Antiques

Emily is getting so independent.
she walks from room to room going from one activity to another. She'll play at the music table for a little while then pick up a doll and take it to another room. Then she'll find a bag and fill it with toys and carry it around. She has started "couch time" and is able to sit for 10 minutes looking at books on the couch. She isn't totally quiet, but she doesn't know how to whisper yet.

Church has been a challenge lately now that Emily wants to walk a lot. Thankfully her godmother, Joy helps us with her during the service. We hadn't been doing quiet time with Claire lately because of travels. I am determined to get back to some kind of routine around here because when we have structure at home the girls can handle structure at church.

Conversation with Claire:
"Mommy, what's an antique?"
"Something that's old but really nice."
pause
"Is Grandma an antique?"

Inside

Emily loves to put things "inside." Right now she is putting jar lids in a slot in the top of a can. She loves to put things in bags and boxes and suitcases too. On Sunday she had fun stuffing toys into my purse to take to church.

Today while Emily was napping Claire and I did some weeding in my garden only to discover several yellow tomatoes from last year's plants. They didn't taste very good raw so I cooked them with a little olive oil and basil. I ate them over open faced grilled cheese. Mmmm so tangy and tasty. Claire also helped me dip green tomato slices in cornmeal for fried green tomatoes.

home again

We are back home.
Parenting is exhausting. I really appreciated being around other family members the past two weeks. Thanks to all who helped entertain the girls during our travels. I tried to catch up on chores today. I made a lot of progress but still there is so much to do. I still haven't finished unpacking. I took the girls to the park today and yesterday. Claire was suffering from park withdrawal after 5 weeks banishment (due to her surgery and recovery.) Emily is now able to toddle all around the park... so cute. She had a lot of fun exploring. She loves both the swings and the slide.

Emily hugs Claire

Emily hugged Claire at my suggestion. Usually it is Claire giving big bear hugs to Emily and Emily fussing and pushing her away. Emily's favorite vegetable is broccoli and she has learned to say "broc-li." She is interested in doing the things that Claire does including making pictures with markers and she has learned all the related vocab: pen, marker, lid, paper, picture, write.

Claire got to watch a bit of Olympic skiing last night and asked, "Can I do that too?" We said, "someday" and she said "can I do it now?".


We all enjoyed our time in Oklahoma. Claire was thrilled to get to see all her second cousins. (Will post picts to Flickr soon.) We were all glad to visit with Grammy who in spite of terminal illness seemed very peaceful and joyful (What an example of rock solid faith). Nanna and Poppa also thoroughly enjoyed the girls. We are all thankful that we were able to make the trip.

Mark went home Wed. to go back to work. The girls and I stayed in Prescott to visit with Nanu, Papa and Grandma for a few days. Claire and I went to the park yesterday and got to throw sticks for a dog named 'Charlie' Claire has chosen a new nickname for herself... she insisted on being called Charlie all yesterday evening.

stacking Emily

Last week Emily discovered the joys of stacking cat food cans...

Travels

We arrived safely in OK yesterday evening in time to enjoy turkey soup for dinner. The girls were absolute angels in the car. Both napped well, snacked a lot, entertained themselves and were a joy to travel with. Thanks be to God. The two days before we left I was stressed out about the prospect of so much time in the car and I gathered lots of snacks, activities, toys and books to keep them busy. I think the girls liked having their parents close at hand even if we weren't always directly interacting with them. My favorite part of the trip was driving while it was snowing between williams and Flagstaff Arizona. There was no snow on the road and the snow didn't even touch the windshield but seemed to part and go around us... it was a very surreal experience. We drove through rain at several points but none of it was as bad as the rain I drove through in Pasadena before the trip (after Claire's last Dr. Burke visit.) Even with the recent storms, we didn't find any snowy or icy roads. It is sunny but cold here today. Mark and Claire just walked over to Grammy's while Emily is napping sweetly. I just started a new knitting project, a hat for Emily.

our kind hosts: http://penniev.blogspot.com/

last cardio followup, then on the road

all is well with Claire's heart. no more fluid.
we are off on a road trip to see Grammy in OK

EKG aplomb

This is Claire getting an EKG at Dr. Burke's office last week. We go again tomorrow. She loves Dr. Burke who seems to have a great rapport with kids.

Emily's interests include throwing her ball, opening and closing containers, taking off shoes and socks, hats, dancing to music and using shakers and doing drumming and talking about everything she has a word for. Today she learned how to open and close her snack container, and she ate a good hearty meal with the aid of a princess-themed compartmented food tray. Both girls have been enjoying bubbles this week. Emily asks for bubbles at least twice a day by pointing and saying, "bubbles, bubbles!" Today she made the blowing pucker so we put the wand by her mouth and she actually did blow some bubbles.

fieldtrip and painting

Claire got to visit Dr.Burke again today. He said the fluid under her heart has already decreased by 2/3 and he is decreasing her IB. He wants to see her 2 or 3 more times.