A Quote, Two Stories, and Two Awesome Toys

Background Knowledge: George and Randi = kids that live next door
Setting: Dinner table, telling Daddy about our day...

Daddy: What did you do today?
Claire: Ummm...what did we do Mommy?
Me: Well, we went running this morning...
Claire: Yeah, we went running! With Kai and Davis and Kayla...They are my friends...but I really like George and Randi too...but they are not Running People...they are Yard People.

What, isn't it normal for a 2 1/2 year old to chow down on kale?

Wednesday morning, 10:24 AM. We are in Michael's Craft Store.  Claire finds a random marble that had fallen off a flower arrangement. "Oooh, it's pretty," she says. "Can I keep it?" I answer, "I think that will be okay, but let's ask the lady when we check out just to be sure." (I have issues stemming from what we in my family refer to as the Great Golden Corral Heist of 1989. Short moral of a very long story: Contrary to popular opinion, the crackers on the salad bar are not technically "free" if you are not paying for a salad. And those bubble suits from the 1980's have really large pockets that can hold a lot of illegal Captain's Wafers. And when your Dad has been witnessing to the manager of said Golden Corral, and finds your bubble suit pockets stuffed with illegal crackers, he will drive your 5 year old self right back to that Golden Corral to return the contraband and apologize to the manager, while your guilty brother denies his involvement in the entire event, until Christmas over 20 years later when he finally admits his guilt, only to have everyone except for me laugh and think the whole situation is just hilarious...Okay, that was a longer moral than I intended.)

10:33 AM. We are checking out and Claire holds up her precious marble and asks the cashier, "It's okay if I can have this bead?" "Sure, honey," the sweet lady replies. "Just don't put it in your mouth!" "Oh," I said, smiling, "You don't have to worry about that. She doesn't put things like that in her mouth."

10:42 AM. We are sitting in the Walmart parking lot. I am feeding Averi Kate in the car before we go into the store. From the backseat, Claire says, "Mommy? There's something in my nose. It hurts when I try to get it out." Oblivious, I answer, "Oh, I'm sorry honey. I will come look at it when I finish feeding your sister."

10:45 AM. I strap AK into the Bjorn, ready to tackle Walmart, and walk around to the other side to get Claire. "Okay, let me see if I can clean your nose real quick." Claire tilts her head back and I see THE MARBLE waaaay far up in her nasal cavity. I FREAK out. "THAT'S YOUR BEAD!!!" Frantic, I press down her other nostril and yell, "Blow! Blow!" At which point she immediately starts to sniff. "NOOO! Stop!" As Claire begins to cry, I alternate between yelling in panic and trying to comfort her ("It's okay, we'll get someone to get it out for you, OH MY WORD, it'll be okay honey, I CAN'T BELIEVE THERE'S A MARBLE IN YOUR NOSE, here, drink some water, it's okay.")

10:48 AM. I tear out of the Walmart parking lot while dialing the doctor's number. "May I help you?" the unwitting receptionist asks sweetly. "Well, I have a situation," I replied. "My daughter has a BEAD STUCK UP HER NOSE. Can we come see if someone can get it out?" After a moment of scuffling around, the receptionist come back and says, "Can you come now?" "I'm already halfway there," I replied.

Fast forward, the sweet nurse practitioner was able to retrieve the infamous marble with her "alligator clamp", while a team of nurses + mommy held down poor, brave Claire. It took 3 or 4 tries but they got it out, and Claire ended up with some pretty sweet prizes in the end - a special lollipop and a new purple bag from the nurses.

This morning Claire colored and decorated a special thank-you card for the nurses with this message:

Dear Mrs. Caye and Nurses,

Thank you for getting the bead out of my nose! And thank you for the treats, too! I ate my special lollipop while carrying around my new purple bag on my shoulder like a purse at Kroger!

From Claire

 We delivered it and they just loved it. I'm super glad that's all over.

Today Claire and I were reading a story. Here is the plot line: The main character is a firefighter. They are checking the water hose and unfortunately, there is a little black cat on the other end who is getting sprayed with the water. Don't worry, it all turns out okay. But when we got to the page where the cat is getting sprayed, I noticed that Claire was holding her ears.

"Why are you holding your ears, Claire?"

"I don't like this part."

"We don't have to read this book, we can read another one."

"No, I like the book. I just don't like this page."

The funny thing is, the words don't say anything about the cat getting sprayed. Just the picture shows it. But my sweet child was holding her ears so she wouldn't...see...it? I just love her to death.

Claire and her Baby Justice

Here are some cute shots of AK.

And for the two awesome toys...

A ball of yarn...

And a sales paper!

Who needs toys when you have awesome household objects to discover?!?!

Sweet Six Months

 

 It's hard to believe that our baby girl will be six months old tomorrow! Time flies faster with the second child for sure. We have to be so intentional about grabbing these precious moments and soaking them in, and enjoying every second that we can with our girls.

So what do I want to remember about AK at six months?

She has her first tooth on the bottom and is now extremely interested in chewing on everything. She has always had great hand-eye coordination, and now that translates into grabbing anything and everything that she can and taking it straight to her mouth.

She doesn't talk as much as Claire did at this age. (Could it be that she never has a chance, what with her big sister who has not STOPPED talking since she was this age? Surely not...) We were discussing this last night and Spencer said that AK is usually either quietly smiling...

...quietly intense...

...or crying.

Although she isn't too talkative, she does love to laugh. And no one can make her laugh like her big sister. AK watches Claire constantly and thinks she is hilarious.

 Averi Kate has now tasted avocado, sweet potato, and pear sauce. She is not all that interested in eating solids at this point, but I think her favorite so far has been the pears.

 She is learning how to sit independently but isn't quite there yet. She usually falls over after a few seconds. She rolls all over the floor to get to whatever object she has her eye on. She lights up like the sunshine when I walk in her room to get her after a nap or in the morning. She doesn't love riding in the car. Peek-a-boo is her favorite game. She sucks her thumb to go to sleep, and rubs her eyes when she is tired.

We love you, our sweet six-month-old!

Back to School

Claire was so excited to go back to "school"!

But, let's be honest...

She was more excited about digging in to her new lunch bag and finding out what goodies were in there!

Happy Birthday Justice!

Sweet Justice celebrated her second birthday on a very special day...the same day that Gigi and Bean got married! A week later, she had a special party that we got to attend...

Oh how Claire loves Justice!

Averi Kate was a great observer.

Claire and Popple in deep conversation...

AK getting in some snuggle time with Nan...

If I had a dollar for every time Claire asked if "supper" was ready yet, well, I'd have a lot of dollars. Here are the girls digging in...

And all the excitement was too much for AK.

Swing time...

Aunt Bonnie showing AK a flower...

Cake time!!!

Bonnie's mom made Claire all kinds of special foods at the party. From egg-free brownies to dairy-free sorbet, which Claire is tasting in this picture...

She loved it...

But it was SO cold!!!

Justice and all of her cousins (except Averi Kate)...

A sweet birthday kiss from Nan...

Exhausted after a fun day!!