claire

Shark Towel

| patmcg

Uncle Tim recently sent Claire a crazy towel as a gift in the mail. Here is a picture of it and an email conversation with Tim.

From: Pat
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 1:11 PM
To: Tim
Subject: Dinosaur towel

Hey sucker, I thought you might enjoy this picture of Claire sporting her new dinosaur towel (or, as she says, her shark towel). She insists on taking it to school twice a week for “splash day”.

From: Tim
Subject: RE: Dinosaur towel
Date: June 16, 2010 2:24:19 PM CDT
To: Pat

That’s awesome! When we saw the “shark towel” (TM) we immediately thought of Claire. I think this picture is, in fact, exactly what we immediately though of.

Road Trip!

| patmcg

This weekend, we had our first road trip together as a family of four. It was Molly’s first real car trip ever. As far as I can recall, this was the first time she had ever left Austin.

The destination was Arlington, Texas, where my second cousin Worth was graduating from high school. We were warned that the ceremony itself, in which 750 people were graduating, was too long and for a mature. We were urged to consider doing “something else” with Claire and Molly during the actual graduation and just show up for the meet-n-greet afterwards at Worth’s house.

So rather than sit through the long, boring graduation ceremony, we sat through a long, boring drive to Arlington. The one-night trip took significant planning. We put together individual checklists of must-have stuff to remember for everyone, and we ended up with 55 things. Molly accounted for about half of the total. The list did not include the normal travel items, such as clothes, toothbrush, phone numbers, etc. The list was full of things like baby bottles, bottle scrubber, dish soap, bottle steam sterilizer bags, formula, teethers, bibs, Pack ‘n Play, baby sleep sack, kid’s pajamas, teddy bear, baby medicine, car window shades, DVD player, and so on.

Once we were on the road, the trip went surprisingly well. For a while, Molly and Claire seemed to enjoy having time to just sit and talk with each other. There was some giggling and a game vaguely resembling pat-a-cake. Claire also had a lot of questions for us about where we were going and who was graduating, and she indicated that she was excited to meet some teenagers. After a while, Claire started watching The Polar Express, her latest movie obsession, and Molly fell asleep and remained asleep for most of the trip. This was a double score because it would keep Molly from being groggy and irritable later.

Once in Arlington, we checked into our overcrowded hotel, where my parents were also staying, and headed to the graduation party. Molly’s cousins got to meet her for the first time. We passed Molly around from relative to relative. She had a little stranger anxiety (crying) early on, but she got used to everyone after a while. Claire got a little bored but did get to open up Worth’s graduation presents for him, which she did with great enthusiasm. She also got to admire cousin Richard’s yellow Corvette, which she could touch the roof of if she stood on tippy-toes.

Molly stayed up very late — it was 8:30 by the time we got her back to the hotel, about two hours past her usual bedtime! She and Claire ended up sharing the “living room” of the hotel suite, with Claire on the fold-out sofa and Molly in the Pack ‘n Play. Claire loved sleeping on the fold-out (a couple of weeks later at home, she asked for me to replace her flower pillowcase with a plain white one, just like at the Arlington hotel). And Molly took to the Pack ‘n Play just fine. Claire noted that the Pack ‘n Play was great because it could be used for “packing and playing”.

The next morning we had breakfast with my parents and headed back to Austin. The trip back was slightly less smooth. Claire got a little grumpy during a rest stop at McDonald’s because she wanted to keep playing on the playground (and she was clearly getting tired, although she would not admit it). And Molly ended up sucking on a pacifier from about Waco to Austin. Normally we don’t let Molly use a pacifier when she is awake, but the alternative was potentially hours of crying baby, so we made an exception for this car trip.

So there you have it, our first family road trip. I was initially scared it could have been horrible, with screaming and crying kids who couldn’t sleep or eat or settle down in a strange hotel room. But it went okay, and I am proud of both girls for making such great travel companions.

todo: Add pictures

Can’t keep a secret

| patmcg

With Kit’s birthday coming up, I took Claire out for a quick errand this afternoon that I told Kit “might or might not have to do with your birthday.” We were going over to Whole Foods to order a cake. On the drive over, Claire came up with her pick for Mom’s cake: chocolate cake with brown chocolate icing and green leaves that are not real; they’re made of icing so you can eat them. She wanted to add the green leaves because she knew green was her mom’s favorite color.

