Bye-bye, dear Claudia

Isaac's best friend Claudia moved to Australia a weekend ago. This is a cause for much sadness in our house on many levels. Isaac is sad because she was really a great gal and showed him how to do all kinds of things like dance to country music, enjoy chocolate sultanas, push babies in strollers, and run. He still visits her door every day and knocks, like he expects her to still be there. Before you pull out your hankie, this is a bit of a strange belief on his part because whenever Claudia was home her door was always open, literally. Claudia's leaving is, however, probably harder on Dada and myself than Isaac. For one, how fabulous is it for your kid to practically entertain himself for nearly two hours and exhaust himself chasing his buddy around such that he actually sleeps as the "like a baby" phrase intends? But the worst is that we were just getting to know, and be thick as thieves with, Claudia's mom and dad, who were two awesome people. We wish their family the best of luck as they brave the winter down under, and hope they get to see Claudia's grandmas and grandpas more often. In tribute to our dear Claudia, a final photo essay:

Claudia took to me a little towards the end, and usually insisted on having my keys so she could attach them, janitor-style, to her britches, just like me:



And she always shared the snack-du-jour with her best-buddy Isaac. Here, she introduces him to the wonder of Ruffles:



Claudia's Dad, Neil, shares a scandalous story about moonshine he heard on CMT:



Claudia's family's goodbye dinner -- we all went out to eat together: