Lunch at our House

A Few More Pictures

Finally

Election Day

As Election Day approaches, I realize I need to co-opt the blog for a moment for political purposes. I'm not sure who Claire is going to vote for, but I voted for Obama today. And, as much as I don't like to cast aspersions against women, this YouTube video is worth seeing before casting your vote:



Kind of reminds me of this:

Fun Times

We are having a lot of fun. Lately, I haven't been worried about sleep schedules or nap times or new foods; I've simply been enjoying watching Claire learn something new just about everyday.

Last Saturday, she took her first steps and also realized she could put her whole finger in her nose (not at the same time). She says a few words, "uh-oh," "Dada," "hi," and "doggy." Every once in awhile she says, Mama, like this morning at 5 a.m. when she said, in the sweetest voice you could imagine, "Mama, Dada." She loves saying Dada and sometimes I say to her, "Mama," and she looks at me, smiles and says, "Dada."

We started saying "uh-oh" when she would drop things. After a few days, she started saying it before dropping things. It was the first time she's demonstrated intent. More specifically, she would say "uh-oh" and then drop her sippy cup. Pretty cool. When we say "no," she shakes her head really dramatically and gives us this shit-eating grin. It's irresistible, but we try not to laugh.

A couple of weeks ago we went for a walk and Bruce was coincidentally on his way back from the office. She stopped looking at her favorite toy, pointed at him and said Dada. Seriously. He was about 1/2 block away and I swear that she recognized him.

A few weeks ago, she tried some Pistachio Gelatto. About 10 minutes after her first taste, she took her pacifier out of her mouth, set it on the table, and pointed to the Gelatto. Then, during Music Together, she crawled over to our neighbor Dave (who she had never met before and who was there with his wife and twins) and sat on his lap during the entire class. She says "hi" to every single person in the grocery store, and gets a lot of attention. While she's falling asleep, she rubs our arms. Sometimes it's a little painful, depending on the last time we trimmed her nails. But, overall, it's lovely.

The past almost-year has been a huge change for Bruce and me in many ways, and some days have been sleepless, stressful, and frustrating. But, lately, we've all seem to figured it out a little and, for now at least, things are really, really comfortable.

Hope you are all doing well. Lots of love. B, J & C.

Ghost Writer

George and Mila are here for a visit, so Mila decided to ghost write the blog for me. I thought it would be interesting to see which pictures she picked. Included are pictures of: Claire's first bike race through Denver for Eric's birthday and during Tim's visit; visit with Uncle Tim; Claire and I on our way to an Immigration Hearing (the second Claire got into the courtroom she pooped her pants so we missed the whole thing); a toothy picture of my bundled little bundle; and a picture of Claire getting ready for the day.

The first two videos were taken today and you can see from them that Claire is now standing by herself. Pretty exciting. The last video shows Bruce and I trying to get Claire to say "uh, oh."

Crazy Days

Okay, things are crazy here. Seriously, I can't believe I haven't written a word since mid-August. Claire is wonderfully amazing. There's so much to write.

But, I am in the midst of filing a huge petition for my controversial pro bono case, have my first hearing (in my life) on Monday, and am taking what I expected to be a blow off (but isn't) writing class. All that on top of the fact that it's Election Season.

Fun stuff. The blog will hopefully be back in business by the time Claire has her driver's permit.
Hope all is well. Love to everyone.

Less is More

Briefly: Riding Boat in a Storm; Doing Laundry; Dinner @ Club with Mom and Liz; Family Party; Dinner @ Club with Leslie; First (of many) Baths in Bay; Self Photo; Bat Boat. (Scroll down for more pictures).

Crusty Fisherwoman

So, we just got back from our four-week trip to Canada (another great thing about staying home) and we're back in business. I was a bit apprehensive about the trip with Claire -- water, boats, bugs, snakes, lightning, storms, weather, rocks, crawling, cliffs, but once we arrived, all of those anxieties subsided. Thankfully (never thought I'd say this) she isn't crawling yet, so I didn't have the same stress that Leslie did with Fletcher. And, my mom and niece joined us for two weeks, so that was a big help. Bruce and I stayed in a different, "more rustic" cabin this year, on a new island, but after our Decorator's Challenge Week, it was pretty cozy, despite the leaky roof. Of course, there were lots of adventures and tons of news on the Claire P. front, which I will write about soon. For now, I'll sign off with these pictures of our crusty fisherwoman after getting stuck in her first-thunderstorm-in-the-middle-of-the-lake-in-the-boat-after-we-ran-out-of-gas. (The pictures were taken after we got back inside.)

