Claire and the Great Outdoors

There are few things Claire likes more than going outside.

I think the list goes something like this:
1. Goldfish crackers
2. Ham
3. Going outside
4. Books
5. Mom & Dad

Hey, at least we made the top five.

We usually try to get outside once in the morning and at least once in the afternoon/evening. But there are some days that life is too busy or the weather is icky, and we can't make it out on those days.

These days are especially hard for Claire.

She understands that in order to go outside we have to put on our shoes. So, about every 15 minutes she'll bring me a shoe, usually one of mine. She'll shove it at my foot and grunt at me until I put it on. Then she goes to fetch the other one. Once, she brought me a flip flop back and I told her that it didn't match the shoe she already brought me. So she went back and got the match. She gets her genius from me, I think.

Anyway, so she'll bring my shoes, insist I put them on and then her arms shoot straight in the air and her eyes fill to the brim with desperation. Pleeeeeeeeease, take me outside, Mom.

Most of the time, we oblige. Her sweet eyes and delightful smile are truly hard to deny. But on those icky days where going outside just isn't in the cards, we replay this scenario at least a half dozen times. Each time, I pick her up and tell her we can't go outside because it's icky. About 15 minutes later, she brings me my shoes again. She gets her stubbornness from her father, I think.













P.S. Grace says hi, too and wanted me to tell you not to worry, that soon there will be a post about her. And then she bit her sister. Foreshadowing, anyone?