Afternoons with Claire

Random - Silly - Fun

 

Those three words can sum up any given afternoon spent with Claire. Here is a look back at some of my favorite random, silly, and fun afternoons in July:

 
Walks and Chalk - every once in a while we get outside for a walk. Claire enjoys pushing Baby O'Muria, her blankie, and my water bottle in the small stroller while I push Ethan. If we just can't make it anywhere, then we play in the front yard. Claire likes to slip on her rain boots (because they are easy to put on/take off) and draw line after line on the sidewalk. And if you didn't notice in the photos below, she is wearing the same dress. No, these were not taken on the same day. It is her favorite dress and she tries to wear it all the time.
  

Taking Pictures - she loves to take pictures. Lets all say it again so we can grasp the magnitude of how much she loves taking pictures. Claire LOVES to take pictures. I frequently find random photos of things she has photographed on my camera. Mostly, they include her face, her toys, and duh....Baby O'Muria.

 
The "Water Park" - this is what she calls Mountview Park. She has graduated from the baby playground and now prefers to play with the big kids. She also rarely ventures over to the splash pad, because it is a little intimidating for her. It dawned on me that the reason she probably dislikes it so much is because we punish her by putting her in the shower. Water from the shower; water from the sprinklers. Of course that would feel like the same thing to a three year old.

 

 
Staying Inside - we do a lot of this now that Ethan is around. With him taking three naps a day, it's difficult to find time to leave the house. Whatever we are doing inside, seems to revolve around taking pictures. Now that Claire interacts more with kids her age (neighbors, kids in nursery, cousins, etc.), she has picked up a few silly faces.

 
One afternoon, I was so tired that I actually fell asleep on the couch. I think I was only asleep for about fifteen minutes thank goodness. I woke up to Claire asking me if I wanted a snack and this is what I found. Claire had put Baby O'Muria asleep behind her and gathered some food from the fridge. She got out sliced turkey, Havarti cheese, chocolate milk, and more cheese. I could not stop laughing. You are too cute Claire Bear!

 

Hope you enjoyed an inside peek of a few afternoons with Claire. She definitely keeps things interesting.

Date Night - July 9th

This was our first 'date night' in about five months. Needless to say, I was in dire need of a night away from the kids so we gathered our friends and had a wonderful dinner at Baja Cantina in Park City. Everyone made it, except Spencer's wife, so for the picture, he jokingly stood off to the side. We missed you Melinda!

During the car ride home, Erik and I talked about how much fun it was to be out with everyone minus the kids and vowed to each other to plan this once a quarter. Looks like we're due for another one. :) YAY!



Lianna, Jon Lindsey, Julie and Ben Hertz, myself and Erik, Andrew and Jessica Drage, Spencer Shelton

Our Little Guy - Month 6

It's hard to believe our little guy is now six months old (well, as of last month). I was really looking forward to his six month well-check appointment to see how he had been growing the past couple of months. On August 5th, he was:

• 18 pounds (58%)
• 26 inches (34%)
• head circumference = 7%

He stayed right on track and even though his weight went down 9%, he's still looking as chubby as ever. The doctor said he is doing very well and requested that I start giving him finger foods and working with him on the stairs. What? It is seriously time to practice the stairs and give him snacks? It is so hard for me to believe he is already at that age. Where has my little newborn gone?

During Ethan's fifth month, he pretty much did the same things he was doing the month prior. His most obvious development was his love of blowing bubbles. Every once in a while, his lips would be in just the right position and he'd blow bubbles forever. Of course, this added lots and lots of drool. He also went from sleeping on his back, to sleeping on his side (some of the time). He loves to lay on his side and hold onto the fabric bumper that is his bassinet while he sleeps. Ethan's favorite thing to do is kick, stand, and jump. He is very active and loves to use his feet. Other than that, he has remained a healthy, happy, good-natured little guy. Here are some of my favorite pictures from July:

 

Ethan's 6 Month Bear Picture

 

Fun Family Night Out? Well...

One of the items on my 'Summer Bucket List' was to attend a Bees game. We knew Claire wasn't going to pay attention, but being outside and doing something out of the 'norm'; that, she would enjoy. To make more of an 'event' out of it, we even took Trax to the stadium. Claire was in heaven. This was only the second time she had rode on Trax before and she absolutely loved it.

Once we got to the game, the fun pretty much ended for me. Ethan was hungry and tired, which meant nursing in a disgusting bathroom stall and rocking him to sleep in the walkway. It was a good thing Claire was having fun.

The best thing about our evening? Our friends, Jon and Lianna, happened to be there. This was music to my ears. Why? Because Claire is obsessed with "Indiana" and sat with her almost the entire time. Coming in at a close second, was when the man sitting next to Claire caught a foul ball and then handed it to her. She was very excited!


 
It was a very long evening for me and my left arm almost fell off from holding Ethan while he slept, but it was nice to do something out of the 'norm' and I know Claire enjoyed it. Erik always says I do activities just to take pictures and in this instance, he was sort of right. It wasn't the most fun for me, but who cares....I have cute pictures of the kids to show for it. :)