Claudia and I had a fun walk at Phillip's Farm today. We discovered that new trails were made and took the blue trail. It was fun since I asked Claudia to find our way back to the car. She did a real good job. Growing up fast.

Claudia has been sick for a few days but is getting a little better. She slept really late today which helped.

Claudia is four! She got a Barbie Jeep for her birthday that she can drive herself. It a bit icey out, but she did well. She has a good cough and we hope she does OK today.

She wanted pizza for breakfast, macaroni and cheese for lunch, and spaghetti for dinner. Her cousins will come over for dinner. Mimi and Aunt Susannah are here today as well.

Lots of videos and pictures put up on the flickr site.

We went to Claudia's concert at her preschool today. I give so much credit to her teachers. Claudia learned so many songs! She was front and center and did such a fabulous job. I'm a professional, I know about these things. We were so proud of her.

All the recordings are going up on flickr. Claudia is the loud singer with good pitch and great diction. You can certainly hear her! These are instant classics.

Claudia demonstrates her memory. How does she remember this stuff?

Claudia went roller skating with Santa tonight.

"Daddy, I want to go to the gym with Mommy. They have a play area. I could play while Mommy does her exercising"

"Well, maybe you could exercise too, Claudia. What type of stuff would you do in the gym"

"The weights Daddy. Definitely the weights."

Claudia had a really good time in Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving. She and her sister were really good travelers, especially on the long trip home. Claudia worked really hard feeding the horses and letting them out. She even rode Wendy without a saddle. She was a big girl.

We did the usual activities. Claudia sat at the table the whole evening for dinner and was lots of fun. We also went to Uncle Tyler's restaurant which is always a big hit.

Trouble.

Claudia had fun at the cross country banquet last night. She took a big step up and helped Daddy pass out the awards. She felt like a big girl. She wore a very pretty dress and even got to talk to Julie (which was her favorite part).

claudia just had a jelly bean

These sisters take care of eachother!

Mommy's birthday present was getting pictures taken. It took awhile to happen as we got moved by rain two times. But the pictures turned out great.

THREE DESSERTS! - Claudia LOVED the buffets :)





Johnnie Rockets was a big hit in Vegas with their dancing waiters and hats! She couldn't believe she got to take it home with her. The turtle Grandpa got her at the Shark Reef and the hat from Johnnie Rocket's were the first things she wanted to show Daddy when we got home :)

Claudia: I'm three and half, I'm not even afraid of ghosts. By the time I'm four I won't be afraid of anything.

Claudia had such a wonderful trip to see her Grandpa. She was up at 4 am to catch the plane and was truly giddy the ENTIRE day. She did an amazing amount of stuff in 2 1/2 days and wondered if we had seen EVERYTHING in Las Vegas??? Not even close :)
Some highlights of the trip included the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, Circus Circus, Johnny Rockets restaurant, the buffets (with their unlimited desserts) Grandpa's pool and of course the windy bridge!!
The pool at the Trump was really nice too. Mommy loved snuggling with the girls in their big bed/lounge chairs.

It has been Patriarch week for Claudia. She had a great trip to Las Vegas to visit her Grandfather last week. She went out to dinner, played in the pool, and had lots of fun in the really nice hotel room. She was a great passenger on the plane.

This weekend her Uncle Mark and Aunt Joan visited and she really had fun with them. They both related to Claudia and Molly very well, despite seeing them so infrequently. They should open up a preschool.

Claudia is off to Las Vegas for her big trip to visit her Grandfather. She called tonight and told me all about it.

"Daddy-the hotel--they have a phone in the bathroom!!"

She said she is really tired and is going to bed as soon as they eat, "but its still light out". She was a really good traveler says Mommy. I am sure she is a huge help for everyone. Its nice to have such a good 3 year old.

Miss her lots!

Claudia had lots of fun at the cross country meet yesterday. She ran with the girls, did lots of dancing, and even drank from the water jug.

But best of all she rode the bus for the first time! And she sat with Julie! Claudia said she talked "the whole way home!" but she let Julie talk "just medium". Very exciting stuff for such a big girl.

Claudia seems to be enjoying preschool a lot. I think she likes doing all the crafts and getting to play. She plays with the girls and "some of the boys, maybe two of them".

She started dance again and was so, so, so excited that both Miss Jonelle and Miss Rachel were teaching the class again.

She has a new teacher in swimming (Miss Colleen) and is trying many new things. She jumped into the water from the side at the last lesson. We are still working on getting our head under water.

