Little Swimmer

Our local aquatic center holds a Parent-Preschool Program in the mornings Monday thru Friday. They open the two kiddie areas at their facility for kids 6 and under. It allows parents to feel comfortable knowing the older children that attend the weekend open swim aren't going to mow down their little ones. Looking for something fun and different to do, Claire and I decided to check it out. We met up this morning with my nieces and my cousin's daughter at the pool. Not sure what to expect, I figured it would either be packed or we'd have the place to ourselves. I got there 10 minutes late and was the 4th car in the parking lot. Score! Since Claire is under 3, she got in for free and it cost $2.50 for me for being a Clackamas County resident. $2.50 for an hour and a half of warm-water swimming at a heated indoor facility? That's a steal!

Trying to keep Claire comfortable being around water, I just sort of plopped her in the kiddie pool and let her take the lead on what she was comfortable doing. In the beginning, my little analyzer just observed and took it all in. The older girlies enjoyed flying down the seal slide (shown in the photo below) while Claire preferred for mama to hold her or to float on a big duckie while mama moved it back and forth in the water. She'd walk the edge of the pool and ponder life. She'd flirt with the lifeguard (no joke!). We took turns with other babies playing with the steering wheels and even went down the slide a couple times. She'd walk from pool to pool and watch the other kiddos show off their best moves in the water. I tested out what Claire remembered from swimming lessons - she could still do the monkey hang on the side of the pool and she'd stand on the edge and "jump" to me in the water. She was not too fond of floating on her back, but she never liked that in swimming lessons either. Even though she was a little off due to two giant molars coming in, she still had a lot of fun. But when she was done, she was done. So, I wrapped her up in a towel and we snuggled on the edge of the pool while the girlies continued to play. Cannot wait to go again when she's feeling 100%.  I would say our little adventure was definitely a success.

Our first visit to the Children's Museum

Sunday was a day for books for the Garvey family! We took Claire to the Children's Museum and all three of us had a blast. I hadn't been there since elementary school and Kevin had never been so neither of us knew what to expect. Of course, our little curious Claire got excited as soon as we walked through the doors. My little toothbrush-lover saw the grinning alligator with the giant toothbrushes and was hooked. There were so many exhibits to explore!

During our 3-hour visit, she only had about 3 temper tantrums. In this current phase of her life, three screaming tantrums isn't too bad. Our girl has an opinion and isn't afraid to express it. Today, she chose to share it by kicking, screaming and crying giant alligator tears either because she wanted to play with a toy another kid was already playing with (aka the steering wheel and/or the shopping cart) or because she wanted to go back into the water room every single time we passed it. Every single time. Kevin was so proud to announce his girl is a fish just like her papa! The tantrums, although ear-piercing, are really no big deal. We just ignore her as she screams it out until she gets bored and we move on. People stare and I used to get super self-conscious but now I just let her be. Ahhhh, babies.

But, more about the museum. I'd say her favorite activities were playing in the water room, filling up her cart in the just-her-size grocery store, and making designs in the giant light bright display. She picked up the coordination of pushing those little plastic pegs into the holes really quickly. My smart girl! She also visited the Vroom Room multiple times to drive the school bus and push the buttons to light up the "Stop" and "Walk" signs. I hoped Claire would enjoy working with the clay in the art studio (you know, to prove there is some of me in that child) but she wanted nothing to do with it. Oh yeah, that was tantrum #4. She hated the clay and we just moved right along. *Looks like we can put off the play dough a little longer...

After such a fun family day, I am already trying to figure out a way to add the year membership into the budget. Where there's a will, there's a way! That would be a great weekend spot to meet up with friends for a playdate or for her papa to take her on his days off. I was impressed and cannot wait to take her back again. 

