Claudia went to her cousin Monique's band concert last night and was a very good listener. After the show Monique took Claudia on stage and showed her a bit of the school. We had fun dancing in the parking lot as we left. The school has lots of STOP signs which Claudia loves to read. Her next favorite word to read is "Applebees".

This is how Claudia waits her turn when we play T-Ball. Its very important to wait your turn! She had lots of fun with Elizabeth, Kerry, Aunt KA, and Uncle Kenny on Sunday. She was very excited to wear her blue dress.

Claudia has been a really good girl the past week or so and has been getting to bed much easier. Baths and combing of the hair are still a bit of a challenge.

Claudia had fun with her friend Taylor yesterday at the park. She also is starting to get some chores like watering the plants. She definitely likes having jobs.

And she remembers everything. She knows who gave her every gift, who has a diving board in their pool, and what everyone said.

Yesterday Claudia came to the girls track meet. She had lots of fun. She jumped on the mats, ran around, drank from the water cooler, showed everybody her funky glasses, and best of all she got to talk to Julie! Claudia really likes Julie.

She is still fighting this rash. She is a very patient girl. We think it might be a few things. Kasey thinks maybe strawberries are the culprit.

We are looking for programs for her to get involved in. We think probably a dance class, an art class, and maybe a singing/theater type class. Trying to find something appropriate that is taught by legitimate people is a challenge.

Twice a day for about ten minutes it seems Claudis goes off the deep end for a bit. She is certainly two at this point. She is asserting her independence a lot more and we are working hard to give her something to do to make life a bit easier. Her brain moves very fast and keeping her occupied with one child around was much easier. Some things that were easy are hard now (and the opposite) as we make this transition.

We are working hard on her shyness as we know this is the source of a lot of her "moments". At the same time she has been having nice conversations with a lot of people and is starting to open up a lot more to people. We thank everyone for your patience.

She is very excited that Uncle Kenny and the Kopecs are coming over this weekend. She has figured where everyone is sitting and all the details.

OK...Claudia is getting to bed. Cross your fingers.

Yesterday Claudia came to school with Daddy as the team was having a pasta dinner. Claudia was a very good girl. She even got to sit with the girls which made her very happy. And Julie sat at her table which was even better. Julie, Olivia, and Carrie are her favorite runners. She wanted them to go running with her but they were busy so we went up and went the whole way around the track. We had lots of fun.

Claudia has been a real good girl with all of the changes. She has one challenging moment per day. Usually around bath time.

Claudia has been reading lots of books. We read in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

She really gets into her spelling now and wants to know how to spell everything. She has gotten pretty good with all of the family names (M-A-R-G-O) and likes to figure out what letter that words start with. She also likes to "write" these names on her easel.

She seems to be having a bad reaction to suntan lotion and we hope to test some new stuff tomorrow. As always, no complaints from her. She is a tough kid.

Time for golf.

Claudia's buddies went back to Pennsylvania today and she went into a bit of withdrawl. She definitely misses Mommy's undivided attention a bit. Now, a bad moment with Claudia isn't really that bad, but you can tell she is unsettled. She is a real good kid. She has been extremely nice to her sister.

Tomorrow Daddy takes her to Monkey Business. Hopefully that will go well. We will try to get back into a bit of a routine. We will also try a couple days when Daddy goes to work for a few hours (it is vacation week) to see how that goes....

Claudia has been spending the whole day with her Aunt Susannah and has been having lots of fun. They went to the park, they have been doing lots of running, picking up acorns, and practicing their spelling.

Claudia has been a real good girl, the only trouble spot has been going to bed, largely because Miss Molly likes to be awake at that point. That seems to be the only time Claudia gets a bit emotional. Of course, we keep her pretty busy during the day with all the adults here.

Mimi and Aunt Susannah arrived and Claudia has been showing them everything; her toys, her books, her garden, and, well, her little sister.

She is very excited. And pretty exhausted at this point.

Claudia picked out books to read to Molly today. She also bought her an angel in the gift shop. Anytime anyone would come in the room she would say "This is Molly!"

