Brown Bear, Brown Bear

What do you see?

Clare loves books; she never gets tired of reading and doesn’t mind reading the same books over and over.  She’ll pull one off the shelf and bring it over to you, sit down on your lap, and point to the pictures as you read.  She has a few favorites and knows them by name.  If you ask her to bring over the ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’ book she’ll bring it over, same with ‘Old MacDonald’, and ‘Peek A Who?’, it’s wild how well she knows her books. 

Clare's current favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? We read it at least 12 times a day.  She also likes to read her book to the Brown Bear that Grammy gave her for my Birthday.

Improving Spoon Skills

Clare’s been working hard on her utensil skills, her accuracy has improved greatly and her efficiency is getting there.  We’ve found it much easier for all involved if we pre-load the spoon, her scooping skills still need a little work. Today she did most of the work herself, even if that did mean a wardrobe change after lunch. 

Nothing like a little juice to wash it down.

 

She has also started to say that most foods are hot.  She’ll put her little hand up and say ‘hot!’ before taking a bite.  I’m glad she’s being cautious, but she doesn’t need to worry about her morning yogurt being hot, it’s ok to go ahead and eat it J   

'Hot!' 

Juicy Juice!

This weekend Clare enjoyed another first, her first juice box.  Typically I’m not a fan of juice, I don’t see the real need for the extra sugar, there isn't really any nutritional value to juice boxes that she doesn’t get from real fruit.  All that said; this little girl loves a juice box!!!

After visiting the farmers market and grocery store we stopped for lunch, we had a showing 11-1 so we couldn’t go home yet, so Wendy’s it was. The chicken nuggets were OK, but better with ketchup of course.  She wasn’t much interested in the fries, and the apple slices were less than exciting.  By far the best part of her lunch was the apple juice juice box.  She would have drank the entire thing in one breath had we let her, she was in heaven with the first sip. 

Being the Mom that wants her little girl to have everything she wants I bought more juice boxes at Target today.  I spent a good 5 minutes reading the labels on all the varieties and choices available.  Thankfully they had a low sugar version of apple juice and fruit punch, so I bought both.  Watching her face light up when she saw the juice box for lunch was worth it, she was in heaven!

I suppose some juice every now and again isn’t so bad, all things in moderation, right? 

Noodles

The house is officially back on the market, hopefully we have lots of showings and an offer isn’t too far off.  We had a showing tonight at 5:30 so we headed to Noodles for Clare’s dinner.

Fortunately the wait wasn't too long. 

Her Mac & Cheese with meatballs finally arrived and she dove in.  She's getting pretty good at using a spoon, she even uses both hands! 

This was also the first time Clare sat in a booster seat, she did well and only tried to climb out once. 

Hiding

Thursday evening I came home to find that Jeff had emptied every kitchen cabinet, it looked like the kitchen had exploded!  He sorted through all our stuff and decided what he wanted to keep out for our hopefully short stay in the condo.  Clare being the sweet little girl that she is decided to take advantage of the empty cabinets.

Have you seen Clare??

There she is!!

Being 31 ½ inches tall means she’s almost tall enough to reach the door handles.  She is thisclose to being able to open doors.  

Jinxed!!

I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned our moving!!!

Less than a week away from closing our buyers have fallen through.  Yup, you read that right, the deal isn’t happening, call off the movers, cancel the cancelled utilities, and stop packing everything we use on a daily basis.  I suppose it was always a possibility, but it’s still pretty disappointing.  It’s a long story, but long story short; their loan didn’t go through (after the loan deadline might I add). 

So, the kitchen cabinets have been filled again, minus what was packed on Thursday night, the house has been cleaned and the spare bedroom has been put back together.  The house will be back on the market this week.  The original buyers still very much want to buy the house, but aren’t in a position to do so right now, maybe in a few months.  Until then, we’ll be open to anyone wanting to see the house, I’ll keep it clean and ready to show, hoping that the perfect people walk thru the door and say ‘OMG, we HAVE to have this house!’

As far as Hannah goes, well, we had to back out; the purchase was contingent on the sale of Riviera. 

I guess everything happens for a reason; maybe a better house for us is out there just waiting for us.  

On the bright side, Clare is still the perfect little girl :) 

15-Month Check Up

Clare had her 15-month check-up with Dr. Dan this week.  Fortunately Jeff was able to join us, I’m happy to say that Jeff has been at every doctor’s appointment she’s had, he’s even taken her by himself.  Jeff isn’t just any ordinary Dad. 

