e-Claire

The time has come to say goodbye ...

2008-07-02T19:00:00.007-06:00

After nearly 2 years, more than 200 posts and a lot of thought, Paul and I have decided to bring e-Claire to a close. Our reason is simple: it's time for Claire's life to be private. While I'll always share photos and stories of Claire with family and friends, we feel it's time to do this is a more private manner than the Web.

A big factor in making this decision is that I tend to be a frequent blogger, sharing a lot of information and many photos. I do so partly because I'm turning these posts into books and I'd like the books to be as "complete" as I can imagine. However, as Claire grows older, it seems less appropriate to share this in a public forum. We contemplated simply posting to our blog less often or with less information but I know I'd then want to tell the full story or make additional entries elsewhere, and as a result, I'd be managing two entities which is too much for me. I also know that if I were to try to do both - a blog and a private book - one or both things would be incomplete or disjointed. To my orderly self, that would be unacceptable.

It was never my intention to even blog as long as I have; I found, however, that I really enjoyed it and that it was less time-consuming for me than the traditional scrapbooking I used to do. I also really appreciated that blogging enabled family and friends to feel as if they really know Claire even if they do not see her very often in person. And on a selfish note, I came to love the interaction I had through blogging with our travel mates, family and friends. For someone who loved the social aspect of working in an office, I think I would have really missed work and felt isolated if I did not have our blog and those of our friends to follow. You all truly helped me in my transition to a stay-at-home mom.

For our friends and travel mates who continue to blog, please know that we fully support - and LOVE - your continued blogging. Our decision to cease posting on e-Claire is based on our own circumstances and, as afore-mentioned, my obsessive-compulsive blogging tendencies.

While I still have a voice on Blogger, I want to thank everyone who has visited e-Claire, either as a regular or as a once-in-a-while observer. We very much appreciate your friendship, support and love for our daughter. All the best,

Monica, Paul and Claire

Happy Canada Day!

2008-07-01T12:58:00.002-06:00

Dirt and garbage bags

2008-06-22T22:13:00.015-06:00

Many of you know that I really enjoy shopping for Claire and dressing her up in a manner befitting her beauty. Well, let me warn you: you're about to see the other extreme.

Yesterday, we spent most of the day working on an area of our yard that has been sadly ignored for some time. Paul and my brother Stu removed sod and moved dirt around (strategically, not just throwing it around for fun) while Claire and I weeded and yes, moved dirt around for fun (truly). I knew from planting our bedding plants in pots a couple of weeks ago that Claire enjoyed digging around a bit, but wow, does she love playing in dirt. At one point, she actually exclaimed, "I love you, dirt!". She got right in there and helped me weed too. She's really good at it; she pulls from near the bottom and pulls up the whole weed, root and all.

When she finally got tired of weeding, I gave her a couple of orange poppies to play with. I couldn't believe my eyes when she showed me a few minutes later that she had "planted" them in the dirt. Those little flowers looked so cute sticking up from the ground. I should have taken a picture.

Anyway, as I mentioned before, I really do enjoy seeing Claire all dolled up. But I also don't mind seeing her dirty if it means she's having a blast. Here she is, moments after we came inside from our gardening adventures:

In case you're wondering why she was wearing a dress, well, it's because that's ALL she wants to wear these days. Seriously.

Lest you think these pictures are all I have to offer in regard to the "other extreme", I also have some photos from today for you. We attended the Big Comfy Couch and Franklin the Turtle shows at the zoo today. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and the show was outside, with no tent or anything. So what did I dress Claire in for the occasion? A lovely coat, jeans, rubber boots ... and a garbage bag. Yes. A garbage bag. And since I just got it from someone at the zoo handing them out, I didn't really get the chance to fashion it into a stylin' little dress or anything. I'm sorry, Claire-bear.

Paul and Claire next to Beth, Ava and Helena.

(In case you're wondering if I sat comfortably under an umbrella the entire time, the answer is no, I also took my turns holding Claire but we just didn't get pics.)

Claire didn't respond much to the show but she did say after it was over that she liked it. I do think she would have liked it more if it had been nice outside and if umbrellas had not been obscuring our view of the stage. Hmmm. And perhaps the garbage bag had something to do with it ...

E F G missing in action

2008-06-17T13:30:00.001-06:00

Presenting, Claire Caiwen singing the ABC song:

Father's Day camping trip

2008-06-15T14:48:00.014-06:00

Last night, Claire and I took Daddy camping for Father's Day. Okay, so Paul still had to do a lot of the work but for anyone who knows me, I'm not much of a tenting kind of gal (was as a child, not so much as an adult). Paul knew this was a treat.

Just in case Claire had a bad night or something, we went somewhere close by - really close by. We left our place at 4:15 yesterday afternoon and twelve minutes later, we were not only at the campground but I had already registered us and bought firewood. For someone like me who thinks she hears terrifying wildlife outside the tent every minute or so, I was happy to be camping in the middle of the city.

We were happy to find that Claire is an awesome little camper! Her favourite part of the evening seemed to be going into the tent to play. We had to make it clear that come bedtime, there would be no jumping around. Thankfully, at bedtime she did settle down nicely and she ended up sleeping soundly until 8 a.m.

Claire loved collecting spruce tree needles, rocks and a lot of dirt (you should have seen her fingernails!). We even saw some wildlife with three beavers busily working in the creek next to us.

Claire's first foray into camp fare revealed that she loves hot dogs: and doesn't like marshmallows, even if they are prepared to a delicious burnt crisp. This is Paul demonstrating how to bite into a marshmallow (she had been trying to pick off little pieces instead). Next came the Jiffy Pop ... ... but Claire doesn't seem overly crazy about popcorn. I think she liked the process, though. Next time we'll have to try s'mores and banana boats to see if she likes those any better.

I found out that all (well, some) of my old skills from Brownies and Girl Guides still exist and that I'm not actually a horrible camper as an adult. Perhaps the little pep talk I gave myself actually worked. In any event, we all had a really good time and I'm pretty sure we'll do a few more overnight camping trips again this summer.

Lots of love to you, Paul, this day and every day. Happy Father's Day.

A very Happy Father's Day to all the other dads we know and love. We hope you are all having a great day.

Claire at 26 months

2008-06-11T16:56:00.018-06:00

Claire is tired of the yucky weather we've been having. She's been singing this song a lot lately:

By the way, I have no idea how "come again another day" became "babu, babu, babu" to her. We've been getting outside between rainy spells but still, we'd like some sunshine please!

On the one day we had sunshine last week, Claire and I did some planting. I found Claire some great little Dora gardening gloves at Zellers, which she actually kept on for some time. She was an awesome little helper. She especially loves watering, even lifting the foliage at times to water right into the soil. I think our girl's got a tiny green thumb!

I think I mentioned in a previous post that Claire is fascinated by the mail. She loves playing "mail", and writes up truly lovely letters with great squigglies all across the page. I've even seen her flip the page over to continue the squigglies after reaching the bottom of a page. She also has a renewed interest in cooking with her kitchen. Fairly regularly, I'm told that "Supper's ready!" or at the very least, that "tea's ready!". It's cute to see her carry her make-believe tea to the table because she walks incredibly slowly and carefully with the cups.

Claire has been singing up a storm again lately. The other day, she was singing "Mama, Daddy" to the tune of Frere Jacques. Other favourites include Ba Ba Black Sheep, the ABCs, Ring around the Rosey, the Wheels on the Bus, Down by the Bay, the Hokey Pokey and some Kindermusik songs (Ahoy there mates!). I've got to find a way to be more stealthy with the camera, though, because whenever I try to record her singing, she stops.

Our Saskatchewan trip, and in particular her sleepovers at Baba and Dido's, seem to have matured Claire a lot. Ever since the trip, she hasn't cried when I left her at her nursery school. It seems she finally trusts that when I leave, I will indeed return. Claire's vocabularly also continued to grow in Saskatoon and has taken off even more now at home. Every day, she says more new words and puts new ones together into phrases and sentences. Her counting is coming along too. Before bed in Saskatoon, I'd hear her practising: "One, two, three, four, five, six, 9! Yay!" Despite skipping seven and eight, she apparently does understand that 8 is in the mix somehow because she often says "eight, nine, ten" (especially when pretending to dial the phone). She'll also say all the numbers correctly if we count with her.

Also while in Saskatoon, it occured to me that she didn't really know the words to the phrase, "I love you". Instead, when I asked her if she wanted to tell someone she loved them, she would go "ahahaha" in a singsong voice. So one night while getting ready for bed, I had her repeat after me again and again, "I ... love ... you". As soon as she had it down pat (albeit said very slowly), Paul called and she said it over the phone to him. I'm sure he loved that! Since then, she's also learned the phrase in Mandarin and has come to say the phrases in a more regular tempo. Here's a clip of Claire recording a short video for Daddy a week or two ago (this was before she picked up the tempo on "I love you"):

Becoming tradition ...

2008-06-06T13:24:00.009-06:00

Claire, Mom and I visited the Berry Barn near Saskatoon last year as well as this one. We think it may have to be our little tradition whenever Claire and I can manage a holiday in Saskatoon.

This year's annual pic:

Last year's pic in the same location (with my brother Richard):
Claire kept steering us back to this swing. After a while I couldn't go on it anymore (motion sickness!) but Mom happily kept swinging with Claire.

The Saskatoon berry bushes were all in bloom when we were there. Claire loved running between the rows of bushes:
Claire with the South Saskatchewan River behind her. I think our little Jiangxi-born, Alberta-raised girl is really a Saskatchewan girl at heart just like her mama.
And this, after so very many posts, concludes our Saskatchewan story. Whew, I'm tired. Now I can finally get to our laundry ...

Fun times with Grandma

2008-06-06T12:35:00.012-06:00

During our nearly two-week stay at my mom's house, Claire, Mom and I were pretty much inseparable. It was great to spend so much time with my mom - something I hadn't done since my university, pre-marriage days. Claire really loved it too (and not just because of all the great outdoor toys!).

Soon after Claire and I "moved in", my mom witnessed Claire's stripping tendencies. For quite some time now, Claire will all of a sudden declare she's hot and strip down to her diaper. Mom thinks that Claire looks like Mowgli from the Jungle Book when she has only her diaper on so that became her nickname whenever she stripped:

As usual, my mom made some of my favourite meals during our visit. One of them is pizza. I love how happy Claire and Mom look in the photo below as they spread out the pizza dough. It was really cute to watch Claire help Grandma spread out the dough because Claire kept glancing at my Mom's hands to see whether to kneed, press, pinch, etc.

In the photo below, Claire was sitting opposite my Mom when suddenly something my mom said struck Claire as absolutely hilarious. You can always tell Claire thinks something is particularly funny when she covers her mouth as she laughs. I wish I could remember what Mom said ...
Claire and Mom in the meditation garden at the Forestry Farm:
Mom also got to meet Rae, Girard and Bryn, as well as Darlene (grandma to Caia, whom Mom had already met). I couldn't resist snapping a few photos of the proud grandmas together with the girls:

Stay tuned for another post coming to a blog near you (yeah, this one) featuring Grandma and Claire at the Berry Barn!

Thanks for hosting us, Mom!

Great Grandma Pauline

2008-06-05T14:54:00.008-06:00

Paul's Grandma Pauline lives in Saskatoon and we were able to visit her twice during our stay there. She's so fun to visit! Like her daughter Joanne (Paul's mom), it's obvious how much joy she has in seeing Claire. Grandma Pauline always remarks on Claire's sweet and easygoing nature ("I've never heard her cry!"). She was also impressed this visit with Claire's ability to put her own shoes on (on the correct feet too!) and her ease in opening my diaper bag to put away the colouring book and crayons Grandma gave her.

Like most grandmas, Grandma Pauline always spoils Claire with loads of treats. This time it was Smarties, suckers and money for ice cream. Check out both of Claire's hands in the photos below.

Thanks Grandma!!

Good friends and godparents

2008-06-05T14:17:00.014-06:00

During our Saskatoon visit, Mom, Claire and I did a day trip to my hometown of Humboldt. It was fun to cruise around and see what's changed and what hasn't but more than that, we were there to visit good family friends Elaine and Dennis, as well as my godparents, Auntie Olga and Uncle Richard.

Elaine and Dennis have several grandchildren - all but one of them are boys - and Claire had a blast checking out all the cool cars, trucks and tools at their house. I'm not sure if Claire remembered Elaine and Dennis from when they visited us in March but she warmed up to them really fast again anyway.

Mom, Elaine and Claire getting reacquainted:

Claire and Elaine in the backseat of our car before going for a cruise through town:

Later that afternoon, we visited my Auntie Olga (my dad's sister) and Uncle Richard. I was thrilled that Claire finally got to meet these important people in my life. My Auntie Olga is one of the sweetest and warmest people on earth. Apparently, people said the same thing about her mom (my grandma) who died when Dad was young. They have five girls who are all married with children. It was really nice to hear what everyone is up to and to see pictures of the individual families, since I remember attending most of the girls' weddings as a kid.

Claire, Auntie Olga, Uncle Richard and my mom:

Claire saw me kneel for a picture a little earlier so I guess she felt she should strike the same pose:

As we were leaving, I gave Auntie a big hug. Right away, Claire was there saying "me too", not about to miss out on a hug from Auntie.

Thanks to both families for making our day trip a great one!

