Down Time & Anson's New Words

I'm not sure how we had down time as a family, but one night Claire got her play camera and had us pretend like we were using the self timer.  We had so much fun we decided to get our real camera out and let her push the timer button.   Just in case you thought we were always serious take a peek.

In other news, Anson's working on two new words:  "Amen" and "Diaper".  It might seem like a funny combination but it made me realize we say both of those words consistently and about the same amount of times per day.  So, son, well done on picking those up!

Father's Day 2011

We he'd a really nice Father's Day. Well, at least I did and I hope it was great for Blake, too. The day started off like this:

And with a card with this message from the kids (as dictated by Claire):

To Daddy,

Thank you for reading stories, big hugs, tickles, snuggles, big kisses (mmmoo-wah!), going to the park & library, smelling flowers, playing & jumping high, singing songs, playing dress-up, and playing ball. We love you very much!

Love,
Claire & Anson


We hope all you fathers out there had a happy Father's Day, too!

Anson's First Birthday!

We had a fun first birthday party for Anson.  Yakitori (marinated Japanese chicken kabobs) on the BBQ, potluck sides, creamsicle cupcakes, and a pinata decisively not filled with candy (we filled it with organic fruit snacks, 100% fruit roll-ups, crayons, and mini bubbles).

Happy 1st Birthday, Anson!

Here are some pictures of Anson at 1 year.

Our washing machine gives rides during the spin cycle.  The knobs are fairly kid-safe and Anson loves buttons!  He gets to play while I'm doing laundry.

Anson loves music.  He'll conduct music or dance or clap (almost in rhythm) when he hears it.  If the guitar is out he's all over it.  If he's at the piano with you his hands are the only ones allowed on the keys.  We bought him a little toddler electric piano for his birthday

Pre-hair cut.  His hair was in his eyes and he had knappy hair after every nap in the back.

And, of course, didn't hold still....  I make no attempts to consider myself skilled in the hair cut area.

Baths are pretty much his favorite thing to do.  If you say or sign "bath" he'll drop any toy or any food, gets to the bathtub as soon as he can and squeals with delight!

And when Jiichan comes over with his laundry basket the poor grandfather doesn't get a break from pulling the kids around.

Kidisms

I'm trying to simplify my life. One of my methods that I uninstalled Facebook from my iPod. It's working well but when Claire says something amusing I crave sharing it. So I've decided to record them here. This is supposed to be my family journal anyway, right?

Now, for the Claire-ism that prompted this post...
Claire was jumping around practically singing, "I'm a happy girl!"
Me: I'm so happy when you're happy!
Claire: Me, too. We share!

It's true.  We share our joys & our sorrows in families, don't we?

More:
6-07-2011: Something made her giggle and she said, "It's tickling the feelings in my heart!"
06-07-2011:  The "Zeezle" moved something from it's put-away place.

Amanda's 18th - Pokemon Party!

A photo journal entry of Amanda's 18th birthday party!

HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY, AMANDA!  It's going to be a GREAT year for you!

Flower Girl

This weekend we attended the wedding of Neil & Rui in the beautiful Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley.  The wedding was intimate and everything was beautiful and tender.  We are so happy for Rui & Neil!

Claire was invited to be the flower girl.  We watched several youtube clips in preparation, got the dress, made a headband (with the hugest white flower Claire could find at the craft store) and had many failed attempts at cute hairstyles and methods of curling.  Even the lure of flower-girl-dom wouldn't keep Claire from taking out everything I tried.

She's been talking about this for several days.  Finally the day came!

We practiced several times as the event was getting set up and decorated.

Anson was in a remarkably good mood the whole time.  Thank Heaven!

 In the end Claire did a great job!  She started out with a finger in her mouth unsure about when to really start going, but took it out in time to hand out flowers to every aisle person on every row.  The one thing we forgot to practice was SMILING.  (sigh)  Standing in front for the whole ceremony was a little long for her.  Once I looked over and she was actually jumping up and down for about a minute.  Luckily in the really tender moments I wasn't distracted by her.  A big THANKS to the bridesmaid Jessie for holding her hand throughout!

 Claire had such a good time at the wedding & reception, and having a friend like Valerie (Blake's buddy Greg's daughter) there put it over the top.

 Rui & Neil, thank you for letting Claire be a part of one of the most important days in your lives.  We wish you every happiness together!

Claire is 4

Happy Birthday to my darling Claire!

We had a great birthday party with friends from the neighborhood, church, family, and Blake's co-workers (who invited Claire to be their flower girl).  It was a Princess Party.  If Disney made plates and dolls in Jasmine it would have been a Princess Jasmine Party.  The other princesses were acceptable.  Sheesh.

That night we had a visit from the Binky Fairy (who took away the pacifiers and left presents).   She had a few meltdowns for the first 3 days afterward saying she wasn't 4 any more and tried to put the prizes under her pillow to get them turned back into binkies, but on day 4 she said, "Hey, Mom!  I don't need my binky to sleep!"  Hooray!

The last night.  Getting one last fill.

Many dimes and Disney Princess Lipgloss (she wrote the Binky Fairy and asked for pink & red lipstick)

And we took her 4 year old pictures this week.  Her Keroppi outfit is the one that gets worn first every time we do a new load of laundry.  The princess dress has been worn every day since her birthday.

She was standing on stairs and told us she was getting a book from the library shelf.  Doesn't she just look like she's in Princess land?

And now she's 4.  I hung up a 5T sweater in her closet today.  I have a child big enough to wear kid clothes.  Amazing.