Tales of a Slug

This morning I decided to slug to work due to some delays on the Orange Line. Two cars pulled up. Another slugger broke into a dead run to be the first person to the first car. (A portent for the day.) The driver of the first offered to take me as well, but I waved that I would ride with the second, a woman in her 60s with a handicap tag on her rear view mirror.

Bad move.

I opened the door and was met with the smell of stale cigarettes and a filthy car. "Watch out for the exposed screw on the back of my XM." She took off, overturning my expectation that she would be a cautious driver, yelling at people as she cut across three lanes of traffic to the HOV lane. "Get off my bumper. Geez."

I wonder if she can see the screen of my BlackBerry as I'm typing this...

Update: Getting out of her car, my legs entangled in some cord. It spilled out of the car into the roadway. "Could you make sure the whip makes it back in the car?" Whip?! "I train horses." What a to start my Friday.

Eating The Thai

It's been a while since we ate the Thai, and they are quite tasty, so we headed over to Chao Phra Ya for Pad Thai. There was an appetizer on their specials list - ground chicken, ground shrimp, and lemon grass formed into a ball around a piece of lemon grass and fried. We decided to order. Sounds a little funny, but tasted quite good!

As we sat down, Kristin pulled out a new sippy cup with a straw. "Check out what she learned today." Clara took the cup and started drinking. She looked like such a big girl! She even successfully drank out of a normal straw, though she pulled a little hard and got a huge shot of water, more than she could handle, that she proceeded to spit out of her mouth on to the table.

It's hard to believe that in two weeks she will be a year old. Her hair is now long enough that we can make a ponytail on top of her head. (Some say she looks like a samurai. Bualee said she looks like a little Thai girl.) It makes her look beyond adorable and people no longer have to guess if she is a boy or a girl.

Perhaps that's what I like most of all.

The Holiday Spirit

We have soooooooo many posts to catch up on - Halloween, Clara's 11 month "birthday", our trip to Portland, and more - but I couldn't resist posting these two photos. When we were in Sunriver over Thanksgiving, Dad and Sabrina wanted to get pics of both grandchildren with Santa. Brittany (Sabrina's oldest daughter) has a four-month-old son, Alakai, who performed beautifully for Santa. Clara, on the other hand...well, you'll see. Hope this gets us all a little more into the holiday spirit!

Oregon Day 6: House Hunting & Lunch

After a slow start to the morning, we piled into the cars and headed down to Bend for a little eating, shopping, and house hunting. The Mill District in Bend used to be home to the ... wait for it ... mill, and is now home to an outdoor shopping and dining district.

We stopped for a bite to eat at Red Robin. For those unfamiliar, it's a burger joint with pretty creative burgers and bottomless baskets for fries. I'd been two times before, once in Oregon and once in Virginia, and both times we were served by 15-year-olds wholly incompetent in every way. The service was terrible, the food marginal, and I marvelled that a restaurant could be so consistent on opposite sides of the country! They might have been terrible, but at least they were consistent about it.

Thus, I've avoided the place for the past few years. I swallowed my opinions (oh! the many that I have) and walked into the restaurant. We were quickly seated at a table that accommodated our large group and a WONDERFUL server approached our table and provided some of the dining best service imaginable. When a specialty drink was spilled, she appeared with a second one at no charge within moments. When we struggled over a menu choice for Clara, she had a quick recommendation. When the sun shone in our eyes, she lowered the blinds. And the food was pretty dang good! It restored my faith in Red Robin. Not completely though. I have to have equally good service here in Virginia. If that happens, they have a customer back.

We sat down and Clara immediately went to Jeff and Sabrina. It might have had something to do with a box of crayons. She sat with them until our food was served, enjoying playing with PaPa and attempting to eat the crayons. I was able to catch a few cute pictures of the two together.

 

Due to the cold weather, we bundled up Clara before we left the restaurant. She looked more than a little like the kid from A Christmas Story, but with a cuter face. Check her at the right in her stroller right before we left the restaurant. Oh! And other cool thing. The house we're staying in is totally decked out for a kiddo. They have this collapsible stroller that folds like origami. Preferable to our $20 umbrella stroller we brought on the trip.

We visited the various stores. I ducked into a gaming store and got to try Mario Galaxy out (amazingly intuitive controls). Even though Clara wasn't smiling, I had someone take a family picture.On our way out, we passed a store that had these huge nature sculptures and one tried to attack Justin. Luckily, I pulled him out of the talons of death before he suffered permanent damage.

