Jet-setter Will

We're back from our trip to the DC area. It was sort of a whirlwind but we accomplished our goals of checking out all of the areas we wanted to see. We didn't do any actual "touristy" sightseeing- plenty of time for that after we're living there. Here is a recap of our trip (probably more info than most of you care to read!):

Jet-setter Will has now flown on 14 flights in his short 22 months. And he has now visited 15 different states! I even added a couple to my count as I had never been to MD or VA. Overall Will was pretty well-behaved. During the flight from San Antonio to Atlanta, we hardly heard a peep out of him. He was fascinated by the airplanes and seemed much more aware of what was going on than when we flew at Christmas. He loved watching the airplanes take off and land and could even say "take off" and "fly." Our layover in Atlanta was pretty short so, unfortunately, we had to get right back on another plane after we landed. Will got a little antsy during the flight to Reagan Airport in VA. He was overdue for a nap but he just wouldn't nap. He calmed down after some initial fussiness and was in good spirits as we landed. Since the airport is right across the river from DC we could see a lot of the sights as we landed. It was already dark so everything was lit up. We saw the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument and some of the other big landmarks. Will was on my lap looking out the window and I kept say, "Cool, there's the ____. Look Will!" And Will would yell "cool!" It took us a while to get our rental car and make our way to the hotel. Will had hardly napped and we were all hungry so it turned out to be a challenging evening. But we made it to Waldorf, MD, where we were staying, around 8:30 or so.

Our hotel was very nice. We got a suite with a kitchen and living area- much more room for Will to roam than regular hotel rooms. And it was helpful to be able to keep food in the fridge, have a dishwasher, etc. Unfortunately, Will was so excited when we got to the hotel that he would not sleep. He ended up being extremely active until he melted down, screaming for an hour or so. Too much excitement with all of the travel I guess. The hotel did not have cribs so Will slept in between the two of us. It was a king size bed but I think Will was the only one who had plenty of room. He likes to sleep across the width of the bed, with his feet on Daddy and his head on me. I'd turn him several times a night but it never took him long to get back into position. We had a couple of nights that Will couldn't get to sleep and a couple that he was pretty cooperative.

Our first day exploring the area we went to Andrews AFB, where David will be stationed. They had very nice, new housing that David qualifies for. Will got to test out one of the playgrounds and we went to the BX (Base Exchange) and had lunch at the food court. Will even saw several helicopters flying around, which he enjoyed. Though it is based at Andrews, there were no Air Force One sightings. Overall, we really liked the look of the new housing. We didn't get to go in any of them but we drove around enough to know that we could definitely live there. You just can't beat the convenience of living on the base. David would have no commute and I would have all of our medical appointments, grocery, parks, library, pool, playgrounds, etc, either within walking distance or a less than five minute drive of where we live. The only hitch is that there is not much base housing so there is a lengthy waiting list. David cannot even get on the waiting list until he gets his formal orders to Andrews, which we're told will happen in June. So, we'd love to live on Andrews but we just don't know if we will be high enough on the waiting list when the time comes to move.

That afternoon we went to Fort Belvoir, an Army base in Virginia. We had been told that Fort Belvoir had some nice housing and it would be an option for us to live there, even though David would be working at Andrews. Some of the housing was nice, but the housing that David qualifies for did not impress us too much. The base, too, did not seem as nice as Andrews. On top of that, we determined that the commute from Fort Belvoir just wasn't ideal. It is south of Alexandria, near Mount Vernon (George Washington's home). To travel from there to the Beltway, we stopped at no less than 20 stop lights. It would just be murder during rush hour. We pretty much crossed Ft. Belvoir and the Mt. Vernon area off our list of options.

The next day we looked at housing in Upper Marlboro, MD, Dunkirk, MD and Anne Arundel and Calvert County, MD. We found some housing that we liked in Upper Marlboro, which would be a good commute for David. I wasn't as sold on the town. I really liked Waldorf because it seemed to have everything we could possibly need within just a few minutes- tons of restaurants, grocery, shopping, etc. It satisfied my need for a close Target and David's need for a close Best Buy! There was some nice housing there but there may be a commute issue. There is the stoplight factor again on the highway that runs to the base. We may look for rentals on the side of Waldorf closest to the base but it will still probably be a 30+ minute commute for David.

