Tea Time

There are few "firsts" that have gone quite as planned. For example, the first time we tried to get Claire to color she hated it. She was completely uninterested and got mad at us when we tried to encourage it. The first time we took her to the snow, she couldn't have cared less about sledding or snow balls, but at least she tolerated our attempts to excite her. I've just gotten to the point where I assume I'm introducing everything too early, and she'll hate it the first time round. When I decided to buy her a tea set earlier today I just went ahead and prepared myself for failure.

When she woke up from her nap today, I made us a little tea time snack of blueberries, cheese and crackers and called Claire out to the porch to join me. This is what happened next.

Holy.Crap.

I have never had so many happy expletives running through my head as I did in this moment. My daughter killed tea time in all the best ways. She sat nicely, she ate her snack and she even used the handle of the cup. Oh and did I mention she made little refreshing "ahh" sounds after she sipped her tea? Her motor skills and strength need to catch up a bit before she can pour like a lady, but with the weather as warm as it's been, I don't mind having tea time be an outdoor activity.

Here area few more shots of the cuteness.

Invisible

My daughter has discovered a magical secret about our house. She has learned that if she stands in a specific spot in the living room, even though it's in plain sight, she turns invisible. She's milking this for all it's worth because she knows it's only a matter of time until we grown ups figure it out and ruin the game. Until then, this will continue.

Falling Down

First, here's an adorable picture because I know ya'll just come here for the cuteness.

Second, go read this.

Please Don't Help My Kids 

I don't know this woman, but I'm pretty sure I would like our kids to play together.

Sometimes I feel like a monster when I let Claire fall down. Now granted, if I can tell that a fall is going to be a really bad one I step in. Enough bad falls are going to happen even when I'm trying to be careful that I don't need to tempt fate by ignoring the ones I can prevent. The giant red mark on her forehead from this evening and the day old bruise on her cheek are testament to that. I do believe, however, that the pain of falling is teaching Claire to be a better walker, climber, crazy adventure baby, etc. For the last few days I've been letting Claire out of her stroller during our walks. She lasts about ten minutes before she's tuckered out and I make her get back in. During these strolls she falls down sometimes, and when she does I don't lend a hand. Instead I encourage her that falling down is OK and that she should get back up now. Luckily I don't pass too many people in these moments as I'm staring at my baby who is struggling to find her feet again.

While seeing Claire fall down makes me feel bad, seeing her struggle with other tasks just makes me happy (I know I'm a monster and Baby Claire is my victim). I love to watch her little muscles work as she tries over and over to pull herself up onto something new, though when that new thing is the ottoman or the TV stand I'm less amused. I love seeing her work to develop her little muscles just as I love to watch her little face as she tries to figure out how to get around whatever new impediment has come across her path. Even better I love rejoicing and clapping with her when she successfully gets over a new hurdle.

Sure I'm probably not quite as hardcore as this lady. Claire isn't Ender Wiggin after all and I hope that when the dark times in her life come she won't find herself having to face them utterly alone. I do hope though that if and when she finds herself in a tight spot, my choice to let her get frustrated and sometimes fail will give her a stronger character to deal with the situation. Oh snap, I even know a biblical reference to back this up. It's a personal favorite, and I'll just end with that because I certainly can't trump the Big Guy.

James 1:2-4
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Mama's Little Helper

Claire loves laundry day. Mostly she spends it jumping onto piles of dirty clothes and wearing underpants like a scarf. Today, however, she decided she had watched for long enough and was ready to lend a hand.

Nails

Another blog post this week! What!? This is crazy. Ok so I'm really enjoying finding time to blog and I might be getting the bug again. We'll see how long this lasts, and I'm a little out of practice, but this is pretty exciting.

Anyways, my post today is sort of silly, but I'm experimenting with the idea of nail polish. I've always been a big fan of keeping my toes pretty. This is probably because I think feet are gross, but I also love being barefoot so dolling them up makes them seem fancy instead of yucky. I also like the weekly (ok since baby it's really more bi-weekly) ritual of changing my polish while I sip some wine and take a little time for me. I've never really jumped on the finger nail polish band wagon though. I think my hands look quite nice as is and I'm kind of rough on them so they chip quick. The amount of time it takes to keep the polish looking good was just too big of a time commitment for me.

We'll after getting a gel manicure for my birthday I've decided to give finger nail polish another try. I'm not sticking with gel because one it's too expensive and two it still only lasted a little over a week before chipping. Instead I'm trying out Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant. It has a built in base and top coat so it went on quick and easy and Consumer Reports ranked it #1 in the no chipping category  It claims to last a week which is similar enough to the gel option that I've decided to give it a go.

I'm still not 100% sure I like the way nail polish looks on me, but I'm looking for ways to make myself look more put together without actually being more put together. Honestly if I run out the door and my hair is brushed and my face is clean I'm doing pretty good. I'm hoping adding some polish to my routine might help me fool people. I'll check back in a week and let you know how it went.

Community Baby Shower

I remember years ago when I started this blog, one of the big reasons was to share with my family and friends cool products I found at the store and other cool blog posts I found. I seem to remember I had just started shopping at Trader Joe's and was trying to get my mom interested so I'd call her all the time to share yummy new things I'd bought/made. I didn't really plan on a lot of original content, I just wanted to streamline my conversations of "OMG have you seen or heard about..." So in the spirit of that original intent today's post is just a link to a cool idea I saw on another blog.

Eating Richly Even When You're Broke: 2013 Community Baby Shower

Follow the link above and read about an awesome community event this blogger participated in that was just a beautiful mix of human beings demonstrating their love for each other.  OK  that might not have come out quite how I meant it but just read it. This is definitely getting filed under the good idea folder in my brain. Maybe some day I'll actually get around to being more active in my community and could be a part of organizing something similar. We'll see.

Sunday

Sunday we had our open house, so while Jeff went to Sacramento to play golf with Shane, Baby Claire, Helen, Prince and I all headed to Muir Beach. I feel like beach days always sound better in theory, and then when you get there its kind of windy and not quite what you imagined it would be. I think part of the problem is Claire isn't quite old enough to appreciate the beach for long periods of time. I think beaches with babies are perhaps better enjoyed when you are renting place nearby and can come and go through out the day. To my surprise though Claire's reaction to the ocean was not to be afraid but to run at it and try to catch the waves as they receded  The beach has a little creek running behind it and it widens into a splashing area which Claire sat in for quite a while playing and having a good time. Next time I will definitely wear my swimsuit instead of normal clothes. You can only get so wet and sandy before all you want is a dry pair of clothes and some hot chocolate. Also, how do other moms manage all the sand when it come to babies? Claire ate a lot (which I was cool with) and got a lot, well, everywhere (which I was less than cool with).

Proof that my daughter kept her hat on, and that she loves Auntie Helen.

Towards the end of our day the wind really started to pick up . The result was Claire perfecting her flying nun  impersonation. 

This picture is really more about Prince looking like a good boy.

Once we got home and Claire had rested up, she found a burst of energy and spent a half an hour doing this over and over.

I think there might have been a demon inside the Hooka Room, and Claire was trying to warn me about it. I can only imagine she vanquished him herself because when I went in to check on things I didn't see anyone. I think its time for Claire to get her very own play house.

After so much play Claire needed to refuel and ate her first piece of fruit like a big girl. By the time she was done that pear was just a little ball of the core.



And of course no day would be complete without an injury. She fell and scraped her knee on the concrete so bad she bled and got her first band aide. All in all a very full Sunday.