Claudia's 1st Shopping Trip and Birthday Party

After we completed our final paperwork at the local notary we took a shopping trip to the local Wal Mart. This Wal Mart was the most hectic and crowded we had ever seen. Claudia's hair bow was a big hit with the locals who seemed more interested in it than the four policemen who ran into the Wal Mart - two of them carrying sawed-off shotguns. We finished our shopping soon thereafter.
We went to dinner at a local restaurant, where we celebrated the birthday of one of our party, Jim. Jim is married to Kathy and there new one is Kajsa, a Swedish name. Those of us with older children were reminded why we tended not to go out to dinner for the first two years of our children's lives. The first time parents concurred. Nonetheless, the food was excellent and in spite of crying and spilling babies, Claudia - unfazed - blew through a bottle, two bowls of vegetable congee, egg soup and all of our napkins. Grace organized the dinner and again showed her contrast to the now legendary Jerry. Somehow the group started repeating Jerry tales again, and Grace revealed that she is in fact certified and showed us her card.
We took Claudia home and gave her her first bath, with mixed results. She cried but she is clean. She promptly went to bed - unlike a certain little guy who knows who he is. We now count the days until we can get Claudia home and stay up late watching dvds with the child who is not so easy to get to bed.