Video updates

Ok, in a weak attempt to compensate for my lack of posting lately, here are a few videos of the bear, who is no longer a baby, but now a toddler!

As some of you may know, when we leave the house, Kayla knocks her bowl over, scattering her food everywhere. It's a pain to find dog food all over the kitchen floor. Now we have a Claire 2000 model to take care of our problem.

Here she is in action. Walking everywhere. No wonder I am tired by the end of the day.

talking and walking

I am amazed and how fast Claire is learning to walk. She is just walking everywhere and fast. You can't turn your head for a second. The other thing is she is a talker. While Lynn likes to talk to me just 5 seconds before I fall asleep, Claire is talking all the time - whether there is someone to listen to her or not. Of course, I have no idea what she is saying.

Today she wanted to Skype with someone, anyone. Around noon, we couldn't find anyone one skype. She was visibly upset. But you should see her reaction when she hears this. She immediately stops whatever she is doing and makes a beeline for the computer.

We decided to take Claire with us when we go to Italy in May. Initially we were a little apprehensive about having her sit in our lap(s) for 10 hours on the flight, but then we figure she is such an easy, happy and carefree baby, that the other passengers around us won't mind. Plus we save about $700 not having to buy her a ticket. It will be a dry-run for our trip to Rome in August, when in addition to the bear, we'll have 30 other babies (students) to look after as well.

the little mimic

a note from lynn:
claire just cracks me up. today at lunch, i was feeding her some hot mac-n-cheese. of course, being the good mother i am, i blew up on it first to cool it down. well, that just made claire howl with laughter. tonight at dinner, i was feeding her some peaches from a spoon (slippery little suckers!) and she blew on them first. what a riot.
claire is now the walking queen. she is fairly steady on her feet and will walk quite a ways before looking for something to grab onto.
two new teeth are coming in on the top, but she still looks like a bit of a snaggletooth with only one front tooth showing (she'll really appreciate that comment in 12 years when she reads this - love you, bear!).
will try and get some pics this weekend of her marching around outside and having a ball.
until then, walk steady.

Easter Pictures and Video

Happy Easter!

Claire and I started the day with pancakes and bacon for breakfast. I am astounded by the amount she eats. After lunch we had an Easter egg hunt on the front lawn. Granted the eggs weren't all that well hidden and the grass posed difficulties for Claire to walk. Of course, a few of the neighbors came out to see Claire in her Easter dress (second video below).

After a quick nap (both Claire and dad), we headed over to the Samson's for ham, mashed potatoes, etc. Claire ate more than the two boys (Zack 8 and Alex 5). While Jason Rich (Dallas, TX) is sure his son Benjamin will be Claire's husband, Wendell (next door neighbor) is sure Alex will be Claire's husband. This will be interesting!

Anyway, you can see more pics here!

Walking around

Easter egg hunt

a mother's love

hi all. i wanted to share a little story with you (and it isn't even mother's day yet!). kayla and i were out walking yesterday and happened upon a mama bird and her 2 baby birds. mama bird was squawking at her 2 babies as they were standing in the road and she wanted them up on the sidewalk. they were so tiny, that i didn't think they would be able to get back up on the curb because it was too high. she saw us and started flapping her wings and making a racket - to distract us from her babies. well, we kept walking and then on our way back, we saw the mama bird again. she was in distress, as her babies (now 3 of them) were in the road. even daddy bird was hollering at the babies. but they were just too tiny and couldn't get up on the sidewalk. so, i went over (with kayla patiently at my side) and picked up two of the baby birds and put them on the sidewalk where mama bird was. i had to stop traffic to get the third one as s/he went running across the road. i scooped him/her up and brought him/her back to the side where mama bird was. these babies were soo incredibly light - maybe 3-4 oz apiece. when i put them on the ground, they were a bit stunned but then toddled away. during this of course, mama bird was absolutely beside herself. imagine how we must have looked to her. gigantic predators coming to harm her babies. well, she went crazy, pretending she had a broken wing, lying down and just squawking like mad. i wanted to her to know that i wasn't going to harm her babies but instead wanted to help. i didn't want the babies to get run over!
i suppose this year, i was affected more deeply by mama bird than i may have been in the past. this mama bird would do ANYTHING for the safety of her babies. we are all the same, you know. all of god's creatures have a special bond between mother and child. now that i am a mother, i too would do anything for the safety of claire. i hope that if i am ever in a similar situation, someone unexpected would secure her safety.
until next posting, show some kindness and love for all god's creatures on this day (easter) and every day. you never know when might need it back.
lynn
p.s. easter pics are coming. mark is going to put them up later today.

What a great baby!

Well, Grammy and grampy left today. I think they enjoyed their time with Claire - I know I enjoyed their time with Claire. We did the quintessential woman thing - shoe shopping. Admittedly, I did buy a pair of sneakers.

She is walking everywhere today! Thank God for baby gates. I think the shoes really help. Her curiousity level is amazing. Nothing is safe anymore. Tomorrow, Lynn is taking Claire to a puppet show at the library. We try to take her out at least every other day, even if it is just to the park.

And in case you have forgotten, Claire turned 13 months old today!

These boots were made for walking...

Well, sufficed to say, baby didn't get a new pair of shoes. In fact, Claire may even up going to a Community college. I am done with Vegas until next March madness.


Claire is walking up to 7-8 steps unaided. She is really working on her balance. She has a new favorite thing to do, open the cardboards and empty them of their contents. Of course, the lack of baby proofing in our house hasn't helped matters. Atleast we have locks on the liquor cupboard and the kitchen sink cupboard.


In terms of eating, Auntie Kim would be proud. Claire doesn't like tomatoes. In fact, she throws them on the floor... along with everything else when Kayla is around. She gets a big kick out of it.


Tomorrow, Grammy and grampy are coming to visit for a few days, on their northern migration back home for the summer.