Little Mechanic, etc.

Cousins Stone, Mercy, and Wyatt sent some toys over for Claire recently and right at first, she didn't know what to think about them. A LOT of them made noise, and we are pretty quiet around our house. However, she has learned to like most, if not all of the toys that we decided to keep. Whenever she plays with this schoolbus (one of Stone's personal favorites), she does two things. First, she pulls out the little girl. Don't ask me how she knows that the girl is the one for her, but it's always the girl. And second, she turns the bus over and plays with the wheels. So, what do you think? First female mechanic in the family? Hey - in today's economy, I'd encourage that over a degree in liberal arts!
Mommy is starting to get a little freedom to get some things done around the house even when Claire isn't napping now that she is so much more capable of playing alone. Sitting up and able to get around a bit, she shows some signs of crawling, but is sooo much more interested in walking, which she does on her tippy toes. I never have to worry about leaving her alone while she plays, however, because she is never alone. The putty is her constant companion, as seen here.
The pets have been better with her than I would ever have imagined. Colson is scared of her, but he's afraid of EVERYTHING! Soozie, who we initially worried about is actually great with Claire. In fact, this morning, we played pony and Claire rode around on Soozie's back. And Irving (Putty) only draws the line when she bites him, and even then all he does is walk a little further away from her and plop back down. It is so great to have such good pets to grow up with her.

Everybody loves daddy-daughter pics! Here are the two of them in their boots. Our next-door neighbors have a 13 month old little girl and a month old little boy (no, not on purpose), and Claire is happily sandwiched in between these two ready-made playmates. They have been so kind to pass along Katie's clothes and shoes to us, and Claire is shown here in a cute pair of black boots that Katie sadly was never able to wear. God bless hand-me-downs! I think I'll hardly have to buy this girl anything to wear or play with until she's much bigger!