School Pictures

Now I *really* feel like a parent -- here are Mary Clare's first class photos. The individual shot turned out better than I had feared -- at least she's not crying!! She is really enjoying school now. When we drive within a block or two of the building now, she shouts from the backseat -- "Me School!! Me School!!" She really loves her teachers and every morning before School we pretend to call Miss Denise ("Knees") and Miss Asa ("A-a"). She wants me to be sure to tell them that she is coming. When I picked her up today some of the boys in the class came over to the stroller to see Erin. Mary Clare went up to them, pushed one out of the way and said, "My Baby Erin!"

We've had a really nice few days here - the weather has been fabulous - in the 70s and 80s and sunny. This past weekend Mary Clare was invited to two birthday parties so she had alot of fun (and cake)! A funny thing happened at one of the parties that demonstrated to me just how sleep-deprived I am. We had just arrived at the party and all the kids were playing outside. I was holding Erin and Roger had gone to get us something to drink. I was talking to some of the other moms when I realized I didn't see Mary Clare. I stopped talking and called over to Roger, "Where's Mary Clare?!" Well, the other moms didn't miss a beat -- "She's holding onto your LEG!" Well, sure enough she was! I didn't even realize it.

Speaking of sleep deprivation, Erin is still not sleeping much. She's gotten down to a routine of going to sleep after Mary Clare (about 9ish) and then sleeping until around 6 am with only one feeding in the middle. But she just will NOT nap! She takes a maximum of a 1 hour nap in the afternoon and catnaps in the morning. I think she may be teething because she just chews and chews on her fingers. I give her some Tylenol but it doesn't help much, and she's not coordinated enough yet to use a teething ring. It hasn't slowed her growth though -- she's in 9 month clothes now!