++One more to go++

How is it that our little girl is almost one? If you ask her, she'll tell you how is it that she isn't sixteen quite yet? The thing about Claire is that pictures, no matter how many you take, just don't capture her true personality. She's funny (and she knows it). She likes to show off her tricks (which include "so big" and "oh no"). And she almost knows how to walk and she likes to practice, practice, practice.
We got her some new shoes with soft rubbery soles so she can practice outside too. She loves them. She goes and finds them in the morning and demands that we put them on. And even though she squirms through every diaper change, she holds out her foot patiently if you are putting on her shoes.

She is only a so-so model for me anymore (sigh). But I did get this shot of her for my photo class. Like it? My teacher did.

This was another shot for my class (we were working on principles of composition). I just couldn't quite get her to look AT me.

A little more about the not-so-little-one.

++She says "duck" and uses it appropriately. She carried around on the birthday card we bought for Grandma that had a duck on the front saying "duh duh duh". She also says mama and dada and baba which we think means she wants her bottle (and to go to sleep!).

++She will not wear a bib. I have given up. I am going to order her some of those that are towels with the holes in them so she can't get them off as easily. I guess I could find tie ones too. Target had some of those towel ones but they had Elmos that were bigger than Claire all over them. As hard as I tried, I just couldn't get my arm to put them in my cart.

++She discovered something very important somewhere between ten and eleven months: that she can express her opinion! Now, as much as I want my daughter to be unafraid to stand up for herself...this is a little early. The best part is the flop to the floor and kick her legs move when she doesn't get what she wants.

++She still puts any and everything in her mouth. Wyatt wasn't like this. She also has lots of sharp teeth and will bite you if you go fishing for what's in there.

++She is in that stage where she likes to put things in other things. This is cute to watch...we just now need to sort through the trash cans from her room, etc. for stray balls or little people.

Now...off to planning her birthday party. Sniff...sniff.

++Twenty on the twentieth++

I'm so far behind with blogging. Some of you may have notice that I have been back-dating the old posts. I just can't skip over stuff. I'm going to have to or I'll never catch up. Here's a quick summary of what's been happening in our house as we kick off 2010.

1. We rang in the new year with New York and then promptly went to bed. We were all still a little jet lagged from our trip. Crazy, I know. Honestly, I can't remember the last New Year's Eve where I had more than one drink.

2. I started a photography course. It is kicking my butt. I waited on a waiting list for a year to get into it. It's online. You get assignments, they get critiqued. You have to shoot everything in manual. I'm finally learning what all those buttons on my camera do. I'll post some of my assignments sometime soon.

3. The only toy that has been played with in our house for weeks are the couch cushions. No joke. They come off every day, both kids climb all over them and laugh. The rest of the toys stay put away in their homes. Maybe we'll get Claire a new couch for her birthday?

4. I think it has been sunny twice in January.

5. We are up to our eyeballs in planning for our remodel. They will kick it off the first week in February. Coming soon: a brand spankin' new laundry room/treadmill room/craft room (if they would only make basements none of this would be necessary!) and a super-duper mudroom crafted out of our former laundry room. Stay tuned for details.

6. I wonder if anyone will keep reading all the way to 20.

7. Cora came to our house for the day last weekend while Larson took his first ski lesson (which you can probably read about on Susan's blog). It was really fun. I find you really get to know kids when their parents aren't around. Wyatt enjoyed being her caretaker.

8. Wyatt is obsessed with our collection of adult games (like trivial pursuit--get your mind out of the gutter!). He insists we take them down off the shelf to "play" them.

9. Wyatt went to the dentist for the first time today. He did ok. He wouldn't get in the chair but he cooperated on my lap. We practiced a few times in the days leading up to it. On the way there he asked me "How is Dr. Woo going to count my teeth in the back? My tongue is in the way." I love that kid. He's an over-analyzer just like his mom.

10. We're starting to book stays in the Pacyna hotel for spring. If you are interested in making one, let us know.

11. I can't watch stuff about Haiti without thinking about the kids and tearing up. Kinda just wants to make you fly there and bring a bunch home with you, doesn't it?

12. I volunteered to be the Class Rep for Wyatt's preschool class. I thought it might help me meet people. It was a bad idea. Don't ever do it...I guess someone has to do it...it's just not for me. All I do is ask people for money.

13. As of today, we have been gone from Memphis for six months. Crazy. More on that later.

14. My list of resolutions, as always, is too long to post here. Maybe if I did I would be held to some of them. I asked Mark the other day if we'll ever reach a point where we're not trying to "be better" about something...doubt it. Perhaps it's the perfectionist in me.

15. One of the resolutions is to eat less-processed stuff and cook more. I realized I gave up on cooking and because I was determined to only prepare one meal for the family, we were all eating 3-year-old food. So far it's not going so great (for Wyatt). My goal for him in 2010: add one food to your list of acceptable foods. One.

16. Claire is trying to decide if she needs one nap or two. I'm not sure where I stand on this one. I guess I vote for one, as long as it's a LONG one!

17. Today is my half birthday. I think I'll buy myself a new laundry room sink or something.

18. The outdoor pests have left us alone for the most part recently. I type this with hesitation. I know some of you have been looking for an update, though.

