Tubas, Trees, and Laughing Gas

Katie and Peter were busy last week. On Wednesday we went to the Kennedy Center to see a Tuba Christmas. Three hundred tubas converge and belt out Christmas songs like you've never heard them before. The performance was part of the Millenium Stage which presents free concerts every day at the Kennedy Center as part of their concept of "Performing Arts for Everyone". We've wanted to bring Katie to one of the shows for quite some time. Who knew that it would be tubas that would make it happen.

You can watch the show here (click on 12/8/10 Merry Tuba Christmas!).

On Thursday I took Katie to the dentist to get her molars sealed. She was very brave and did great. The gave her some nitrous oxide (laughing gas) which made me nervous. I was afraid she'd end up like this kid but luckily she was fine.

On Friday Peter went to a pediatric cardiologist. Last week his pediatrician heard a faint murmur and wanted it checked out. The cardiologist did a sonogram of Peter's heart. Nancy could see it beating on the screen. The doc said his heart looks good. He detected a faint murmur too but said that's not unusual in newborns and usually fixes itself. He wants us to come back sometime next year to get it checked again. We should probably start calling Peter "Mr False Alarm" because it seems like he's been identified as a risk for every disease and condition imaginable. But luckily nothing has panned out.

Saturday we went down to Katie's school and bought a Christmas tree. Then we all went to one of our favorite burger places, Elevation Burger, and then continued on to Fairfax to get tickets for the Nutcracker in a Nutshell next Saturday. Katie is VERY excited! This Christmas she's been so excited about everything -- the parade, the lights, Santa, getting the tree, decorating the tree, everything. We put the lights on the tree on Saturday night and then Nancy and Katie continued decorating it on Sunday (I was taking a nap after getting up at 5:30am to play hockey).

Sunday I took Katie to her friend Tookie's birthday party at an indoor pool in Arlington (at Washington-Lee High School where Sandra Bullock attended). They have a great kid's pool. It's very big and well maintained. We splashed around for nearly an hour with her friends but Katie's blue lips and wrinkly fingers said it was time to get out. Then we all convened in the party room and had pizza and cup cakes. Katie had fun with her friends and it was fun to spend some time with the parents. It helped that I had co-oped recently so I knew the kids too.

Next week we're planning to go visit Santa, see the White House and Capital Building Christmas trees, and go to Zoo Lights at the National Zoo.


300 tubas playing Christmas songs at the Kennedy Center


Katie loved singing along with the Christmas songs and Peter slept the entire time. So far he's been able to sleep through musket fire, drums, and 300 tubas.

Fun fact: The photo above was taken in one of the largest rooms in the world -- the Kennedy Center's Grand Foyer. It is the length of 2 football fields and would fit the Washington Monument if laid on its side with 75 feet to spare!