Rockin' Around the National Christmas Tree

It was sunny and warm, in the mid-sixties, and we had a small earthquake the night before (3.4). All in all the quintessential San Diego Christmas, except we were in Lancaster. Mimi, G'pa, and Uncle Wolphie came to the right coast for the holidays again this year. We all met up in D.C. and spent the 23rd and 24th visiting the capital. The evening we arrived we took what will hence forth be known as "The Carriage Ride." It was a pretty chilly evening, temp in the 20's, but we were bundled up so didn't think too much of it. Things started off nicely, the ride took us on a loop around the major sites of the capital which were beautifully lit up for the holidays. It was all very atmospheric, the clip-clop of the horse, the lights, the cold, and the whole family huddled up together. Then, things took a bit of a turn for the worse. Jack, who never sits still got a bit bored and tried to walk over our laps. Then he refused to keep his mittens on so his hands were like ice cubes and he kept kicking off his booties so his feet were also freezing. Needless to say the Monkey didn't like being cold and started to fuss. I was able to calm him down and warm him up and we only cut the ride short by a little bit. Once we got back to the hotel and got him warmed up and fed he was back to his normal, boisterous self. The next day we took Jack to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. He really seemed to like the dinosaurs, lots of excited pointing and hooting. We managed to have a successful outing with a minimum of meltdowns and a little education to boot. We went back to Lancaster on Christmas day. Jack had a mountain of gifts, most of which he managed to unwrap. He got lots of things to bang on and push around and clothes to keep him in the "stylish toddler" category. Overall it was a pretty mellow family visit. Jack was not on his best behavior - several tantrums and lots of very willful behavior. It seems he is entering the terrible two's ahead of schedule. Hopefully the bounty of new toys will help keep him entertained!