Claudia has a big couple of weeks ahead. Mimi visits next weekend, she heads to Las Vegas to see her grandpa the following week, and her Uncle Mark and Joan will be here when she returns. Popular girl!

As you can see from the clustrmap we get some visitors. If you are a regular visitor we would love if you say hi again in a comment. Who are you and where from? Good thing for Claudia to look back on.

Claudia is off at preschool! She got off just fine. Very excited to start.

We are practicing our questions for her. Trying to avoid "How was school?"

Claudia had fun today at the Labor Day parade in Newtown. She liked getting up for candy and listening to the bands. She is such a good three year old girl. Afterwards we went to the Zamary's and she swam in very cold water but she had a lot of fun.

This is a big week for Claudia: swim lessons, preschool on Friday, and dance starting again next Monday. Definitely a growing and changing girl. We can't wait to see how school transforms her. We think/hope we found the right place for her unique set of talents.

Three girls. Two popsicles.

Claudia is off at a movie with Grandma and may stay over night, I think Monique is with them as well. Should be fun.

Tomorrow Claudia should go running with me and the team. She has been asking to run "on the road". I think she thinks thats how the big kids do it.

Claudia got her haircut yesterday. She took about three inches off. Still long, but a bit more managable.

Claudia has been a really good sister, but we can tell she needs a break from Molly now and then. By the end of the day she starts to get worn down pretty good. It will be nice to get back into a routine again with her.

Today Claudia and Daddy went out for a special dinner. Claudia got dressed up very nice and even wore here special bracelet that Aunt Pat gave her. She was very excited to go out "just by herself!". Sometimes we think she needs a little time away from the Molinator.

She had pizza and coconut ice cream. The ice cream made her happy. She remembered that she had it at the Indian Restaurant last year!

Claudia is a very polite date and lots of fun. It was a special time that we really enjoyed.

Claudia won a free game!

Claudia just returned from her big trip to Virginia. She spent three days in Williamsburg catching up with the SanFanAndre/Box family at the reunion. She got to meet her great-great Uncle Ralph and Aunt Jane.

She also had fun at Busch Gardens. Her favorite rides were the TeaCups and she also liked the floating balloons. But she probably liked the German band and dancers at lunch time the best. She got to eat that meal with her whole family.

One really fun thing was taking the ferry from Delaware to New Jersey. We got pretty far out in the ocean for this ride.

Claudia got to spend two days with Aunt Pat who "spoils her rotten" thats for sure. We went swimming with Pat and she took us to the beach. This was the first time they had seen each other and they are now super-buddies.

Claudia had lots of fun visiting with the Kopecs the past two days. She got to play softball with Mr. PT, Kerry, and Margo. Today she swam and rode her bike. Big fun.

We are setting up for Mommy and Claudia to camp out on the porch. Should be interesting.

I try to stay in the habit of telling Claudia she can talk to us anytime about stuff or she can ask Uncle Marc, or Mimi, or Miss Kerry, etc...

"Well, Daddy, I do worry about ONE thing"

"Really, Claudia, what is it"

"Well, I worry about dinosaurs"

"ohhh"

Some things about Vermont:

• Claudia had a lot of fun going to concerts. It was a music festival week in Middlebury. She really, really loved Erin McDermott and bought her CD (she was really proud of that). We also saw one of the worst childrens concerts ever.
• Claudia swam a lot.
• She had lots and lots of pancakes.
• She had super fun with her sister and Mimi.
• She rode her bike a lot.
• She played mini golf.

Claudia is back from vacation in Vermont. More stories later.

Claudia was at the park yesterday climbing the big slide. At the top were three boys, about 5-6 years old, guarding the top.

Boy: "Whats your name"

Claudia: pause..."Claudia Lynn Schneider"

Boy: "You are beautiful"

Claudia: pause.... "I think you just like my shirt, my shirt is very beautiful"

Boy: "OK, you can pass"

One of my favorite old pictures.

Claudia is a very patient sister.

We had fun today. We found the cupcake truck in New Haven and each of us got a cupcake. Claudia ordered a Red Velvet with Marshmellow frosting and rainbow sprinkles. We then went up to East Rock and had a picnic. Quite a view.

On the way home we spent some time in the Yale Art Gallery which Claudia really likes.

Claudia had a fun trip to Pennsylvania this past weekend. She is a really good traveller. Claudia really enjoyed taking care of the horses. She rode Wendy and gave the horses some food each day. She even petted a few horses which was a big step for her.

