INK Museum

Last week we visited the INK Museum in Gainesville, GA (Interactive Neighborhood for Kids) and we had a wonderful time (Claire had a blast, we enjoyed watching). The museum contains a series of rooms furnished as various commercial/public centers (restaurant, doctor's office, school, courtroom, dentist, bank, music room, etc.) as well as an antique fire truck, a hollowed airplane, a modern police car, a fiberglass cow with working udders, and much more. There were also several private birthday party rooms.

This was the perfect childrens' museum for kids that might be a tad too young for bigger ones like the Atlanta Children's Museum. We'd never seen anything like it and we look forward to visiting again.

Still learning how to wield the toy knife... it's effective but thank goodness for rubber

The apron was too long but the chef's hat was just right

"I diyd eit!"

Checking labels for preservatives and processed ingredients

Claire picked up plenty of veggies in the store - and not one cookie

Empty boxes can be confusing

Claire also found plenty of fruits that she likes to eat

Unfortunately, plastic cheese looks more real than plastic pineapple

The teeny tiny shopping carts are adorable

James had a pretty good view in the baby carrier

The no-sand sandbox was a favorite; I'm guessing because of the ducks

A fiberglass cow with rubber udders that squirt white water into foam in a bucket... who thought of that?

She looks so grown up!

A working choo-choo with gadgets that activate with a doorbell button - cool!

Claire read daddy a story

Claire knows this scale and the doctor's office from her Max the Monkey game

We hoped that this practice might help avoid a tantrum next time at the doctor's office

Paging Doctor Claire

She actually wore the stethoscope

Doctor Claire gives Daddy a checkup

 No early fantasies about our children becoming doctors... she just looks really cute

Man and Woman doctor puppets; the woman was Dr. Alli... obviously

Mommy shows Dr. Claire how to take care of baby

James enjoyed his naps that day, and was thankful he didn't have to play the patient

Claire practices brushing teeth

Say aaaaaaaahhhhhhh....

...and eeeeeeeeeeeeee

At the bank, there was an ATM and a desk. Claire knew exactly what to do.

(if you look really close, you notice that it's a computer mouse)

A tea party set! She knew exactly what to do with that.

Near the end of the day, why not unwind with some books

James had two naps, two snacks and a lot of cuddly time in Mommy's arms

Peek-a-boo!

Reading, Pancakes, and Bath

Claire has been asking to hold James a lot lately.  We compromise with letting them sit together in the rocking chair.

Then Claire likes to read him a book.

Daddy made me blueberry pancakes!

Bath time for James

J is for James!

A Few Pictures

Back Porch Picnic 

Playtime at the park

Claire's attempt to escape the inevitable nose-wipe 

Happy to be with Daddy!

James 3 Months, Claire 22 Months

James is growing stronger everyday.  He can hold his head up for long periods of time during "tummy time," and he sits up well in his Bumbo seat during meal time.  He loves to make eye contact and smile with someone--especially Claire.  He enjoys his playmat, watching me work in the kitchen from his bouncy seat, swinging, watching Claire, and riding in his carseat (as long as the car or stroller doesn't stop!).  He's old enough to be left in the church childcare now, so I resumed my piano teaching one morning a week.  He's finicky about his bottles and often puts up a fight before taking one.  We have a little bath chair that lets him take a bath at the same time as Claire.  He doesn't mind the bath so much, but doesn't like getting out of the water and getting dressed.  He still has some fussy times during the day but is doing really well at night.  He goes down around 7:30 pm and often sleeps past 3:30 am; after a feeding he'll go back down again until about 8:00 am.  He's still sleeping swaddled in his rock-n-sleep (the latest attempt to move to the crib didn't last very long).  He takes several naps during the day, including one fairly long one in the afternoons.  He is wearing size 2 diapers and starting to outgrow some of his 3 month clothes.  He eats every 2.5 to 3 hours during the day.

