DC Gems

Charlie on his new Charango. And yes - he picked out the outfit. The song is a new genre of music - made up words!

Diego took a few steps this week, but it seemed more like he momentarily forgot that he couldn't walk. No repeat performances so I'm not counting them as official first steps. However he does have an official first word: Hola! He LOVES to wave to people and say hola. He says hola for hello and goodbye. And he finally got teeth!! He has 2 teeth - one up top and one on the bottom.

Friday nights at the Yards park is my new favorite DC activity. We set up a picnic, play in the fountain, listen to music and DANCE! Here is a picture of what our cooler usually looks like: beer, breastmilk, apple juice and water....something for everyone! Here is also a video of Charlie dancing to the music with Aidan. I guess it isn't well known yet because it seems to be the only summer concert series where you can actually fit your entire butt on the ground.

Another gem is the aquatic garden lotus festival. I wasn't amazed by the empty ponds the first time I went, but when the flowers bloom it is beyond amazing. Huge lotus flowers - taller than me and with blooms bigger than my head - loom over as you walk along the paths. Charlie was more into the face painting and the lotus hat he made. Check it out - pretty cool!

I used to also like the Eden Center - little Vietnam - until this weekend. We returned to get Charlie's haircut and he cooperated so well knowing that a treat was on the other end of a haircut. Unfortunately the stylist didn't cooperate - or didn't understand me. I told him to just cut a little bit and before I knew it he cut off most of Charlie's hair. Carlos says you never let a male cut another male's hair. I didn't know the rule. Despite the terrible haircut we had a fun time picking out a treat for Charlie afterwards. We got him another microphone.

Sunday we attended a friend's Bolivian ceremony called Ch'alla. Oddly we went all the way to Bolivia but it was in NorthEast DC that we attended a typical Bolivian ritual! Our friends had their Quechua teacher come conduct the ceremony. It is a really nice ceremony that happens on the first friday of every month - people get together around a fire, give thanks and put different meaningful things into the fire. And of course it wouldn't a Bolivian ceremony without coca leaves and lots of food. I was less excited about sticking a coca leaf in my mouth but the quinoa that she made was excellent. I'm hoping to get her over here to teach us some more bolivian recipes.