Our favorite by far was a town in MD called Dunkirk. It's fairly rural but it does have a small stretch of "civilization" with a couple of grocery stores, a few restaurants and some other things. It's closer to the Chesapeake Beach area and it was very much our speed. Plenty of land, spacious homes and a very nice county park area with a huge playground (picture below). We even went back to Dunkirk another day and had lunch there. The great thing about it is that the highway that runs to the base from Dunkirk is still very rural- no stoplights, no towns in between, just highway that seems to move pretty well. We've only heard good things about the commute from Dunkirk to Andrews. It still will take about 20+ minutes just because of the distance but there shouldn't be much sitting in traffic like other parts of the area. The downside is that there doesn't seem to be a large rental market there. It's a pretty affluent part of MD where many of the houses are out of our price range. But there are a few houses for rent being advertised now that are in our price range and we're hoping that there will be more this summer when we're ready to sign a lease.

The third day we spent on the Virginia side. We looked at Alexandria, Arlington and Springfield. It took just a few minutes of driving around Alexandria for me to decide the urban living is not for me. The word that kept coming to mind was "claustrophobic." Cars, traffic and people everywhere. The housing in our price range left much to be desired. We did like one area of Alexandria called Kingstowne. It's south of the Beltway and felt like it had a little more breathing room. We'd have to get a townhouse there (very few single family houses) but some of the townhouses are fairly big (4 bedrooms, more than 2000 sq ft). It's so close to the Beltway that David probably would have a pretty decent commute from there. We're keeping it on the list and will look at what is available this summer.

Will was very good driving around in the car most of the day. He likes driving around and he enjoyed pointing out all of the other "dars" on the road. We'd often hear "dar," "tuck," or "bus" from the backseat. We tried to take frequent leg-stretching breaks. When the weather was nice we'd find playgrounds for Will to test out or we'd walk around neighborhoods. We took two trips to the Chesapeake Beach area (just minutes from Dunkirk). Will got to walk on a pier and see boats and we went to a state park on the beach with a boardwalk. We saw several people crabbing and Will got to see a few dogs on the beach. Unfortunately, that outing was cut short when Will lost his pacifier off the boardwalk and his whole world came crashing down. We had to make it back to the car and the extra pacifier supply. In other sad news- the Hershey Ice Cream shop at Chesapeake Beach was not open. :-( We really enjoyed that area though. It will be a nice place to visit during the summer.

We flew home yesterday and, again, Will was a pretty good flier. Both travel days he insisted on rolling his Elmo bag behind him like luggage and he got a lot of laughs. He got a bit antsy on the first flight to Atlanta (how many times can one kid pull the tray table down, then put it back up, then pull it down, then put it back up...). But he slept the entire flight from Atlanta to San Antonio. Thank goodness! We were all happy to be home and to sleep in our own beds! Last night was the first night in several days I wasn't being pushed off the bed by a 30-pound brute! Overall it was a successful trip. If the Andrews housing doesn't work out, we know the few other areas we'd like to be in.

Will has more new words than I can possibly write about. He is having another "language explosion." And, as always, he continues to surprise us with what he knows. Shortly before we left for the DC area, we were having lunch at a restaurant and Will pointed at the wall and said "star." Clear as day. We looked over and, sure enough, there was a large metal star on the wall. We have no idea where he picked that up. He has a couple of books about shapes but we hadn't really been working on shapes. I thought he wasn't ready for that yet! Silly me. So we brought some cards with us on the trip with different shapes on them. After just a couple of short sessions, Will can now identify stars, hearts, squares, circles and triangles. At first he was just pointing to the correct shapes when we'd ask. But a couple of nights ago, he pointed to each of those shapes and actually said the words. He has a little bit of trouble with ovals and rectangles but we're working on those. I couldn't believe it but I guess I shouldn't be surprised- Will has always been ahead of the curve on spatial skills like stacking blocks, building legos and things like that. I guess it shouldn't be too surprising that he's taken an early interest in shapes. He seems to have no interest in learning colors or letters yet. But he loves his shapes!

He's also learning more body parts. We've added elbow, neck, cheeks and back to the list of body parts. He has some trouble with "elbow" and when we ask him where his elbow is, he points to his wrist. Actually, when I ask him to point to the card with the "oval" shape, he often points to his elbow because he thinks I'm saying elbow! All these body parts come in handy though- last night in the tub he took the washcloth from me and started washing his face. Then I'd say, "wash your shoulders," "wash your tummy," etc. and he'd wash the body part I call out. We'll have to learn many more body parts before he's bathing on his own though!