More fun with cousins

2008-06-04T18:48:00.013-06:00

Cousins Liam and Sonia live about a block from Grandma so we saw them a lot too - especially Sonia because she joined us for lunch each day.

All the big toys in Grandma's back yard are actually Liam and Sonia's old things. I was thrilled they allowed it to be moved to Grandma's so that they and Claire could have hours of fun play together. Both kids are awesome with Claire. Liam's dad teases him about being too rough but he was honestly super-gentle with Claire. Sonia's 13 and I was really touched that she'd get right into the playhouse with Claire and play along with her. I know that Claire really felt special that her big cousin paid attention to her.

The playhouse is set under the spruce trees and who knew, but Claire was immediately obsessed with the spruce needles. They became her cooking ingredients while in the playhouse, the fuel for the little car, and pretty much everything and anything else. The little playhouse phone was missing the receiver but Claire quickly remedied that with a big stone from the yard. It's funny how quickly kids find solutions for things.

Claire had not one but three visits to Kinsmen Park while in Saskatoon: two with Baba and Dido and one with us. On the train, Sonia and I sat opposite Liam, Claire and Grandma (pictured below). I was really impressed with Claire's observation skills and memory after Baba and Dido took her for her first visit to Kinsmen. They told us she had gone on the train in a blue train car but she then told me later that the other train cars were red and yellow. She said "no" when I asked her about other colours. Sure enough, I saw for myself later that week that they only have blue, red and yellow train cars.

Thanks Sonia and Liam (and parents!) for spending time with us! It was great to catch up with you.

Mia mania!

2008-06-04T13:02:00.009-06:00

While in Saskatoon, we had the good fortune of seeing a lot of Claire's cousin Mia, as my mom babysits her when my sister-in-law Cindy is at work. Claire adores Mia and followed her everywhere calling, "Mia! Mia ...". Mia was so sweet with Claire, holding her hand and helping her up and down the stairs - even though Claire didn't really need the help :). They played so well together, with the very imaginative Mia explaining to Claire what the particular game was of the moment. Quite often Mia declared that she was Claire's mom and I was the auntie and then left me as the babysitter while she went to "work".

Mia also happened to be a good influence in the eating department too. Whenever Mia helped herself to a snack, Claire insisted "me too" even if it was something she wouldn't touch at home (like cheese strings).

So often throughout the day, they'd climb on the couch together like this (with or without a snack, and oftentimes with a blanket spread over both of them):

In the late afternoon, they often held dance parties:

Most of our time, though, was spent outside where my mom had a bunch of outdoor toys for the kids. Here's Mia zipping through the yard pulling Claire in the wagon.I really love this last pic because both girls are looking at Grandma.

We were so happy to spend time with you, Mia! Thanks again for being so great with Claire!

Baba Dido's house

2008-06-02T22:38:00.012-06:00

Claire hasn't begun using the conjunction "and" yet, so the title of this post is how she refers to Paul's parent's place.

Paul's dad put in a swing for Claire just in time for this visit and wow, did she love it! During our two weeks in Saskatoon, she must have spent hours in it. Paul's dad loves to swing her high and it suited Claire just fine - the wilder the better.

Here's a still shot of Claire enjoying the ride, followed by a video of one of Claire giggling during a wild ride.

Quieter times at Paul's parent's place involved us sitting around the fire enjoying each other's company, or simply watching Claire have fun. Since she's really into mail lately, she and Paul's mom, Joanne, had a lot of fun "typing" up notes and then delivering mail to everyone around the camp fire. At one point, Joanne prepared some mail for Claire but pretended she couldn't find her. Meanwhile, Claire was jumping up and down saying, "Me! Me! Me!" "Here I is, here I is!". I'm giggling just thinking about it again. Paul's mom always enjoys reading to Claire. When I took the following photo, I couldn't help but remember another photo, taken in June of 2007. I've posted the older photo below the latest one for comparison purposes. I can't believe how Claire has changed from a baby to a big girl in just a year.

We spent our first weekend in Saskatoon at "Baba Dido's house" and then moved over to my mom's until May 30th after Paul flew home on the Sunday of the long weekend. For our final weekend in Saskatoon, Paul flew back in and he and I (no Claire!) spent the weekend celebrating our wedding anniversary in a hotel while Claire spent two nights without us at Baba and Dido's. She had never spent a night away from me but she did really, really well. We saw her during the day and I could tell she was all right so it wasn't traumatic for me either. It actually worked out better than I could have ever expected. Thanks again, Joanne and Wally, for taking great care of Claire!

Kisses

2008-06-02T20:10:00.000-06:00

Were you starting to wonder where the kissy pictures were? Wonder no more - here they are!

More of the cuties

2008-06-02T20:00:00.003-06:00

"I'm so happy to see you, Bryn! Cheers!"

Caia and Claire in the sunshine:

Caia picked a flower and gave it to Claire. So sweet!

The only way we could get all three girls to stay seated was to bribe them with Sun Chips. At the time I thought it was a good plan but when I saw the pics, I realized the wide open or full mouths and orange lips perhaps weren't quite what we had in mind. No matter - here the girls are, as content as can be.

Three Xinyu girls "back" together (pardon the pun)

2008-06-02T18:21:00.007-06:00

Claire and I just returned from Saskatoon where we spent two wonderful weeks. Paul joined us in Saskatoon for the first and last of our three weekends there. As you'll see from the many posts that will follow, one of the best things about visiting Saskatoon is seeing two of our China travel families: Rae, Girard, and Bryn, and Shea and Caia.

Claire had a blast with Bryn and Caia, and was calling each girl by name in a matter of minutes (a huge compliment). I marvelled at how the girls were so in sync with whatever "game" or activity they were engaged in. At times, their activities took place while their backs were to us, but I love these shots anyway.

This is Bryn giving Claire a little affection (without coaxing on our part or anything!)

Claire and Bryn clowned around quite a bit during our meal at Rae and Girard's. Here they are yet again with their backs to us.

Caia and Grandma Darlene came to my mom's house for a playdate one morning while Shea was at work. The girls practised their Chinese squatting poses for a while before moving on to this quasi-kneeling position. We're not quite sure what they were looking at.

Claire, Caia and Bryn at Caia and Shea's house engaged in ... hmmm... again, I'm not quite sure. Whatever it was, though, they definitely had a lot of fun!

One last squeeze and kiss for Claire from Bryn.

Thanks again Rae, Girard, Shea and Darlene for making the time to see us. It was so heartwarming to see the girls together again and as you know, I loved the chance to catch up with you all in person. Thanks also for the rum, ladies! (hee hee)

Lovely inside and out

2008-05-12T09:30:00.000-06:00

I know these photos are not great technically (I can't seem to figure out my lighting issues!), but I love the spirit Claire shows in each of them. Besides, if I ever do figure out the technical side of photography, it'll be fun to see the progress I've made. In the meantime, enjoy these images of our lovely girl.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!

2008-05-11T09:03:00.007-06:00

Two boys and a girl

2008-05-10T12:41:00.007-06:00

We made a quick trip to Calgary last weekend to celebrate our godson Michael's First Communion. We had a lot of fun visiting with Greg, Teri and their boys Michael and Cameron. Claire really liked hanging out with the boys. She watched them wherever they went, and she often tried to join in on their activities if she hadn't already been invited by the thoughtful little geezers.

Claire, Cameron and Michael at the playground:I think Paul was pretty impressed with the skills Claire gained in gymnastics: hold on for dear life!

Both boys enjoyed holding Claire's hand while walking (that's Cameron walking with Claire below), and Michael seemed to especially enjoy picking Claire up.

After mass, the kids (plus Greg and Paul) played street hockey for a while. As soon as Claire saw what was going, she picked up a stray stick and joined the game, saying, "Baby too, Baby too!". Thanks for inviting us, Greg and Teri, to join in the celebration of Michael's "Firt" Communion (I'm still giggling over the misspelling of First on the cake). We had a wonderful time with you and the boys!

Crazy outside, crazy inside

2008-04-26T14:23:00.011-06:00

We experienced bizarre winter weather this week. Before last Sunday, all of our snow was completely gone. And then between Sunday and Thursday, somewhere between 25 and 30 cm of snow fell. Arghhh!! Just when we thought Spring had truly arrived! This sad photo of some fun summer stuff buried in snow was taken on April 23!With the awful weather, we stayed home most of the week. I definitely suffered from cabin fever but I don't think Claire did. She continued to find ways to amuse herself.

Thankfully, Kitsya doesn't seem to mind when Claire plays with her tent. It appears they have amicably agreed to share each other's tents.

All of Claire's birthday toys, play clothes and books got a great workout this week. Although late April is a terrible time for a snow storm, at least we had new stuff to play with!

On several occasions, Claire made her own fun by jumping and dancing in her crib. I captured some of her antics in the next two photos.

Another past-time during our time in captivity was to practice various facial expressions (happy, sad, mad, surprised, etc.). This is Claire's surprised look. I keep trying to get her to have an open "o" for a mouth but for some reason, she always sticks her tongue there!

Special message for Daddy

2008-04-23T18:36:00.002-06:00

Paul has been out of town for a few days and I know he's really missing Claire. This is for you, Paul! (He taught her what she says in the video.)

Claire the two-year old

2008-04-19T17:56:00.005-06:00

Claire, how old are you?

Two!

Claire, our sweet two-year old, is now 30 1/4 inches tall and 18 pounds (still). February and March were tough months for her, as she was under the weather most of the time with various bugs and teething. As a result, she didn't eat much, was quite irritable at times and very clingy to Mom. It seems like she is now back to her old self, with a good appetite again too. Hopefully she'll regain the weight she lost while sick and will get back on the growth curve she was following.

Do you know how kids make liars of you? Like when you say something about them and the very next day they prove you wrong? Recently it happened to me but in this case, I was happy about it. I had just commented on my friend Carolyn's blog that Claire had not yet verbalized "please" and "thank you" but rather would only sign those words. Well, that very night she verbalized them for the first time and has been using those words consistently ever since! One of her cute variations on polite sayings is to say "no please" instead of "no thank you" when she is offered something. Her Baba loves that! Claire is also very polite when it comes to coughing, covering her mouth delicately as she coughs.

It seems that with the return of Claire's appetite for food, her appetite for language has returned as well. She's trying out new words and phrases every day. I find it very interesting that her phrases seem to focus on (1) letting us know she wants something such as "more apple please mama", (2) asking us for help ("Mama, help please"), or (3) describing what she sees, such as "big blue house". Some of her friends seem to say phrases more focused on action ("me go outside please") so I'm curious when Claire will begin to verbalize that sort of stuff.

One of my regrettable influences is that Claire tends to call things "guys" like I do. Veggies, toys, people, stickers - all these things are "guys". And then there's the pizza guy. We ordered pizza two or three weeks ago, and Claire is still talking about the "pit-see-ah guy" (accent on the "see"). For some reason, he was a huge hit with Claire. She keeps asking where he is. I think it's making Paul a little suspicious.

As for interests, Claire's favourites lately include looking through books or having them read to her, colouring (she's very good at drawing family members, "balls" - circles - and vertical lines upon request), playing with Play-doh, painting, playing with her kitchen, pushing her babies around in a doll stroller, and grocery shopping with a mini-grocery cart. When she goes "shopping", she always places one of her stuffies in the part where a baby would go. She is always sure to buy lots of ham, apples, grapes and niu nai (milk, in Mandarin). Whenever I make my grocery list, she always asks me to include those items as well. Claire also seems to be enjoying the doll house we gave her for her birthday. She often makes the dolls play Ring Around the Rosie together.

Here's Claire inside Kitsya's little tent. We can't believe she can fit inside.

Claire also loves to go riding on her bike outside. Her feet don't reach the pedals yet but there is a little footrest for her to put her feet on while I push the bike. Halfway through our walk, she usually decides that she wants to push her bike. Shortly after that, she decides to simply walk beside it. Thankfully she loves her "blue hat", her bike helmut. Claire indicates her choice in outer wear by saying either "apple" or "rose" (one jacket has an apple on it and the other has stitching in the shape of flowers). She usually gets her way, weather permitting.

When Claire really likes a certain activity, I often tell her we'll do it again soon. She usually then asks, "tomorrow"? Until recently, I could tell from the way she was asking that she thought tomorrow is as immediate as it gets. It sure got me out of few binds when leaving the playground or putting away her Play-doh. Unfortunately, I think she's starting to realize that "tomorrow" is a bit more of a wait than she thought.

Claire is still quite reserved in public and in groups, so not everyone gets to see the Claire-bear we know. The Claire we know is playful, talkative, imaginative, engaging and gentle. She may be tiny but she exudes major charisma. Her affectionate nature blows me away. So often throughout the day, she'll pat my arm, touch my hair and say "pretty", or kiss me. The other day as I tucked her in for her nap, she took my hand in both of hers, rubbed my hand, and planted the sweetest smooch on it. It was yet another reminder that I'm lucky as can be.

Claire's two! Part three: grandparents are the best!

2008-04-14T14:28:00.010-06:00

Claire's grandparents made a special visit from Saskatoon for Claire's birthday.

My mom arrived on Tuesday to help prepare for the celebrations and I'm so grateful she did! It was wonderful having her help before and during the kids' party especially. One of my favourite memories from the kids' party is Grandma handing out crackers to all the kids before lunch. Even the kids who tend to be more shy were approaching her for crackers. After Claire's nap later that day, Claire, Paul, my mom and I all went to the playground for some fun. Claire loved showing off her playground to Grandma. Check out Claire's big smile here on the teeter-totter!

