Claire is 11 months old!

My sweet pea is 11 months old today!  She is becoming such a big girl -- almost a toddler!  I have so much planning to do for her party in one short month; I'd better get on it soon.  Claire is walking behind toys and while holding one of our hands all the time now.  She is determined to get where she wants to go and play with what she wants to play with.  She moved took one small step the other day but hasn't yet started moving both feet.  I'm sure she's going to be walking soon though.  She's also started "talking" more now.  She says "ah, ah, ah" when she wants your attention or wants something.  And she's now starting to point at what she wants using her whole hand.  And as always, she loves to wear a big smile!

Also, I've been wanting to show the following two videos.  The first is Natalie running like mommy according to her.  I love when she does this.  It cracks me up everytime -- and makes me question my form when running!  The other is Claire walking behind their shopping cart.  She's getting so good at walking!

Visit from Uncle Paul

Natalie and Claire's Uncle Paul and his girlfriend, Sharron, came to visit a week ago.  The girls were excited to see them.  Natalie kept talking about them coming days before they arrived.  We went to our neighborhood pig pickin' (pig roast).  They had the local fire department come by to let the kids check out the fire engines.  Natalie also enjoyed dancing around with her friend Dylan.

We also took the girls to the NC State Fair.  Natalie loves to look at all the horses when we drive around Wake Forest.  She was very excited to go on her first horse ride.  I thought for sure she would be scared but she loved it and wanted to go on again.  The girls checked out the farm animals and got some balloons.  We also tried some fried oreos.  Claire loved the macaroni and cheese.

We spent some time hanging out with Uncle Paul and Sharron at home playing and watching the Packer vs. Viking game.

Also while Paul was in town, we went to check out the Tobacco District in Durham, UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University.  We were disappointed by the Tobacco District.  Although the area has been restored, there's really nothing there to do or see except for a large water fountain near the Lucky Strikes building.  We walked around Franklin Street near UNC and then explored the Duke Chapel which is beautiful.

Our Zoo Trip

We recently took the girls to the Zoo in Asheboro.  It was Claire's first time.  They both seemed to really enjoy it.  Natalie was of course much more into seeing the animals than she has been previously.

I took Claire and Natalie for a wagon ride together a few weeks ago.  Claire was so smiley as we were strolling around.  She definitely loves getting out to see things.  Natalie now enjoys getting out of the wagon, walking around, and exploring.

And of course, there is always play time around the house

Play Time



The girls have been pretty busy with activities lately.  Natalie loves playing outside now that the weather has cooled off.  Her favorite activities are coloring with chalk and riding around on her tricycle.  Claire is having a great time outside with this wonderful weather also.  She loves to walk behind her push-walker toy (not sure what its called) and the red rocket Natalie got for her 1st birthday.  She is becoming little miss independent and gets very upset if you try to control where the rocket goes so it doesn't get to far ahead of her.  She wants to do it herself!  I wonder where she got that from.  Claire is also extremely excited to be pushed around in the Little Tyke car.

 

 

 

 

I took the girls for some special time at the park recently.  We played in the sand, on the jungle gym equipment and walked down by Falls Lake.  Natalie loves the lake; she's always talking about wanting to go to the Lake.

 

 

 

 

 

The girls also went with Kinsey to Marbles Museum recently.  It's been awhile since they'd been there, and not since Claire became so mobile.  It sounds and looks like they had a wonderful time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The girls and I have a new routine that Natalie makes sure we stick to.  While I feed Claire dinner at 5 p.m., Natalie gets a Juicy Juice and sits on my lap while I read books.