Claudia did really good practicing her golf with her big club. She also had fun eating ice cream and strawberries.

Today Claudia had her first swim lesson of the summer and she did really well. She is a good student.

Weekend Update:

Friday: Claudia went to Quassy. She took a real big step and went down the slide all by herself. First, she climbed up with Daddy and rode down by herself. I followed her. She laughed the whole way down. When I got to the bottom she was hopping up and down saying "that was whippin!". We asked if she wanted to go by herself and she hopped a few more times then went off and climbed by up the steps all by herself. Big girl!

Saturday: We went to the Farmers Market and bought lots of good food (including Apple Pizza). We then went to the Yale Center for British Art where they had a puppet show. Claudia was really polite and listened real well, even though two big kids sat down right in front of her. She sang real loud and laughed a lot. She even got popcorn. It was fun to watch. Molly and her had fun looking at all the the paintings.

Sunday: Claudia went to the Strawberry Festival in town for awhile and then helped Grandma with some chores. We fixed a light fixture and Claudia was in charge of turning on the light and handing Daddy the parts. Later that night we went to back to New Haven for the big concert of They Might be Giants and had super fun.

Claudia just got back from a nice three day vacation at Cape Cod with her Aunt Judy. Lots of fun. More pictures on flickr.

Claudia loves the Frog Hopper at Quassy.

Claudia put on an entire concert last night.  She got dressed up and performed on stage.  Mommy even helped her make a banner for the concert.  For a time Molly accompanied Claudia on harmonica (Molly's best instrument).  Claudia sang "Twinkle, Twinkle" "ABCs" and her own dance-song improvisation.  She was very excited and did a great job.

Claudia had fun at Ben's party.  They had a bouncy machine, macaroni and cheese, and cotton candy.

Claudia: "Where is the car race"

Daddy: "Its in Indiana"

Claudia: "Oh.  How do you get there?"

Daddy: "We can watch the race on TV"

Claudia: "Is Indiana where the Indian restaurant is?"

We had a really good day.  We went to the Farmer's Market in New Haven.  It was great!  We bought great special treats from the SoNo Bakery and some sausage from Ox Hollow Farm from Roxbury.  All great food.  Woodbury has a farmers market starting in July, but I think we will return here for awhile.

We also headed down to the beach and went to Chicks which was a place Kasey went when she was a kid.  Big place, but not as bsuy today as I think they were hoping as the weather is a bit cold.

Today Claudia wore a skirt and looked quite stylish all day.She loves to look nice.  Right now she is showing us how she can spell all the farm animals. "D-U-C-K".  

Claudia's dance recital was a big success.  She did two routines; one ballet and one Hannah Montana.  After dancing we went to Friendly's for dinner and Claudia and Molly ate a whole bunch.

Claudia has her big dance thing on Monday.  We can't wait.  She has had a pretty good day today.  She is fighting off a cold, but seems to be making it (we hope so!!).  

We had a good time shopping for dinner.  She is such a big girl.  

This video from two years ago was mentioned in a book that I just ordered by the jazz critic Howard Mandel: Jazz beyond Jazz. He says its on p.205 if you are at your library.

I think it may be mentioned in Oliver Sachs new book as well--Musicphelia. The youtube page says it links, but I haven't read the book yet. Anyone have it?

Interesting.

We are very proud of Claudia. Today she walked over 1.5 miles in the March of Dimes walk that Mommy was in. Molly walked in the stroller. There was even a really big hill and it was hot! She is a real trooper.

Tonight she asked to sit in a regular chair and got out of her toddler high chair thing. She is growing fast. She looks taller everyday--although I don't think she is growing much. We are also very close to getting a big girl bed. She sleeps so well we are a bit cautious of changing but she is eager.

I love watching her run with this basket.

Claudia had a very nice lunch with her Godmothers and Aunt Tootie today in Danbury.  She was very pleased to realize that the Easter Bunny had left something for Claudia in Boston and Elizabeth and Kerry had brought it to her.

Claudia is pretty much all better now.  She just gets a few moments of crankiness each day.  We are working on remaining polite during those times.

Claudia getting a little better. Afternoons are tough as she crashes. Her face is still pretty raw. She went to class yesterday and will get out today as well we hope.

Claudia is pretty sick again.  She's trying hard, but its not easy for her at all.  Her nose is pretty raw and she is coughing good.  Sleep isn't flowing too smoothly.  I wish she would take naps.

