Debut

Well, we’re all settled in Alexandria.  I came with the Little in September and met David at the airport.

David had already set the house up neatly and put all of our furniture in order.  The apartment ended up being far bigger than anticipated.  All that we lacked upon arrival was groceries and furniture to fill our huge apartment.  

It’s about 30-minutes to Washington DC on the train.  I never really expected to enjoy riding the bus as much as I do.  I have a pretty short temper, and driving doesn’t really make it any better, so not having to drive anywhere has relieved a lot of stress.  The Little and I have been out everyday so far.  There’s not an inch of King Street that hasn’t touched my feet between the Metro Station and the Potomac River.

Old Town Alexandria is really cool.  It reminds me of an older, bigger Stillwater, MN, or a less collegey St. Andrews, Scotland.  All of the shops are very pricey, either because of all the tourists, or the rich people that can afford to live in the fancy, historic row houses.  One of the down-sides of the city are the scarcity of parks, or any outdoor public area.  Of course, I can’t expect every place to be as green as the Midwest.  I do love the walkability of Old Town, and that I’ll be more likely to have a good conversation with a friendly stranger.  Most people are very nice and talk to you just like you’re their next-door-neighbor.

My first day in Old Town started with an early bus in with David, and a long walk down Washington Ave to Ace Hardware.  Later, I had my first taste of Alexandrian coffee at Misha’s.  It’s a nice neighborhood shop that roasts it’s own coffee, and the closest kin to Dunn Bros I could find.  I walked for hours clear down King Street to the riverfront and back again to see David.  He was pouring a concrete sculpture as a part of a competition at his school.  It was pretty fun to watch.  I heard a lot of comments about what his looked like, but I would never repeat them.  I’ll just say, David has a very playful imagination.

In the meantime, the Little keeps getting stronger and smarter.  She has been holding her head up on her own a lot.  She started swatting at her toys on Monday and grabbing them on Wednesday.  Then on Friday she rolled over from her tummy and didn’t even cry about it, then buzzed her lips like I do at her.  I can almost see her cleverness growing through her sparkly round eyes.  I’m starting to realize that feeling of not wanting her to grow up any faster.  It just occurred to me yesterday that she’ll never be this little again, and she will probably want to snuggle less and less.  I don’t know what I’ll do when I can’t snuggle her any more.  But her personality grows and grows everyday too.  I’m excited to hear what she’ll have to say when she can talk, but I can wait.