that for later in the week, which was just as well with Owen since instead he could take us back to the Botanic Gardens to show Grandma and Grandpa the trains.
On Monday Elaine had to go back to work, but the rest of us took advantage of an amazingly warm and sunny December day to explore Mount Vernon. For Owen, George Washington's Christmas Camel alone was worth the price of admission. He loved petting the 11 month old camel and even serenaded him with a loving rendition of I Like to Move It Move It. Eventually we had to tear Owen away from the camel to explore the grounds (with a promise that we would see the camel again on the way out). Owen had a blast exploring the gardens, and even more fun running around on the lush green grass and enjoying the spectacular view from George's porch. He eventually tired of the scenic beauty and demand to go back and see the camel again. Upon seeing the camel he happily pronounced, "Yeah, the camel waited for me!" Not to be outdone in the enthusiasm department, the camel gave Owen a big wet kiss.
The plan for Tuesday was to meet Mommy for lunch at the National Portrait Gallery, so Owen could splash around in the courtyard wearing his new bright red boots. The meeting Mommy for lunch part of the plan worked perfectly, but the splashing about part of the plan crashed and burned when we found out the fountains were under repair. Undeterred, Owen had a great time running about the courtyard and pointing out all of the trees. After nap time, the cough that Owen had stolen from Grandpa came back with a vengeance, and our poor little guy was sick enough that we decided he should visit the doctor Friday morning.
When Friday morning rolled around we spent a couple hours at the doctor's office with a little boy that was clearly on the mend. We decided it was time to venture back to the Capitol Visitor's Center with the expectation that the weekday time and the chilly wind would cut down the crowds that had deterred us before. We met up with Grandpa Fawcett and saw his first 'movie' in a theater, Out of Many One, the movie everyone now sees before touring the Capitol. No doubt this was very exciting, Owen stood on his chair and repeatedly told the whole audience, "It's dark in here!" and "We're inside the Capitol everybody!" The audience was very appreciative of this information. Owen had fun on the rest of the tour, being particularly impressed at being inside the Capitol dome that sees almost everyday.
Tonight Grandma and Grandpa Z are babysitting Owen and Mommy and Daddy get to go out for a nice dinner to ring in the New Year. If you see Owen anytime in the next few months, I'm sure you'll be able to convince him to say, "Happy New Year everybody, and Happy Thanksgiving too!"
Wow. Three years. 36 Months. 1095 days. All Owen, all the time. We're a little freaked out about all the change that is about to come and how we'll all adapt, but hopefully we've learned enought over the past three years to muddle through.
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