Happy Birthday, Brooke!

Today you are TWO years old. I feel like I just brought you home from the hospital yesterday. My sweet little baby is totally a toddler. You are so loving and affectionate. You love to cuddle and I hope you don’t grow out of that any time soon! You even love your dolls and your kitty. I bet you say Ella’s name no less than 20 times a day. Every time you see her you call to her as if you’ve been apart for years.

The biggest change this year was changing schools to be in the toddler class at Penn-Mont when you turned 18 months. I was so nervous about how you would handle the transition and you impressed everyone including your teachers at how well you could adapt. You’re a very independent little girl and love all the activities you can keep busy with during the day at school. One of the teachers commented early on that you are the most communicative child they ever met and yet you were only saying a handful of words. If someone wasn’t understanding what you were trying to say, you’d take them by the hand and show them what you want. Another helper in the classroom told me she doesn’t think she ever saw you cry. You’re very easy going about most things.

Your favorite part of the day at school is when you get to go outside. Your class has outdoor time the same time as Paige’s preschool class. You run up to the fence to see your big sister every day! You love and admire your big sister. If we’re getting ready for dinner and Paige is still in the other room you’ll call out as loud as you can “AAAAIIII” which we all know to be “Paige”.

You have learned routines very well. You don’t fuss at bedtime anymore as long as I do the exact routine every night. I tried to make a fun picnic dinner in the living room one day which upset you very much because you didn’t want to vary from the routine of dinner in the kitchen. When you’ve done something wrong, you’ll willingly go sit in time out because you understand the consequence. Your first 3-word phrase was “No, Time Out” when you were correcting me for not putting you in time out after you had pulled Sissy’s hair.

We thought you were going to be an early potty trainer, and you still may be. You know when you have to go and you had gone a couple of times in a row for a few days, but then you developed a fear of the potty so we’re taking a break right now. But as soon as you dirty your diaper, you tell us. Sometimes you even slip and tell us before you actually go.

Right now you are obsessed with the color purple. It’s your favorite thing in the whole world. You’ll walk through stores shouting “purple” at every purple thing you see. If you see clothes that are purple, you’ll insist on wearing them instead of anything else I might suggest for you to wear. I hope you keep this passion for things!

Thank you for making these 2 of the best years of my life!

Happy Birthday, Paige!

Today you are FIVE years old. Time flew so fast for me, but for the last month or so you've been asking us daily how much longer until your birthday. You're so anxious to be 5! You grew up so much this year. You started out a preschooler and now you’re counting down the days until you start kindergarten! You absolutely love school. I hope that never changes. Even your teacher is so excited to tell us about all the new things you are learning. It seems like math may be your strongest subject. You’re only in preschool and you are already multiplying!

On the other hand, maybe you’ll want to be a scientist when you grow up like Daddy. This year you’ve been asking tons of questions about where things come from (including babies). You are fascinated when looking through the pictures in Daddy’s anatomy textbook.

We got to see the jokester side of you come out this year. You like to tell us jokes. Sometimes it’s the same joke over and over and other times you’ll ask a question with a silly answer and call it a joke. You’ve also started testing your boundries with “fake stories” as you call it. We refer to them as lies. If we catch you in a lie, you laugh and say “fake story”!

This year you’ve been taking a tap/ballet/tumbling class instead of gymnastics. You do very well following the teacher as they instruct when you’re not in a silly mood. Your first recital is coming up soon and you’re so excited to be on a stage and wear your costume and makeup!

(Far right, in all light pink)

In your second year as a big sister you’re starting to see Brooke not only as your sister but as a friend. You just can’t get enough of her. You love it when she sits on your lap and asks you to pick her up even though you can only lift her an inch off the ground. She looks up to you and you are so proud of her. I couldn’t ask for a better big sister.

Thank you for five of the best years of my life.

Happy Easter

On Saturday, we did an egg hunt in our backyard for the girls:

On Sunday morning, they quickly found their baskets from the Easter bunny:

After breakfast we got ready for church:

After church, they had treat bags for the kids:

And so it begins...

I think it was at the beginning of the year that we pulled out the old potty chair. Before bath time, when Paige was going potty Brooke was asking to go as well. So we brought out the chair and she will sit on it before she takes a bath. Now, she's wanting to sit on it every time we change her diaper too. The thing is when we're changing her diaper it's usually because she just went, so sitting on the potty at that point is pretty useless. This morning, I was changing her out of her PJ's and took off her diaper. She pointed towards the bathroom, so I took her in there and put her on the potty. Then I left her and went back to her room to get her an outfit. A minute later she walks into the bedroom (across the hall from the bathroom). I asked her if she was done and she shook her head yes. So I finished getting her dressed and then went to help Paige. Then I hear Justin calling me from the bathroom. I go in there and sure enough there's poop in Brooke's potty! When I told her daycare teacher this morning she said she's been sitting on their potty every day too, but hasn't done anything yet. I think it might be soon though!

What I love about blogging is going back and remembering the milestones that we went through with Paige. I noticed that it was a month before Paige's 2nd birthday that she went potty for the first time. But she didn't actually train until she turned 3. So I'm not going to get my hopes up or even really start pushing Brooke at this time. I'm not ready for my baby to grow up yet!

Update: After her nap she grunted and grabbed her diaper. So I asked if she wanted to use the potty and she enthusiastically nodded yes. And guess what, she peed on the potty!

Another Update:  She just went pee again. That makes 3 times today!

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.