Smartie Pants

I figured out today that 14-month-olds are a lot smarter than you'd think! I realized that Claire actually knows that her Dada's name is Justin and her Mama's name is Annie. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?! Here's the story...

So, Claire and I were at playgroup yesterday. Claire was sitting by one of the other moms, who asked me a question about Justin. She actually said his name in the question and as soon as Claire heard that, she looked up from what she was playing with and said, "Dada!" I thought, "Can she really know that we're talking about her Dada because she heard Justin????' I decided to test her. This morning, Justin was getting ready in the bathroom and Claire and I were in the kitchen. I said, "Claire, where's Justin?" She got this big smile on her face and walked to the bathroom. She walked back to the kitchen and I still wasn't convinced, so I asked her again. This time she said, "Dada!" and went to him. He came back with her to the kitchen and I said, "Claire, can you give Justin a hug?" She walked right over to him and hugged his legs. I was shocked!! Justin then asked her if she could give Annie a hug and she walked over to me and hugged me.

These kiddos just pick up on everything... WOW!! What a little smartie!

Florida

We just returned from a very last minute but wonderful trip to Florida! We had a free place to stay (thanks, Aunt Alice & Uncle John!!!) and decided to take advantage of Justin's "time off." It was a wonderful, relaxing, and refreshing time for our family. It was great to get away and do what we could to take our minds off the stresses of life. (That is, until someone would say to us, "Where are you from?" and the inevitable "What do you do?" That question got old fast for Justin..) :)

Anyway, here are some photo highlights of our time!

Claire loved all of the birds and dogs! We went on walks everyday and saw lots of dogs. Usually the owner would stop so Claire could get a good look (she even got a kiss from one of the dogs!) and when they would leave to start walking again, she would cry! I don't know where this dog-obsessed girl came from!! :)

The beach was a highlight for us! Claire loved exploring the sand and couldn't resist taking a little taste. Eww!

We spent our last afternoon exploring a nature preserve. This sign was the first thing we saw as we started out walk. Luckily, we didn't see any crocs or alligators!!

Sanibel Island

Such a great trip!!! Now we're back to reality and Iowa has welcomed us back with more snow! Winter can't end soon enough!

She speaks

Claire is becoming quite the verbal little lady these days. I thought I should document the things she is saying because I know someday I'll forget. She still does lots of baby signing (which is the most amazing tool ever, by the way). I should really teach her more signs because she picks up on them pretty quickly. If you have been around her at all recently, you know that she loves to sign 'please' anytime she sees food! It's so hard to say no when she asks so nicely. Today we went to the grocery store and she was signing 'please' down every aisle! I foresee grocery trips becoming more difficult in my future!!!

As far as talking goes, here is a list of Claire's words:

-Dada
-Mama

-Papa

-hi

-bye bye

-baby

-no

-bow

-banana (sounds like 'nana')

-doggie

-Sadie

My other FAVORITE thing that she is doing these days (I have to get it on video!) is whenever I'm on the phone or she sees the phone, she puts her hand up to her ear and says, "Hi Dada." It is just precious and no matter how many times a day she does it, I never get sick of it.

Baby's First Photo

We got our first look at Baby Shoe #2 this past week. (It was actually our second ultrasound, but the first one was so early on that all we could see was the sac in my uterus.) I was amazed to see that the baby was actually wiggling around! I can't believe they start moving this early! It's hard to tell anything in this picture, but we could see little arms and legs sticking out from the body. Life is such a miracle! How can anyone deny a Creator after really thinking on the miracle of life?!

Attention!!

Claire has a special announcement that she'd like to share with all of her faithful blog readers...

(click on the pictures to enlarge if you need a better view)

Claire's new fave

Claire's new obsession, as of late, is climbing into and on top of things. Her most frequent place to climb into is her toy basket. She takes all the toys out first and then climbs in. She does all kinds of things in there...

Reads books....

Sings songs...

Kisses her beloved doggie...

...and just hangs out!

In other news, I think it's safe to say Claire is a full-fledged walker! She still crawls but not very often. When she's sitting on the ground and decides she wants to go somewhere else she just stands right up and walks. Even if she falls, she almost always gets back up and walks again. She seems so grown up now! Where has the time gone?!

Issues

I know this blog is usually devoted to my sweet baby girl but I am so in shock about the events that occurred in my household over the lunch hour that I just HAD to share. So, my husband has major issues!! Case in point - today for lunch, after scouring our nearly-bare refrigerator and cabinets, he decides he will follow Claire's lead and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. No big deal, right? Well, in pure Justin style, he decides the traditional pb & j isn't quite good enough and wonders out loud how a "gourmet" pb & j is made. "Honey," I say, "I don't think there is such a thing."

He disagrees and decides that the first step to gourmet pb & j is to make it a triple-decker sandwich. No major crime there, but listen to what he does next.... he pulls out this dang hot sauce that he is obsessed with and says, "This is it!" He then proceeds to cover an entire piece of bread with the hot sauce, one with peanut butter, and one with jelly. AHHH!!!! What is wrong with him?! He takes a bite and delights in it's deliciousness, all while I am screaming, "What is wrong with you.. you have issues!!" I mean, seriously.. I love the man, but hot sauce on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?!

Photo evidence:

Walking Skills

Check out Claire's walking skills! She still crawls about 50% of the time but there's no denying it - she can walk!

Go Hawkeyes!!!

Our family is ready to cheer on our Hawkeyes in the Orange Bowl tonight.

Go I-O-W-A!!!!!

Touchdown!!

Christmas #2

We had our 2nd Christmas celebration last week with my family. Jason and Roxanne even brought sweet 1 week old Evangeline. What a precious doll she is!! Here are some pics from our never-long-enough time together.

Sweet baby Evy

Introducing Claire to her new baby cousin

Claire LOVES her big cousin Anni!! They were having so much fun together!

All the cousins playing together... or more like, Claire taking their toys and putting them in her mouth while the other kiddos played!

We gave Anni some princess jewelry. Here she is all blinged out. A future Premier jeweler, don't ya think?? :)

The boys in their Star Wars outfits and Anni in her new Tinkerbell jammies and jewelry