She also spent a lot of time holding Molly's hand as you can see in the picture.

Well, she is exhausted. We came home and had dinner. A very quiet dinner. I suggested we go upstairs to watch Emeril on TV. She agreed.

We then started getting ready for our bath, which didnt go well. "I just want to go to bed!" She kept crying. So we went to bed about an hour early. She is still sleeping and its 8pm (when we are normally finishing our bath) so that is a good sign.

Mommy is back tomorrow...

Claudia is a big sister! Molly was born early this morning. Claudia was such a good sister when she visited the hospital. She held Molly and gave her a present. She talked to Molly about fashion accessories and she introduced Molly to all of her cousins. Claudia also liked that we are on the 11th floor and can see all the way to Long Island.

Right now she is at Grandma Keating's birthday dinner. Soon she will be home and we will work on getting to bed. Tomorrow is Monkey Business with grandma in the morning and then back to the hospital.

Claudia picked things up very quickly. We were eating lunch in the cafeteria and she turned to me and said "Daddy, its time to go back and see Molly, please." She is a good kid.

Claudia has spent the day as Sleeping Beauty. She is going to "the ball" tonight, apparently, and needs to get her hair done for "the Prince".

Claudia had A LOT of fun at her friend Mateo's birthday party yesterday. She ran around and played the whole time (except when it was time to eat cake).

Today we went swimming (last time for the season) and then Mr. Kurt came over to watch basketball. Claudia likes Mr. Kurt a lot.

Claudia and Daddy had a big date last night. They saw "Horton See a Who" which was Claudia's first big girl movie. Claudia sat through the whole movie, although she ran out of snacks around half way through. We then got a slice of pizza which she ate very slowly.

We both enjoyed the movie. Today is a big birthday party of one of her friends that she is very excited about.

Claudia thinks the baby is coming Saturday. We shall see. It has got to be soon.

Claudia has spent the evening making thank you cards and drinking a smoothie ("De-li-cious!!"). She played outside most of the day.

Elizabeth and Kerry came to visit Claudia today. Claudia has been talking about this for days and had lots of fun with both of them.

Claudia has had several play dates recently and has had lots of fun with her friends. She is talking a little bit more with people which is nice.

We have been learning people's names and letters ("What name starts with R?" "Ricky!"). It helps if your name is five letters so we can sing it (B-I-N-G-O). We've got a pretty good handle on Margo's name as well.

Claudia went to the doctor's office with Mommy yesterday. Dr. Thomas is her mother and fathers doctor. Dr. Thomas was also Aunt Susannah's, Grandma Mimi's, and Grandpa's doctor. He was also her great grandmother's doctor! So, needless to say, he has the family history pretty good.

Claudia was very good and told Dr. Thomas how old she was, her name (Claudia Lynn Schneider!!), her phone number, and address. She told Dr. Maggie as well.

She is definitely becoming more independent and wanting to do stuff herself. She gets very upset when she thinks she did something she wasnt supposed to. She is very excited about the new baby and has been practicing lots of things like rocking the baby chair. We have a video of her teaching the baby letters that I will try to get posted soon.

We are pretty much done with the new babies room. Its turned out pretty cool. Should be soon (today....???).

This weekend Claudia went to a hockey game on Saturday and saw her friend Ben on Sunday. We think she is slowly becoming less bashful. She was fairly talkative at both events. Hopefully, this will continue to improve. It was real nice to see her really play with someone her age.

Claudia has been a good girl this week. She saw her friends Mitchell and Jordan yesterday and today she saw Jake and baby Hailley (sp??). Right now she is out shovelling snow.

We have been practicing saying our name and our address and phone number (just in case we get lost...) and she is getting pretty good with us. Of course, we have to work on it with other people.

Claudia helped paint the new baby's room and is pretty excited, we think. Pretty soon.

So on Tuesday night I was getting Claudia ready for her bath.

"I am not taking a bath"

"Why, Claudia?"

"Because I am going on a TRIP!!"

"Where to Claudia?"

"To Elizabeth and Kerry's!!"