Paul's parents arrived on Friday night. One of their presents for Claire became the centre of fun for the entire weekend (and for years in the future, I'm sure!): a wagon. Claire was so excited she didn't even bother using the door to get in!

Here are Paul, Joanne, Wally and Claire departing for the inaugural wagon ride:

I love this picture because Joanne is looking at Claire, who is smiling at Wally. Even though Wally isn't pictured, it's like his presence is felt because of Claire's smile.
On Saturday night, we had a party for Claire with a few of her favourite adults - ones she knows and loves well. She was a little overwhelmed by being the centre of attention so a few adults took turns playing with Claire in another room so that she would feel comfortable and be herself. Paul's mom Joanne played the longest downstairs with Claire, and Paul thinks it made Joanne's night.

Claire and Paul's dad also had lots of quality time together. The first night they arrived, she showed him her new dollhouse and all of its accessories. It was so sweet to see this big man next to Claire on the floor while they played. She really loves her Dido! Here they are together as Claire prepares to blow out her candles.

Thank you, grandparents, for making a special trip to see Claire on her birthday! Thank you also to our friends who attended the party Saturday night. It is so wonderful to see the love all of you have for Claire, and I know she feels it.

Claire's two! Part two: Claire's buddies at her party

2008-04-13T19:46:00.010-06:00

Aren't Claire's friends adorable?!

Claire's two! Part one: highlights of the kids' party

2008-04-13T19:21:00.010-06:00

Claire turned two on Friday, April 11. Dressed in a cute dress from her godparents, she was all set to party!Paul took the day off and we invited over seven kids and their parents from our adoption group for a party. We feel very fortunate to be a part of this group, and we were so happy they joined us in celebrating our Claire-bear! The kids had a lot of fun checking out Claire's toys, and Claire tolerated it remarkably well; she didn't have any meltdowns about the kids playing with her toys although she did remark several times very quietly, "baby's" meaning "that's mine!" Here are a few of the kids having a tea party.

After Ava's birthday in March, I asked Claire what kind of cake she would like (Ava had a Dora cake). Claire quickly replied "spies", which is what she calls the Backyardigans. Luckily I got a bunch of Backyardigan decorations on sale but I soon learned that none of the grocery stores make Backyardigan character cakes. I wasn't ambitious enough to make my own so I had to come up with a solution: we sat down Claire with all her "spies", took some pictures and then had a picture cake made. It reads: "Claire is 2! She certainly is!" In case you're not a Backyardigan fan, the "certainly" is from Tyrone.

Claire had no trouble blowing out one candle but the second one - a musical one - was very stubborn. It took several tries! Beside her, one of her buddies (S.) was blowing as hard as can be to help her. We're still smiling about it.

A huge thank you to all our friends who attended Claire's party! I'll follow this post with a few more, including one featuring Claire's cutie-pie friends.

Mmmmm!

2008-04-03T17:00:00.000-06:00

We get to see this silly sight a couple of times a day but it's one of those spontaneous moments that's hard to capture on camera. Luckily I managed to do so - totally by accident - a few weeks ago. Hang in there ... the moment arrives in the last few seconds of the clip. You'll know it when you see it!

Claire's first day at "school"

2008-03-25T22:40:00.009-06:00

One of my friends from our international adoption group told us about a nursery school in our neighbourhood where your child can go for two and 1/2 hours a day for two days a week. The toddler class is very small - just 9 kids - and the teacher and her assistant came highly recommended.

I knew immediately that I wanted to look into this for Claire. Although we do several classes and other activities together, she rarely is comfortable enough to really be herself in those settings for several possible reasons: too many kids, not a good fit in terms of the activity, or too large a physical environment. I've often thought that my presence may hinder as much as it helps in those settings: although I offer comfort, she would rather be in my arms than join in the play and be her usual fun self.

Claire and I observed at the nursery school last week and it was obvious Claire would love it there. The teacher and her assistant are incredibly warm and genuine people, the atmosphere is cozy and calm, and the kids all very gentle. I was thrilled to receive the good news that Claire could attend in the fall on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I was just as happy to learn that a spot was immediately available on Tuesday mornings.

This morning, Claire started "school". As per the teacher's instructions, I stayed until she was settled in and then I quickly sang our goodbye song, wished her a fun morning and left. She began howling as I left the room. Yow. The way she was soon sobbing left me to think she'd cry the entire time, which just tore at my heart. We have left her with family and a couple of close friends before but never with people she barely knows.

Thankfully, my friend Marianne knew how tough a morning it would be for me. We arranged in advance that we'd go for coffee and then shop, shop, shop. Of course I couldn't stop thinking about Claire but Marianne definitely helped to distract me. Perhaps more importantly, my morning plans ensured that I wouldn't go back to the nursery school and disrupt Claire's adjustment to her new surroundings.

When I returned to the nursery school, Claire was fine! The teachers were so happy to be able to give me the good news that she had done really well. She cried very hard for the first 45 minutes but from there they were able to calm her down. From that point until I arrived, she had jumped, danced, and laughed! Hooray! She had such a good time in fact that when it came time for Claire and I to leave together, she didn't want to go. Definitely a good sign!

Claire is very much looking forward to going back to school and keeps saying "tomorrow?" I found out that there is no class next week because of spring break unfortunately, but I'm sure she'll get back in the groove the following week.

Here's Claire outside her school doors on her very first day of nursery school. What a big girl!

Claire's dream coat

2008-03-24T15:45:00.007-06:00

On Holy Thursday, an Easter package arrived for Claire from her Baba and Dido (Paul's parents). Inside was the most beautiful gift: a "Glad Dreams Coat" by Bunnies by the Bay, complete with a bunny hat and muff. The coat is advertised as a true "hareloom", and has the following inscribed inside: "Once within this dreamy coat, danced a dainty lass. Remembering all the glad dreams, to her daughter, the coat will pass."

Claire loved the Sesame Street gift wrap!

The coat and accessories came inside this beautiful storybook box.
Claire patiently modelled her glamorous outfit for the camera:And now all ready for church!
On behalf of Claire, a huge thank you to Baba and Dido for the prettiest coat in the world. We could tell Claire felt like a princess in it!

Easter visitors

2008-03-24T15:30:00.005-06:00

Good Friday got off to a wonderful start with a visit from Rod and Marianne. It seems the Easter Bunny was a little overzealous and dropped off a basket for Claire at their house two days early! She received the greatest treats - chocolate, stickers, a book about Thumper, and a purse (!!). Shortly after lunch, we welcomed my brother Randy, his wife Cindy and their soon-to-be five-year old daughter Amelia (Mia). They drove up from Saskatoon to pick up a puppy nearby. Here are Mia and Claire enjoying some playtime before going to get their puppy.
Once they arrived back at our house with the puppy, Kitsya hid and Claire and Mia played mostly around the puppy's kennel for the most part. Take a look at Mia's puppy and guess her name ... yep, Lassie!Mia was not only a great "mama" to her new puppy, she was a great older cousin to Claire. Claire followed Mia's every move, and Mia was gentle and fun-loving with her little cuz.

Claire's egg-cellent adventures

2008-03-24T15:19:00.000-06:00

On Thursday night in preparation for Easter, we dyed eggs. Claire loved telling us what colour to dip an egg into next. She seemed fascinated by the whole process. Here she is placing the finishing touches - stickers - on some eggs.Claire made her bunny hat at nursery school on Tuesday. (We went for observation last week and she officially begins this week for 2 1/2 hours a week.) She calls her bunnies "hoppies" so it follows that she calls her hat her "hoppy hat".
On Easter Sunday, the Easter Bunny hid eggs in our house for Claire to find. Paul and I were amused to see her open up each egg upon finding it and eating the treat right then and there before proceeding with her egg hunt. Kitsya followed her around the house the entire time. We're pretty sure Kitsya was after the foil - one of her favourite toys - on Claire's chocolate eggs.
Searching very thoroughly ...
Ah, enjoying some downtime after the hunt!

Hoppy Easter!

2008-03-24T09:26:00.008-06:00

We had a nice combination of relaxation and visits with friends and family over Easter. We stayed in town here rather than travelling back to see family but we were lucky to have my brother and his family visit for a night.

I'll do a few posts to capture several themes of our weekend. The photos in this post capture Claire leaving snacks for the Easter Bunny at night and then seeing in the morning what the Easter Bunny left for her.

We arranged some snacks for the Easter Bunny after Claire had her nighttime milk and snack.
Although Claire had had her milk and snacks already, it became apparent she wanted more:
And more! She ended up polishing off all of the Easter Bunny's milk and had bites from all of his cookies.
Well, it turns out the Easter Bunny didn't mind sharing his milk and snacks because he still gave Claire her treats!

This is Claire's "Mmmm, Mmmm, good" face. Our girl definitely loves chocolate!

Claire meets another set of honourary grandparents

2008-03-17T19:40:00.009-06:00

Good family friends Dennis and Elaine were in town this weekend for a trade show / conference, and we were thrilled to be able to finally introduce them to Claire. For those who may remember from one of my earliest posts, Elaine is the one who made the adorable care bears for Claire and me. They (E and D that is, not the bears) also happen to be the parents of Kelley, one of my best friends, so you can imagine how much I saw them growing up. It was nice to finally have them over for a meal after all the dinners I enjoyed at their home!

Claire was just recovering from being ill so she wasn't her usual self. However, she warmed up quickly after dinner when Elaine demonstrated her exceptional Play-doh skills.

Before long, they were sharing laughs and hugs like old friends.Claire even invited Dennis for tea, which he kindly obliged. Elaine and Dennis have several grandkids of their own and it shows!Thank you, Elaine and Dennis, for visiting with us! As always, we had a wonderful time with you! We'll do our best to get to Humboldt for a visit soon!

Splash!

2008-03-13T10:23:00.007-06:00

Until yesterday when the weather turned chilly again, Claire and I were having great fun splashing around the neighbourhood. Claire loves her new rubber boots and doesn't seem to mind getting soaked by the water when she's out.

The puddles were at their best on Tuesday, and as Claire and I splashed that afternoon, I wished I had the camera there. After dinner, Claire was only too happy to splash again, this time for the camera.

The photos below demonstrate Claire's various splashing techniques.

#1. The assisted jump (She can jump on her own but she loves the height she gets with an assist.)

#2. The one-foot stomp.

#3. The fast walk n' splash.

#4. The kick and spray.

Claire's best friend turns two!

2008-03-11T00:05:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe that Claire's friends - and that Claire herself in a month - are turning two! Today, Ava turned two. Here she is at her home yesterday:

We were thrilled to also share a meal with Ava's family on her actual birthday, today.

James found a great hotpot place in Chinatown. Athough it doesn't offer individual hotpots like we had our first night as a group in China, it was definitely a great find! Claire and Ava sat opposite each other, and once the hotpots were in place (we had two), it didn't look like they could see each other. No matter - they partied after their meals! Here they are with Helena reacquainting themselves:

In no time, the girls were running through the restaurant, giggling, tickling, jumping and kissing. But I managed to capture a few of their more sedate moments.
As always, Helena was the big sister every girl would want. You can see how much she truly enjoys her little sis, and she extends that same enthusiasm to Claire each time she sees her.

Ava was a proud two-year old, confidently answering "two" with a shake of the head every time she was asked her age. She was also talking up a storm, which was really fun to hear.

It was an honour to be invited to Ava's birthday meal. In the short time we've known Ava, Beth, James and Helena, I somehow feel like we've become part of each other's extended families. Here's the gang (minus Helena) during our meal.
Thank you again, Beth and James, for including us in your daughter's special celebration. We had a wonderful time!

Potpourri

2008-03-05T13:27:00.018-07:00

Claire is a major cookie monster these days. Her sweet tooth is enormous! She asks for cookies at all times of the day, and I've been known to give her a cookie for dessert at breakfast. She needs the calories, after all!

Thankfully, Claire's appetite in other respects is good at the moment too. Some favourites lately include soup, noodles, sweet potato fries, shrimp, cauliflower, broccoli, mixed veggies, corn, cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes, oranges and pears and anything she can dip in ketchup.

Claire plays with her food a lot. Sometimes peas get stacked to become snowmen, other times pears get pushed around as squealy cars. On Monday, she tore up a piece of ham and said it was a puppy. With another tear, it became a fish. After another twist of the ham, I said, "What is it now?". She looked at my wrly and said, "ham". Like duh, mom.

In our downstairs playroom right now, we've set up one of Claire's fantastic Christmas gifts from her godparents: two playtents connected by a tunnel. Claire loves her tents but I think Kitsya likes them just as much! Claire can spend hours ripping up pieces of newspaper and rolling into kitty toys which she then throws into the tunnel for Kitsya's amusement.

One of Claire's exciting new developments is that she'll finish a line for me in her books. It occured to me the other day when I was reading to her that I should ask her to finish the line. After all, she hears the same stories over and over again that I was quite sure she knew the words. Wow, does she ever! In doing this, she is now saying words that she hasn't said before, which is always wonderful to hear. Although I ask her to repeat words after me frequently throughout the day, maybe she just needed new motivation to say more words.

For the last month or two, Claire has been big on identifying things in the house as "Mama's", "Dadda's" or "Baby's" (she insists on calling herself "baby" despite our protests that she is a big girl). I was surprised when she started using possessives. Other times, she identifies objects as being a Mama, Dadda or Baby. Or instead of identifying "who" something is, she'll simply state its colour as she goes about her merry way. She knows pink (it comes out as "pimp"), purple, orange, blue, yellow, green, brown and grey (I think). She doesn't seem to get the idea of red - she always identifies it as pink.

