Tathāstu - It Shall Be So

It's June. And there are no pictures from May. So, here we go!

The beginning of May took us to Baltimore to attend the wedding of our good friends, Nidhi and Anuj. Tommy had to get all decked out in the proper attire, so he dressed in his Filipino barong tagalog for the Garba Raas traditional Indian dance night. This is the same barong his Papa wore as a kid, and it was a bit big, but he wore it well, and danced the night away.

The Bettlers were in town from New Mexico, and Tommy was completely smitten with Amani. He grabbed her hand, hit the dance floor and did not let go.

MAN DOWN! The dancing got a bit quick when Eann joined in, and Tommy went down. Musta been distracted as he passed by his parents and took his eye off the dance floor...

At the wedding, all three of us dressed in Indian attire. I must say, EZ and TZ wore it better, but I think we all looked the part and thoroughly enjoyed the festivites.

Such a poser, this kid...

And when Tommy hit the reception dance floor, it was time for some serious moves. The curls were definitely in full effect as he worked up a sweat and spun like there was no tomorrow. The faces say all that needs to be said about that:

He even (begrudgingly) shared the stage with Nikhil.

Tommy and his chaperones at the end of our night.

The proof's in the passed-out toddler. It was a fun wedding!

Up and at 'em the next morning. View of Mount Vernon Square in the window of our hotel room.

Saying goodbye to the Bettlers.

Tathastu is a word spoken by the guests during the wedding ceremony in witness of the bride and groom's joining in marriage. It's meaning is similar to Amen. It was a beautiful ceremony and a wonderful celebration. Congrats, Nidhi and Anuj!

April Revisited

Well, I can hardly believe April is long gone, and May is nearly gone as well. It reminds me that time flies when you're enjoying life with a toddler. Tommy is growing and learning things so quickly that we can't keep up with all the words he knows, and we can barely keep up with him as he darts around the playgrounds and parks we take him to. He really does things full speed ahead and feels emotions and holds opinions very strongly. I guess it comes with the territory when you're raising a nearly 2 year old. So here are the highlights from April, which brought a lot of beautiful weather along with lots of fun times with friends and family:

Our handyman, Ron (or "Mon," as Tommy calls him) worked on several projects around the house. Tommy loves to imitate him painting ("peet"), and drilling ("raarraarraar") and climbing ladders ("lala"). Whenever he hears a truck out back or opens the garage door, he repeats, "Mon, Mon, Mon, peet, peet, peet, lala," over and over, complete with appropriate hand and body language. It's too funny.

Mon painted the exterior of our house and the door and rebuilt the window sills. Tommy approves of the work.

One beautiful day, Papa took Tommy down to the National Mall to wander around among the tourists and see the cherry blossoms. We brought his little blue ball down with us, and he kicked and threw it in the shadow of the Washington Monument (see previous video for live-action kicking).

Tommy has a slight obsession with band-aids ("beed ade" in Tommyspeak). Preferred locations on his body are on his nose, wrist, hand, chin and forehead.

On another fine April day, the family took a walk down to Washington Circle near GWU and caught the metro to Courthouse in Arlington for dinner w/the Chen-Nguyens and Alison. We took our time walking and hung out at the circle for a while, running around, eating bananas, greeting passersby with exposed bellies. You know, our usual round-town activities.

Love this picture of EZ and TZ.

Tommy absolutely loves Sydney ("Shydney") and Julia ("Joo-Joo"). As they found out, he hugs hard!

Easter found us at the annual Price-O'Rourke brunch in Arlington for food, drinks and fun. The main events were an egg hunt for the little ones and an egg-toss contest for the big ones. Our little one loved finding the eggs, but may have loved reenacting the tossing and SPLATTING of eggs more. He came away with a bag full of chocolates and snacks which were promptly eaten by the adults in his life (burp).

Our Wednesday playgroup took an excursion to the National Arboretum, where the kids ran around in hats, and the parents chased and chased and chased.

"Shydney" had a birthday party at a golf range, so Tommy brought his sticks and showed the older kids how to hit a ball for real. FORE!

Tito Rick doesn't often make trips up to DC, so when he called to ask if Tommy and I would like to come support his 2nd Amendment rights at a rally on the National Mall, we had to take him up on it. Interestingly enough, it's the first rally of any kind that either Tommy or I have attended. Understandable for Tommy, since he's not even 2 yet, but kind of sad for his Papa, who has lived in the DC metro area for over 10 years. Guess I'm not really a cause-supporting, rally-attending type, but I must say it was a neat experience for us to see a diverse group of people who believe in the same thing peaceably exercising their right to assemble.

Yes, despite all the nice-weather activities pictured here, there were days that brought the fabled April showers last month. On one such day, EZ happened upon Adrian Fenty, who was campaigning for a second term as our nation's capital's mayor. EZ said that right before the shutter clicked, His Honor slapped that big green sticker on Tommy. Gotta admit, the man knows how to press the flesh (and probably grease some palms while he's at it, but he is a politician after all).

Tommy spending time with one of his girls, Nina.

Peeking in the window.

Another favorite thing: bubbles!

CC played in a golf tournament in Richmond, so we made a family trip out of it. Met the Zwicker clan at Lewis Ginter, which is a great fun place for kids and adults. Tommy and his cousin David (Tommy calls him "D," almost always very excitedly) ran through the maze, played in the sandbox, tried to hulahoop, and basically romped throughout the gardens together. Well, it was really Tommy chasing David and trying to keep up with him, but it was a joy to watch.

EZ is teaching Tommy her green thumb...He loves to dig(!) with his shovel ("shubbel") and to play in the dirt ("det").

When Tommy Grows Up...

Though we won't know for quite some time which one he chooses, Tommy has displayed aptitude in several potential career paths:

House Painter

Sous Chef/Vegetable Cutter


Botanist

Doctor

Pickpocket

Soccer Player (note passerby who says, "... athlete on your hands.")

Strolling Along

Tommy's stroller has seen more action in the past month than it has since the boy was born. Granted, we never really pushed the issue after he showed us early on that he hated to be buckled down in it. Since birth, we've almost exclusively carried him in either the Moby wrap or the Ergo rather than try to force him to get along with his stroller. We figured - why fight it when carrying him allowed us to be hands-free and close to him? Papa also used it as his so-called exercise regimen by claiming that carrying an extra 20 lbs while wandering the streets of DC had to count for something. It also freed us up from having to navigate and stow a bulky piece of equipment as we ventured to various city locations. Plus, we never wanted to be those parents we often saw pushing an empty stroller while carrying a kid who refused to ride in it...

But a new era has dawned in Tommy's street transportation world...the City Mini Era. Could be he's more comfortable in it, is more interested in it, likes facing forward, or just feels the peer pressure from watching other kids ride around in them. Whatever it is, it's given Daddy Daycare a new option for hustling around town. I still miss seeing his face all the time or holding him close, but as the weather warms up, I look forward to not being a sweaty mess after carrying him around chest-to-chest all the time. The ol' knees probably appreciate the lessened load as well. So, roll on!

We give a lot of credit to Tommy's Lola for getting him accustomed to the stroller by pushing him back and forth in the house during a recent visit. It's not a long-distance track, but she made it fun.

He also tried to impress his friend Phoebe with his slick wheels (which are still shiny due to low mileage during Tommy's first year and half).