month by month

Here it is...in hard evidence...the proof that my little baby is no longer a baby. I am so glad I did these. It really is amazing how they change in just a month.

Cross-eyed Claire and new to this photo taking with a bear thing.

I got it now, Momma.

I think months 4 and 5 are my personal favorite. 

All of a sudden, she looks like a big girl in month 7. 

Too cool to look at the camera in month 9.

I'm ONE!

trick or treat

We didn't actually trick or treat, but Claire wore her duck costume like a champ for, oh, 10 minutes or so. :)

a day at the zoo

This one is a little late, but...while we were in DC last month, we had one full family day between my work conference and Ross and Sarah-Michelle's wedding. Bob and I have both been to DC before and done a lot of the historical things, and neither of us are much of a museum-person. We would have liked to have visited the International Spy Museum, but since Claire isn't old enough to participate, that would have meant Bob got to do a mission, while I waited with her. Not my idea of good family time.

So we decided to hit up the National Zoo. Bonus: The zoo is free! Parking is not.

I love the zoo. We went to the Nashville Zoo a year or so ago with our nephews and niece, and I want to buy a family pass when Claire is old enough to really see and watch the animals. I think she had a good time regardless.

Arriving at the zoo. Sleepy from a nap in the car.

 

 First, we saw gorillas!

Claire perked up when we got her out of her stroller.

Baby girl wore her giraffe shirt just for the occasion.

And, we saw zebras...

...and cheetahs...

 

...and orangutangs, oh my! (Doesn't go that way? Oh, well, I tried!)

 

These guys were awesome. They had these ropes strung across the park and every once in a while, the orangs' would hop on and go on a visit to the other side of the park.

They've been know to, ahem, do their business up there, so I took these pictures with my zoom lens safely from a distance!

All, in all, it was a fun trip. It was warm, but not hot, so we weren't uncomfortable either. Somebody was worn out by the time we left...

While we were there, we learned that a little giant panda had been born just days before. Sadly,  I
read a few weeks ago that the cub passed away Sept 22, at just six days old from lung and liver problems.

Mama and Daddy Panda (via)

While reading about the little girl panda, I found that panda pregnancy is really interesting. The zookeepers really didn't know whether Mama Mei Xiang was pregnant at all and were watching with waited breath during the time she would deliver after being artificially inseminated months prior. Apparently, pandas can exhibit false pregnancy symptoms. Obviously, Mei Xiang was, in fact, pregnant. The cub was born seemingly healthy and the zookeepers allowed Mama to care for her. After her baby's death, which she alerted zookeepers to by honking in distress, she cuddled with a Kong toy for days almost in substitution. Poor Mama. 
 
And there you go...more than you never knew you wanted to know about panda pregnancy.  

claire - nine months

Claire at nine months - September 24, 2012

Ahhh, I'm so behind. Claire is going to be TEN months if I don't post this soon!

Weight/Height: Little chunker is 16 lbs, 12 oz now. Still so petite, but I love it! Claire is 26 1/4 inches long - short(er) just like her parents.

Clothes: 6 month jammies (but not for long!) and mostly six months for everything else. We can get away with a few random 3 month dresses, but mostly those have been packed up.

Eating Habits: Usually she has a 6 oz bottle first thing in the morning (7ish) and 4 6-7 oz bottles during the day (9-10 am, 12-1 pm, 3-4 pm and 7-8 pm). We've continued to introduce solid foods, including meat, this month. She eats the pureed stuff pretty well, but really likes when we give her bites of things to eat in her highchair while we eat.
Sleep: Still sleeping great at night. She goes down between 8 and 9 and sleeps til we get her up arund 6:45. At least once this month, she gave us a treat by sleeping til 8 on a Saturday morning. Napping? Not so much. She gets great naps at home on the weekends, but is way too distracted to sleep at daycare.

Eye Color: Brown

Biggest accomplishment: Claire is crawling now! It's fun and scary at the same time. We've had a few more bumps on the head and a couple of topple overs, but she is on the move!

Likes:

• Clapping
• Gerber Puffs
• FOOD!

Dislikes

• Being hungry
• Sitting in  her high chair for too long...though she does great when we're out to dinner usually.

Favorite Moments: This month was really a blur for us with traveling and being sick. Highlights include Pop and Alli's visit, Grandma and Grandpa's visit, Mommy and Daddy's weekend trip and a family trip to DC! Oh, and some Daddy/Claire time while Mommy was traveling for work. It was a big month

Doctor's Orders: A quick (yeah, right) visit to the doctor this month showed that Claire is healthy as can be. What we thought might be an ear infection was only teething. Her nine month visit went great as well. Claire is right on track and growing. She got a flu shot and orders to keep up the good work!

