Times They Are a Changin'

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 the wrinkling of the nose now. In fact, she was doing it so quickly that she actually snorted today. It was very surprising to her. Claire is pulling herself up on everything. The downside is that she can't figure out how to get down, so she'll stand as long as she can, and then begin to fuss for help. This doesn't happen all the time. Consequently, her poor little body has seen it's share of bumps and bruises. Last week I was letting Harvest outside and closed the door. Claire evidently wanted to go outside too, as she began to cry when the door closed. Miss Attitude is showing her face--way too early! Another cute thing she is doing now, is coming when she is called. Chris thinks this is like training dog, but I think it is so cute that she recognizes her name, is able to track sound and ultimately, understands the command. Her favorite games are "peek a boo," "airplane" and "the claw." We don't necessarily call it that with her, but that is what I remember my Dad calling it. She loves to get tickled and laughs out loud. Her little giggles are way too cute. The latest development is the appearance of her 2 top teeth. The one has pushed through all the way and the other one is emerging. Needless to say, her "bites" hurt a bit more. The kids at daycare agree, she bit one last week and the poor girl didn't understand why Claire didn't have a time out. Claire is sleeping pretty well. She generally goes to bed around 7, sleeps in her own bed until 3, joins us for her early morning bottle and sleeps until 5:30 when we wake up. She does cry when we lay her down, but those episodes seem to be decreasing in length. She certainly has her moments though. That's when the teaming comes in. Thank goodness for two parents. All in all, she is developing beautifully. She has her 9 month well baby check next week, so I'll report the new numbers then.