Washington DC

This past weekend, Justin and I spent the weekend in DC. He had some meetings with some text book publishers (kind of like a focus group) and I got to tag along. It was a 3.5 hour drive.
Our hotel:

We got in around 4pm on Friday, so we did some sightseeing and walked down to the White House. This is the closest we were able to get:

For my birthday, Justin got me a new camera. It has a great zoom:

On Saturday, Justin was in meetings, so after breakfast I went out and did some touring on my own. I did a tour of Ford's Theater (around the corner from our hotel):

Then I took a hike up to the capital:

I really enjoyed that tour! I have a lot more pictures here if you want to look through: https://picasaweb.google.com/paigeisone/March2011

I met up with Justin and his group for dinner at Oceanaire Seafood Room. AMAZING food!

On Sunday before heading home, we toured the Natural History Museum:

And then stopped in Georgetown on our way home to see the site of the show DC Cupcakes:

The line was super long and the cupcakes don't get very good reviews. So we went on a tip from a DC resident and stopped at Baked & Wired just a few blocks away for the best cupcakes I've ever had!



It was really nice to spend some time for just the 2 of us and get to do some sight seeing. I look forward to taking the girls back in a few years when they'll be more interested in history.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

This past week we met with both of the girls' teachers for a twice-yearly parent teacher conference. This was the first time we've met with a teacher about Brooke, aside from the brief conversations at drop-off and pickup. They are amazed at how well she has adjusted since starting in January. She quickly picked up on all their routines and fits in well. I asked if she was clingy with them because I know at her old daycare she always wanted to be held by the teachers. But they said that lasted only a week or so, but she'll sometimes approach them for a quick hug and then be on her way again. There is just so much to keep her attention all day that I think she was going to the teachers before out of boredom. Morning drop off has been a bit of a struggle with her crying and not wanting us to leave. But she would quickly get over it after we left. Over the past 2 weeks or so she finally has overcome that and hasn't shed a tear at drop-off since. In fact she'll put her stuff away, give us a hug and wave goodbye. Brooke's vocabulary is improving, but her teacher isn't concerned in the least. She's very good about getting her point across without using words. So, at least she's communicating. And she is attempting to say new words and mimic us, it's just not always very clear.

Paige's teacher has a rough class this year. It's 3, 4 and 5 year olds, but she had a big group of 5 year olds last year which were a huge help and then this year there are only three 5 year olds. The majority of her class are 3 year olds. And some of them are very "lively"! That being said, she had tons of praise for Paige this term. I think there was concern in the past about Paige challenging herself enough and working with age/skill appropriate material. That is no longer a concern. Paige and her friend, Lexi, have been working together on some advanced math material. They are doing multiplication already! The amazing part is she picked it up so quickly. In the course of a week, she can already multiply by 3's. Her reading is coming along slowly. Often times she'll be looking at a word quietly and we'll think she's lost interest. But instead of sounding out all the letters out loud, she'll do it in her head and then blurt out the word just when we thought she was giving up.

We're so proud of both our girls and how well they are coming along. I often miss them during the day, but I know they are in good hands at school. Their teachers really are wonderful.

Big girl dresser

The other night we were out by Ashley Furniture and they were having a store closing sale. What was left (barely anything) was marked up to 90% off. We found this dresser that matches perfectly to Brooke's crib. Her crib converts to a toddler bed and later a full bed. They look great together, you'd think they were from the same set.

Her old changing table/dresser is pretty beat up, but hopefully we can get something for it on Craigslist.