Powered by cheese

Claire started taking steps all by herself last Sunday! She hasn't done it very often since then, so this is extra-special that we caught her on video tonight:

In case you're wondering, she's carrying a mixing bowl lid and a toy cheese slice. She's recently started mimicking a little of what we do and say. Maybe she's pretending to have food on a plate?

Baby in paradise

We're back from Maui! It was a lovely four days spent with Brian's parents, and we definitely wish the trip had been longer. We discovered that it gets considerably harder to fly with a toddler than with an infant, but it was still worth it to be able to spend time on the beach! Claire crawled all over the sand, ate a ton of it (much to my dismay), and jumped in the water with Daddy. She enjoyed quality time with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Bill, while we went out ziplining, running, and snorkelling. We topped it off with taking Claire to her first luau and feeding her poi, again (she's tried it once before and guess what she still doesn't like it).

We went hiking across suspension bridges to a waterfall:

Here's Claire trying pineapple for the first time, which she loved!

We want to go back!

Dancing Blue Man

Today a little blue man showed up at our doorstep (Thanks David and Leila). He claims that his name is Iggle Piggle and that he has a famous TV show, but we think that he is more than likely a spy coming to steal our best kept family secrets. You know, things like what time Claire goes to bed, how many diapers she wears a day, and how many decibels is her average scream. This type of information in the wrong hands could easily lead to a global meltdown larger than the latest financial crisis. This is why we were glad to see that Claire took matters into her own hands and showed Iggle Piggle whose the boss of the house. See below:

Sharing cheerios

Who knew meal time could get more fun? Claire has started "sharing" her snacks with us.

If you're lucky you get fresh, dry cheerios. Sometimes she offers ones that have been in her mouth already, and then it's a challenge to smile and say thanks as you chew on a soggy "o".

These are for you, Daddy!

I'm at home with Claire, who's come down with hand-foot-mouth disease AND an upper respiratory tract infection so she's not in daycare today for obvious reasons. But looking at these photos, you'd guess that she's just playing "hooky" from daycare, right? Well I'm just that super good with the camera! Claire had one bright moment after her morning nap and I took advantage...whipped out the maracas, stuck in some hair-bands, and turned on some kiddie tunes. She was all smiles for a few minutes, then the snot started again and whining ensued. Ah well. We hope she beats this cold soon, because in the meantime we're not getting much sleep!

The pig-tails stayed in for just the duration of the photo shoot. I had to do it though! Daddy bought these hair-bands many months ago and he's been looking forward to this moment.

I should point out that hand-foot-mouth disease is NOT to be confused with the foot (hoof) and mouth disease that cows get. 1) Claire has not been in contact with any cows except for the stuffed animal and plastic versions, and 2) the animal virus does not spread to humans anyway. We were mistakenly calling her condition foot and mouth disease until the pediatrician yesterday cleared that up for us. Ah, just another chapter in the book of parenting...