Vacation Part 1: Cleveland

Clare waiting at the airport in Chicago for the 2nd leg of the flight
Eating yummy chicken nuggets
Clare's friend Otto. He's the valet at the backdoor and Clare was in LOVE with him. She decorated Otto, talked to Otto and even played games with Otto.
Checking out her awesome slide.



Playing with her building blocks. These were a big hit. Daddy had some waiting at home when we arrived to welcome Clare home.
Her Don King wild hair the next day after nap
All fixed up after her bath
Taking her sippy cup on the ride
Making her favorite face
Bucket Head
Her and Nana playing her favorite game: Bucket Head

This is how Clare went down the slide for the first day or two. She thought it was wild fun.
Nana, Missy and Clare sharing a bowl of ice cream
Pop Pop feeding Clare some rice cakes
Missy and Clare begging for treats
Peek a Boo
Clare clapping for herself
This "outfit" is what Pop Pop put her in while Nana and I were at Gymboree. He of course saw nothing wrong with it. I was LMAO.

that face...

Playing with Pop Pop
A short nap on the fireplace
I have no idea where she observed this behavior



Demonstrating her notorious climbing abilities
One last pic with Nana and Pop Pop before we made the drive to Columbus of the "Steak and Shake Hand Off".

We had a fairly good flight. Clare slept the entire first leg to Chicago and was awake but friendly on the 2nd flight. Since it was Southwest and you pick your seat as you board, I used Clare a scarecrow by holding her up high. It ensured no one came to our row to sit. A toddler on a plane is a fantastic way to avoid a seat mate on Southwest.

We had a great visit with Nana and Pop Pop and neither of our pants fit when we left after all of the yummy dinners. Clare had lots of fun toys waiting for her and she saw her favorite things (the cats) not long after we arrived.

I'll be sure to post more pics in the next few days. I was only able to narrow the pictures down to 106, so I'll split it up over a few days to avoid an overdose of Clare's cuteness.

WE'RE BAAACCCKKK...

Clare and I flew home yesterday to avoid "White Death" which was due to hit Cincy today and Philly (again) tomorrow. The flight was....entertaining.

I'll be sure to update the blog once I comb through the (I can't make this stuff up) 600 pictures I took.

That's not because I'm awesome at taking pictures. It's really the direct opposite.

Check back soon:)

In Honor of our Southwest flight today...

Due to my extreme frugal-ness I have a $25 ticket on Southwest today


HopeThisIsn'tUs

Happy Monday

Well, as many of you know, Clare had WILD fun at the indoor playground!

She loved everything. She was super cute and I am annoyed I didn't take pictures. I had thought that an hour was the most I would get out of her and she wound up playing for over 2! Chris even was able to come play with her too after work. We'll be back in the very near future:) I'm hoping we can make a date out of it with her BFF Sophie (and, since Sophie can't drive and I happen to like her adults, Megan and Aunt Steph).

Aunt Ginny and Aunt Jessica were over for lunch and Clare showed them all of her favorite toys. Included are some recent pics.

Clare and I are gearing up to fly to Ohio on Wed. As you know that means fewer to no blog updates until my return on 2/9. I'm in the process of making lists of lists.

I'm sure we'll see most of you soon:)

Clare seeing herself on the computer screen:

Prayers Needed

I know a lot of our friends and family have prayer lists at church. I'm hoping you can add us on if it's not too late.

Clare and I are considering a visit to this place:

Clicky

on Friday.

By ourselves.

I'm a little less than optimistic.

Oh The Places You Will Go

Clare is sorta a climber.

I've been sending some forwards from my phone of the various places we find her.

It's not as if we are totally ignoring her or anything. Our house is pretty small, so if I'm in the kitchen making dinner and she's in the dining room (which is now baby jail), we are all of 7 feet away from each other.

Per her demonstration on Christmas morning, she mistakenly identified her kitchen as a climber. It's grow-with-me quality that was once so endearing is now just an easy step up to higher things.

Several times we've found her on the dining room table. She pushes her kitchen up to the table and can climb up from there. She likes to bang the glass vases together.

On Thursday and Friday of this week, she was exceptionally active and managed to climb lots and lots of fun stuff, such as, the table, her art easel and my personal favorite, my retirement home Tablemate (google it...it's freakin' awesome). She also uses her grocery cart as a "leg up" so to speak, for objects that are hard to reach.

It's not that she doesn't fall either. She's just a "tank" and doesn't even care when she falls. I'm sure that trait will come in handy when she turns 21.

Another new fav on her list is making my head explode. Clare takes a big drink of milk or water and then lets the milk pool in her mouth and spill out. It's disgusting.

I hope all is well and everyone had a great weekend!