A Visit from Knute

Knute, my old roommate from the Academy was in town and stopped by for a couple days. It was nice to be able to catch up with him and spend some time with him again. Finn decided to show off to the visitor by dancing. It's the traditional family greeting that can be traced back to the old village outside Danzig (Gdansk) where people would polka for guests. Though I'm not sure if it was Justin Timberlake singing the polka back then. His job will bring him to DC often, so hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future.

Back to the American History Museum

Finn liked the American History museum so much he wanted to go back to see the trains. This time he wanted to bring Henry, who he calls Percy, because he looks like the train in the display. In fact, any time he sees a steam engine he says "Train, like Percy".

He gets his concentration face on every time he sees a train. The other favorite train activity is the library. He gets 2-3 train books which immediately become the only books we read.

All train books have the same plotline.

1. Here's a train track.
2. Here's a train.
3. It goes up a hill.
4. It goes through a tunnel.
5. TOOT TOOT.
6. Train in the station "ALL ABOARD!"

Finn likes every variation of that story. Because children's book are easy to make, Finn can read each of the thousand variations that exist.

Song of the Week!

This is Finn's favorite song. He dances and sings to it. It's funny to hear him sing "Banana Phone!". We need to get a video of it. Enjoy the video.

Art Museum

One fine day we set out to the art museum for a day filled with looking at boats, animals, boys and girls. Finn likes to look around and identify things he sees in the pictures.

We stopped at a fountain to watch and listen to the water. Moreover, Finn wanted to throw change into the water. It combines two of his favorite hobbies, throwing and splashing.

His major issue was that we only had 5 pennies to contribute. Maybe next time we'll have more change.

Birthday #2

Finn's second birthday was much lower key than his last one. Instead of family and friends galore, it was only the 3.5 of us.

Sarah made him a cupcake train traveling in the shape of a "2". Finn was able to use his new-found skill of blowing out candles.


In addition to uses his candle-blowing-out skills, he used his shoving-food-in-his-mouth skills. He got most of the whole cupcake in his mouth when the time came.


When the gift opening came, he dove right in saying "open, open, open...".


His gift from us was a train set. He absolutely loves it. Ever day he builds a track and spends hours driving the train over the hills and curves. We even made tunnels with the large blocks.


Finally before bed we took a picture to compare the size of our boy now and when he was first born. He looks a little bigger, a little older, and a little more into trains.


What a nice little birthday he had. It keeps getting better with each day. Seeing a person develop and interact is so enjoyable and truly awesome.

Early Birthday

When Lanny was here, we decided to open the presents he brought for Finn's birthday so he could enjoy the fun in person. On the heals on Christmas, Finn knew exactly what to do when confronted by bags and boxes.


He got a freight car-load of Thomas the Tank Engine trains to add to the growing collection. He connected them and had the long train come through the Lego tunnel.

It's amazing how quickly kids learn things. He knows the name of each train. I don't mean the ones he has, I mean the ones in the catalogue that came with the trains! He points to each one and says the nae of it.

He only gets one name wrong. He calls Henry "Percy". They are both green, but Percy is a major character in the video that he has, so it sunk in more deeply than the name Henry. Our next step is to each him to count cards.

Uncle Lanny!

My brother came out to stay with us for a few days. It was good to see him and spend some time with him. Here we are, the three Beachkofski boys.


The photo is pretty nice, but makes me wonder "Who's that kid weaseling his way into our picture?

Lanny got to be here for Finn's birthday and helped in congratulating Finn for getting some cool toys.


After meeting us at Arlington Cemetary, Sarah took Finn back home and the brothers went out sight-seeing. We went to the Sackler Galleries and saw the Asian art and the special display of the S-curve. The S-curve is much more impressive in person than in a photo.

After the art galleries we went to the Washington and Lincoln Memorials and then the White House before making our way home again. Here's a shot of Lanny comparing the reverse of a penny with the actual Lincoln Memorial for accuracy.


It was a great visit. It was nice to see Lanny outside of the normal holiday visit schedule. Good luck on the second semester of freshman year!

