Merry Christmas!

We had a great time celebrating Christmas in Danville, Tacoma, Louisville, then Danville again. We took a ton of pictures. Because we can't post them all, here are some of our favorites.

Nine Months Old

Claire turned nine months old today. This month has been so exciting and heart-warming. Claire is quite mobile now crawling all over the place. She still scoots from time to time, but she has also mastered the traditional crawl. What I love the most about this month, is how Claire will now rest her head on my shoulder. It makes me melt every time. Our nighttime routine consists of nursing, then slow-dancing to some classical music, before laying her down. As soon as you walk over to turn on the music, her head will hit my shoulder. Ahhhhh.


Claire got to meet her greatgrandparents, Harold and Ruth Garrett, as well as great aunt, Maureen, and "great cousin" Marcus for the first time yesterday. She was quite the ham and kept smiles on our faces.



We are now in Tacoma, Washington spending Christmas with Andrew's family. This means that in nine months Claire has visited/driven through/had a layover in...Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Massachusetts, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Washington...ten states!

Christmas in Danville

We celebrated Christmas a little early with my mom in Danville because we leave tomorrow for Tacoma to spend the next week with Andrew's family. We're really looking forward to seeing everyone in Washington and for them to see Claire.

Wesley's 4th Birthday!

Claire's cousin, Wesley, turned 4 yesterday and had a party this afternoon. The theme was the "Cars" movie. Laura had seen in a previous post that Claire has an outfit identical to Alex, so we dressed them alike. We had no idea Claire would be so entertained by toy cars. She had a great time.

Holiday Cheer

Claire's Crawl

Clapping

Claire's First Snow

We woke up to a dusting of snow this morning. Claire decided to re-organize her bibs and hats that we keep in the living room.

On the Move

This is how Claire gets around. It's really fun to watch in fast forward.

Bumps and Bruises

As I was taking the photo above, Claire fell face-forward onto the hardwood floor. I think it traumatized me more than Claire. I scooped her up and hugged her tightly as she cried. The crying didn't last longer than a minute, but the bump on her face became more red and raised as the day progressed. I know it will be the first of many, but it's still painful to think about.


Andrew, Claire, and I went to my aunt and uncle's lake house this afternoon to enjoy the beautiful weather and delicious chili that my aunt and cousin made. My mom, "aunt" Dotty, and "uncle" Greg, were also there and were happily entertained by Claire until she became hungry and tired.

My aunt Jane and Claire look great in red.
My uncle Robbie figured Claire would be most content if she didn't see who was holding her.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving with my sister's family in Cincinnati. They had an incredible meal for us. Claire is looking forward to next year when she can eat more than just the sweet potatoes. The day seemed to get away from me so fast that I didn't take very many photos. Here are a couple.

8 Months Old

This eighth month has been so much fun, but also a little tiring. Claire has had a cold for almost a week now and wakes up in the middle of the night coughing and crying. She isn't bothered by her symptoms during the day though and continues being her cute self.

Claire isn't crawling quite yet, but certainly doesn't stay in a fixed position either. She scoots, wiggles, and makes pretty good headway toward something when she wants to. She loves to take her socks off and chew on them and occasionally she'll suck on her toes.

Claire has six teeth now and loves to tap them together or bite her spoon while eating. This makes nursing somewhat less enjoyable for me. We'll see how long I can last before we use only the stored milk.

No one can make Claire chuckle louder than her Daddy. She finds most everything he does absolutely hilarious. Second to Andrew, Molly can make Claire giggle by licking Claire's toes. Another adorable Claire fact is that she is all about hugging. Whether it's your arm, neck, face, chest, she loves to hug. WE LOVE IT!

Another Cold

Claire woke up early Friday morning with a slight fever and runny nose. She was still very happy greeting us with big smiles, but it made eating and nursing a little difficult. She is doing better today with a mild cough and runny nose. In the photo below we tried to catch her in the act of sucking on her toes (one of her new favorites), but as usual she is interested in the camera as soon as it is pointed in her direction.

Big Smile!

Video Clip

We felt like it was time for a new Claire video. Enjoy!

Happy 30th Birthday!

I had a wonderful 30th birthday. Claire wanted to start the celebrating early, so she was up at 6 am this morning. As a result, the next photo was taken at 7:45am.

Claire and Andrew decorated the dining room in honor of my big day. Among my presents, Claire helped Andrew pick out a beautiful necklace (that Claire immediately stuck in her mouth as shown in the top photo).

I feel so blessed.