Recently, she has started sleeping in the bed we bought several months ago but last night, she opted for the sleeping bag she got for Christmas from Grandmom. So, back on the floor by the door. I am glad that both of us take a laissez-faire approach to the whole sleeping in the bed because otherwise we would be exhausted, and sadly disappointed in our utter failure to have her sleep on a mattress. Last night, as I was tucking her into sleep, she reminisced about her ‘soft green sheet,’ and her ‘other bed.’ Seven months later and she is still talking about her crib! Hopefully we have not scared her for life.

If you need a recap of our bed failure, here are the links: we purchased the bed in October. We got rid of her crib the second time in May (and here is the first time ).

Otherwise, all is well on the home front.

Leigh planned a spa day at Lansdowne Resort this weekend and we had a really nice time. Mom, Leigh and I arrived early Saturday morning to be pampered with massages, pedicures and manicures. I think my favorite part was my feet being soaked in paraffin and the fact that I read my book uninterrupted for a whole hour.  After our pampering sessions, we headed to Leesburg for some shopping. Leigh had found Le Reve Bridal online and was a little hesitant to stop by but this place was SO nice. We arrived without an appointment and they were so happy to help her find a bridal headband. The store was super cute and they had a great selection. She found a beautiful headband that will look great with her dress.  If you need anything bridal, definitely stop by here!

Then, we headed to the outlets. I had heard on the radio when we were driving to Leesburg that an ‘arctic chill’ would be arriving. Well, it arrived as we were standing in one of the stores. Suddenly, our calm weather turned into a total windy, snowy, white out. Luckily we were inside because people and their bags were being blown all around. It lasted for about 15 minutes and then the clear skies returned but the change in temperature was drastic. And, it has not warmed up yet.

While I was shopping and getting pampered, Kerry and Miss H were enjoying gymnastics, getting a haircut, time at the mall play area, and eating pretzels. That was the run down I got from her on Sunday. When I arrived home on Saturday night, I found her like this on our living room floor.

She must have been exhausted from her day with Daddy because she never just collapses.

Hope you have a great day!

We then moved onto the classroom to check out the other kids and the activities they were doing. She was immediately impressed that snack was strawberries and goldfish. She politely got a plate, scooped herself some and sat down with a few kids at a table. I almost fell over when she followed their lead and washed her plate.

She played with many different objects, the puzzles and the arts table. The teacher kept commenting about her social skills and her genuine interest in the things around her. Plus, the teacher thought that she had ‘exceptional fine motor skills.’ Those little fingers are capable of opening most things these days!

When it was time to leave, Miss H was pretty adamant about wanting to stay. She even politely held my hand and led me towards the door saying, ‘you go to work, I will stay here.’  I guess that was a good sign considering I was not sure how she was going to react this morning.  I convinced her that it would be fun to visit the playground before we headed home so she said bye to her new friends and the teacher and we headed out to play.

She did not want to leave there either.

We won’t hear about admission until late March so keep your fingers crossed for us!

She was very excited to give Grandmom her presents. So excited, that she told her what was in the box (with a full bunny-hop demo since part of her gift was a bunny dish) and then unwrapped it for her. Luckily, Mom thought it was funny.

We got some yummy pizza for lunch and gelato for birthday dessert. It was all really good!

Mom discovered this new kids haircut place (Pigtails and Crewcuts) but the wait was way over an hour so once again Miss H has not gotten her hair cut. Her bangs are so long and she has refused to cooperate the last two times we have been to our normal location. We might have to take a trip to Annapolis (and make an appointment) because they had airplane chairs that she might sit in for her bangs to be trimmed.

We headed back home to make lasagna and cupcakes since we were having friends for dinner.

Then today, it was another birthday party! This time we headed to the National Zoo for a party at the Rainforest Room. Miss H did a great job of convincing everyone that we had failed to feed her before we arrived. She managed to eat every raspberry and blackberry available plus a bagel.

All the kids got a safari hat but Miss H insisted that Kerry wear the hat.

We all got a tour of the Amazonia area and got to see lots of frogs, snakes, fish and stingrays.

Miss H loved all the fish. Well, except for the piranha that head butted the glass when Miss H had her face to close to the glass. I was trying to prevent her from beating on the glass so I did not get a picture but she quickly pointed her finger at him and said, ‘bad fish!’ Lucky, there was thick glass between the two of them.

We went into the rainforest and got to see birds, monkeys and more reptiles. Then it was time for cake! We all had a great time at the party and the zoo and I would definitely recommend booking a party there. The staff was great with the kids and all the kids had a great time.

On our trek back to the car, we hung out with the cheetahs for a few minutes.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! 

We were asked about Miss H and her positives and negatives. We were honest about both.