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We left the mill and headed out to house hunt. Jeff, being the architect, loves driving around and looking at homes and developments. He even has favorite areas near us from his trips to D.C. I couldn't even begin to describe where we went, but I do recall that I was the guy "lucky" enough to sit shotgun and jump out at every house for a flier. We had fun playing the "guess how much this is going for?" game. I really like Craftsman-style homes and the areas we hit had a lot of beautiful homes.

As tomorrow is Thanksgiving, we hit the local Fred Meyer for extra supplies. Apologies for the quality of this next picture, but I HAD to include it. Our cart was more than a little loaded, as was the store. It is still being debated who made the choice, but someone picked the line with a cashier-in-training. Check out Jeff's exasperated face and Sabrina's laugh as she copes by finding humor in the situation.

One last picture of Jeff and Clara playing together. She sure is fond of her PaPa.

Oregon Day 5: Over the Mountains, Through the Woods & Across the Desert

How can you make a three-and-a-half hour car trip to central Oregon with an almost one-year-old enjoyable? Add Melissa and Justin into the mix! That's right, today we drove from Kristin's mother's house down to Sunriver, just south of Bend, for a few days with Jeff and Company.

This was my first trip over the Cascade Mountains and into the high deserts that cover most of central Oregon. Our route took us up over 5000' alongside Mount Hood, through beautiful conifer forests recently dusted with snow, and across sage brush-scrubbed plains. We hadn't seen Melissa and Justin since last April and a few big things happened in the interim. Let's just say that Melissa put on a few pounds near her left hand, more specifically her fourth finger. Click the links to check it out.

Our ride really was a delight as we had a chance to catch-up with Melissa and Justin. They are contemplating a move, planning a wedding, and doing a fair amount of traveling. We stopped for a break in Madras, home of some baseball player that everyone was freaking out about, (Kristin jumps in with Red Sox player), then continued on our way.

Sunriver sits at an elevation of 4500'. The house we stayed in backed up to a golf course and had views of Mount Bachelor and Three Sisters on a clear day. Here's a picture of the front of the house.
We quickly settled in, picking the room farthest away from everyone as we anticipated a few mid-night cries. Our group consisted of Kristin, Clara, and I; Melissa and Justin; Jeff and Sabrina; Alana and Delaney, Sabrina's daughters; and Megan, Alana's friend. The girls broken in the pool table while we went upstairs to feed Clara.
The layout of the house was perfect for a large group. Four of the five bedrooms and the family room with a pool table were on the first floor. The second floor held the master bedroom and living room, dining room, and kitchen that flowed into each other. We strapped Clara into her booster seat - covering the nice chair with a towel to protect it - and attempted to find a space where she couldn't reach anything. She looks a little sad sitting all alone. I couldn't resist the picture.
By the time bedtime came, we all fell into bed tired and content.

Oregon Day 4: Evening

Today was a day of many signs. Good signs and bad signs. Signs that make me think of the Facebook group to which I belong, "I judge you because you use poor grammar". Signs that produced exclamations of "Finally someone *gets* it!" And signs that made me slowly shake my head and wonder if Quiznos has heard of a copy editor.

The first sign was a letter board next to a KFC. The car was moving and none of the pictures turned out, but I seem to recall the phrase "strips for free". Hmmm.

The second sign was at Nordstrom.Amen and amen.

And the last sign? Well, it was at Quiznos. We stopped in for salads and the sign immediately caught my eye. I knew I had to have a picture, so I went to the car and retrieved the camera. I asked the girl working behind the counter if she found the sign funny. She gave me a blank stare. Oh, the coming generation. Wherein can I place my hope?Couldn't this also be interpreted: "Cheating on your spouse? We'll bring the food!"

Oh, woe is the world.

Oregon Day 4: Midday

This afternoon we went to visit Debbie's mother, Grandma Jean. Grandma Jean lives in a cute one-bedroom apartment in Portland proper. On our way over, Clara fell asleep, so we drove around a little to let get some rest. She has thus far refused to nap and sleep would help remove the cranky pants for the visit with Grandma.

The visit was a delight. Jean is incredibly fun and loving and appropriately oohed and ahhed over Clara. She had mentioned to some of her friends that we were coming by that day. As we walked into the building a woman in one of the common areas asked us, "Is that the granddaughter?"

