A bunch of stuff

Reflecting various exciting events in our household, we have a multimedia extravaganza for fans of the blog.

First, Teddy has started eating solid foods. We decided to test him this weekend to see if it would help him sleep better. No luck on that front, but he took to it like a champ. Ate the stuff with only minor fussing, unlike his sister who was initially intrigued, but then annoyed, by the whole solid food thing. Luckily for Teddy, he had his big sister coaching him through the experience. And trying to help her parents.





We also went to the aquarium in Baltimore on Sunday. We thought about heading there on Saturday since the weather was supposed to be bad, but the predictions of the weathermen have been so off lately that, when it was bright and sunny on Saturday morning, we spent the day wandering around the parks in our neighborhood instead. Sunday morning was gray and drizzly, so we decided to drive to Baltimore. Margaret and Teddy slept most of the way, as befits champion travelers. Once we got to Baltimore, we found a key parking spot ("Doris Day parking" as one of our Pittsburgh friends would say) which made the trip worthwhile from my point of view (as my brother-in-law notes, no one in my family likes to pay for parking.) Margaret squealed with glee and jumped around when we walked in.

The Baltimore aquarium is pretty cool. It's nothing like the aquarium here in DC which is in the basement of the Commerce Department and is so pathetic that one of my colleagues suggested that it would be better (and cheaper) to hit a Petco to see fish. We often visit Petco to buy food for Maddie, and Margaret loves it since they have birds and small rodents in addition to fish. But the Baltimore Aquarium is on a completely different level. Lots of interesting, colorful fish. Lots of fun watching scuba divers feed the fish, some of whom waved at us as they passed by. And an employee feeding a dead mouse on a stick to an alligator - excellent, at least in my opinion, although everyone around us was grossed out. It all ends with one of the coolest displays I've ever seen as you descend on from the top level to the exit through one big fish bowl. Initially, I thought that the Baltimore aquarium didn't rival the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, but the last part made me think again. Pretty cool, even if the kids (or more appropriately, the Boy) started fussing.

Here are some videos of Margaret at the aquarium.



And, to complete the whole multimedia experience, here are some photos of the weekend.