Rehearsing for I-day

                         Louis surveys the parade dress rehearsal
                          One of the many military marching bands
                                Louis watching again
                               A local dance troupe
                                 The Faux-bamas

The US military weren't the only ones out rehearsing for Inauguration Day earlier. Babieswhobrunch used the dry run for the big day to do a little rehearsing of its own. We figured we might as well grab the chance to rehearse getting freezing cold watching the parade if we're going to try and venture out on 20 January. The practice run kicked off down at the Capitol, where PEBO (president-elect Barack Obama) was sworn in at around dawn this morning. Or at least his stand-in was. As that coincided with Louis finally going back to sleep after a night broken by his blocked nose, suffice to say we saw about as much of the swearing-in rehearsal as we're likely to on I-day itself. Unless we stay home and tune into CNN. 

But we did hit rehearsal gold a couple of hours later outside the White House by arriving just as the US Marine Band was striking up as it marched past the president's backyard. After a quick rendition of Hail to the Chief, the new chief - or at least his stand in - also marched part. Wearing a sign around his neck to signal his temporary president-elect status, Staff Sgt. Derrick Brooks strode through Farragut Square with his spouse stand-in LaSean McCray, a Navy yeoman first class (whatever that means) as onlookers scrambled for their cameras so that they could could claim a little bit of inauguration history for their own. An abridged version of the parade followed: highlights included the fat tuba players and the dancers from DC's Howard University, one of the country's oldest black colleges. 

Louis spent the morning doing his best drunk Russian general impersonation, watching the action from below the tilted brim of his fleece hat. The noise of the bands didn't seem to bother him, not even when clashing cymbals interrupted his morning nap. As far as rehearsals for the big day went, ours passed pretty smoothly. I suspect that was mainly because we didn't actually try to do anything difficult. Like push a stroller through a crowd of several tens of thousands or pull off an emergency diaper change. I didn't even have to feed Louis. Where that all leaves us come 20 January I'm still not sure. Especially as temperatures are forecast to plummet, complicating further the task of soaking up history in the making with a seven month old in tow.