Amodex Stain Remover vs. Black Sharpie

Black Sharpie vs. Red Leather Chair

Full Moon

We've been trying different things to help Sadie sleep longer at night, but tonight we have two secret weapons working for us. First, we ordered a Marpac Sleepmate 980A white noise generator, which just arrived this afternoon, and I'm really excited about. Marpac machines deliver electro-mechanically produced natural white noise as long as the switch is in the ON position. The Marpac 980A will replace our Chinese-made toys that repeat a short digital loop of white noise for about an hour and then shut off. We tried those, but Sadie obviously needs some American-made white noise. Yes, the Marpac 980A is made in America. I couldn't believe it either. When's the last time you bought something that plugged in, and was made in this country? I think the only other electronic device we have that was made in America is our 1977 Seeburg jukebox.

Anyway, the other secret weapon is tonight's full moon. I don't think anyone really understands all the different effects the moon and its gravity have on this planet, but I'm hoping that helping babies sleep is one of them. Maybe the gravity will help disrupt Sadie's rolling-over abilities and keep her from tumbling over and over into a corner of the crib and bonking her head and waking up.

Update: Here's a great shot of last night's full moon, from someone with a tripod and a lot more knowledge of photography than me.

Another update (8/1): Apparently the full moon counteracts the sleeping effects of the sound machine. Sadie is sleeping about 6 or 6 1/2 hours, but we're going to shoot for the magic number 8.

Playdate

We were supposed to go up to Glen Echo Park on Sunday with Jake's old daycare buddies, Jocelyn and Rachel, but the weather forced a change of plans so we decided to have everyone over to our house instead. Unfortunately, Rachel and her parents found that the Beltway had just been converted to the world's biggest parking lot, so they had to turn back. But Jocelyn and her parents came over and we had a fun rain day inside (and outside, briefly, when they both made a run for it).

They seemed to enjoy playing together and they get into these giggle fits which is pretty cute. Jocelyn probably would have had more fun if Jake hadn't decided to hit her on the head a bunch of times with toys. He's so sweet immediately after the assault-- comforting her, offering ice packs, helmets, etc. He either hasn't figured out the cause and effect relationship of Toy-Bonking or he's developed a case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.

Botanic Garden

Saturday we went down to check out the Botanic Garden and the new outdoor National Garden which used to be an overgrown fenced-0ff lot next to the main building. It was really pretty, even though it was the middle of summer and not much was blooming. Plus, they have a Dale Chihuly glass sculpture on display which is worth checking out. The tourists next to us were convinced it had to be plastic. This guy does some amazing stuff with glass.

In the main building, Jake mostly marched through the pathways, oblivious to all the plant life around him. Until we got to the Children's Garden. They have little gardening tools and watering cans that the kids can use, and fountains that they can splash in. He took his tasks seriously, of course.

More pictures over here.