Claire has some really cute moments. Last precious moments before her reign as only child ends.
See pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/Kimberly.L.Brown/March02?authkey=Gv1sRgCK6Lv4Lu0dKOjAE#
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Nana and Papa's Visit
A major highlight in our move to Houston was Nana & Papa. Claire is still talking about this visit and regularly incorporates Nana and Papa into her daily imaginings. For example, we were "driving" to Colorado the other day to see Nana and Papa.
There are some really cute pics from their visit in the list of links - see "Nana and Papa's visit - Jan 2009."
In other news - Claire's potty training is coming along. She went pee 2x and poo 1x in her potty yesterday and started off today with a pee as well!
There are some really cute pics from their visit in the list of links - see "Nana and Papa's visit - Jan 2009."
In other news - Claire's potty training is coming along. She went pee 2x and poo 1x in her potty yesterday and started off today with a pee as well!
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Eagle Has Landed
So here we are, once again, in Houston! Our craft has safely made contact with the terra firma of Houston and we have make some progress on making our home here. As we learned, versus the first time we moved here, this is one small step for a couple, but one giant leap for a family.
Now that things are more settled I have managed to get some pictures of our new life in Houston and posted them to an album, see link left "Houston Zoo Feb 2009." We have a membership to the Houston Zoo already and have been there 2 times. Claire likes it a lot, especially because there is a miniature train that goes around Hermann Park.
If you ask Claire she'll say she likes Houston -- I think that there is more for her to do here than in California during the week, because her new nanny, Dabby, drives her to activities during the week.
Gymboree: She is enrolled in "Gymboree," which is a class held once a week, for a child accompanied by an adult, that is sort of pre-pre-school - there is a lot more playing than in a school but also some structure and some concepts (up/down, colors, etc) introduced. They also have "open gym" which is where you can just go and have at their indoor playground, which she seems to like and will be a great alternative to playing outside when the weather turns.
Library: There is a weekly story time at the library in English, followed by a Spanish/English story time where they also do crafts. She comes home with capes and pipe cleaner dolls and little things like that which are VERY Exciting and she can't wait to tell Mommy & Daddy about.
Two Parks: There are two playgrounds in our neighborhood that are in walking distance, so Dabby mixes it up a little bit and will go to one in the morning, one in the afternoon.
In other news, Claire is in the process of being potty trained and yesterday we had a big breakthrough - she went poo poo in the potty, or as her daddy told her, and she repeats, she "took a big crap." Luckily she can't say "crap" very well so she is not broadcasting this message to the world.
Evelyn is also doing well. A lot of activity in the uterus, as there should be. Morgan is convinced she is going to be a very active baby. Time will tell! Claire is very excited about Evelyn coming out but also very concerned that we know that there are going to be two babies in the house - not one baby and one little girl. We need to spend some time this month getting organized so that we have all of the newborn stuff out and ready for her!
Now that things are more settled I have managed to get some pictures of our new life in Houston and posted them to an album, see link left "Houston Zoo Feb 2009." We have a membership to the Houston Zoo already and have been there 2 times. Claire likes it a lot, especially because there is a miniature train that goes around Hermann Park.
If you ask Claire she'll say she likes Houston -- I think that there is more for her to do here than in California during the week, because her new nanny, Dabby, drives her to activities during the week.
Gymboree: She is enrolled in "Gymboree," which is a class held once a week, for a child accompanied by an adult, that is sort of pre-pre-school - there is a lot more playing than in a school but also some structure and some concepts (up/down, colors, etc) introduced. They also have "open gym" which is where you can just go and have at their indoor playground, which she seems to like and will be a great alternative to playing outside when the weather turns.
Library: There is a weekly story time at the library in English, followed by a Spanish/English story time where they also do crafts. She comes home with capes and pipe cleaner dolls and little things like that which are VERY Exciting and she can't wait to tell Mommy & Daddy about.
Two Parks: There are two playgrounds in our neighborhood that are in walking distance, so Dabby mixes it up a little bit and will go to one in the morning, one in the afternoon.
In other news, Claire is in the process of being potty trained and yesterday we had a big breakthrough - she went poo poo in the potty, or as her daddy told her, and she repeats, she "took a big crap." Luckily she can't say "crap" very well so she is not broadcasting this message to the world.
Evelyn is also doing well. A lot of activity in the uterus, as there should be. Morgan is convinced she is going to be a very active baby. Time will tell! Claire is very excited about Evelyn coming out but also very concerned that we know that there are going to be two babies in the house - not one baby and one little girl. We need to spend some time this month getting organized so that we have all of the newborn stuff out and ready for her!
Christmas in Florida
Craziness! Moving plus everyone being sick ("I choking" said Claire.)
We still managed to have a good time, just not all of us at once. :-)
Check out photos (Florida Christmas 2009) in the picture list, left.
We still managed to have a good time, just not all of us at once. :-)
Check out photos (Florida Christmas 2009) in the picture list, left.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Christmas Cookies
Before we left California, we went to Bob & Marie's house to decorate Christmas Cookies!
It was a lot of fun, check out the pics (in the list of pics, "Bob and Marie Christmas," left)
It was a lot of fun, check out the pics (in the list of pics, "Bob and Marie Christmas," left)
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Visit from Grandpa 1
This weekend, Grandpa joined Claire and me for a farewell to California visit. This Grandpa is not to be confused with Claire's other grandpa, Papa. On the fridge she has pictures of both grandpas, and likes to tell us, "I got two grandpas. One. Two." and show us the pictures.
