Slump

I realize that it's been awhile since I've posted pictures, so I started to pick up where I'd left off time wise to post some pictures from early November. The problem is that my laptop (B will claim it is his, but he can't have TWO) has temporarily died. It doesn't recognize it's AC adapter anymore, which means it can't turn on. We've ordered a new AC adapter, but when I looked to see when it would be arriving, I noticed that even though we gave them our VA address, they mailed it to our old Kansas address. I need that computer specifically because that's where all the pictures are. Argh.

Talking

Baby X (I need a new name for him), has been talking a lot more lately. He's doing a much better job saying words after we ask him to say them too. Here are some new words he says:

Baby X (bebe EH)
Iggy
Bird/Birdy
Dog/Bug/Flag (all sound about the same)
Book
Bed
Bowl
Amen
Thank You
Milk
Baby
Bath
Bye Bye
Boo!
Woo hoo.
Elmo
Big Bird

He still leaves the ending sound off most of his words, but he's trying.

He is obsessed with Elmo. Buddy is now his Elmo watching buddy and sometimes Princess Sparkley. There's apparently a routine on one of the Elmo recipes that goes like this:

"Kid, you know so much about a banana you could be one!"
[joke drum roll]
"THANK YOU!!!"

They've trained Baby X so Ella says the first part and does a fake drum roll, and Baby X yells out "Thank you!!!" And cracks up.

The National Gallery

You Can't Take a Balloon into The National Gallery

I took the kids to the National Gallery in Washington DC on Saturday. Thanks to my wonderfully creative sister-in-law who reminded me that this book existed and loaned me her copy, we had a pretty fun time.

The book, (from the same illustrator as the Fancy Nancy books), tells a story with only pictures, no words. There's a fun map in front of the balloon's route around DC. The back of the book lists all of the real artwork with credits, as well as telling you about famous Americans that are drawn into many of the scenes. The basic premise of the story is a grandma (or possibly older mom) taking her two grandkids (or possibly children) to the National Gallery, but the girl has a balloon, and you can't take a balloon into the National Gallery. They end up tying the balloon to a photographers George Washington cardboard cut-out outside and they enter the museum.

While they are seeing the famous artwork, the balloon has become free and is having an adventure of its own around famous DC landmarks. The artwork depicted in the book is real artwork owned by the National Gallery (it's not always all on display, we saw artwork that my sister-in-law had marked as not on display, and she saw paintings that weren't on display when we visited). Along with the real artwork are drawings of the balloons crazy adventures that are very similar to the artwork the grandkids are seeing in the gallery. For instance:

My kids were wimpy about reenacting the exact pose.
And my camera took a terrible picture with the lighting in here.

The National Gallery is HUGE! There were a lot of sections that we hurried through. But there were also sections that my kids really enjoyed. Baby X loved the displays of horse armor and kept blowing raspberries (his horse noise). He also liked any paintings involving dogs or babies. Thank goodness for the periods of art history where women were depicted with their babies, or when drawing the Madonna with baby was hugely popular.

When we first entered the museum, I asked the woman at the information desk for anything they had special for kids. She handed me a glossy sheet of paper with about 20 one inch square pictures of artwork in the museum that kids tend to like (a statue of a girl ballerina, a painting of a fluffy white dog, a portrait of George Washington, etc.) to use as a sort of I Spy game. This, mixed with the book and the artwork from it we were trying to find, really helped keep the kids interested. Someone also suggested going to the gift shop first and letting each kid pick out a postcard of a piece of artwork (75 cents) and then they try to find it while you tour the museum. I didn't happen upon the gift shop until the end, so I let them each pick a postcard of their favorite artwork. Princess Sparkley picked a postcard of the girl ballerina statue. Buddy picked a postcard of Washington DC on the fourth of July with fireworks (not exactly the artwork postcard I was going for) and I chose Wayne Thiebaud's famous "Cakes" painting.*

