Home Sweet Home

I'm back in the land of my birth. The Mommyland, if you will, and it is even better than I remember it.

First off, there are apparently people living in our old house, so we had to get a new one. This one may be even nicer than our old one. I've got TWO rooms all to myself. All my clothes and stuff go in one, and my crib is in the other. Daddy says they are going to paint my new room with some pretty colors, so I have to sleep in the other until that is done, then I move into my permanent headquarters.

Other stuff this house has is TWO levels. I can play upstairs or downstairs. And speaking of playing, there is a HUGE backyard to play in. Grandma Sara bought me a froggy pool, and I've got a little swingset of my very own. There are neighbors that have a puppy, so that is totally awesome too. They also have a little baby who will one day grow up and be my friend.

The only problem is the boxes. I'm still not sure where all my toys and books are, and Mommy and Daddy have been a little slow about getting all that stuff out. Daddy said it has something to do with having to watch me. Whatever. Maybe if he got out all my toys I would just sit there reading quietly by myself and not running all over getting into everything. (or maybe not)

Anyway, the new place is a blast.

Farewell Tour

Well, this is it, I guess. One last lap around Omaha. Daddy said we are moving back to Iowa City this week, so we've been saying "Bye-Bye" to lots of things.

Over the weekend, we said "Bye-Bye" to my friends, Tommy W. and his brother George on Friday and Tommy S. and his puppy Callie on Saturday. It was kinda sad, because I had lots of fun with them. I'm going to have to get a friend named Tommy in Iowa City.

Today, we went to the zoo and said "Bye-Bye" to the monkeys, giraffes, tigers, lions, sea lions, bears, elephants and zebras. I will miss them lots too, because Daddy says they don't have any of them in Iowa City. That is a major bummer.

Grandma Sara is flying in tomorrow to help us with the move. It will be lots of fun to see her, because it has been a long time. Maybe I can just play with her while Mommy and Daddy do other stuff.

We officially leave on Thursday, so I'm still hoping to get one more dip in the pool before we leave. Daddy says we won't have a pool at our house, but we will have a backyard. I guess you gotta make choices, eh?

Either way, while I am excited about moving, I will miss Omaha too. I've lived here most of my life, you know. But sometimes you gotta go home.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Well, I talked Mommy into going to the ballgame with Daddy. We only had two tickets, but I figured that I could charm my way past the guy at the gate.

I could.

So, we went to the College World Series. LSU vs. North Carolina. Winner moves on. Loser goes home. We had great seats, and we got to watch almost a full half inning before the rains came and we had to go stand in the concourse.

So while we were waiting for the rain to stop (it never did), we met a really super nice guy from Louisiana. He had a Boudreaux's Butt Paste hat on (www.buttpaste.com), which was a total coincidence because I use that stuff whenever I get all rashy down in my diaper area. Ends up that is the guy that INVENTED the stuff. How cool is that?

But, like I said, he was a SUPER nice guy and he gave me a bobble head of "Booty" the Butt Paste mascot. Supposedly it brings the LSU Tigers good luck. He also let me wear his Tiger necklace. I showed him where the Tiger's eyes, ears, nose, mouth and cheeks were, then told him what Tigers say, just in case he didn't know. They say "Rowr". He knew.

Anyway, we're totally friends now. He gave me his email address (and I told him about the Crib) so we may have to work out an endorsement deal. I definitely give Butt Paste the Claire's Crib Stamp of Approval. It always takes care of my business.

But it even got more fun after that when we all got to walk to the car in the rain. Mommy and Daddy didn't like it so much, but I thought it was the funnest ever. Kinda like taking a bath, but outside and with your clothes on. I laughed the whole way. Good thing I had my big floppy had on, cuz it kept me a little dry. Not that much, though, cuz I was still pretty wet when we got to the car. I thought it was HILARIOUS though.

Lets Do Lunch

So Daddy and I went out to lunch with some dude today. He was pretty cool, but the REALLY cool thing was that he gave us a pair of tickets to the College World Series, which is played right here in town.

I was totally excited, but then I realized that we had only two tickets, so I decided it would be better if I stayed home with Mommy. I would hate for her to get lonely. Daddy will have to go with one of his friends.

I hope he can find a way to have fun without me.

Pullin' My Weight

Well, after just over 17 months of hanging around, I decided today it is time to start helping out around the house a bit. Up to now, I took the front half of cleaning - I made the mess.

