Tully Travels to Washington DC - Day 5...

Today, Friday, September 23, 2011, is Mommy's last day of conference in DC.  Grammy and Tully had their usual time for playing in the morning.  Tully was sitting on the bed with me and he found the hose to my c-pap...

This was an interesting new toy to him!

"What is this, Grammy?"

"Can I eat it?"

Today was our last day to go out in the stroller, and it ended up being a rainy day!  But we didn't let no stinkin' drizzling rain stop us!  We waited a little while thinking it might stop, but of course it did not, so we just rolled along singing in the rain.  Grammy put on her hooded rain jacket, and then slipped Tully's feet in a small trash bag, tying the corners of the bag to the stroller; and then I put a towel on his lap.  I thought the stroller was a bit weird the way the hood came down, but obviously it is made to keep the wind out of the child's face... so I assumed it would do a good job on keeping the rain from his face as well, should it decide to rain harder! 

Tully was bundled secure from getting wet, so off we went!

We came in and out from the hotel several times today breaking for naps and meals and waited the heavier rain out a few times.

He awoke from his nap and was a happy baby!

He was ready to put his shoes on and go see more of this big world!

"C'mon Grammy, let's roll!"

One trip out, Grammy forgot to take his bib off.
Oh well, he didn't seem to mind. 

...he was quite intrigued with that canopy that came over his head!
He noticed that he could see through the top too!

He just rolled with the weather and we stopped every now and then in a store or under an awning.  We managed to find our way back to Fancy Cakes by Leslies and brought Mommy another treat home.  The store clerk liked the plastic bag on his feet!

The clerk commented that she liked the "baby unsafe" attire! 

I looked down at him and found that little stinker had managed to untie one side of the bag from the stroller and he had the bag in his hand playing with it... not that the bag would reach to his mouth... but none-the-less, I re-tied it to the stroller, this time a little tighter.  I told the clerk, mommy would cringe to see this get-up so we could go out in the rain!  She laughed and agreed, "hey it works to keep him dry!" ...and it did!

Finally, the rain stopped for a bit and we managed to find a new fountain to observe.  This one was quite unique with lots of copper bowls and vases that caught the water and then spilled over into a pool.

He wanted to touch this one! 

The people were proving my theory wrong about not being friendly.  While I was taking a picture of Tully with the fountain, a young lady offered to take a picture of me and Tully together. I could not have picked a better day to do that!!  My hair looked beautiful in this rain, better than it had looked all week -- NOT!  But, who cares?  We had a really fun day.

Late afternoon, we jaunted a few miles down to the Chevy Chase area, which we had not been to at all.  Mommy's boss had told us about another park that had lots for kids to do. We did manage to find our way to the park area, but of course everything was wet and Tully was really too small to play on anything, but we will keep that place in mind as he grows, because I am sure this won't be his last trip to Washington D.C.

We rushed back from the park to meet Mommy once again and considered our day to be great -- even in the rain!

To be continued--his last day.

Previous blogs on Tully's Travels to Washington DC:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Last Day Headed Home

Tully Travels to Washington DC - Day 4...

Tully was basically a cheap entertainment on this trip.  On Thursday, September 22, 2011, it was so nice that he woke up and was feeling better!  We had our usual play time in the morning...

I love seeing those smiles!

It was fun to watch him play in the floor all by himself.  I had pillows around the mat because sometimes he does still fall over while sitting.  But he had laid down and began playing with the pillow.

I watched him pull the pillow over his head...

When I began to talk to him and ask him what he was doing?

He peeked around the pillow with that "who me?" look!

...and then just gave that "melt your heart" big ole grin!

After our relaxed morning and just before lunch, Tully and I boarded the Metro Train ourselves and went to Mommy's office to meet her co-workers and committee members.  This was Tully's first ride on the Metro.  Mommy works at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and they have a policy of no pictures inside or outside of the Federal Building.  We checked through the security point and was able to spend a couple hours with Mommy during her lunch break from the conference.  This was the first time co-workers and committee members got to see Tully in person.  We made the rounds and he was happy to see everyone.