I'm not going to lie to you and say it was all wonderful and the kids were great art enthusiasts. Taking a 7 year old, a 5 1/2 year old, and especially a 21 month old to an art gallery by myself was not easy. About halfway through the main floor Baby X was losing it. We took a break, went out on the front steps and ate snacks for about 20 minutes. We were yelled at by five museum guards:
1. Buddy pushing Baby X in the stroller sort of wildly in an exhibit room while I tried to help PS take a picture of a painting she wanted to photograph.
2. In the modern art part of the museum Buddy was trying to get really close to a painting (because modern art is excitingly crazy) and a guard had to tell us to stay 12 inches back... he was actually really nice about it.
3. Buddy absentmindedly running his hand along a table in the middle of an exhibit room. Apparently this table was on exhibit... it was just the first art of that type we'd come across.
4. Buddy absentmindedly running his hand along a large, weird statue in a foyer/stairway area that was also, apparently artwork. This guard was nice and friendly about it as well.
5. In the modern art building there are trees with little circle benches around them in the foyer. Buddy was walking around speedily on one of these little walls... no where near any artwork, but the guard didn't want him to fall.

Buddy and Princess Sparkley on the steps of the National Gallery
Princess Sparkley is in light blue, just left of center.

Baby X (freed from his stroller), PS and Buddy on the steps of the National Gallery

Between the National Gallery and the East building that houses the modern art museum, is this courtyard with glass pyramids. The pyramids, it turns out, are skylights that look down into the cafe. We then went down to the concourse between the two museums and saw the pyramids as skylights. Riding the flat escalator walkway between the two museums, underground, may have been the highlight of the trip for Buddy.

In the modern art museum.

*I'm planning a complete kitchen design around his cake paintings now.

Lost Tooth #2

bottom, middle, right

Buddy had an exciting Halloween... during the block party he showed me that his 2nd lost tooth was really wiggly. A bit later he came to me with the tooth. He said he was walking around and saw it fall to the ground so he looked around for it and picked it up. This was extra exciting since we can only assume the first missing tooth must have gotten swallowed. This time the tooth fairy left him a Sacajawea dollar. Lucky kid.

Block Party and Trick or Treating

The witch and Piglet.

The cousins had a Halloween block party before Trick or Treating.


Baby X stole a kid's ride-on firetruck and took off down the street.


Cute Dinosaur.


More donuts on a string.


Even Buddy tried this time once we assured him so one was looking. The donut was too tempting.


A variation of the cake walk.


Fireman Buddy playing a game.




Out trick or treating. Cousin S was never around when I was taking group pictures.


The loot. Buddy's pumpkin was filled to the brim... and SO HEAVY. And this isn't even counting his trunk or treat candy from the night before. Yikes!

Carving Pumpkins with the cousins

Cousin G and Princess Sparkley drawing faces on their pumpkins.


Baby X's was hard as a rock... I couldn't even get more than the tip of a huge kitchen knife into it... so we drew the face on.



Princess Sparkley's


Buddy wanted his to be a fireman just like him so we brought this plastic hat we got at a restaurant a few months ago to dress his pumpkin up with.


Gutting the pumpkin. This grosses my kids out. Cousin G ended up pulling all the seeds out of Buddy's pumpkin for him.


Buddy's Fireman pumpkin...complete with mustache.


Princess Sparkley's Princess Pumpkin, with crown and necklace.



Baby X saying "Boo!"


Two princesses.


Two firemen.


B carving an extra pumpkin.


Originally, PS had wanted a cat on her pumpkin, but then she got carried away with the marker and made hers into a princess. So B carved a cat on the extra pumpkin.


The cousins all dressed up.
G is piglet (a last minute change from being Olivia the pig).
And S is Annakin Skywalker.

Trunk or Treat #2... with cousins

We spent Halloween weekend with B's sister's family. Friday night was a Trunk or Treat at their church.


Costume Parade.


The highlight of the evening for Baby X was this teenager dressed as Elmo. All night long all Baby X would do was look around for Elmo and then constantly point and say "EhmoEhmoEhmo." But when we went trunk or treating, and "Elmo" was sitting with Uncle G, Baby X was totally spooked by him.


Baby X's first time trunk or treating, last week at our church's trunk or treat, he just ate lollipops and helped me hand out candy from our trunk. He figured it all out and when we were done pulled out his candy, one at a time, to show it all to me.


Baby X with
Witch Daddy

Three of the cousins sampling their candy.