Claire - Stair Master

I'm not sure I'm ready for what this means.  Claire can climb the stairs from her room to the game room and from the loft to the game room.  She has never tried the main stairs but I think she could do it.  She generally likes to climb on things.  Just this week Ryan sat her on the couch and in 3 seconds she was completely on the end table.  Little Monkey.

"Cason-isms"

I'm trying to be better at writing these things down.  Here are some things that have made us laugh (or maybe made us mad but then we laugh too)

1. Cason picks up on things he hears all around him. (Gotta be careful what you say.) He can spot a name he knows being said on the radio.  The two favorites were the morning DJ talking to Kevin Walter of the Houston Texans.  Cason was so excited that they were talking about his Uncle Kevin!  And, Mommy listens to CNN on the satellite radio a lot.  During "Superstorm Sandy" they were talking to an "Admiral" about the approaching storm and expected recovery.  Cason says "Lady said Admiral!".  We rewound and listened to it several times.  Later that week, he heard the same ladies voice and said "Lady talked about my Dog".  Love him.
2. We were I was listening to the Texans game on the radio while running errands.  They won in an way to close overtime battle.  When it was over, I said, excitedly, "Cason, the Texans Won!!!".  His response:  "Okay".  Sigh, I guess he wasn't impressed.
3. We keep a stuffed Tigger in the car for Cason to hold and play with.  We try not to let his beloved giraffe out of the house so we don't lose it.  We've obviously been talking about potty training a lot in our house.  Cason said "I want Tigger go tee-tee on my pants".  Yeah, we've got some work to do on this potty talk.
4. Keeping with the potty training them, the other night we could tell Claire was pooping and that it was bothering her.  Ryan and I were commenting on it and Cason says "Claire, tell us and go poo-poo on the potty".  With his encouragement, I'm guessing she'll be potty trained before he is. 
5. He's going to a Church based pre-school and they sing songs, read bible stories, learn bible verses and pray.  For a while, he kept asking me to sing "Father God".  I was pretty sure he wanted me to sing "God our Father" but he kept saying No when I would sing it.  Finally, last week, he just busted out at the dinner table with the whole song.  So cute and he was so proud of himself.  Then, he followed it up with a "prayer". Cason's prayer goes like this: "Dear God.  Amen." Then he closes his eyes.    
6. The most frustrating thing he says these days is "I want Claire lay down".  This is so frustrating because its his excuse for pushing her to the ground, either from sitting up or standing.  She's going to be one tough little girl. 
7. But, the most fun thing right now... "I want dance 'I Will Wait'".  Yup, he loves the new Mumford and Son's song and we all love dancing around the house and in the car to it.  

Riding bikes at the Skate Park

This was a HUGE hit today.  He's really come a long way on his little balance bike.

Luke and Hudson are in town for Thanksgiving so we met at the skate park in The Woodlands.  Since school is in session, we had it all to ourselves.  Luke and Hudson are master bike riders.  Cason's working his way up.  He's doing really good and finally realizes how fun bike riding is!

Like Brother Like Sister

Claire has found and loves one of Cason's favorite spots to play when he was her age...the bookshelves in the island.

Cason, Jan 2011

Claire, Nov 2012

And in other news, Claire is climbing all over everything, especially when it means being closer to Cason.  We keep being amazed at how fast she's developing.  I caught her doing "squats" on the couch.  I think she was trying to figure out how to get to Cason on the floor.

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Claire - 9 Months

Claire is 9 months old!  On the downside towards turning 1!

She was 19 lb, 4 oz (60%) and 28 3/4 inches tall (80%)

Her latest milestones:

• Crawling and crawling FAST.  
• Into everything and wants to be wherever Cason or Mommy is
• Pulling up on anything she can reach -- ottoman, couch, coffee table, chairs, play kitchen.
• Scaling the furniture but not quite what you'd call "cruising".  She pulls up on one end of the table and after a few minutes she will be at the other end.  It won't be long
• She's still in love with her brother and thinks anything he does is pretty awesome... even when he's stealing her toys (which is an all day/every day occurrence)
• She's eating all sort of veggies and a few fruits.  She's not a big fan of avocado anymore and that makes us sad since its our go-to food at Mexican restaurants to keep Cason happy while we wait.  She's also eating cheerios and crackers, both are good to keep her busy while I scarf down my food  
• She's very demanding when it comes to her food... if I don't feed her fast enough, she shreaks and lets me know to hurry up.
• She babbles all the time
• Kicks and bounces non-stop.  She's always in motion.  We think she'll be walking by Christmas.

Play doh

We got some play doh as a party favor at Emery's birthday party. Cason has had fun playing with it, he hasn't even tried to eat it which is big in this house since he still puts EVERYTHING in his mouth.

The best part of these pictures is the ancient cookie cutters with their little "W" markings. These are my nana's cutters that are made for pie crust decorations. They are a little rusty (and pies aren't my specialty) so I've never used them. I'm glad they are getting some use now!