At first Clara wasn't hip to the new environment, but quickly got her wits about her and set out to explore. (I must say, I think she looks incredibly adorable in a turtleneck. Two more pictures as proof.)We visited, chatting about this and that, for an hour or so, when Grandma Jean broke out her Polaroid camera. Jean doesn't trust people to send her prints, so she must always have pictures taken with her Polaroid. We posed for the Polaroid shots then I took a few pictures on Debbie's new camera. We wanted a shot of our family with Grandma Jean.We had to take the obligatory four-generation shot.Too soon it was time to say goodbye, so we piled back in our rental car, exchanged hugs and kisses, and thanked Grandma Jean for her hospitality. I truly enjoy my visits with Grandma Jean and look forward to the next time we'll see her.

Oregon Day 4: Morning

Since we didn't get a chance to eat at the Rose City Cafe on our way in (more on that later) I knew it was my responsibility to take care of the one other MUST DO for a trip to Portland: Donut World. So this morning when Clara started stirring, I scooped her up, put on my coat and hat, wrestled her into her coat, and headed out the door.

If you have not read my previous post about Donut World (link above) they you must stop now and do so. It is the home of THE donut. Kristin and I have had many an existential discussion regarding the gender of THE donut - I mean, how do you know which pronoun to use when referring to THE donut. Where are Søren, Jean-Paul and Albert when you need them?

It was raining (shock) so I covered Clara in my coat as we ducked into the store. I love bakeries. I love surveying cases of goodies, contemplating the merit of each one - some obviously of higher merit than others, then selecting a mix that will delight the palette and expand the waistline. I chose four Boston Creams (Kristin's favorite), one buttermilk bar, a cherry cake, a lemon filled, a cherry filled, a crueler, one plain cake, and two others I can't recall. The buttermilk bars are the most interesting of them all. The donut is dense, like a cake donut, not shaped in a ring but rather a small mound, is full of cracks and crinkles, and has a nice milky flavor. I get one every time. Knowing that I needed a picture for this post, I put Clara in one of the linoleum-covered booths and pulled out the camera. She immediately set to investigating the box, then saw the camera and reached for it and, when she couldn't reach, turned to look out the window. My, what a fickle little one. I brought the donut home and immediately downed four. I love vacation.

Oregon Day 3

Sunday was a quiet day in Portland. We decided to attend the local Ward and get some good old-time religion. We drove out past Kristin's old high school, through fields and farms, to a new chapel in the middle of nowhere. (Kristin claims it isn't; I disagree.) And thanks to my BlackBerry we have another installment of Blogging During Church!!

• Beautiful chapel.
• Two people came up to welcome us in the first three minutes.
• And it's the Primary Program!
• "Hello! My name is Clara. Listen to me make noise during the sacrament."
• Little boy walks up to sit on the stand for the Primary Program, sits for a few minutes, gets up, walks by his parents' pew, announces, "I have to go to the bathroom," and cruises out the door.
• Sunbeams went first, used a hand-held microphone, sang the first song, then went and sat with their families. How inspired!
• Clara won't sit still and is making too much noise, Daddy and baby are now in the hall.
• Closing song was amazing arrangement of I Know That My Redeemer Lives. Clara sat quietly in my arms and listened.

We ducked out after Sacrament meeting, having thoroughly enjoyed the presentation.

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We dropped in on Grammy for a visit. Sadly, we neglected to take any pictures, but Clara enjoyed exploring another house and I loved playing Grammy's pump organ. Working two pedals supplies air to run across and through the pipes. It has a nice sound and I enjoy playing it. I broke out her old hymnal and played a few of my favorites.

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Sitting on the couch with my laptop. Some crazy TV show is on. Need to get to the bathroom. What do I do?

Pause the TV.

I love their DVR.

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Here is a picture from Sunday meal time taken with Debbie's new camera. The look says it all. I swear no one posed her for this shot!

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Our evening was spent at Jeff's house having a quick get together so we could see various other family members. A list of everyone present (and how they relate):

1. Jeff (Kristin's dad)
2. Sabrina (Jeff's wife, or my step-mother-in-law)
3. Helen (Sabrina's mother)
4. Kristin (my baby-momma)
5. Clara (my baby)
6. Oliver (one word: stud)
7. Britney (Sabrina's oldest)
8. Alakai (Britney's son)
9. Alana (Sabrina's second)
10. Delaney (Sabrina's youngest)
11. Ashley (Kristin's sister)
12. Julie (Kristin's aunt/Jeff's sister)
13. Jacob (Kristin's cousin/Julie's son)
14. Could I possibly be missing anyone?
15. I forgot Grammy! How could I! Grammy (Kristin's paternal grandmother)

One of the more interesting parts of the evening (besides how HUGELY TALL Jacob is) was to see Alakai, who is only four months old. It's amazing how quickly one forgets a child's earlier life stages. Clara used to be just like that, laying where she was put, content to bounce in my lap, not wanting to twist, turn, tumble, and contort. How they change.

