First bus ride

Owen is obsessed with buses, as I intimated here. Tonight, we went on Owen's first bus ride! My office closed early for the holiday, so I got to pick him up early, and we went to downtown Silver Spring. We were watching the busses go by on Fenton Street, and Owen was really working himself into a fit over them, yelling "A Bus!" as they'd go by. I didn't have exact change, and wasn't sure if I could use my metro smartcard on a Montgomery County bus, so I went to Adega for some of their eggplant fries and to make some change (Owen wasn't really into the fries). Then we came out and a Van Go was going by (the Van Go is a free shuttle that runs around the greater downtown Silver Spring area every 15 minutes). Cheapskate parent that I am, we hopped the free shuttle and took it for a lap.

I was kind of worried that the bus driver wouldn't take kindly to us basically using him as an amusement park, but Owen was in such a great mood that he really charmed the guy and three women who were on the bus with us. First he'd point around the bus and say "a bus" very quietly so as to not let the other passengers know this was a big deal for him (he wanted to be seen as an experienced bus rider; not a novice). I would assure him that it was, in fact, a bus (though quietly, I didn't want to out him as a first-timer). He was just beaming through the whole trip. Then it turned out the bus driver's daughter is only a month older than Owen, so he and I had a great conversation about our kids while Owen, growing bolder, started to savor the thrill of pointing out other buses, while on a bus.

Sadly, I forgot the camera, but I think we may try to ride a bus on Monday, so perhaps I can post pictures then.