Father's Day revisited

Yes, it's been a week. But we can still celebrate Claire's first father's day.



It all started in the morning when Claire slipped dad a new polo shirt and pair of khakis when he wasn't looking. She even helped him untie the ribbon.





She practiced crawling at just about every opportunity possible, including a stint atop the kitchen peninsula. She also dressed up as dad a bit



That evening, she helped dad grill some cedar-planked salmon.



Dad certainly doesn't need a special day to feel special about this daughter.

Peek-A-Boo

Scenes from Claire's favorite game.





Need we say more?

Clarification

Photos from the last post, "We're Back," were taken by Noelle. Hardhats and sippy cups regrets any misunderstanding that might have been created by not properly crediting her able photography.

We're back

We've got a new computer keyboard! The blog is back.

Yes, those are elephants.
Last week, mom and daughter made it to the zoo.





Underwater light does great things for her.

Learning to crawl

Over Memorial Day weekend, something clicked inside Claire's head.

She discovered the desire to move. She suddenly realized that a whole new, if limited, world existed just beyond her arm's reach. And what a fun world it was!



On Tuesday, our last day off together, I took her to a local park, sat her down on a comforter and let her practice. What follows is a series of photos that show you how far she got.

It all began with a teething chain dangled in front of her face.



She gummed the large ring at the bottom and somehow separated it from the other links.




Then, she tumbled forward, surprising and pleasing herself.



From here, everything went backward. Literally.

The rest of the photos are taken from the exact same place. I did not move from my kneeling position at the end of the comforter.



I didn't realize what was happening at first. Then it dawned on me, as I looked back at a few of the pictures on the screen of my digital camera: Absent enough strength and coordination in her legs, she was using her strong arms to propel herself.








She didn't seem to mind being separated from her toy, either.

She continues practicing. We're getting houseproofing supplies tomorrow.