Thanksgiving

We headed to Texas for Thanksgiving, spending part of our week in Victoria and the second half in the Hill Country. We enjoyed seeing family and the warm weather. We found it humorous when people in Victoria started bundling up when the temperature dipped into the 60's. Claire did great on the plane and during the car ride due in large part to modern technology, i.e. a laptop and a rental car with a DVD player. Charles, Nana, and I all probably heard the Yo Gabba Gabba DVD one too many times, we keep on catching ourselves sing "I like fish," but it was preferable to a screaming Claire. We didn't take many pictures, but we did manage to catch one of the highlights of the trip, Aunt Joyce's donkeys. I'm warning you, there is way too much cuteness in the following photos.

Enjoying Fall

The Tuesday before Halloween it snowed!!!! Now, I know that this is totally normal weather for Salt Lake City, but for a girl from New Mexico, snow in October is completely unacceptable, and it nearly sent me into a massive, depressive state of mind. Luckily, autumn rallied, and we have had beautiful, golden, sunny, 60 degree weather for the last week and a half. In order to take advantage of this last taste of fall before winter really sets in, we have taken lots of trips to the park, the zoo, and just around the block, all of which have provided numerous photo opportunities.

Helping us rake leaves.

Playing in the leaves.

Playing at Sugarhouse Park.

Feeding the ducks at Sugarhouse Park. FYI: ducks don't like Pirates Booty.

Claire also acquired a new toy, a little Radio Flyer ride on horse that I found at a consignment shop. She likes to push it around, but needs help getting on and off.



We also hit a major milestone, flipping the car seat to forward facing. Claire is much happier now that her knees are no longer pressed into her chest and that she can look forward.



She's picked up a few new words, including "voff" (off), "bup" (up), and "uh-oh." She seems to be a pretty happy kid lately with less tantrums (unless we have to leave the park or come inside). She is still very busy and exhausting, but she just seems to be more at ease with herself, and we are enjoying the relative peace.

Halloween!

For Halloween, Claire was Princess Leia. We thought the costume, complete with buns, was too funny. Unfortunately we could not get Claire to keep the buns on her head. This is what happened when we tried to get a picture of her with the buns.

So, Instead of wearing them, we just carried them. We took Claire trick or treating at the homes of a couple of neighborhood friends. She definitely did not get trick or treating, but she had a great time walking around the neighborhood, carrying her candy.

Claire at Almost Fifteen Months

I sat down tonight, downloaded photos from the last couple of weeks, and realized that I really needed to update the blog. The sad thing is, I cannot really remember what happened in September. Claire started walking shortly after my last blog post, and life has been a blur ever since, so much so that Charles and I cannot remember the day she first took off. She goes non-stop and loves her new mobility.


Along with walking came talking, most of which is completely unintelligible, and lots of vocally expressed opinions. She is saying Dug, dog, cat, tickle (ticka), kaboom (boom), giraffe, mama, dada, and okay. She likes to shake her head yes and no at appropriate times. She signs more, all done, thank you, please, and touchdown. And she certainly understands a great deal...Charles was particularly proud when she retrieved the remote control upon his request. She constantly cracks us up.

Claire went through a phase where she loved ribbons and sunglasses.


She is currently into vehicles. She likes to push them around and go "vroom." She also really enjoys several books we have filled with pictures of things that go.

We've tried to take advantage of fall by taking lots of trips to the park or other outdoor locales where Claire can burn off some energy. She loves to swing, slide and explore. I'm really not looking forward to this winter and am planning on bundling us both up and heading out into the cold.



While this new stage is exhuasting and full of new challenges (temper tantrums), we are loving it.

The Moon Lake Disaster

People are always trying to get us to go camping, but Charles has the requirement of running water. So, when our greyhound friends decided to do a group cabin camping trip to Moon Lake the last weekend in August, we were in. After about a week of making lists, packing, and cooking everything we could possibly need for two adults, one baby, and two greyhounds (we were dog sitting for our friend Emily) I felt prepared for four nights in the high Uintahs. This is what the back of the mini-van looked like.


The drive to Moon Lake was scenic and smooth. Claire slept for most of the three hour drive. Dug spent the first half of the trip perched atop the luggage in an attempt to get to me, but relaxed in the back of the van for the second half of the trip.

The cabins were pretty rustic, but they had running water, stoves, beds, and heat. We thought we were all set. We unpacked the van, fed the dog and ourselves, bathed an exhausted Claire in one of the big plastic bins we had used to pack food. She had the hardest time falling asleep and we couldn't figure out why until we discovered what looked like a huge bloody gash behind her ear, which ended up being a buffalo gnat bite that had really bled. We gently cleaned it, gave her some Baby Motrin, and she calmed down and went to sleep. Once Claire was asleep, we hung out at the campfire with the dogs until we felt our very squeaky bed calling us to sleep. As I was picking up before going to bed, I noticed some little black things in one of the dog's bowls. I tried to convince myself that it wasn't what I thought it was.

