Claire on the Move

          No, she is not walking on her own.  Yet.  She is, however, getting closer every day.  I recently got out Audrey's baby stroller (because Audrey has discovered a new interest in caring for her baby dolls).  Claire thought this stroller was the greatest thing ever.  She stood up, grabbed the handles, and took off.  She had a few tumbles, but she was quickly running as she attempted to turn the stroller around our living room.  This girl is going to stand up and run one of these days...

Crafts

          Audrey still loves craft time, and I wish I were better about including it daily in our routine.  We did, however, break out the paints the other day.  She painted flowers and apples (using a real apple as her template).  She asked if we could have an apple tree in our house to hold all of our apples, and I thought it was a great idea!  We now have a beautiful apple tree growing right in our kitchen.  In some of the photos, you'll see that Claire thinks she is a big girl now - she climbed right up and sat down at the table with Audrey.  But, that was short lived as she decided that she would keep climbing - right on top of the table!

The Girls!

          Audrey and Claire spent a little time cuddling on the couch together after breakfast this morning.  They sure do love each other.  Audrey has also been letting me practice my french braiding skills, and she has been very patient with me!

Dog Days

          Buddy is recovering from surgery.  After a summer of limping and near-lameness on his back left leg, he is finally on the mend.  We had several vet visits and a referral before learning that Buddy tore his cruciate ligament.  He is a week post-op, and he is doing so much better.  In fact, I think he's walking better now than he was prior to surgery.  He'll go in next week to remove the staples in his leg, and then he'll still have about a month of restricted movement before he'll be back to "normal".  I'm impressed with the improvement so far, though.  Buddy is still wearing the "cone of shame" (e-collar), and he isn't quite used to it yet.  He'll ram the cone into furniture, plants, people, you name it, but he is much better than he was his first day home after the surgery!  The cone stays on until the staples are removed, so we have one more week of dodging Buddy and his e-collar.  He's a good dog, though, and he puts up with the meds, the physical therapy, and the e-collar without a complaint.  Hopefully, he'll be as good as new soon.

My 10 Month Old

          Is it possible?  Claire is ten months old?  Yes, she celebrated her 10th month yesterday.  This little one is changing daily.  Her curiosity continues to grow, and she is just as adventurous as her older sister.  Claire is standing up alone and has even taken a few short steps by herself!  She is mostly content furniture surfing or holding my hands and walking where she wants to go.  I will say that she is a climber, and she can climb furniture faster than I expected.  I have watched her climb the step stool in the bathroom to reach the sink, the child's rocking chair in her room, and the cushion chair in our living room.  When we're outside, she'll try to climb up on top of the kid's picnic table.
          Claire is also babbling more each day.  When I open my laptop, she immediately starts saying, "Dada, dada, dada" over and over again, crawling toward the laptop as quickly as she can.  This, of course, is a product of our time talking and seeing Daddy via skype on my computer.  I think she thinks Matt lives in my laptop!  (Thankfully for all of us, it won't be too much longer until she can hug her daddy in person.)  Claire will also call for Audrey if she can't find her.  It's really cute to watch Claire "hunt" for her sister.  Then the girls will often start an impromptu game of peek-a-boo or hide and seek.  Claire loves to play with Audrey, and Audrey is still a sweet and loving big sister (often offering to babysit Claire if I need to run errands - no, I don't take her up on her offer!)

Simply Beautiful

          We are now back in South Carolina, and we are in the process of settling.  I am now unpacked, but the cleaning is a never-ending process when I can only truly clean during nap time or after the girls are in bed.  Oh well.  Slowly but surely, I am making progress.

          Before we left Missouri, we did our best to say goodbye to our friends and family.  The day before we left town, Kim ( my sis-in-law, Courtney's, mom) stopped by to see us one more time.  She and Chuck had just returned from a spectacular vacation in Mexico.  While on their trip, they were thoughtful enough to buy beautiful dresses, one for Audrey and one Claire.  Audrey, who loves dresses, immediately put on her dress.  Claire will be able to wear hers by this next spring, and I have no doubt she'll love it, too.  Thank you, Chuck and Kim, for thinking of my girls while on your vacation!