Clara Turns Five!

The fifth birthday is an important one in a little girl's life. It marks all sorts of change in sophistication and maturity and wobbily teethdom. So it's only fitting that it be celebrated over many days, many presents and many parties as it was for our dear Clara. We treated it like the Hanukah of birthdays, drawing it out over many days and many parties and many (many!) gifts. 

It starts at home with gifts that dribbled in via mailorder over the past few days. Then Ga and Pappaw come with a bounty in tow. That gift opening looked like this:

And then we have the much anticipated pool party (indoors, this is February) at Pullen Pool, the guest list of which was harder to narrow down than Paul and Kate's wedding. We ended up with about 30 kids and 30 parents. But it was worth it as Clara selected the venue, drew the picture for her own cake, and beamed the entire time as she played with friends.

Paul confesses to getting a wee bit plaklempt as he saw Clara playing with her old friends from the 'hood. Especially Ada, born just a few days after Clara. It brought back memories of Kate and Deborah, the dueling bellies of third trimester pregnancy, bumping around in nesting mode waiting for first daughters to be born. Ah, five years pass so quickly!

But there were more celebrations to be had. Kate packed up the girls and went to the beach for a long weekend. Paul wasn't able to go, but the modern marvel of Facetime allowed him to be there for Clara's final (and legit) birthday song.

She insisted on blowing out her candle three times, sensing (we suppose) that it would be another year before she could milk out another week of Clara-centered activities like this.

We love Clara. We love celebrating her special day (er, week) with her. We love sharing that with so many other important people in her life. Happy Birthday to the girl who made us parents.

Winter Visit to Daddy's Office

In the winter that just won't seem to end - one in which Wake County has closed the public schools at least half a dozen times, disrupting Clara's pre-school and Mama's work schedule - we've grown desperate for diversions.

Snow days were fun when Paul and Kate were newly weds; they were manageable when we had just one child; they leave us desperate when we must entertain two!

So, on Valentine's Day, when the schools were closed for icy roads (this despite the bright sunshine and little snow left on the ground), Kate and the girls took Paul into work. No one else was in the office, so we welcomed the chance for Clara and Hattie to run around a novel setting in this vacant office.

Afterwards, the girls found a trampoline indoor play area across the street from Paul's office. Score! We would have paid a thousand bucks, easy, for this brilliant way to drain energy and keep them entertained!

Hattie's Potty Progress

Things are different with the second child. With the first, we labored over the potty-training routines. Clara had the full focus of two parents intent on getting her out of diapers. Poor, poor Clara. She will be warped for life.

Hattie, in contrast, is getting the full laissez faire effect. We strip her naked every once in a while and tell her to follow nature's calls. That's it. Just some slight nudges.

Nonetheless, she's showing interest and doing it herself.

Hattie will self-actualize in life, no doubt, as a result of our hands off approach.

Clara Lost Her First Tooth!

Clara and Kate were at a birthday party at Pullen Park Pool when Clara shrieked from the water, "I HAVE A LOOSE TOOTH!" 

This is officially big girl territory. She wiggled and wiggled and wiggled. She wiggled it for family. She wiggled it for friends. She wiggled for teachers. She wiggled for strangers.

All that wiggling paid off. On Tuesday, it fell out while she was eating lunch at Ms. Carole's house. It promptly made its way into a baggie, where it was saved for delivery to the tooth fairy. 

The tooth fairy did not disappoint, bringing plenty of loot. 

There's no more wiggling, but Clara has replaced it with shoving the tip of her tongue into this new gap.  

Of course, we sentimental parents can't help but remember when were were first introduced to that lovely, little tooth. (She's not yet five! We thought we had another year or two before teeth started going.) We first saw it in August 2009 during a trip to Pennsylvania.  Clara was only 5 months old and showed it off like this:

We Love Our Hattie!

Davidson Trip with the Morrisons

We had a quick, overnight reunion at Davidson with the Morrisons, JOB, and a few other friends. The Morrisons offered their lake house (making it a reunion of sorts for Paul and Kate's rehearsal dinner, too), and we were able to catch a quick basketball game. The girls loved the Wildcat mascot, of course.

Merchant Girls

When the girls are couped up - when the weather is bad outside - we find entertainment in all forms. This afternoon Hattie and Clara decided to create store. It fits Clara's recent fascination with plugging her three piggy banks with as many coins as possible. Why? She wants to use it to buy the castle (McMansion) being built down the road on Lassiter Mill. When we tell her we probably don't have enough money to buy that one, she offers her piggy banks to help out.

Our home, we're told, is too small.