Because you think you won't forget...

Every cute thing she does...the noises, the giggles, the funny stories. You think you will always remember, that you would never forget. But, you will. The new memories will crowd out the old ones in your brain and some will just get lost.

I have always been one to keep a journal. It helps me to write things down, get them out of my head, make room for more information, more memories. Just put it all out there and move forward. So, it's no wonder I have enjoyed keeping track of Claire's life as she's grown. Dates that she's hit certain milestones, her growth, doctor's appointments, funny things she does and the first time she's eaten all sorts of foods. To me, these things are important. This past week I ordered myself two birthday presents from Amazon.com - The Mommy Journal and The Birthday Book.

The Mommy Journal is a low-pressure, small-sectioned journal (each page is divided into thirds so you don't feel daunted by a huge empty page) that allows to me to jot down special events, funny things Claire does, reactions she has to certain foods/situations or little love notes I want to make sure she knows when she's older. It's definitely a great way to keep track of memories she's making in a way that she will (hopefully) appreciate later.

The Birthday Book is just that - a book to document every birthday from 1-18. There is a page for photos, a page of questions about the party (theme, cake, guests, favorite gifts, etc) and once she gets older, there is an interview to conduct with the child each year (what do you want to be when you grow up, what's your favorite color, why is turning this age so exciting, etc). The idea is to do this each year and then give as a gift on their 18th birthday, first day of college, wedding day or something equally special. With her 1st birthday coming up, I can hardly wait!

I've got my pen of choice...let the memory making begin!

A mind of her own.

Claire has no shame in making her opinions known. And this girl? She has opinions about everything! This morning at breakfast I wanted to feed her a mix of mashed up banana, pineapple and oranges. Three of her favorites all in one place. Usually, she loves this meal, all sweet and fruity. But today, she took one bite and refused the rest. It's not that she wasn't hungry - she was. She just wasn't hungry for that. So, after a few silverware-turns-into-an-airplane-and-flies-into-your-mouth attempts to which she simply crashed the airplane onto the high chair tray and turned up her nose, I resorted to a pre-made baby food that she also favors. Nope, two bites and she turned up her adorable button nose again. This girl has a mind of her own. Last option? Cut up bananas. Plain and simple. I dumped them on her tray and told her to  have at it, kid. She ate the whole thing, go figure. This scenario (which happens often) tells me two things:

1. Babies are just like us, only miniature. Sometimes I want lasagna for dinner, sometimes I don't. It all depends on what sounds good. Apparently, all she wanted was bananas. Mostly because she's slowly trying to get away from the puréed stuff. It must be getting boring. I don't blame her for that, although I certainly hope to use up my freezer and pantry stash before she vetoes baby food all together!

2. Sometimes she wants help, sometimes she doesn't. Last night, when she was tired, she wanted to be spoon fed. This morning, holding up her own bottle was way too much effort and preferred that I hold it. Today, she wanted to exert her indepence and feed herself. Why mess with a mama, a spoon and all that when I have two perfectly good hands? She's learning to do things on her own. That's a good thing.

As she is stumbling and tumbling from babyhood to toddlerhood, I'm sure there will be many more moments just like this one. Often, because they can't talk or walk yet, people assume babies don't really know enough to have opinions and preferences but it's the complete opposite. As she grows I look forward to learning more about her likes and dislikes. I just look forward to knowing her and her little heart.

Our Family Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Claire and her papa checking out the pumpkins.

She wanted to get a closer look!

After one failed attempt, we made it to the open pumpkin patch in Canby. Little did we know they were going to offer much more than we bargained for. Sure, we saw the exotic animals sign but whittled it down to no more than a modest attempt to scare some teeny boppers before they entered the haunted house. Without so much as a second thought, our meandering through the patch quickly turned into our attempts to escape one very possessive and pissed off rooster. It charged at us once and we chalked it up to "it's more scared of us than we are of it." The second time it charged with its huge, freshly-sharpened talons practically glistening in the sun? I was so outta there!

Little wiggle worm!

My friends, the rooster was the least of my problems. I turned a full circle behind the Wallaby house (yes, it housed a real wallaby) to take it all in be certain the rooster from hell was not anywhere near me to see the freaking lion king and his female counterpart staring at me like meat roasting on a spicket. There they were "caged" behind nothing but two layers of chain link fencing watching my every move. I'm not gonna lie - I peed a little. And I have no shame. Who puts wild jungle animals in a chain link fence dog run in the middle of a pumpkin patch!?! 

