Griffith Observatory was crowded, especially with kids.

There were ghosts there, too!

Foucault's Pendulum.

Ok, I’ll pause the pictures here for a moment to give you some details about Emrick’s admirer/stalker. Marcus and I were pushing Emrick in his stroller, when at one point we sort of pulled off to the side to avoid the crowds, so I could go digging through my diaper bag/purse for something. While we stood there, a kid who appeared to be between ages 10 and 12 came up to the stroller and stared at Emrick for a second before saying, “Cute baby.” Marcus and I both said, “Thanks,” and then this kid bent down and touched Emrick’s hands. No big deal, but we like to keep Emrick’s boundaries a little tighter than that. The kid walked away on his own, and I turned to Marcus and said, half-jokingly, “Next time, I’ll tell that kid that he can look at our awesome baby, but not touch.” In truth, of course, we didn’t think there would be a “next time,” as we did not expect to encounter this kid ever again.

Oh, but we did.

About 10 or 15 minutes later, we were again stopped, this time in front of a display. I was reading the explanatory plaques when this kid once again approached us. He wedged in front of the stroller and said, “Excuse me, I need to get in here.” Now, I thought he meant he “needed” to see the display. So I inched myself and the stroller backwards to give this kid some room. But it was not the display he was pushing me aside for; it was Emrick! As he positioned himself to get a good view, he said, “Can I see him?” I said, “Sure,” but as I said that, he started to bend down again. Marcus spoke up, “But don’t touch him.”

Then I added, trying hard not to sound like I was scolding him (because he was just a kid, after all), “Right. You’re welcome to look, but don’t touch him, okay?”

The kid immediately stood up from his bending position and said, “Oh,” and walked away!

Marcus and I looked at each other and chuckled. Marcus had the impression that the kid wanted to hold Emrick and well, obviously, that was not gonna happen. But really, we didn’t think too much of it, other than that this must be a kid who 1) doesn’t see too many babies, and 2) upon seeing Pookie, was mesmerized with awe at his beauty because 3) hey, the kid’s got eyes. Right?

But I did not know that I was to exchange words with this kid one more time.

It was over by Foucault’s Pendulum. The pendulum is sunken, and there is a viewing wall surrounding it. People gather around the circular wall and look down at the pendulum, and take pictures (see above!) which is exactly what I was doing when Emrick’s stalker our new friend came over and elbowed his way next to me. “Excuse me,” he said, “I have to see this!”

I said, “Ok,” just a moment before I realized who owned that elbow! I wondered for a second if it was Emrick that he was again trying to see with such urgency, but then I remembered that Emrick was not next to me at all. I was on one side of Marcus, and Emrick’s stroller was on the other. So I surrendered my place at the wall to this strange boy and watched as he crossed his arms on the wall and peered over the edge. What was that about? I wondered. There were other places this kid could have squeezed in, so why did he elbow me? Was this payback for not letting him touch Emrick? Was I totally unsuccessful in my attempt to NOT sound harsh and mean? (probably). Did I in fact come off as a scold? (probably). Or was it just a coincidence? (doubtful).

Well, I thought it was probably nothing, but even so, I decided at that point that I should get a picture of him. After giving that kid my spot, I stood behind Marcus who a few seconds later indicated that he was done looking at the pendulum and was ready to move on. “Hold on,” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder to nudge him back toward the wall. “That kid is creeping me out a little, so I am going to get a snapshot of him, just in case…”

Just in case what, you may wonder. Well, I don’t know. What if on the news later that night there were a story about a baby going missing at Griffith Observatory?!?!?! We would need evidence! So I told Marcus to stand in front of me so that I could pretend to take a picture of him but really take a picture of Stalker Boy.

Beware!

I know, I know. The kid isn’t exactly sinister looking. But that’s what’s so scary!!!! Just kidding. I never feared this kid, he just put himself on my radar is all. And ever since I became a mom, my radar is always going.

Anyway, back to Observatory pics (which quickly turn into Pookie pics):

Did you know that our sun is a star??????????

Beautiful Emrick. Behind him is a live image of the sun. Filtered for your protection.

Emrick unfiltered.

This is an image of Earth's sister planet, Earthina.

Did I mention that while in California, we enrolled Emrick in the Surf Dudes Academy?

I guess there aren’t any pics of Emrick smiling here! He didn’t get upset at all, but I think the crowds kept him from relaxing as much as he might have otherwise.

Well, that’s part three, finally. I had planned for this one to be the last, but have now decided on putting the rest of the pics into a fourth and final installment. Stay tuned!