Bugs Galore!

Last Friday Jordan finished his second-to-last semester of nurse anesthesia school! He turned in lots and lots and lots of work, and then we headed to New Orleans! We ate some great poor boys at Parkway Bakery, (which is definitely worth finding if you're in NO and want excellent poor boys!) Then we went to the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium. It was really fun!

They had plenty of exhibits at Claire's eye-level. 

This was in the underground cave. The floor was squishy, leaves were on the ceiling (so it really felt like we were underground), and some bugs jumped out at us! Claire got to sit on the worm with Dad.

In the termite room

Worms!

Who can resist sitting in an empty canoe?!!

Baby gators

Ride that gator!

Caterpillars undergoing metamorphosis to become butterflies. There were tons of them in there!

The darker ones were closer to being ready to emerge. I really liked seeing these.

Then we went through two sets of doors to the beautiful butterfly garden.  Those lights were HOT.

There's a butterfly on a plant to the left of Claire's knee in this picture. 

As we looked, we saw more and more butterflies. 

And just before we left, a big butterfly decided to land on my shorts. 

I'm glad we could spend some family time together to celebrate the conclusion of this semester! And I completely recommend the insectarium and butterfly garden. It was very fun!

Potty Time!

I putt off potty training Claire for various reasons: a number of upcoming long car trips, not having her in a big girl bed yet, and not wanting to deal with the inevitable messes that come when you enter that territory.

But a couple of weeks ago I just decided to go for it. I was tired of buying diapers, and I figured Claire could do it because she can talk so well. So we read a book (Big Girls Use the Potty!), I tried to stay home (but we actually never stayed home for an entire day), and I had her running around the house in nothing but a shirt. I moved the rug out of the living room, I spread blankets all over her room, (which is carpeted), and I tried to keep her in the living room or kitchen, (where I could easily wipe up any "spills"). On day 4, I believe, I put her in some panties. And since day 7, she has only worn a diaper/pull-up when she sleeps. Today is day 12, and she is doing great! She's had a couple of accidents, but thankfully they've been at home, (and I should have known better on those occasions!)

 Claire's potty chart provided some incentive for her to go potty.

 And M&M's and cookies helped, too!

Claire is excited to use the potty like a big girl, and I am thrilled that she has reached this milestone!

Lessons: Zoo Animals

Last week we talked about zoo animals. I think one of Claire's favorite things was to sing some songs about animals and act like them as we sang. (That's no surprise, really!) But she also threw fish into the water to feed the seals,

she made a monkey, 

and she glued stripes onto a zebra. 

These days Claire asks to do a class. - It's nice to know she likes them!

Blocks

We've been busy around here lately! More will come soon. But for now, rest assured that Claire loves to play with blocks these days. She likes building trains, capital buildings, shapes, and even letters. Sometimes she plays well by herself, and other times it's so sweet to hear, "Mom, do you want to play blocks with me?" I try to make a point to play with her as much as I can; I know she won't always want to play blocks with me!

Moody Gardens

While in Houston, Claire and I went to Moody Gardens with Grandma, Grandpa, Mel, Stephen, Kyle, Ryan, and Evan. It was pretty neat! (I think I'll remember it this time!)

Initially, the only thing Claire wanted to do was push the stroller. And since she found Ryan's stroller to push, Ryan wanted to push Claire's stroller.

Evan did very well during our day trip.

We started in the rain forest pyramid, where we got to see beautiful birds, monkeys, and plants up close and personal!

Claire always wanted to see the water.

I loved seeing the orchids!

I think it's safe to say we all had a good time!

Pineapple!

I really liked seeing all these birds together.

Look at those frogs!

Since Claire and I had been talking about the ocean that week, I made sure to show the ocean to her before we went into the aquarium pyramid.

A front row seat!

All the kids had fun with the touch tank.

Although she looks stunned, Claire actually did like the penguin exhibit.

After finishing at the aquarium, we discovered that it was POURING rain. Thanks, Steve and Stephen, for getting the cars a little closer. We still got pretty wet (okay, most people got completely soaked) on our way out, but then we went to Lupe Tortilla. And that was simply heavenly.