Lone Elk Park and such

I've been to Lone Elk Park twice before, and each time I've been intrigued by this "watchtower" that looms near the entrance. It seemed so mysterious and exciting. Well, I guess any other time it may have been the view of a lifetime.
Sean wasn't interested in going, so Claire and I made the journey together. It didn't take too long to realize that Ladybugs were everywhere. I tried not to let it phase me. As I trekked up the the spiral staircase, I realized it wasn't raindrops falling on my head. I can be very stubborn, so I continued. I noticed somebody had clearly been there before us as I ascended the squashed-bug stairway. I made it to the top to find even more Ladybugs and a Wasp. I was done. I turned tail only to be blocked halfway down as Sean began to ascend. Needless to say, I didn't get back to the car without having a small mental-breakdown.
Due to this encounter, I will not feel so inclined to smile when I see a ladybug. They really creep me out.
BTW: Throughout the drive in the park we continually had to open the window to flick a ladybug out.
Click on the photo below to get a better idea of the hoards of creep Ladybugs. Yuck.

We really enjoyed seeing the various colors of autumn on the trees.

Before leaving we were able to get out and stand about twenty feet away from a buck elk and a half a dozen cow elk.

Sean and I have a deal with Claire after her afternoon nap. She gets to watch one of her favorite shows for a half an hour while we cook dinner together. It works out pretty well, except when "Miffy" cuts in-and-out of reception.(we get really bad reception on our basic channels, especially PBS)
Anyway, she has mastered the couch-potato posture. She has also mastered the squish-face smile.

Magic House

Last weekend we were able to visit The Magic House here in St. Louis. You probably can't tell from these pictures, but it is so much fun for all ages.

Our next-door- neighbor made this hat for Claire recently. She is so sweet to us, and Claire loves her obese Pomeranian Rosey.

Claire really loves water, she especially loves to take baths.

Claire had fun with this display about air pressure.

I was very surprised at Claire's squeal of delight when she saw this Curious George walking around.


I felt really lame after taking these last two pictures. I'm not always very fond of Anne Geddes' style, and these pictures definitely lean toward that style. Lameness aside, I really like these obviously staged pictures.(ignore the hand holding her up) You can't deny the delight of a toddler in construction garb and a Judge's robe.

Nice job Dan

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Claire's Birthday and such

Being far away from family has been hard on us at times. The idea of Claire not having family for her first birthday was very sad to me. Fortunately my Dad was able to come celebrate with us. We had a great time.

Claire was particularly squirmy during out meal out. Her high-chair, however, had wheels. So, her and Grandpa took a few laps around the restaurant. Claire was intrigued.(I think it's an odd picture, because we usually don't see a neck on her. She is usually head and shoulders. She looks so regal)

Claire had a Wiggles theme for her party. If there is one thing we have a hard time peeling Claire away from, it is the Wiggles on our computer.

We had quite a few families from our ward come and really enjoyed their company. Hot Potato, with one of Claire's favorite toys at the time. (Minnie Mouse)

Claire really enjoyed her cake, but still had room for paper.......

.......and more paper.

Trying to save money, we took our own One year old photos at Forest Park.The second after the photo above was taken, Claire of course, was curious about the taste of dirt.
In case any of you are wondering, Claire didn't get her ears pierced. Our sister-in-law, Kari, gave us the idea to use nail stickers. It works pretty well.

Drama

So, as I mentioned before, the last few months have been pretty dramatic. Sean got laid-off, our car broke down and we had to pay $320,(not the most ideal time to spend that money), and Claire had a surgical procedure.

I'll start with the latter, and work backwards. At the beginning of June we noticed Claire's breathing get progressively worse . It sounded like her throat was narrowing at times, at other times she sounded perfectly normal. I figured it was maybe allergies to the cats. I took her in to the doctor, and of course her blood-oxygen levels were 100% and she was breathing normally. I pretty much paid a $20 co-pay to say "Hi" to the doctor.

Two weeks later, the Stridor (wheezing) was worse, and she was snoring most of the time while sleeping. So, another visit to the doctor, this time I pre-recorded a video of Claire snoring and wheezing. I needed hard evidence, in case I "cried sick baby." That time the Doctor was able to hear and witness the wheezing and snoring. She wasn't sure, so we were referred to an ENT.

We saw an ENT. A nurse held Claire in her lap as the doctor stuck a tube down her nose to figure out the wheezing problem. He couldn't see anything. It makes me sad to think about. I can still picture her face. Her face was bright red as tears filled her eyes. She gave me a look that said, "Why aren't you helping me?" I felt so awful.

Since the doctor couldn't diagnose Claire's problem, and did see it as a potential problem, he decided to have Claire come in for an exploratory surgical procedure. Doing an exploratory procedure, also meant that there was the possibility of a follow up surgery to fix the problem.

Claire went in for surgery on July 7th. We were really nervous about Claire being traumatized during this experience. St. John's Mercy hospital did a fabulous job. The surgeon found three cysts under Claire's vocal chords. They were most likely caused by an intubation that occurred earlier in her life. One cyst was ruptured and the other two we will have to keep an eye on.

Our car broke down on me while I was driving, but I was barely able to pull into a Ford dealership, just as the power steering gave out. This was the day before Claire's surgery. Fortunately the dealership fixed the car within a few hours.

Sean was laid-off on June 26. Not a good day for that matter. I heard recently that when someone loses their job they go through a grieving process similar to when losing a loved one. First denial, then anger, depression, and acceptance. The day Sean lost his job, we went through some denial. (mostly avoidance) We actually had a fairly decent time together as a family, despite. We drove out to Lone Elk park and Wild Bird Sanctuary, less than a half hour away. Claire and I had been there before, and wanted to show Sean around. We saw several bison, and elk. It was really neat. We enjoyed seeing the birds. We passed by a white-necked raven that said "hi." Ravens are really great at mimicking. We also really enjoyed passing by a very uppity turkey. The moment we got too close to the cage, it puffed up with a very distinct poof sound, and stalked the edge of the cage menacingly. We made a few visits over to that area. Very entertaining.

What a Goof!

Claire's new thing is to crawl over to the giant window in the living room, pull herself up and look out. I believe she was trying to be productive while she was there, and decided to clean the window. We love how she gets distracted by a dog walking by, loses sight for a moment, then goes back to business. She really cracks us up.

I need to do an update of the past month, we have had a very stressful and eventful time. I will explain soon.

More pictures to jazz up this blog

We love the "Chub cheek" face.It makes Claire's eyes look beady.

Sean and Sian at an "80's rock" costume Birthday party for a good friend in our ward.

Claire with her Speech Therapist named Claire.

I left Claire in the room on this blanket laid out flat for probably two minutes.

Buster loves it here.
He gets a great view of all the juicy birds, squirrels, and rabbits.

The end