The Children's Museum

The highlight of Spring Break 2009 was our first trip to the Skagit Valley Children's Museum, which is just a 30 minute drive from here. I want to go there everyday. I'm pretty sure Clementine would be on board with that, too.


The Children's Museum had just about everything an 18 month old could wish for.
A sheep to pet (later she found a hairbrush and brushed its hair, too)

A horse to ride
Oh, jeez....stairs to climb. This girl has not yet learned her lesson.

And a steering wheel to spin around (she's a future sailor!)


A tunnel to climb through (or just play Peekaboo w/ YaYa)

A semi truck to "drive" and play with all it's buttons. Clementine loved turning the windshield wipers on and off.

And, of course, fishies to watch in the aquarium. Here is Clementine kissing the fish.



We had so much fun at the museum. Clem was engaged in all the activities for just about 2 hours (a lot for this active little girl). She could have stayed there all day! We'll definitely be back there soon!

A Total Ham

Clementine has already used most of her material on Cameron and me. We always laugh, but there is nothing like a fresh new audience member to perform for. Luckily for Clementine, my mom came up to visit for a few days last week and Clem utilized each second to play up her talents and work on her stand up comedy routine.

Here she is stealing the show at the scrapbook store; wearing YaYa's glasses:
This one made everyone laugh, even the two cashiers were loving this bit.


Here is her climbing routine. She has a whole system down to climb up the chair to get to the couch to climb on the pillows and reach things she's not supposed to have.
Luckily, this time all she was really climbing for was YaYas lap.


Notice the tongue in this next one. Where there's climbing, there is lots of tongue.


And bath time just wouldn't be bath time if there wasn't a duck eating performance included!

She knows she's cute.
AND..........Scene.

Today at the Beach

Our day at the beach:


Doesn't she look ready for an adventure?




She loved watching Cam throw and skip rocks
She immediately put this rock in her mouth.
Here's Clementine giving me sandy kisses on the beach
It was so beautiful and sunny out. She loved it. I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time there this spring and summer!

What We've Done to the Place

Not a lot has happened with the house so far. We have been unpacking and trying to organize. This seems like it'd been a super easy task since the house is bigger than we're used to and has a ton of storage. Our problem is that we are used to unpacking knowing that 12 months from now we've got to pack it all up again. That mindset just doesn't work in a house!

So here are a few pictures of what we've got so far:

We've got furniture pretty much squared away where we want it. Now we're hanging up stuff on the walls, too.
Clem's room is finally done but she's sleeping in there so I can't take a picture. I'll have to post again soon w/ our Master and her room!

Rocky Racoon

Last week, Clem got her very first black eye. Actually, two black eyes--but on the same eye. Let me explain:
Clementine is obsessed with our staircase. We're okay with that because we usually have a baby gate to block her scramble up the stairs or we follow right behind her.
On one such occasion, I was standing at the foot of the stairs when Clem started to go up. She made it to the second stair, turned around and said "Hi mama!" and fell back into our banister. The mark was instant bruising. I felt horrible, Clem cried for about 30 seconds and then was ready for her next adventure.

Two days later, I get a phone call from daycare. She had fallen from her little chair at the table during lunch. This fall also knocked her chair over which caught her in the same place as the battle w/ the stairs. She had so much bruising on her eye it was disheartening!!! My poor girl.

Luckily, neither battle wound has slowed her down any. She's a quick healer and is already back to full throttle.

Dancing

No. Words. Just. Dance.

Gotta make a move to a town that's right for me...

I am no stranger to moving. Last night I counted the number of moves I've made in the last ten years and surprised myself. Since moving out of my parents house 10 years ago, I've moved 9 times.
Most people hate moving, but I've always loved it. Getting rid of the clothes, 18 bottles of shampoo, conditioner, face moisturizer and foundation I never really used, all the magazines I've read 100 times and emptying out the food pantry is liberating. Imagining the interior design of my new place is inspiring. Moving is a new and exciting adventure to me. Plus, it gives me a reason to quit cleaning the oven, shower and fridge.

This move has a lot in common with my other eight moves. We consigned a huge bag of Clementine's itty bitty baby clothes and donated 5 completely full bags of our old/outgrown clothes and shoes. Tonight we donated a couch and two nightstands and started buying towels for our new guest bathroom. I love this part of the process.
But there has been one glitch in these plans. One 2.5 foot, 27 pound issue: Clementine does NOT love moving.

Clementine is a routine oriented girl. She is not amused by the boxes and packing material around the house. She loves playing in the cupboard in the new house, but would rather be hiding in the curtains at the apartment. Clem doesn't care about her new lavender painted bedroom, the backyard full of rocks, grass and bugs to explore--this girl wants her routine.
She has let us know that she means business in a major way: TANTRUMS. Kicking, crying, shrill whines (think tea kettle sound), lurching out of my arms tantrums. Not fun. Tantrums have morphed into non-sleep issues now, too. Last weekend she refused to nap at all. Nights have been rougher than ever.

Moving with a toddler has been an eye opening experience. I have to set aside my frenetic energy and excitement for now in order to give her a calm, reassuring mama. I know we'll get through this phase (eventually--have I mentioned moving with a toddler takes 45 times longer than normal??) but for now I'm counting the seconds till we can get on with the new normal routine, get out of boxes and rediscover the sweet dispositioned 16 month old that we're doing all this for.