DC!

Caroline had her "welcome" party in DC in early April at the house of our dear friends Erica, Rob and Zack. None of my DC friend had met CJ yet -- in fact, I hadn't seen any of them since I was 5 months pregnant! It had been way too long. So CJ and I put on our party dresses and got ready for the big party. We stayed with ER&Z, and I like to think we were good houseguests. I know they were excellent hosts -- the bed was comfy, there were lots of toys, and CJ and Zack hit it off over a squealing, dancing, jiggly pig that Zack was nice enough to share and they BOTH really liked. And boy, did I enjoy sharing a glass of wine and chatting with old friends.

Brunch was on Saturday morning, post-nap, and the food was delicious. CJ got to meet Paul, Scott, Will, Jason, and Gregory and scored some pretty fun loot in the process, including a slightly-terrifying-yet-somehow-still-fascinating blow-up lion.

That night, our boys rolled into town and we headed out to a baseball game -- Caroline's first! I'll tell you what -- I forgot how bad traffic can be in DC, and we almost gave up somewhere around Springfield Virginia. But we perserved, and Caroline was introduced to her mom's favorite farm team -- the Potomac Cannons ... I mean Nationals. Good news -- in the 6 years since I've been to a game at the Pfitz, the stadium still rocks and the baseball still stinks!

Then, we took advantage of some beautiful springtime weather to go exploring. This is Caroline working her "Lawrence of Arabia" look at Monticello. She wasn't particularly cooperative during the tour, and seemed to prefer sitting on the grass in the big lawn to being strapped in the pack and listening to the tour guide. We'll be working on that with her -- gotta learn to love the tour guide!

Above all, Caroline seemed to enjoy living the good life in the hotel. She ate her cereal in the desk chair, got a bed all to herself to sleep in (with a fortress of pillows lining the edges so that no unsuspecting rolls resulted in a fall) and goofed with us all.

We hadn't travelled with CJ since she was a wee baby, back around Christmas, so I was curious (ok, a bit apprehensive!) to see how her nascent, strong personality now meshed with the demands of travel. I'm happy to report that she did GREAT -- she tolerated changes to her eating and sleeping schedule quite well, and seemed to enjoy the hustle-bustle and new scenery. We are looking forward to a lot of adventures this summer, so I'm one relieved and pleased Mama that my girl is showing all signs of being a good traveller! Trust me, we'll all keep working together to develop her skills!