We returned to the hotel that afternoon and Tully took a good nap,  So today we have pictures of Tully's adventure in the metro station while we were waiting on Mommy to get off work.  There was a lot of zipping and zooming going on there every day and one of his enjoyments was to watch the big buses go by.  You could board the Metro Train or the buses at this same location.

This particular bus was headed to Rockville and that is where Mommy's office is.
She does not ride the bus, but rather rides the underground metro train to and from her office.

Tully really didn't care where the buses were headed as long as they "Roared" by him!

He would watch one bus after the other during the busy evening schedule.

Some people ride the train to this location and then get on a bus.
Transportation in the DC area is certainly different from home.

Not sure that Tully could see this guy waving to him from the bus,
everyone seemed more friendly in the Metro Station than usual...
but the truth is, it was all about Tully!

This is the tunnel that Grammy and Tully would travel through to get underground to meet Mommy each day.  We could not take the stroller on the escalator, so we managed to find the necessary elevators.  We came to meet Mommy I think every day but one.  Tully was always so excited and he would sing and talk to everyone... and I'm sure it was to some who didn't really want to talk, but they couldn't resist responding to him.

Waiting for Mommy!

His enthusiasm was over the top some days, I had to keep peeking around the stroller to make sure he was happy because he was so vocal.  We moved around the area watching people, the buses and the fountain to keep his attention from one thing to the next.  But one evening we sat off to the side at the top of the escalator for a long time.  This was where Mommy would be coming up and it seemed that  he had turned into the official greeter for everyone who was exiting the station.  One gentleman stopped to talk to him every day and said he has looked forward to Tully being there and that it was great way to end his day of work!  I would not necessarily recognize the same people coming up day after day, but they certainly knew Tully!  Many would stop and talk to him and comment how happy he was!  He would get even more excited when they talked to him, it made for a fun time for us both!

He waved his arms and kicked his feet a big part of the time!
It was so fun to watch little things be so exciting for him.

After a few days of our daily ritual of meeting Mommy after work, Tully had made a new friend.  Tully is pictured below with Ms. Virginia.  She is a homeless lady whom we found sitting in this exact same spot every day-- right at the end of the tunnel.  She always said hi to Tully and each day would ask a new question.  After the fourth day, I asked if I could take her picture.  She was pleased to allow that.  

I asume she pushed her baby stroller every day where ever she went.  It was interesting though because Ashley said back when she lived in DC in 2005 that Virginia sat in this very same spot every day, but that she used to have a grocery cart.  I told Virginia that she looked pretty in her peach velour hat :-D  She was so proud of it and she was such a sweet lady.

Tully was not sure what to think and looked at Ms. Virginia quite intently.
He had not ever been that close to her during our conversations,
but seemed to listen to every word she said.  He probably wanted that hat!

Only once did we see this man sleeping in the tunnel, and
right after we walked by the Police woke him and asked him to move.

Being in Washington DC can sure make a person feel blessed to have a roof over their head and food on their table every day.  We really did not see a lot of homeless people in this area, but obviously they are there.

This is Tully all excited when he finally saw Mommy coming up the escalator!  I usually ended up with Mommy's briefcase in the stroller on the way back to the hotel and she was quite content carrying Tully and stealing hugs and kisses from her sweet boy!

He really is a sweet boy!

Only 2 days left on our trip, to be continued...

Related blogs on Tully's Travels to DC:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 5
Last Day

Tully Travels to Washington DC - Day 3...

On Wednesday, September 21, 2011, Tully woke up and was not feeling well our third day in Washington DC.  He obviously was still teething and those new teeth that were trying to come in were giving him fits; so today was not a good day to take off for our usual stroller excursion.  We just hung out in the room for the morning and part of the afternoon reading and playing some on his activity mat.  We also watched the cartoon channel a little bit and Tully loved watching the people walk by below on the sidewalk from our window.  He could see lots of traffic and was so excited when he saw a big red firetruck.  He listened intently to it's whirring siren and loud honking horn as it passed by on the street below.  His little eyes got so big, but he never took them off of that red engine until it was out of sight.  He had the opportunity to see several firetrucks while he was in DC and he was fascinated with each one.