When we got to the store, they did not have any such cake, so we settled on a black and white “chocolate eruption” cake that looked delicious. We thought Kit would like it because it was so chocolatey. I told Claire the cake was a secret, and we shouldn’t tell mom.

After we got back and sat down for dinner maybe an hour later, Claire took it upon herself to start the evening’s conversation. The first thing out of her mouth was, “Hey mom, your birthday cake is real chocolatey!” Kit and I started cracking up. Claire said, “Why are you laughing?” I reminded her that it was supposed to be a secret. Unlike some similar occasions in the past, she did not get mad or offended that we were laughing at her. She just looked sheepish and tried to change the subject. Still, maybe next year I’ll find a way to order the cake alone.


Out for a Walk

| patmcg

Yesterday on the way home from school, Claire said, “Maybe tonight, after we do all our work and stuff, we could go for a walk.” I don’t know what inspired this. Maybe the new neighborhood? Maybe all the walking we did on our vacation in Florida a couple of weeks ago? Maybe the beautiful spring weather? It was brilliant how she framed it as “after we do all our work and stuff” so I would not object or say, “Well, sorry, but we don’t have time”. Not that she had to convince me. A walk in our new neighborhood on a nice spring evening? I was sold!

I did tell Claire that there was not much time for a walk, so we would have to eat dinner quick. Claire said yes, but we should not eat too fast because we did not want to get food stuck in our throat. When dinner was done, Claire and I got geared up for our walk. Claire suggested that Kit stay at home because Molly, who was asleep, would not want to be left all alone. Wow. Claire had all the angles figured out.

Claire and I took a 10-minute walk around the corner and back. We talked mostly about street walking safety, the plants and trees, and some of the pretty houses. Claire wanted to go longer, but we needed to get her back for bath & bed.

Tonight, Claire suggested we go for a walk again. This was not a bath night, so we had a little more time. This time Claire wanted to go for a longer walk and bring along her water bottle in case she got dehydrated. We brought along Muffin this time too, as per Kit’s suggestion. A block or so out, Claire said she wanted to run to get more exercise. So Claire, Muffin, and I jogged down the street. After another block or so, Claire asked for some of her water, and Muffin was panting a lot. We did intervals the rest of the time, walking a block, jogging the next, and so on for about 15 minutes. This was all Claire’s idea. She said exercise is really important, and kids and adults should do it every day. I really don’t know where she is getting this crazy information.


Helping Hand

| patmcg
Claire offered to feed Molly her solids this morning. Claire did not want to simply “help” feed Molly. She wanted to just do it herself. Claire has been on a real helping kick lately, wanting to help fix dinner, wanting our help to clean up her room, etc. Claire had been pretty good with some limited Molly feeding in the past, and frankly I could use an extra hand with things, so I decided to turn Claire loose to feed Molly. She poured Molly’s pureed carrots into a little bowl, got a baby spoon, a set up shop in front of Molly, who I had already sat down in her feeding chair wearing a bid.
It went really well. Claire did a careful and thorough job feeding Molly, even cleaning up the food mess as she went, and Molly got lots of carrots. See for yourself. (The sound seems to be missing for some reason. I think my camera phone is messed up. It’s not big deal, though, since everyone was mostly quiet anyways.)

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

No Hoax

| patmcg

The recent positive changes to Molly’s sleeping pattern are sticking (for now), after a temporary setback.

Molly got sick again a few days ago, and all the congestion and drainage was bugging her in her sleep. She had three tough nights, tossing and turning and waking up every hour or two. She was not sleeping much at school either during the day, and she was getting to be a bit of a mess.

