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Seven years ago today I started working for the government. I've now been in DC longer than I was in college and grad school combined. Wow.

Updating things

I updated my baby registeries this week to help the family shoppers. I do want to get some new things in girl colors other than just clothes (like blankets and towels and such) but I don't want to overdo the pink which I think can happen easily. Maybe I just like blue more than pink and so the girl stuff seems a little overwhelming pink. But hopefully we can mix it up with some light purple.

And here's the update on some of Dylan's fun new words:

aape-pain - translation airplane; he is also now learning that his toy airplanes go in the air instead of on the ground like the other transportation vehicle toys - he even makes the "swwwwoooo" noise for the plane flying through the air.

dump (wait for it) truck; for some reason Dylan says this as two separate phrases instead of one

lots of verbs - come, clap, burp

new-new - fig newton

Even though he's not speaking in sentences, he can now string enough words together that we know what he's talking about more and more. We are also trying to teach him 'sister.' He can repeat it.

I think Dylan is going to be good at foreign languages. His dolphin sound is essentially a rolling r sound like in spanish and he says his friend Richie's name with a very spanish r (very appropriate since Richie's mom is from Peru). He also says his Ks like he's speaking Hebrew. Milkkkaa. And Truckkkaa with that deep throat sound. Maybe that's more German.

I like pink.

It's a GIRL!!! We're very excited! So are the fams. She will be the first baby grandaughter on both sides. (The shoppers, our moms, have been released!)

We already have a name but we're not telling....but I might give some clues on the blog so stay tuned.

(The title of this post is a very rare Simpsons reference that *I* came up with, not my hubby.)

It was a date

For the first time since Dylan was born we paid a babysitter and went out on a date on Friday. It wasn't a special occasion or anything. Except maybe that we wanted to use the movie gift card that we got for Christmas. We saw Dark Knight (excellent movie, btw) and went out to eat afterwards. Not sure our pocket books want to stand doing that more frequently but Martin and do want to spend some alone time together before the new baby comes. Not that we feel like we need a break from Dylan - on the contrary, in fact, about 2 hours after he went to bed last night we missed him and wanted to wake him up to play with him. But we feel we should spend some alone time together. We're looking forward a "baby moon" this fall probably to the Shendandoah.

Hiking again!

Today we went on our first hike in what seemed like forever. We did probably the shortest hike in our 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of DC book - Winkler Botanical Preserve. We had actually tried to do this hike twice before, but the gate to the preserve was closed the other two times. We took Dylan in the backpack, but he started crying after about half way. We took him out of the backpack and let him walk for a while. That didn't seem to appease him until we came to this really cool creek that was just deep enough for him to walk in and get his feet wet but not too deep that he would get too wet. Luckily he had his fake crocs on, so we just let him walk in the creek in them. He loved it and stopped crying. I think we'll definitely go back to this place, even if only to play in the creek. Unfortunately I didn't take the camera to get any pictures. The place was really pretty too with a lake and a manmade waterfall and many flowers in bloom.

Chincoteague - Day 2 (at the Beach)

We only spent about an hour on the beach - just to eat lunch and get our feet wet. But the beach is one reason I want to go back to Chincoteague. It's a natural wildlife refuge so there are no hotels on the beach - it's so nice. The sand was really really hot but apparently it didn't bother Dylan. After the beach we went on a hike in the more wooded area. The paths are paved so I think it would have been cooler to do on a bike. So that's what I want to do next time.

Chincoteague - Day 2 (on the Boat)

We were probably crazy for taking a 20 month old on this small of boat for an hour and a half but "Dylan did great!" We were quite tired of holding him afterward but it was worth it.

Chincoteague - Day 2 (Mun-GHEES)

Mun-ghees is how Dylan says ponies. We saw lots of ponies at Chincoteague, well technically the ponies live on Assateague Island, just east of Chincoteague. Most of the photos taken below were taken from the boat we were on. You can see how far away we were in the first picture. Then I used the zoom on our camera to get the others. The one with the white pony was taken from the side of the road, also zoomed. The last one was at a petting zoo.

My sleep-loving child

I think Dylan might be going through a growth spurt because he's been sleeping a lot lately. He's also been sick so maybe its just that. But it's been pretty funny how he actually wants to sleep. There were a few days this week where Dylan would wake up and then go and try to climb back into his crib (unsuccessfully). Then last night he tried to climb into his crib without eating hardly any dinner. Martin put him in the crib and he went to sleep. This has been a real blessing for me especially as the good naps help me out so I can work from home on Tues and Fri. Hopefully this will last even after the new baby comes.

Oh, one other thing about Dylan that has been cool lately. He has learned verbs - sit, jump, walk are the favorites. Sometimes he even tells *me* to sit. Like when I'm running around in the kitchen and he's eating in his high chair. He tells me to sit in my chair and keep him company while he eats. (Sometimes I need to listen to him as opposed to the other way around.) He has been telling us more what he wants us to do lately and even guiding us to what he wants. (Like taking our hands and taking us to our closet to put on our shoes when we mention going outside.) While I'm hoping he's not becoming too bossy, I'm glad he is communicating more. It's fun.

Heather's Crazy Calendar Facts

Most of you know that I remember birthdays and anniversaries of things pretty well. Today is a fun one. Sixteen years ago today I got my driver's license. I was sixteen at the time so today marks that day that I have been driving more of my life than not! For someone who often forgets that she's not 16 anymore (or at least it seems like it was yesterday), this is a pretty crazy fact.

Today is also a fun calendar day since it's 08-08-08. There's a gal from church who is due any day now and was hoping her baby would come today. That would be a cool birthday. I'm sure CNN has something about some kid turning 8 today or something. I guess there will be one of these every year though until 2013. I still think it's special.

Chincoteague - Day 1

On the way into Chincoteague we stopped at Wallop's Flight Facility (sort of a branch of NASA where they lauched some rockets).




Dylan really liked the hotel where we stayed.

He particularly liked the wardrobe where he played hide and seek with us.



We particularly liked the hotel for the great sunset views we got.