Life Lately

Seattle has so, so many cool city parks. A few Saturdays ago, we took Claire to Kelsey Creek Farm, a small, working farm run by the city.

We saw cows, pigs, horses, goats, sheep, chicken, geese, and bunnies. Hands down, the chickens were her absolute favorite. Her jaw literally dropped upon seeing them for the first time!

Toddlers are so funny. One of Claire's favorite toys these days is an empty travel-size soap bottle.

 

The bucket: an apartment-size baby pool.



Luckily, our complex has real pool too. This picture pretty much sums up Claire's idea of the perfect day - a chocolate chip cookie before a trip to the pool. That might be my idea of a perfect day too!



Claire still isn't talking much, but she's pretty effective at communicating in other ways, like the "where'd it go?" shrug.

 

 Do you think she wants something?



Now that I'm certain she's past the chewing on books stage, we've been checking out lots of board books from the library. Claire is obsessed and can frequently be found paging through them.



Although more frequently she's asking us to read them over and over again.

I ordered a new basket for more under-crib storage, which of course called for sledding down the hallway!

Claire and Grandpa engrossed in the world of Noah's Ark.



This little mama has places to be!



My thrifting buddy, with her new $3 shopping cart.



Family fun at the children's museum.



Refusing a hand. She can do it herself, thank you very much!



One very tiny ponytail.



Trying so hard to be a big kid at the library.



I feel like Claire's going to be one of those kids who insists on bringing a book everywhere she goes. Which sounds an awful lot like her parents' childhoods...



Girlfriend loves her bagels, or maybe just the cream cheese.



All cozy after swim lessons, which have been really fun so far. Claire enjoys it and she's definitely learning a little. She didn't understand the concept of kicking at all before and now she does!



My parents and Scott headed back to Shanghai on Saturday morning. We're already counting down till Christmas.



Our little Nutella addict.



Hey, it's Claire in a box!



 The rest of the weekend was pretty low-key, but fun and productive. We took Claire to the pool and the park, where she had more fun with this bike rack than the actual play structures.



Budding photographer.



Relaxing on mom and dad's bed, her favorite thing. My favorite thing are those juicy thighs!



Taking a ten-second break from destroying the living room. You know, the usual.



A Seattle kid and her very first Starbucks. I hadn't been in ages, but had a $5 gift card to use. I couldn't believe that this tall drink was over $4. Also, it's the law here that restaurants have to display the calorie information next to everything on their menu. Definitely makes you think twice about the whipped cream!



And we'll wrap things up with some videos.



Demonstrating proper table manners.



Claire and Daddy rehearsing their circus act.



She's also thinking about going into the magic business.



My personal favorite. 1, 2, 3, relax!