Almost Friday

Today felt like it should have been Friday, thank goodness it’s a long weekend where we can rest up and enjoy playing outside.  Clare has had a rough week, she is feeling much better but her nose is still running, I’m hoping another day or so of this and she’ll be back to her cute, spunky, playful self. 

Tomorrow we’re going back up the hill to look at more houses, hopefully we’re nearing the end of our search and our dream home is right around the corner.  I think we are both looking forward to the end of this process and the start of our next journey.

Clare loves her bath; she’d stay in there for an hour as long as the water was warm.   On one of our recent trips to Target we picked up a watering can for $.99, so far it’s been worth every penny.  Clare loves to have the water poured out, just not on her head, she likes to try and catch the water in her hands.  Tonight she was having a lot of fun and laughing, we had a good time.

Yes, that's a bruise under her left eye.  She bonked her head on the coffee table this evening, fortunately I don't think it will turn into a full black eye.  

Under The 90+ Degree Weather

This picture says it all, Clare is darn cute, but clearly she isn’t feeling well.  Today was day three of her feeling less than 100% and frankly, we’re all tired of it.  Feeling under the weather when it's 90+ degrees outside is no fun.  Watching your baby fight a cold is tough, she clearly doesn’t know what will make her feel better, she walks around crying and coughing, it sucks!

Saturday she was drooling A LOT, we chalked it up to teething, thinking maybe she was FINALLY getting a tooth.  Well, she keeps drooling, her nose is running nonstop and her cough is getting worse all without a tooth.  Yesterday, while we were in the car she started coughing so hard she threw up, nothing like the smell of ‘used hot dogs’ in the car.  I felt so bad for her, she’s never really thrown up, I know how scary it is, and I hope she didn’t feel that way.  So, we did a parking lot clean up and stripped her down to her diaper for the ride home.  For the rest of the afternoon she seemed alright; she fought a nap but played fairly happily and ate a normal dinner, spicy black bean soup and strawberry Newton’s, until it was time for a bath and bed. 

For the second night in a row she fell asleep in my arms, she gets much more cuddly when she isn’t feeling well.  Selfishly I love it, but know it’s because she doesn’t feel well breaks my heart. She slept well until about 9:30 when she woke up coughing and crying.  Nothing seemed to calm her down, she was so miserable; it was awful.  She was coughing so hard she threw up again.  My first thought was how could I make her feel better, my second thought was how part of being a Mom is being thrown up on and not minding. 

After talking with Karen this morning I decided to call Dr. Dan and see if there was anything we could be doing for her or if maybe something more was wrong.  Thankfully Dr. Dan said she was just suffering from a cold and really sore throat.  He told us to expect a few more rough nights but things should be better in a few days. 

So, hopefully we’re on the mend and she’ll be back to her happy self in another day or two.  She’s asleep now, hopefully she won’t wake up crying or coughing tonight, we all miss her amazing sleeping habits.  

On a positive note she learned how to put her coins in the piggy bank this weekend, she loves to drop them in over and over.  She also said a few new words, she told Jeff that she had a ‘sock’ in her hand, and she pointed to the books on the shelf and said ‘book!’   She also clearly knows the words water, drink and cup.  She’s learning so much everyday!!!

Keens

Clare had a rough weekend, her roughest weekend of her life without question.  We’ve been blessed with the sweetest, easiest little girl, she’s absolutely perfect.  She hardly cries, doesn’t fuss too much and generally is very happy.  This weekend Clare was not herself.  She drooled more than we’ve ever seen her drool, she wore 3 shirts and 4 bibs on Saturday alone.  Our guess is that she’s finally getting some teeth, although you can’t see or feel any.   I’m hoping she’s back to her normal sweet self tomorrow.

I was able to get a few smiles caught on camera :)

Saturday we went up to Evergreen, it was 20 degrees cooler up there than it was in Denver, heavenly!  We drove around and looked at some more houses, we’re getting close to actually moving.  To say she wasn’t thrilled about all the time in the car would be putting it mildly.  Thankfully, some Mexican food in her belly for dinner helped for a quiet drive home, she finally fell asleep after not taking a nap all afternoon.

Sunday we headed down to the outlets for a few quick exchanges while the house was being shown.  After stopping for lunch, where she enjoyed her first Corn Dog, we headed home. The afternoon was spent playing inside; it was too hot for a walk or playing outside.  She got every toy she owned out; the living room was a toy war zone.  Once the sun went down we headed out front to play outside, it was a nice evening.

She loves to play with the Burt and Ernie Bedtime book from Maggie and Jack, unfortunately she's played with it so much it's in many pieces, it's been well read. 

She was chewing on EVERYTHING this weekend.

Walking 'around' in the grass with Dada, she walked in about 4 circles before stopping.

Many nights Jeff will sit out on the drive way and monitor the cul-de-sac, watch the people walking by and grill.  Tonight, Clare joined him, I think she did a good job helping Dada.

Drink on one side and radio remote on the other, what more do you need!?!  She had lots of fun moving the cups from one side to the other.

Sitting outside once the sun goes down a bit is one of my favorite parts of summer, we could grill and eat outside every night as far as I'm concerned.  Can't wait to do this up in the mountains!

