Month: July 2010

How many pictures can we take for a little girls first birthday?

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com
I won’t write to much about the last week, but suffice it to say that we celebrated Clare’s birthday in style. Just for a countdown we had:
  • One year of Clare
  • Two birthday parties
  • Three Grandmas in attendance (OK, one was a great-grandma)
  • Four dozen blueberries consumed (approximately)
  • Five hundreds smiles and squeals of delight
  • Six days Clare’s Mom and Dad wish they could spend sleeping
OK, I’ll stop now but you get the idea. Also happening in the Mac House this last week was car buying and selling, nanny searching (our beloved nanny Mary is leaving us – sob!), and the usual work/baby balance. We’re tired around here.
These pictures are from Clare’s actual birthday. We had a BBQ with the grandparents on the deck and then some present-opening.



Here are some pictures from the last several days, including some nice ones playing with her new toys and her Grandmas.




Lastly, here are some pictures of the big party this last weekend. We had a BBQ in a local park, which was a lot of work toting the BBQ, the chairs, and everything but it was lovely.







Happy First Birthday Sweetheart!!

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com

Dear Clare,

Today is your very first birthday. You have been blessing your lives for one whole year, which seems like a very short and very long amount of time.
You started the day with a little cuddle with me in the rocking chair, which is how we usually start our days. You snuggled into my lap with your blankie, looked up at me and said “book?” So, of course, we had to read one. You’re in quite the arts and letters phase right now, and love books and music more than anything. After our book we went into see Daddy and all cuddled in bed together singing Happy Birthday. You love it when we sing to you.
You celebrated your actual Birth Day in grand style surrounded by some the people who love you most – your parents, Grandmas Carol and T, and Grandpa John. We ate your favorite foods for dinner (turkey, pesto pasta with cheese, veggies and bread) and you devoured a fruit tart from Ken’s Bakery for dessert. Literally you dissected the fruit tart until there was nothing left. You do love your fruit.
Before you were born I couldn’t have imagined what a joyful little person you would be. When you smile it’s like sunshine and when you’re excited the joy and love just come shooting out of you. There is nothing so wonderful as hearing you give great big belly laughs, though really only your Daddy can elicit those. The rest of us are content to just to get you to giggle and chuckle.
You can be quite headstrong and stubborn, though you’re pretty even-tempered unless you’re hungry. When you’re hungry then Watch Out World! For the most part you’re easy going but when you decide to dig your heels in then there is no budging you. I look forward to seeing what your passions will be. I hope you will your strong will for the powers of good 🙂
While your daddy can get you to belly laugh just by looking at you (I swear) I prefer our quieter times. There is no greater feeling in the world to my, my sweet darling, than when you snuggle into my arms and let your body relax into mine. I hope to always give you a place that makes you feel so safe and content. You won’t understand this until you have your own sweet babies, but taking care of you is the most awesome responsibility of my life. It is also my greatest joy.
I look forward to seeing what the next year, and the many years after that, bring to you.
Happy Birthday Clare Elizabeth!
Your loving Mama

Movin’ Cruisin’ and Scootin’

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com

Nothing is safe these days from Clare’s exploration. Babyproofing is nothing compared to toddler proofing! No drawer is unpulled, no string unpulled, no container undumped, no button unpushed, etc. It’s so fun to watch her explore her world! She just delights in finding reactions in things, especially when something makes a noise. Wooden toys are banged together, music is played, bells are jingled and when it’s silent… well, that’s when we have to watch out!
Clare continues to be very vocal. “Book” is a favorite word and it usually gets her read to. She calls out to the “kitty” and “dog” whenever she can. She’s started saying “bunny” sometimes and a variety of other words that we can’t recognize.

One of the cutest things lately is that Clare has started clapping for herself when she does something she’s proud of. She’ll stand on her own and then will start clapping for herself and laughing. She also does this when she completes a game or puts a ring on the toy. It was pretty cute today when I was putting away her puzzle and she started clapping for me when I put the puzzle pieces in place.

This last set of pictures is from this last weekend where we all went to Jameson Square Park and let Clare do her first wading in the fountain. Between a sunny day and a Bastile Day celebration the park was pretty crowded, but you can see that she loved it.



Lastly, here’s a video of her new trick – walking behind her new push toy. I took her outside today and she walked for a whole block, which is pretty good for some short legs! She also stumbled a little bit and earned her first skinned knee. It’s hard to watch her sweet little feet, hands and knees get skinned up, calloused, and bruised but I know it’s part of growing up.

I’m so glad to be on this side of it

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com

I was reminiscing today with J about what we were doing a year ago at this time. It was a few days before my due date, I was trying to come up with things (anything) to keep my mind off of how big and uncomfortable I was, it was really hot and we were getting fed up with waiting for the baby. And we still had two weeks before Clare actually came into the world. I’m so glad to be on this side of it!

At that time I had no idea what things would be like now. I remember telling someone that I could only handle things in ‘infant clothing size’ bites. I was washing and putting away the newborn clothes and I could handle thinking about a newborn. I had bought a few 3 month size onesies because I could handle thinking about having a 3 month old. But I didn’t wash or even think about anything beyond that size because it was to much to deal with. Now I’ve put away all of those clothes and am wrapping my head around shopping in the ‘toddler department’ for Clare and buying kid toys instead of baby toys.
This little toddler is quickly overtaking baby Clare. Toddler Clare pulls up on everything and is getting pretty darn good at cruising and standing on her own. She’s taken to the walking (or trying to walk) pretty well and is fairly steady considering she’s only been pulling up on things for a couple of weeks.

Clare’s vocabulary is expanding and she’s starting to use words at their appropriate times to convey things. We were at a restaurant last weekend and she reached over to the table next to us (very close to ours), tapped the man sitting there on the shoulder and said “Hi!” She also says “Hi” in the mirror and when she greets someone. Today she pointed to someone walking behind us and said “Bay-Bee.” The man was holding a baby, she was right! She’s also saying “dak-u” in the same singsong voice that we often say “thank you” when she gives us things. She hasn’t quite figured that one out yet – we say thank you when she gives us things, not her, but she’ll get there.

It’s finally, FINALLY, turned into summer in Portland after a long, wet and cold spring. Here is some photographic evidence that it did indeed warm up and the sun actually came out. The first pictures are from a Sunday Parkways in Peninsula Park Rose Garden. the last one is our first grilled meal on our little deck this year. We were so excited that we took a picture!