Paying the Price for Checking Email

I should know better than to leave these two alone for a few minutes, but I couldn't help myself. Oh well, at least this forced me to reorganize the shoes in my closet!


I think their faces are awesome. They definitely know they've been up to no good and got caught.



It's a little tricky to walk in high-heels unless you've got a hand to hold.

Too Many Kids in the Tub

I've been watching my nephew Max while while my sister Sarah is in Pennsylvania, and we've been having a great time! The other day I was just planning on putting Claire in the tub, but by the time I got her undressed Max had completely stripped down and was halfway in. Molly didn't want to be the only one left out, so in they all went. Claire immediately dove for Max's package, but before I could resolve the situation Max yelled "Hey! Don't touch my privates!" It actually took because I didn't have to stop Claire's wandering hands after that.

Dressing Up

Farewell Old Friends...

Our house is finally free of the bird couches! I imagine many of you on my dad's side of the family will recognize these couches; I think they were first purchased circa 1970 by my dad's brother's mother-in-law, and they've been circulating in the family ever since. I'm not sure how many owners there have been before us, but it's a few. They have served us well, but it was pretty embarrassing whenever anyone came over and had to sit on them. The new couches are definitely not too exciting, but they were a great deal and will be good while we have little kids barfing and spilling on them. Plus, the chaise is awesome!

Chowhound

The amount of food Claire can pack away is unbelievable. She usually doubles, if not triples, the amount of food Molly eats at mealtime. For example, last night for dinner Claire had a Nutri-Grain bar, a Baby-Bell cheese, Cheerios, a large bowl of peas, another large bowl of rice cereal, a whole banana, and then finished off what was left of Molly's macaroni and cheese. What makes this particularly impressive is that Claire only weighs eighteen pounds and is 1 1/2 weeks away from her first birthday. She must have Chris's metabolism; it's the only thing that could possibly explain why she's so teeny but can eat outrageous amounts of food. As a side note, she still doesn't have any teeth :)

Pennsylvania Trip

Last week I went to Pennsylvania to help my sister Jessie while her son Jack is in the hospital with botulism; you can check the Chin family blog for updates. I spent most of my time watching Amelia and Colin and one of the highlights of the trip was going for a visit to the hospital to meet with the person who helps brothers and sisters of the patients get comfortable at the hospital. They had a very large doll (she said it cost upwards of $900 for it) that had a belly you could open to see the organs inside, the leg opened up to see the bone, and a few other things. They each got their own smaller dolls with hospital gowns that they could give shots to, put bandaids on, use alcohol swabs, etc. They hadn't quite gotten their fill at the hospital, so when we got back to Jessie's house we played doctor some more. Except this time they had me for a patient and not just the dolls.

This is Amelia instructing me on the best way to give the doll its medicine.



Colin giving me a shot in the leg, then coming at my face for a shot. I was covered in tape and bandaids by the time we were through (it was the cheapest wax job I've ever had) and I was completely sanitized by alcohol swabs.

Claire's Firsts

Claire's getting big enough to really start enjoying some of the big-kid things Molly does. My dad has a little train car in his backyard that the kids can push on a little track, and Claire had her first ride a few weeks ago. As you can see by Molly's face, it's very hard work.




We also went to the playplace for the first time in a while, and Claire loved it. It was pretty gross because she's crawling on that dirty floor, but she had a hand sanitizer bath when we were done so hopefully that took care of any stray bugs she might have picked up during the visit.