38.5 Weeks down, 1.5 to Go

Sarah is officially 96.25% of the way through her pregnancy and we are anxiously awaiting Tyler's arrival. Here's what each of us has been up to this week:

Claire's been practicing her writing skills:

Sarah's been working on crown moulding (yes at 38 weeks pregnant!)

Brian's been:

(No pictures... he's just been watching Quantum Leap this week and while we document a lot of stuff, it seems silly to take pictures of someone watching a TV program)

Eating Breakfast

Now that Claire is 2 years old she likes to read the morning "paper" while eating her cereal:
















And she is starting to take after daddy as well. When daddy was young he used to line his animals up on the stairs just like this:

Coincidence?

Claire has been 2 years old for just over a week now. Is it my imagination or during this past week has our daughter been more pushy? The other day when Daddy told her it was time to put her coat on (as we were leaving a restaurant), Claire yelled "no daddy no daddy!" and pushed him away. Since he persisted, she proceeded to snatch her coat away from him and throw it onto the floor! Both Daddy and I had to work very hard not to laugh, because it was clear she wanted to be taken seriously. It reminded me of all the times when I've yelled in an attempt to be taken seriously by my husband, who pleads "I didn't know you really meant it" when I know we've discussed the issue before. So is this a girl thing or a terrible-twos thing? Probably doesn't matter in the end, but it would be nice to know that Claire will someday grow out of it!

Belated birthday post!

Well it's official, our little girl is 2. And because we have another baby on the way we've been really talking up the whole "you're a big girl" thing in hopes that Claire will take pride in helping us out with the baby. Honestly, it just breaks my heart calling her a big girl and not a baby anymore. I now understand all the parents that I know who still call their 20-something year-olds "babies".

Claire was the youngest of everybody at her birthday party. She loves hanging out with big kids, and I like it too because she seems to know NOT to hit/slap them when they show interest in her toys. With younger kids she doesn't hesitate to threaten them with a raised hand, and then I'm on referee duty for the whole play date. I tell myself it's just a phase...it will pass too.

You can tell from the photos that Claire had fun and that she fully understands what cake is now.

Happy birthday to Claire!