More favorite characters

11.29.15 - some CO joys

11.23.15 - Nursing program!

Today Jack found out he got accepted into the nursing program! This is wonderful news for several reasons: it's a top-rated program, local to where we live, and he had been waitlisted the first time he applied, so it's a relief to know he's in for sure this time.

We toured the program a couple weeks ago and found out that there's no part-time schedule for taking the classes. Everyone in an entering class takes all classes together and finishes in two years, barring some complications. On the one hand this means things will be pretty intense the next two years, but on the other hand I now find it more plausible that he really will finish in two years instead of three, and that would be great.

So after he got home last night, he, Clara, and I went out to celebrate. We went to Burgers and Brew, one of our favorite spots, and had some delicious avocado burgers and curly fries and he got a beer. Clara slept for most of the wait for food and was just hanging out in her carseat for a lot of it. After awhile she started fussing so I held her in my lap and let her try some avocado and, for the first time, a pickle. She liked it.

There are a lot of fans in the restaurant and she was checking all of those out. She also enjoyed trying to spin the top of a bar stool near our table. You'd think a "date" where you bring the baby wouldn't be fun, but, while it's not the same as going out on our own, I do enjoy it. Everything is new and interesting through Clara's eyes.

Laughing at the mirror and slapping Jack's bald head over and over.

11.21.15 - Friendsgiving

Tonight we went to our friend Julianna's house for our first Friendsgiving! It was a lot of fun. First of all she and her wife had decorated. There was a banner that said "Give Thanks" and this quote on their white board:

Their regular house decor was awesome too. I was especially impressed with this board Julianna painted herself. She would fit in well on Pinterest.

Gui loves holding Clara.

It was a potluck dinner so there was a TON of food, all of it delicious. I brought cheesy potatoes, which got annihilated. Always nice when everyone really likes your potluck dish. There were these bacon wrapped dates with goat cheese that were especially amazing. Of course there was green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. There were also brownies. And we brought a spoon for Clara so she could try a bit of any of the mushy food. She seemed to like it all.

Speaking of Clara, I thought maybe since there were 30 or so people going there might be others with children, but no, she was the only one there under about age 21. That means she got a lot of attention, of course.

Making friends with Sydney.

I got to chat with Julianna and Erin, and at one point Melissa, who I hadn't seen in awhile, came over just to catch up with me, which made me feel good. We end up making each other laugh a lot, I love that.

Later in the evening Melissa got out her guitar and sang a few songs. She's quite good! Not only does she have a good voice but at one point she sang a song she'd written herself, and it was excellent! Very clever lyrics and cheerful. Julianna sat next to her and sang back up.

Clara watches the singing and guitar playing.

But the best part was when they started singing "Want To Want Me" by Jason Derulo, and Erin flipped and got way into it. I love Erin's enthusiasm. So endearing.

Overall it was just a really nice evening, and a great way to start the holidays.

Driving downtown in the fall.

Holiday episodes

11.15.15 - Neil and TWD

Neil: "Good god, Walking Dead is terrible. It should be called 'Walking Long Stares, Speeches, and Unnecessary Pauses in Conversations About Our Feelings.'"

I beg to be adored, lost control!

11.9.15 - Jack reading to Clara

11.8.15 - Clean kitchen

11.8.15 - Clara at 8 months

My l'il miss is just over 8 months old now. Recently she's been pulling herself up onto everything she can, often shortly followed by her looking across the room at me and grinning proudly. At first she would get stuck in the upright position and start crying, but now she's getting better at slowly letting herself back down.

Now that she can crawl around she keeps herself busy for longer periods of time. She and I spend the majority of her time in the kitchen/living room area and it's pretty well Clara-proofed so I can get other stuff done (chores, work on the laptop) while just checking on her every couple minutes. She usually starts in the middle of the living room with stacking rings or her blocks and then crawls all around examining the bookshelf, the wicker basket with her second tier toys, the farm magnets on the fridge, and the little mirror on the floor resting against the wall.

Messing up the shoe racks.

Sometimes she'll fuss even though she's not hungry or tired, and it turns out she just wans my direct attention. I often pick her upa nd cuddle her, but other times I'll just lay on the floor near her and let her crawl over to me, smiling, Then she'll use me to lift herself up and she'll have her little hands on my stomach or chest while she stares at me and smiles and giggles. She'll put her little hands all over my face, which I think is her way of being as close to me as possible.

She's also trying to learn to kiss. I'll make puckering noises and slowly get close to her and then kiss her cheeks or lips, and more and more often as I get near her she'll open her mouth really wide and push it against my face, haha. She doesn't get it yet but she is trying.

She's added "ma" sounds to her "ba ba ba ba ba" babbling. You can tell they don't mean anything yet, but it's cute. I notice she does more "ma" and "na" sounds when she is complaining about something. I wonder if that trend will stick. :-P

When I put her on the changing table I very often sing to her, which usually pleasantly distracts her. Even though I'm sure I know a lot of songs, the same half dozen or so always pop into my head. "If I Only Had a Brain," "All Kinds of Kinds," "The Way You Look Tonight," "Walking After Midnight," and "You are My Sunshine" are some of the most common ones. A lot of times, especially if she's a little tired or fussy, as soon as I pull her onesie over her belly I gasp dramatically, and she looks at me and starts smiling or laughing, and I say "Look! At that! BELLY!!!" and then give her a whole bunch of belly kisses while she laughs. I usually repeat that three times, switching to zerberts the last time. It almost always makes her smile or laugh (unless she's *really* fussy).

We Skype with people probably 3-4 times a week, so the sounds of Skype calling or of us calling someone else on Skype are familiar to her and usually she starts grinning hugely and staring at the screen in anticipation. She seems happiest when the person on the other end is Mom, although she also likes Skyping with other people.

She also almost always seems so happy to see Jack come home from work. If I'm holding her when he gets here she'll start leaning toward him for him to take her. It's very sweet. A nice welcome for him.

I'm already feeling nostalgic and bittersweet about how big she's getting and how fast. I'm trying to soak up the baby cuddle moments as fast as possible, because I'm sure it won't be long before cuddling becomes much rarer. I love her so much, it's crazy.

Yay fall!

11.1.15 - Autumn at last

First of all, today it rained. Not just for five minutes, but for the better part of the day. It was a soft rain and it was cool out, but still comfortable enough to keep our windows open and feel the air. At one point I carried Clara out to the front balcony/walkway area to let her see, and she just kept staring at the rain and giggling to herself. She even babbled at it a little bit. Very cute.

Even though it was already afternoon, I decided to stop by Michael's and see if anything was left of their post-Halloween fall sale. I'm so glad I did! I ended up getting the two wooden pumpkins and "Happy Fall" sign pictures, as well as the pinecone turkey. Originally they'd been worth a total of about $42, and I got the whole lot for $8. So happy. :) I try to pick stuff that is just autumn-themed (as opposed to Halloween- or Thanksgiving-themed) so I can leave it out longer, but the turkey was too cute to pass up. And too cheap, haha.

Another good part of the day: I'm getting the hang of using Photoshop, which means I can start animating the videos I'm creating for my dad, which is not only fun but gives me control over the entire creative process. I wait for no man, haha.