Happy Father's Day, Brian!

Here's what Brian did to celebrate fatherhood:

There's nothing like a little dare-devil experience to keep you feeling young and energetic! I don't know if indoor skydiving is popular elsewhere, but it's really taken off here in the bay area. I think Brian's got the bug now, because he's saying he wants to go back to learn tricks. Claire and I both feel like he deserves these adventures and more because he's the best Daddy in the world! Our very own Superman!

Holy Sh*t!

After months of poop-free blog posts, I have to break the silence and talk about our daughter's excrements again. Sorry folks, but this is worth it! Today for no good reason at all I took Claire to Babies-R-Us to pick out a potty. I figured we might as well have a place for her to sit in the bathroom so I can keep an eye on her while I'm doing my business. Aaaanyway, Claire really took a liking to a white Babybjorn potty and she kept trying to sit on it in the store. So I purchased it, we drove home, and I placed it in the bathroom. Pants and diaper came off, and there we were enjoying our "mommy and me" moment on our potties. I talked her through my routine as usual, then left the room to go get the camera because she looked so cute sitting there on her potty. When I came back into the bathroom, Claire had that classic glazed-look in her eyes, then lo-and-behold she went number 2 in her potty!! I was perhaps more proud of her at that moment than when she had started walking. Claire was stunned to silence as I commenced a 5-minute-long hysterically loud display of praise, shock, and joy. After I had calmed down she stood up and bent over so I could wipe her, then she marched out of the bathroom. All done!

After I dumped her poop in the toilet, she took great pleasure in helping to flush it down. She consistently waves bye-bye after she does this.

Busy with relocation preparations

It's just about official, everybody! Pending inspections, we are the new owners of a beautiful home in Ellicott City. We'll be moving out of our house here in San Jose in mid-July, and residing temporarily in a hotel until we depart on July 31st. Personally I am really looking forward to this! Daily maid service sounds l-o-v-e-l-y. We'll continue to keep you all posted on this big transition. It's strange to think that Claire is completely clueless about all of this. I'm glad she won't really remember this, so the pain of leaving friends won't register for her.

House Hunting in Maryland

We are moving from California to Maryland. We went house hunting out there this past weekend. More to come soon.

Ladybugs and hats

Claire colored a picture today at daycare -- this is the first time that she has brought home some artwork. Daddy and I are mightily impressed that 80% of the coloring is within the lines.

Mommy bought a new cap, and Claire was the first one to wear it. She insisted on parading around the house (and under the dining room table) with it on. Funny that she won't wear her own hats, but mine are apparently all right.

Claire's words

Here is what we think Claire is saying so far:

Cow
Moo
Dad
Down
Out
Cat

Mind you, these sound like just the first consonant and vowel of each word but nonetheless she is definitely trying to talk now! It is time for me to fill in the entry in the baby book for "baby's first word". Technically her first consistent word was "moo", as in what a cow says. Some parents might be bummed that it wasn't "mama" or "dada", but we're ok with the mooing. She's awfully cute when she moos.

I must be feeding her too much milk...

Happy Hollow

Last weekend Brian and I used Claire as an excuse for us to go visit Happy Hollow. It's a small zoo and park with children's rides, so without Claire we would not have fit in at all. She had a fantastic time despite being still too young for many of the rides. Here she is going on her first ride all by herself:

Perhaps most surprisingly, Claire LOVED the puppet show theater at Happy Hollow. She sat on my lap perfectly still and her eyes were absolutely fixated on the stage for the whole 1/2 hour of the 3 little pigs story. She laughed at all the right times and clapped when everybody else clapped. It was awesome!! Brian actually slept through the show, funny enough.

Claire seemed perfectly happy to watch the lemurs and meerkats all day, which was good because they really didn't have any other exciting animals. She was soooo excited to ride the carousel that she had trouble waiting for everybody to get strapped in -- she was just starting to cry out of frustration and then the ride started, thank goodness! Aside from that we also played on the huge playground, along with 20 billion other kids. It was madness to me and Brian, but Claire loved all the action. She and Daddy also walked through a maze together.

So now that we know our way around the park, if any of you want to join us for a playdate at Happy Hollow, we're in!

16th Month Photos

Claire's pretty good at entertaining herself these days while I'm doing chores around the house. She sits quietly (almost too quietly) and reads her books, and she pretend plays with her farm set for example. Occasionally though I hear some panicked yelling and I have to check on her. This is how I typically find her:

I'm surprised that she can even fit under the bed! She only yells because she doesn't figure out that she needs to duck her head to crawl out. Besides this little trick, she's also learned where her tongue is and she confidently sticks it out when asked "where's your tongue?"

Daddy taught her that one. We think she's also trying to identify things like teddy bear (da-ee) and kitty cat (goya-gah).

Claire's definitely comprehending much more than what she can verbalize herself. When I tell her that it's time to brush her teeth she basically runs (very exciting time!) to the bathroom and points to her big girl toothbrush. Thank goodness her toothpaste is berry flavored. She chomps away on that brush!

She has discovered where I keep the grocery bags in the kitchen recently. She loves to pull them out of the cabinet and parade around the house babbling. I wonder if she's shopping?

Happy Mother's Day!