In just two days, we had quite a few adventures. On Saturday, Claire and Grandpa watched while I successfully completed my "gold" belt test in Taekwondo. This will be my last test, given that we are moving to Houston and my belly is starting to protest. Thanks to Grandpa's visit, I didn't have to make babysitting arrangements for my test, the logistics of which had been bothering me, since Maria lives 20 minutes away from my "dojo" by car.
Next, we went to the Palo Alto Junior Museum, which is a (free) hodgepodge of games for kids and a small zoo. Claire holds her own against the onslaught of other kids. She'll let a kid know if they are invading her turf, e.g., "No Little Girl, that's my ball." We had milkshakes and burgers at In N' Out, napped, then went on further adventures to the bookstore and finally the playground. Claire was worn out at the end of the day! When Claire was asleep, I sprung a birthday pie on Grandpa, as well as his birthday gift of Malcolm Gladwell's newest book "Outlier," which he had been interested to read.
Sunday, while Grandpa was at church, Claire and I slept soundly. When we finally got up, we went to brunch at Hobee's restaurant in Palo Alto, which I like because they cater to little kids by bringing out a fruit plate with whipped cream as soon as you sit down, crayons, and a good kid's menu. We enjoyed our breakfast and then went to the Baylands for a hike. Baylands is a fun place to go because there is plenty of space to run around, a big field where people fly model airplanes, and a bird walk. Right now there is no water, but at other times of years there is a lot of water birds around.
We had a great time with Grandpa! Check out the picks, upper left, Grandpa Visit November 2008.
In just two days, we had quite a few adventures. On Saturday, Claire and Grandpa watched while I successfully completed my "gold" belt test in Taekwondo. This will be my last test, given that we are moving to Houston and my belly is starting to protest. Thanks to Grandpa's visit, I didn't have to make babysitting arrangements for my test, the logistics of which had been bothering me, since Maria lives 20 minutes away from my "dojo" by car.
Next, we went to the Palo Alto Junior Museum, which is a (free) hodgepodge of games for kids and a small zoo. Claire holds her own against the onslaught of other kids. She'll let a kid know if they are invading her turf, e.g., "No Little Girl, that's my ball." We had milkshakes and burgers at In N' Out, napped, then went on further adventures to the bookstore and finally the playground. Claire was worn out at the end of the day! When Claire was asleep, I sprung a birthday pie on Grandpa, as well as his birthday gift of Malcolm Gladwell's newest book "Outlier," which he had been interested to read.
Sunday, while Grandpa was at church, Claire and I slept soundly. When we finally got up, we went to brunch at Hobee's restaurant in Palo Alto, which I like because they cater to little kids by bringing out a fruit plate with whipped cream as soon as you sit down, crayons, and a good kid's menu. We enjoyed our breakfast and then went to the Baylands for a hike. Baylands is a fun place to go because there is plenty of space to run around, a big field where people fly model airplanes, and a bird walk. Right now there is no water, but at other times of years there is a lot of water birds around.
We had a great time with Grandpa! Check out the picks, upper left, Grandpa Visit November 2008.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Trick or Treat - Halloween 2008
This year was the first year that Claire had a sense of what was going on with Halloween. Leading up to the day, she has been fascinated by the "feo" decorations on our street - these are scary ("ugly" in Spanish) Halloween decorations that some people put up on our street. She has insisted on going for walks to see the "feo decorations" and stood, fascinated before the display of skeletons, ghosts, and gravestones. One particular house had a small line strung from door to the sidewalk along which would travel a skull/ghost making spooky noises. After we would watch she would run back home calling for mommy or daddy to pretend that we were, "Coming to get you!"
The night itself, we described the protocol - you knock, say "trick or treat," then people put candy in your basket. She was pretty excited about dressing up a like a lamb/rabbit ("conejo" in Spanish). Our dry run of the "trick or treat" routine went well, but when it came to actually going to a door, she was left speechless. She was also ambivelant about trick or treaters coming to our door. Not exactly scared but definitely wanting to hold on to mommy or daddy for the duration.
She came back with a good (small) haul of candy, which we proceeded to eat for dessert. One new candy was the pixie stick. I showed her how you can make your finger wet and then stick it in the candy. She thought it was yucky but tried it a couple times to be sure. Mini M&Ms were the most favorite, but I have to say that this might have been a dead heat with the broccoli that we were giving her at the same time.
The next day, she was ready - she made us put on her costume to do it all over again! Check out the photos (Trick or Treat 2008, link above left).
The night itself, we described the protocol - you knock, say "trick or treat," then people put candy in your basket. She was pretty excited about dressing up a like a lamb/rabbit ("conejo" in Spanish). Our dry run of the "trick or treat" routine went well, but when it came to actually going to a door, she was left speechless. She was also ambivelant about trick or treaters coming to our door. Not exactly scared but definitely wanting to hold on to mommy or daddy for the duration.
She came back with a good (small) haul of candy, which we proceeded to eat for dessert. One new candy was the pixie stick. I showed her how you can make your finger wet and then stick it in the candy. She thought it was yucky but tried it a couple times to be sure. Mini M&Ms were the most favorite, but I have to say that this might have been a dead heat with the broccoli that we were giving her at the same time.
The next day, she was ready - she made us put on her costume to do it all over again! Check out the photos (Trick or Treat 2008, link above left).
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