why we love our kids

Dani and Liam were learning about dinosaurs and he said that they found dinosaur bones by digging in rocks. And Dani told him the word for that is paleontologist- "Do you wanna practice it?" He replied, "Practice, I don't need practice"-- Then he closed his eyes for a second, opened them, and said confidently,
"Pay-Liam-tologist. Got it". Then he was off to the next thing.

This morning on my way out to work bright and early he was on the front porch in his undies squirting me with a little water gun. In the middle of the barrage he stopped, gave me the routine high five, thumbs-up, knuckles that I get every time I leave, then he kept on shooting until I was out of range.

After dinner he had all his pirate gear on and he and I were on the couch steering the ship around the shark, which was little Elsie kicking happily on the floor. He's also been spending most of his play time with some random rope he found laying around, which he ties up to things and 'climbs' up mountains. And sometimes he ties up his mom by her belt loops to the computer chair when she's not paying attention.

Last night I fed Elsie rice cereal for the first time. She took it well and most of it went straight down the pipes. Except for when she shoved her foot in her mouth right after I'd get a spoonful in, then it was all over the place.

Liam was talking with Dani about getting bigger, and he said "Yeah, and when I'm BIG, *I* will be the boss of DAD!!" 

Whenever there's more than two of anything, he always says there are three. It's his own little word for lots. He pronounces three as "free". And he gets really excited when there are free of things.

"Dad, I'm getting big, huh? Yeah, but mom doesn't want me to get big, because she wants me to stay small so I can snuggle. But guess what? I'm going to get big. I take lots of naps and that's what gets me big."

Dani and the kids went to play group and Liam was running around and came back to Dani and said " I tried to chase the girls to get them to play with me but it didn't work. Then I started yelling "I'm not going to hurt you!" at them, and it still didn't work."

 Elsie's rolling over both ways all over the place and she's never quite where we left her on the floor when we come back-- always a few feet in a different random direction. Liam can get her to crack up basically on command.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Liam definitely looks the part. . . .

There is nothing as soothing a holding a sweet, sleeping baby. Babys dont get come any sweeter than Elsie.

Three Cheers for Gabe! We'll miss you.

We all know that nothing lives forever.  Not pets, not plants, not even people. All good things come to an end.  Our rabbit, Gabe Rabbit Firth, died yesterday and shocked our family with such a reminder .  

I don't know why it's so hard to lose a pet.  They're "just" animals and theoretically they should be very easily replaced. But somehow they sneak into our hearts and when they leave us for good, they create a void.  

Pets foster a type of unconditional love for their owners that's not quite replicated by humans. They become a part of our daily routine and with each act of nurturing we do for them they reciprocate and give us a sense of satisfaction and a job well done.

Gabe has been a very important part of the Firth home since we instantly bonded with him nearly 4 year ago.  We loved this bunny like dog owners love "mans best friend." We have had him since before we had Liam. He has lived illegally in our bath tub in Utah, in luxury in his own garage in Michigan and most recently in our backyard in Maryland.

He was potty trained and would drop what he was doing and come when his name was called.  He was cheap and low maintenance. He made our compost thrive.  He was always good for a snuggle even when everyone else was busy. Dang it, we weren't yet ready for him to leave and we'll miss him.

 

Enjoying time with family

This week we were so lucky to have our family come and spend time with us. My brother Jared and his wife Lacey came on the tail end of a trip from Africa. Brady's mom and sister Lindsey and our baby niece Molly came too for a few days. The house is quiet and lonely now that they're gone. It was fun discovering our new town with them. A quick list of our favorite things: 

Smithsonians- Absolutely amazing collection of dinosaurs, animals, a butterfly house, mummies. . . 

National memorials/ monuments
The White House-
Senate tour and session visit-

Gettysburg (Lacey and Jared)
dc metro,  dc warf, getting lost in the dc ghetto
Arlington national cemetery- while we were there a wreath ceremony was occurring for a mother that lost her son, It was hard not to get all misty eyed while they played taps. It is a very touching, sacred place.

Nana's "birthday"

 

i

DC Fun Run

My friend Stephanie and I are both training for the Baltimore Marathon and were able to add some miles in with this incredible D.C. monument tour via stroller. I love this place!

National Zoo

We loved the National Zoo. Elsie slept through most of it.  Liam said at the end of the day his favorite was the donkey from the kids barn (never mind the multimillion dollar panda research center.) Other family favs included the iguana (because of its close resemblance to Spike from Land Before Time) red panda, tiger, and the monkey. 

Living, loving, and adjusting, in D.C.

In the past 2 weeks. . . . . .:

-We accepted an offer on our Michigan home and are waiting to close. Hooray!

-We packed everything we own, including our rabbit Gabe, into a small semi (driven with care by Brady) and trekked  to Maryland.
          Brady drove all night, biked, and then ran to class barely arriving 2 minutes early to his first day of school. He's already the "cool, new kid" and is taking everything in stride. He can take his comprehensive exams this spring allowing him to start working on his dissertation this summer. 

- Brady sprained his shoulder AC joint playing rugby

- Took 2 field trips to1)- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and 2)Smithsonian National Zoo
-Went to our new church ward across the street from "Fro Cuts" and "Super Selecto"

-Scrubbed, cleaned and still cleaning our new, dirty- yet- cute, house.  I planted my perennial divisions, spray painted the toilet seats, put out ant and mice traps, replaced cupboard knobs, ate ikea cinnamon rolls after a successful evening of budget shopping.
- Riverdale Park Farmers market

-Met some new friends at a play group and at the College Park airport story time - Committed myself to both a book club and an occasional 6 am group jog.

This will be an interesting and enjoyable 3 years for us.  Lots of fascinating people, events, and places. If you need our new address, email us and let us know.