We checked in and waited by looking at the fish in the tank, the office has a big tank with lots of fish; Clare liked pointing them out.  This was also the first trip where she was tall enough to stand on the step stool and see into the tank.  While waiting we also saw 6 newborns come and go, they were all so tiny!  It’s hard to imagine that just 15 short months ago she was that little; I will admit I got a little baby fever when I saw those newborns. 

Our nurse finally came and called Clare’s name so off we went to room 10 (we’re frequently seen in room 10).  Like our other visits I got Clare ‘down to diaper’ and met the nurse at the scale.  She wasn’t a fan of being measured, the nurse was stretching out her legs, which she clearly didn’t like, but she is officially 31 ½ inches tall.  Sitting on the scale was easy, 22 lbs and 5.2 ounces is where the numbers stopped, finally over 20 lbs!!  Should you put a crown on her head she would wear a 47.9cm crown.  Overall she’s perfect, not too short, just right in weight and lots of brains. 

Dr. Dan finally joined us in room 10 to check her out.  Clare was happily playing while we waited; she discovered the rolls of paper under the exam table and enjoyed opening and closing the cabinet doors.  The moment that Dr. Dan walked in she started to cry, I suppose he is pretty tall compared to Clare.  Dr. Dan did a quick exam, Clare was pretty unhappy so he did his best to be quick while explaining that most 15 and 18 month hold kids dislike him (he has a few 18 month old kids that start crying at the front door and don’t stop until they leave).  Clare calmed down and sat on my lap for the remainder of her visit, she kept a close eye on Dr. Dan but seemed much happier when he was done.

One of the many things I like about Dr. Dan is he likes to talk, he wants to hear our questions and takes his time to answer my ‘first time parent’ questions.  Each visit he gives us a ‘report card’ discussing common developmental, behavioral, and safety points.  During this visit he talked about setting guidelines and boundaries using an example with duck tape.  He talked about how if you put an outline of a box on the floor and put Clare in the middle she’d look to us for what to do.  If the box were only 6 inches she wouldn’t have much room to move, but if it were 20 feet she’d have too much room.  Long story short he wanted us to discuss how we were going to set boundaries, expectations and guidelines.   He finished his story and asked us to talk about this over the next few weeks and make sure we were on the same page.  Fortunately I think Jeff and I are on the same page when it comes to expectations, guidelines.

Overall Clare impressed Dr. Dan.  He asked how many words she knew (we guessed 15), asked if she could run (she’s close, but not yet), inquired about her spoon skills (doesn’t have the best accuracy but definitely understands the concept) and sleeping habits (still a sleeping champ – 12-13 hours a night).  He told us that he was very impressed with her and had absolutely no concerns.  He also encourage all the Grandparents (and us) to continue contributing to her college savings account, that he wasn’t ready to label her as genius just yet, although she was the smartest little girl he’d seen in a long time ;)

The worst part of the appointment was the 3 immunizations.  The nurse was fairly quick, but that didn’t matter, Clare still cried for a few minutes.  After her shots the nurse commented on how good of a bleeder Clare was, she needed a new band-aid before we left the office.  Fortunately she didn’t need any Tylenol after her shots and she took a 3.5-hour nap once she got home. 

We scheduled her 18-month check up for October and said farewell.  I like visiting with Dr. Dan, but I don’t like visiting because she doesn’t feel well, hopefully we won’t see him until our next well check-up.  

Lastly, because I know better than to post without pictures, a few pictures of Clare enjoying an afternoon snack of goldfish. 

She likes to have the best seat in the house.

Ketchup Anyone?

Clare eats a lot of chicken nuggets, hot dogs and fish sticks, like most little kids she enjoys her finger foods.  When we get nuggets from Chick-Fil-A she enjoys the Chick-Fil-A sauce, it’s sort of a honey mustard type sauce (only infinitely better).   When we’re out to dinner we’ll give her a little ketchup with her fries, she also enjoys ranch dressing on her fries and chicken. 

One night this week Jeff let her dip her own nuggets in ketchup, as you can see she loved it.  She quickly got the hang of it and eventually just dipped her fingers in the ketchup. 

Who needs a nugget when you can just dip your fingers!!