Clare wore her Keens for the first time today.  I bought these shoes when she was just a few months old; they are so darn cute.  I’m not sure that she enjoyed them as much as I did; she kept taking them off.   When she took them off before dinner, our usual routine, her feet were all sweaty, I guess that’s a drawback to the shoes.  Aren't they so cute!!

It was a long weekend, but we survived.  I hope that she feels better tomorrow, seeing her so upset is no fun, her tears break my heart.  Tonight after her bath and getting ready for bed she fell asleep in my arms, something she NEVER does.  I wish I could have sat there all night holding her, I love this little girl more than anything in the world. 

Tot Lot

Jeff is playing softball on Thursday nights this summer, their team ‘Older and Slower’ isn’t so awesome, but they have fun, and that’s what matters, right?  This week their game was at 6:15, so rather than drive all the way home just in time to turn around he stayed on that side of town, giving us the perfect opportunity to play at the deKoevend Tot Lot  before dinner.   Despite the rain and heat Clare had a lot of fun.

She loved playing on the horse and car toys, she knew right away how to make them move.

Of course the swing was a huge hit.

I can hear her laughing when I look at these pictures, she laughed the entire time :)

Dada, what are you doing?

Wheeeeee!!

The slide was also a hit.  She climbed the steps to the top like a big girl, didn't need any help.

She kept trying to climb up the slide, no matter how many times she slipped she kept trying.

I think maybe a swing set may be in our future, she has so much fun swinging and going down the slide.  

Frisco BBQ Challenge

This weekend was the annual Frisco BBQ Challenge.  My first trip to the BBQ Challenge was in 2005 when my Dad was in town and we wondered what the music was we heard from my balcony, so we walked to Main St and found the BBQ Challenge, what a wonderful discovery!  I remember walking around and tasting various BBQ, fresh roasted corn and potatoes made with a power drill.  Jeff and I have been to the once since then, again enjoying the delicious fare and mountain air. 

After a quick trip to Babies-R-Us to get a cup holder for the new stroller, we headed up I-70 to exit 203 for some BBQ and mountain air.  Somehow we found a parking space close to Main St, so our walk was short.  There must have been at least a zillion people there, having the stroller was almost more convenient than annoying, it acted as a crowd breaker, the sea of people parted just enough as we walked thru.

We bought our Hog Backs (tickets used for purchasing BBQ) and started looking around, true to our style we walked all the way to the opposite end of the festival without actually purchasing anything.  Clare and I eventually got in line for an ear of corn while Jeff set off for a hot dog.  Clare ate the entire hot dog; this girl loves a hot dog!  The corn was pretty good, I got it without butter and put a little bit of garlic salt on it, it was simply delicious!  Jeff set out again in search of something good to eat, he eventually came back with some chicken, shrimp and sausage of some sort, and all of it was good. 

That's the face of a girl with a belly full of hot dog :) 

After eating a bit of BBQ we went over to the park area so Clare could walk around and stretch her legs.  We noticed that Clare doesn’t like to stray far, despite having an area to play she stuck close to the stroller, I suppose she’s like us and likes to stick close to home. 

She had fun sitting on the foot rest of the stroller, she really likes a seat that's just her size.

We decided to call it an afternoon after walking around a bit, so back to the car it was.  Luckily, Clare napped most of the way home, so it was a rather peaceful drive.  Overall I think we all enjoyed the day, I know I did.  If nothing more it’s nice to get out of the house and do something as a family. 

Spoons

I follow a local chat board where women post about everything and anything.  I’ve met a few wonderful women from here and enjoy chatting with them.  Yesterday there was a post about toddlers using spoons; one woman was concerned because her 18 month old wasn’t using a spoon and her pediatrician was concerned about her fine motor skill development.  She asked other mothers if their children could use a spoon at 18months, many said that their kids could by that age.  Like any good chat board follower, I started to wonder about my child and worry that maybe I was doing something wrong by not teaching her to use a spoon already.

So, tonight I braced myself for the messiest meal to date and gave Clare a spoon.  I figured I’d give her a spoon to play with and see what she did.  Surprisingly, she did OK.  She definitely knew what to do with it, she didn’t have the best control, but she knew what she needed to do.  I helped guide her spoon into the yogurt cup but once she had some on her spoon she was able to get it into her mouth.  She was clearly proud of herself; she wouldn’t give up the spoon for anything!

She enjoyed using her spoon so much she didn't want to put it down, even to take a drink. 

After yogurt we moved on to venison stew, again she was able to successfully get her loaded spoon in her mouth.  For the record, she loved the stew; she ate almost an entire bowl! 

It was hot today, nearly 93 on the drive home.  Clare is like her Dada; she sweats a lot!  After sitting in the car seat for 45 minutes she’s a sweaty girl, her hair gets curly and she has that sweaty feel.  When we got home Jeff was working in the kitchen, as soon as he opened the fridge Clare was headed over to cool herself off.  She seemed to enjoy the Liquid Smoke; I can’t imagine it tastes very good.

So, I’m glad to know that Clare isn’t too far off the curve; hopefully with some more practice she’ll be a spoon using pro by 18 months.  It’s a good thing bath time is right after dinnertime.