Strike a Pose

Wildlights

On Thursday night, we visited the Columbus Zoo for their Wildlights members-only preview night. This event grows more popular every year and even the members only night was very crowded. Since it is impossible to see the entire Zoo in one visit with a 3.5 year old and an 18 month old, we will visit several times to see all of the lights. By the time we ate some dinner and Owen finished the second of his trips to the potty, we had just enough time to ride the carousel and look at the lights on our way back to the exit.

Even with image stabilization, it is difficult to capture a photo that is not blurred without a monopod or other stable surface.

Bundled Clara unhappy to be trapped in the stroller.

Hi Baby!

Clara really enjoys baby dolls and stuffed animals. When she sees one her eyes light up and she gets a big smile, particularly if it is one that she has not seen for awhile. As you can see in the pictures below, she loves to give hugs and to have conversations which consist primarily of "hi baby" intermixed with toddler babble. We have to be vigilant when we are in settings where Clara can interact with real babies because she would like to play with them too.

Clara giving hugs to her baby.

Clara having a serious conversation with her baby.

Pumpkin Carving Part II

Owen and I completed our first jack-o-lantern more than a week before Halloween, and several days of warm weather took their toll. Therefore, we had some more work to do on Friday and Saturday. Fortunately, I was able to convince Owen to use old school freelance techniques on two of the three remaining pumpkins. Each of the old-school jack-o-lanterns took about fifteen minutes to complete, whereas the pattern jack-o-lantern took nearly an hour. Once again, Owen was diligent in his supervision of my carving efforts.

Ghost in the Field

Old School Jack-O-Lantern 1

Old School Jack-O-Lantern 2

Dancing with Clara

Clara and I recently had an opportunity to spend some time on the dance floor during the wedding reception of a family friend. While I don't want Clara to grow up quickly, I hope that someday in the future we will find ourselves on the dance floor again following her wedding.

May I have this dance?

Hey Daddy - is this therapy in disguise??

Trick or Treat - 2009

Clara the Butterfly

Owen the Pirate

It was a brisk night for track or treating - especially after the 80 degree weather we had on Friday October 30 - but much fun was had by all. Owen is not very happy about our rationing of the candy and his new motto is "I'm still hungry - for candy". Fortunately, he is not yet old enough to sort and inventory his loot, so Ellen and I can still sneak a few pieces without causing a major meltdown.

Cleaning House

Clara is relentless in her battle against dust.

Pumpkin Carving

Every year I get suckered in by those pumpkin carving books with intricate patterns and special carving tools. What a great idea, I think to myself, until I spend an hour or more scooping pumpkin innards and carving all of the little details. I tried to explain to Owen that when I was a kid jack-o-lanterns had simple triangle eyes and jagged toothed smiles, but he had his heart set on the ghost in the castle pattern. Although Owen in not quite willing to scoop the pumpkin innards, he was certainly by my side to supervise every move and cut. Owen was also true to the code of three year old kids by asking about 5 million questions during the process.

We finished the carving process just before Owen's bedtime, and had to light it up.

A spooky masterpiece!

Unfortunately, we carved the pumpkin too soon and the recent warm weather has taken it's toll. Looks like we'll be doing some more carving before the end of the week.

Owen and Clara

Clara and her "bubby" Owen.

Before Clara was born, we frequently talked with Owen about becoming a big brother and what that meant for him. He was only two and half years old at the time, so it was hard to grasp how much he understood; however, he was excited about having a baby sister and handled the transition from the nursery to his big boy room and big boy bed very well. Still, we did not know how he would react once he had to share mommy and daddy with his baby sis.

While he was not sure what to think of Clara the first time he met her in the NICU, he quickly warmed up and wanted to hold her the very next day. Since then he has had a few moments when he asked us to put Clara in the crib because she was tired or to put her in her jumparoo because she wanted to bounce so that he could have our undivided attention (or uninterrupted floor space).

Owen has been the best big brother that we ever could have hoped for. He always wants to help Clara with her "exercises". He offers encouragement when she is working hard to accomplish a new task and generously praises her achievements. Owen often tells his preschool teachers that his little sister is going to grow up to be big and strong. He is also very protective of Clara. During one of our first meetings with the local Down syndrome new parent support group meeting, Clara was laying on a blanket squiggling and squirming and one of the older babies kept trying to crawl over to see her. Owen was concerned about the baby trying to get to his baby sis and made sure that he was a barrier between the two.

It is obvious to Ellen and I that Owen and Clara share a special bond. Clara is always happy to be with her "bubby" and always wants to be involved with anything that Owen is doing. There are many moments when Owen will give Clara a hug and a kiss for no particular reason. We are blessed to have such wonderful children and look forward to observing as their relationship continues to blossom.

Bangs

As you can see in the photos below, Clara's hair had gotten long enough to cover her eyes and her face. Since her hair is very fine, most barrettes or hair clips don't stay in her hair very long, especially after she discovers them. Using small rubber bands with a ponytail worked well, but was always a challenge with an extremely flexible and strong toddler that knows nothing of the concept of remaining still. While feeding Clara breakfast last weekend, Ellen finally got tired of Clara's hair hanging in her face; therefore, she decided to trim Clara's bangs. Check out the before and after results below.

I think there are some pretty blue eyes hiding behind all that hair. When Clara wants to crawl but does not want to give up her toy, she carries the toy in her mouth while crawling.

There are those beautiful blue eyes!!