Words

We are delighting in Winston's word acquisition skills. Just last week, as he was pulling his morning yogurt out of the refrigerator, he reached back in, looked up at Dave and said, "another?" How does a child learn that concept? With Winston, we're not surprised to find it linked to a) food (he's got a healthy appetite) and b) yogurt (by far his favorite food).

The mild winter weather continues here in DC, and we are taking full advantage. On Saturday, we visited Roosevelt Island, which is in the middle of the Potomac just outside of DC. The trail is about 1.5 miles and spring is already beginning to emerge with new green shoots from the ground and on the trees. Winston delighted in all the sticks on the ground (nothing more exciting than picking up a stick, counting to 5, and throwing it back into the trees). Dave's query: "what separates our son from a golden retriever at this stage?"

The photo above makes me laugh. Winston saw the statue from afar and shouted, "MAN!" as he ran toward it. He then spent 5 minutes looking up at Teddy Roosevelt calling out all the body parts and clothing. Foot, shoe, knee, leg, pants, stomach, arm, hand, fingers, shirt, coat, neck, mouth nose, eyes, ears, hair, head. Visiting national monuments and historical places certainly takes on a different perspective with a 19 month old.

On Sunday, Kate Moore, Michael Smith and Lamour Rogers joined us for dinner. It was great to entertain in the new house and wonderful to reconnect with dear friends. Winston loved the attention and particularly took to Kate (she brought him a scuba man that swims in water..."man kick, man kick, man kick" has been heard shouted--exuberantly--throughout the house ever sense).

On Monday, Winston and I found a wild bird store and bought bird feeders for our back yard. We have a huge bank of windows in the living room that oversee tall trees and shrubs in the back yard. Perfect for observing birds, squirrels and other wildlife from the comfort of the couch! Sadly, the only visitor yesterday was a curious squirrel, who was foiled by the "no squirrel" design of the bird feeder. We're hoping a few curious birds make their way to our yard and discover the bounty of yummy seeds.

We ended the long weekend by taking our little golden retriever out to the park on Monday afternoon to let him run around and burn off energy. Hence the photo below.

Hello from DC

Has it really been 4 months since our last Winston update? Sadly, it has, and what a 4 months it has been. We've uprooted from Miami, including selling our home, and planted ourselves in Bethesda, MD. So our apologies for the lag in postings...we'll get back to the regularly scheduled program.
Winston is now 19 months old, 33 pounds (solid!), and 33 inches. He is a whirlwind of energy. He is talking a blue streak, stringing a few words together, and delights in his new talent of counting (he's great until 6, then needs some help). He's fascinated by mommy's new iphone...he loves recording videos, performing for the camera, and then watching his performance seconds later. He's helping with "chores" around the house, and while he exhausts us with his level of energy, he's generally a pretty good child.

He's also tough. Lots of bumps and bruises, and a new nasty gash on his forehead where he ran full speed into the bookcases at his new day care. We inspected...no sharp edges anywhere. "We've never seen a child do that." Oh boy.

Speaking of which: We found a new daycare and the transition has been remarkably smooth. Within two weeks, Winston was marching in like he owned the place, taking his coat off, navigating through two doors, and plopping down in the middle of 8 other kids. It gives Dave and I enormous relief to see him so happy. The program is pre-Montessori and it is really an interesting model for teaching children. We're reading up on it because I'm just amazed at how calm the kids are whenever we pop in. I'm convinced they distribute sedatives every morning.



We're having fun exploring the new city. There is a hiking trail not far from our house (where we took the photo above). The winter has been very mild so were taking full advantage and getting out as much as possible. There is a park a few blocks from our house, but Winston's favorite play area is next door, where Alice, a 4 year old, lives. Alice has a great swing set and whenever we head outside, he heads over.

We've had visits from Mo, as well as the Barrys, and will look forward to welcoming Mary this week and my parents and Sarah in March. We've got lots of room and would love to have you visit us in DC!

Enjoy the photos!!