William the Marine

I have mentioned before the lack of anywhere in the area to take a baby that doesn't require out of pocket expense. Since then I have found an interesting fact, many of the museums in the D.C area are free to enter. A large, air conditioned area where all of the breakable stuff is behind unbreakable glass, it's a parents dream. William, leashed to his Elmo harness, is free to go anywhere he wants, at whatever speed he wants, as long as it's within a 4 foot radius of yours truly. So far most museums don't elicit any real response from him, his gaze drawn to the moving stairs that magically transport him rather than the exhibits themselves.

This was not the case when my girlfriend, William and I went to the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico. Although at first it did not garner any attention from him, his eyes more interested in the inside of his eyelids, as he had fallen asleep in the car ride over, which is to say, he fell asleep after fussing 25 minutes and then 5 minutes before we got there he placed his bucked upon his head and rightly conked out.

When he finally did wake up he was, understandably, confused as to his current location. He woke up while we were inside a sort of tracked transport and were moving on to an exhibit with the sound of gunfire and shouting. I am pretty sure at this point he felt as if we had deployed him without his prior knowledge, and that we had not given him the proper equipment to survive in a battlefield. For the rest of the museum exhibits he was quiet, aptly awestruck at the huge machines, shouting voices and crowded hallways as a baby should be. 

It was not until we entered the entrance of the museum again (as after the exhibits you enter back into a large open area that serves as the museums entrance) he began to point and shout. Although the ground had many amazing tanks and replicas of battle scenes his finger pointed upwards to the three aircraft that hung above our heads. Cries of "koo goo" were all we heard as we got on the elevator to go to the second floor. When we entered he began to move about and fuss in his stroller, upset that the planes were no longer able to continue what must have been a fascinating conversation with his imagination. While we walked around the upstairs (Which circles the main room and every 100 feet or so has an opening in the wall where you can see the entrance again) it was like a game of peek-a-boo. Every time he'd see the planes he'd point and laugh, and when they disappeared behind a wall he'd fuss about. 

After we had taken in the entire museum we decided to check out the gift shop for something small to keep William occupied the rest of the day. Inside, my girlfriend found a plaque of her favorite marine corps saying and a helmet for little man and we exited the museum, William's happy smile the only thing seen under the too big helmet. For the rest of the day as he walked about he held the helmet in both hands close to his chest, giving off the impression that he was no a respectful, humble, marine rather than a baby with a helmet that was too heavy for one hand.