On the road again...

Well, tomorrow is the big day. We are moving to Italy for 10 weeks! We have been packed for a couple of days now, which is amazing for us. Claire doesn't suspect anything, but the animals know something is up.

Similarly, and despite our repeated telling her, Claire doesn't suspect she is going to be a big sister come next March. Yes, Lynn is almost 13 weeks pregnant. At the ultrasound today we saw the baby wave at us and then stick its finger in its mouth. We will find out the sex of the baby, when it is born. The due date is March 5, the day before Claire's birthday. To the right is a picture of Claire's sibling at 12 weeks, 5 days. Everything looks great.

This afternoon we were at the pharmacy and Claire started to have a little meltdown. Lynn gave her to me and I walked around with her for a while. I spotted the blood pressure machine and sat down to check my BP. Well, Claire hits her head on the machine and starts to cry and walk away. Meanwhile, my arm is stuck in the machine as I am frantically trying to get to Claire. I am still not sure if I was more afraid of Claire hurting herself or Lynn yelling at me. In the end Claire was fine and Lynn was laughing at me. 123 over 80 by the way.

I hope to keep posting on the blog and uploading photos over the next ten weeks.

Ciao!

Colombia Cutie

Last week we packed up and headed for South America. Bogota, Colombia to be exact. We were headed there to do some work for our foundation. Lynn and Claire were fortunate to have Nancy seated across the aisle from them, as I was preoccupado in first class. While Lynn, Nancy and Betsy were busy working, I was looking after Claire. I am guessing it is unusual for a man to push around a stroller in Colombia, as we got several stares. Either that, or people could not believe how beautiful Claire is.

For the weekend we (the four of us and our friends Rudolf, Rose and their child Sergio) drove to a finca (a hotel in the countryside). I should mention that getting to the finca involved driving up the Andes mountains and then down the mountains (about 7 hours) and then another 3-4 hours. Yes, we drove almost 11 hours (one way) to get to the freaking finca.

But the finca was beautiful, complete with a swimming pool. We spent our one full day visiting an amusement park and then drinking beer at the pool in the evening. Claire couldn't go on the rides, but we did take her on a train ride, which featured a band on one of the cars. You can see Claire dancing in the video.

After a long drive back to Bogota and a short sleep (5 hours) we were off to the airport to return home. We got in line to check-in and before they issued boarding passes (but after they took our lugguage), we had to get in-line to have our passports stamped with the tax-exemption stamp. Next it was another line to pay the tax we were just exempted from. Back to the ticket counter to get our boarding passes... next to the immigration line, which was about 45 minutes long, but we used the baby card and walked to the front of the line with Claire. After immigration we got in line for security (X-ray machine), then into another line to have our carry-on inspected. After duty-free it was another line to have our carry-on inspected again, followed by another line to get into the gate area, followed by another line to have our carry-on inspected for a third time. Lastly, we got in line to board the plane. This time Lynn, Nancy, Claire and I all sat in first class. Betsy was in the back of the plane.

We got home in time for me to go play hockey at 10pm. It was the championship game, which we won 6-2. An incredibly long day, with a great finish. Now we have to get ready for going to Italy next week. Away, enjoy the video and some photos posted here.

Futbol

Here she is kicking the soccer ball around in Syracuse. Not bad for a 17 month old, but not as good as her old man. More photos posted here too.

Next week we are off to Bogota, Colombia for work involving our non-profit foundation, the Mango Tree Foundation. Check it out if you have a chance.

Wonderful Week

As an educator, this week was incredible, as Claire's vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds. Both in terms of her comprehension and her speech. I can hold a short conversation with her; granted the topics are limited and the diction is low, but it's just like teaching students at my job. Please, play, bubbles, ball, and froggy are some of the new words the bear learned this week.

Now that a bunch of her teeth came in last week (4 molars!), she is doing much better. She still is a momma's girl though, preferring mom over anyone else - just try and pick her up when mom is present. Today we flew to Syracuse via JFK and Claire was awesome on the flight, sitting (and sleeping) in mom's lap. She also has learned to climb up on the sofa. She is growing up so quick. Tonight, uncle Larry is over and we are watching Finding Nemo for the millionth time, while mom tries to clip the bear's toe nails - good times.

Beach baby? Not!

This week we are off to Maine for our annual vacation. If you recall last year, we missed the last flight of the day and the airline put us up for the night at a “hotel” near the airport. The last flight of the day is the cheapest flight and we got tickets on that flight again. But this year, Lynn called first thing in the morning and got us on the first flight of the day. Not only that, but she managed to get herself and Claire upgraded to first… and left me behind in coach. I see a pattern emerging.

Anyway, last year when we were here, Claire couldn’t even roll over. Now she is running and dancing everywhere. Except for the beach!!! For whatever reason she is scared of the sand. She cries when she gets sand on her hands and looks to Lynn to clean them for her. We got some photos to prove it.

Claire got to meet her newest cousin Brennan (Mark and Erin’s newest addition) who is 7 months old. Claire exclaimed “Baby!” when she first saw Brennan. Overall Claire is the center of addition and loving it here. We will continue to work on the sand thing.

Dancing Bear

We're leaving for Maine on Saturday, but first here is a video of Claire dancing and singing in the living room. Too cute not to pass along. A definite keeper for her wedding (in at least 30 years). It's a long video - no need to watch after 6:00 minutes.

Good times in Canada

Last week we flew to Seattle, enroute to Kamloops for my brother's wedding. Claire did well on the plane (sitting in first class no less). We spent a couple of days in Seatte with our friends Andy and Keely as Claire adjusted to a new time zone. We rented a car that was so stripped down, we were lucky that it had tires. We had to use our feet for brakes a la Fred Flintstone.

Anyway we drove to Kamloops and Claire got to meet some of her cousins for the first time (Sammy and Alex in the picture). My mom's sisters were also in town from various points across the globe and naturally took to Claire. Claire also met her cousin Sophie from LA. Claire was in the wedding party and looked great in her dress, but not a beautiful as Taya (it was her day after all!). She partied with everyone at the reception, until she crashed around 10pm. I am sure we'll have fun getting her back on her normal schedule. Anyway, congratulations to Paul and Taya.

We next drove to Maple Ridge to visit with our friends Andy and Jen and their kids Brendan and Kieran. We spent the day playing in the park and watching Monsters, Inc. Here are some more photos from our awesome trip. Next up, Maine!