I just had the best day! It started with Claire waking up all sunny and cheerful (wish that happened every day). She was even obliging when I put her bloomers on her head for fun. I dare say that she liked them as a hat! She wore them a lot longer than she wears any of the little hair bows that I attempt to put in her hair.


I discovered a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for me in the dining room:

We went to brunch at a neighborhood restaurant which I love, and Claire was on her best behavior. Mmm mimosas! Plus by some miracle we got the following photos of both mommy and daughter looking at the camera and smiling at the same time.




Topped the afternoon off with a pedicure and shopping at the mall! Very relaxing for me, and for Daddy and Claire apparently. They both napped the whole time I was away. I apologize that you have to look at my feet, but this is the first time I've ever had little flowers on my toe nails and I think they're adorable.

I hope all the mommies out there had a wonderful day, toe nail flowers or not!

New front yard garden

Brian has been busy digging holes in our front yard. He's planted 15 new shrubs between the sidewalk and the curb, and it looks fabulous! Claire did her share by helping to pick up sticks. She and I also spent time in the back yard, weeding the strawberry patch. Problem was, Claire preferred to pick the not-yet-ripe strawberries.

Playing in the sand

We hit the beach today and Claire got to use her sand toys for the first time. I gotta say though, she didn't play with them nearly as much as Daddy did! They made a castle with a very very deep moat, which was perfect for Claire to walk laps around. Brian and I both agreed that we should have bought sand toys for ourselves long ago. The water here is too cold to swim in anyway!

Hello kitties

Claire is really starting to interact with our kitties now. She absolutely LOVES them, and tries to pet them all the time. Unfortunately her "petting" is more like slapping, so the adoration is not mutual. She's taken it to a new level by playing with their toys too:

As you can see, Cleo actually likes the violent playing (whipping) which has fueled Claire's enthusiasm even more!

Bubbles

Here's a very mellow Claire enjoying her bubbles the other day. Sorry Daddy, we know we're not supposed to blow bubbles inside but it was too windy outside! Claire likes to try catching the bubbles and eating them. She also does this with the bubbles in her bath, except that's alot easier: just put your mouth on the surface of the water and suck in. This technique of hers is very effective. There's the added bonus that it cleans out her insides.

All about the spoon

I wish I could remember what it was like to learn how to feed myself. To put so much thought into getting food into my mouth...seems very tiring! We really do take it for granted. Claire is really interested in the whole spoon-to-mouth maneuver and she is practicing it all the time now. She will reject certain foods if she does not have a spoon with which to shovel it in. Here she is at lunch today:

A Heavenly Weekend

Greg is visiting again so we took the opportunity to head up to the Mountains and spend the weekend Skiing and enjoying Lake Tahoe. It was a beautiful sunny weekend with temperatures in the upper 60's at lake level (6500 feet) and in the mid 50s up at 10000 feet at the top of Heavenly ski resort. We spent the night at the very nice Marriott Timber lodge and were able to get a really nice two bedroom suite with a full kitchen and living area. In addition to the great accommodations the location couldn't have been better as the base of the Heavenly gondola is right outside the door. Sarah outdid herself by watching Claire and taking her on the Gondola and for a run around town while Greg and I (Brian) spent the day trying to ski every run on the mountain. This proved an impossible feat as even with a small portion of the mountain was closed for the season (lack of snow), we still managed to ski the whole day without doing the same run twice. It was ideal spring snow and there were very few people on the mountain so we had a blast. When we got back, I made sure to thank Sarah for watching the baby and letting us enjoy the snow by signing her up for a Spa sampler package which included a massage, mini-facial, and a seaweed wrap. We all tried to guess exactly what a seaweed wrap would entail and our best guess was that they'd be wrapping large leafs that looked as if they came from the sea all around her body. We conjectured that they'd add small sea creatures like anemones and starfish to the wrap to help exfoliate her skin. In the end, Sarah thoroughly enjoyed here wrap, but it was not as we had guessed. They simply spread a gooey green seaweed substance on her body and wrapped her in towels to allow her skin to absorb the nutrients. I can personally atest to the fact that her skin is noticeably softer now. In the end it was a great weekend, and although Claire didn't get to Ski or get a spa treatment, she thoroughly enjoyed exploring the hotel and playing with the doorstops.



Here are some additional pictures from this weekends adventures:

Being goofy on the slopes:

Out for a twilight stroll in the Heavenly Village:
Daddy and Claire touching noses:

What happens if you push over the recycling?:
Ah ha, that's what happens if you push over the recycling:

Having a great time learning about the hotel:
Riding the Gondola:

Easter at the Grand Canyon

Claire did her egg hunting at the Grand Canyon, with Grandma and Grandpa Koster. There were a couple of miracles that happened: Claire focused on the task at hand and did not immediately try to walk away, and the eggs did not blow away in the crazy strong wind. You would not believe how windy it was! Anyway, Claire did a great job picking up eggs and putting them in her basket with Grandma's help.





During the whole trip she was fixated on walking. Mealtime meant that somebody had to be following Claire as she walked around the restaurant. She is determined to get faster! Here she is leaving Daddy as he is trying to open our cabin door:

The canyon was gorgeous, and there was still some snow up along the rim. On our last day there a storm blew in and we were stuck in our cabins waiting out the sleet and snow.

Happy belated Easter to you all! We hope spring is well under way wherever you are.