The only picture I was brave enough to take...

People were walking up to the cage, staring at this animal like it was no big deal. If you want to put yourself in the position to become human cat nip, go right ahead. Be my guest. But, I stand back because I kinda like my face and all my extremities. It was scary. I'm already on edge from the rooster and you throw not one but TWO lions in the mix? I don't even want to talk about the TWO tigers, the mountain lion, the panther and the leopard. I thought pumpkin patches were all tortured ponies forced to walk in a tiny circle with screaming kids strapped to their back? Which this place did have by the way. But, these Canby folks just threw a wrench in the typical (safe) pumpkin patch family outing. So, I just held my baby tighter, pretended I was at the zoo, looked over my shoulder every 3.3 seconds and begged Kevin to never take me to this circus ever again. 

Claire sitting in front of the Wallaby House.

Alas, the quest for the perfect four pumpkins had been fulfilled and we were on our merry way, our camera stuffed with photo memories, our extremities still attached and $18 worth of gourds later. 

Our outing was not complete without one last stop at Rite Aid. Anyone who knows anything about carving pumpkins is aware that, even though we have a 20-piece knife set at home, nothing works as efficiently as those jagged, flimsy-metal blades practically hot-glued to miniature plastic orange handles. Otherwise known as a pumpkin carving set. Two of those bad boys and one baby down for her nap later, we were home itching to get started.  Halloween is our thing. We take this shiz seriously. 

Our festive creations:

L to R: Claire's, Kevin's, Monster's mini-pumpkin & mine

 This was a fun day! 

Our busy life

As I sit here on my couch staring out the sliding glass door listening to the rain and watching the leaves change color practically before my very eyes, I cannot help but wonder where all the time has gone? Claire turned 10 months old yesterday and she's growing like a weed. I swear keeping her in pajamas that fit is nearly a feat in itself. About a month ago she started veto'ing drinking her bottles during the day because she prefers to feed herself real food instead (can't say that I blame her there) so making sure she's still consuming as close to the recommended amount of formula and fruits/veggies/proteins each day has kept me pretty much busy. 

Speaking of busy, we have been packing our already bulky routine with weekly Mommy & Me Angelfish swim classes all the way out in timbucktwo NE Portland. I chose the class based on the price and "forgot" about the logistics of location. Whoops! It definitely is a trek but luckily it's only once a week on Sundays so the papa can come with and we just make a day of it. The simple mistake of booking them so far away actually turned out to be a nice excuse to make our way into the city once a week.  Not that I should have added anything more to the plate but tomorrow Claire and I start a Mommy & Me Baby Boogie class at the local community center by my work. She's a mover and a shaker whenever music is on so I cannot wait to see her shake her little booty with other babes in the class. Plus, I am excited at the opportunity to meet other moms in the area with babies similar in age to Claire. I will be sure to post a full report!

If Claire wasn't napping, and assuming she could talk/type, I imagine this is what she would tell you:

I know how to climb the stairs. I'm like a little ninja and notice every single time when one of my parents forgets to close the baby gate. As soon as I'm on the 2nd or 3rd step, they come to get me and I crawl as fast as I can to get away. I don't know how but they always catch up to me, take me back downstairs, close the gate and make me cry. One of my favorite games to play with mama is chase. I will start crawling down the hallway and she will crawl after me yelling out that she's gonna get me. I crawl really fast, looking over my shoulder and giggling the whole way. It's really fun! My favorite foods are anything I can feed to myself. I really like scrambled eggs, mandarin oranges, cubed cooked carrots, cubed avocado, cubed bananas, banana bread and black beans. But most of all I like to eat off mama's plate. Sometimes she does not want to share but I just scream until she does. Works like a charm.I just learned to walk holding my push toy for support. It is fun but I still prefer crawling because it's so much faster. Every time mama or papa open the pantry, refrigerator or dishwasher I huff, puff and crawl as fast as I can to get there before it closes. Sometimes I crawl up into the dishwasher, too. Life is good being 10 months old. I already hear mama talking about my first birthday and it's gonna be fun. I just know it!