While Tully was sleeping part of the day, Grammy did a little laundry...

...in fact, I did laundry several days.
Sometimes I hung it on the towel bar and some days I hung it on the window frame.

We had a little bit of sunshine for a short time today,
but it was mostly cloudy and humid during the whole week.
I'm sure this was a "no-no" to hang the clothes here, but it worked in a pinch!

When Tully woke up from his mid-afternoon nap, he was finally feeling better.  I think we were both ready to venture out from the room, and I didn't want to miss the chance to take him out for a bit; so after a quick diaper change and a snack from his bottle, I buckled him in the stroller and away we went.  It was only a short distance from our hotel to the top of the escalator at the Bethesda Station.  This is the view of the fountains and flags from the top, we had not been in this actual location yet.

Of course he enjoyed the fountains as always...

...but, he was quite content just watching people come and go.
The guy to the far left is coming up the escalator from the underground station.

AND YES, YOU ARE SEEING RIGHT, I TOOK HIM OUT IN HIS PAJAMAS!
Mommy wasn't there to say "no".

This was the first opportunity of the day that he felt good and I didn't want to waste our time changing clothes.  He was quite content snuggling with his blanket and just watching the big world pass by.

We didn't stay out long, but it was a nice change of pace in our day.
Even on a bad day for him with his teething, he was still a sweet boy!

Other blog links on Tully's Travels to DC:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 4
Day 5
Last Day Headed Home

Tully Travels to Washington DC - Day 2...

This continues from my first blog post of Tully Travels to Washington DC...

Our second morning in DC (Tuesday September 20, 2011) starts out simple and fun.  Tully is almost crawling here.  He would get up on all fours and rock... then catapult forward towards whatever he was trying to reach, then back up on all fours again and do the same thing until he could reach what he wanted.  He was not actually crawling yet, but he had his system of getting to where he wanted to be.

Previously he would just roll from front to back to front to back, traveling across the floor up to 10 feet getting to where he wanted or maybe it was getting to where he just ended up!  I think he was just fascinated with rolling!  ...but, here in DC he began this rocking thing and now since back home he has began to do the arm pull across the floor.  I love watching him learn to navigate and we all know he will be navigating into places he shouldn't be in no time!

Almost crawling

Okay, so on with our day... Tuesday we ventured down to an area called Bethesda Row.

This particular street was Bethesda Lane, but it was for walking only-- no cars!
There were lots of little shops to wander in and out of.

Here we met a little lady who seemed so poised, she was shopping and she stopped and talked with Tully for quite a while.  We had nothing in particular to do, so we just visited with her.  I'm sure it made her day!  Tully was on his best behavior and was full of smiles and coos.  He knew Grammy would beat him when we got back to the room if he didn't act right... well, maybe he didn't really think that, but he sure was a good boy.  The elderly lady was unlike most people on the East Coast who won't even make eye contact or say hello... so it just goes to show there are friendly people everywhere!

We teased and texted Mommy that we stopped in and out of all the pubs and taverns!

The whole Bethesda Row Area was so colorful and pretty.  Tully loved the hustle-bustle and watching the people, cars, and delivery trucks.  I didn't think to take a picture of all the traffic, but he was fascinated with it all!  It was not his normal stroll around the park in his neighborhood at home.  There were so many people, noises, and horns here that it made everything exciting.  The more horns the better!  Sometimes, I think there was so much going on that it made him forget he was cutting teeth!  Poor baby, I hate when he hurts... but we had Tylenol and teething tablets and they definitely helped!  We continued on our journey and found Barnes and Noble Book Store.  It had either 4 or 5 floors, Grammy can't remember exactly, but it was huge!

Mommy's boss had told us about this store...

We found the children's' department and it had everything for children!!!
I think we could have spent a whole day in here just playing and reading!

Eventually we moved on and found this waterfall outside the book store.  The water began flowing on the right side and ran through the black stone trough into the big white bowl... but along the trough were notches that created a waterfall that ran down the green stone wall.  From the big white bowl it spilled over into the larger pool.  I loved the architectural look and soothing sound.

