Friday, August 28, 2009

Relaxing Sunday

Can you think of a better way to spend the afternoon? A picnic with the family at Pineridge Winery with sandwiches from Dean & Deluca and Cab Franc from Pineridge. Perfection!























Baby Food

Claire's Dahl

1 can artichoke hearts steamed & pureed
1 zuchini steamed and pureed
1/4 cup low sodium organic chicken broth
1/4 cup organic red lentils, cooked
1/8 tsp curry
1/8 tsp coriander
1/16 tsp tumeric

mix together and enjoy! I modified this recipe from my William Sonoma baby cookbook because I didn't have all the ingredients the other recipe called for. Claire really liked it. I puree stuff because Claire still has a bit of a texture thing.

Meme's "refried" beans

1 can organic pinto beans
1 tsp canola oil
water as needed

heat oil in small pan over medium heat. Add beans and warm through, smash beans adding water as needed to moisten and thin the beans. Add garlic and a teensy bit of salt to taste.

If I don't these to Claire's liking, she'll spit them out and smash them herself before eating them. Any surface goes for smashing, her hand, the tray or the back of her head.

Baby Chicken

Organic chicken thighs (as many or few as you like)
1/4 cup organic low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp 21 seasoning salute (trader joes)

cook chicken in a pan until cooked through, adding chicken broth and seasoning for flavor and moisture.

Grandma's soup modified for Claire

1/2 can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup baby chicken (recipe above)
1/4 cup organic low sodium chicken broth
1 organic carrot steamed and pureed
organic green beans steamed and pureed

warm ingredients in pan until at desired temp.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

10 months old - big week

So many things have happened this past week. I intended to post about Claire's 10 month milestone last thursday on the actual day but time has gotten away from me. Claire was 10 months on August 13th, it was the last day of summer with her meme (my mom) as she is back at school this week.

On Friday Claire and I had the joy and pleasure of welcoming the newest member of the crew to the fold (the crew my friends from high school were called). Decklyn Rose was born two weeks ago. Claire was unintersted in darling Decklyn and took more interst in a hula hoop offered to her by Michele's mom Beth and Michele's sister, Jenny. That is significant thing number three. Claire was captivated by Jenny and her shirt she reached for Jenny and did not cry when I passed her off. Perhaps Claire is turning a corner in her mommy only phase.

Saturday Claire took her first ride on BART and was thoroughly entertained by the lady sitting behind us decked out in costume jewelry and bright pink nails. We got to visit with Auntie B and a dear friend that I haven't seen in a long time, Crosby. Unfortunately I left my camera at home so no pictures from the afternoon. She also decided on Saturday that she likes Josh, not that she didn't before but she always preferred me if I was in eyesight. This weekend she played contentedly with him! Yay!

Sunday, Claire makes it through the nursery while Josh and I enjoy Sunday school that I haven't been to in months. I didn't get paged and she was only fussing mildly when I picked her up.

And as if that wasn't enough for a week (well, five days really), Claire is sporting something new in her smiles these days. A tooth! That caught me totally surprised and has Josh lamenting how quickly she is growing up.

Claire's new hobbies this month include walking around the house from fingers to furniture, adding "ma ma ma" to her "word" repetoire and eating ground chicken. I discovered that our step stool makes a great "walker" for her and gives much needed relief to my back.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Claire in Video



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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Tahoe Encore

Two weekends, one lake - I love the summer. This weekend the whole family traveled up to Tahoe. Bless Brieanne and Brandon for pretending to be sardines and squeeze in with us on the drive to and from the lake. The weather was a bit more predictable this weekend - no thunderstorms and little cloud cover. We remembered to get the chips so we didn't have to play poker with matchsticks.

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Josh was giving Claire an early start in long boarding.

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Brieanne and Brandon hanging in the kayak. This was Brieanne's first time kayaking.

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Look at that synchronization! Teamwork! Good job dad!

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Kayaking at Angora lakes, no Claire did not go out on the Kayak with us.

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Angora Lakes hike

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A rare snooze in the beco after an afternoon playing on the beach.

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Brieanne decided she liked Claire's swimsuit better than her own. Fortunately for Claire, Brieanne has big knees.

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Brieanne and Brandon enjoying a beach beverage.

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An afternoon walk on the beach with Auntie B.

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A tender moment with dad.

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A mom moment at the beach.

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Claire, you've just been awarded "Super baby" of the year, how do you feel?

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I think this was hour four in the car (should have been a three and a half hour trip) and we were nowhere near home. This is Claire's "I'm so tired, are we there yet?" face.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Lake Tahoe...my summer get away

It has been years since I was at the Lake during a thunderstorm. I had to settle for a few thunder claps and some clouds. It was enough though and it didn't scare Claire which was a plus. I spent the weekend relaxing with my parents. Josh had to stay home and get some work done.

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This is Claire's goat cheese face. She LOVES her goat cheese.

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Claire gnawing on a piece of french bread...

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My dad taught my mom and I a few variations of poker but since the chips were in the room Claire was napping in, we had to settle for match sticks.

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We took a nature walk at Taylor's creek. Such beautiful scenery.

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My mom got to practice her narrating skills for school on Claire. Claire was enthralled.