Eleven Months plus some

Hey, I'm turning into the kind of blogger I didn't want to be. I show up maybe three times a month anymore, so thanks to anyone who is still reading. Plus, hopefully I'll have something to blog about soon now that we're out doing stuff together. Amazing how we all hibernate through the winter.

Claire turned eleven months last Saturday. My camera had taken up residence somewhere in the car and was recovered just in time for a quick trip to the hot springs. More on that later. Today is about this bright little girl. She has five teeth now and is still getting more all the time, making her fairly miserable when she stops to think about it too much. That phrase is key, because I'm not sure she ever pauses when she's awake. She is a sound sleeper, still taking two long naps during the day and sleeping for 12 hours at night. She loves to laugh and really only cries if she's tired.

Likes: outside, being "gotten", hugs and kisses, being tickled, sleeping, eating (anything - including cooked mushrooms but especially fruit of any kind), sticking out her tongue, screeching, putting her head on mom's shoulder and "singing", music in general, listening to mom or dad's iPod with them, swimming, her ladybugs, shaking her head no, any sort of physical play, her mom, her brother

Dislikes: her carseat, things on her head or face (although she'll grin like an idiot as she pulls them off), swiss cheese, sitting still, watching someone walk away, her carseat, strangers (with a few sporadic exceptions)

Coming soon -- her first birthday! Is anyone as shocked as I am? It would be tough to say.

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny certainly made the rounds this year. Mason saw him at my work Easter egg hunt (turned Easter party because there was freaking snow on the ground -- in April). But he dropped baskets off and hid eggs at our house on Saturday, stopped in for the work party, then went to both grandparents houses for another egg hiding and more baskets. All in all, I think the holiday was a success. Claire was busy being sickly and slept through most of it, but I think she enjoyed what she was awake for.

We tried to hide eggs in somewhat obvious places. Who wants to find one a few months later?

Mason enjoying his Easter basket spoils. Mom..er, the Easter Bunny, needs to find a more consolidated hiding spot because when I got everything out, I realized that I spoiled the kids way beyond my intentions. Mason's basket included a new outfit (a Tyrannosaurus Rex polo shirt and shorts), a book (The Little Red Caboose), a kid-sized aluminum water bottle (finally found one that I didn't have to take out a loan on. He's obsessed with the one I bought myself a couple of months ago and I'm so sick of cleaning up water puddles!), a sandwich cutter that will cut a sandwich into dinosaur shapes, a toy lawn mower, and a "grabber". I'm sure there will be another post on the grabber toy, because it may or may not disappear on the community cleanup day that's coming to our neighborhood this spring.

Basically the only picture I have of grumpy little Claire. The day before we celebrated Easter, we had a puking incident in the car that allowed mom to become proficient at dismantling our carseat. If you ever need help with this kind of task, just call me. The thing looks brand new. Anyway, she was still spiking a fever of about 101 degrees and not in the best mood on Saturday. She got as much enjoyment as possible out of her basket, including these cute little sunglasses. The EB spoiled her with a swimsuit, sun hat, book, a little beach toy set, and a Melissa and Doug picnic basket.

This is an overhead shot of their Easter baskets. Didn't take up the whole table each like I thought, but still proof that I went overboard.

We colored eggs on Friday night. Mason really loves that activity, but there was something messed up with the pink dye this year. Oh well, I guess we have to have at least one issue with dying each year. Last year he mixed two color tablets together. I wasn't going to give him the chance this year, but we found a way around that.

We also had a really yummy dinner and spent some quality family time together. Hey, we have to do that at least two or three times a year, right?