Oregon Day 2

Technically we arrived in Portland yesterday, though the entirety of our yesterday was spent in or near the airport. To the right is a picture of Clara from our layover in Seattle. It is 12:30am per her body clock. She was in a remarkably good mood.

Thus, our Day 2 in Oregon started with Mommy getting up with a little girl who barely slept in and letting Daddy sleep. No one is quite sure what I did to deserve such a wonderful woman. We spent the day chatting with Kristin mom, Debbie, and Clara explored the house. She was fascinated by Kitty, a very odd cat indeed, and squealed with delight each time she was able to pet her. I have pictures of Kristin ignoring the cat, Clara playing with the cat, and Clara with Grandma and Dad.

Not too bad for a self portrait.

Debbie, being the champion Grandma that she is, prepared a cupboard for Clara to explore. At our house we have a cupboard full of plastic containers that Clara is allowed to play with (most days she empties the thing). Debbie did the same, and Clara LOVED it.
We ended the day with a bath in Grandma BIG tub. Clara loves taking baths, something her mother also enjoys, and could stay in the tub for hours. At Grandma's, because there are doors on the tub, I sat on the edge of the tub during bath time. She had a grand time opening and closing the glass doors, hiding then revealing Mommy sitting outside the tub. Here's a shot of our little door closer in action.

Flight the Third

Today Clara climbed on a plane for her third airplane trip. We are heading to the west coast for a Thanksgiving vacation with Kristin’s family. Our flight

Today was our third plane trip with Clara. Her first trip was at four months; for the second, eight. Our flight left out of DCA and had one lay over in Seattle. Julie and Colter were kind enough to drive us to the airport. Parking at National is a mess and I didn’t want to pay for parking. We had fun talking with them on the drive and will definitely miss seeing them over Thanksgiving.

Our five-and-a-half-hour flight to Seattle took off around 5pm. We flew on Alaskan Airlines - more on them later. We shared our row with a very nice lady who was really understanding of our flying with a child. We took the aisle and center, giving her the window. Clara went to sleep early in the flight and slept peacefully in Kristin’s arms. Unfortunately, our row mate needed to get up, and in the process Clara woke up. She wouldn’t go back to sleep for the rest of the flight. I can’t really hate on our row mate as she was very kind and understanding otherwise.

Our flight arrived in Seattle at 8:30p west-coast time. That would be 11:30p our time. When Clara has a lot happening around her – people to see, noise, new environments – she can stay awake like a champ. She was so tired of being cooped up in an airline seat, that I let her crawl around on the airport floor. I figure the new germs will strengthen her immune system. She explored all the people around her, the waiting area, and the main hallway. It was so cute to see her crawl around with all these cranky air travel people all around her.

Our flight from Seattle to Portland took off around 10:30p. Clara enjoyed the plane, a propeller that seated 25-ish people. Our flight attendant was a complete riot. He probably does the route five times a day. When your job gets that routine, you gotta find ways to make it fun.

We stumbled off the plane at 11:30p, 2:30a East Coast time. Somehow we made it to Kristin’s mom’s house and into bed. It was a crazy trip, but I’m glad that we’re here and get to spend some time with Kristin’s family.

BlackBerry Messenger

I don't think I've mentioned it before, but I love my BlackBerry. Tonight as I was heading to the Metro I received a BlackBerry message from my brother Matthew. I'd like to share it with you:

Matt: PING!!!
Matt: Sent from a restaurant on Le Champs-Elysee.
Oliver: You suck.

Update: The next day I received another message.

Matt: From Krispy Kreme in Hong Kong.

Just a Little Higher

Every night when I come home from work I am gauranteed to see three things. First, plastic containers from the plastic container cabinet will be scattered across the kitchen floor. In the family room, Clara's toys will have migrated from the play area across the room to the TV and over to the piano. Near the top of the stairs, the container of CDs is pulled off its shelf and a few of the CDs are mixed in with the plastic containers. On a really good day she'll also get out the cooling racks from under the ovens.

Kristin called me at work today to let me know that Clara had found a new use for the container of CDs. Not content to simply empty the container, she figured out that she could use the full container as a step so she could reach up to the phone and mail. As each day passes it seems items on tables move a little farther from the edge, outside the reach of ten little fingers.

