As many of you know, when Louisa has nothing to say but is trying to express herself, she'll say something incoherent followed by "Hope Diamond!" Because of her love for the Hope Diamond, it is often a topic of discussion. Often we'll ask her what sound a kitty makes (MEOW!), a doggy (woof!), a cow (moooo), a dinosaur (ROAR!), a lion (ROAR!), a tiger (ROAR!), and finally, the Hope Diamond (twinkle twinkle!). Endless entertainment!
Our friend, Abby, from Portland was in town this weekend for a wedding so we had dinner with her Friday at Ted's Bulletin, a DC restaurant that has become my favorite because (1) great atmosphere, (2) super kid-friendly and (3) adult milk shakes. Sunday we went to the Natural History Museum to satiate Louisa's need to see buh-flies and the Hope Diamond. While Amos spent 30 minutes parking the car (seriously, Sundays are crazy on the Mall!), Abby, LJ and I wandered around the first floor of the museum. As I previously stated (I think), Louisa has discovered fear, and therefore she likes to point out what is scary. While somethings are thrillingly scary, like the shark in her view-finder, other things are truly scary. She was reluctant to look at the dinosaurs at first because it was "too scary", but we coaxed her in and tried to make the dinosaur bones seems as harmless as possible (look a baby dinosaur! awww, that dinosaur is taking a nap, etc). Wandering through the dinosaur exhibit, I couldn't help thinking about Bringing Up Baby and the bones tumbling to the ground as Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant embraced. Is it just me?
Louisa has been to the Natural History Museum multiple times, probably with each visitor that has come to DC. And, as usual, she surprises me with her sharpness. As we progressed to the ocean exhibit, we'd approach a display and, before we could even see what was in the display, Louisa would tell me it was too scary. I assured her it wasn't, I mean - how could she know? but with each display that was "too scary" we'd encounter some crustracean, usually a crab, that freaked her out a bit. What impressed me is that Louisa could distinguish these seemingly similar displays before I could see what was contained in the glass and anticipated the crab. She remembered them from her multiple visits. She is quite the genius.
We then went to see the butterflies which is always fun. Louisa could spend the entire afternoon watching them. Finally, we went to the Hope Diamond and, as usual, Louisa was unimpressed when she saw it and preferred to climb on the amethyst.
We went home so LJ could nap and Amos, Abby and I watched Blue Jasmine. Abby commented about how luxurious it is to watch a movie in the afternoon and I explained how Amos and I would try to pack in as much leisure as possible during Louisa's naps. This mainly consists of catching up on Top Chef or Revenge just so we don't feel completely out of it. FYI, I did like Blue Jasmine. I have some serious issues with Woody Allen and how he treats women in movies (and life although apparently we aren't supposed how successful men treat women if they are talented, or "talented") and perpetuates the idea that women are controlling, crazy, conniving, irrational, etc., or as this article says, "he’s trying to trick me into laughing or catching a tune or looking at pictures of beautiful cities, when what he’s really saying is he’s going to make me watch a woman being hated and judged, usually for interfering with his creativity, or more subtextually, for aging." But nonetheless, Cate Blanchett is terrific in this movie and the storyline was fascinating. So I'd highly recommend it!
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