Helen Claire Weekly

47 Weeks... and what a big week it was! Look at that hair!

Sunday, we had a class to prepare for Helen Claire's baby dedication. It was good to take some time to really think about what we want for Helen Claire and how we want to raise her in a home that values Biblical truth.

All during the week, we were getting ready for our big graduation/dedication weekend! We made lots of lists, grocery store and Target runs. We are so excited to have everyone here and can't wait for Jonathan to graduate and Helen Claire to be dedication.

Helen Claire is doing so many funny things lately... it is hard to keep up. Here are the things I can remember from this past week:

• She said "Duck." She had been saying something all day, but we couldn't figure it out. Then, when she was in her tub, she picked up the rubber duck and said, "Uck." She says it all the time now, and she is so proud of herself.


• She is also trying to say other words and gets really frustrated that we don't know what she is talking about. Most things still sound German, but we have figured out "Look" and "Up." She will hold up different toys or point to things and say "Ook." It sounds very similar to "Duck," but she says it for different things, so we think she is telling us to look at something. She also says "Up" when she wants to get off the changing table, or when you ask her to pull herself up or hold her arms up.

• She learned to rock the baby. We noticed that she would put her baby in one arm, then cross another arm in front of it and start rocking. I asked her if she was rocking her baby, and she just kept doing it and smiling. She was so proud of herself. She is very particular about how she holds the baby, too. Her one arm has to be crossed over the baby. Now, when she picks up a baby, she will look over at me, like "Tell me to rock, Mommy." So sweet.


• She LOVES her Jesus Storybook Bible right now. We are trying to read through it to reiterate the fact that the Bible is ONE story, and so we read a story per night. She listens and points at the pictures. She is so cute.


• She has been practicing blowing out candles. We don't give her real candles, but we tell her to blow out the candles, and she'll huff and puff.

• We have been working on learning to hug... sometimes she slaps us away, sometimes she hugs us. We are still learning :)


• She still LOVES being outside and will wave her arms and put her fists up if you open the door and don't take her with you. I am convinced she would stay out all day if we would let her... but her poor little allergies do NOT like being outside right now. We've been back on Singulair for the past few days.

That's about it for now... back next week with dedication and graduation pictures!