Spaghetti - Take 2

Clara has become very proficient at feeding herself. Her pincher grasp has developed to the point that she can pick up almost any food and get it in her mouth 95% of the time. She also uses those pinching skills on Mommy and Daddy's arms every once in a while. It is especially painful when Mommy & Daddy are delinquent with the fingernail trimming.

Tonight was Clara's second experience with spaghetti. We kept filling her tray with little piles of pasta and sauce that quickly disappeared. Her little fingers would reach down, grab a pile, and shove it in her mouth. We assumed it was a ferocious appetite ... until we removed her high chair tray after dinner.Okay, make that 85% of the time.

I Don't Like Peas

Today Mommy gave me pasta and peas for lunch. I really liked the pasta. But the peas weren't too great. If any of the peas got near my pasta I would pick them out and put them on the edge of my tray. I was going about my business of eating my pasta when a stray pea accidentally made it into my mouth. Luckily, I spit it out before I swallowed it. Afterwards, Mommy wondered where the already-been-chewed peas ended up. Well, landed would be the better term. Mommy told Daddy that I flicked them over the side of my tray.Is that what the green things on the floor are?

"My Time Signature is Three-Four"

I've noticed something strange lately. It appears that my daughter goes through life with a time signature of three-four.

How did I come to this conclusion? It all started with the other day in the car. Clara was in the back seat, Kristin and I in the front. Kristin had given Clara One, Two, Three by Sandra Boynton to keep her occupied. Clara opened the book and started reading:

Bweh Bweh Bweh. (pause) Bweh. (pause)
Bweh Bweh Bweh. (pause) Bweh. (pause)
repeat...

Not only was she "reading" to herself, but she had a rhythm. Strike that. She has rhythm!! Now whenever we hear her talking to herself the cadence is always the same.

Ma ma ma. (pause) Ma. (pause)
Ma ma ma. (pause) Ma. (pause)

La la la. (pause) la. (pause)
La la la. (pause) la. (pause)

Do I hear a waltz playing somewhere?

'Tis the Season to ... WAIT UNTIL THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING!!!

I took today off work to spend some time with Kristin and Clara. Also, to recuperate from the weekend jaunt up to Philly. We enjoyed a lazy start to the day, which means 7:30 instead of 6:30, and headed out to run some errands after the morning nap.

While on the road, listening to the radio, I heard something most distressing: 92.5 WINC FM played a station identification promo that included jingle bells. Jingle bells. Aka sleigh bells. In November!

For our Monday night treat we met BJC, DBM, and ATLS at Chik-fil-A for shakes. On the way home we passed two houses in our extended neighborhood that had their Christmas decorations up. In early November!

Folks, I am as excited as the next guy for the Christmas season. I love the music, the goodies, the decorations, the presents. But celebrating Christmas for two months solid doesn't make the holiday any more special. In fact, it makes it less so. (It's sort of like the three year presidential election cycle we're now in. I'm so ready for someone to just say, "Okay, you all are losers so we're going to pick colored pebbles out of a bag. The one with the yellow pebbles wins." We'd probably end up with a better candidate than the path we're looking at now.)

Christmas music, decorations, etc. are permitted the day after Thanksgiving. And should be liberally applied to everything through December 31st. Heck, this year we even have an early Thanksgiving. We'll have more time to enjoy carols, lights, and fattening treats.

Maybe I should get my HOA on this. Early Christmas decorations are much more important than the state of my backyard.

A Weekend in Philly

Where's Clara?


Out


Braden,
Uncle Oliver &
Clara

This weekend we drove up to Philly for Andrew's ordination. It's strange having a nephew hit twelve years old. I remember holding him when he was one month old, right before I entered the MTC and now he's passing the sacrament. Insane.

We left midday on Saturday and had a pretty smooth ride up. Clara was in a pretty good mood and played "Where's Clara?" with her blanket then conked out for a nap. We made really good time by taking the back road route after we crossed the Susquehanna River. We took a slight detour and headed over to Braden's football game. In my mind, youth sports are about learning team work, developing coordination, and the treats at the end of the game. I've come to learn that some people take youth football very seriously. Here we were, in November, a cold day, and a ton of boys less than ten years old were running plays and to top it all off there were ... wait for it ... wait for it ... cheerleaders! I was shocked. Little girls in full cheer uniforms doing simple cheers with an insane cheer mother leading them on. Call me a freak, but I don't get it. There was even a little girl around 4 years old cheering. And get this: there are other sets of cheerleaders for the older boys. These were the junior cheerleaders. Regardless, it was fun to see Braden play and he even caught an interception at the end of the game!

