Dan + Michele + Claire

December 23, 2013

10 months

I can't believe Claire is 10 months! I've even started thinking about her 1st birthday! Once Christmas is done that will be the next thing I work on. This has been a fun age. Claire is now very mobile and gets into everything. She is extremely curious and loves to explore our house.

Look at those teeth!

Adorable!

10 months:

Claire now says "ma ma" and "da da" and means it (most of the time). "Da da" was definitely her first word. When we walk down the hall Claire will point at our wedding picture on the wall and say "Da!" It's so cute. She usually just says "ma ma" when she is in distress and needs help with something.
Claire is now a pro crawler. She figured out the real way to crawl and crawls everywhere.
She loves to crawl to our garbage cans and dump them over.
If I leave Claire in her room to go wash my hands or do something quick she will usually always crawl out to the hall and come looking for me. Or if we're playing in her room and she knows Dan is in the other room she will crawl out there to look for him.
She now pulls herself to standing on everything. She stands in her crib a lot and she even likes to pull to standing on us! I got her a cute little table with toys on it for Christmas and I ended up giving it to her early so she would have something to stand on.
Claire now points at things she wants, especially when we're eating. It's kind of nice to know what she wants. Of course she always points at what Dan and I are eating and wants a bite. She will also point at which book she wants me to read her.
She loves her books that have flaps where she can lift the flap and see what is under.
Claire climbed 2 stairs this month! She crawled to the bottom of our stairs and I wondered if she would try to get up them and she did. After 2 she was done and wanted to be carried the rest of the way.
This month she became a really good napper. She finally started consistently taking two long naps each day and goes down without crying majority of the time (except when she's teething).
She learned how to wave a while ago but kind of stopped doing it, then towards the end of this month she started waving again all the time! Pretty much at everyone she sees, even random people at the store.
Claire always claps when we sing. I love it.
A few foods she really likes are toast, scrambled eggs, fruit, beans, tortillas, avocado, anything sweet!
Claire had her first Thanksgiving. My parents and my sister and her husband all came here. Claire had turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. She also loved all the attention she got!
Claire also got to play in the snow for the very first time. She always seems happy outside, the cold must not bother her.
We took her to see lights at the temple and she loved it. She also loves to point at the lights on our Christmas tree.

We love you, sweet Claire!

December 7, 2013

Snow Day

We are having quite the snow storm in St. George today! This will be our 4th winter here and this is by far the most snow I have ever seen. It usually snows once or twice a winter about an inch and melts by noon. I think we have about 6 inches outside. They even cancelled church tomorrow because St. George doesn't own any snow plows to plow the road so they are telling everyone to stay inside and not drive anywhere.

Luckily I bought Claire boots and gloves this past week! We decided to take her out for her very first snow experience this afternoon. She was all smiles (except when I took pictures, haha)!

We walked up the street and saw our neighbors making a huge snowman.

They needed Dan's help getting it all put together!

Cute snow baby and snow dad!

November 18, 2013

9 months

Everyone is telling me this sweet little 9 month old is no longer looking like a baby :( it's so sad! I even had to buy 12 month pajamas and at Target they are no longer in the infant section, I had to go to the toddler section. I was not ready for that! Regardless this girl is still as cute as ever!

I love this photo, I wish it wasn't blurry!

9 month stats:

Claire now knows how to clap. It is so cute! She claps at dinner, she claps in her bed, she claps when Dan plays the piano, she also claps when I sing "Popcorn Popping" or "Do As I'm Doing."
She has discovered door stoppers and loves playing with them! I had to remove the white end part or it'll go right in her mouth.
Claire can give five. If you hold her hand out she'll usually hit it over and over lots of times.
She can pull herself to standing usually on our ottoman.
Claire will use her little pointer finger to point at things, usually pictures in her book.
This past month Claire suffered her 1st ear infection. It caused a few sleepless nights for us both. Unfortunately she currently has her 2nd ear infection. They are rough!
She has learned to army crawl and it gets her where she needs to go. Sometimes she will get up on all 4s and attempt real crawling, but she seems mostly content with going everywhere on her belly.
Claire enjoyed her first Halloween and was a cute little bumble bee.
She likes to smack her lips and make funny sounds. She also vibrates her lips (not sure of a better way to describe that).
One day I was talking to my sister on the phone and she climbed right up in my face and bit my nose! I couldn't stop laughing.
She no longer smiles for strangers, she usually just stares at them.
Claire loves Costco muffins! She wants to eat every last crumb and cries when I throw the wrapper away.
She is starting to eat more table foods and has become a little more picky. She will no longer eat squash or green beans.
She "sings" along to the radio and Dan playing the piano.
Her cousin Calvin came for a visit (he's 6 weeks older) and they had fun grabbing each other's faces and hair and holding hands.
We got a trampoline and Claire really enjoyed bouncing on it with me.
For my birthday Claire got to ride the carousel. She smiled quite a bit! She rode it a 2nd time when Calvin was here, but was too tired to smile.
She also tried some of my pumpkin birthday cake and loved it! This girl already has a sweet tooth.
Occasionally when she says "mama" or "dada" I think she is associating it with us, but still not quite sure. The other day Dan walked in the room and she looked at him and said "dada". But she tends to say those sounds a lot, so it's hard to know!
She likes playing with this Sesame Street toy that makes sounds, she also likes her nesting cups, her toy piano, and cars.
When she's not sick, she's a good sleeper. She still takes 2 naps (totaling about 2 hrs each day) and sleeps from 7 pm to 6 am, eats, then sleeps til 8 or 8:30.

Aside from being sick, we had a fun month! Claire is always surprising us with her new skills! We love her so much.

November 5, 2013

Birthday Weekend: Sunday (My Actual Birthday)

On my actual birthday we got up and Dan made me breakfast, we then got ready for church. After church Jannifer and Danny had lunch we us, played the new game they gave me (thanks Jannifer, Danny, Noelle & Jared), and then left for Vegas. They also brought a present from my parents (Piano Guys 2 CD and Cold Stone gift card) and Dan got me a diamond ring for my right hand. I was spoiled!

That evening Dan's Mom made me a yummy pizza dinner with the most delicious pumpkin birthday cake. His parents also got me a fun cookbook. It was a great birthday!