Change of Scenery

"Outside?" is the most popular word out of Claire's mouth in the past couple days. No doubt it has to do with all the sunshine and warm weather we've been soaking up. There is just nothing keeping this girl inside these days. Now, more than ever, I am so grateful to live in a townhouse with a private fenced backyard. With all this nice weather lately, Claire has had the luxury to come and go through the open slider as she pleases. And let me tell you - that is all she does.   Last night while Kevin and I ate dinner, we watched the little angel push her grocery cart back and forth across the patio, jabbering to herself and stopping every so often to rip a wipey out of the pack I let her put in her grocery cart. Then she would stop, pick up a wipey from the pile in the cart and transport them one-by-one onto the carpet right inside the sliding door. As soon as all 12 had been transferred, she would start the process all over again to return them back to the cart. We must have watched her complete this cycle at least 3 times. Silly baby! But we weren't complaining - a happy baby and an uninterrupted dinner makes for two happy parents. All I know is this summer out in the sunshine with my family is sure going to be fun!

Say cheese!

This past weekend we donned our Sunday best and met up with one of our favorite photographers Jenn Pfaus of Pfaus Photography (the photo of Claire above at the pumpkin patch is her work!) to have our family photos done in the midst of our beautiful spring weather. The venue for this session was the gorgeous Jenkins Estate in Beaverton. It was sprinkling at first arrival but quickly tapered off before we had even changed the scenery from our first pose location.

As many of you probably know, Kevin and I have been doing a lot of work to get in shape, she'd some pounds and be healthier for our daughter and each other. We each have lost a significant amount of weight and felt more confident going into these photos than the shots we took last fall. Needless it was a lot less stressful than it had been six months prior. Here is a sneak peak from the shoot:

There were multiple beautiful spaces to shoot in, including a "picnic in the park" setup. I specifically asked the photographer if we could do this and bring books to read to Claire and she confirmed that the idea would create some fun photo ops. So, books in tow, and a girl that loves to read them, we got a shot like this:

We are beyond thrilled with how these turned out! The coloring is beautiful. Everyone looks comfortable - not too posed - and it definitely is encouraging that the photos serve as official evidence that we are making progress in our pursuit of a healthier lifestyle. I cannot wait to see the rest of the photos! You know that comforting feeling you have when you find a photographer you mesh well with and feel comfortable posing for? Yep, we found ours. Next photo op? The pumpkin patch this fall. Cannot wait!

Busy lives and bye-bye Facebook

I'm so behind on posting about our lives on this blog, it's embarrassing! I guess I've just been too busy living it. So, in a way, that's better! Now that I'm back, I plan to make every effort to be better about it. After all, it's not just a way for out-of-town relatives to keep up with the Garvey family (hi Grandma Janet!), it's also a record of Claire's life that I'm sure will be very much appreciated later. So, I'm going to start today and will be filling in on what's happened these past 5 months during my blogging hiatus. I've already started to make myself a list. Thank God this blog system is high-tech enough to let me publish posts in the past.

In other news, I've been contemplating getting rid of my Facebook. I don't use it much anymore because I find the majority of it has turned into ways to sell things, advertisements and political/religious attacks on one another. It's as if you can't write anything opinion-based because some one's friend of a friend of a relative or a coworker will freak out about it. That's not what Facebook is for and it's getting old. I just want to look at photos of my friend's cute kids or their destination weddings, not get inundated with messages about how much people love/hate Obama or how we should be giving money to this, that or the other thing. See what I mean? It's exhausting. Plus, I feel like I miss out on seeing my friends and their cute kids face-to-face. There is so much out in the media right now about how technology is causing us to lose the social aspect of our lives. Why talk when you can text? Why send a letter when you can email? Why meet for a playdate or coffee when you can just look at their photos from their vacation on Facebook? I don't want Claire to grow up in a world where keeping up with people on the computer is "normal" because you lose so much. So, I have been thinking a better option would be to delete Facebook to focus more on this blog. It takes away Facebook, a real time-sucker in my life, and replaces it with keeping up with this blog for the family (you can still see photos and read updates on Claire) while allowing more time to actually live. Summer's coming - I don't want to spend it all on Facebook. It's win-win. Not sure when this change will happen, but soon. It's freeing just to type that. Boy, oh boy, is this going to earn me extra brownie points with the hubster.

Now, while Claire is napping, I'm off to start some laundry and clean out the car. Fun stuff! I'll leave you with this little gem:

Claire, 15 months, Easter photo