Constant Beginnings

Claire asked me to write a special entry today for her Daddy. It is his birthday! He is no longer a spring chicken--31 years old!! Happy Birthday, Chris! We love you even if you are getting old. Claire also wanted me to note that her Momma is still under 30 (for the record). In other news, Claire had a big day yesterday. She attempted to climb a step a week or so ago, but until yesterday was only successful at that. She'd get on the first step and sit there, perfectly content. I decided I had better get it on video, so I sat on the landing and she obeyed like the good little kiddo that she is. She climbed up the first step, sat there for a few seconds and then began to climb the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th! The downfall is that my battery died after her first step, so we had to do it all over again minutes later. Needless to say, we will be buying another gate very soon. One hard crash off of the hardwood could put an end to our high hopes of being supported by our stellar child!! The second...

MyHeritage : Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

     

        Claire was tuckered out by the time we reached the top. We took her out of the pack just long enough to see her grab a decent sized rock and put it in her mouth. That was enough of that. Down we went. The views were beautiful. I captured a few on film.

        Chris, Claire and I went hiking today. It was great. I am not much of a hiker, but I survived. It was a tough go for awhile and I found myself wishing I was riding on Chris' back like Claire. All was well when we finally reached the summit. The best part of the whole thing is that this mountain is a short, ten minute drive from our house! We are definitely going back.

     

        We took Claire to a playground last night for some swinging fun. She enjoyed them, but didn't seem so crazy about them. I think she liked people watching more than anything. She is definitely her mother's daughter! Lately, Chris has been calling her "my shadow." She follows me EVERYWHERE!! I love it. She is such a great age right now. I have been on spring break this week, so it has been Claire and I nearly everyday. I did bring her to daycare for a few hours on Tuesday so I could get some errands done (I am officially a MA resident!!). This week has been great. We spend our days doing whatever makes us happy. She sits in the stroller, watching me plant flowers/pull weeds, we take walks, nap, or play with her toys. This week has left me looking forward to this summer.

        Claire has quite the expressions--some barbaric, some angelic, some a bit devious. I managed to capture a few on film. The scary thing is that most of her expressions can be captured within a 10 minute time frame. She is quite the drama queen.

        We are fortunate to have some good friends a few of whom came over on Saturday for a little party. It was great. The initial purpose was to scrapbook, but I can't say I got anything accomplished. Heather and Erin managed to pull together a few pages. It was fun visiting with everyone. We ate some good food, enjoyed some drinks (a bit too much in my case--ugh!!), and visited by the fire. It was a nice change from the norm. Claire was tuckered out by the end of the night. She fell asleep in my arms.

        Claire is loving the slide at daycare, so Chris and I took her to the playground across the street. She was a bit timid at first, hanging onto the edge with both hands while she went down, but loved it. She can actually push herself to get going. It seems like a tall order for a scrawny 9 month old, but she does it well. Her face is rather comical. She closes her eyes and opens her mouth. It doesn't look like she loves it, but she is all smiles afterward. Hmmm. Maybe her smiles are relief that the hair raising experience is done. I hadn't thought of that.

      Claire is nine months old. She is such an active kid, always on the go. She no longer lays nicely when we change her diaper. It is quite the challenge. She is getting rather quick at crawling, so we have to move just as quickly to keep her out of where she doesn't belong--the fridge, cupboards, etc. Developmentally, she is right on track or maybe a bit advanced in our biased eyes. She crawls, pulls herself up, is beginning to move from one piece of furniture to another, mostly eats table food, and imitates us (both in the noises we make or actions--knocking on a door). When we hold her hands, she is beginning to take steps without much guidance. On Saturday, she made her first attempt to climb a step. Sadly, it ended with her sliding down. She has three teeth--two on the bottom, one on top with another coming in on top. Ten things we love about her: 1. her smile 2. her curiosity 3. the way she holds our hands or her own hands when she sleeps 4. her easy-goingness 5....

      Growing up, one job I hated, and I mean HATED was washing windows. We didn't live in a huge house, but it was large enough with plenty of windows. We had crank out windows, which meant washing the ones on the top floor involved sitting on the window ledge, leaning and out and hanging on with one hand while washing with the other. It was quite the process. I hated it. Did I mention that I HATED WASHING WINDOWS???? I did. So, nearly 2 years of major remodeling in our house has left us with some filthy windows and I mean FILTHY! They've needed to be washed for awhile. We've had a bit going on to say the least, so the windows were put on the back burner. There was a moment in time when I searched Walmart for some outdoor window cleaner, but came up empty handed. Quite honestly, I just wasn't sure how to reach the upstairs windows. Sounds stupid, but true. Anyway, we are looking forward to having Erin, Josh and Hunter stay over on Saturday, so some cleaning is needed. ...

9 months has flown by. Honestly. It is hard to believe nearly 9 months have passed since Claire shown her light on our hearts. We love her more and more everyday. It seems corny to say so, but it is very true. Each day is a new experience as she understands or sees something new. It is quite the joy experiencing life through someone else's eyes. This past month has been one of huge growth. She is crawling everywhere. Claire will now leave a room that we are in to see what there is to see. She is intrigued by Harvest, but not so much into pulling his hair anymore. She loves to watch him play with his toys and occasionally crawls after him to see what he is up to. Claire is eating everything--babyfood and table food. She is no longer showing any aversions to textures, which eases my anxiety. She is beginning to develop a cute little personality. Her favorite face is one where she wrinkles her nose. She does this ALL THE TIME!! It is too cute. She is adding heavy nasal breathing to th...