Chinatown

Sarah got a new haircut at the Aveda institute (thanks for the awesome tip Andi), which is located in chinatown. Finn and I came over when she was finished and we had dinner at Chinatown Garden. It was decent, not the greatest, but more authentic than the average place we've been to. That means more earthy flavors and fish sauce than Panda Express.



Since then we've gotten take out (delivery) from South China, here in Alexandria. That was better, cheaper, and Finn could act like a two-year old and not cause a scene. Still we can't buy a cheap plastic panda without actually going to Chinatown.

Meeting up with the Family

After laying the wreath, I met up with Sarah, Finn and my brother Lanny. Finn wasn't sure what to make of Arlington cemetery. But, he knew he didn't want to wear his mittens.He had to wear them since it was so cold and rainy. The low-grey skies made interesting lighting for photos. Here's one of our favorie model.

Laying a Wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns

A great honor I had in early January was to be part of a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. Our office took an afternoon off to come together and pay homage to those who have sacrificed.

It was an appropriately grey day, with low diffused light.


After the laying of the wreath and the playing of Taps, we gathered for a group picture. Since being at the Academy, the playing of Taps has evokes an emotional response in me. This wasn't an exception.


It was an experience that I won't forget and am very grateful to have been able to participate in.

Morning Commute

Finn's morning commute to play in the morning is pretty nice. He has a chauffered stroller ride during which he can eat a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich and read The Onion. He was particularly interested in this article.

It's quite a life, generally only experienced by the extremely wealthy and the extremely young. Ahh, to be young again, or rich.

Skating with Finn

After being stymied by the Federal Government's working hours Christmas Day, we made it back to the Sculpture Garden on a day it was open for skating.

Excited from the outset, each lap ended with him saying "More, please." It ended with him able to stand up on his own and kicking his feet as I helped him around the rink.

I got quite a work-out going around in circles. It was pretty warm out and I ended up drenched with sweat.

When we went to leave the tears came on and Finn just wanted to stay on the ice.

We were surprised that they had Finn's size. The biggest problem was that the blades have no edges so his legs would slide out to the sides in addition to forward and back.

There were two off-ice activities that were able to old Finn's attention. The first was watching the Zamboni as it resurfaced the ice. The second was opening and closing the locker doors.

We've made it back for a second time, which made it clear we need our own skates that may have an edge. Of course we'll probably wait until next year to get them since it was 50 degrees today. It may be that the season is coming to a close. I'm sure that he'll be ready for more next year,

Dominoes!

Chuck and Andi came over for New Year's Eve. After playing with his new turtles on his rocking horse, Finn went off to bed and the grown-ups kept the party rocking. By rocking I mean we had Chinese, sat down, and played dominoes. It was a great night.


It turns out that dominoes is not just a game for old guys in the Carribean. It was fun and we'd like to play again. I've been searching on Facebook for a good dominoes game, and can only find bad ones.

So we had a simple night in that lead to a potential new obsession. As a minimum, it gives us a good pastime for our retirment years. I can see how it would be fun to play along the beach or in a park on a warn and sunny island.

Meeting for lunch

During the holidays, I got released early fro work and was able to meet Finn and Sarah for lunch. We went to Le Pain Quotidien. They have a great assortment of salads and sandwiches.



It was nice to have a lunch out. Dinners are usually a disaster. He is to tired and generally he doesn't eat much for dinner. This makes the meal way too long for him and he ends up unhappy. Lunches are different. They are his biggest meal and his day peaks around lunch time.

Finn was all giggles and smiles.



We've tried dinners again, but they still don't work. We've decided that the best way to go is to stay home for dinner. Either we cook or get take-out. Lunches on the weekend the best chance to eat out. That works well for us.

The name of our second baby

Many Congratulations to Jeff and Angela and the arrival of Lydia! What an exciting time for them and what a darling girl. I think she looks just like Angela.

Lydia's birth has been a reminder that our own deadline is only about 12 weeks away. We've been at a loss for a name for our second baby and I've been strolling through the repository of all information in the world, the internet.

I found one name that stood out and is in the lead for now. It happens to also be the most popular boys name based on viewings on parenting.com.

Here's the name.