Tully loved watching the many water features we saw throughout each day!

This was one of our longer days to stroll.  We stopped at Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream for a treat.  Grammy enjoyed a Mango Sorbet while Tully was treated to a yummy bottle of breast milk!  I think Grammy got the better treat, but Tully will never know!

I had the sales clerk put a scoop of sorbet in a cup thinking that would be the easiest way for me to eat it... but I never seemed to have 2 hands free for that - one to hold the cup and one for the spoon!  While holding Tully and feeding him his bottle, that made each bite I tried to take from the cup of sorbet right within Tully's reach... he had his little fingers in that sorbet more than once!  Grammy was prepared with wipes but now knows getting it in a cone might have been easier, I could have eaten it with one hand, but not sure how I would have set it down while tending to him???  Maybe a cone that I could turn upside down in a cup??? ... or maybe just eat my melted sorbet after he was through with his bottle!   I'm going to have to get in the groove of this grandkid thing!

Everything was so well maintained, it was a lovely area to spend time.

Fancy Cakes by Leslie was one of our favorite stops!  Today we bought sweets and surprised Mommy when she came in from working.

Mommy was so happy with her treat that we had to stop by again a second day!

Tully picked out a chocolate chip cookie sandwich made with
chocolate panache and Mommy loved it! 

After a fun day of rolling along the sidewalks and taking time for his naps and meals, time was nearing for Mommy to get off work; so we made our way back to the Metro Station.  This cascading waterfall was at the entrance of the Bethesda Metro Station.  We saw it every day when we went to meet mommy; and every day Tully was just as enthused to see it as if it was his first time to see it!  He looked so small up against it.

Monday, I saw him looking up to the top...

So Tuesday, I took a picture of him watching the flags and fountains!

The waterfall curved and tiered around the escalator/stairway.

This was a great place for us to wait for Mommy to get off work!

Grammy loved watching him be so intrigued.

We always just spent our whole day on "Tully Time", because Grammy was not distracted with anything else she had to do.  I truly loved every minute with him!

Tully's Travels to Washington DC to be continued...

Here are links to:
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Last Day Headed Home

Tully Travels to Washington DC...

I had the opportunity to travel with Ashley and Tully to Washington DC the week of September 18, 2011.  Mommy had a conference to attend so Grammy and Tully played while mommy worked.  Tully is about 5 1/2 months old.

He was the sweetest and best little boy... I loved spending every minute with him!

We flew out of Tulsa on Sunday, Sept 18, 2011

We packed a little bit of luggage... okay, so it was a lot of luggage, but it was all important stuff!!  We took Tully's smaller stroller in the black duffle bag; along with a small car seat to use in the taxi.  Tully had the two red bags and the small ice chest with some of Mommy's frozen milk;  Mommy and Grammy had the black and blue suitcases.  Thank goodness there were no luggage fees for the stroller or car seat.  We checked two bags and carried on two bags plus the cooler of milk.  Whew, it was a lot of stuff, but we managed it all.  Ashley laughed to think she used to travel to DC every other week and took only her purse and a carryon that had all of her business suits and necessities for work.

Mommy got our boarding passes each time and we were set to go.

This was not Tully's first flight, so he knew the routine and slept almost the whole flight!  Arriving in DC we found our room to accomodate our needs quite well...

Tully had his own place to sleep...

This desk converted quite nicely into a changing table!

We had a comfy chair for feeding Tully...

and he had his clean play area as well.

Mommy left for work Monday morning and after Tully woke up we hung out in the room for a bit but ended up going out in the stroller every day; and some days we strolled several times.  We just planned around naps and he was such a good boy.

This was one of our first places to go and explore.

Tully loved the bright colored flowers... and they were everywhere!

and he liked the fountain that was at the far end of this same area.

He was watching the fountain so intensely.
It was an overcast day with a nice fall temperature.

When mommy came in from her first day of conference for some snuggle time with Tully, she found that he had cut his first tooth today!

He went around all day feeling his tooth with his tongue.

To be Continued...

See later posted related links:
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Last Day Headed Home