19. I'm almost there. Really running out of things to say.

20. This was typed from our new computer that we had to get because I crashed my old one with too many photos. I can't say I love it, but it is much better that it doesn't keep shutting down on me all the time.

There you have it! Kind of caught up. Photos soon. We're living somewhere between the old and new computer and so are the photos so it makes things a little more difficult.

++Christmas Wisconsin style++

The crazy crew made it unscathed (for the most part) through their travels across the country to Christmas round two. Wyatt was fabulous on the plane. With Claire it was a lot like holding a hamster. We spent almost a week with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Matt, Aunt Taylor and Busha.
Matt got Taylor "Rock Band" for Wii and we had lots of fun trying it out. Wyatt liked to join in on the fun too. Hint to parents: if you want your child to sing their entire Christmas program from school for you, make them think they are a rock star.
Uncle Matt taught Wyatt the Pacyna family tradition of sword-fighting with the wrapping paper rolls (a.k.a. tooterloos).

Hands-down my favorite photo of Christmas this year. Not posed. Wyatt and Claire checking out their loot from Santa.

Here's Claire sampling the cookies that Santa left on the plate.

The family Christmas photo. This is the best you're gonna get.

Here's the happy smiley kid that we see every day but disappears when the camera comes out. The secret? Being attacked by his alligator puppet. This was a request to Santa (????).

Claire testing out her new piano from Grandma and Grandpa. She loves this thing.

The other attendees at Christmas: Matt, Busha (at 101!) and Taylor.

Merry Christmas! Again!

++It just snuck up on us++

Someone we know turned ten months old on Christmas Eve. She's much smilier than this picture would let on. Here's a little about Claire at ten months:
++ She thinks she is three...or sixteen.
++ She is a crawling pro and FAST. Also she's super nimble she can get from her knees to sitting or pull-up on something in nano-seconds. Sometimes she tries to crawl so fast she gets a little ahead of herself and does a faceplant. We try not to laugh and applaud the effort.
++She knows her mom and dad and Wyatt. She likes us best. That is good.
++She is a waving machine. She loves that she has figured out a way to greet her people and greet them she does. Teenage boys seem to be her favorite. We are in so much trouble.
++She says mama and dada and something that sort of sounds like "hi" to accompany her wave. The rest of the time she speaks her own language.
++She eats anything we put in front of her which is such a treat. We know it's only a matter of time before she realizes she can have an opinion. No doubt she'll learn by example from her brother.
++She got her first taste of juice on the airplane to Wisconsin. She wouldn't set the cup down. We haven't given her any since. It worked great to get her to swallow though!
++She is the lightest sleeper known to man.
++She still loves shoes (eating more than wearing). She's wearing her first patent leather shoes with her first pair of tights in the picture above. I tear up just thinking about it. Now if her hair could just grow a little bit and we could start with the bows.
++We continue to enjoy seeing the unique personalities in each of our kids. Wyatt was always so cautious. Claire just loves to be in the middle of it all. It doesn't seem that she is afraid of much. Again...we are in for it.
We sure do love our little bear (or Miss P, Princess P, Little One...depending on who is talking to her).

++Christmas round one++

Like every year, we celebrated Christmas twice this year. After our Santa train ride we pretended it was Christmas with my family.

Claire opened her first gift. As she was opening it I commented that I wonder what she would do because she had never opened a gift before. It was perfect--my sister gave her another lovey (a hint hint that we need to be washing the stink out of them more often) and Claire just giggled and beamed when she saw what was in the box.
Most of the time it was chaos of kids and presents.

The boys got umbrellas from Nana and Bompa.

Wyatt ended the night with his big surprise gift. A box told him to go outside and he was delighted to find...

A new sandbox! He hasn't let it die that we left the old one in TN. We opted for the "table" this time due to all the friends around here that would no doubt love to dig in a sandbox at night. It's great because we have it up on the deck in a spot that's covered so he can play rain or shine (but mostly rain these days).

Merry Christmas!

++Santa Train++

Susan and Brett tipped us off to a great Pacific Northwest treasure--the Santa Train. It's a simple concept: ride a train to a depot, get off, visit Santa, have a cookie and ride it back. What under-fiver wouldn't think that was fabulous?
Here are the troops approaching the train. What a beautiful snowy-kissed sunny winter day. Ha! Remember we are in Washington so it was a dreary, gray, drizzly winter day.
We boarded the train and found some seatmates.

Even Claire enjoyed riding unrestrained..

This was as close as Wyatt got to Santa (Claire's traumatic experience was already posted).

The crew, listening to the tuba band play Christmas carols and waiting to board the train.

++You better watch out...++

...you better not cry...

Clearly my kids didn't get that memo this year. We have Santa pictures taken at the same place every year for each year of my childhood. It was always so fun to get them out and look at them. I started this tradition with Wyatt and his buddies and then we proceeded to start moving all over the place so that fell apart. I still intended to get the pictures somewhere. So while my parents were here we took them to the mall. This is the closest Wyatt would even get to Santa (and don't get me started to what it took to get him in an outfit for the photo. I went with the Christmas tee which I guess is less painful for him than a sweater.)

This was Claire's response to Santa (it was actually a few days later with a Santa where cameras were allowed...I just couldn't spend $20 at the mall on a picture of only one of my children--who is screaming her head off.)
Funny...I thought all this stuff was supposed to be fun? Maybe next year.