Life in the District

At Lincoln's Memorial, the walls are engraved with his speeches. Our favorite quote comes from a speech given during the Civil War:

Both [sides] read the same Bible and pray to the same God and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any man should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces but let us judge not that we be not judged.

On a lighter note, here's B lovin the roll-away hotel crib. And...

WE SAW AIR FORCE ONE!

(Note the 3 specks in the picture.)

Scooty-Booty

Sadly, between several rental cars and several hotels and walking all over the city, my camera has gone missing.

Since we've last posted...B has ridden the metro dozens of times, seen thousands of fireflies, visited his Grandparents over 4th of July weekend, received many kisses from a cougar (a toddler) at Barnes & Noble, and viewed the White House, National Mall, Arlington Cemetary, Smithsonian (dinosaurs, hope diamond, Betsy Ross's flag), Iwo Jima, WW II Memorial, Abe Lincoln, etc. This Saturday, Beau's taking his dad on a whirlwind tour of possible apartments in the District and Alexandria. Yeah!!

Beau has also gotten the new nickname Scooty-Booty. Still no official crawling but I was telling my sister Kate that I can stand in another room and call out "Beau...Beau" and then Mr. Scooty-Booty himself will appear at my feet.

Forgive the quality of these, I'm using my cell:

MEXICO-Edit/Remove slideshow

I'd be remiss if I didn't post pictures from Mexico!

Beau & I went to a family reunion in San Carlos in the middle of June. My grandparents have 10 children & 80 grandchildren. So...there were a lot of us.

We played on the beach, swam, collected shells, shopped in the market, went sailing & snorkeling, the cousins exercised together in the mornings and played games late into the night and (my favorite part) each night a different family hosted dinner & a program. Sunday was Father's Day and the program was a tribute to my Grandfather. Monday we did Book of Mormon charades and fireworks on the beach. Other nights included games, skits, and latin-dancing.

It was incredibly fun.

Plane People

Yesterday (Wednesday) felt surreal.
Everything was normal when we woke up. Beau’s toys were strewn across the floor in the front room. Some dishes sat in the sink waiting to be washed. Pierre opened the balcony door to let in the breeze. I took a long shower.
But at 9am the movers showed up and by mid-afternoon, the apartment was barren minus a few dust bunnies blowing across the floor.
We loaded our suitcases into a taxi and said goodbye to California.

Today (Thursday) we took a one-way flight across the country. We arrived in Washington D.C. at night. And something about the thick forest; the dark, empty roads and light reflecting off the Potomac made me feel like I’d entered the Legends of Sleepy Hollow.

Beau seems a little anxious sleeping in a new place but otherwise we are settled. Pierre will take the metro to work and we’ll live at the hotel until we find a more permanent home.

Pull strap to tighten

9 MONTHS OLD

My friend Julie does a monthly "birthday" post about her daughter. (How cool is that?!!  She'll be able to look back and remember exactly what her baby was like at each age?)

Anyway, I think it is such a great idea! So, I'm going to start the same tradition with Beau who just turned 9 months old.

B-BOY:

-has 4 teeth

-eats every 3 hours (breakfast, lunch, dinner + 2 bottle-snacks)

-loves to babble and make high, shrill noises

-can scoot to things he wants (his friend Kaylie taught him)

-is quick to smile and laugh

-spends about 45 minutes in the bathtub everyday

-can eat a whole apricot on his own

-unintentionally pinches really hard and pulls hair

-naps for 2 hours in the morning and 3-4 in the afternoon

-loves to lean against people, lay his head on your shoulder & give open-mouth kisses

-wiggles his whole body and slaps the ground when he gets excited

-is very ticklish (neck, chest, armpits, legs)

-loves to stand (and goes stiff as a board when you try to make him sit

-lunges out of my lap or arms for whatever he wants

-sleeps on his stomach

-reaches his arms up to you when he wants to be held