We're taking a break from Kindermusik and have been in gymnastics instead since mid January. I regret not keeping her in Kindermusik, though, because she loves it so much. Gymnastics not so much. She does a lot of the same activities at home with a huge smile but maybe the gym or all the kids overwhelm her. What is certain is that she loves seeing Ava at gymnastics. It's been really nice seeing Ava and Beth there each week, even if we don't get a lot of time to visit.

Claire is showing her independence more and more. You can tell she is really proud of herself when she puts on her own pants (even if the back isn't comletely pulled over her tiny bum), shirt, sweater and socks. Unfortunately, she loves undressing herself just as much. In the kitchen yesterday, she suddenly stripped down to her diaper and didn't want to rectify that situation for at least an hour. She also loves dressing up in all sorts of gear. I have lots of play clothes for her but I really need to clear out a trunk I have so that it can provide easy access to her play clothes. Here she is in one of her latest getups.

Claire is still wild about the Backyardigans. She has seen a couple episodes of Ni hao, Kai Lan - a new show about a Chinese girl of that name. She seems to enjoy it but I probably enjoy it more.

Outdoors, Claire prefers to walk on the snow or ice, even if there is a nice dry patch of sidewalk right beside her. Yesterday while out for a walk, she decided that the snowbank would make a nice bench.

With the warmer temperatures, ice and snow have melted to form puddles which Claire can't stay away from either. I just have to find some rubber boots small enough for her. I'm off to Walmart later this week to check out their selection, since I've checked out most of our other options already. If I do find a pair, I'll be sure to post "splashy" pictures in a month or two!

A big "hi" and hug to Paul who is out of town on business for a couple of days. I hope these posts - two days in a row! - have given you a bit of a Claire fix.

Easter baking

2008-03-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

I have wonderful childhood memories of baking with my mom, and I hope to create the same sort of warm memories for Claire. To that end, she and I did some Easter baking this week. We made sugar cookies using my favourite recipe - my mom's of course!

Claire loves mixing things! This is her little nook in our kitchen.

Claire was pretty good at rolling the dough! (Okay, she didn't do all of that.)

Claire was really excited to cut the cookies using Easter shapes - especially the lamb which she referred to as ba ba dee (ba ba black sheep).

Claire had to try everything I did. She was probably about as good with this as I was!

Claire's favourite part of all was putting the sprinkles on the cookies ... and in her mouth. I love how her little hand looks digging into the sprinkles bowl.
Claire's little apron from our friend Marianne has bunnies on it so it was the perfect accessory for our Easter baking!

More from Havana

2008-02-24T15:17:00.006-07:00

This is our tour guide for the day, Omar, with two of his lovely lady friends.Two men and their babies
A fun parade through one of the squares in old Havana
A random pic

Claire's hair was crazy that day. With short naps on the bus here and there, and major wind, Claire's pigtails started to come undone early in the day.

Pretty dress parade

2008-02-22T18:23:00.008-07:00

Each night for dinner, Claire would get all gussied up in a pretty dress. Some of these were shower gifts that Claire now fits into while others are ones I simply couldn't resist buying.

Needless to say, beautiful Claire received a lot of attention at the resort. And like every true celebrity, she was surrounded by paparazzi (well, make that paparazzo - moi!).

Beach baby

2008-02-22T18:23:00.004-07:00

A fantastic week in Cuba

2008-02-22T17:46:00.006-07:00

Paul, Claire and I just returned home from a fantastic week in sunny, friendly, beautiful Cuba. We stayed at an all-inclusive (my first experience with this) and I have to say, I completely enjoyed the break from planning meals, grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning up. Claire enjoyed the plentiful pina coladas (without rum, of course) while Paul and I enjoyed quite a few of the same (but with rum) and yummy mojitos.

Claire loved the beach. We spent most of our time there, building and digging with her sand toys, collecting sea shells, jumping waves, and grooving to music. We all avoided sunburns thankfully, as we were pretty careful about applying sunblock frequently and hanging out in the shade.

When we weren't at the beach, we could be found at one of the resort's many restaurants, swaying to music in the lobby bar or running (or rather, chasing after Claire) through the long outdoor corridors. Many, many of our pictures of Claire are action shots of her running toward or away from the camera. Here's just one example:

We went on a one-day trip into Havana, which was absolutely incredible. We were a little worried about how Claire would do with the trip (two and a half hours to Havana) and the long day but she was a total angel. That also happened to be the day that Castro resigned but you'd never know it from the lack of unusual activity in the streets. Paul and I were blown away by the architecture and the state of disrepair that many stunning buildings had fallen into. People were incredibly friendly, and everywhere we went, men and women alike would comment on Claire's beauty or ruffle her hair.

Some old American cars on a Havana street

Paul watches as Claire dances to some great Cuban music.

As great a trip it was, we are glad to be home. Claire did have a few moments near the beginning and the end of the trip where it seemed she was out of sorts about being away from home. She didn't eat a lot, but then, we can tell that her second year molars are giving her trouble again, so that could be the cause too. (But I like to think she simply prefers my cooking - ha ha.)

I can only post a few pictures at a time, so I'll follow this post up with a couple more.

Slurp!

2008-02-11T17:11:00.001-07:00

I turned our blog into a book! I used a company called blurb. It provides free software that "slurps" your blog and then allows you to format or revise the contents before uploading your "published" book to blurb's site to turn into a book. Here's the Web address in case anyone is interested: http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook?tag=1_sf

I decided to include only the first 100 posts or so, with the intention to create at least one more volume. It was really easy although I was disappointed that blurb can't slurp comments from Blogger (it can from other platforms). I was able to add the comments manually, though, so I was still satisfied. It's 164 pages in total, with several pages taken up entirely by photographs.

We received e-Claire, Volume 1 today, and I am thrilled! I had no idea how it would turn out, but for $48 plus shipping, I couldn't be happier. I'm not sure how much Claire will appreciate the book; however, I know I'll treasure it (and any subsequent volumes) for the photos of and tidbits about our little girl, as well as the record the book provides of the friendships with our travel-mates that we nurtured through blogging.

As soon as I unwrapped the book, Claire immediately started paging through it:

We had a big week ...

2008-02-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

It all started with our anniversary of Forever Family Day on February 5. Then the Year of the Rat was ushered in on February 7, followed by two exciting Chinese New Year parties this weekend. We've been busy!

Our first Chinese New Year's party was held at a wonderful place where we've been attending Mandarin playclass Saturday mornings. We, the international adoption group, were invited last Saturday to join their children's party as our Saturday class yesterday. There was one hitch: we'd have to perform three Mandarin songs! Yikes! We practiced strenuously last Saturday and faithfully practiced during the week leading up to the big event. Thankfully it all went fine yesterday, since we were full in number and our instructor sang along with us. Claire had a wonderful time at the party, especially when the big-screen TV played fun Chinese kids' songs and everyone got up for a dance party.

To protect the privacy of others, I'm not posting photos of other kids (hence only one photo here):

Today, we joined our international adoption group for dim sum in Chinatown. We had attended this event a couple of times in the past as "waiting parents", and last year, we missed the event having only returned home with Claire a couple of days earlier. It was great this year to finally attend with Claire! Again, I don't want to post photos of other adults or children without their permission, so I actually don't have any photos from the event itself to post. However, Claire and Kitsya provided this photo op shortly after we returned from dim sum:

Lastly, here's a photo from this past week of a coy Claire:

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Our first anniversary of Forever Family Day

2008-02-05T15:30:00.000-07:00

Today is our one-year anniversary of becoming a family. And what a year it has been! We eagerly took our precious girl in our arms a year ago, and over the following days, then weeks, and then months, we delighted in each new glimpse into her personality. Having known Claire for a year now, we can see that our initial impressions of Claire were accurate; she is an affectionate, wise, gentle, witty kid who fills our hearts with love and our days with laughter. Paul and I feel unbelievably lucky to be her parents.

As we celebrate Forever Family Day with Claire, our thoughts are also with our travel-mates who share this anniversary with us. Happy Forever Family Day to all of you! Please give your girls a big hug and a kiss from us please!

In Claire's country

2008-02-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

On year ago today, we spent our first full day in China. I'll always remember how excited we were to be there, in China, the same country Claire was in. Even being in the same time zone as Claire was thrilling to us.

We had a wonderful day exploring but unlike other trips we had been on, my mind wasn't fully on the sights I was seeing. Usually, I savour all the facts about what I'm seeing - what year a building was built, its interesting architecture, who lived there, etc. - but on this trip, I was distracted by impending parenthood. We were to meet Claire in 2 days.

We were filled with a strange mix of feelings: elation about finally becoming parents, disbelief that the moment was almost upon us, intense curiousity about the beautiful girl we were about to meet, excitement about joining up with our travel-mates, nervousness about performing the simplest tasks for our baby, and solemn awareness of issues that could present themselves on our journey with Claire (thankfully, none did).

We had a wonderful day to ourselves, followed by a fabulous evening with Yulin and a few other folks, including our travel-mates Pat and Kathleen, and Kathleen's parents. Our trip to Claire had officially begun!

In China at last! Below: a hutong for me (Dajiao means big feet); the nearby, Xiaojiao ("small feet") hutong was where the girls popular with the emperor lived. Sampling some dumplings (yummy!) at the Wangfujing Snack Street:
Not sampling the scorpions and other exotic fare at Wangfujing's Night Market:
Below: enjoying our night with Kathleen, Pat, Kathleen's parents, and a few other travellers. I still don't know where we actually were that night. All I know is that there was a lake, surrounded by trendy restaurants and lounges on one side and clubs on the other.

"No"

2008-01-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

We started a Mandarin playclass with Claire last week and have learned a little song that begins with counting up to number 7. The other day at the dinner table, Claire repeated the words so perfectly, with the right tones and everything, that I ran to get the video camera. Wouldn't you know it, she didn't want to repeat the performance! Nevertheless, what we got instead was priceless:

Claire at 21 months

2008-01-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

The other day, I viewed some home video clips we took in February of 2007, just days after we returned home from China with our little sweetheart. I knew Claire had changed from a baby to a toddler, but wow! Check out this video clip (where Claire is blowing bubbles while making toad sounds) from nearly a year ago:

We used to get such a kick out that routine!

Now at 21 and a half months of age, Claire has 18 teeth with her bottom 2nd-year molars having recently cut through. They gave her a lot of trouble in the last couple of months: some days she was simply irritable, other days she would fight her naps or not eat much, and there were several nights where she would cry (more like, rage) inconsolably for a couple of hours. In the last week or so, she has been back to normal: happy, playing more independently, and eating much more, thankfully.

Despite the pain of teething, Claire has shown us more and more of her playful personality. Back in December, Paul taught her the saying, "Oh behave!" complete with a little accent and toss of the hand. We laughed about that saying for a few days and then promptly forget about it. About three weeks later, Paul and I were giving silly names to things as we sat around the dinner table, when I said to Claire, "You just tell us if we're being too silly, okay?" Her response? "Oh behave!" with a little flick of the hand. Well, okay, her words came out more like "Oh bee" but it was unmistakable what she was saying. Paul and I can't believe she remembered that phrase, and chose to use it at that particular moment. When she starts to talk more, I think we'll be blown away by her wit.

Claire is really into cooking lately, and not just with her own little kitchen. Whenever I cook, I have to clear counter space so that she can sit up there and help me out. She loves to dry vegetables for me after I wash them, and then she hands them to me one by one as I cut things up. When she pretend-cooks with her little kitchen, she makes a cute little sound as she cracks pretend eggs, and she chops pretend onions like a pro, I tell ya. Claire also loves to help me clean the house (not that it's very often): when I sweep, she is right there with the dust pan and a big smile. It definitely makes my chores around the house a lot more fun to have such an enthusiastic helper.

Claire has been humming and singing lately, mostly to made-up tunes. However, Paul was sure she was humming "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" the other day, and just today as I put her down for her nap, I'm sure she was singing that tune. Update: as we were eating dinner tonight, Claire was humming that tune again. Suddenly she said "star", making it clear that she is singing that song! She speaks a lot at home (she now says just over 80 words on a consistent basis, unprompted) but hasn't yet starting singing the words to songs, other than "Ba ba dee"(ba ba black sheep). I think anyday now, she may start. As for her vocabulary, her favourite word lately is the adjective "big". When she says it alone in reference to an object she is pointing at, she makes a funny face as if the bigness of the object is slightly horrifying. A couple of weeks ago, she was very proud of herself when she said "big door" and then "big ball". The other night, she called me Big Mama. I think I was the one who looked slightly horrified at that (ha ha).

For a while, ABCs held Claire's attention but lately, it's numbers. She uses the word "two" for all numbers, though, and will point, for example, to four objects (one at a time) and say, two, two, two, two! At least she seems to be understanding the concept of counting!

The independent toddler is starting to emerge in Claire, as she is now putting mittens on herself, and washing and drying her hands herself. It's a good thing we have a wide counter so that she can kneel beside the sink; I'm sure it will be a very long time before a stepping stool will get Claire's hands in the vicinity of the sink. It's wonderful to see the confidence in a child as he or she learn to do these things on their own; the look on Claire's face the first few times was priceless.