Comparison:

 

claire's first fourth of july

 in Perdido Key, Florida

if bob plants it, it will grow

I'll be the first to admit that I did not have high hopes when Bob told me he wanted to have a garden in our backyard.

Last year, he started with seeds in a few pots. This little monster took care of anything that tried to grow.

This year, Bob wanted to build a raised bed garden to keep the little monster out. Hmmm. Ok. We looked at them pre-made. Can we say, expensive? So in true Bob form, he decided he would just build one. Let me stop right here and say that this was still more expensive than I think it should be. But I can tell it will last and my dear husband assures me that he made it in such a way that it can be expanded and move with us when the time comes. Okay, okay.

My brother came to visit, and he and Bob tackled the bed together on a Sunday afternoon. It was built.

We ventured to Lowe's one day and remembered to buy seeds and potting soil. The bed was filled with soil.

The little seeds started out in a small container in our house. I should have took a picture, but my hopes still weren't high. Bob planted squash, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, green onions, bell peppers and cucumbers. A little ambitious, yes.

But what to my wondering eyes...they started to sprout!

The little seedlings were slowly transplanted to the outside garden bed.

They eventually started to get bigger...and bigger...until we had this! 

The squash took off first.

Somebody, and I won't name names (but it starts with a b and ends with a b!) planted more squash than he was supposed to and suddenly we had more squash than we could ever need!

Then, our lone zucchini plant bloomed. Although not as fruitful as the squash, we've seen quite a few zucchinis come out of Bob's garden. 

We used the fresh squash and zucchini to make my version of Ravioli Primavera...which is basically throw a bunch of vegetables in to saute in a pan full of butter and garlic and toss with pasta. Voila.

Since we had so much squash, and a few too many zucchinis, I decided to give the homemade baby food a try.

Steam. Puree with my nifty-difty hand blender, spoon into ice cube trays and freeze. Easy!

And Claire loved it all!

Yesterday, our first cucumber came into the house. We're still waiting on a few green tomatoes to turn red, bell peppers to grow some more and aren't sure if we'll ever know when our onions are ready or not!

So, here it comes. One time and one time only. I was wrong. Bob's garden was a success. I'm sure it will be even more successful in years to come. Especially when we figure out how to plan so that all of the plants don't bloom at once!

claire - six months old!

Claire at six months - June 24, 2012 
(Please ignore the dog hair on my furniture. Ugh.)

This month's pictures were by far the hardest to snap. Claire's into everything she can reach now and is constantly putting her hands in her mouth. She is also the Queen of Drool, which explains the shine on her face. After a few minutes of photos, we were both over it. 

Weight/Height: 13 lbs, 1 oz and 24 1/2 inches long. Which puts her in the 5th percentiles. I'm still having trouble with how small she is, but Dr. B is happy, and I keep trying to remind myself that she's healthy - just small.

Clothes: 0-3 months; however, I'm happy to say that I think she is growing out of some of them. Finally. Dresses are still roomy, but rompers and sleepers and some onesies are starting to get too short. I feel confident that we'll be moving up (at least in the sleepers) in the next couple of weeks. Some 3-6 month outfits are fitting now, especially the little bubble outfits. And Claire is still in Size 1 diapers. Thankfully, since we were lucky enough to be gifted a couple of packages, and I want to use those up!

Eating Habits: Bottles are pretty much the same as last month: 7ish am (4 oz.), 9:30 am (6 oz), 1 pm (6 oz), 4 pm (6 oz), 6:30 pm (6 oz) and 3-4 oz right before bed (usually around 8:30 pm).

The big news is that we've introduced solids this month. Rice cereal first, to mixed reaction and this week we've added squash to the mix. At first, she really liked the rice cereal - even leaning forward and saying what sounds like "Mmm" to us. But she tired of it. We started mixing applesauce in it and that helped. So far the squash is a big hit. Must be b/c Bob grew it in our garden, and I steamed and pureed it. :) Not going to lie...it's a big mess when she eats, but a pretty cute mess!

We have learned, though, that it's best to feed her solids when she's not hungry for a bottle. If we give her the solids before the bottle, we have a ticked off little girl on our hands - especially if she sees the bottle. We're trying to time her meals in between bottles to help with that a little.

Sleep: Claire is still a rockstar in the sleep department. 8:30p to about 6-7a most days. Some weekends, she sleeps longer. Her sleep has been interrupted a little bit lately due to a persistent cough, but she's such a good girl and goes back to sleep as soon as she gets those coughs out.

Eye Color: Blue some days, blue-brown others.

