Busy Autumn

It's been a busy month and a half at the Forman house...

Some things of note:

Claire had her first run-in with the cat after she cornered the poor kitty - Bailey swiped at her face leaving a few good scratch marks. (Luckily I had cut her claws recently and she missed her eye.) Both Claire and Bailey recovered within a few hours and are great friends again. "Hi Bailey kitty kitty kitty! Kitty says, 'MEOW'!"

Luckily, she healed quickly

We did the Kansas City Zoo Run in mid-September so all got to go to the zoo for free. Claire, of course, loved riding the carousel and seeing the animals...

Enjoying a post-run carousel ride

She got a bubble gun for her birthday and loves to "play bubbles" outside. Note the tongue out in concentration... Videos of bubbles here, and of two of her favorite things here - learning how to jump and turning around.

"Bubble, bubble, POP!"

We began October with Claire and me having the flu - we were tested for H1N1 and the test came back negative, but it's only 30-50% accurate. From others' descriptions, we most likely had it.

While we were down for a week and a half with that, my Dad's Mom passed away. Gramma Great, as she was known to Claire, or Grandma Wiegele, as I always called her, passed peacefully in her sleep on October 16th in the hospital after her heart and kidneys began to fail. We're all very glad we got to visit with her in July when she was still doing well. As a little tribute, here's a video of Grandma Wiegele doing karaoke at our 2003 family reunion.

Claire and Mommy with Oma, Grandpa Clem, and Gramma Great in July

I was well enough to attend the memorial service in Coeur d'Alene, ID on the 23rd, which was my first time being away from Claire. (Tickets were too pricey for her to go.) Graham was in Rhode Island on business for a few days at the same time, so she had a wonderful time with Grandma Dede for a couple of days and then had some great daddy-daughter time until I got back. She got to play with cousins, go to the zoo, ride the carousel, and had an overall fantastic time. (Maybe Mommy should leave town more often...?)

The fall colors in Kansas City have been gorgeous - we love to walk on mild weather days (when everyone is healthy) and just be in nature. We picked up some leaves on Monday and Claire really got into helping. She wore Daddy's gloves, put leaves in bags, raked, swept, and enjoyed being outside.

Dragging the rake down the sidewalk (she built up quite a pile!

Raking like a big girl

"Helping" Daddy and wearing his gloves

She's VERY chatty these days. Her latest as of yesterday is, "Hi, Mommy (or Daddy) - how are you, Mommy?" Just melts the heart...

Another new-ish favorite is "lie down floor, blankets?" Which means we spread a bunch of her blankets on the floor to make a rug and then lie down on them, usually to read.


This February we'll be going on a cruise as a family, so we had Claire's first passport picture taken. Her first foray into the flattering world of ID pictures (mine isn't nearly as good)...


Yesterday she had her H1N1 vaccine (nasal gel rather than shot, luckily), so has a fever and feels a bit under the weather today. It's cold and very windy out anyway - good day to stay home. Hopefully she'll feel better for Halloween festivities tomorrow... Pictures to come soon!