Fun With Friends

High: It was actually a beautiful day :) AND The weather held out for a Caribbean Night in our neighborhood :) And Claire hung out with her friends today :)
Low: It was our last swim class :) AND We couldn't make it to see our friends new pool :(

Today turned out to be a GREAT summer day!! We ended up being really busy and enjoying the summer weather.

Miss Lauren bought Claire her own rubber duckie to keep practicing with (wasn't that sooo sweet).

Our day started with our last swim lesson:( Claire did amazing today (of course I didn't get any good pictures because I kept missing "the moment"). Today she had no problem GOING UNDER THE WATER!!! Miss Lauren taught her to blow bubbles out when her face touches the water, so she didn't choke at all and LOVED going under!!!

After swim class, our trip to Tim Hortons, breakfast, and our morning walk we had to clean out the pool because our friends Auntie Shannon, Ella, and Charlie were coming over to play. Here is Claire cleaning out the pool for her friends.

Daddy took this one (he is a much better photographer than I am). Just look at those curls, I am sooooo jealous!!!!!

Charlie loves Claire's drumset, so we brought it outside so he could jam (our neighbors just LOVE us!!!).

Ella and Claire liked to swim and play in the water.

After Claire's late nap Aunt Jessica and Giada came over and we headed up to Caribbean Night in our neighborhood. Auntie Shannon, Uncle Alex, Ella, and Charlie met us there too.

Auntie Shannon was having a BLAST!

Claire was LOVING Sponge Bob. I don't think that she actually knows who Sponge Bob is but she was loving this guy! She kept saying "Uppie Songe Bob, you carry me?" Claire also loved kissing him :)


There was even a game that Claire could play. Does everyone remember this one? Just pick a duck, aaannnnyyyy duck, flip it over, check your number, and .......WHOA I WIN!!! It's funny because I can actually remember realizing (as a child) "waaaiiittt a minute..........EVERYONE WINS...this game is stupid!" But, Claire was pleased as could be that she won bubbles (that didn't have a wand).

Claire loved all the yummy treats! PS She ate that entire ice cream sandwich and much more. This kid can eat, I can't believe that she only weighs in at a tiny 23 pounds!

When Claire wasn't looking Giada would try to steal her fruit salad!!

Claire and Daddy with their matching food stains!


Then the band started and it was time to ROCK!!!





Can you see my little Chicken, right up front with the big kids! At one point a group of 13 year olds walked by and Claire just followed right along with them! At another point, she was dancing and then just started running towards a stranger with her arms open (I almost had a heart attack). Turns out the stranger was just our Dr. that Claire apparently LOVES!!! It was really cute, she was super excited to see him. He gave her a big hug and very impressed that she remembered him. I know he can't say anything but I am pretty sure that Claire is his favorite patient :)

Overall, it was a great summer day. The weather was nice, we spent time with friends (even though we didn't make it to my friend's new pool - don't worry Carrie, soon enough you will be begging us to leave!!!), and ate a lot of yummy treats. It doesn't get much better than this!!

Lonely Day

High: I got tons of laundry done :) AND my bathrooms are spotless :)
Low: It was a lonely rainy day :(

Today was just one of those days. It was dark and rainy and yucky. Claire went to school, so of course I missed her like crazy. Mark was busy working on our rental unit (which is pretty much done...THANK GOD). And I got all my thank you cards done (from Claire's party), a ridiculous amount of laundry done and put away (which is usually where I am lacking in the laundry department), got BOTH of my bathrooms scrubbed down (and I am talking SCRUBBED down), and got the bedrooms cleaned. So while it was a very productive day, it was a lonely and mopey day.


After a nice dinner Daddy had to go to lacrosse so it was just me and my baby. Too bad she was super exhausted from school and she just wanted to relax and watch Elmo.

Pete loves when Claire just chills out. He can always be found right by her feet.

Then Claire wanted to read Mommy's book.

I had to get a picture of her eyes. Today Claire told me "Mommy you have blue eyes. You have blue eyes like Cware?" I have no idea how or where she put all of that together but she did. I like to think its because we are best friends and she thinks about me constantly!

