Happiness

Handy and Helping

Claire has her own tool belt (Ikea) and this morning she helped Daddy examine the loose screws on the cold air return.

One Year Ago

I was looking for an old text message and stumbled on this photo and message from one of the young women who works at Claire's daycare sent on 7/22/10. I hardly recognize her!

"Claire's having a great day as per usual. I made her a pillow throne...she really enjoys being queen of the daycare."

Flying Trio

We have just returned from a whirlwind trip East. As expected, the flights were a gamble, but Claire did pretty well altogether. The return flight past her bedtime was the toughest but she eventually settled in and Matt and I could even relax, relatively speaking.

We managed to have the extra seat in all legs - toddler + back of plane is a pretty good formula to get people to avoid you on southwest and snag any extra seat. Claire even let me borrow her lamb for a pillow.

More to come from the fun parts of the trip!

Fog!

The amount of fog in our new neighborhood seems to exceed the fog we experienced in the Sunset. This was our "view" a couple weeks ago as a summer evening rolled on. Contrast it to a sunny day - http://mattsuz.blogspot.com/2011/04/oh-what-beautiful-morning.html?m=1.

Grandpa's visit

My dad came to visit in May after his time in Torrance with the Fujinagas. We took full advantage and put him to work on a retaining wall as well as Claire care. We hate to pass up free babysitting! Claire hoarded the Wheat Thins but shared her bunny crackers.

Father's Day 2011

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco with nary a cloud, very little wind and summery temperatures. We took as much advantage as possible. After a detour to some neighborhood open houses (getting renovation ideas), we hit the neighborhood playground.

Mini Car Rally

The daycare fleet has expanded!

Officer Claire

Patrolling the backyard at day care in the new cop car. Taking the job very, very seriously.

Brewer's Helper

Matt needed to "rack" the latest batch of beer on Sunday which first called for cleaning the carboy. Claire thought this looked like fun and volunteered to scrub.

One year, Four Months

New words: shoes, cracker (sounds like "taco"), apple, buddy, dada (old word, new meaning: banana) gesundheit (might have been a fluke, but 3 of us heard her), all done
New teeth: lots of molars
New activities: giving hugs and more coordinated kisses, sitting on laps unsolicited

Snapshots of Day C(l)a(i)re

We receive some adorable, amusing and silly photos of Claire sent to us most days. These are some of the most memorable from the last couple months.

After a bath, before dressing.

Excited for meatballs!

And another bath. This time with shades.

Ring Around the Rosy

I arrived at day care one Friday afternoon to see the remaining 4 children lying quietly on the floor. I don't know about other day cares but this was quite unusual! Ellen was playing ring around the rosy with each kid in turn and, best of all, they waited patiently(ish) for their turn. Quite a trick! And a dizzying workout for Ellen.

Playing with the Hamper

Claire spent some time in the spare bedroom playing with her laundry hamper. She makes some sounds of frustration, but know that I did not torture her and she repeatedly pulled the hamper over her head even knowing that she may encounter challenges removing herself.

Two Idiots Brewing

Matt and Brian have taken up a new hobby. This series is from the first batch. Since then, they have bottled their second batch and the third batch is fermenting after Saturday's brewing efforts.

We sold the condo despite the gurgling coming from the carboy in the closet, emitting a hoppy/yeasty/beer-like scent. Now the beer making equipment has its own dedicated cabinet downstairs.

Grandma's April Visit

My mom came for a long weekend to spend some time playing and helping sort the chaotic downstairs. In between Claire's naps/our working, we found time to have fun at the playground, coloring and typical toddler time.

Misc Florida Fun

The hotel provided a grill for our barbecue, but they neglected to provide adequate grilling utensils. So Toby and Steve improvised with a ladle and some knives.

The pool was the default destination for everyone - no big surprise there!

Waiting for the tram in Animal Kingdom.

Claire had fun in the car - living it up facing forward for the week.