With other things, she definitely wants our help. Claire insists on doing a large puzzle from our friends Kelley and Paul at least three times a day. She states with great authority, "Mama, down!" or "Dadda, down!" while pointing to the floor, and then once Paul or myself are settled in, we proceed to work on the puzzle together. As you can imagine, she's getting pretty good at it, having done it so many times each day.

I took the following picture a few days ago. Although I usually prefer smiley pictures of Claire, I really love her solemn look in this one.

Day to day adventures

2008-01-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

Until today, we've enjoyed great weather for the last little while, and Claire was thrilled to visit the playground again. We were joined there by Claire's Baba and Dido one day on the weekend and Claire had a blast.

Claire and Daddy on the merry-go-round:

Claire and Dido sharing a laugh:
And having fun on the slide:

Our bedtime routine is going fairly smoothly at the moment, thank God. When I put Claire in her crib, I rest on the floor next to Claire's crib until she's asleep. The other night, I heard more squirming than usual. I looked over, and this is what I saw:
Either I chose too warm a sleeper for Claire or she was trying to get in on the one-shoulder fashion trend of the moment.

Claire still loves her bathtime. Sometimes she pretends she is a kitty and crawls back and forth in the tub, while I hold my breath hoping that she doesn't slip. When Daddy is the lucky one to give Claire her bath, he often comments that he doesn't know how to wash such long hair. However, that doesn't stop him from giving her funny hairdos in the tub:

We talk to Claire often about China and her first several months there. It's hard to know how much she comprehends, but she repeats "Nina" and as you'll see in this short video clip, will happily point to the country on maps or globes around the house.

Claire can also find Canada on the globe but I forgot to ask her to do so during this video - oops!

Relaxing time with Daddy on holidays

2008-01-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

Paul had last week off from work so we spent a lot of time relaxing together and just hanging out. Usually Claire and I are super-busy throughout the week but it was nice to just stay close to home and enjoy Paul's company. That said, we did get out a bit. We took Claire skating at our nearby outdoor rink (she liked it and was starting to balance a bit on her own!) and went to the zoo one day. The little wooden train at the Zoo was snow-covered but it held just as much appeal to Claire as it did in the summer and fall. Paul was fascinated with the red pandas right across from the train but Claire quite strongly ordered Paul away from the pandas and to a seat on the train opposite her. Here she is looking up at her daddy.

Unfortunately, Claire came down with another stomach bug or something last Friday. She had a nasty fever and a stomach bug before Christmas but this one was a bit different in that there was no fever (thankfully!). Just a lot of crying, some vomiting and major lethargy. I was grateful that Paul was home with us because he was able to get things for Claire while I held her in whatever hold I was using that had momentarily stopped her cries. Despite her illness, though, she still goofed off when I tried to take a photo of her.

Claire loves her kitchen set from Santa, and I'm amazed by how realistically she sometimes plays. For example, I very rarely use a blender and I'm sure I've never used one in front of her. However, she somehow knew to hold her hand on top of the toy blender and then to pretend to pour the contents into a cup!

We've also had serious improvement in Claire's sleep routine. Until last week, I was the only one who could go through the bedtime routine with her and tuck her in. Whenever Paul tried it in the past, she'd cry for me - hard. But after spending a lot of time with Daddy and others in the past couple of weeks, we decided to give it a try at nap time. Voila, it worked! Nighttime didn't go as smoothly as naptime for a couple of days but Paul stuck with it and now he's an old pro. Now he can see for himself the funny poses she is sometimes in when she finally gives up the ghost:

In the past couple of weeks, Claire has also become quite the neat-freak. I have no idea where this comes from, but she'll pick up a cloth, a dryer sheet, or even a piece of paper which she then crumples, and then she'll "spot-clean" the walls, the cabinets, and any other surface she can reach. It's bizarre! One time in the bathroom, I gave her a square of toilet paper. She promptly wiped herself down below (she was fully clothed) and then proceeded to use that same square to spot-clean the bathroom wall. I have to carry my camera around for a while so that I can get a pic next time she does it.

We're visiting the Travellers' Health Clinic tomorrow to find out what shots we need before going to Cuba in February. I know Paul and I both need Hep boosters but I'm not sure about Claire. I hope she already has everything she needs: she was quite a pincushion in November and in both our opinions, she'd had enough. Wish us luck!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

Well my friends, 2007 was quite a year. In 2007, I, Claire Caiwen Pauline, gained:

a forever family;
a new country;
five and a half lbs in weight (I now weigh about 17 1/2 lbs);
four and a half inches in height (I am now 29 1/2 inches tall);
a major wardrobe; and
more friends than I could have ever imagined.

What does 2008 have in store? Hmmm. Knowing Mom, my wardrobe will continue to grow. I hope I meet new friends. I know I'll continue to see my Xinyu sisters Ava, Bryn and Caia whenever I can, as well as the rest of the Xinyu girls even if only in pictures. I look forward to getting to know my extended family even more. I'll try out my Canadian passport when Mama and Dadda take me on a trip (some place called Cuba) after Chinese New Year. I'll turn two this year, which means more presents - hooray! Even better, I've heard the most amazing news: Christmas comes EVERY YEAR! Now that's something to look forward to!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! Love Claire

ps - Mama asked me to post the pictures below. The first one is the card Mama and Dadda chose for our Christmas card.

The next two weren't seriously considered for the card but Mama and Dadda really like them because apparently they show my personality.

Mama doesn't like the shadows in the next two photos (whatever that means) but she likes how I look of course!
This next one is my Diva shot! Hollywood, look out!

Xinyu sisters at Christmas

2007-12-29T14:47:00.000-07:00

A highlight of any trip to Saskatoon is to visit there with two of Claire's Xinyu sisters and their families. Our travel-mate Shea graciously invited Paul, Claire and I, as well as another family, Rae, Girard and Bryn, to her home for coffee one morning. We were also thrilled to see Shea's mom, Darlene, who had travelled with Shea to China. Darlene was so kind as to take many, many pics of us, hoping for at least one good shot. This one is the best from my camera.

We had a tough time getting all three girls to look at the camera at the same time for the following photos. Only Bryn was willing to share some smiles with us. In the above shots, please pardon my faux-pas of forgetting to put Claire's special panties on her to match her dress. I completely forgot until I saw these photos!

Alas, our visit couldn't last all day and we had to say our goodbyes. The girls all exchanged smooches (none of which I captured very well on camera). The funniest smoocher was Caia, because she'd approach you for a kiss and would very quickly kiss the air in front of you and then move away to the next recipient. Paul and Claire are saying farewell in the photo below to Rae and Bryn.

Shea, thank you so much for hosting our visit yet again, and thank you to both families for accommodating our schedule. We had a wonderful time with you!

More family fun

2007-12-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

Paul's brother Dorian and his wife Sylvie had the clan over for dinner one night. Claire loved going up and down the stairs with everyone, but especially Baba (Ukrainian for Grandma). Here are Baba and Uncle Dorian walking with Claire to the table where a wonderful dinner awaited us.Claire loved their island in the kitchen. It was the perfect spot to sit and be entertained by Baba and others.Claire really enjoyed the process of opening gifts, saying "more, more" after almost every one. We all observed that she is meticulous when opening presents. Each time she ripped off a piece of paper, she'd hand it to somebody before continuing. Even when she could see the gift inside, she would keep her attention on removing the paper until every last piece was off. Then at last she'd examine her gift. She was also a great little elf, handing out presents to family members and helping them unwrap them.
One of Claire's gift from Auntie Sylvie and Uncle Dorian was an awesome tent set, complete with an igloo-shaped tent, a teepee-shaped tent and a tunnel to crawl from one to the other. She spent hours playing there. Here she is taking a break in the tunnel while Auntie Sylvie looks on.

Grandpa loved feeding Claire strawberries, so much in fact that now when she sees a strawberry or a picture of a strawberry, she says "Dido" (Ukrainian name for Grandpa). I love these types of associations; she also says "Marianne" (our friend who built a gingerbread house for her) whenever she sees something gingerbread related.

Claire's first Christmas in Canada

2007-12-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

Claire's first Christmas in Canada was a whirlwind of fun. We spent nearly a week with family in Saskatchewan, and if you can imagine how many gifts this cutie received, multiply that by a gazillion to reflect the amount of love and attention lavished on her. Needless to say, she had a ball!

This post contains photos of Claire with Mama's side of the family. Pics with Daddy's side, as well as pics with some of her Xinyu sisters, will follow.

One of the favourite past-times of grandkids at Grandma K's house is bowling in the hall. Here's Claire contemplating her bowling technique while cousin Liam (modelling Grandma's vest from the 60s) lines up the pins.
Below, Claire cuddles with Auntie Betty-Ann.

Here's Grandma K with all the grandkids who were in town for Christmas.
Claire received a couple of aprons from Grandma K. to go with her kitchen set from Santa. The photo below captures Claire's ability to multi-task: not only is she cooking Christmas dinner, but she's learning from Uncle Stu how to throw a football. Nikki, the oldest grandchild at the old age of 16, hangs out with Claire, the youngest grandchild.

Excuse me but I was having a "moment" with Santa

2007-12-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

Seconds before this picture was taken, Claire was looking up at Santa with a huge grin on her face. This photo captures the moment the photographer called out Claire's name and she turned to face him. Doesn't she look disappointed that the moment she and Santa were sharing is over?

Deck the halls

2007-12-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

These photos are from a couple of weeks ago when we decorated the house for Christmas. I had planned tonight to post Claire's first official photo with Santa but I'm having problems with my scanner.

We bought a new artificial tree this year, and as usual, our cat Kitsya was quick to claim the box as her own. While Paul and I figured out how to put the tree together, Claire engaged in one of her favourite activities: trying on gloves and hats from a little chest we keep near our front door. As is the case whenever I'm more than a few feet away from Claire, Kitsya "babysat".
Claire was an active participant during the tree-decorating process.
And she had the honour of placing our angel atop the tree. Here she is moments after she placed the angel on top and then grabbed it back. She thought it was hilarious to put it on, then take it off, put it on, etc. Meanwhile, Daddy's back was breaking.

If you look closely about two thirds the way up the tree, you'll see Kitsya happily perched. We tried to fight this but finally gave up because there was no stopping the tree-obsessed cat. I have to say, she's pretty careful at least: she hasn't knocked down any ornaments and more importantly, hasn't knocked down the tree.

On December 6, Claire awoke to find presents in her Robeez boots. It's a German tradition that on St. Nicholas Day (December 6), children get treats of candy in their shoes. As a German, Ukrainian and Chinese family, a little creative license was taken with this tradition. Instead of candy, Claire received what will become our St. Nicholas Day tradition: new Christmas pajamas and a special ornament. Below, Claire models her new pjs while examining her ornament.

A sweet afternoon

2007-12-12T13:47:00.001-07:00

Our friend Marianne doesn't do anything part-way. So, when she invited us over to decorate a gingerbread house she had made Claire, I should have known how deluxe everything would be. But even then, I think she would have surpassed my expectations!

She baked the most wonderful house for Claire, complete with figures for our little family: Daddy (shockingly pantless, in his opinion), Mama in an elegant ensemble, a gorgeous little Claire and even a teeny Kitsya. Then came the tray with a bunch of bowls containing a dazzling array of candy, cookies and other treats specially chosen to not set off my choking paranoia. And then last but not least, a little sippy cup and a denim apron for Claire, both with gingerbread men on them.

Here is the crew before decorating began. As you can see, Claire is already eating.

It's a good thing my mom was there to help decorate the house, because I was so busy licking icing off my fingers and taking pictures that I wouldn't have made it very far decorating on my own. Claire's main contribution, other than motivating us with her cuteness, was to diminish the supply of candy to put on the house by stuffing it in her mouth. In many, many of our pictures, she has her hand in a candy bowl with a mouth already stuffed full.

Even after we were finished decorating, Claire couldn't stop eating. I love this last photo for two reasons: (1) it shows off her adorable apron and (2) it shows she's still going for the sweets!

Christmas cheer

2007-12-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful evening last night at our home with Beth, James, Helena and Ava. It had been quite awhile since all of us (including the boys) had been together so it was great to catch up as a group. As an added bonus, my mom is in town visiting and she acted as Grandma to all the kids but especially to the two toddlers. Claire also enjoyed Helena's attention, as always. Helena graciously took the kids downstairs for a while so that the adults could chat without interruption.

Claire and Ava got along beautifully last night. Claire was more herself due to her home setting, and Ava loved checking out Claire's toys. They interacted like never before, and it was adorable to see. Here are the girls sharing Claire's musical chair. Ava would sit on it and then pat her knees for Claire to sit down on her lap!
And a moment for Ava to enjoy the chair all to herself:

Here's Claire getting a great workout, pushing the much-bigger Ava on the car:

And then the girls took turns twirling each other around in the exersaucer:

And last but not least, the group photo that our travel-mates will enjoy:

Thanks for a great evening, everyone!

When the joy of the journey began

2007-12-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

One year ago today, Paul and I saw Claire's face for the first time. We were on our way to Jasper to celebrate Paul's birthday when we learned that we had a daughter, a girl named Yu Cai Wen. When we arrived in Jasper, we couldn't wait to open our email and see little Cai Wen's face. We can still feel the pure joy and magic of that moment when we saw her referral pictures. Although we had never seen her before, there was a kind of instant recognition like, yep, that's our girl.