Aunt Sarah will be glad to know we have another ketchup lover in the family J

Grand

Grand is the leader of my Curious George troop, he’s sort of seen as the king monkey amongst the monkeys.  He joined my troop back in 1996 when we were in Williamsburg, VA visiting Andrew at school.  We went to the toy store on the mall and there he was, sitting on a shelf supervising everything going on.  I immediately knew he needed to come home with me, but someone thought he was too big ;) Luckily his charm won everyone over and he has been a part of the family ever since.  He earned the name Grand because well, he’s Grand.  I also like to think he’s named Grand because we called my Grandfather George, Grand.  They are both very similar in their personalities; no nonsense, like to eat sweets, like to take naps, born leaders and both always wear/wore a cap (we’ve never seen Grand take his cap off).

Clare has always been a bit skeptical of the George’s, she isn’t afraid of them necessarily, but doesn’t necessarily enjoy playing with them.  Grand has been in my closet on the shelf since she was born, just recently did he move into her room.  At first she was hesitant about him, pointing at him and looking unsure.  Grand has a way with people; he wants everyone to like him.  So, each evening Grand would try to win Clare over, he even tried putting a bow in his hair.  It only took about a week, but Clare will now get close enough to touch his nose.  

As you can see he even tried wearing her Rockies t-shirt (he loves baseball too!) and her shoe, thinking maybe if he dressed like her she’d like him.

Jeff tried to show Grand some love, even though Jeff is convinced the monkeys have a plot against Kai and talk behind his back. 

I’m looking forward to the day when Clare invites him to a tea party, he’s a wonderful guest.  Until then he's sitting on her shelf keeping a watchful eye on her. 

Hannah

Holy Moly do I have a lot of updating to do.  Everyday I think about how I need to blog, but finding the time in the evenings lately has been difficult.  I wish I could blog from work; I actually have a bit of down time right now, maybe tomorrow.

The main reason I’ve been so absent with blogging is because we’re moving!!  Traditionally I don’t like to announce big things before they actually happen, I suppose I’m superstitious that way, but I’d feel silly not mentioning it now; it’s pretty much a done deal.

Jeff first brought up the idea of moving back in February, like most things he had been thinking and mulling it over before actually saying anything.  We looked around a bit and decided that we wanted to take it a step or two further, so he called Jamie.  Jamie is Jeff’s cousin that happens to be an amazing realtor here in town.  We love Jamie, she’s been so helpful, I hardly think a Thank You note will carry the load when all is said and done; a large gas gift card and some new tires may be more appropriate J I’m not sure Jamie realized how intense we were going to be when she originally signed up for this adventure. 

Thanks to Jamie and all her hard work we were able to get Riviera sold in just about 3 months, incredible when there are so many houses on the market!  As we all know selling the house you’re living in is only half the issue, we had to find a house also.  We must have looked at 3-dozen houses before finally making an offer on the house we’re under contract on, oh, and that 3-dozen includes the house we made an offer on but didn’t pan out. 

So, we’ll be moving out of Riviera on July 29^th and moving into Hannah on August 20^th.   Yes, you read that right; we’ll be ‘homeless’ for nearly 3 weeks.  Thank goodness we haven’t sold my condo yet!!  Jeff is beyond excited to be living in my condo one last time; it will be some serious bonding time for the Sweets.  Jeff, myself, Clare and Kai will all be living in a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom condo for 3 weeks, we can’t wait!!  For all of those wishing I’d sold the condo long ago I have to say I’m glad I didn’t, it’s paying off right now J

Slowly but surely the garage is filling up with boxes and the house is getting packed up.  We still need to pack the kitchen, garage and most of Clare’s toys, but those things will have to wait until the end.  We have Two Men and a Truck coming at 8am on July 30^th; if it isn’t packed by then it will be tossed in the car for transport.   While packing I’ve realized we have an unbelievable amount of stuff, and honestly I don’t think we have as much stuff as many other people.  Safe to say I’ll be bringing less stuff into my life in the future. 

A few things I’ve observed/learned with this moving process (this far).

• I have a much higher standard of clean than most people; this does probably not surprise my brother.
• I like newer houses, the finer things in life are important to me, sorry Jeff.
• House hunting isn’t nearly as exciting and fun as it is on the TV show.
• Pictures don’t mean squat – some houses had really nice pictures, but once we drove up I knew it wasn’t my next house.
• We have A LOT of stuff, I bet we only use half of the crap we have in the house.
• I like bathrooms with a door, that said Hannah has an‘open air bathroom and toilet’ as Jeff described it.
• Why do people put carpet in bathrooms?!?!  Again, Hannah has carpet in the bathroom – Dear Santa, please bring me some tile J
• I love me a front-loading washer and dryer, my dream of owning a set will have to wait.
• I very much enjoy the carved bear sculptures; I’m hoping Hannah will have a family of Bears someday (sculpted ones, not real ones). 