My mother and father, as well as Honor's mother and father, were in town for the weekend, and we met up with the mothers at the game. It was good to see my mom, it's been a while since we've seen her, and we had her ride in our car so we could visit on the way back to Matt & Honor's house. This was our first time to their new house. They have an amazing deck and yard and just the right number of bedrooms. Andrew vacated his room for us and we greatly enjoyed sleeping in his room. (They just bought an incredible bed for Andrew. We both slept very well.)

It was so good to see Andrew, Braden, Chase, and Delainey. Andrew has definitely changed the most. He's starting to get some good height and his feet indicate that he's got a good bit more in him. We passed the time playing games, eating all the food for their play kitchen (okay, Clara did), and playing the Wii (the single greatest console ever invented). We had a good time at church on Sunday and enjoyed seeing Josh and JJ. After church Honor cooked an amazing meal for everyone previously mentioned AND my Uncle Kurt and Aunt Linda, who came up from DC for the afternoon.

We realized that we don't have that many pictures of Clara with both my parents, so we set about to get some. Clara refused to sit still. We only got one that is worth using and even in this one you can't see her face. Such is the life of Clara.
As we were heading out the door on Sunday evening, I caught one last picture of Clara, Kristin, and my mom. Of the 10 or so shots I fired off in quick succession, I feel like the one at the right tells the best story. Yes, Clara is holding my mother's cell phone. Yes, she is obsessed with it. Yes, she would pitch a fit if you tried to take it from her. Yes, she is her grandmother's grandchild.

A Visit from Heidi & Dave!

Heidi, author of the blog Chronicles of the Flood, and her lovely husband Dave, stopped by the east coast this week to celebrate their anniversary, revisit old stomping grounds, and remember what it is like to live without children.

I first met Heidi eight years ago at an Institute function. We share a birthday and through her I got my job at washingtonpost.com. She is a smart, articulate person with a strong sense of right and wrong and a great sense of humor. She married a wonderful man named Dave who is mellow enough to endure her high stress moments and strong enough to allow himself to dissolve into her wonderful personality and emerge the same wonderful man he is. When they told us they were coming out east to visit we told knew we HAD to see them.
They came over for a few hours last night. We chatted for hours, staying up later than we should have. We had such a good time that they decided to come over the following night with a few friends in tow.

They arrived at our house this evening around 9pm. They brought with them Tom and Lisa. Lisa I knew from my Institute days. Tom is her husband. Standing well over six feet tall and fluent in Spanish, I immediately took a liking to him.

To say we had a good time would be an understatement. A few notes from the evening:

• Tom, Dave, and I going to pick up junk food from Shoppers, running into a woman I know who is Chilean, she and I talking in Spanish, Tom and Dave listening quietly on the side then jumping into the conversation. (Both are fluent.)
• Introducing Dave, Heidi, Tom, and Lisa to Killer Bunnies.
• Discussing topics from politics to parenting to crazy people protesting the construction of schools.
• Staying up until well past 1am.
• Killing four pints of Ben & Jerry's in record time.
• Laughing at things that weren't that funny, but we were so tired and delirious that we couldn't but help it...
• Rekindling old friendships, even when we hadn't seen each other in over six years.

Doing What I Do Best

It's been a while since Mommy let me near the computer. I don't think she understands that when I'm reaching for the keyboard or mouse it's because I want to blog! I had Mommy take some pictures of me so I could show what my life is like. The first picture shows me playing with this new toy I've found in the kitchen.I don't know what this thing is for, but I like banging on it. Also, when it is closed there is a latch that goes from left to right and back again. I'm not sure what that does but am working hard to figure it out!

Some days when it's time to eat I get a little tired. On those days I use the tray on my high chair as a pillow. It's not really comfortable, but is the right height and I can still look at Mommy and point at what food I want. So far I haven't fallen asleep in my high chair. I leave that trick to my cousin Caleb.
One of my favorite games is "Where's Clara?" I play it when I am in my car seat and there is a quilt near by, when I am playing with Mommy and Daddy on their bed, pretty much any time that I can find something to put in front of my face. I like to babble "Ba baa ba?" while I cover my head. Today I found a pair of Daddy's pants that were perfect for the game.

I don't know why, but the game always makes me giggle!