Sept. 9: This could also be entitled Trip to DC recap part 2. Pictures are in the gallery.
It’s been ages since I have been able to spend many days in a row with Heather. It felt lovely! My Heather-tank has been refilled. I went to Heather and Michael’s house on Monday and stayed through Friday, and then we got to see each other at Kacy’s wedding on Saturday as well.
Heather worked a bit while we were there, but mostly we had her to ourselves for fun-making. Michael, on the other hand, had to work a lot, so unfortunately, we didn’t get to see as much of him. Heather is working for the Smithsonian where she is researching avian (bird) genetics. Michael is working for NIH, and I’m sorry Michael, but I have no idea what you are doing there other than a rough guess that it’s something related to molecules…maybe proteins…and other small things. Wow. My memory is stunning. They are both doing pos-docs. They’re both smart. Let’s leave it at that.
Heather and Michael have a border collie named Pippin, and we all took several walks over the course of the week to a nearby playground. Andrew loved seeing Pippin climb on the equipment and even slide down the slide.
Heather took me to see some cute stores in downtown Takoma Park. My favorite was a store called Now and Then that had great kids toys, beautiful gifts, yarn and knitting supplies…pretty much “hand me anything in the store and I’m happy” kind of place. Andrew enjoyed finishing off the day with some ice cream. OK, I enjoyed that too.
It was wonderful to get to spend some time with little Evelyn. She’s such a peaceful and contented little girl. She’s four months old now (a bit over two months younger than Sylvie), and her little personality if just blossoming. Aside from having strikingly beautiful eyes, they also look at you with an awareness that is almost startling. This little one is taking things in. Not much is going to get past little Evie!
She also made it clear that Sylvia has a comparatively dogged personality. When Evie is sad, Heather can (get this) hold her hand and she’ll stop crying. She feels her mama’s sweet hand, and she is comforted, and she stops crying. Sylvie’s response has been, “WOMAN! I did not say hold my hand. I said PICK ME UP!” Don’t cross Sylvie, man. That’s all I’m saying.
Other times when Evie is fussy, Heather can sing her a song and she stops crying. She even smiles. And her smile is just so wonderful. I’ve recently learned that loud techno music can stop Sylvia from crying. Also, leaping wildly in the air/very active bouncing can sometimes quiet her. Usually I just do what she wants me to do or suffer the crying because she is not an easy one to distract at this point. Maybe next week. Perhaps next week she’ll discover the joys of distraction. But I digress…
Mid-week, Heather took us to the National Zoo. Her offices are there, so I walked around with the three kids while she worked. Andrew loved seeing elephants, pandas, tigers, a hippo OUT OF THE WATER, prairie dogs, farm animals, an elephant shrew etc. If you ask him what he saw, though, he may well say, “We didn’t see the cheetah.” It’s true. We missed the cheetah. If you ever have a chance to visit the National Zoo, I recommend it. It’s a great zoo.
On Friday, Heather took us to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. She also has offices there, and she attended some meetings while I took Andrew and Sylvie around the museum. Holy cow, we will be coming back. Andrew was beside himself. I think I need to do a separate post about the museum. See pics here. It was too cute.
Andrew ate an entire box of Trader Joe’s peanut butter crackers during our visit. And about 12 Trader Joe’s yogurts. Both are delicious, so purchase with caution.
Heather showed me how to make Jim Lahey’s no-knead bread…a recipe I’ve been eying for years.
We thoroughly enjoyed our week in the Lerner household. Thanks, guys, for a wonderful time. I hope we can all join up again sometime soon.
PS. If you were curious, Heather post-doc work focuses on “establishing molecular and morphological phylogenies of Hawaiian songbirds.” Thank, Google.