Happy 4th! or I'm Going to Sturgis

There's something patriotic about bandanas. So, for the 4th, we dressed up Claire in her favorite bandana and spent the day grilling at Pat Carroll's house overlooking Baker Dam in the quaint little mountain town of Nederland, Colorado. Think Purple Mountains Majesty.

I think the best way to honor our rable-rousing founding fathers is to spend the day in activism and with that in mind, I made some subversive cupcakes. By subversive, I mean that each one had a little political message or an I "heart" the US. By cupcakes, I mean delicious. Anyway, at the last minute, I chickened out and took off all the political slogans. Apparently, I don't have the heart or guts for true activism. To console myself for being such a coward, I ate about 12 cupcakes. In any event, cheers to the founding fathers for their courage. What's the saying, "If you're lucky enough to be an American . . . you're lucky enough."

Lucky 13 (?)

Why do people celebrate wedding anniversaries instead of first date anniversaries? Why is a wedding date deemed more important? And isn't it sometimes misleading? For example, Bruce and I have been together -- as of last week -- 13 years. But, we've only been married for 2 1/2. Two and 1/2 years suggests honeymooners. Thirteen years suggests . . . finish each others sentences. Hmmm. Surprisingly, we still occasionally learn something new about one another. Recently, I learned that Bruce doesn't like black licorice or goat cheese. He learned that my favorite color isn't blue, but is, in fact, red. Seriously though, this year I learned that Bruce's eyes fill with tears when Claire gets a shot, and that he loves letting her cuddle with us in bed. For now, that's all I need to know.

Cheers Dear Friend

Last Friday marked the 10th Anniversary of the passing of our dear friend Scott. Has it really been that long? I have a picture of him standing in front of the World Trade Center in our hallway. Eerie. I also have a picture of him playing air guitar. Funny. I remember sitting on the floor of his room listening to Queen and singing Bicycle Race at the top of our lungs. I remember seeing a bear with him while camping. I remember playing Indian poker, debating the Cultural funds tax, arguing about Christmas lights. Thankfully, I remember it all, especially the loving sparkle he brought to life, and the warmth that he brought to those around him. Cheers. We miss you.

Rolling Good Time

June has been a month of firsts for lots of things. The main news: Claire is mobile. She's a roller. And, she's fast. The other day, I put her down in the middle of the living room and Shazam! she rolled over to the front door. Today, she almost rolled off the bed. I don't think Oliver is thrilled about this new-found mobility. He can't really hear anymore, so it's somewhat startling to be snoring one minute and then grabbed by a baby lumberjack the next.

At the beginning of the month, Claire was mastering sitting up by herself without the need to surround her with pillows. By the end of the month, she had experienced her first camping trip, first time in a pop-up trailer (same trip), first time "swimming" in a lake, first time swinging in a swing, eating a popsicle, eating corn, peas, green beans, attending swim class, getting dunked under water, and ta da(!). . . her first two teeth. One has actually popped through, and the other one is right on the edge of the ledge. The visible tooth is the littlest thing I've ever seen. It's a miracle it's a tooth.

She's also started talking and laughing more, and sometimes gets hot around the baby collar when you take something away from her. Usually, you can kind of distract her, but not always. Mainly though, she's a fun girl-on-the-go! That's how she rolls.

2:59 p.m. and Counting

Big news. Claire took a 2 hour nap today. In fact, she's still sleeping (I know that she'll wake up any second). The last two hours have been heavenly. Bruce has been out of town and we've both been sick, so this break has been just what the Doctor ordered. I used the past 2 hours to complete some things I need to file for the pro bono case I'm working on (just in the nick of time, as they need to be filed by Thursday). The fact that I was uninterrupted for such a long time was amazing and very different from the Chinese Water Torture that most of Claire's naps feel like. That's one of the things I miss most about my old life -- long stretches of uninterrupted bliss. Horay. Hopefully, tomorrow, I can recreate this situation. I'm so tempted to take a picture of the sweet, sleeping, little monkey, but I wouldn't dare jeopardize the peace.