But today, Daddy was folding my clothes and I picked up some of my PJs (the ones with puppies on them). Daddy asked me if I could put them in the PJ drawer. I knew where that was, so I did. I walked over to the drawer, opened it, then put them in and closed it. Daddy was proud. Then, he handed me another set of Jams (the ones that say "Giggle Alert") and we did it again. Then we did it with Hearts, Frogs and Monkeys. We even did it with the white and blue ones Daddy bought me that are probably for boys.

Now I wonder when I will start getting an allowance for all this work.

Weekend Update

OK, so this last weekend was a big one. Mommy and Daddy took me to Iowa City so we could get our new house. They were having a lot of flooding there, so it was really sad to see. Luckily for us, our new house is on high ground and OK, but lots of other places aren't. It sounds like the water will still be there when we move too.

But as for my new house, it is totally awesome. I am so excited I can't even talk about it. First off, I have my own bedroom that is big and has all kinds of room for my crib and really nice windows in it. It is also white, so Daddy says I can pick whatever color I want for the walls.

On top of that, there are TWO levels, connected by stairs with thick carpet so when you fall down the steps it doesn't hurt. I know that from experience. I didn't think it was a big deal until I saw Daddy flying down at me with a scared look on his face. But I was fine. I only made it down to the landing.

But once you get down the steps, however you do it, there is MORE rooms. In fact, there is one big one that Daddy says can be the play room. I gotta get some more toys to fill it up.

And you know how we have that sliding door in the apartment that goes out to the deck? Well, we have one of those too but it is much bigger. BUT, we also have a sliding door downstairs that goes out into a BACKYARD. Dude, I spent some time in the backyard this weekend and it is most likely the coolest place ever. You can run and run and run and still have grass to run in. And we have neighbors, who also have backyards - one of which has a puppy in it, and one that has three little girls in it.

I think I can have some friends!!

But after all that fun, we left Iowa City early so we wouldn't be using resources that others need.

When we got home, we celebrated Father's Day by going to the mall and buying me an Elmo doll. Then, after we went home, I gave Daddy his present that Mommy and I snuck out to get. He loved it.

Here's me signing Daddy's card...

She's Only Seventeen

Happy Birthday to me, who turns 17 months old today. Looks like some of Daddy's friends lost some money, cuz they didn't think I would last that long under his eye.

Takin' a roadie to Iowa City tomorrow so Mommy and Daddy can officially buy our new house. I'm just looking forward to seeing the darn thing. I mean, gee, why would they want my advice, right? I'm only going to live there too.

That being said, I'm fairly pumped about the whole thing. And Daddy says it isn't underwater like half the town is. That flooding stuff is no fun.

I'll give you the full report when we get back.

Congrats Mommy

I just wanted to take time today to say congratulations to my Mommy. A while ago she took a big test in Chicago while I went to Grandma and Grandpa's to bump my head and look at puppies for a week.

Yesterday she got a letter that said she passed, and I am very proud of her.

She is the smartest Mommy I have ever had and I love her lots and lots.

Late Night Games

Saturday night Mommy and Daddy and I all went down by the river where they were having a thing called Taste of Omaha. It was pretty fun. You got to walk around and see all the interesting people and eat by the river. I had some of Daddy's barbecue, which was tasty, and some of Mommy's Jamaican Jerk Chicken, which was a little spicy.

The whole time we were there, there were dark clouds moving in. Luckily, they didn't bring any storms... well, not while we were there anyway.

Because apparently Mommy and Daddy played a game of Tornado Saturday night without me. They heard the sirens announcing the start of the game around 2:30 am, but they didn't bother waking me up for it.

That's OK, though. Babies can't be up all night playing games. And the tornado didn't come close to our house either.

Claire's Anatomy

Skirts

OK, so it has been skirt weather lately. Here are the pros and cons...

PRO - skirts look super cute

CON - you fall down and skin your knee

PRO - skirts keep you cool when it is too hot

CON - you fall down and skin your knee

PRO - skirts are comfortable

CON - you fall down and skin your knee

PRO - skirts make you look like a big girl

CON - you fall down and skin your knee


All that said, I'm still wearing 'em.

The Puppy Market

We seemed to have found a nice Saturday tradition. We go to the Puppy Market.

What the Puppy Market is, basically, is a bunch of farmers gather together in the Old Market downtown. They bring a bunch of fresh food like vegetables, cheeses, meats, pastries and all kinds of stuff. There is also some clothes and toys and even furniture.

And they do all this for seemingly one reason... to lure puppies. Mommy and Daddy push me around in my stroller while they look at all the food, while I get to look at all the puppies. And man, there are puppies everywhere. Sometimes they even come up to the stroller and sniff your head.

I'm a big fan of the Puppy Market, and I can't wait until next Saturday.