Thankfully, Elizabeth was home, packing for her own trip and took our phone call. So then Claudia decided she needed to get out both her suitcase and backpack and sleep with them.

She woke up the next morning: "I wanna go on a TRIP!"

Luckily, a trip to the museum and Friendly's made her happy for now. With Elizabeth and Kerry and Margo going to Ireland and Mimi going to Portugal she has heard about lots of trips and definitely wants to participate.

Mimi arrived today from Pennsylvania. This resulted in lots of crown wearing and parades. Claudia was very excited to show Mimi everything.

Miss Judy and Mr. Stuart came over for dinner and had lots of Ravioli with us. Miss Judy has been to most of the red dots on our clustrmap in the past few months. Perhaps she can help boost our reads in the "Stans".

Last night we are upstairs and Claudia says "Daddy, can you get my suitcase"?

"OK, Claudia" I get it out. She starts rolling it to her room.

"Where are you going, Claudia?"

"To Kerry and Elizabeth's" she says very matter of factly.

Pretty soon she will know where the bus station is and we will be in big trouble.

We have been going swimming every Sunday. Today Claudia was able to pull herself out of the pool all by herself. It was very impressive. She did it many times because she was having so much fun.

She went to the first half of the Super Bowl party in her cheerleading costume so she could yell "Go, Giants, Go!". She has a friend named Peter who is a few years older and was very nice and played with Claudia. After that she was waving and running and having a good time. Thanks Peter!

Last night Claudia and Daddy had a "Big Date" and went to Friendly's. Claudia got all dressed up and wore 2 bracelets, 2 necklaces, and her earings. She was very beautiful and very excited.

She ate a ton of macaroni and cheese and ALL of her ice cream ("ConeHead"). We then came back and read books, took a bath, and went to bed ("I'm tired!"). Claudia likes to "read" her bedtime books herself now. She reads one side and we read the other.

She continues to be quite talkative and fun with us and quite bashful with everyone else. We are beginning to try to get her out by herself a little more so she can't completely lean on Mom or Dad.

Claudia had a fun visit from Elizabeth and Kerry today. Aunt KA was here as well. Claudia got some nice birthday presents including a new purse and a bunch of headbands. Claudia has quite a collection of purses.

We also went to the Chinese Restaurant where Claudia enjoyed her favorite dish--Lo Mein. She tried some Edamame soy beans but didnt enjoy it too much.

I made this for the rehearsal dinner of our wedding. I found that the CD was starting to degrade so I immediately uploaded it to YouTube. I hope you enjoy it.

Best picture yet.

Snow. Day off. Made Frosty. Now watching Frosty and having hot chocolate.

Claudia had her birthday party at Monkey Business this evening and had lots of fun with her friends Taylor, Jordan, Mitchell, Jake, Allison, Lauren, Peter, and Matteo. Her cousins were there as well. Thanks to everyone who came.

Claudia went and got her hair cut with Daddy today. We are trying to cut her hair a little better so her bangs dont start at the back of her head. She was a very good girl while getting her hair cut.

We then went to the Chinese Restaurant where we order Lo Mein.

Claudia can almost spell her name. She almost knows where she lives. She definately knows where Chuck E. Cheese lives (Waterbury).

Happy New Year! Claudia had her two-year check-up on Monday and has been declared healthy and happy. She is in the 50-75% for weight and height. This promises to be a busy year for her as she is progressing very rapidly and really starting to explore life on her own.

Thanks to everyone (grandparents, godparents, family, friends, coworkers) for making it a great 2007 year for Claudia.

Some highlights:

1. The Pool.

2. Mimi's tractor and Harley.

3. Grandma's new house.

4. The Happy Girls.

5. Playing with her best friend Abby.

6. The storm at the parade in Carlisle.

7. Going to the Good News Cafe and countless other restaurants.

8. Monkey Business!

9. Santa at Daddy's school

Other highlights? Add them in comments.

Claudia is TWO!

This morning we went to Chuck E. Cheese which was Claudia's big present that she wanted. We are trying to have a relaxing day. She has opened a few presents and likes the easel Mimi got her a lot.