Then, once her health improved, and we moved her out of her swaddle so she could position herself any way she wanted, she started sleeping like a maniac. On Wednesday night, she slept 12 hours, from 7 pm to 7 am! This is the famed “7 to 7” holy grail of baby sleeping that several other baby parents have told me just happened magically one day to their babies. (I don’t remember how or when this happened with Claire; I guess it wasn’t quite as momentous of an event). Molly is also falling asleep easier now without the swaddle. As long as the timing is right, I just turn on the white noise, cuddle with her while I sing Rock-a-bye Baby a few times, and put her in her crib. She usually throws herself on her side and falls asleep right away.

Proving it’s not a fluke, Molly has kept this 7 to 7 pattern up for the three nights since. The one gotcha is that she consistently wakes up one hour into her sleep, right during Claire’s own bedtime routine. Last night, Kit was out of commission, so I had to let Claire finish up her own teeth and hair brushing by herself and then watch a little extra TV while I went upstairs and soothed Molly back to sleep. There were no complaints from Claire on the extra TV!


Moving Beds

| patmcg
We have been talking with Claire a little bit about moving to a new house this summer. She does not seem concerned about it. In fact, from her experience this is just business as usual. This will be the fourth house and third city for this four-year-old! She probably just thinks we move every year, like some sort of migrating animal.
There is a possibility that we may put Claire and Molly in a room together in our next house. Claire’s reaction varies wildly from time to time, from excitement to defiance. Last night was the later. “I will never, ever, ever share my room! Don’t put anyone else in there with me! Okay?” She was in sort of a bad mood at the time.
Claire has also been using her newly apparent problem-solvig skills to try to arrange everyone. One of her early suggestions was to move her bed into the room with me, Kit, and Molly. Or we could leave Molly downstairs in the guest bedroom and let Claire move up with us. “Or maybe we should move your and Mommy’s bed into my room,” she said peering into her room to size it up. “Actually, it might not fit. My room is kind of small. Hmm.” Anyways, you can see the theme. Claire would prefer to sleep in the room with us. After all, Molly is still in the room with us, mostly due to space concerns. This inequity will be corrected in the new house though. Unfortunately for Claire, the solution will be to move Molly out of our room instead of Claire moving in!


(Re)discovery Green

| patmcg


Kit was on call this week, and her mom came up to help out in case things got crazy like they did last time. I took the opportunity to take Claire to Houston this weekend to see my parents while Kit, her mom, and Molly stayed back in Austin. Claire was really excited about the trip and kept asking when we were going to Houston. In particular, she wanted to get back to Discovery Green, where were were rained out by a sudden thunderstorm last time we visited.

This time the Discovery Green visit was without incident. I could tell you exactly what we did, but maybe pictures would tell a better story.


Solid Showing

| patmcg
Today, we gave Molly her first crack at “solid” food. By solid, I mean a mushy mass of rice cereal and formula that would make oatmeal look like a cake. Still, it was a big step. Molly had recently taken special interest in the stuff we are always putting into our mouths and not taking back out, aka food. It must almost seem like a magic trick to her.

This was a whole-family event. Claire was super excited about Molly trying solids. She understandably thought that rice cereal was some sort of breakfast cereal and suggested that she and Molly have it in the morning. At her request, we did make some rice cereal for Claire to try it out and help encourage Molly. Claire was not impressed but did eat some just out of pure enthusiasm. She made a point of showing Molly how to do it, eating it with big sweeping motions. Kit then gave Molly a spoonful of the mush, and Molly took a bite. She seemed surprised but excited by it. Of course, she ended up pushing most of the mush out with her tongue, but it was a good start. We kept this up for another few minutes, and Molly ended up doing a little better keeping the food down. She really had fun with it and seemed to think the whole thing was sort of a game. Also, she seemed to feel important and grown-up sitting up in the new Bumbo seat that Kit had picked up just that day just for this occasion.

For the record, while Molly enjoyed her rice cereal, the rest of the family dined on
enchilada casserole, thanks to the Soup Peddler. Claire was not excited about the food and tried to help out by putting it back in the kitchen before even taking a solitary bite. We convinced her to try three bites, and which point she realized it was pretty good and went ahead and ate the whole thing.