All that night and the days following, we studied her pictures like crazy, zooming in on every last detail. Sometimes one of us will still crook our hand in the same manner she did in one pic, and get attention of the other. We then break out in big smiles, knowing exactly what the other is thinking. We couldn't wait to meet her in person, to know what her face looked like when she smiled or what her voice sounded like.

This morning as our birthday boy awoke, he was greated with Claire's sweet little voice saying saying "happy birthday" (although it came out more like "happy bay"). What a great start to a birthday. Happy Birthday Paul!

Here's the birthday boy with the gift of all time:

And here's our little family now, a year after seeing Claire's beautiful face the first time:

Also, a big Happy Anniversary to our travel-mates who share this special day (or week) with us. Not only do we remember every moment of receiving our own referral, but we remember very well seeing your referral pictures online, seeing how unique each baby was, and recognizing the same toys in the photos. We also remember the anticipation of meeting all of you, and are now so happy to call you friends.

Something some fans wait decades for ...

2007-11-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

... and lucky Claire got to experience a Saskatchewan Roughriders Grey Cup victory her very first year in Canada!

We watched the game with another "owner" Rod and his wife Marianne. Here's the crew looking nervous and tense as the game begins. Note: even Ryder the dog looks worried.

Marianne and Claire did their best to ham it up and ease the boys' tension!
And finally, the Riders became number 1 in the league!
The post-game victory parade:

Check out Claire's little Gainer the Gopher hat. Rod and Marianne gave it to us for Claire back in September of 2005 when we became paper-pregnant. I think they were happy that Clarie wore it with such pride (and actually kept it on) yesterday.

'Tis the season

2007-11-24T18:58:00.001-07:00

We've had an action-packed weekend so far, full of winter and holiday activities. Last night, our city's bright lights display held its annual pedestrian night, the only opportunity to see the display on foot. We walked it for the first time ever, anxious to see what Claire would think of it. Apparently, not much! She didn't seem overly enthused until we took her out of her stroller for the last little while.

Today, Claire had her first wagon ride and visit with Santa at our community centre. Again, I'm not sure if she enjoyed either very much but she certainly seemed intrigued. After Santa gave her a pencil and a sticker, I think she felt a lot better about him!

Dancing with a new 'do

2007-11-21T19:35:00.000-07:00

This is the girl we hang out with every day at home - the girl that most of you don't see unless you spend some time with us at our place. She may be shy in public but she's an energizer bunny at home! By the way, I apologize for my singing in this video. I remembered to stop after a few words but still, you're subjected to my warbling for too long, I know. Oh - and I'm sorry for the camera wobbling (I was dancing too).

Claire had her second haircut today (not counting bang trims) and she sat like an angel. I love her new little bob - I think it looks so chic!

ABCs (or should I say CMDKFPSGs?)

2007-11-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

Cold turkey and some stuffing

2007-11-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

Today is day five for Claire without a bottle. So far, she's doing great!

I decided that cold turkey was the way to go because cutting back just wasn't working: as long as Claire was getting a bottle, she expected another one again at a particular time. Also, she's been quite clingy to me for the last little while (I think her teeth are bothering her) so I figured that if she had me for comfort, she didn't need the bottle as well. She asks for a bottle about once a day but gets over it quickly when I offer her milk in a glass instead.

Claire's verbal skills continue to grow. She now says about 65 words without prompting (or being asked to repeat us). However, I think that only about 30 of those would be recognizable to someone other than us. She's starting to put two words together now too: Hello Daddy /Kitty / Mama, I do. Last week for the first time, she said "more ham". Of course, whenever we go out, she totally clams up and people remark how quiet she is. Not at home, I tell them!

She's enjoying her building blocks a lot these days, and is starting to enjoy her puzzles more and more. She likes playing with alphabet letters that we've put in reach for her: M for Mama, D for Daddy, C for Claire, K for Kitsya, G for Grandma / Grandpa, F for Family, P for Puppy and most recently, S for Uncle S. (We add a new letter every once in a while.) If we ask her to get D for Daddy, for example, she'll run to the fridge, pick the correct letter and bring it to us. We wonder if she's recognizing the letters based on their shape, their colour or a combination.

Claire still loves colouring with her crayons and markers, and has also been enjoying Play-doh a lot lately. She's also big into songs and asks to sing them together by using either words or motions: "I"m a Little Teapot", "Row, Row your Boat", "Ring Around the Rosie", "Ba Ba Black Sheep" (which she asks for as ba ba dee), "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and many Kindermusik songs.

Unfortunately, Claire-bear is becoming a bit of a TV addict. We bought her a Backyardigans DVD (the International Superspy one) and she asks for it all the time by singing "Spy!". And darn it, those songs are so catchy that Paul and I sometimes sing one of the songs without realizing it and then it prompts Claire to ask for the show. She doesn't appreciate it when we don't give in at every request!

At approximately 29 inches tall and 17.8 lbs, Claire is starting to fit into her 6-12 month clothing. Although petite, she's definitely a little lady now as opposed to a baby. She also has a mouthful of teeth to prove it: 15 now, and we're waiting for the number 16 to cut through any day. Her second year molars are giving her trouble but since her first year molars gave her trouble long before they appeared, my guess is that her second year molars won't appear until the new year.

For some reason, I didn't take new pics this week (only ones for the Christmas cards, which I won't share yet!), so no new pics with this post. However, our families haven't seen these great pics that Beth took of Claire, Ava and Caia being all smoochy back in October, so I thought I'd post them in lieu of more recent photos.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T22:07:00.000-06:00

Claire's first Halloween stats and facts:

Costumes: two (indoor and outdoor)
Halloween parties: one
Halloween-day extended visit with good friend (Marianne): one
First house to trick or treat: neighbour Jim and Ethel's
Total houses visited on Halloween night: six
Number of admirers: countless

Take candy from strangers?! Are you sure about that?

Okay, I'm ready to party!

Ta da: here's my outdoor outfit!

Why am I the only one dressed up?

Kindermusik and beefdip

2007-10-26T21:15:00.000-06:00

We're currently enrolled in Claire's third Kindermusik class (this one is the longest yet at 14 weeks), and she continues to love it like crazy. I have to confess that I love it too to see Claire in an environment where she really thrives. At other places like the playground or various playgroups, she often hangs back and is more tentative. However, at Kindermusik, she is the highly engaged child we see at home. She loves doing the motions along with the songs and often does the moves ahead of the lyrics. Here she is doing one of her latest favourites.

By the way, the motions she does with her hands when we're counting is something she picked up when Paul first introduced her to counting. He was showing her how to count the fingers on her hands but she somehow fixated on pointing to her palm. Ever since, that's been her counting motion.

Here's another video of Claire declaring her love for various family members. Dorian, if you're watching, you're Uncle Beefdip in case you didn't already know!

Mini-reunion part two: lunch at Beth and James'

2007-10-25T09:20:00.000-06:00

Helena, acting as big sis to all three toddlers (Ava, Helena, Claire and Caia)

Bubbles!

And more bubbles!

The group that blogs together stays together! (Beth is showing Shea her blog post from our get-together on Monday.)

I've never seen such lethargic Wiggles-watching!

Mini-reunion part one: Galaxyland

2007-10-22T16:10:00.000-06:00

Our travel-mate Shea is in town with her daughter Caia to look after her cousins while their parents are at a conference, so Shea, Beth and I planned a visit with our girls for today at the mall. We met at a food court where the girls stuffed themselves on noodles, and then we hit Galaxyland for some rides.

Ava and Claire were kissing bandits today, and did their best to warm up a shy Caia with big smooches. I'm sure the kissing and hand-holding will continue at part two of our mini-reunion on Wednesday at Beth's house. Pucker up!

Uncle Geoff stops by for a visit

2007-10-20T16:10:00.000-06:00

My brother Geoff from Vancouver stopped by for a couple of days this week on his way back home from Saskatchewan. This was Claire's first real chance to get to know Geoff (there were so many people around at Thanksgiving when she met him for the first time), and it was obvious she adored him. He really helped me out a lot too: he played with her while I made dinner and did things around the house. The whole time they played, I could hear her squealing with delight and then laughing deep belly-laughs.

There are very few pictures of me as a kid where Geoff is not in the picture also, with an arm around me. As a kid, I always loved his attention (and luckily, I got a lot of it!). I'm grateful that Claire now gets to experience the fun of Uncle Geoff, just like I did.

The photo of Claire and her Uncle Geoff was taken at the beautiful new Chinese garden here in town. We explored it the other day and Claire totally loved it!

Me as a toddler with big bro Geoff.

Ice ice baby

2007-10-14T11:13:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we finally got the chance to take Claire skating! We went to nearby West Edmonton Mall where of course it was super-busy. When it's full-blown winter outside, we'll be able to take her to our neighbourhood rink, only a block away.

We're not quite sure what Claire thought of her skating adventure. She was pretty solemn about the whole affair, and after about ten minutes said "all dee", signalling to us that she had enough. Once we got our skates off and exited the "paid" area, she then said "again". So, maybe she did like it. Hard to know!

Here's a short clip of her experiencing life on skates:

We really had to hold Claire tightly; I wasn't sure what kind of support she would need and it turned out to be a lot. (Perhaps her helmut, the smallest we could find, was affecting her balance too.) I think she will need a lot more experience before we'll be able to even just hold her hands for gentle support. It's a pretty exhausting activity for Paul and me as a result, so I'm sure we'll keep our skating adventures short and sweet for the time being.

I love how our feet look next to each other!

Eighteen months old today

2007-10-11T16:28:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe that our girl is a year and a half old today. It's a significant milestone to us - she's definitely turning into a little girl, and the baby we had is fading into memory. As if to emphasize that point, Claire began emphatically answering "no" (unprompted) to some of my questions today. We've been trying to get her to say no for a long time now (I know, we'll come to regret it), but she would only tease us with a soft-voiced "doh" while shaking her head back and forth. Today, she said with real conviction and clarity: "No". As icing on the cake, she gave a polite smile as she said it, as if she somehow knows that a smile softens a negative response.

Claire's verbal skills seem to be taking off again. For about a month, it seemed like she had forgotten most of her words and didn't want to repeat new ones. Now, she's going for it again. Her favourite words lately are "ice cream" (sounds like emya), "again", "dis" (this), "happy" (for what happened? and also for happy) and "colour" (sort of sounds like yellow). There are more, but I haven't been as good lately about jotting them down in my notebook to help me remember.

Claire went through a spell where she didn't have patience for her books, but she's back into them with full force now. She's even sitting now for slightly longer stories. She really loves stickers and colouring lately; as I write this, she is sitting on my lap drawing away and playing with some old address stickers for added fun.

One of my travel-mates blogged recently about her daughter's love for routines. At first, I didn't think Claire had noticed our routines but after my travel-mate mentioned it, I realized that Claire does do certain things as we go about our day together. Here are just a few that come to mind:

when we prepare to leave the house, Claire points to the keys, says "dis", and then makes beeping sounds along with the house alarm;

everytime we go past the spot where we keep her sunglasses, she says "dis" (see a pattern here?) and we then have to put them on and laugh while looking in the mirror;

she often goes to put the safety gates in place before I even get the chance; and

when we run her bath, she points to her tub toys up high and says "dis" until we put them in the tub.

Another thing Claire has been doing lately is trying to pre-empt activities she doesn't like by saying very fast: " all dee, all dee, all dee" (all done). She says it when we begin shampooing her hair, and she did it yesterday when I took her for blood tests (just follow-up HIV tests and others now that we've been home more than six months). Very clever attempt to convince me that the disagreeable task is done, I think.

That Claire is becoming a little girl was obvious last night as I tried a few fancy dresses on her that we received from friends and family as shower gifts. I hadn't tried them for some time and thought she may be close to fitting into them (not yet - maybe Spring). Anyway, with each new dress, she stood in front of the full-length mirror and admired herself: turned this way and that, twirled, smiled and practically curtsied to herself. Paul and I had a lot of fun watching her watch herself that we had to hold back laughter in case she thought we were laughing at her (which I guess we were but in a good way!).

I don't have many new pics to post - just one from yesterday with a Clinique bonus bag on her head as a lovely hat, and one from today outside our house on the way to the playground.

Our first Thanksgiving together

2007-10-09T12:51:00.001-06:00

With so much to be thankful for this year, we were happy to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families back in Saskatoon. Claire's grandparents hadn't seen her since the July long weekend; just imagine how much attention she got all weekend long! She loved every minute of it, and although she is happy to be home, I think she misses all the people who showered her with so much love and attention (in addition to our own of course!).

Favourite moments:

Claire and her Great-Grandma Pauline admiring each other's pearl necklaces;
Claire enjoying her first pumpkin pie ever while visiting Great-Grandma;
Claire and her cousin Liam stopping play every now and then to kiss or hug each other;
watching Claire trying to stuff herself into Grandma and Grandpa's new magazine rack;
seeing Claire devouring her meals like she'd never be fed again;
Claire finally meeting her Uncle Geoff and Aunt Marlene (my brother and his wife from Vancouver);
Stu building elaborate towers for Claire to destroy; and
both of our families (separately) singing the ice cream song (I scream, you scream ...) to Claire to see and hear her little scream at the end.

Claire and Grandma W.

Claire with Daddy, Grandma W. and Great-Grandma Pauline

This is Claire trying to climb up that chair!

Claire with cousin Sonia and Auntie Marlene

Grandma K. with the grandkids in town for Thanksgiving: Sonia, Liam and Claire

Baby skates!

