Amazing!

Yesterday was a really cool day! First, all my car needed was a new battery, and the old one was still under partial warranty. Second, our visit to the Social Security Administration only took 15 minutes. Third, Claire's pediatrician got us an appointment within 30 minutes of when we called, took us right away, and diagnosed that Claire did not in fact have pink eye. Fourth, we made it to her Gym class on time even after all of the above stops (mechanic, SS, Wal-Mart, and doctor all before 11:30!). Claire did all the gymnastics and even went near Mr. Anthony who she usually avoids. We went to Wendy's for lunch and ususally I find pennies in parking lots, but I found a quarter. I said you know what? That stupid Space Shuttle is going off tonight. We had driven up there Monday night, camped for 2 & 1/2 hours only for the launch to be scrubbed at the last minute. The launch was then rescheduled another two times that we wouldn't have been able to attend, but both of them were scrubbed, leaving us with a launch time of 11:59 last night. Anyway, we left home at 6 PM, got to Titusville around 9 and staked out at our spot. Stephanie, Tony and Evan joined us about 10:30 and we camped out and waited. Conditions improved from 60% to 80%. Things were looking good! Then, when we were walking towards the bathroom at 45 minutes to launch, lightning lit up the sky behind the shuttle! Everyone just stopped and a collective "UGH!" rang out through the crowd. Once we got back to "camp" we turned on the scanner and found that the lightning was off shore and far enough away that all systems were "go" and liftoff chances are 100%. HELL YEAH! At 11:59 the Space Shuttle Discovery fired up and launched into Space lighting up the whole sky for miles and miles. It was pretty darn cool!!! Then, we drove the 2 & 1/2 hours home...ugh.... crawling in bed at 2:45 AM. But, sooooo worth it! So, "see live space shuttle launch" has been crossed off my "Bucket List". Three big things remain: 1) Meet George Michael 2) See the Aurora Borealis 3) Ride a donkey down the Grand Caynon.

First Haircut, First Lollipop

Today started off with Claire falling down in the parking lot on the way into lunch and scraping her knees. She recovered quickly from that to eat lunch and partake in Friendly's ice cream. After that we headed over to Snip-its in Wellington for her to get her first haircut. Well from the moment we plopped her butt in the pretty pink seat and strapped her in she started crying and it went downhill from there. The tears were intensified by the blue apron they put on her. The hairstylist was quick and efficient and even managed to give Claire some flippy ponytails and red fairy dust to match her outfit. While I paid Grandma gave Claire her first lollipop, she enjoyed it very much and all was quickly forgiven.

Oops!

Claire's toddler bed arrived this week, and we put it together Friday morning. She did great Friday night, but when I checked on her this morning at 7 AM, she was awake laying on her floor next to her bed looking around like "Where am I?". I have no idea what time she fell out of bed or how long she was sleeping on the floor! Oops! Grandma Milton is in this weekend for a visit so we have been hanging out and playing. We also went to the mall to get Claire some new shoes since she grew out of her sandals that we bought her at the beginning of the summer. A few months ago her size 4 1/2 W sandals were still a little big and now her feet are a size 6 1/2 W! And when I say "wide" I mean "w-i-d-e", like E width, wide. The lady at Stride Rite said she had "marshmallow feet!" :) I also did some Christmas shopping for Claire online this weekend, only 131 days until Christmas, I can't wait!

This weekend so far

This morning after Claire got up and had breakfast, she "helped" me convert her crib into a toddler bed. Since she has been doing so good in her toddler bed at Mom's house, I decided it was time to go into a big girl bed here at home. BUT, once we put it together, we found out that the mattress is like 10 feet off the ground! Way, way, way too high for ANY toddler! She couldn't climb up into the bed, and if she ever fell out it would be a long fall! So, 30 minutes after we changed it to a bed, we changed it back to a crib. Guess I'll be ordering her a bed this weekend. After her morning nap, we had lunch then went out to play in the yard on her water mat, then we went in the pool. For dinner we met Stephanie, Tony and Evan at Sailfish Marina in Riviera Beach, where we also fed the fishes. Claire was more interested in eating the "fish food" we brought (Goldfish crackers) than she was in feeding them to the fishes. Guess I should have brought something she didn't like so much! But Steph gave her some stale Kix cereal to give the fishes, and she didn't try to eat that. We had a good dinner then it was bedtime for little Claire Bear.