Yesterday was such a fun day! In the morning, we took Claire to her first story time at Barnes and Noble. We weren't sure how it would work, but we thought we'd give it a try. Well, first of all the books were too far away, even when she sat on the bench right in front of the woman reading. The biggest problem though, was that there were way too many other things to look at! They had so many book displays of course, but even more interesting were the Curious George and other stuffed animals, the watering cans, the train tracks with trains, and anything else she could get her hands on. I spent the whole time chasing after her. She did enjoy showing her daddy her treasures, and we found some books we'd like to get at some point. In fact, we read a few, including "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake." It's the same series as "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." Very cute.

After Claire's morning nap, her friend Jeffrey, who is a few months older than her, came over. I babysat him from about 1:30-6:00, and we had a wonderful time! Neither child has many opportunities to be around other children their age, and they are both finally getting to the age where they interract when they play instead of playing side by side. They handed each other toys and shared crackers.

Wonderfully enough, there were very few incidents where they both wanted the same thing enough to put up a fuss. Yesterday was such a nice day, that I couldn't resist taking them to the park right across the street. They had a great time running around and playing on the playground. This did wonders for Claire, because she developed a fear of the swing and jungle gym. She was fine last fall, and loved it, but then, ever since we went to Florida, she wasn't so fond of it. Jeffrey loved climbing on the jungle gym though, so after Claire saw the fun he was having, she joined in. Yea! They ran around, followed each other, laughed, immitated each other, and had a wonderful time.

(Sorry it's sideways! I don't know how to fix it, but they are darn cute!)

Neither one was very fond of the swings, though Claire seemed to like it ok until Jeffrey wanted to get down.

"Do I want to go up there too??"

Neither one was very happy about having to go back inside, but it was nap time, and I didn't want them in the sun too long. I read them some stories, and then they took their naps. After they got up, they played some more and shared their food. I think Claire had a great time playing with Jeffrey, but by the end of their time together, she was done. I don't think she minded sharing her toys, but she did mind sharing her mommy. She'll have to get used to that in a few months though.

Yesterday, while the babies were napping, Chris and I worked together to put together his new grill. Ever since we were married, Chris has been eyeing grills at every store that displays them. It is one of his favorite pasttimes. He has especially been dreaming about owning a Weber gas grill. Finally, the finances are looking pretty good, he's starting a new job, so he bought himself a Weber Genesis gas grill. It was a lot of work to put it together, but he and I just love working together on such projects. Not only does it make things a little easier figuring out the diagrams and such, but it's really fun to work together as a team. Also, it was a good excuse to enjoy the 70+ degree weather! That night he cooked us up a yummy t-bone steak. Yum!

I just want to share one more adorable little thing that Claire does. So, for a few weeks, she has loved giving Eskimo kisses (rubbing noses) and butterfly kisses (fluttering my eye lashes against her cheek.) When she wants an Eskimo kiss, she'll srunch up her nose and lean in to your face. There is nothing more precious! She'll usually laugh afterwards. Well lately, she has also liked giving her stuffed animals, especially her NYC monkey (whose nose is completely flat on his face), Eskimo kisses. Yesterday, she also started giving Eskimo kisses to her plastic animals from her Little People's Noah's Ark. She also likes to hold them up to my nose so I can give Eskimo kisses. It's just the sweetest thing, and especially special for me. Growing up and still today, there was one person I give Eskimo kisses and butterfly kisses to - my grandma. Claire's middle name is after this grandma, so I find it really neat that Claire likes to do it so much. I don't even know if I taught it to her. She just started putting her face really close to mine one day, and I realized she wanted to rub noses. I probably started the butterfly kisses, but I have not yet, nor will I choose to do the third kind of kiss she seems to want to do - lick tongues. I don't think so. She opens her mouth and sticks her tongue out and tries to get me to do the same. Nope. I guess she's experimenting with her facial features. I will continue to LOVE all of those Eskimo and butterfly kisses though!