2007-10-03T16:23:00.000-06:00

Paul came across a web site for baby-sized skates recently (www.babyskates.com), and never one to pass up an exciting purchase, I ordered a pair for Claire, along with all the safety gear. We received the package today and we are sooo excited for Claire to try her beautiful new skates out. I'd take her skating tomorrow afternoon but since Paul will probably want to be there for the inaugural 'skate', it'll probably be the weekend instead. Watch for photos next week of the momentous event!

ps - in case you are wondering, I don' t have aspirations of Claire being an Olympic skater - I'm just trying the skating thing early because I think it would be one more fun activity for us to do together.

From hair to toes

2007-10-01T16:55:00.000-06:00

When Grandma W. calls, she often asks Claire where are her eyes, ears, nose, and so on. We describe to Grandma that Claire is now pointing to her eyes, and now her ears, and now her nose, etc. but we're sure she'd like to see it in person. So here's a little sneak preview of what Grandma will see this weekend when we visit for Thanksgiving ...

Little Red Riding Hood

2007-09-28T18:52:00.000-06:00

If you haven't noticed already, I like shopping. A lot. And I like taking pictures of my cutie in her outfits. Hard not to notice that, huh? Anyway, I thank you all for your patience with my hobbies!

Today, Claire is modelling a red cape, reminiscent of Little Red Riding Hood. What better prop (or more cheeky) than a stuffed toy dog that resembles a wolf? In all but one pic, the 'wolf' isn't visible but you can see from Claire's expression that she sees it! In the pic where the wolf is actually visible, Claire shows him who's boss. (That particular photo is a bit out of focus but I just love Claire's expression!)

Our new playground

2007-09-24T11:00:00.001-06:00

Back in June, our neighbourhood playground a block away from our house was demolished for safety reasons. In August, Paul and I both helped out with the re-building efforts but it took until this past weekend to re-open. The weather was beautiful this morning (unlike our frosty day yesterday!) so Claire and I checked out her new playground. The verdict? She loves it!

Hitching a ride in the dune buggy her daddy helped build.

Two monkeys at the zoo

2007-09-22T10:19:00.000-06:00

Claire and I met Ava and Beth yesterday at the zoo for a lovely morning together. Between Ava and Beth's many camping trips and our own little vacation, we hadn't seen each other for quite some time.

Claire was mellow as usual, while Ava was very interactive shall we say! Ava is one wild child, running down hills at full speed, dismounting backwards off benches, and taking a special interest in Claire's hair. As usual, it was wonderful to see the two girls together, each with their own unique and wonderful personalities.
I also really appreciated catching up with Beth. I find that there is always so much to talk about, and that at times, we have to remember to keep an eye on Claire and Ava!

A big thanks to Beth for the beautiful photos she took at the zoo. She has such a great eye for composition and her camera is much better than mine! The group shot and the close-ups of the girls are Beth's. I added my own, the full-length shot, because I think it's cute to see the height difference between Claire and Ava.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

2007-09-16T20:05:00.000-06:00

On the way to the Okanagan, we stopped in Lake Louise for a little break. The view was breathtaking when we arrived, with lowlying clouds over the lake and a sunny break right over the mountain in the middle. It cleared while we were there, which afforded us yet another great view!

I've posted a couple of pics from our stop in Lake Louise as well as a few more photos from other parts of our trip.

At Silver Sage Winery, they had a huge patio that Claire loved to skip around on. I love the pic where Claire is nearly airborne. The wind was wild that day, as you can probably tell from Claire's hair in the other photo.

A grape escape

2007-09-16T19:57:00.001-06:00

The best of the beach

2007-09-16T19:52:00.001-06:00

A vacation in the Okanagan

2007-09-16T19:12:00.000-06:00

We returned last night from a great week-long excursion to the Okanagan. Paul and I hadn't been there since we were kids so we were anxious to explore it as adults but also through our little one's eyes.

We split our time between wineries, walks and beaches, and I'm pretty sure Claire had a great time throughout - even at the wineries. She took part in the tasting process by examining the colour of the wines and sniffing them. To her dismay, her participation in the process ended there, when Mama and Daddy gulped the booze back themselves. Claire's favourite parts about visiting the wineries were the winery dogs (almost every winery had a pleasant pup) and eating grapes right from the vines. Check out Claire's grape-stained mouth in the photo below.

We had plenty of beach time - and space at the beach. Although the weather was amazing, the beach right across from our motel wasn't very busy so we felt like we had it to ourselves. Except for pesky ducks, that is. Claire was sad to leave the beach each day but then we finally realized how to sweeten the experience - with ice cream of course! There is nothing like ice cream to distract a kid from leaving the beach.

I've posted a few pics here and will post more shortly.

Claire meeting Ogopogo

Chasing ducks away from our blanket

Sharing an ice cream cone at the end of the day was a highlight for Paul and me.

Claire at nearly 17 months

2007-09-06T23:25:00.000-06:00

Life with Claire continues to be a hoot. She is a major mimic these days. For a while, she was saying practically everything we asked her to repeat but now she's being more selective. At last count, she says approximately 50 words but honestly, not many come out clearly. However, they do come out consistently, so over time we've been able to gather what she is saying by the context.

Her favourite words (i.e. most used words) these days are "upsadaisy", "up" and "this". Regarding the latter, it comes out sounding like 'dis'. She tends to point and say, 'dis', meaning either, "What's this?" or "I want this". The problem is that there are often several things in the line of sight so when we question what exactly she wants, asking her to use the actual word to describe what she wants, she replies with "dat" (that). No help at all but very funny.

She still loves her stuffed animals and her babies (dolls). We finally got her a stroller for her dolls and she loves to push it around. She also likes to sit in the stroller for short spells, which I know probably isn't safe but we watch her very closely. She hasn't had much patience for books lately; she wants us to read them to her but she turns the page incredibly fast and takes pleasure in saying "all dee" (all done) just seconds later. Claire's been enjoying the tea set I had as a kid, as well as a little table and chair set I bought at IKEA. Unfortunately, the chairs are too tall for her to get on herself (even if she tries to crawl up) so we may chop the legs down on the table and on one of the chairs. It doesn't seem fair that her own table and chair set is too big for her!

We're finding Claire to be incredibly responsive these days, answering yes or no to our questions, following through on our questions or suggestions, etc. Some friends and acquaintances have remarked on it as well. Not to say that she doesn't have her own mind or ideas about what to do; it just seems that she listens very attentively and will act accordingly if she's in the mood.

Having been a walker for two and a half months now, Claire no longer walks like Frankenstein's monster. She now walks with her arms at her sides unless she is on unstable ground. She does a funny little run now too. She likes to hop like a rabbit or a frog but doesn't actually jump off the ground despite her best efforts. Last week, she finally mastered going down the stairs in a backwards crawl (having mastered going up the stairs months ago!) but just this weekend, she decided to try going down facing forward, with wild abandon, on her bum. Yikes!

I've noticed that lately when Claire warms up to people, she really warms up to them. Wants to hold their hand, wants them to hold her, to play with her. Wants them over Mama - wahhhh!! Mama is old hat in a big way when new, fun people are around. At first I felt a little rejected but now I'm enjoying it for what it is - a little break for me in a fairly clingy stage she is going through.

Claire now has 12 teeth. This last round of teething was the worst, with a bottom lateral incisor and canine coming in (at least that's what my chart says they are called.) With all of her first-year molars now in, I worry less about Claire choking on her food but I do tend to still cut her food into tiny pieces. She is a pretty good eater but she usually picks at her food slowly, at least at first. Once she gets going, though, she really eats. She uses her spoon and fork a bit, but seems to prefer her hands when she really gets into it. I always put her food in a bowl but she invariably dumps the food on her tray within minutes and eats it from there. I'll keep working on civilized table behaviour, but I'm not hung up on it messy though it is. Right now she really loves grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, chicken cacciatore, honeydew melon, broccoli, and pears.

Claire weighs approximately 17 lbs and is 27 3/4 inches tall. With these measurements, Claire continues to be the littlest peanut in our travel group. I can't wait to meaure her height when she is two and do the estimate of how tall she'll be as an adult. I wonder if she'll make 5 feet? I'm only curious for curiousity's sake; I know she'll be as tall as she is meant to be and that will be perfect.

I've posted a photo of Claire that I took a couple of weeks ago. I think Daddy's sweater looks like a cape on her, so I call her Harriet Potter in this pic. I was reminded of it by a picture of Maeve on her blog waiting for the train to Hogwarts.

Well, this has turned out to be a fairly long post so I better sign off for now. Zai jian!

A city girl

2007-09-04T18:55:00.000-06:00

I grew up in smalltown Saskatchewan and loved it. I had a lot of freedom, and I enjoyed exploring the big outdoors (first a farm and then a small town) and playing made-up games. With five brothers, four of which are older than me, I wore a lot of hand-me-downs that were mostly boy clothes. I also have a big sister, so thankfully there were also some girl clothes in the mix.

On the surface, Claire's childhood will look a lot different from mine. She lives in a big city where we take regular trips to the zoo, museums, playgrounds and malls (the latter being my weakness). Claire's mom is a shopaholic who loves pretty outfits complete with all the accessories. She doesn't have a house full of siblings.

Beneath the surface, though, I hope Claire's childhood will resemble mine and Paul's. A childhood where imagination occupies her more than fancy toys, family is of the highest priority, close friendships are made, books feature more heavily than T.V. (I'm working on setting a good example!) and kindness is a virtue. These are just a few of the important things. So, while I marvel or shake my head at the different ways in which Claire will be raised from me, I'll strive for similarities with the childhoods Paul and I experienced for the really important things.

Paul and his brother Dorian in a B.C. orchard. Paul's on the left.

Me, my brother Geoff and my sister Stephanie fishing and washing our babies (all in the same water, apparently). I'm the kid on the left in the orange pants.

A visit with old friends

2007-08-28T12:00:00.000-06:00

This past weekend, Paul, Claire and I visited our friends Kelley and Paul. (As you can imagine, the two men being named Paul is confusing at times!) We also lucked out with a visit from our friend Daria, who is in the process of moving from B.C. to Milwaukee. She and her little girl Addison made a special trip out to see all of us.

Kelley and Paul made this a super-easy trip for us. They borrowed a highchair, playpen, carseat and stroller so that Claire would be comfy and we could travel easily. I'm sure it was a lot of trouble for them but of course, they said it was no problem at all. Thanks Kelley and Paul!

Although our visit was a short one, there were so many highlights:

Claire's instant smile each time Kelley asked if she'd like to dance;
Claire and Addison, only months apart in age, playing alongside each other (especially because Addison's mommy and I have known each other since we were five, only four years older than our girls!);
Claire sitting on Kelley's countertop "cooking" with us;
Walking down memory lane on Facebook and having a good laugh about the old days;
The two Pauls cooking amazing ribs and chicken for us, wearing funny aprons (pics of which are not appropriate to post here!);
Playing "Ring around the Rosie" and our own version of "duck duck goose", and singing the Mini Wheat song with Claire (complete with arm-flapping);
Laughing about the late-night injury Claire's daddy suffered while out walking the dog with Paul;
Kelley's Paul playing the harmonica and their dog Kino singing (howling) along; and
Claire's giggle fits on the flight home as we pretended my hair was a mustache for both her and I.

This trip reminded me yet again that conversation with old friends, no matter how much time has passed, is as easy and natural as if no time has passed at all since the last visit. Now that I'm a parent, I also love that our friends, both old and new, love Claire to bits. They love spending time with her as much as we do, and I'm grateful for their influences in her life.

Daria and Addison, Kelley and Claire

Paul playing the harmonica while Kino sings along.

New friends!

A letter of apology to Claire regarding a bad haircut

2007-08-23T16:47:00.000-06:00

Dear Claire,

Let me begin this letter by saying I think you are undeniably beautiful. Stunningly beautiful. Nothing can mar your beauty; you could wear a paper bag dress without combing your hair in the morning and still look gorgeous.

With these assurances out of the way, I can now move on to the matter at hand: the bang trim you received today. While your short, awkwardly straight bangs do not take away from your beauty, they are not up to your natural beauty standards. For this I apologize deeply. I also regret that I was lazy; I should have booked an appointment with my stylist downtown like last time. That convenient place in the mall today just looked so promising!

I know bad haircuts are inevitable in life but I was hoping we could put that pain off for at least a few years. Now that we've taken the plunge, though, perhaps it won't hurt so much (for me, that is; you don't seem to notice) the next time. Again, I'm sorry.

Love Mom

See? Still beautiful! (But I really am sorry about those bangs!)

With a barrette, things are much better!

This is the life!

2007-08-22T20:29:00.000-06:00

We're having fall-like weather this week but at least today we had some beautiful sunshine. Although I feared a windy chill, Claire and I ventured outside for most of the afternoon. I enjoy every moment with Claire but some moments are pure magic. I can't explain why but this afternoon was like that. I guess it was just the right combination of opportunity, weather and the wonder of a child.

It's a jungle out there!

2007-08-15T18:59:00.000-06:00

This year, our garden is a little overgrown with weeds, and I have to admit, I've already killed off all the annuals in our pots. Paul and I both love to garden, so what's up?