Molly and Mommy a bit down too.

Claudia heads back to Haskins Lab today.  She is a good test subject.

It was fun to watch Claudia at dance class yesterday.  She likes her teacher so very, very much.  She is so polite in class and it is fun to watch her talk to the teacher about her day as she doesn't do that with everyone.

She is very excited about her present for Molly and the parties.  She picked out decorations and everything.  Wait until she figures out that Molly gets more than one party (one in CT, one in PA).

"Claudia what do you think Molly will be when she grows up?"

Long pause.

"My sister!!"

Claudia has been working hard on Molly's birthday present.

Claudia has been out and about a fair amount.  She visited the Zamary's Friday night and had fun boxing with their Wii game.  Yesterday she had fun at a birthday party.

We are working together on building Molly a special birthday present.  Claudia has been doing the measuring and drawing all the lines for me.  I hope to put it together (rocking chair) so she can start painting.

Claudia rebounded on Thursday and was able to go to see Peter, Paul and Mary with Mommy.  It was a truly special night that I (mommy) am so grateful to have shared with her.  We both got all dressed up, dresses, necklaces and bracelets.  We also had our hair done at Claudia's beauty salon in her room.  As soon as we found our seats we found out that the lady next to us was named Claudia as well!  Claudia thought that was really neat and opened up to her right away, showing her everything from her shoes to bracelets.  

The concert was great, and they sang all the songs that Claudia knew so we were lucky.  I thought she was going to jump out of her seat when they started singing Puff!!!  She did a lot of clapping and singing.  It was so great to experience this with her as I remember them from my childhood.  Three generations enjoying Peter, Paul and Mary!!  That is amazing in itself.  She lasted about 2 hours which was perfect and we got out before the crowds.  Since then we have been playing a lot of Peter, Paul and Mary games :)  

Claudia has been pretty sick the past few days with a cough and a bit of a fever.  She didn't go to dance class yesterday and we are hoping she improves.  Claudia and Mommy have big tickets to see Peter, Paul, and Mary on Thursday.

Claudia is really excited to go to DisneyWorld.  Now, we don't have any plans to go, but she is excited anyway.

She is sleeping a ton.  She often sleeps from 9:00pm-10:00am.  Even 11:00am some days.

Claudia has been having lots of fun at various activities.  Her favorite activity right now is to play dance class at home.  We do that a whole lot.  Claudia knows the names of all the kids in her class.

Claudia is a turtle.

She got this yesterday.  

On my iTouch there is a matching game which is very similar to the traditional game using cards.  Claudia does very well at this and completes the screens quickly, much quicker than me.

So I'm taking my turn and I am struggling:

Daddy: "I'm not doing so well"

Claudia: "its OK Daddy, just take it real slow and you will do fine"

Claudia has been cooking a lot lately.  We are trying to get her to try new foods and it seems to help that she is a chef.  She eats fairly well, but we want to explore green foods and she won't really eat meat at all.

We almost enrolled her in preschool this Spring because she liked one place so much but we think we will wait until the fall.  That gives us another season on Monkey Business.  

We have a lot of pictures to get up.  Hopefully today...

Claudia loves to watch Cesar Milan--The Dog Whisperer.  Last night we are watching TV.  The dog on the show is misbehaving, barking, etc...

Claudia: "Daddy, that dog needs the Dog Whisperer".

She wrote her name all by herself yesterday.  Miss Colleen also said it was her best day yet at Monkey Business; leading groups, speaking up, etc...

She is growing like crazy.

Claudia is pretty much an imagination machine at this pont.  We are constantly performing little one-act plays ("I'm Cinderella and you are the Prince!").

While Mommy was at the gym yesterday I am sitting in the kitchen.  Claudia picks up her maracas and keeps marching by chanting "Festa, Festa, lets have a Festa!".  She marches from one end of the kitchen 4-5 times.

Finally a light bulb goes off in my head:

"Claudia--do you mean fiesta?"

"Oohhhhhh"

Claudia loved going to the Beauty Shop last week (and we loved that she let somebody brush her hair).

Claudia did well at her 3 year (!!) appointment yesterday.  She is 39" tall (90th percentile) and 37.25 pounds.  She did well on everything.  She has a bit of an issue with her jaw.  Most of you notice she juts it out a bit and we will have the dentist check it when we go in March.

She did well on all the letter tests.  "Claudia, do you know the first letter of your name" "Yes, I do! C-L-A-U-D-I-A".