YaYa's Birthday

For YaYa's birthday today, we went to Alki beach. We all got Obama buttons. Clementine's button says "Obama Girl" and mine says "Obama Mama".
There was a band playing and Clementine and I busted out some of our best dance moves. She loves to dance.
Then we lounged around in the backyard at Sissy and Bunny's house. There was a lot of kissing and snuggling happening.
With chubby cheek's like Clem's you just can't help yourself!

Then there was some binky stealing! Great Granny has issues with binkies. Here's Clementine justifying her argument with tears

Old Blue Eyes

Stop the presses! Clementine actually sat still long enough for me to get pictures of her!!! Finally, some 10 month pictures!

Today was one of those fall days that still feels like summer. We drove down to Seattle to Sissy and Bunny's house to celebrate YaYa's birthday. In Sissy's backyard, Clementine laid down on the deck bench and I thankfully had my camera close by.



These eyelashes make me green with envy. She got her daddy and Aunty Kelly's genes I suppose. I'm so jealous.
My new favorite. I LOVE this scrunched up nose face she makes.

My Work Here is Done

One of the things I like best about Clementine's daycare is that her teachers tell me wonderful tidbits about Clementine's day. I appreciate that so much because, I don't know if I mentioned this yet, transition from stay at home mom to full time teacher/mom has been really hard for me. Have I mentioned that?

Today the teacher told me that they were noticing how much time Clementine spends in their book area. She said Clementine got all the books off the shelves and sat there going through them one at a time. She said this was pretty unique to the group of babies but not at all surprising since Clem is the daughter of a Reading Specialist.

I love that she's already a little reader. She's the cutest pixie eared, 10 month old, book reading baby I know.

10 Facts about our 10 month old

1. Our baby girl is eating lots of grown up foods: peas, mashed potatoes, bananas, applesauce, pears, peaches, avacado (which I have to force feed her; how is it possible not to like avacado????!!!), rice, little pasta noodles, and, of course, Cheerios! While eating she keeps running her hands through her hair so we're taking baths an awful lot lately! See the mohawk up there?

2. She has two bottom teeth and her top two teeth are starting to come down!


3. Clementine's hair has suddenly started growing but only all on top. The sides and back are still pretty bare!

4. Each morning as we drive to school we sing songs about going to school, wearing pink shoes and playing with her friends at daycare. I take lead vocals and Clem picks up the harmony.

5. She is never ever ever still. She's ALWAYS squirming, kicking or rolling around. It's impossible to get a picture of her where she is still unless she's strapped into her high chair!

6. She still isn't sleeping through the night! :(


7. She has always loved to bang on things (I wonder where she got this skill) but has taken this talent to all new levels. She loves to bang her drum but she will also drum on anything she can reach.

8. She says a few words that I recognize (Cam rolls his eyes at me) including Mama and mom, Dada and Daddy, Bruff (brother=Jack), and something that sounds like "Uhmmp" which we think is like Aloha and can mean anything.

9. She shares toys, binkies and food at daycare. She will also give me a kiss after I give her one. Only her kisses are open mouthed and very very messy.

10. She loves to sit at the window and watch the squirrels and birds with Jack. Our neighbor gets a big kick out of this. Clementine could do this all day.

Quarantined

I have neglected this blog and I must apologize. Our house has been under quarantine so pictures have been the last thing on my mind lately. Cam and I shared the stomach flu earlier this week and now Clem has a very drippy cold and an achy ear infection! Our poor girl.

Now that we are all starting to feel a bit better, I've been trying to take some pictures of the beauty queen. Here is a montage of the last few days:

Here is Clementine sitting in her high chair playing with a clear plastic lid. I think she looks funny.

Needless to say, there have been a whole lot of naps happening around here. I woke up from one of my naps to find Clementine and Cameron napping together on the couch. By the time I found the camera and came back, Clem was wide awake and quietly giggling to herself. Cam didn't even wake up!
I made a big pot of rice and Clem wanted to try some. It wasn't a huge hit but it was a huge mess.

At daycare there are all these raised tables for the babies to play on. I didn't even know Clementine was ready for this kind of toy but one day while dropping her off, she crawled over, stood up and played for awhile. We are so lucky because a friend gave us her gently used table toy! That very same day, I took it out of storage and had it ready for the beauty queen when she got home from school! She loves it!!!!
And here is a new favorite from Cam. Clementine is playing under the desk with an empty video game box. Cam says this is a sign she's ready to start playing video games with him.

Sharing is Caring

The adventures of daycare continue....

Clem's teacher reports that Clementine was holding and playing with a little rattly elephant a few days ago. A baby friend crawled up to play next to her and he was playing with a rattly tractor. Clementine was fascinated in the tractor he was playing with and suddenly the elephant wasn't as appealing. She offered him the elephant. He took it and held both toys for a few minutes. Clementine waited patiently and when she saw that her plan to distract this baby friend had worked, she took the tractor she wanted in the first place. How in the world did this girl learn to do this? She's an only child and has only been in daycare for eight days (not that I'm counting or anything)!
There's only one explanation for this amazing skill: she's a genius!


Keeping with the theme of sharing, I found enough kindness in my heart to pass the stomach flu along to Cameron. He appreciates the gesture, I'm sure.

Daycare Day 3

Today was Clementine's third day of daycare. Apparently, I am the only one having a hard time adjusting to this transition.

Dropping Clementine off in the morning was something I anticipated being difficult. Yeah, it's not. Once she's in her classroom and set down she crawls away from me so fast she leaves me standing in the dust! She can't wait to see what all of her new friends are doing. I'm not kidding when I say she is the most social creature I've ever known.
The last few days I have been sort of hanging out awhile to make sure she adjusts. But I'm ready to admit here that it's really a time for me to adjust. She doesn't notice or care if I stick around! She's too busy climbing, rolling, visiting her friends and kissing the mirror in her classroom.

I'm relieved that Clementine likes school so much. She has been having so much fun that she's plum tuckered out by the end of the day. I miss her while she's there during the day but I know she's happy and safe there. This is a big change for our little family but the new normal is a happy one.