Claire-bear, that's what. For a couple of reasons. Reason # 1: Until just recently, she was putting everything in her mouth. Rocks, yep. Bark mulch, yep. I've been reluctant to take my eyes off her to pull even a few weeds. Pretty much gave me a heart-attack (did I mention I have a huge choking fear?) whenever I tried to get something done outside. And I usually spend her nap time showering, doing dishes, cleaning the house or blogging / keeping up with email; not much time for gardening there! Reason #2: Who wants to pick weeds when you can play outside with a cutie like Claire?

Anyway, Claire now seems past the stage of putting everything in her mouth. Yay! As a result, I finally had a chance to get some work done outside this week. Unfortunately, my time was pretty much spent on pulling the dead plants from our pots and putting the pots away. Oh well, there's always next summer!

Helping Mama with weeding.

Claire's not sure what to think about our jungle-like amaranthus.

You may notice I didn't take any wide shots of our yard - just close-ups of Claire around certain flowers. That's my strategy to remember only the good parts of the yard this year!

New portrait

2007-08-09T13:36:00.000-06:00

For our six-month anniversary with Claire, we had new professional photos taken of her. As you can probably tell from my posts, I'm fascinated by the changes in her (actually, in all children this age) so I have to post the best of the latest photo session along with the one taken in China on February 11. Look at all her hair now! (And she's already had a couple of cuts!)

Where's Claire?

2007-08-08T10:24:00.000-06:00

For months, Claire has enjoyed playing peekaboo, covering herself up with a blanket or peeking out from a corner. Her latest version of the game goes as follows:

Oh no! Where's Claire?!

There she is!

Half a year!

2007-08-05T18:07:00.000-06:00

It's unbelievable to us that we received Claire six months ago, on February 5. Yet, when we look at her, we can see how much she has changed. And I guess we have changed as well, although in less obvious ways. We're now pros at making bottles and changing diapers, reading books in silly voices and chopping food into tiny, choke-proof pieces. We've also been enriched by a child's perspective on the world; experiencing the world through her eyes, as much of a cliche it is, is truly incredible.

I'm sure all parents, especially our travel-mates, can relate! Happy anniversary to our travel-mates and their beautiful Xinyu girls!

Then ...

And now.

An evening with Ava and her parents

2007-07-31T10:30:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful evening last night at James and Beth's house. Part of our plan for the evening was to photograph our two girls together wearing their identical dresses and shoes (we happened to discover they had the same outfit by looking at each other's blogs.)

Our original plan was to take lovely pictures of them in front of a hedge but being little girls, they weren't happy to stand and pose. The alternative, to let them play and have fun, was much better! The first pic shows Ava playing peekaboo with Claire from the top of her playcentre.

I have no idea what they were thinking in the following two pictures but it could have been along the lines of the following:

Ava: Hey, we're wearing the same dress! How wierd is that?!

Claire: Are you sure? (Looking skeptical)

Ava: Yeah! Look, they're the same colour and they even have the same little ribbons and bows!

Claire: Hmmm. Maybe you're right!

It was only when I got home and looked through the photos that I realized I neglected to take any photos of Beth and James! (I had intended to take their photo!) Oh well, we'll have to do that next time when Helena is home as well.

Thanks again for a wonderful evening, Beth and James!

Our watermelon baby

2007-07-29T20:01:00.000-06:00

I've always loved all things watermelon: the actual fruit, outdoor placemats, napkins, fun little home decore items, etc. Imagine my excitement when I saw this dress at Winners! I knew immediately that I had to have it for Claire (despite my self-imposed "no more shopping for baby clothes" rule). That very same day, I found matching socks at the Gap.

I think my shopoholic ways date back to when we were in China with clothes that were all too big for Claire. I felt so sad that everything I had brought was so huge on her that when we got home and I needed to stock up on size 3-6 months clothing, I REALLY stocked up. And then spring / summer came and of course she needed more clothing for the warmer season. But now, I really am done. Truly. I think ...

I love the back view of her little dress too!

"These are a few of my favourite things ..."

2007-07-28T21:22:00.001-06:00

From day one, Claire has really loved her stuffed animals. They are scattered throughout the house, and seem to move on a daily, if not hourly, basis. She carries them around, hugs them, kisses them and when she's teething, bites their noses quite ferociously. I decided to gather them all in one spot for a photo; I had to deliberately set out to do this because as I mentioned, they are usually all throughout the house. Kitsya joined in for this pic.

Lately, Claire is also interested in her babies. She feeds her Chinese Cabbage Patch Kid newborn with its little bottle and even makes feeding sound-effects, much to our surprise.

Back in April, we received a little push / riding car from friends. It's been a big favourite of Claire's ever since. Before she could walk on her own, she spent literally hours walking back and forth holding on to that car. She also loves crazy rides on it from her daddy, with wild manouvers that include wheelies and donuts. When we first received the car, Claire's feet didn't touch the ground on either side. As you'll see in the photo I've posted, she now reaches the ground! I have video of her on the car in the early days but not a photo; otherwise, I'd post an old and a new photo side by side for comparison.

Another big fave is Claire's musical chair from Uncle Randy, Auntie Cindy and their kids. She loves its little songs and I think she looks really cute sitting on the chair. (ps - for anyone with eagle-eyes, you may notice in this pic that Claire's hair looks like it is dyed. I have no idea why it shows up two-tone like this but I can assure you, I didn't dye my 15-month old baby's hair!)

Picnic with Yulin

2007-07-22T19:18:00.000-06:00

Yulin, the coordinator of our trip to China, was in town for a picnic today. We had a happy reunion with her (albeit a brief one - everyone wanted to talk with her!), and enjoyed visiting with others who have used FOI for their trip. We know several families through a bi-weekly playgroup we belong to, but it's rare to have all parents together so it was good to catch up with everyone.

Here's Paul, Claire and I with Yulin

Claire's latest funny face. I think it's related to teething.

I guess sitting on your watermelon container is one way to get around sharing!

If you're petite, you can go anywhere!

2007-07-20T17:47:00.000-06:00

My mom likes to tell the story of how my sister walked at 8 1/2 months and how she was able, due to her age-related size, to walk right underneath the table. Well, Claire must take after her Auntie Stephanie because she does the same thing. Repeatedly. With all tables and desks that we have met. Here she is with (or should I say "under"?) some of her favourites.

Wild and crazy times with Auntie Kelley

2007-07-18T17:22:00.001-06:00

I've been absent from the blogging world for a few days because my friend Kelley came for a visit. We shopped a lot and had a great time hanging out with Claire.

I find it interesting to see how different people interact / play with kids. Kelley loves to dance so she and Claire had many dance parties. Sometimes they'd polka around the house, sometimes they'd do some more modern dance moves and other times, well, Kelley demonstrated a few somewhat questionable dance moves. At one point, she said it was like KinderMusik with Kelley. I thought perhaps it was more like KinderMusik Gone Awry, but what the heck. They had a blast, and I know as Claire grows up, she'll have many more fun dance parties with her Auntie Kelley.

Another memorable moment from the weekend was when Claire decided to use her corn on the cob as a phone. When she put the corn down for a moment, Kelley made a ringing sound. Claire then picked up the cob again, held it to her ear and made a face as if she anticipated someone saying hello on the other end. She kept up the routine for some time, while we all had a good laugh. With a toddler around, it seems like we spend most of our days laughing.

Thanks again for a wonderful visit Kelley!

Sunbonnet Sue

2007-07-13T16:49:00.000-06:00

Most of the time, I think of Claire as a toddler now. But every now and then, I bring out her bonnet and she transforms back into a baby. What's sweeter than a baby (or toddler) in a bonnet?

My day

2007-07-10T14:29:00.001-06:00

Claire here. Mama is not hovering over me for once so I'm finally getting a chance to write on my blog. Since some of my friends' moms have shared what a typical day is like for them, I thought I'd do the same about me.

I usually sleep until about 8:30. I always hear Mama tell people how great that is, 'cause she's a "big sleeper" too. Sometimes I sleep in until 9:30 or so, but that last hour of sleep isn't always so great: often Mama tries to wake me up but I do my best to ignore her.

About a week ago, Mama finally started to feed me more food other than formula. That means that my first meal of the day now consists of toast, yogurt, eggs, tomatoes, fruit and one of my favourites, grilled cheese sandwiches (not all at the same time, of course!). Before that, my first meal would be a bottle but now I usually get one when I'm all done with the good stuff. I tell Mama I'm done by holding up my hands and saying, "All dee".

After we eat and get cleaned up, I play for a couple of hours, either in the house, outside in the yard or at a nearby playground. For lunch, I eat whatever Mama eats. I really like meat and potatoes, especially Grandma's porcupine meatballs. Corn is another big favourite of mine! I also like peas, carrots and broccoli: basically anything that is colourful except for sweet potatoes.

I usually get another bottle (or the remainder of my breakfast bottle) after lunch. I then nap for about an hour and a half to two hours.

After I wake up, we play some more or else we go somewhere in the car where I get to listen to Johnny Cash and June Carter. They sure are funny! Sometimes we go to the grocery store and sometimes we go to the mall where Mama loves to go into every single kids' clothing store. You'd think she'd get bored like me, but nope. I show my boredom by slouching down real low and putting my legs up on the rail-thingy on my stroller. Sometimes we go to the zoo or Fort Edmonton Park where I get to see all sorts of cool things. And sometimes we go visit friends, which I really like because the attention is all on yours truly!

When Daddy is supposed to come home, we wait upstairs for him because he can't wait to see me at the door. I put on a big show for him. I pretend that I'm a bird and flap, flap, flap my arms like crazy.

For dinner, I eat whatever Mama and Daddy are having although sometimes Mama has this funny rabbit-food (that's what she calls it anyway) which she doesn't share with me. How rude. I don't care for rice or noodles much. After dinner, we hang out and play. I really like the evenings because Daddy is home to play with me. He's so funny that he makes me giggle and giggle.

I usually get tucked in for sleep around 9:30. I like to wake up an hour or two later just to keep Mama on her toes. She then brings me to bed where I like to eventually work my way into sleeping sideways between Mama and Daddy until they barely have any room left. I think Daddy will be the first one to fall off the bed but who knows?!

Throughout the day, I get fed a lot: pretty much whenever I do the special sign for eat. Snacks usually consist of cheese, yogurt, fruit, crackers, bread or ice cream.

I say lots and lots of words but for some reason, Mama and Daddy only recognize these ones: Mama, Daddy, kitty, puppy, baby, up, pretty, hat, hot, all done, all gone, uh oh, hi, bye, bib, book , there and cookie. I say many of those words just like Mama and Daddy, but some I pronounce in a more evolved way. I sign "eat" a lot and sometimes "more", "please" and "thank you" when I feel like it.

I have nine teeth and am cutting my tenth right now. I now weigh 15 lbs and 12 oz and am 27 1/2 inches. I'm very petite and cute, if I do say so myself!

I tried to take a picture of myself but I guess my arm is not long enough because I ended up with a close-up of my nose. In lieu of new pictures, I'm posting some old ones taken of me in China on February 11 (five months ago tomorrow!).

She starts out with gusto, and then ...

2007-07-08T19:38:00.000-06:00

We've finally been given the greenlight from the dietician to feed Claire more solids after months of having to feed her primarily formula and fortified cereal (not that I managed to get much of the latter into her), solids second. Here are some pics from our meal tonight.

Claire adores corn on the cob but really has to attack it to get any kernals. (To my friend Shea who just posted pics of Caia eating corn, I'm sorry to be a copycat! I just couldn't resist!)

Claire loved Paul's latest rib recipe but felt a little hard-done by, I think, because we gave her a rib that was pretty much picked clean. (She had small pieces of meat to pick off her plate instead.)

Moments later, Claire nearly collapsed from exhaustion. This eating is fun but a lot of work!

Splash pool pals

2007-07-05T16:39:00.000-06:00

To stay cool on a 30-plus degree day, Beth and I decided to meet at the legislature splash pools with the kids. We had a gorgeous morning together, complete with splashing, walking, lounging and snacking.

Ava was the intrepid explorer as always (although she never ceases to amaze me with her fearlessness). Claire wasn't as sure about the splash pool as the last time I took her; she barely wanted to move once I got her standing in the pool. That said, she seemed to enjoy standing while hitting the water with her hands.

Ava is a nurturing soul! Here she is feeding Claire.

Claire with Helena, Ava's big sister. Helena travelled with us in China and we all think she is the best big sister ever!

Happy Birthday, Canada!

2007-07-02T20:07:00.000-06:00

July 1 was a very important day for Claire: not only did she get baptized but she got to celebrate her first Canada Day! Happy Canada Day to all the other babies experiencing their first Canada Day as well!

Above left: Claire's not sure what to think about my cake-decorating efforts.

Above right: Paul's mom and dad enjoyed walking through the park holding on to Claire's hands.

Claire's big day

2007-07-02T16:18:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, July 1, Claire was baptized. Claire was an angel during the ceremony and only acted up a bit when I had to dip her over the font so that the priest could drop some water on her head. She grabbed my dress tightly and did her best to climb back up. The congregation laughed while she squirmed and I struggled to keep her in position.

We were honoured to have Paul's brother Dorian and his wife Sylvie there as Claire's godparents. We also invited my mom, my brother Stu and Paul's parents. We decided to keep the baptism as a small family celebration so that our out-of-town family would get a really good visit with Claire-bear, which they did. Thank you, Dorian and Sylvie, for already being wonderful godparents, and thank you Mom, Stu, Joanne and Wally for sharing in Claire's big day. Each of you in your own way made it a special day for Claire.