Play Area at Dallas Airport...

Feb 18, 2012 (Saturday)
Tully is 10 months old

With another early schedule for our flight home, we packed up the night before and were ready to fall out of bed and head to the airport today.  Leaving DC and connecting in Dallas we found a play area that Tully was able to enjoy during our layover.  The area was large and there were several children playing.  It was interesting to watch him and see how intrigued he was by the older children.

He went straight for the red car and then turned and looked at us!

...and soon pointed!
His baby sign language that he has learned
serves his purpose quite well since he can't talk.  Haa

Of course, Grammy put him in the car and he drove
really fast... just like Grammy!

He was quite excited,
but later was ready to move on to the next thing.

He crawled to a puzzle on the wall and began spinning the pieces.

Another child soon joined him and
 it was so nice to see that Tully was very sharing.

I guess he decided he should stand though to be on the
same playing level!

He eventually wandered over to the bridge...

...and without any hesitation

crawled right through the tunnel.

He scoped out a few of the other things there before we had to leave the play area.

I'm so glad he is eager to explore and learn.

I always said, "Ashley's spunk would take her places."  I feel the same way for him, the trick will be for him to learn what he can and cannot do with that spunk or rather what he should or should not do with it.  He is such a little corker right now.

He looks like such an innocent little boy sitting so still in his
seat as we waited for our flight... just puffing his little cheeks out.

...but within seconds he was crawling about!

...and trying to inch around the arm of the chair!

or he would stand...

but was quickly crawling "over" the arm!
There is no "just" sitting or standing, he has to be moving!

In fact, it was just easier at times for Grammy to just walk
with him and explore or look out the window.
At this particular moment, he was pretty interested
in the phone conversation this stranger was having.

He's a sweetheart and I love the opportunity to travel and spend time with him.  He is growing and learning so much during these early years.  It will be fun to watch and see where life takes him or where he takes his life!  One thing for sure, he will grow up knowing that Grammy Deb loves him very much!

Other related stories for this trip:
Tully's on the Plane Again
Valentine's Day
Monkey Climber
Tully Rides the Train
Fun in Bethesda
More of Bethesda

More of Bethesda...

February 17, 2012 (Friday)

I showed you pictures of beautiful fountains on our trip to DC last fall.  Tully was 5 1/2 months old then and he enjoyed watching them.  We were disappointed that they were all closed for the winter during this trip; the temps were great being in the upper 60's and low 70's, but I guess technically February is still winter.

This is still a cool fountain, but not the same without the water.

This fountain is the one that flowed down the wall,
traveled through the trough into the white bowl,
and then spilled over into the larger pool...
again it is interesting, but again so much better with water!

Tully's stroller could not be sitting there if the water had been flowing.  Despite the dry fountains, we did find many beautiful gardens of pansies throughout the Bethesda area.

It didn't take much to make Tully happy, he just loved being out and about!

The city has lots of architecture throughout it's landscape and buildings, it truly is a beautiful city.

We found this entrance that had multiple rows of flower pots,
even the sidewalks are beautiful,
many with granite or with inlays and designs.

We saw high rises...

...but yet, we strolled along streets with quaint little shops.

These are just a few pictures while on our afternoon stroll.  Tomorrow we head to the airport to return home.  I'm sure Tully will be excited to see his Daddy!

Other related stories to this trip:

Tully's on the Plane Again
Valentine's Day
Monkey Climber
Tully Rides the Train
Fun in Bethesda

Play Area at Dallas Airport

Fun in Bethesda...

Friday, Feb 17, 2012 (My sister's birthday-- Happy Birthday, Barb)
Tully is 10 months old in this blog.

Today was our last day to play in Bethesda, which is part of the DC area.  I caught Tully laying down watching cartoons!

I was excited for the WHOLE TWO NANO SECONDS!
I can't believe I had time to grab the camera.

For (1) he really doesn't watch cartoons and (2) he never lays still!!  I texted the picture to Mommy and told her what a good boy Tully was being, but she KNEW that picture was only for nano seconds!

Tully very quickly went from cartoons to one of his favorite games

Where's Tully?

There's Tully!

I have so much fun with him... I'm sure he would come live with Grammy if Mommy would let him... but part of my fun is being able to spoil him sweet and then give him back :-D

After a lazy start for our morning, we went to Barnes and Noble Book Store, which is like an indoor playground.  We went there last fall, but the few months difference in his age now made a huge difference in his activity level.

He sat down at the table of Legos and went right to work.

I asked Tully if he knew what he was doing...
he looked at me as if to say "well, yes!"
I later asked his Mommy if he had ever played with Legos...
and she said, "no".

We moved on and he spotted a rack
of animal back packs and he had to share his love.
He loves fur against his face.  So sweet.

...then he quickly spotted a full rack of stuffed toys.

...and immediately began to clear the bottom shelf! 

He almost had that shelf cleared when he spotted the 2nd shelf that was FULL...
OH BOY!

He stood up and proceeded to empty that shelf as well... 

Oops, he just realized he missed one on that bottom shelf!

...and now for that final one off the 2nd shelf!   ALL DONE!
I'm sure if he could have reached the 3rd shelf, it would have been cleared too.

 We obviously picked those toys up and then headed to the next thing in sight...

We found a wood train track and he seemed to know what he was doing.
He didn't quite have all the wheels on the track, but I was surprised
that he even had a clue what to do with it.
I know he does not have a train track at home.

He then spotted that little train engine at the top of the track

Now he can have some two-handed fun!
You can see other children in the background...

Eventually, one of the boys came over to play with the trains and
Tully was quite interested in what his new playmate was doing.

... but then proceeded to show that older boy how to play with them!
I love the determination on his face.

He soon spotted a yellow truck with a lift on it
and so the two train pieces went to the floor!

He decided it might be easier on the floor...

...and played there for awhile.

... but he was soon back up to the tracks.
Again, I love the expression on his face.

We ventured over to the library area
and he spotted a book in the rack with wheels on it.

He got his tractor on it's wheels, but was distracted by another child that was there.

It was pretty narrow, so it took him a bit to figure out exactly how to roll it.

But, he soon conquered that quest as well.
We read several of the books -- all short stories.

He crawled over to another rack of books, which all had hard board pages,
and I promise you he would have emptied that rack if I had let him;
but I thought it was better to just sit and read one of them.

We had almost finished the book when he saw the shelf
of toys and certainly was curious what they were.

He was quite intent to figure them out.
Obviously, these toys were for sale
but, we had no room in our suitcases! 

We didn't linger long at the shelf toys,
even though I know Tully would have loved to play longer;
but, it was time to head back to the hotel for his afternoon nap.

You can see from the number of pictures I take, that I love to watch Tully and how his little mind works.  Our next trip to Barnes and Noble should prove to be even more fun as he grows and develops his skills to play with things.  We had a fun time and he got back in his stroller without rebelling too much.

Related links on this trip:
Tully on the Plane Again
Valentine's Day in DC
The Monkey Climber
Tully's Metro Train Ride
More of Bethesda
Play Area at Dallas Airport