Kerry started out a little disgruntled about the parking situation and the slightly inconvenient location but he made a complete turn around. He liked the school, the staff and was impressed with what he saw the kids learning. He liked the big maps on the wall and the mixed age groups. We were both impressed with the math materials and that the kids who would potentially be in Miss H’s class were getting the math concepts. We laughed that many kids had obviously dressed themselves and Miss H would fit right in with some of her creative selections.

We liked seeing the artwork hung up all over the place. They were practicing for an upcoming musical that the whole school was involved in. It seems like a great environment and hopefully we get accepted. The preschool interview, part 2 will be next week when Miss H goes for her visit.

Then, as she got older, we did not take her to the grocery store because she did not like to sit in the seat and it was no fun to try and chase a very quick toddler around and grocery shop at the same time. So, once again, the grocery store was quiet time.

A few weeks ago, Mom was visiting and wanted to stop by the grocery store to grab some potatoes that they don’t carry at her local grocer. We had Miss H with us and I figured two adults could handle her as we ran into get potatoes. One of those carts that are made for children that have a steering wheel and the option to sit facing forward was among the carts so I decided to see if Miss H would possibly sit and ride along. She thought it was the coolest thing to practice her Miss America wave and beep at the other shoppers. Laughing all the way.

Now, we get asked daily if we can go to the grocery store and ride in the car cart. We went at least twice last week, once over the weekend, on Monday and today. The novelty is not wearing off. And, I have crossed one grocery store off our list because they only have one car cart. Our other grocery store has many different versions of the kid-friendly carts. They are not easy to steer but, she is so happy.

All of us are exhausted from this weekend! We started off with gymnastics, then out to lunch, some shopping, dinner with friends and then Sunday was a trip to the car show, a preschool open house and time in the wagon.

But, we had a great time.

After gymnastics on Saturday, we headed to lunch so we could scope out a potential birthday party location for Miss H’s upcoming third birthday. Miss H liked the food and we like the idea of a make your own pizza party. She loves to help me cook and we thought it would be fun to have a ‘chef’ themed party. So, one thing checked off the list!

For dinner, we had a nice visit with friends and Miss H and one of her BFFs ran around until they were exhausted. Miss H did not even make it out of the neighborhood awake. We managed to carry her into the house and get her ready for bed without even a stir. She slept in this morning too! We need to go out with them again soon

Kerry wanted to go check out some of the SUV options at the Washington Car Show so we headed to DC this morning. We saw all sorts of cars and Miss H enjoyed climbing in trunks, beds, cabs, backseats, front seats and just all over the place.

Kerry liked the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Miss H made sure all the buttons worked.

After viewing all the American cars, we headed downstairs to see the rest. Miss H loved the Mini Cooper (and so did Kerry and I). I liked the hatchback Volvo and Kerry debated between the Nissan SUVs. It was a fun way to spend a few hours!

On our way back to our rock star no charge Sunday parking space, we headed into Capitol City Brewery for lunch. Miss H liked the mini-corn dogs (without the corn part) and we were all re-energized from all the walking around the Convention Center.

After we returned home, I headed to a preschool open house to check out another school. We have our top pick interview this week and then Miss H visits next week. We will keep you posted on our interviews.

Now, Miss H is sound asleep and we are fading fast. Hope you all had a great weekend!

In case you were wondering, the happiest day of the year is in June.

We spent a majority of our weekend inside due to ice, cold and general dreariness. Miss H had fun creating a pile of blankets, pillows and other things at the bottom of the stairs and just jumping into the pile. She was practicing some of her gymnastics moves too.

I had to discourage adding books to the pile.

Also, Mom and a friend of hers came to visit on Sunday and we all headed to the Museum of American Art for the Annie Leibovitz: Pilgrimage show.  It was a great collection of 64 photographs that is definitely worth a visit to see. We wandered around the rest of the museum and enjoyed several floors of artwork on both the American Art and Portrait Gallery side. There were some great kid activities going on and now I am curious- does anyone know a good list of kid friendly activities on weekends? We tend to find our own but I am sure there is a great list somewhere, right?

Miss H has been sleeping on the floor for months but recently she has moved her nest into the hallway. Not sure why this carpet is more comfortable than the carpet that is 10 feet away in her bedroom but it seems to be. And, she stayed there all night long. So, we will just let her stay there

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

She got to pick out an animal, fill it with stuffing and pick out an outfit. However, this fun process was only delaying seeing the cake.

Like how her animal matches her own color scheme for the day?

Also, her bear had to be named before leaving the bus. Without any prompting, she picked ‘Leigh’ and now refers to the bear as ‘Aunt Leigh.’ Most animals and dolls in our house share her name so this was a first.

Then it was off to the party and all was well with the world when we spied the cake. And, it was vanilla. The rest of the party was fun and someone was so tired.

We spent the rest of the long weekend at gymnastics, recovering from the party, shopping with Mom, running errands, trying to get a haircut, meeting friends for lunch and playing with trains and play dough.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!