Claire's first Quad Tour

We took Claire on her first tour of the U of I quad today. She got her picture taken at the Alma Mater!

Then some strangers (Kara & Jake) thought we really needed to take a family picture.

Then we headed to Cold Stone Creamery where we treated Kara & Jake to some yummy ice cream!

Claire's first demo derby

A couple of weeks ago we found out that our friend Tony was going to be in the demo derby at the Fairbury fair. We happened to be free that night so we of course we took them up on the invitation to come watch. We got there with just enough time to check out the Fairbury Fair before the demo started.

Claire with Mr. Tony's car in the background. He was the red and blue #13.

Claire and daddy with her checkered flag. They passed these out too all of the kids in the stands.

Mr. Tony with his trophy. Not really sure why since he got last place, but he got his entry fee back and a trophy to go with it!

I don't think we'll be frequenting the demo derby scene, but it was a lot of fun to have someone to cheer for!

14 months

Time is flying by. We've done lots of things since my last blog entry but we haven't taken many pictures.



A few weeks ago we gave Claire her first ear of sweet corn and she LOVED it! She hates to wait for it to cool off and sometimes calls it a banana. We made a trip to the McLean County fair last weekend and picked up an ear of corn at the Pork Producers booth. It kept her entertained for over an hour!


Yesterday Claire turned 14 months old. She becomes more independent everyday and has developed quite the attitude. Since she wouldn't cooperate for the pictures, we decided to replace her with someone who doesn't throw fits and is potty trained!

We really didn't get a very good picture of Claire with the bear. She has figured out that she can see herself in the back of the camera. So, as soon as she sees the camera she yelss "MAMA" and takes off running toward me to see the picture in the back of the camera.

At 14 months Claire...

• throwssome serious fits
• likes to help daddy do chores
• carries Congo around upside down
• climbs on everything
• knows the signs for more, please, thank you, and all done
• says quite a few words like more, thank you, puppy, I, mama, dada, papa, Mamaw, nana (banana), Melmo (Elmo), and a lot of others that I can't think of right now.knows what cows, sheep, chicken, snakes, bees, monkeys, donkeys, horses, ducks, and pigs say (everybody knows pigs say LaLaLa right?)
• Knows what outside means and you better mean it when you say it.
• isn't one bit afraid of cows or pigs charging out her down the aisle in the barn, but is terrified of sleeping pigs.
• LOVES brushing her teeth
• has 9 teeth and a few more on the verge of poking through
• Folds her hands when we say prayers

I"m sure there are many other things that I'm missing. I'll try to be better about catching the every day things and post a little more often. But for now, I need to pack for vacation. That's right, we're headed to the State Fair!