Spring arrives!

Whew...well, it's now the middle of May, and we've had quite a busy couple of months. Our Clara is up running. She started walking right before Easter and is now at full speed, darting here and there, yelling "Walk-a, walk-a, walk-a ." Hopefully I'll have some good footage of her ever blossoming vocabulary by the next post.

Patrick and I are thrilled to have a whole new world open to us with a toddler. We can now take her to parks and watch her squeal and run to the swings. She points at the things she wants to do and says, "Yes " to confirm that she has plans to do whatever that is at the end of her point.

We've taken her to the lake and she yells "Wa-Wa ! " The front yard holds a whole host of new wonders, which she identifies as " nut, stick, bird, wuf-wuf's (dogs), bubbles, daisies and dirt." The bathroom contains more "Wa-wa", her "duck" and lots of things that get an "un-uh " because she knows she can't touch them.

We've tried to catch you up to date since our last post, with trips to the Botanical Gardens, our indoor Easter egg hunt (it was 30 degrees outside), Clara's first steps and the joys she's found in reading and making " hats " out of skirts, pants, bandanas, socks and washcloths.

Enjoy!

Easter Eggs and First Steps

a tiny little video of Clara's first tour across the living room.

Things to do in Chicago When You're Cold.

So, it's been just wrong outside. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Cabin Fever is reaching a near epidemic in this city, and we're all going a little mad. Fortunately, we do the following activities to keep our sanity....

We catch up on some light reading,


































Take in a gallery opening,






























We host playdates and dance parties,










































Build forts and crawl through them.


































We yell out our achievements of dexterity,


































Take warm soapy baths,




















Model foam hats....



















And pose in the occasional nudie photo.

new year...bigger clara...better blog.

Hey hey! We're back - and for those of you who know us well, you know why it's taken this long to update the blog. Fall was insane.
Those of you who don't know and would like to get all of the crazy details, give us a call, we're probably overdue for a chat anyway.

The important stuff: Clara is amazing. She turned one this week and is desperately trying to walk so that she can get her hands on the cat. Pray for us all. She is a delight and constantly amazes us with her kindness and continuous easy-going personality. This is one laid-back kid. Since you all last saw her, a lot has happened - we'll try to catch you up quickly. Thanks for your patience and enjoy!

t.h.a.n.k.s.g.i.v.i.n.g

Patrick's parents flew up from Denton to celebrate Thanksgiving and Clara had her first bit of turkey, which pleased her very much. She also got to participate in a little pre-Christmas gift unwrapping and found that presents are delightful and something that she could get used to. Paper and ribbons make the most wonderful sounds.

Christmas

Clara was in awe of her first Christmas tree, which we ceremoniously turned on every night with great fanfare. She was partial to the tiny stuffed bears made out of pom-poms and was particularly perplexed when the tree went from soft and flexible to pointy and brittle.

We weren't savvy enough to have a stocking made in advance, so we got a little crafty and were pretty amused with what we came up with. Clara seemed to really like it.


We travelled up to the D.C. area to celebrate Christmas with Rebecca's parents, sisters and their children. Clara's cousins were extremely found of Clara and at one point during a Mall museum tour, bowed to her in their admiration.

Clara says, "Monument, shmonument....big deal."
Clara and Daddy with giant sloth skeleton in background. A favorite Spence animal.

We also visited a gigantic train store.

Christmas Day - Clara assisted in the opening of everyone's presents. Again, paper and ribbon - so nice.

Clara Turns One!

After the turn of the New Year, we celebrated Clara's first birthday and the great parental accomplishment of keeping her alive and healthy. Clara was a lovely hostess and made sure to spend a little time with everyone, making them feel welcome.

Although, while Clara's friend Mirabelle practiced the kind art of hugging, Clara polished up on her boxing moves.

The birthday girl throne room. Time for cake!



As all cameras were poised to capture the inevitable first birthday cake/icing smear and sugar extravaganza.....

Clara surmised that icing is sticky and disgusting and decided that she would have none of it.
She opted for a cheese, egg and spinich muffin instead. I suppose we have a savory baby.