It was a happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween - it was so much fun to have two kids to dress up and a house to fill with candy and friends and pumpkins and grandparents. Audrey had a pinata at school, we made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies to decorate, we carved pumpkins and ate hot dogs with the Guillens and the Goldsteins, we went trick or treating and gorged ourselves on chocolate - it was a blast. This year Audrey was a butterfly, Claire was a dragon, mommy dressed up in '80s attire (complete with bushy eyebrows and more hairspray than I've ever worn in my life not even excepting my wedding day) and daddy came as himself.

Claire's latest adventures

Our baby has been saying "mama" since she was 9 months old and for a long time it was the word she used to convey any and all of her needs. Then came Dah-deee, buy (bike), uh (up), sue (shoe), bay-bay (baby) and the usual uh-oh, yee-haw, and ohhhhh.

Her latest words include: no, duh (done), dow (dowm), pi-teee (pretty), din (again), moe (more), moo (move - directed exclusively at Audrey, the person who taught her that word!), hhhiiiii, and by-eeeee (two words she says loudly to no one in particular whenever she finds herself in the doorway) and tonight Mark says she said meh (amen) after their bedtime prayer.

Claire has always been very expressive, so it's easy to guess what she wants. She also knows the sign language for sleep, bath and poopy diaper and will reliably agree with you whenever one of those signs corresponds with her particular need or desire.

And she knows the sign for "I want yogurt!" I'll describe: she stands in the door of the refrigerator and will not budge until she has found a container of yogurt and then she points to her high chair with her free hand. Then she pulls at the lid determinedly until we open it for her. If you try to feed it to her she cries huge bitter tears because smearing it all over her face, clothes and tray are part of the attraction, never mind the sweet creamy taste and fun of eating what big sister eats.

She wanted yogurt tonight, but we put her to bed instead, where she protested our neglect by throwing all her blankets and her stuffed dog on the floor and yelping for 40 minutes after which we decided she might really be hungry after all and - just this once - got her out of bed and gave her the yogurt. I know, we probably aren't sending the right message, but this is our second child and our need to assert our authority has been somewhat blunted by her older sister. Still, I fed it to her and she was extremely angry about that - but I already changed her clothes three times today and I was not going to do it again.

That said, she really is a sweet, sweet baby, very loving and happy, laughs a lot. Gives slobbery kisses. She still puts everything she finds in her mouth - that means spare change, yesterday's toast crust, seaweed, and the strange seedpods on the neighbor's shrubs, so we have to watch her and the floor closely. The good news is she will eat anything - that means radishes, pickles, beef stew, teriyaki chicken, Brie and she once stole a small tomato from a vendor at the farmer's market (just reached up from the stroller and grabbed) and ate it in its entirety (I tried to pay, but he thought it was so funny he gave us three more). She's only met one fruit she didn't absolutely love - papaya. Today she discovered the joy of being dragged across our wood floors (din?). She appreciates a good belch - from anyone - and likes the TV. She desperately wants to use Audrey's markers. Claire knows where her shoes are and when she is not trying on my shoes, abandoning them all over the house, she is picking out her own and actually putting them on herself.



She also has a thing for wearing Audrey's underwear on top of her clothes. Sometimes two pairs. Since she was very tiny she has shown her happiness by growling - weird, I know - and not just growling like a small dog - we're talking prehistoric saber-tooth tiger growl. So Claire is going to be a dragon for Halloween.

Claire had her 18-month well-check last week and is in the 97th percentile for height, weight and head circumference - not bad at all for a preemie. She had two shots - took them with a pout and a tear - and the nurse said Claire was the bravest 18 month old she'd had for as long as she could remember. I'd like to credit myself and my excellent parenting, but it was probably the lollipop.

Lastly, the day before her doctor's appointment Claire fell face first into the gigantic rosebush that came with the house. She screamed and cried, I cried and cried, Audrey asked what was the matter and I sent her to her room. It was highly traumatic. Our wonderful pediatrician asked what kind of vicious cat had been attacking our family. When I told her the story she said Claire needed a T-shirt that said "I fought the rosebush and the rosebush won." My answer to that was, no the rosebush LOST, because MOMMY cut that rosebush to a stump and then dug it out of the ground! Don't mess with mommy! Claire looks to be healing well and my fears of permanent disfigurement are subsiding, but I'm still glad I demolished that rosebush, it was very cathartic.

I just can't get enough of Claire - she is truly adored and adorable. I am sure she is going to offer us a lot of fun, love and opportunities for growth (meaning challenges). I look forward to it. MBS

P.S. This is what Claire will do if you aren't looking.

Quote of the day

Audrey attends Good Shephered Lutheran preschool where she does crafts, gets dirty, has a snack and attends chapel every week. She learns lots of songs and stories about Jesus and they have inspired her to include Jesus in her make-believe play. We came home after school today and while I was making lunch I heard shrieking and grunting coming from Audrey's room. The commotion escalated to a fit of screaming and tears and I finally intervened:
"Audrey! What is the problem?"
Her aggravated reply:
"I'M LOOKING FOR JESUS!"


Editor's note: For those who wonder how I replied, I could only mutter, under my breath, "Aren't we all, Audrey? Aren't we all?" Then I laughed hysterically. Then I told her to quit the screaming or she was going to get a time out. MBS

Ready for church

It's never easy to get to church. We want to sleep in, the kids want to play, and we just don't get dressed fast enough. But here they are on a day we actually made it. Cute cute. (note: Everything Claire is wearing - except her diaper - was once Audrey's)

More conversations...

Audrey: (from the backseat of the car) OOOOUUUUUCH!!!
Melissa: Claire! Let go of Audrey's hair!
Audrey: It's OK, it didn't hurt that much, only a little. Why does she have to pull my hair?
Melissa: I don't know. You used to pull my hair when you were a baby. One time you pulled it out of my head.
Audrey: Did you look bald?
Melissa: No, Audrey, you didn't pull out ALL of my hair, just a little.
Audrey: Oh.

Conversations with a 4 year old

Audrey: Mom, what color is your tummy inside?
Mom: Pink
Audrey: What's inside the pink?
Mom: More pink.
Audrey: What's in YOUR tummy?
Mom: Food.
Audrey: What else?
Mom: Uh, muscles and cells.
Audrey: What are those?
Mom: Oh, the muscles are made of muscle cells and the cells are made up of mitochondria and ribosomes... blah, blah, high school human physiology class memories...
Audrey: I wish I could be inside your tummy again so I could see what it's like.
Mom: !!! Oh, really? You're too big to fit in my tummy.
Audrey: Well, I could fold up my knees.
Mom: No, you're too big. That would hurt mommy.
Audrey: I wouldn't do anything, I'd just look...
Mom: Oh, OK then (with irony). How would you get in there?
Audrey: I don't know, maybe I could crawl in your mouth.
Mom: (Once again) I think that would hurt mommy!
Audrey: Why?

Oh, Dora, I know just how you feel...

After a long day I put my girls to bed and entered the kitchen to survey the damage. There under the high chair I found Dora, face down, her explorations momentarily abandoned, looking as pathetic, exhausted and bedraggled as I felt. Probably the first time I've ever felt any kind of kinship with Dora. It was a very amusing moment. MBS

Claire's sense of style

Beach day

Audrey's haircut