Our baby's one year old!

Claire had a big girl birthday party yesterday, with balloons, cake, presents, and party hats! She was napping when her guests arrived, and she was surprised to speechlessness when she woke up and found so many people in the house. Brian and I had estimated that the party would be about two hours, and this ended up being pretty accurate since all our little guests, like Claire, needed to nap in the late afternoon. She had a little sugar-high after devouring her slice of cake (she does have a sweet tooth!) but by the end of the party the birthday girl was rolling on the floor from exhaustion:

Claire was applauding everyone and everything! Clapping is her new-found talent.

She loves her new lion walker, from her friend Sophia.

Here she is supervising as Daddy helps open her gifts.

Birthday girl in the air!

Mmm, birthday cake! Mommy made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

Claire playing with her girlfriends Sophia and Tanvi.

Claire in her party hat!

Claire's birthday cake:

Daddy decorated with pink and yellow streamers all over the house.

Think about this

One year ago I sat in this glider, wrapped my hands around my pregnant belly, and told Claire about the outside world. I did this alot during the pregnancy as I found it to be so relaxing. I remember having alot of time to think and hope. As I sit here taking a few minutes to reflect, I really find it difficult to accept that a whole year has gone by! Today Claire rocked herself in the glider chair and I just stared at her in amazement. It seems like just yesterday that I was talking to my unborn daughter in that very same chair and describing her nursery to her.

While I was pregnant I enjoyed reading out loud to Claire. Now she "reads" on her own.

I don't have nearly as much time now to relax and think, but when I do I always have Claire on my mind just like when I was pregnant. Take right now for example. It's after 8:00 and Claire is fast asleep. Just like every night, I have this constant feeling: I miss Claire and I can't wait for her to wake up. So here I am blogging about her. : )

Feeling Better

Claire had a bad case of the croup this week. If you haven't experienced this first hand, its a bunch of coughing with some weezing and it sounds pretty bad. This is not to be confused with the other definition of croup, which means the highest part of the rump of a quadruped, esp. a horse. She did not become or have a large horse behind, she simply had a bad cough. If she were an adult, she'd probably take some cough syrup, but the medicine they give babies is oddly a much stronger medicine... steriods.. Yep, steriods. Its fitting that Mark Mcgwire admitted using steriods this week. We decided to admit it right here, come clean once and for all so that Bud Selig or any other commissioner of any sport that Claire may play will be well aware of why she can throw a ball 200mph. After taking the steriod she became almsot immediatlely better and being the good dad I am, I decided it would be appropriate to try to take advantage of the situation and do a mini-workout with her so that she could build up her muscles. Sarah later informed me that its not the same kind of steriod. Anyway, she's doing better now. Here are some pictures:


Riding on the new horse that Uncle Stephen and Aunt Anna sent her:
Rolling around eating her socks:

Crawling around and throwing Dad's socks (these were dirty one's too):

Posing for a picture in the bath:

Helping Mom with Laundary:

Standing on her new step stool excited to wash her hands.

Baby on boulders

What's the remedy for a grumpy, teething, feverish baby? Hiking! The baby books have failed to mention this but we find that it sure works for us and Claire. This weekend we explored Sunol Regional Wilderness which is a half hour drive from our house. We got to scramble around on boulders and discovered lots of small waterfalls and cascades, called "little yosemite". Claire screamed with delight as Daddy boulder hopped his way around. She was fascinated with all the waterfalls (and the river stones which apparently taste good). It was a great diversion and Claire was ready for a nap during the drive home.

That's right, it's not a trick of the eye. Mommy does have official bangs now. I'm still getting used to this look...I haven't had my hair like this since I was in elementary school!

Fancy Claire

Claire has inherited a beautiful Korean dress from her cousin Sydney. She wore it on new year's day, and she will wear it again on her birthday (which is coming up soon!). Claire made it very clear that she did NOT enjoy being in the dress, but she did warm up to it a little once we let her play with the hat. I wonder if part of the problem is that she hardly ever wears dresses and she has gotten used to her sweat-suit ensembles. I love all the cute dresses in the stores but I can't get myself to buy them because they would limit her crawling ability. Anyway, here's Max and Sydney all fancied up, followed by some pics of Claire trying to keep her cool:

Shaking baby

We know we're not supposed to shake Claire but somebody should explain that to her. Her favorite past-time now is shaking her head side-to-side. She has no idea what it means yet (thank goodness) and sometimes she varies it by going up and down or doing an egyptian head shift. Here's how meal-time has been going lately:

We think she does it because it's fun to make herself dizzy.