Biggest accomplishment: The aforementioned eating habits are a big step. She's also trying harder to sit up and enjoys her time in the exersaucer now. It's so cute to watch her jump around and really play with the toys.

How We Spend Our Day: Pretty much the same as last month: Momma wakes up at 5:30 and gets ready for work. I wake Claire up around 6:30, she eats and then we head out the door around 7:15. After dropping her at school, I head to work. Depending on the day, Bob or I pick her up around 5:15ish. She usually takes a bottle soon after getting home, before Bob and I eat dinner. She hangs out with us while we eat dinner and then plays or snoozes afterwards. Then it's time for bath, jammies, bedtime snack and bed. Then Momma and Daddy straighten up the house, fix bottles for the next day and pack our lunches. Our time together passes very quickly during the week, but we make up for it on the weekend!

On the weekends - she sometimes sleeps a little later. We run errands, play, and if we're home, she takes a long (3 hours) nap over lunchtime. I think the weekdays wear her out b/c it's hard to sleep with all those babies, so she makes up for it on the weekends.We take Claire anywhere and everywhere and as a result, she's able to nap anywhere.

Likes:

• Playing with Molly Dolly
• Being told she's beautiful
• Laughing at Mommy and Daddy's silly faces
• Putting anything and everything in her mouth

Dislikes  (funny that these all revolve around eating)

• Eating solids when she's hungry
• When the milk doesn't come out fast enough
• Being interrupted while eating

Favorite Moments: Claire's little personality has really come through this month. Both Bob and I really enjoy the times that we can just lay around and make her laugh. It is the sweetest sound. Everyone tells me that they just get more fun as they get older, but I sure love this stage. We also enjoyed Claire's first trips to the lake and to the pool.

Doctor's Orders: Momma had the stomach flu this month and while it kept me down, it only hit Claire a little bit and she was a real trooper. I was so proud of her for being such a good girl while I was sick and Bob was out of town. She's still having a little trouble with her eye, but Dr. B wants us to keep up the drops and says that it's a clogged duct that will clear up as she gets older. We are also to add a third meal of solids each day in the coming weeks and work with Claire on sitting up more.

Comparison:

a place to lay her head

This is another post just for Momma. I'm embarrassed that it's taken me this long to get pictures up of Claire's nursery, but I worked hard on it and just love it and don't want to forget this sweet space.

I won't even tell you how behind I am on her baby book (and it's only been 6 months!). Many of you have already seen Claire's room, but I thought it would be fun to look back on.

The overview.

Convertible crib.

Prints over the crib. These were purchased from Etsy, framed by me and hung SECURELY by Bob. They're not coming down, trust me.

This wreath was made by my sweet friend, Chelle. It fits the room perfectly.

We purchased two dressers with the crib. This one has a diaper pull-out storage and we put a removable changing pad on top.

  
I love this lamp. It's parts of two different ones, both from TJ Maxx.

Close-up of the shelves and prints above the dresser (prints also from Etsy).

Second, smaller dresser. I love this mirror, it's from World Market. I do not love my reflection in the mirror!
 

A close-up of the fabric for Claire's bedding. I made the crib skirt, bumpers and curtain for her room. Not sure I'll ever do that again, but it was stressful fun this go around.

I also made this little board for her hairbows/clips. Super easy project inspired by none other than Pinterest!

Claire, I hope you love your room as much as I loved putting it all together. It's probably my favorite room in the house. Daddy and I sat in there while I was pregnant and just dreamed about you laying in the crib. I still get happy when I go in there, mostly b/c of the sweet baby smiling up at me from the crib! 

I know that it will grow and change as you do and as your little personality evolves, but I loved picking all of the little accents and sweet touches that are in there. It's not the biggest space in the house, but it's YOUR space.

special moments

We've had quite a few special moments this month beginning with Claire's baptism on my birthday, May 5. Family and lots of our sweet friends came and celebrated with us - we are so thankful that they want to witness these moments with us.

With both sets of grandparents and the godparents.

Then, my 90-year old grandpa (who acts much younger than 90-years old) stopped by to visit on his road trip of the Southeast. Long story, but he and my brother spent about a month on the road visiting all of Grandpa's living siblings and my parents (his other children live near him). The highlight of the trip, I'm sure, was stopping in Nashvegas to see our house and meet his only great granddaughter.

They enjoyed lots of conversations while Grandpa was here.

Finally, just a week later, Claire got to meet her other great grandparent, Bob's grandmother. We spent the weekend with Bob's parents at the farm and got in lots of quality snuggles with Great Grandmother. We can't wait til she moves to her new home and will have a comfy rocking chair to rock Claire and all the other great grandbabies!

Not many people get to meet their great grand parents...but Claire met both in the span of two weeks! Lucky girl.