Another Playdate

Claire and I had another play date on Friday with my friend Megan and her 3.5 month old son Thomas. Claire loves having people over to our house, so she had lots of fun. She didn't exactly love when I was holding Thomas, though...she made sure that there was enough room in my lap for the two of them. Thomas was a perfect little guy the whole time they were over. He is full of smiles and a very happy baby! Thanks for coming over!

In case you haven't heard...

Claire's going to be a BIG SISTER!!

Even though she has no idea what that means, Art & I are very excited! I'm about 13 weeks along and due August 5. Claire will be about 20 months old when her little brother or sister arrives, and we are hoping the fact that they will be close in age will make them great friends. We have had two ultrasounds of our little one so far and he/she is right on track.

Being pregnant the second time around is definitely more challenging than the first. I had two bouts of the flu in December, which made the nausea much worse. Luckily the nausea is over with now. I have also been exhausted, much more so than I remember with Claire. I guess chasing a 14 month old around might have something to do with it. We are still debating on whether or not we should find out the baby's gender. We didn't with Claire, but it might be nice for planning purposes. Plus, I'm not sure if I can be that patient the second time around!

Como Zoo Conservatory

Saturday we headed to the Como Zoo Conservatory to check out the orchid show. The orchids were beautiful and Claire had a great time checking out all the action around her. In particular she couldn't get enough of the fish in pond. She would have jumped in to swim with them if we let her. Grandpa Boylan joined us for a little while and grabbed lunch with us afterward. All in all a great outing!

Playdate, Cheerios, and Winter Sunshine

Claire and I headed over for a playdate at Michelle's on Friday morning. In addition to Michelle's son Will, Suzi was there with her two kids Anna and Sam, and Lisa also showed up with new baby Ryan. The kids had a great time playing and the adults even managed to get a few conversations in between chasing the little ones around. It was great to see everyone. Thanks for hosting Michelle! We will have to do it again soon! Here is the one blurry picture I managed to take.Later that afternoon Claire enjoyed some Cheerios while I enjoyed snapping some pictures of her in the winter sunshine. I swear that the girl would eat Cheerios all day long if we let her. She LOVES them! She knows exactely where they are kept in the kitchen and will walk into the room and point up towards them until we give in. I guess its better than ice cream!

Tidbits

It is amazing how much Claire is changing. She is becoming so expressive. While she still only says a handful of words, she is babbling up a storm. She is also learning more and more sign language. She has officially signed milk, more, please, eat, bath, ball and change (as in diaper change). If you ask her what a cow says, she responds "mmmmm". If you ask her what a sheep says, she responds "baa".

She is also comprehending everything we say. If you ask her to get her hat and mittens, she walks over to our basket of outdoor gear, picks them out, and brings them to us to put on. If you tell her its time to eat, she walks over to her highchair and waits (not so patiently) for us to put her in. If you ask her if she wants to brush her teeth, she runs into the bathroom. It is so much fun to watch her little mind at work.

And while she is quite brilliant (at least in her mom and dad's eyes), she is definitely not perfect. She is extremely impatient and has learned the power of whining. If she is hungry or thirsty, she wants food and milk NOW. If she wants to be picked up, she stands at our feet, grabs our legs and whines until we pick her up. She is one of the pickiest eaters I have ever met. She refuses to eat any sort of meat. She is usually adventurous enough to put it in her mouth, but grimaces as she spits out every last taste. We are down to one vegetable - sweet potatoes - don't even try to fool her by giving her a regular potato. How about bread? Only if it is toasted. Yes, I admit, she is a little high maintenance. :)

So, there you have it. A few little tidbits on what Claire has been up to. A few of you have asked what happened to the monthly updates. No, I have not forgotten. I decided to do official updates quarterly after the first year. This should get you by until then...

These boots are made for walking...

Claire LOVES wearing her boots. If they are in the entryway, she picks them up and insists that we put them on her feet. I am certain that she has spent more time with them on indoors than outdoors.

Holiday Catch Up

I finally found the time to download our holiday photos, so I thought I would share a few. Most of them are from Art's family, as my family was cut short due to the puking. Despite the illness, we had a great Christmas holiday. Here's to another great year in 2009!