Claudia likes showing Baby Joseph Henry how to do everything. She shows him how to eat breakfast, watch TV, and how to draw with crayons.

Claudia has had a tough couple of days. We don't think she is really sleeping at night so we bought a humidifier and we are hopeful. She has been coughing a lot at night. She has been trying hard, but largely unsuccessful, in being her normal cheery self.

Aunt Susannah and Mimi have been visiting for the big day tomorrow (2!). Today we went looking for some big girl beds (and a sleeper chair for Mimi) as the rooms are about to be shuffled. We are waiting another week or two before designing the new room.

Today Claudia went to the Christmas Party at Monkey Business. Santa was there. Tonight we go see cousin Hunter who gets to skate on the ice between periods with his team at the minor league hockey game in Bridgeport. Many of you "old timers" laugh when you hear "minor league hockey in Bridgeport". We will let you know how it goes.

You can see that our map on the right got reset this past week. Last years map is copied to the bottom of the blog. Lets work on filling the map up again with red dots.

Claudia has been pretty sick. This is really her first cold. She has been a very good girl with no complaints (she probably doesn't know any better).

Santa visited Southbury two weeks ago and she did not want to sit on his lap, which is fine. We think she might now. But she was sick last night and missed him in Southbury. He comes to Seymour tonight at school so we hope to be well enough to see him then.

Me: "What do you say when you see Santa?"
Claudia: "Ho, Ho, Ho".
Me: "What do you ask him"
Claudia: "Please, Santa"
Me: "Are you going to ask him to bring you anything for Christmas?"
Claudia: "Yes, presents"

Mommy loves this story.

Claudia normally orders a grilled cheese if we go out to eat. Tuesday she was at Applebees. When the waitress came to order Mommy ordered chicken fingers for Claudia.

Later the waitress brings the food and puts the Chicken Fingers down in front of Claudia. Claudia stares at it for 10 seconds, looks up at waitress and says:

"Is my grilled cheese still cookin?"

Last night Claudia was at the cross country banquet. While the coach was giving his presentation they were serving the cake. Claudia was very good. Everyone very quiet and Claudia nice and loud "MMMMM--DEEEEELICIOS".

Claudia is very excited about watching the parade with her friends!!!!! She has been talking about it for days, although she was really hoping that we would see it "on the road". She is eagerly awaiting Santa so we can "say hi and wave".

Claudia is getting much better at her typing thanks to Elmo. She understands when to use the mouse or touchpad, but not quite how yet.

Elmo also helps her with lots of other things of course.

Claudia is already talking about her birthday lots (thanks to Mommy, I think) and she certainly wants cake with candles and balloons. We wore her out last year between Christmas-birthday-New Years-visits so we will try to give her some down time this year. She is already excited about a visit from her Aunt Susannah. Anytime we say "Aunt Susannah" she says "and Tyler too!!"

Claudia will go to the SHS cross country banquet next week. She has her hat ready.

I'm Ready!!

Claudia went to the Seymour soccer game today. Daddy forgot his keys to get in the school which was very bad!! Claudia was very upset.

Tonight we go for pizza. We just talked to Mimi on the computer which was fun for Claudia. She is getting much more comfortable on the phone.

She is also much more "2 years old" but that is a story for another time.

We have returned from our weekend trip to Boston to visit Claudia's godmothers. Claudia had just about the best time ever.

First of all we got to stay at a HOTEL. This was really fun. She had a pool to swim in, a hallway to walk in, a bed to bounce on, and a nice restaurant to have breakfast in. She even called Mimi from the hotel because she was so excited.

The next day Elizabeth took Claudia to the Boston Children's Museum. Claudia exhausted Elizabeth as they traveled through all the exhibits. Claudia especially liked riding the horse and playing with all the water.

That night we went to Bertucci's for pizza. Claudia was a very good girl and sat between Elizabeth and Kerry. After dinner her friend Kristen gave her her first lesson in nail polish and Claudia listened very intently.

It will probably be the last time we travel for awhile so it was great to have so much fun.