Indian Summer

The weather throughout most of September has been in the 70s and 80s. We've enjoyed some hikes with my Mom's Group--though now our little ones want to walk part of the way so we actually can't hike as far as we could last year when they were babies. Claire loves to play on her slide everyday, and Hem likes to hang out with us on the lawn.

Shoe Drama

Some kids have pacies, some kids have blankies, some kids have teddies, my child has a pair of shoes as some kind of security object. Although the weather hasn't gotten cool yet (and we're wishing it would), in anticipation of cooler weather I decided it was time to find Claire some fall shoes. I spied some great little Merrell's at our local shoe store last weekend, so I decided to bring Claire back yesterday to try them on. Little did I know.

I managed to trick her into trying on one pair--too small. After that it was her sandals or nothing. To make matters worse, they didn't have the next size up in that location, so I had to drive across town to another store to try on the next size. Once there, Claire threw an absolute fit about taking her sandals off. Picture: screaming, running away, and when I catch her, feet-kicking temper tantrum. I managed to calm her down with the bribe of a fruit leather, but still no luck trying on the shoes. I just bought them and (a little red-faced) said we'd try them on at home.

Once home, it took us hiding her sandals and about 15 minutes of talking the new shoes up before she'd put them on. They do fit, and the picture above shows her happily walking around in them! (However, this morning when she found her sandals she did a little dance of glee.)

We had some fresh Montana corn for dinner last night. Claire ate two ears and it was the longest she's sat at a meal in months! We need to have corn every night!

Warning: Political Commentary Follows

As I've been watching and reading the coverage of Sarah Palin's selection as a running mate for John McCain, I've been getting more and more worked up. I realized as Nate and I were walking the other day and I went off for about ten minutes, that I felt strongly enough about the issues this raises to spout off to a broader audience. And, though it may not seem like it at first, this actually has less to do with the values espoused by the Democrats and Republicans and more to do with my disappointment in the way the public responds to females in politics.

Aside from their political views, both Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama have received criticism from the general public on their roles as women, their strong wills, their roles as wives, and their outspoken demeanours. However, in my view, both women are smart, extremely well-educated, and have successfully managed career, family, and marriages. They both have made steps to create new opportunities for women and provided an alternate model of a politician's wife. Still, they are no favorites of the general public, especially conservatives.

Sarah Palin, in contrast, from the moment she stepped on the stage has become an instant celebrity and darling of the voters. I wish I could say it was due to the same characteristics I listed for Clinton and Obama. Unfortunately, according to what I read/hear, she's well liked because: "she's hot," "she's a soccer mom," "she's a good public speaker," "she's a hunter," "she's fresh" and so forth. Clearly, Palin has leadership skills and is a smart and polished person. However, it seems ironic, and tragic, that the reasons for accepting her onto the national stage have little to do with her preparation, career, or education.

I wonder how much her ready acceptance has to do with the fact that she's characterized as an "everyday woman"--a soccer mom, PTA mother, fashionable dresser, etc? (Not that there is anything WRONG with any of those.) I wonder if the public feels less threatened by her than women like Hillary and Michelle? I wonder if we are more willing to embrace her because she's going to be mentored (or patronized) by the older, masculine, McCain? Thus, she is still in a safe place for a woman as opposed to Clinton as President. I wonder if we really are taking a step forward with the way her candidacy as vice-president is being characterized?

It certainly doesn't feel that way to me.

Finally at 16 1/2 Months...Walking

I've been trying to get this video up for two days...here she is on two feet WITHOUT holding our hands!

Progress

We are settling in to the routine with much less angst these days. Claire is no longer crying when I drop her off in the morning, and I'm feeling a little more organized at school.

The distance Claire is willing to walk increases slowly. This weekend she managed about the length of the rug in the living room. She also walks more willingly holding ONE instead of both hands--so we are encouraged that maybe she still won't be crawling when she heads to kindergarten.

Claire's also adding all kinds of new words to her vocabulary. This weekend the refrain seemed to be either "bubble" "duck" or "cracker," but she's also added "nana" (banana) "baby" "Hem" "kitty" "horse" "cow" "home" and several more. When I pick her up after school she goes into these long strings of semi-intelligble words/phrases--just like she's telling me all about what she's been up to for the past few hours. It's fun to see her communicating her ideas to us, and we are working hard on "please" and "thank you" as the next words to learn!

The picture reveals how much Claire is learning by imitation! I think she can move a mouse better than some of her grandparents...ha ha!

Back to School

We were back to school this week. The adjustment was actually harder this year than last year as I have a bit more of a work load and Claire is adjusting to a new daycare. We are still working out the kinks of the schedule allows a balance for all of us for work/play/household chores and so on. Of course Claire caught a cold the first week and has passed it on to all of us, so we are spending a wet/blustery Labor Day trying to recover (although Nate did hunt in the rain for a few hours this morning). We did have a nice day yesterday in the Paradise Valley. We did a short hike in the morning, went to Chico Hot Springs and swam, and then had an early dinner in Livingston. (no pictures--sorry forgot the camera) Claire is STILL not walking--though we can get her to take a few steps between us and sometimes walk holding ONE instead of BOTH hands. Talk about baby steps. Literally.

I never did get a chance to post some of the incredible pictures from Nate's climb to Granite Peak. They actually didn't quite make the summit as a few pitches from the top they determined that having ropes would be prudent. Nonetheless, the terrain and views are spectacular.

Granite Peak behind Nate and his friend Dave.

Some of the views from "Froze to Death Plateau" where they camped before attempting the summit.

Last Day of Summer

It's Friday, the last day of summer break for me. I'm back to school on Monday, and although a week ago I didn't feel ready, I can say I'm looking forward to it by today. We've spent the last week transitioning. I spent two mornings at school, and Claire spent a few hours at daycare. While I still have some anxieties about a slightly different teaching schedule (though I'm still just teaching mornings) and Claire changing daycares, I do feel ready to get back to a regular schedule and have a different kind of interaction each day. Claire seems to be needing some more stimulating interactions with others too. Since we've been back from Washington she seems bored with all her toys, unwilling to play independently, clinging to me, still not walking and not really wanting to crawl either (meaning I spend A LOT of time during the day holding her two hands as we do loops around the house or outside--as seen in this picture from Washington), in short, my patience has been worn thin most days.

Nate left early this morning to climb Granite Peak with two friends. It's the tallest peak in Montana and about a ten mile hike just to set up base camp. When he gets back I'll be sure to post some of the pictures. In the meantime, I might be facing two long days alone until he gets home late Saturday night.+-