Clara Jane's Baptism

Of course the weekend's main event was Clara Jane's baptism. We all trooped over to and met up at our church, Church of Christ the King (affectionately known as CTK), for the 9:30am mass. it was Clara's day, but it should be noted that Joe sort of stole the show when, following the opening hymn, he put his hands together and said "Yea!" Catchin' the spirit. The time of the mass meant Clara's morning nap was truncated. Baby Bird had no more gone back to sleep than it was time to disrobe and get some water dumped on her head. She no likey. At CTK, the babysitas are stripped down the diaper for the dousing and the chrism oil-ing and then the gown goes on. So post-dousing and oil-ing, Godmother Kate and Julie got one wailing bird into the gown. Julie took a face full of oil, so she smelled like pine trees all day, too, which was o-kay with her. Clara Jane wore the gown that Jane and Tom had chosen for Joe, the slip of which is embroidered with his full name and the date of his baptism. Godmother Kate took the gown back with her so the next time she is in Lloyd Harbor, it can be embroidered at Pashley's with Clara Jane's full name and the date of her baptism as well.

After that, it was back to the house for the party! Bird fell asleep in Grandma Connie's arms practically straight away and so spent most of her party in her crib. But her brother tore it up for both of them! Clara Jane had a perfect day for her baptism so we spilled out onto the porch and front lawn. The party ended with Clara's cake, and a toast with the champagne brought by her Grandpa Charles.

Thank you to all of our family and friends who were able to share this special day with us!

The State Fair!

On Friday, we took everyone to the State Fair (except Clara who went to school so she would get her normal feedings and naps). We had a perfect day for it. We scoped out a few things first like the tractors for Joe and the milk stand for Nick to get his $1 endless cup of milk. We then went to see the animals - sheep, cows, pigs, horses. Joe seemed to most like the pigs because he asked to go back to pigs while looking at horses. While others took Joe to see pigs and horses, Julie pumped a bottle for Clara for tomorrow - and what better place than the Moo Booth?!? Then we went to get food - introduced everyone to fried cheese curds. Lynn shared some ice cream with Joe - that was a nice end to the afternoon! Julie, Joe, Tom and Lynn took one car home, while the rest stayed at the fair. Nick got to check out the new XBox Kinnect system at a promo booth, and he and Kate went on a few rides at the Midway. From there we stopped to see the Dairy princess having her likeness carved in butter, and wrapped it all up with the seed art and honey. We were all exhausted at the end and were glad to make it home!

Whoa, who are all these people?

Joe came home Thursday to a house full of people! He got to see Aunt Kate, Uncle Scott, Nick, Grandpa Tom and Lynn. He put them right to work at the sandbox while Clara looked around and took it all in. Welcome to Minnesota everyone!

A Bird and a Boo

Clara still nurses upstairs in the big bed in the morning. When she's done, she burps (still a big burper!), and then we read some books. Sometimes Ted makes the selections (sometimes, his selections are revised). Then, Julie makes her legs into a diamond and puts Clara between them with her head resting on Julie's feet which are bottoms together. This is the only way Belly Bird won't flip over! Clara looks at the books pretty carefully. After that, Clara hangs out on the floor while Julie makes the bed. Berenice is usually upstairs, too, and yesterday morning, she plopped herself down right next to Bird.

I Got Your Back

Joe has got Clara's back. In the morning, Clara will often hang out in her crib listening to the mobile under Joe's watchful supervision while we gather the flotilla of supplies* we all need for the day. He is the mixmaster and can be found reaching around the slats of the crib to press the buttons and change up the tune (really, as you may have guessed, he just never met a button that didn't need some pressing). All manner of animals will be brought in a sort of zoo share program if you will. In the evening, if time permits, we will play upstairs. Here, too, Joe will be busy making sure Clara has some things with which to occupy herself. Here is a selection of shots in which you can see Joe's offerings to Clara. He really is terribly sweet about it all.

(As you can also see, Clara has started to work on sitting up with support. But nothing beats being on the belly.)

*Flotilla of supplies: Ted's work bag; Julie's bag; the pumping bag; the bottle bag; diapers, wipes, diaper cream, swim suit, swim shoes as necessary; show 'n' share item as necesary; and whatever toy Joe has deemed necessary to make the journey to school with on any given day (today's special guests were two elephants).