HALLOWEEN!

I for one love Halloween and on the the other hand Dave hates it; being the awesome husband and dad that he is, Dave just went with the flow.

The Anderson's were nice enough to let us borrow one of their costumes that Abigail or Emma wore. Claire was a super cute Ladybug. We headed over to Gram's and Grumpy's since someone other else just had to see just how cute she was. It worked out nicely since we live way the heck out there and haven't had any trick-o-treaters in the three years we've lived here. Claire was able to hand out candy and see all the kids dressed up. Plus, the offered to babysit and we had an impromptu dinner date at Giuseppe's.

Pumpkin Patch with Grandma

Grandma Debbie came to visit last week to help out with Claire while I am recovering from surgery on my heel. The weather was nice and so we headed to the pumpkin patch in Boring. Unfortunately it was during the middle of the week so Dave was at work but if we waited till the weekend it would have been a soggy muddy mess. 

It was both a first for both me and Claire! The crutches made it a bit of a challenge but I managed just fine. We went on a hayride, picked out our huge pumpkin, got some freshly made carmel corn and had a really good time. They had a kiddy area where Claire played in a sandbox full of dried corn kernels, had a hay maze and a little play house (where she promptly got stuck in the folding chair). Grandma and I tried to to get Claire to look at the camera for some fun pictures but there were so many distractions it almost became comical trying to get her to look at us and not at all the people.

Got to weigh in

Corn kernels are almost as much fun as sand!

Ohhhhhh! Help Grandma!

Hayride

Playing peek-a-boo around R2D2
(We had to take this for Daddy)

So many to choose from

Confusing

It occurred to me a while back that the world can be a confusing place for a little person and us adults certainly don't make it any easier for them.

Here is what I mean, back in August Claire and I went to Dick's to look at the camping gear. We are walking through while Claire is pointing at different things asking 'what's that' and trying to say the word. She points to several rafts, kayaks and boats hanging on the wall and from the ceiling. It is a great way to display them without taking up floor space. My thought to make it easier is I just called them all boats. It was pretty cute to hear her sound out the word boat and practice over and over again. First as a whisper, almost like she doesn't want to say it too loud, just in case it isn't right or she is listening on how it sounds internally comparing it to what I said. Wouldn't be awesome to be in their heads!

A few days later we were walking through Target and Claire very excitedly points to the lights and signs and says BOATS! She was quite proud of herself. It makes perfect sense to her; why wouldn't those be boats, we are in a store and they are hanging from the ceiling. How confusing!

I felt sad that I was the one who created the confusion and how to explain that those are lights or signs, not boats. Anyway, two months later she now looks up, points and says LIGHTS!! Although, I am not sure still knows what a boat is.

Sweet Country Photography

We had Claire's 1 year photos taken a few weeks ago. Up next family pics, now we just have to get them scheduled :)

Claire likes to help. Think she'll be this helpful when it comes time to do chores?

Prepping the yard for grass seed. 

Having a blast!

Helping to get all the dog hair; it is a big task!

Too cute!

Random pictures over the last 12 months

Working on her 'cheese' (September)

Her FAVORITE show (September)

Playing in the dirt with a runny nose; nice combo (August)

Pool time (June)

Snack? (June)

She looks so serious (May)

'Come get me, I hate the grass!' (May)

Awww! (March)

Who knows! (March)

Bundled up at the zoo (March)

Almost ready to roll over (December) 

Daddy and his little girl (December)

All tuckered out (November)

Best friends (November)

First bath (September)

Too cool! (September)

Family! (September)

Day 2 (September)

Happy Birthday

We celebrated Claire's 1st birthday!

Here is a few things that she's doing now:

• 21 lbs (50%), 31 inches long (97%), wearing 18 months clothes and size 4 shoes!
• 12 teeth (6 on the top and 6 on the bottom)
• New words now include ice, hot, moo, quack, ruff, meow, doggie, hi, bye, go (actually go, go, go!), buzz as in what bees say and cracker. She tries to say balloon, ball, bird, boat, spoon and goat but these all sound the same right now. We are still waiting for mommy and daddy. 
• Claire can point out her body parts. Belly button and toes are her favorites but she also knows ears, eyes, nose, fingers, knees, head and hair.
• We are still working on our sign language. If prompted she will do 'all done' and 'milk' but wont do it on her own; we are going to keep at it. 
• Loves fruit! Especially blueberries (thank you grandma), strawberries and watermelon. It will be sad this winter when we can no longer find it.
• MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC! The best ones (in Claire's opinion) are Twinkle, Twinkle and Itsy Bitsy Spider.
• Two of her favorite games are 'I see you' (peak-a-boo) and 'I am going to get you' (chase) followed by a good tickle of the ribs. She has the best laugh! 

I'll get a few more pics of her birthday party here soon!