Around midnight, Claire woke up crying, which didn't surprise us, since we were in a new place. What did surprise me, was the fact that she wouldn't fall back asleep until three in the morning. Awesome. She woke up the next morning fairly happy and had a great time crawling around the cabin while playing with the dogs' leashes. I wasn't so happy when I discovered more black things in our skillet, and I could no longer deny we had little visitors. Despite being exhausted and a little grossed out, we had a nice day walking along the beach, taking a short hike up above the lake, and playing in the dirt. I don't think Claire had ever been dirtier or had ever had quite so much fun.





At bedtime, she fell asleep easily, and we spent a great evening hanging around the campfire with friends and the dogs, keeping our fingers crossed for a good night's sleep. No such luck. Claire was up at midnight, 1:30 , 3:00, and it took me 30 to 45 minutes each time to get her to fall back asleep. When she got up at 5:00 there was no getting her back to sleep, so we sat around the cabin and played until we saw a mouse scurry across the kitchen floor. We had been contemplating the idea of going home early because we were all exhausted and cranky, but actually seeing the mouse sealed the deal. Around 7 am, Claire decided she was ready for a nap and we all slept for about three hours. We spent some time playing on the beach before loading up the car to go home.




The ride home was uneventful, and while disappointed to be leaving early, we were glad to be home and away from the mice. Claire slept through the night, and there were no mouse droppings in my skillet in the morning. Charles now has a new requirement for accommodations - running water and no rodents. I discovered that I have gotten soft in my old age. I no longer have any desire to go camping. I'm fine with rustic, and I think I would have been okay with the rodents if Claire hadn't been sleeping so close to floor and crawling all over it. Moon Lake was beautiful, and it reminded me a bit of the mountains in Northern New Mexico where my family camped when I was growing up.

Despite the mice and lack of sleep, we had some really great moments and a lot of fun with our friends, and the dogs had the time of their lives. We haven't ruled out cabin camping in the future, and maybe we'll try again next year.

August Miscellany

Here are some random pics from August (and two from July).

Claire and Dug enjoying the water table on a hot July day.



























A visit with Claire's second cousins in Victoria, Texas.





























Miss Bed Head and her daddy.


















Dug cleaning out the high chair for me.














We don't ever buy Claire toys.


















Claire, Emily, and Dug. Dug is wearing an old slipper. Have we mentioned that Claire loves Dug?

Claire's First Birthday

We celebrated Claire's first birthday with family and friends on August 15th. Claire's Nana Lana, Aunt Leana, and Uncle Jake all flew in to help us celebrate. Grandma Karen hosted the party in her nice, shady backyard. It was a perfect day, even if the cupcakes were a bit of a disaster.

We learned that boxes and wrapping paper were initially much more fun than the presents that came in them.

Claire taking a ride on her "sled" compliments of Uncle Jake.

Fun with wrapping paper.

Playing with friends and Grandma Karen.

Birthday cupcakes.

Yum. Icing.

Claire & Grandpa Matt.

Claire & Uncle Neal.

It is hard to believe that Claire is a year old. Time is a funny thing. It seems to go by faster the older I get. In some ways it seems like Claire has always been a part of our lives. In other ways it seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. Claire is so full of life and constantly growing that I find it hard to remember what she was like at nine months, or six months, or three months. I feel torn between watching her and enjoying every moment and taking the time to document all of the things she is doing. Lately, watching has taken precedence over documentation, but I feel like I need to find a better balance, because there are so many things she is doing that I do not want to forget. All the more reason to be better at updating the blog.

July Recap

I constantly wonder where the time goes, and when my baby became such a little person. I've been totally delinquent in keeping track of all of the fun and exciting things we have done this summer. We started July with a visit from my Aunt Sally and Cousin Emma. We all had lots of fun eating out, playing with Claire, and catching up.

Claire and Emma.

Shortly after Sally and Emma left, Charles, Claire and I were off to northern New Mexico for eight days. We spent the first couple of days in Santa Fe with my cousins, Carolyn and Amy, and Amy's husband Joey. Despite some trouble sleeping the first couple of nights, we had a blast. We ate tons of Mexican food, wandered the plaza, and had a great evening hanging out at Amy and Joey's. Before we headed to Taos, we stopped by Joey's studio to watch him blow glass. Claire had more fun chasing an empty Diet Coke bottle around the floor of the studio while we watched Joey do his thing.

Claire, Me, Charles, and Amy at the Zia Cafe.

Patterson girls.

Claire and Joey.

Claire and Carolyn.

We took the High Road from Santa Fe to Taos, where we spent the rest of our time in New Mexico. We did some site seeing around Taos in the mornings, and in the afternoons, I attended a workshop at the Taos Summer Writer's Conference while Charles and Claire napped and swam. In the evenings we sought out Mexican food and ate our fill of New Mexico red and green chile. Claire had guacamole at just about every meal and tasted her first posole.

Charles & Claire at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.

Claire & Me at the Gorge Bridge.

I moved away from New Mexico twelve years ago, but I still feel like I belong there. There is something about the sky, the mountains, and the people that feels so familiar and comfortable, and I was glad to share it with Charles and Claire. I hope that as the years pass (I plan on dragging them back as often as possible) that they will come to love New Mexico as much as I do.