Great strides in the potty training area. Only ONE accident today!!!! And today when I put Claire in the tub she played for a second and then started yelling "I go pee pee Mama!!! I go pee pee NOOOOWWWWW!!" So I grabbed her and put her on the potty and SHE WENT! How awesome is her hair?!

Hands down one of my favorite times of the day is right after Claire's bath. She smells so good and is super snuggly (FYI Claire is not a snuggler, she very rarely wants to be held and snuggled so when the opportunity presents itself..I TAKE IT!). Here she is just relaxing after bath, smellin all good, waitin for her stories. I love this kid sooo much!!!!

Claire has recently just started trying to put off bedtime. Which is super strange because once she is in her jammies and I am reading her her stories she is dying to get into her crib and go to sleep. She will come up with any excuse she can to try and stay up. Here she is in the bathtub trying to put off bedtime by saying its time to play swim lessons! Enjoy....

FINALLY SUMMER!!!

High: It was a beautiful summer day :) AND we had sooo much fun today :) AND Pete's paw is getting even better :)
Low: It is supposed to rain for the next few days :(

Wow! Were we busy today! We started with our usual swim lessons followed by our trip to Tim Hortons. Miss Lauren was not there today and the other lifeguard (this young teenage boy who you could tell had NO IDEA what to do with Claire) said we could just have free time in the pool, so we did. She basically just swam around by herself the whole time :)

Yep, here she is. My Hot Mama. Rockin it on her noodle all by herself.

After breakfast Claire helped Mark check out Pete's paw. Then we all went for a nice walk around the block. Even Pete went! He walked on his paw a little bit on our walk, so we think that is a good sign.

After our walk we realized that we could not waste one second of this gorgeous day!! So we decided to go to this park in our town that is AWESOME! It has a little beach area, a playground, and this tiny water park type thing. We had a BLAST!! Claire's favorite part was the little water park. It is all fenced in and the ground is this really neat material that isn't too hard on your feet.

Claire would run over and hit the button.....

Then run super fast......

and stand in the mist with her mouth open!! It was awesome!

Then she discovered these things that just shoot water straight up. I totally thought she wouldn't be interested because it just blows water right into your face. But, she loved it! LOOK AT THAT FACE!!

Then she was trying to hug it!

Then we ventured over to the playground for a little bit. They have this train that she absolutely loves!! She goes in and yells "chug a chug a woo woo!!"

Then we swam in the little beach area for a while. I thought the wet, rocky sand would bother her tootsies (because they totally bother mine) but she was lovin' it!

After the park we rushed home for a quick nap before Claire's doctor appointment. No worries just her two year check up! She did awesome. Mark, Claire, and myself all go to the same doctor so it is nice when we go because we all know each other. Her doctor said she did great. He couldn't get over how much she talked and how good she was for him. Claire did everything he said and smiled the whole time. I actually got a little choked up to see her sitting there, all big, by herself as the doctor checked her out. She didn't need Daddy or me to hold her (in fact she told us "no, i do it meself!") and she looked like a big girl. While I was very proud, I was also a little sad (but in a good way!).

While we waited for the doctor to come in, Claire gave Daddy a check up. Yep, everything looks great!

Then Claire did a little light reading in regards to her potty training!

After the doctor we went to Applebees (my favorite) for dinner, then came home and swam in her pool, then Claire went for a run with Daddy! Now, we are off to tubbie time!

As for Claire's potty training, she did great again today. Only a few accidents. She is getting the idea more and more. It seems like everyday she gets a little bit better!

Potty Training Day #3

High: Pool Birthday Party :) AND Pete's paw seems to be getting better :)
Low: Claire had a few accidents :(

So today was another day of potty training. Claire did fairly well. Obviously it would have been awesome if Claire would just be totally potty trained by now, but let's be serious that is just not how it works. Claire had a few accidents but on the upside of that, she hated when her underpants got wet. I figured this was a big step because the other day she could have cared less if her pants were wet, but today she would freak out! Also, when I was reading her her bedtime stories she looked up at me at goes "momma, I go pee pee in my pull up.". While I know that is not really the point of this whole thing, I thought it was pretty promising for two reasons. 1. She understood what peeing was and 2. she knew she wasn't supposed to be doing it.


