Park

Since the weather is getting so nice, I decided it would be a good day to head to a local park and see if we could find some playground equipment. There is great park in Tomball that has a small fishing lake, soccer fields, walking trails, raised pavilion and 5 playgrounds. There are plenty of trees to provide shade and the cool breeze made for the perfect setting. The only problem we had was that Claire is still too little to go on most of the slides and swings. We spent most of the time walking around and picking up pine cones and leaves. At one point we found two squirrels playing so we stopped to watch them. They must have thought we had food because they came right up to us. With them less that four feet away, Claire slightest movement would send them scurrying toward the trees. She got a real kick out of it though. It will definitely be a place I will bring Sheila when we have a day off together. It is a perfect place to practice your MS Challenge walk (Maureen) or brush up on your fishing skills (Tim).

Later today we are going to see our newest neighbor. Shane and Rebecca had their baby girl and we are excited to meet her. Sheila was there for the delivery but Claire and I will meet her for the first time tonight. Congratulations!

Fun in the sun

We hear it is getting cold up in MN. Claire wanted to take some pictures by the pool to help encourage our family and friends to head south! Hope you enjoy!

Claire had her 15 month check up yesterday. She weighs 23 pounds, 10 ounces (50%) and she is 31 inches tall (75%). Our little girl is growing right on track!

Cell Phone

I went through my cell phone the other day, only after Claire dumped it in the pet's water dish, to try to retrieve the pictures I had taken. Luckily I was able to pull them from my micro SD card and move them to the computer. It was very interesting looking at pictures that you had forgot were available. I always try to snap some good ones to use as my screen saver but when you move through the stages of a constantly growing baby, the pictures come and go as fast as the diaper changes. I wanted to share some of the better (or should I say, focused) pictures even though they go all the way back to the beginning. I mean that almost literally.

Me and my friend Claire

We had a playgroup at our house the other day and Claire got to spend some extra time with her new friend, Claire. They are only 2 weeks apart in age and seemed to have lots of fun together. It is exciting to watch them interact and play together.

We are working on getting Claire to sign for "eat" to tell us she is hungry. Lately she has just been walking up to the refrigerator and hanging on the door handle while she whines for food. I would prefer she show me she is hungry by signing it rather than whining! She is able to sign for "more" and "milk" so far.

One new thing...Claire loves it when we wink at her. Daddy started this with her and when we do it, she laughs. It is so funny! Claire is also able to identify some toy foods. When I ask her to bring me bananas or grapes, she always brings the correct piece of fruit. When we read books, she is able to point out items in the book and show me where the animals eyes are located. Her favorite books right now are "The very hungry caterpillar" and "Baby bear, baby bear what do you see?".

Big Girl

We have been keeping busy exploring our independence. I was able to find a slide for Claire on Craigslist and she has fun climbing up all by herself and going down all by herself. She loves to be outside but does not like to walk on the grass. Her favorite thing to do outside is walk up and down the driveway and down the sidewalk. Not sure why this is so entertaining for her, but we can easily spend 30 minutes just walking around outside!
We went to feed the ducks the other day with our Mom's group. Claire was not too sure about the entire thing and spent most of the time just hanging back watching everyone else. Maybe next time she will feel ready to feed the ducks.

A few fun shots

Mommy is keeping me busy!

I start my day by getting my toys out. They are
heavy to carry but I can do it all by myself!

Then I go out to the pool with Mommy and I help her scrub the tile with
the brush. Good thing we get to jump in and cool off after we are done!

When we get back inside, I make some phone calls to
my friends to see what they are doing for the day.

After the busy morning, I have to sit down and take a short break.

Finally, I spend a lot of time in my kitchen getting
dinner ready for when Daddy gets home from work.

My days are very busy helping Mommy and Daddy. By the end of the day, I look forward to my tubby and reading books with my Daddy before going to bed. I sleep 12-13 hours every night because I am so exhausted from all of my hard work during the day!

Playing with Cyrus

Today Claire got to meet up with her friend Cyrus at the mall to play. She had lots of fun. They don't do a lot of playing together yet, but I think that will come soon. Claire loves the slide and is able to climb up it and go down all by herself (last time mommy had to help her). It is so much fun watching her facial expressions as she is ready to go down. She gets so excited!

Last night Claire spent lots of time reading books with Daddy. She loves to pick out a book, bring it to Daddy, and then snuggle into his lap while he reads the book. We have also been working on building with mega blocks and Claire is getting pretty good at putting them together. Daddy has taught Claire how to give Eskimo kisses. It is so fun watching her do new things every day and improve on the things she has been working on.