August 20^th will be the day when we’ll be living in the mountains again; I think we’re both really looking forward to it.  I know I’m looking forward to the quiet surroundings, beautiful views, cooler weather (yes, even in the winter), and adventures that lie ahead of us.  People have been asking why we’re moving to Conifer, I ask them why not?  Yes, we’ll be driving a ways to work, but I’ll be at home on a mountain when you are complaining about your neighbors mowing their lawn or having a late night party, I’ll have a beautiful night sky when you hear cars and have light pollution.  We’ll have our own slice of heaven everyday, what’s not to love. 

Here are a few pictures of Hannah...

The kitchen.  Notice the granite counter tops,  stainless steel appliances,  side-by-side fridge with freezer on the bottom and under mounted sink J

A view of the dining and living room from the kitchen.  Yes, we'll be keeping the antler chandelier. 

Another view of the living room.  The French doors go out to the deck and 'yard'.  

Half of the fully finished basement.  No, we won't be keeping the pool table, despite the sellers offering it as part of the deal.

So, there you have it, my excuse for not blogging as much as usual.  I’ll do my best to catch up, two weeks is a long time in Clare’s life, everyday she’s learning new things and her personality is getting stronger.  The blog is her baby book, so I better get updating. 

4th of July Weekend

Clare celebrated her second 4th of July this weekend; this year was a little extra special since Greg and Gail are in town.  G & G arrived for the week on Sunday evening; they are spending the week with Clare while Karen is on vacation.

Monday was spent in the car doing some more house hunting, not Clare’s favorite activity because of all the in and out of the car, she does however enjoy exploring the different houses.  I hope we’re nearing the end of our search; it would be nice to know where we’re plant our roots and spend the next chapter of our lives.

Clare has loved all the attention that G & G have been giving her.  Today when I left for work she was already too busy playing to eat her breakfast, thankfully she did come back to her breakfast.  When I got home Clare was napping, she took a 3-hour nap, she was a tired little girl from all the playing. 

This evening, after her marathon nap, Clare was busy playing outside.  We brought up all the boxes and stuff from the basement, including her little table and chairs; she must have climbed up into her chair 20 times before dinner.  

Of course you have to wipe off the chairs before sitting in them. 

Greg and Jeff worked hard this afternoon filling the garage with boxes and stuff; we’re making progress thanks to today.  Clare had fun with the boxes; some are the perfect size to play in!

It's harder to pack when someone is resting on the packaging materials.

The garage is filling up quickly...

While playing outside the other evening Clare fell and scrapped her knee, luckily her scrapped knee didn’t slow her down, she didn’t even cry when it happened.  Tonight when Gail asked her where her boo boo was she pointed to her knee.  I’m so grateful that she wasn’t upset about her boo boo; she’s a tough cookie.

Gail, have you seen my boo boo??

Speaking of cookies, Clare enjoyed an afternoon snack of Animal Crackers, or cookies as we call them.   Clare loved putting her hand in the bag and retrieving her own cookie, it was hard to only take one at a time.  She knows how to open a zip top bag, so Gail had to keep an eye on her, we didn’t want her eating the entire bag. 

Gail was the cookie police, making sure she only had one at a time.

Clare also learned that if you drop on one the ground Kai will come along and eat it.

Greg took a break from throwing the ball for Kai to play a little soccer with Clare, Kai didn't mind and jumped right in. 

The best part of the mail is the sale flyers, today was Pottery Barn Kids.  Clare also got a post card from her Grammy and Grampy from their trip to Sequoia National Park.

Clare had to check out the Black Momba, she enjoyed riding in it but wanted to kick the tires as well.

Nice ride Papa!

Greg tried to teach Clare a little bit about lawn care, he figured we were a lost cause so maybe Clare could help keep the lawn nice. 

If you don't take care of the lawn the grass will be THIS high!

G & G will be here all week helping us, we’re lucky to have them here.  I’m sure there will be more adventures and memories made this week.  Having a retired Grandma is pretty nice, Clare could get used to this!