Claire still continues to impress people with her vast vocabulary and clear pronunciations.  She talks in sentences and phrases. She transitions quickly from happy Claire to full-blown temper tantrums when she doesn't immediately get her way, but back again when she is obliged.  She loves to play and does more and more pretend play everyday.  She's particularly cute taking care of her baby dolls and stuffed animals.  One of her Bible study teachers laughed at how she was rocking and taking care of a doll while simultaneously doing other things around the room--I guess she's been watching me multitask while caring for James!  She enjoying going to the park and we've had some beautiful spring-like weather lately.  She doesn't care too much for slides lately but loves swinging and exploring and playing in the sandbox.  She has started to sing some songs but doesn't like to do it if we request it and she knows we're listening.  I've heard her sing through "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep" almost perfectly.  She also loves to listen to her Kindermusik CDs.

Claire really enjoys her Bible.  She looks through it for her favorite stories--Adam and Eve, Noah, Baby Moses, Jonah, Zacchaeus ("key-us"), and her all-time favorite--Baby Jesus.  She has gone from finishing sentences in her books to being able to say whole pages, but she would much rather have us read to her.  Other favorite books right now include "Go, Dog, Go," "Shiny Dinah," and "I'm a Big Sister."  We have started doing family devotions from a book after dinner each night.  The devotions include a quick story, prayer, and song.  She really enjoys the "de-oceans" book.

We all went out for breakfast last Saturday.  Before we left the house, Matt asked Claire if she wanted to have pancakes for breakfast.  Of course, she did and proceeded to say "pancakes! pancakes!" the whole way to the restaurant and until they were in front of her.  She ate a the pancakes happily and almost finished the very generously sized serving.  Today, Matt got up early and treated us all to homemade blueberry pancakes.  Claire loved them.  Later in the day, Matt caught Claire with her toy skillet and spatula "feeding" James.  He asked her what James was eating and she said "pancakes and blueberries!"

We had a picnic lunch on our back porch last week.  Claire doesn't often have the freedom to get up and walk around during a meal, so it ended up being a very long lunch as she was all over the porch and in and out of the house.  She likes to list things, and when Matt asked what she had for her picnic lunch she said "chicken and blueberries and carrots and blueberries and oranges and blueberries and chicken and milk!"  At one point when she headed inside she closed the door and said "Bye Bye Brooks!  See you later!"

I took both Claire and James to the zoo for the first time and we had a wonderful day.  The weather was mild and the zoo wasn't crowded.  James slept well in the double stroller and Claire loved seeing the animals and talking about what she saw.

Only rarely has Claire ever gotten a chance to run around the house in just a diaper; usually it was just a few moments in the morning or bedtime routine. We started to notice that she behaves especially goofy without any shirt or pants on, and so the last few weeks we've allowed her to indulge for a few minutes prior to taking a bath. During this time, she manages to get us all giggling just by being silly. It's an excellent way to end the day.

Claire is wearing mostly 2T clothes and size 4 diapers, but I've ordered size 5 for the next big box.  Her favorite foods are fruits, cheese, yogurt, and bread.  She eats her veggies well and drinks about two cups of milk everyday.  She naps from about 1:30 pm until 4:00 pm and goes to bed at 8:00 pm and sleeps until 7:30 am.

Grab Your Popcorn!

First up, we have Claire at dinnertime.  You can see my attempt at putting her hair in pigtails, her use of good manners, and her use of her big girl cup.



Next, we have Claire reciting her four memory verses that she's learned in Community Bible Study.



Here is Claire reciting her ABC's...well...sort of...



And now her version of the Itsy Bitsy Spider



Every night at dinner before we pray, we ask Claire what she's thankful for.  She goes through a string of people and animals that only varies slightly from night to night.  It's as follows: "Hannah, Michael, Mrs. Donna, and Ginny Dog and Stormie and Brooks...AMEN!"  Hannah and Michael are Claire's friends, Mrs. Donna is Michael's mom, Ginny is Dana and Andrew's dog, Stormie is my parent's cat, and Brooks is our cat.  She does seem to be very thankful for animals...future vet?  I'm still hoping to make the list someday.



And finally, Claire showing us the fantastic puzzle storage box that Matt made for her.



I hope you enjoyed viewing what I captured in one afternoon with the camera!