The vacation highlight for Claire

I forgot to mention that the highlight for Claire on the trip could very well have been eating her first kid's fast food meal. Being the irresponsible parents that we are, we forgot to feed Claire after she woke up from her afternoon nap on Thursday and before we left Dubuque. Ten miles down the road Claire let us know and told us to stop at a Dairy Queen in Platteville, WI. Claire was very, very pleased with her two chicken strips, applesauce and milk and forgave our forgetfulness. (Thankfully she didn't realize that her dad stole her dessert from her meal!)

-W

Claire speaks!

We are back from our Christmas "vacation" and thankfully managed to avoid the bad weather that has been plaguing the midwest the last week. Still, I'd much rather be here, having shoveled 32 inches of snow in December, than say... San Diego. The snow is really pretty!

It was a good week, though there was too much driving. I don't think we'll ever do the Des Moines-Iowa City-Dubuque trifecta for the holidays again, even though Claire didn't seem to mind. She had great fun at all the grand-'rents houses and especially enjoyed Grandma Julie's dog, Hal, and climbing stairs at Grandpa Bernie's and at Grandma and Grandpa Cooper's, as well as a trip to see the fishes at the America's River Museum in Dubuque. Claire's parents loved being able to hand off Claire to the various doting relatives.

Yes, it's true. Claire now speaks. At Grandma Julie's it was very clear that Claire was repeatedly saying "da-Dah" (emphasis on the 'Dah') when she saw Hal. "Da-Dah" is apparently Claire-ese for dog. It is necessary to understand the context within which she says "da-Dah" in order to differentiate it from "Da-Da" (meaning her old man) which she also says (and she says Ma-Ma). Last night when that old man came in from shoveling Claire had just finished up her bath. Claire's mom asked "what do doggies say?" and Claire very clearly said "woof." Apparently dogs bring out Claire's speaking abilities. Perhaps the next question Claire will answer (with help from the doggy book Grandma Cooper gave her for her birthday) will be "what do dogs do after they lift their leg?"

-W

Babies Crawling

Here are a couple of baby crawling videos that you might find amusing. Claire makes two brief appearances in Part 1 and one appearance in Part 2. Part 2 is funnier and doesn't require watching the Part 1 first (Part 2's highlight is 'butt scooting'). Each one is 10 min, and I don't know who put them together, someone who looked through a million baby videos on YouTube.

-K

Happy Holidays!

-K

Almost Christmas already?

Where has December gone???

One or more of us have been:
- looking for day care (we found someone! Claire starts the beginning of January.)
- getting our car fixed (will be finished this afternoon!!)
- preparing for a grad school committee meeting (expected graduation in early summer!)
- baking and eating Christmas cookies
- doing a little shopping
- writing a science paper (my committee suggested a few more experiments that I'll do in early January and then submit the paper to the journal mid-late January.)
- getting interviewed (and photographed) for a story on the city's lakes that will probably be appearing in a local newspaper soon
- walking everywhere now. Still falling occasionally, but hardly ever resorting to crawling.
- applying for jobs
- enjoying a train and flower show at the local gardens near our house

-K

It's been a busy time

It’s been a busy time, full of “firsts” for Claire. Her first “hit and run” car accident (car was parked) and resulting first, second and third trips to various body shops. Her first chance to meet Great-Grandma Loy and many relatives on Grandma Julie’s side of the family. Her first encounter with snow (at least when she could actually be aware of it!). Her first sledding experience. Her first instance of obvious jealousy when Mom was not holding her but rather holding Baby Molly. Her first moment where she was cute (Oh, wait… sorry. She’s done that before!) Her first time inside a kitchen cabinet…

Claire is doing well and is walking around more and more. Crawling is still the preferred means of locomotion, however. She seems to have inherited her Dada’s love of snow, though she hasn’t yet taken up shoveling.

Claire’s parents are still sans babysitter, but are getting along okay. Kate’s lab is in the midst of a move to some swank new lab space, and she is simultaneously writing a paper and preparing for her committee meeting. Will enjoyed his first cross country skiing of the season last night, and is fully prepared to be sore as a result. He has also been complaining (in a good way) about being sore from all the shoveling that he has done over the last four days.

-W

Thanksgiving post...

We actually took no pictures of Claire this Thanksgiving. After all, it was her second Thanksgiving. What's the big deal? And besides, plenty of other people were taking pictures of her. She enjoyed spending time with 2 aunts, 2 uncles, 2 grandmas, 1 grandpa, 1 dad, 1 mom, and 2 bunnies. In fact, I'm pretty sure she is now spoiled.

Here are some pictures of Claire eating pasta last week:





-K

Weekend

Claire had a pretty good weekend. She got to visit with grandparents from Des Moines! She loves grandparents! She'll see more tomorrow for the big Turkey day!

Here are a few pictures:



-K

Better

Claire started doing much better this weekend. I just finally got around to posting some recent pictures.
-K

19lb 8oz, 30 inches tall, and a Fever

Claire had a doctor's appointment today. It was her one-year check-up, but also a sick visit, since she's had a fever for a couple days and been tired and just wanting to cuddle (which she rarely ever wants - too much to do!) She is doing very well developmentally, according to the doctor, and her fever is probably just due to a virus. These are a couple pictures from when Claire was feeling better.

The big bear was Will's when he was little. Back then, his name was Mr. Stubs. So far, he seems to have been renamed Big Bear. Claire LOVES him.

-K

Birthday!

Here are the pictures from Claire's birthday weekend. Besides Grandma Julie and Grandma and Grandpa Cooper, Aunt Ellen and Uncle Andy were there to help celebrate. Somehow they avoided the camera. We had apple cake and Claire ate almost her whole cupcake. She seemed to be getting into trouble more on Sunday... too much sugar the day before? or too many grandparents? or is she just entering the terrible ones?

-K

One Year Old video

Claire turns one year old tomorrow!! We are having a small family party; I'm sure we'll post photos next week. For now, to celebrate, here's a quick 2 minute movie of a few of Claire's favorite things to do these days.

Enjoy!

-K

Halloween!

Claire was an owl and went 'trick or treating' at a few friends' houses in the neighborhood. Mom and Dad will eat the candy, but one neighbor gave out bags of goldfish crackers, which Claire likes!

Here are a few pictures of the girl in her 15-minute owl costume (thanks again to Grandma Julie for the box of clothes a few weeks back... the brown hoodie and pants came in very useful!)

-K