Growth Spurt - 6 Months

Please forgive my delay in blogging. I thought I might work on it today but Claire started her six month growth spurt yesterday and we're both exhausted. She was up until 11 both Saturday and Sunday nights and she was also up last night at 2 and 4. When I am less sleep deprived, I will post pictures and an update. Have a good Monday!

Claire's First Christmas

What a perfect Christmas! We were very fortunate that our parents were able to join us this week to celebrate Claire's first Christmas! We had such a good time and we are very thankful for all that they did for us while they were here. They helped us cook, clean and Tim and his Dad spent time in the shop building things. It was hard to see everyone leave. We'll get to see my folks very soon, though, because my brother Stephen, and his wife, Jessica are due to have a baby in a few weeks. I am just beside myself in anticipation!

Here are the Christmas photos:



PS My sweet husband gave me a beautiful gold bracelet to commemorate Claire's first Christmas! I'll post a picture later.

PPS I forgot to mention a couple of things in the previous post. Claire's eye-hand coordination has made great strides this month. She loves to play with her pacifier when she is sleepy and she can get it in her mouth without too much trouble. She is getting pretty good at using just her thumb and index finger, as well. Tim and I have also noticed her mimicking the way we play with her. We love to kiss on her neck because she loves it. She will now try to bite us in return. So much fun!

Claire - 5 Months - Weeks 3 & 4

What a difference a couple of weeks can make! Claire needs a lot more room to move around now that she is rolling over from her back to her tummy. She has also discovered her feet and spends a lot of time playing with them and trying to get them into her mouth. She has also become much more vocal and makes the most adorable sounds. In additions, she is a champion eater. We have been amazed at how quickly she has caught on. She now opens her mouth as soon as we sit her in her high chair. She has enjoyed rice cereal, bananas, avocado, butternut squash, and yogurt. I went to the store today and picked up pears, mangoes, and sweet potatoes for her to try.

Here are all the adorable photos:

What does our Christmas look like?

Christmas for me growing up included a lot of handcrafted decorations. I loved it and I love that I now have some of those items in my own home. I had mentioned to my mom that I wanted Claire to have a Christmas stocking much like the one someone made for me after I was born. My mom said that she would take care of it. Little did I know how much work was involved! Here is a picture:

Do you see all those sequins and beads? My mom hand sewed everyone one of those. Do you see all the lettering? Yep, she hand sewed all of that too! She also cut everything out and pieced all together. Unbelievable! I can't imagine how long that took her.

The two on the right are the ones I grew up with. My mom was so good at filling our stockings with fun goodies. I hope I am able to do that for Claire.

(PS Can you see that I'm in the holiday spirit with my holiday socks?!)

Here's what our house looks like for Christmas:

Oh, I wish you could see how the lights are sparkling on it! The tree has a lot of handmade ornaments on it from different family and friends. The skirt was quilted by my Aunt Mary Jane, as well. One day, Claire will get to add her special touch with macaroni and glitter art!

Tim did this for me. I had cleared the hutch off and managed to get a few things up but he completed it last weekend by adding the garland and lights and other decorative knick-knacks. I love looking at it. It is quite festive! It includes a number of pieces that my grandparents made.

Well, I better get back to work. Tim requested clean pants to wear to work!

Merry Christmas!

Claire - 5 Months - Week 2

"Turning over a new leaf" is this week's theme. Claire's sleep troubles came to a head this week. It was horrible. The poor baby would try and try to fall asleep for naps and night time and it just wouldn't come easily. I would have to stand at her crib after laying her down asleep and wait for upwards of ten minutes or more to make sure she would stay awake. She would jolt every time her feet hit the mattress. She managed to sleep through the night on Monday and Tuesday night but Thursday and Friday nights we were up 'til midnight trying to go to sleep. I could tell she was just miserable. Well, she got up on Saturday and it was like we had a different baby. She is falling asleep much easier. She isn't sleeping through the night but she is going to sleep so much more easily. I think she was just going through some developmental spurt that didn't seem like it was ever going to end. As a result, though, Tim and I have noticed some fun changes the past couple of days. She has become even more vocal making the funniest squealing noises. I've seen her start to grab her feet today and I also noticed today that she now seems to be rolling over intentionally. She is even fussing now to let us know that she wants to get down and play.

Oh! We also let her eat some rice cereal yesterday. She was rather nonchalant about the whole thing. She ate it but expressed nothing regarding whether she liked it or hated it. I think I'll buy her a banana.

Here are this week's pictures:

Tim put some rattles on her ankles. I think she kinda liked it.

Yeah, this is alright but I think you could do better, Mom.

Claire - 5 Months - Week 1

Claire had a really good first week as a five month old. No huge developments to report. She is getting close to being able to sit on her own but I think it'll be another month or so before she is completely there. I think she has been going through some developmental changes or something that is causing her to not be able to sleep well during the day. I think, however, we might be getting close to sleeping through the night on a more consistent basis. This week was pretty tough and exhausting with her needing so much help sleeping but I think we're getting close to getting through it.

Here are some pictures:

She's wearing BabyLegs Not Sox. I ordered them off of babysteals.com for Christmas but I couldn't wait to try them on her. Aren't they adorable?!

Tim's mom brought Claire this musical gym the last time she came to visit. All of her grandkids have played with it and Claire loves it!

Hugging her Daddy!

Ready to go out into the cold. She is wearing a scarf that her Mimi knitted her. So cute!

She rolled over in her crib. Look, she's wearing the NotSox again!

She is using the big girl side of her bathtub now.

Claire - 4 Months - Weeks 3 & 4

I apologize for the delay in my blogging. We have been quite busy since we returned from Augusta on Saturday. I had to go to the doctor on Tuesday since I broke out in in head-to-toe hives for no apparent reason the day before Thanksgiving. I had to go see the oral surgeon on Wednesday to make sure I was all better and I am. Claire has had a hard time falling asleep this week. This afternoon she is sleeping very well and I think that is due to sheer exhaustion.

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving in Augusta. We had a great time visiting with Tim's family and Claire enjoyed playing with her cousins. We ate lots of food and had a good time catching up. On our way back on Saturday, we stopped in Atlanta to visit with my Aunt Mary Jane, cousin Rick and his daughter, Lilly.

Here is an update on Claire

• She has really started reaching for toys and people. She loves to bat at the toys hanging over her in her tunnel and she loves to play with people's faces when she is laying in their arms. She even reached out for me once when Tim tried to pick her up while she was trying to go to sleep.
• She is showing signs of affection. I think she is hugging us now. It is quite adorable and very much enjoyed.
• She has become more verbal. She had stopped talking a lot when she started teething and chewing on her fingers. Now she is making a lot of new sounds and squeals.
• She started making raspberry noises.
• She really loves to watch us eat and drink. I think she'll be ready for her first meal at the end of the month.
• On Tuesday, while I was at the doctor's, Tim stayed home with her. She cried for an entire hour until I came home. I think we have some separation issues.
• She really loves it when we sing to her. Nothing gets her laughing better than "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "Day-O."
• She loves to be wrapped up in a blanket or towel. When I wrap her up to walk her to her bath, she gets so excited.
• She has started grabbing us with her feet which is totally adorable but it is making diaper changing a bit more of a challenge.
  

Claire turned 5 months old this week. The time goes by so fast! I'll post on her first week as a five month old in a few days. In the meantime, here are the pictures from the past couple of weeks. For some reason, the slideshow feature isn't cooperating so just click on it and select slideshow at the top left.

Thanksgiving 2009