GoPro Session video of the ride over Long Bridge out of DC into North Virginia, from the back of a VRE commuter train. In addition to the usual DC landmarks, watch for the WMATA Metrorail train, and an airliner on approach to DCA:
(It’s a view I’ve always wanted to capture on video, but I’ve always hesitated to actually stand up and do the recording. As it is, when I walked to the back fo the train to record the scene, one passenger did give me an alarmed look that seemed to express a sentiment like “OH NO THAT BROWN PERSON IS AFFIXING A SMALL CUBE TO THE TRAIN DOOR” — but she looked relieved when I said “It’s a camera.”)
We ate some Caucasian lamb chops and lavash wraps in Armenia (with some Kotayk lager beer), and artisanal gelato in Catalonia.
Ezra really enjoyed the wide open space on the National Mall and ran around a bit within sight of the Washington Monument — which he can now identify by name.
At two years of age, our son Ezra has officially graduated from “baby” to full-fledged “toddler.” He is completely off milk bottles and baby food, walks and runs and goes up and down stairs and really enjoys the wading pool.
He can now speak in short phrases, can say “hi” and “bye” and “please” and “thank you”, and has even learned to be defiant and say “NO”. He’s learning his letters and recognizes Os and Bs on sight, and can count from one to two, maybe three if he concentrates. Dogs are all puppies, but cats are cats, and he can tell Martha from Amelia.
Water is agua, juice is “jees.” He can identify his favorite foods, and is especially fond of blueberries (“boobappies”) and watermelon (“nenin”). Elevators are his favorite thing but he has mixed them up with “alligator” which he has abbreviated to “aggie.”
Outside he collects spiky sweetgum pods, picks wildflowers, and has dubbed the stream under the park bridge “turtle poop water.”
He’s also extremely enthusiastic about trains. He watches Chuggington and random railfan videos on YouTube, and likes to say hi and bye to the Metro and VRE as they pass by.
He knows his way around an iPad, and has figured out Neko Atsume and PokemonGO — although he seems to think the point of the game is to feed wild Pokemon berries rather than catch them.
Happy birthday, kid, welcome to the terrible terrific twos.
As Ezra is no longer a baby, the “Baby Ezra” Flickr photo album that has tracked his progress from ultrasounds to toddlerhood is now closed to updates, though new photos will still be added to the Ezra tag.
Joined family in Orlando for a trip to Disney World and the 2018 McDonalds International Convention. Last such family trip to Disney World was in 2006 so it had been a while, and there are many more of us now: total group size was 13. Very happy that the rest of the family finally got to meet Ezra, especially Dad, who had not met his grandson yet.
First off, there were some nice blossoms right outside the Library of Congress, which I snapped first just in case I never made it to the Tidal Basin this year due to busyness.
Around peak bloom time, I ran over to the Tidal basin with my NEX3N for a quick cherry blossom lunch break.
Along the way I discovered a walking route from L’Enfant to the Tidal Basin via the Rosa Parks bridge, an old railroad span converted to pedestrian overpass over Maine Ave SW behind the Mandarin at L’Enfant. I see the bridge from the train every morning but didn’t know it was publicly accessible, greatly shortening the walk from L’Enfant to the Tidal Basin.
Time was short so I pretty much just went from Maine Ave to Jefferson Memorial and back, snapping photos along the way and swapping between fisheye lens and telephoto.
Also paused at Jefferson Memorial for a bit; haven’t been in there for a few years.
We went back over the weekend to bring Ezra over for his first hanami but he mostly napped. (Was also his first ride on Metro, which went well.)
Also tried a cherry-blossom-themed donut at Dunkin. It was … a donut.
A look back at some of the snow we got to cap off winter around the day of Spring Solstice. Ezra had fun walking around in it.
I also tried my hand at making my first full-size snowperson. (My old tiny windowsill snowmen don’t count as full-size.) With the right twigs for arms, I managed to construct a decent snow-likeness of Roll Safe.
More photos from the insufficiently snowy 2017-2018 winter season here.
Sixteen years now with this church, singing and worshipping with them. I looked back through my archives and found my first mention of this church in 2002. Lots of changes since then — and sometimes it really has felt like death and resurrection.
At 21 months of age, Ezra is well into the transition to toddlerhood. He can walk, run, walk backwards, and even negotiate stairs with help. (One thing he can’t do yet is jump; he bends his knees and jerks upward a bit without leaving the floor. He’ll get it someday. )
He can sort shapes and do simple toddler puzzles. He actually has a vocabulary now: maybe 50-100 words, including various body parts. He can identify his mom (“MAMA”) and dad (“DADA”) and cats (“CAT”) and grandparents (“BABA” for both grandpa and grandma). He understands a lot more than he speaks, able to follow simple instructions like “put your clothes in the hamper” or “get the ball and throw it here” or “don’t release the clutch so fast, and shift to a lower gear to slow down on a steep downhill slope.”
At the dinner table he can handle a spoon and fork, and eats a variety of soft foods without complaint. He’s got at least four molars in and sharp canines showing now. The fact that he can bite and chew a banana and identify it by name (“NANA”) is still amazing to us. Sometimes he’ll sit in a regular chair to eat, and he’s big enough that his chin isn’t on the table.
When at church he likes the cookies at the post-service reception.
He really, really loves being outdoors, even when it’s cold, and tries to socialize with other kids by throwing balls towards them.
Ezra also got his second haircut and seems to have gotten over the worst of his earlier stranger/separation anxiety, handling the process with much more calm than his first.
He can also use a laptop, tablet, phone, or handheld gaming console; so far his favorite game is “find the home button and press it repeatedly.”
Just 3 months shy of two, when I can’t really call him a baby anymore.
Much-anticipated launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket yesterday out of KSC Pad 39A: three F9 boosters strapped together, with a Tesla Roadster mounted atop the upper stage as a test payload. Two side boosters returned for a synchronized double landing at CCAFS, while the core booster aimed for a barge landing in the Atlantic (but missed and went through RUD in the water).
The Tesla Roadster, while definitely a frivolous indulgence on Elon Musk’s part, made for some amazing visuals as cameras sent back live views of the car, spacesuited “Starman” posed in the driver’s seat, backdropped by space and a shrinking planet Earth. After a departure burn, Starman and its car are heading out past Mars to the asteroid belt.