Dr. Ferber vs. Dr. Sears

The battle rages. Before having a baby, I was completely opposed to the idea of a "family bed." Crazy talk. But, because Claire didn't sleep for the first 4 days she was home, we finally moved her into our bed to get some sleep. Then, she graduated into her cosleeper. We were waiting for her to sleep through the night before kicking her out of our room and into her crib in a separate room down the hall. But, she still doesn't sleep through the night at, at 6 months, she was getting ridiculously big for the cosleeper. In fact, we started worrying that we might be stunting her mobility by keeping her in it.

So, we gradually moved her into her crib. But, there has been a lot of drama. She kept getting her leg stuck between the slats, so we got a breatheable bumper. That didn't solve the problem so we used velcro strips to affix the bumper. Now, she's in the crib, more or less, but she wakes up all the time. Sometimes, with steely resolve, I rock her back to sleep during the night. Other times, I cry "uncle" early and put her into our bed with us. The magical thing: when she's in our bed, she sleeps like Rip Van Winkle. Seriously. For the last few nights, she's been miserable with a low-grade fever that we suspect is teething related. So, finally, last night, wanting her to get a good night sleep, I put her to bed in our bed right from the start. She slept from 8 to 7:30. What! Is this Bizarro Baby? Is it that easy? Or, am I getting completely bamboozled? The other thing: Claire is a bed hog and doesn't leave Bruce or me much room. I'm torn. She's such a mellow little baby that getting up a couple times during the night isn't a big deal (even, if yes, they are completely different issues). Plus, it takes 10 minutes to put her to bed at night and she sleeps until 7:30. Love it. But, when she's in the crib, man, it's rough. Who's going to win this fight? Who knows? Eeny, meeny, miny, mo . . . .

Crazy May

May was a crazy month. Bill and Jim Bolton were in town for a few days so we had a good time visiting with them both, debating politics and talking business. Tried new foods and attended birthday parties with ponies. Then, we flew to Chicago and drove up to Madison for Tim's and Angela's graduations. The whole family was there and it was a fun weekend with lots of silly antics. Hung out with Fletcher, drove around on Tim's scooter, met Scott Kleinhans, and generally enjoyed the quaint, stormy, beauty of Madison. Flying was a bit tricky this time because Claire wanted to grab everything -- the seat, the phone, the hair of the lady next to us. Oyvey. It was easier when the white noise worked it's magic and she fell asleep immediately after getting a full belly. Plus, we felt like professional sherpas with all the stuff we hauled around. All in all a good trip, but it's great to be home.

Mother's Day

Yay! My first Mother's Day. It was the perfect day. Went to brunch with Bruce and Claire . . . drank a few too many mimosas. Headed to Tattered Cover and bought two new books. Watched Raiders of the Lost Ark and had a BBQ on our back deck. A lovely day with my family.

6 Months!

Wow. Time has flown by. Is it possible that you're already 6 months old, our sweet little baby? My little Mini Me, due on my birthday -- it turns out that you look exactly like your Dad. You sleep exactly like him as well -- arms above your head and ankles crossed. You are such an amazing little baby. Mellow, adventurous, chatty. You get the hangries every once in awhile, but you certainly come by that naturally. You've started eating your toes, chewing your books, and best of all, eating real food. First we started with avocado and chicken (after the obligatory rice cereal) and then we relaxed a bit and gave you banana, squash, peas, carrots, mangoes, even non-organic (gasp!) applesauce that the waitress brought you the other day at breakfast. At first you seemed to like everything. Now, you seem to like nothing (I think that might be the teething). You are grabbing for everything now, but still not really rolling over much. You make raspberry noises all the time and are getting more used to strangers. Your 6-month statistics are funny . . . you are a long baby with a big head. And, you have chubby cheeks and big, blue eyes. I've posted a picture above that says it all (inspired by one of Maria's pictures of Sadie). Happy 6 months, lovey.