Other than that we had a great time at a friend's birthday party. And guess what the theme was? A POOL PARTY! Right up Claire's alley!

Claire loved the pool. And she loved all the other kids in the pool! She kept saying "I swim with the kids!"

They had this cool mushroom waterfall. At first Claire got a little freaked out when it went on but once she saw the other kids loving it she was totally into it!!

Then Claire just wanted to swim by herself and kept trying to climb away from Mark!

Here is Claire with a few of her buddies from the party!

After the party we just relaxed at home. Claire just discovered this art kit that she got for her birthday and she could not get enough of it! She drew me a ton of pictures. She kept saying "I draw you a line Mama." AND THEN SHE WOULD DRAW A LINE!! I was so proud. Hmmm maybe she has a future as an artist?!

Look at that face. Pure concentration!

Then we decided to make a little craft from an old paper towel roll. We made a rainstick. Claire colored the whole roll and she helped daddy fill it with noodles (we didn't have any rice).

Then we taped the ends.

Then Claire just shook it like crazy!

Peter's paw seemed to feel better. He was putting some pressure on it today. While Claire worked on her art Peter relaxed with Norman Beans.

Potty Training Day #2

High: Claire stayed dry all morning :)
Low: I won't be there to put Claire to bed :(

This morning was much better! Claire stayed dry all morning!!! She is really doing so well. I am posting early today because Mark and I have a party to go to and Claire will be sleeping at Grandma and Grandpa's. Hopefully she won't pee and poop all over their house!!!

This morning I had to get my nails done. So when I got home Claire was very concerned with how my nails looked. I usually just have them painted a very neutral color but today I got a French Manicure and she was not pleased. Then she said "Mommy do Cware's nails too?!". So of course we got out the supplies and it was mani/pedi time!

First, we filed our nails.

Next, we tended to our cuticles.

Then we pained our fingers and toes. Here is the final product.

Say a prayer that all goes well at Grandma and Grandpa's!!!!

Potty Training Day #1

High: Claire started potty training :)
Low: Claire started potty training :(

So today was the day. We started potty training. I swear I get this sad feeling every time I think of her not in diapers anymore. My girlfriend and I call it the "homesick feeling", you know the feeling you had when you were a kid and slept away from home and missed your parents terribly. Well, that is how I feel when I think about Claire being a big girl!! That being said, I sucked it up and we started. We started the day by going to Target to get all of our supplies. Big girl pants (about 35 pairs), pull-ups for bedtime, wipies, and m&ms.

It started out great. We started right after nap, and Claire woke up saying "I want candy, 2 candies for poopies!!" So we ran into the bathroom and she went poopies!!! YAY!!!

Here she is "going".


And here she is celebrating! Notice the chocolate on her chin :)

It was at this point that Claire became obsessed with going potty and getting candy. The poor thing just kept getting on and then off and then asking for candy. She would not stop. At one point she was sitting on the potty and her poor face was beat red she was trying so hard. So, I finally got her to go and play with her toys to get her mind off of it for a little while. Well, within 10 minutes she comes to me and says "mommy, Elmo all wet. no pee pee, it water." Seriously?!?!?! You just sat on the potty for like 3 days and NOW you go...and THEN LIE ABOUT IT!!! Perfect. So this went on all day. Then I decided to use a trick that my friend Amanda told me about. I set a timer for every 20 minutes and every time it went it off we ran to the potty and tried. That totally helped (thank you Amanda;))! Claire would hear the alarm and she would get all excited. The last time before bed she heard the alarm and ran to the potty and went pee! She was so proud. So, I am thinking tomorrow should be more productive (right?).



Then Daddy said we are all going to the Chinese food buffet (my favorite place) to celebrate. Claire did great there!!

Claire was lovin her ice cream.

She loved sharing her ice cream with Daddy :)

And then her favorite part is always the big fishies!!

Tomorrow is another day. Wish us luck!