Penelope Wren Alynne

She's here! Mark and Gretchen welcomed sweet, little Penelope Wren Alynne Smith into the world on Wednesday, September 24. She is just absolutely amazing. Mom and Dad and I drove down to meet her yesterday. Congratulations on your tiny, little bundle Gretch and Sharks!

Greek Food Festival

Mmmm...Gyros, Greek Fries, Pita Bread, Hummus. Adam, Clara and I went to the Greek Food Festival with Rebecca, Bryce, and Thatcher today. We had a blast eating and watching the kids play.

Balancing Act

We brought out our coffee table again yesterday. We moved to to our guest room to make room for Clara when she was learning to walk. Clara loves it. It really is another place to play and for some reason it is the perfect place for car racing. She spent hours at it yesterday playing with her cars and trucks. You can also see that she loves balancing between it and the couch.

Laundry Day

Friday was laundry day in our house. Well, so everyday is laundry day in some form or another. Sometimes it gets started and forgotten about or finished and ends up sitting around until I get tired of looking at it. Yesterday was an in between day. I was attempting to put it away when my helper woke up from nap and decided to dive into the action. We have a dryer that drys clothes beautifully but wrinkles everything that ever goes in it. So I have to de-wrinkle everything and since I think the iron is an evil invention I use Downy Wrinkle Releaser which is a product sent from heaven. Yes, I love this product. My helper knows this and has seen me use it many times. This was the first time that she attempt to "use" it though. Oh, and before you ask, yes, she is wearing my underwear. Don't worry - it's clean.

Ah, the good old days...

I remember, fondly, when Clara, at six months old, would just sit and play quietly....

Not a care in the world. She was just so happy to sit and watch me or play with a few toys...

Fast-forward, one year later...

Yeah, that's her. The nut in the background.

Crystal and Kayla came over this morning and I got several sweet shots of Kayla, but it was impossible for me to get one of Clara. Oh well, at least she was great entertainment.

Granny and Papa

Granny and Papa (Adam's parents) came to visit this weekend. It has been TOO LONG since we have seen them! It was a wonderful visit. They were just floored at how much Clara has grown and what she is doing now. Clara definitely talked their ears off all weekend. It was quite sweet yesterday after nap, the first thing Clara said was "Da Papa Go?" I don't know what he does to her but Clara just LOVES her Papa. We also visited Aunt Jenn and Uncle Derek yesterday at their beautiful new house but I forgot to take pictures! I promise I will next time. Thanks for the great visit and we hope to see you all again very soon!

Clara loves her Ookies

Where are Clara's teeth you ask? They are masked behind the oh-so-yummy cookie crumbs stuck to them. Each night after dinner (well sometimes after each meal, breakfast included) Clara says "Ookie?" Meaning, "Cookie?" I typically melt when I hear it and give in. Clara loves her cookies. You can also measure how well she ate by the state of her hair after her meals. I would bet that she ate pretty darn well in this picture - look at the new heights her hair has taken!

Book Worm

So we have a little book worm on our hands. The child has loved books from day one and now has a bit of an obsession. She will literally go hours with just books, sometimes only a couple to keep her busy for ten minutes. Right now, Clara could really care less about toys. She sits and "reads" to herself, pointing at the pictures and turning the pages. A few of the books, she recognizes a shape or something and says what it is. Like the other day, I had no idea she knew what a heart was, and all of a sudden she says "Art!" while pointing at a heart. One of her favorite books is an Eric Carle First Words book and she sat there and named off "Oy" (boy), "Tar" (star), "Soon" (sun), "Maow" (she says meow for cat), and "Ouse" (house). I was floored. Adam got a five-minute message on his answering machine at work for that.

So here is a video from this afternoon. The video I took literally went on for twelve minutes (no joke) so instead of boring you with it, I have condensed it for you. Enjoy her read aloud!

18 Month Checkup

Clara had her 18 month check up today. She is a healthy, tiny thing. Although she has a great appetite, she just decided to not pack on too many pounds since her last visit and gained a mere 7 ounces and only a 1/4 of an inch.

Her new stats:

Weight - 21 1/2 pounds (15%)

Length - 33 inches (80%)

Head - 17 3/4 inches (15%)

We were also given the go ahead to feed her peanuts and peanut butter. Sweet! So, what do you think we fed the child tonight? Yes, that's right, well we tried anyway. We met Rebecca and Bryce at Jason's Deli for dinner and they served up a mighty fine PB sandwich (minus the J - Clara doesn't like her foods mixed - crazy little lady she is). She thought we were absolutely nutty (pardon the pun) and pushed it away after we got this reaction:

As if to say "What am I supposed to do with this sticky, dry sandwich?"

So she ended up eating edamame and garbanzo beans. Strange kid. Give me the choice - Bring on the peanut butter sandwich baby! Well, in the end, we rewarded the kids with ice cream cones (Thatcher's first one) and the pictures tell it all.

That's How We Roll

While plugging away on the computer Tuesday afternoon, I noticed Clara walking by repeatedly. She would walk down the hall and turn and walk through the living room just to do it over again, stopping a few times in between. I stop what I am doing and watch her a little closer, she is walking with her new baby stroller. Cute, I thought, I will take a picture:

I watch her a bit more, thinking "Why is she stopping and starting so much?"

I look closer at her stroller: her baby (a handmade gift from her Aunt Rita - thanks Aunt Rita!), her water cup, and a few toys.

Then it dawns on me.

Conversation:

Mommy: "Hey Clara, are you walking your baby?"

Clara: "Yesh"

Mommy: "Is your baby thirsty?"

Clara: "Yesh"

Mommy: "Clara, are you exercising?"

Clara: "Yesh"

Mommy: "Are you doing Stroller Strides?"

Clara: "Yesh"

She really is a Mini-Me. You should see her do sit-ups. :)

A Little Labor Day Walk

We visited Rebecca and Bryce on Labor Day and the treated us to a yummy dinner. We had a lot of fun and I thought I would share these cute pics of the kids.

Football Lesson

Clara got her first football lesson of the season a few days ago. Adam and she sat and read the College Football Preview on Saturday morning before the games got underway. Obviously, she was quite interested in her favorite (and by far the best) team: the Red Raiders.