Reunited and It Feels So Good

Chris and Claire going down the slide.


zoooommmm!


riding the T


claire in the chaos that is our backyard


claire modeling her new Ireland sweatshirt from daddy

We are together again! Life is good. Claire and I picked up Chris late Wednesday night. She ran to her Daddy in the airport, which had to make Chris feel great. He was a bit concerned that she wouldn't remember him or want anything to do with him despite the fact that we had been talking via video while he was deployed. She wouldn't let him put her down. When we arrived home from the airport, Claire wanted nothing to do with Chris. If I left the room, Claire cried. She awoke on Thursday with an attachment to her Daddy and nothing has changed since. If Chris leaves the room, she consistently asks, "Daddy go?" She no longer wants me to do anything for her, but is all about Chris. Cute, but annoying. I do realize that this will change, so I am okay. We had a great weekend. I worked a half day on Thursday, so Claire accompanied Chris to the base for his errands. I took Friday off, so we all went to the base for a visit and in-processing. Fun. I've been wanting to take Claire to the Children's Museum in Boston, so we ventured there on Saturday. It was great. She's ridden on the T (subway) countless times, but this is the first that she has actually been aware of what was going on. She stared out the window, pointed to things, people watched (yes, she is definitely my kiddo) with so many different facial expressions. It was so much fun to watch her. The museum was great, but will be even better when she is a year or so older. She loved each activity that she could do and wanted to them again and again. It was Pi Day--definitely a MIT/Harvardish type of place to celebrate such a day, so they had a music and movement concert. The songs weren't exactly geared toward your average kiddo, so Claire was not so interested. I am sure one day she will value Pi Day like no other, but not this year! (Ok, in truth, I hope she doesn't. I didn't know there was such a day until I began working at my school. Several kids (brains/nerds) actually have shirts that say "Pi Day." Perhaps this is a holiday I wish she not observe.)We returned home to rake the yard, pick up sticks, and attempt a fire (Chris had been dying to have a fire, but obviously needs a bit of practice with lighting them). Claire is an awesome helper. I bought her a small rake before Chris came home, which she LOVES. I definitely see alot of myself in her. She cleans, gardens, does the dishes...very well-trained. On Sunday, we went to church, out to lunch and hung out outside most of the day. I had been looking for some Little Tikes toys for our backyard. We have a small climbing cube with a slide, but needed something a bit bigger. Luckily, we found a great deal on Craigslist. We picked up 2 larger climbing structures that afternoon. Chris and Claire put them together on Sunday while I made dinner. Now our backyard looks like a kid's domain vs. a backyard. Although I don't love it, I guess this is what happens when you have kiddos. All in all, everything is great. We're so glad we are back together again.