It's been a while

So, it's been a busy month! So much has happened and I haven't been able to sit down and expand on any of it. Over Christmas my mom and I learned to make headbands for Claire and Lucy (my beautiful Niece seen below).

We rang in the New Year with friends. Claire was one of three baby girls there... all born within three weeks of each other. Here they are sporting two of the bows I made. 

The three little troopers awake to say hello to 2009. The other two kiddos actually slept for a portion of the night... but not Claire. Sleeping when there is fun going on around her is not happening these days.

This is Claire getting her new years kiss from mommy and daddy. There were horns and poppers going off and she was not having any of it! Over-tired and over-stimulated made for one unhappy little girl. But she got over it quickly.


In other happenings, Claire is growing by leaps and bounds. Four things that she can do now:

1. Laugh. She started doing it the day before we left for Christmas. It used to take a lot to get her to giggle, but not anymore. The other day I sneezed and she thought it was the funniest thing. Now she will look at you and laugh all on her own, as a way to initiate interaction.

2. Roll from her back to her stomach. She just mastered it this week and already I can't keep tabs on her. I look away for a second and she's rolled halfway across the carpet onto the tile. It has begun!

3. Sit by propping herself up with her hands. She gets better at this every day. Last week she used to topple over if she breathed heavily, but now she can balance and even turn her head from side to side without falling over.

4. Push her butt up in the air while laying on her stomach and scoot forward like an inchworm. She's going to be crawling soon (yikes!)

She is happy and healthy. She is just under 13 pounds now and seems bigger every time I look at her. She is noticing things around her a lot more. She now looks at (and reaches for) things that aren't right in front of her. She also is becoming more opinionated every day. She gets impatient and starts to fuss if she is laid down but wants to stand, is put down to sleep when she doesn't want to go, or if she wants to nurse and it takes me half a second to get comfortable first, etc. But, it's all good. I try and capture each phase before it's gone!