Opa! It's All Greek to Me

Did you know Opa! means to party? We did just that at the annual Greek Food Festival this year - and Claire was all about the dancing. Here are two videos of her on the dance floor with her scarf and Converse sneakers - she was surrounded by people teaching Greek dancing, families, old ladies, and kids and she wasn't scared or embarrassed one bit. I don't think I ever would have been brave enough to get out there if not for Claire wanting me to. We got the scarf for her at last year's festival, and miracle of miracles, we still had it AND I knew where to find it.




Miles was awesome - he liked all of the food and just kind of hung out near our table and climbed all over the double stroller like it was his personal jungle gym. I really expected to have to chase him all over the place, dodging Greek dancers and people balancing plates of gyros, spanikopita, dolmathes, souvlaki, or my favorite, loukamathes (honey puffs). The weather was warm for September, but once the sun went down it was nice.

Matt and Miles had a good time watching the dancing - I think Miles was liking Matt's new haircut more though. He finally got to shave it off (i.e. I finally let him).

Halloween Count Down

We aren't sure what we are dressing up like yet, but we know we're excited for Halloween. Anytime I talk to Claire about something coming up, like even going to the park or a store, she says, and then - HALLOWEEN!

Claire first wanted to be a princess, so I of course started thinking of what themed costumes we will all have as a family. I got Miles a frog costume, but it was too short for him so I got a dragon instead. Well then I need a knight to fight the dragon and save the princess, so Matt will be a knight. And I was going to be a queen. Well, now Claire wants to be a dragon too. I just know if I buy her a dragon costume, she will change her mind. We will have to just fall back on something in the dress up box if she does. Miles seems to like his dragon costume though, even though in our 100 degree weather he is sweating in minutes. I hope we will finallly cool down by Halloween.

Three?! What the What?!

I can't believe it, but my Claire Bear is three! She is the cutest stinker you ever did see. She is still a skinny little thing - but getting tall and growing out of some of her dresses. She loves music and singing, and often tells me to stop singing in the car because "this is MY song, mom!", usually when it's I'm Walking on Sunshine from Glee. She is getting picky about what she wears and wants to wear the same dress almost every Sunday - a pink, flowery, fancy dress that we bought around Easter time. She loves to run so I thought she would like to play soccer this year, especially after getting to audit her cousin's soccer class for a few weeks. But when I asked her if she wanted a dance class or soccer, she said she wanted ballerina school. So, we are trying it out in October. I promptly bought a pink leotard and wanted to cry when she put it on - she was so cute. Claire can read about 50 words by sight and is picking out letters in the books we read and on street signs. She is especially good at the T in Target and the O in Kohls... not because we shop there so much but because she is so smart... :)



I did a little interview with Claire to find out what this three year old is all about:

What is your favorite color? Pink

Who are your friends? Genevieve, Ryan, McKinley, Lily, and Kate

What do you like to do for fun? Go to the park, and eat something sweet, like honey, and honey makes bees feel good and then their tummies feel better

What do you like in your room? My piggy bank

What is your favorite movie? Mary Poppins

What is your favorite animal? Giraffe

What is your favorite food? Soup

Where do you like to go out to eat? Cafe Rio

What is your favorite TV show? Martha Speaks (on PBS)

What do you like best about Miles? He likes playing with me in my room

To celebrate her day of birth, we had a small party at the park and just let the kids play in the splash area. It will probably one of the last visits for awhile since I hope Summer is finally coming to an end. Miles didn't love the water - but Claire, Ethan, Noah, Genevieve and Dylan had a blast.

Claire was thoroughly spoiled with gifts - Tag (Leap Frog) books, activity books, dolls and accessories (that Miles also liked to play with), clothes, and the coveted Zhu Zhu pets. This will be the toy she looks back on in twenty years and laughs about - they are kind of cute though. Thank you everyone for helping us celebrate and for your calls and gifts. We are blessed.

Arts & Crafts Hour

Claire is getting into the arts and crafts stage - I probably should have started earlier, but it's just so messy. I didn't even like to let her have playdough, let alone water colors and finger paints. Notice she is painting on the porch instead of inside. We are also trying safety scissors and glue sticks, working on all those hand-eye coordination skills that you want kids to have before preschool.

Miles' One Year Stats

Just a few weeks after his first birthday, here are his well-check stats. He is still on the lower end of the percentiles but I have no doubt he will be a tall young man. He has six teeth - two on the bottom and four on top. He's now up to 10 or 12 steps in a row - just enough to get to his destination and then he throws himself down to get the last foot or so. He also copies sounds really well - and can say the words tree, there (as in over there), and Claire (cuh). He likes to make rasberries with his mouth and spit all over the place. In fact, if he's upset and crying and you start to blow spit bubbles or make fart noises, he calms right down and starts to copy you. He's cute. I think we'll keep him.

Height - 30 inches - 25-50%

Weight - 20 lbs 13 oz - 10-25%

Head - 46.5 cm - 25-50%

Changes Around Here

We have made some pretty big changes lately, mainly that Matt has gone back to school at UNLV to finish up his Communications degree (we are looking at 3 semesters to finish). Two weeks before school started in August, he was offered a job back in the construction industry doing the same type of work he did at his previous company - doing takeoffs in the estimating department for a local contractor, and hopefully getting to do even more with the bid process in the future.

He is working about 25 hours a week plus taking the 15 credits at UNLV, so our schedule has gone from Matt being at home every day to being away at work or school five days a week. I have been grateful for the past year with Matt at home - I think adjusting to two kids plus working would have been even tougher for me without having Matt to help me at home.

I neglected to get a photo of him on his first day of school like all the other families - I will have to get one of him soon though.

Claire Quotes

I have been meaning to write down some of the things Claire has said lately - she picks up on everything we say, which is very cool but also a little strange to hear your words come out of a soon to be 3-year-old's mouth. It reminds me that I need to be sensitive to this little girl's spirit, especially when she parrots back to me "you are driving me crazy!"... not your proudest day as a parent.

But... she has said some pretty cute things of late. Here is a running list of a few of them. I wish I could somehow write the inflections in her voice - and show her facial expressions. She's very dramatic, has the eye roll down pat, and does a great hand-on-her hips glare when upset. Can't wait for the teenage years...

When asked if she and her cousin were going to be princesses when they grew up, Genevieve said yes, and Claire said, "No, I'm not going to be a princess, I'm going to get married!"

After meeting me for dinner after being with Matt for most of the day, she said, "It's so good to see ya!" in this sort of southern drawl, and put her arm around me like we were best pals.

Talking to her dolls - "Do you have to go potty? Do you? Well, you can get a lollipop if you go..." If only she would take her own advice.

We were reading together on my bed and she was picking out words she knows and smiling and laughing - I said, "Claire you are darling!" She said, "No I'm not, I'm not darling. I'm not Wendy!" (as in Wendy Darling from Peter Pan)

She says phrases that we must say all the time, because I don't know where else she would get them - "Sounds like a plan," "What a great idea!" or "Does that sound good to you?"

We met up with Matt for a doctor appt for Miles and when he left to go back to work, Claire said, "Mom, Dad is a good man" as we drove away. I think Matt had been coaching her on that one...

Walking

Miles took his first few steps at my parent's house two weeks ago, and since then he has been flirting with the idea of taking a few more. Tonight he took 7 or 8 in a row, the most I've seen him do so far. I hope this means he's going to leave the bear crawl behind, but he is just so fast on his hands and feet that honestly, if I were him I'd keep on crawling. But, he's making some progress.