Things that Entertain Claire

Claire is such a happy baby.  Seriously.  If she's crying, then she's either hungry or tired.  Or both.  Most of the time she's content to watch what's going on around her, but there are some weird things that make her smile or laugh on a regular basis. I can't find a common theme, can you?

• Blowing raspberries (thanks to my mom for that one)
• Fishy face (opening and closing your mouth without making a sound)
• Brushing soft things across her nose/chin
• Dropping soft things onto her chest (burp rags, socks, toys etc.)
• Looking away and then looking at her suddenly and gasping loudly
• Touching her feet
• Removing her socks
• Saying, "Nom nom nom"  
• Watching someone eat
• Her dolly/blanket toy
• Seeing mom or dad after an absence of at least 15 minutes
• Peeing while her diaper is off

I have a story about that last one.  When we were pregnant, we found what seemed like an awesome deal on diapers at a Black Friday sale.  76 diapers for $10.  Woohoo!  We bought 4 boxes of size 2 diapers and congratulated ourselves on saving a bunch of money.  We started using those diapers this week and they are pretty much garbage.  So Claire has been having a lot more accidents lately.  When her diaper is wet and uncomfortable, she likes  to "hold it" until mom or dad go to change the diaper.  As soon as we get it off of her, she pees... and she laughs.  Like, EVERY time.  I think she enjoys the look of horror on our faces.  But she's laughing and smiling and being ridiculously adorable so it's hard to be mad at her.  Besides, she's a  baby.  She's can't possibly be doing it on purpose?  Right?  

She's too cute to stay mad for very long

A Day in the Life of a Middle School Teacher

Guess what?!  A post about something besides Claire!  I know, shocking, right?  I read this hilarious teacher blog called   Love, Teach, Blog  and she challenged her readers to write down the weird stuff we say to our students on a daily basis.

"What did you think was going to happen when you clicked the 'End Test' button?"

"I know you're hungry, but licking the desk is not going to help."

"Please take your feet off of Ethan's homework."

"No, you may not drink soda while using the laptop."

"No, you may not 'just open the can'.  We both know what you're going to do once it's open."

"Please make out in someone else's hallway."

"Unless you have $15 to buy me a new calculator, stop using it as a catapult."

"Catapults were used to throw rocks."

"No, they were never used to throw cats."

"I know because they teach you that kind of stuff in teacher school."

"No, not really."

"Counting down the seconds to the bell will not make time go faster, but it WILL annoy your teacher which WILL make your grade go down."

"I know you're not reading because the book has been upside down for the last 7 minutes.  Also I have ESP."

And people wonder why teachers keep coming back year after year.   It's for the entertainment, folks!

May the Fourth be With You

Did you know that Nick and I are gigantic nerds?  Cuz it's true.  Poor Claire has practically no chance of being a normal kid.  Case in point:  when Nick and I were dating he told me how he thought it was totally bad@$$ of Han Solo to say, "I know" after Leia freaks out and tells him that she loves him.  It became this joke between us that whenever one of us said, "I love you," the other person would say, "I know."  When we got engaged, I had "I know." engraved on his wedding band.  And THAT'S how nerdy we are.

So it makes sense that we would have a photo shoot for Star Wars Day.  If you don't know what Star Wars Day is, I feel bad for you, son.  :)  May 4th.  May THE 4th.  May the fourth be with you!  Ahaha!  I did mention the nerdiness, didn't I?  

Yes, we have a toy lightsaber.  No, we did not buy it for Claire.  

My cousin, Jackie found these crocheted Star Wars dolls somewhere in AZ gave them to Claire.  They might have been one of my favorite gifts!

No Claire!  Not Han!  He's one of the good guys!

"Noooooooo!"  /starwarsjoke

Claire!  Oh, wait.  You can kill Vader. 

Apparently small light-up toys are nummy.

Very nummy.

Although we are nerds, we do try to be well-rounded, so here are some non-nerd photos.

This was my dolly high chair when I was little.  We've been meaning to take pictures of Claire in it for a while and it's a good thing we picked today!  She barely fits!

I love her pink sandals.  Claire was less enthused about them.

We kept making noises, trying to get her to smile, but mostly we got the curious face.  Still love it.

I feel like there needs to be a speech bubble above her head saying, "Please, somebody save me from my crazy parents!"

Ohohoho!

Dang, I love this kid.  I know I'm biased, but she really is such a cutie!