March Madness

Busy Month! Julia took the bar at the end of February and started her new job on March 12.

Ray's working hard and also starting on his spring race schedule - the Cherry Blossom 10-miler is next weekend, should be gorgeous down on the mall and around the Jefferson Memorial with the blossoms out! He's running the Frederick (MD) Marathon in May, and did a 20-mile training run this morning. Which makes me hurt, though he seems fine.

Claire got a couple of visits to the Natural History Museum (loved the walrus and the porcupine) and goes to the park daily (weather permitting, with Suzy the Sitter) to swing, climb up the slide(s) and walk...and walk...and walk! She's mastered the stairs....well, "up" .."down" is still iffy at best. At the end of the month we went down to Raleigh for Easter. Claire ended up with a fever for most of the weekend, so it wasn't our best trip, but that's ok.

Here are some pics - and since I can't figure out how to get the video strip to update, I'll put in the two newest productions - Random Sunday Morning, and Stairs....enjoy! And Happy April!

Claire's Easter Dress - made by Sharon, Claire's godmother. Sweet little purple tulips are smocked along the top!

And checking on the markets one morning!

xoxo

Recent things....

Ray had to go out of town for a few days to a speaking gig, so before he left Saturday we took a walk on the Mall - actually intended to go to the Air/Space museum, but Claire is on total stroller-strike these days thanks to her newfound walking ability, so we just took a stroll instead. It was a little chilly, but not too bad. The weekend before Claire and I went down to Richmond to her little buddy Tyler's 1st birthday party, then we went out to eat with Tyler and his parents - I wish I had pictures of the munchkins sitting in their high chairs together - they made a HUGE mess at the end of the table and had a good time.

Claire and Tyler- this is friendlier looking then it was, Tyler kept wanting to steal Claire's sippy (and Claire also kept stealing Tyler's cell phone)....

Turkey meatballs!

Claire had turkey meatballs and pasta the other night - loved them!! And made a great mess, but that's ok too. Lately she's been digging into scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, discovered fresh peaches yesterday, and is a huge fan of penne pasta with feta.

She also tried on my shoes for awhile after dinner, I think with the new big girl shoes we're developing a fetish of sorts.

And she looovves the rocking horse from Grandma!

Claire's 13 months old! (well, tomorrow she will be)

When do we stop counting in months? At about 18 months? Seems to make sense. The bar exam is over, and I start my new job March 10th. So I get a week to be with Claire, start looking for daycare, walk the dog, make doc appointments (just checkups for Claire's hip and heart from the newborn stuff, no biggies) and hang out!


Today we had lunch with my friend Jamie and her coworker Amy (who's daughter is part of our little playgroup too) - and Jamie's sister brought Lily, so Claire and Lily hung out a bit.

Claire didn't do her morning nap - for the first time in forever, so she was beat by the time we headed home - and has been konked out for about 2 hours now.

Yesterday we used some of the birthday money that Papaw Harold sent and bought Claire her first big-girl shoes! She pats them when I put them on her, so I think she likes them, and is getting used to walking in them. They have really bendy soles, and treads, so she can get a grip on carpet and stuff. You can see them in this pic, after our lunch today.

Also at the shoe store they had more of the bows on clips that we use to keep Claire's hair out of her face (it can get stuck in her nose, its so long!).

She really likes to try to put them in herself, so yesterday she kept trying to put them all in. I had to help a little, but this was the result....

See? Told you this might be a bit dull, but I'll keep posting pictures, which is mostly the fun part anyway!

Don't expect much more until March

Countdown to Virginia bar: 7 days.

Start new job: March 3.

Have "normal" life....soon thereafter, hopefully!

You say its your birthday....

Claire had a great 1st birthday party! Friends from South Carolina, Richmond, and locally came up to celebrate. Grandma and Grandpa Springsteen came up for the weekend too!

The night of her birthday (Feb. 1) Claire decided to start using the walker Aunt Caldwell and the rest of the Colvins gave her for Christmas! Since then she's been gradually taking more and more steps on her own.

Julia's friend Jamie made Claire a beautiful birthday cake - it was carrot cake with a whipped cream icing - VERY yummy! Claire had little interest in smushing it herself, but did take some bites. Having 20+ people stare at her didn't really help, but that's what she gets for being the birthday girl!

Claire had her 12-month well check up February 6th. She is 26 lbs and 31 inches! Both measurements are approximate because she was not impressed with being at the doc that day, but suffice to say she's staying above the curve on growth. Healthy tall girl!