5 months

My sweet little baby is already 5 months old!  She is growing too fast!  This past month she learned quite a few new skills.  We even bought a baby gate in preparation for what's up ahead.  Here she is...

5 month facts:

• We went on Claire's 2nd road trip to Northern Utah and she did awesome again.  She is really great in the car.
• Claire's new favorite pastime is sucking on her toes!  She does it all the time.
• This past month Claire learned how to roll over.  She has rolled over from tummy to back twice and hasn't done it since.  Dan still hasn't seen her roll over.  In the past week she learned how to roll from back to tummy but only does it in her crib.  Neither of us have actually seen her do it in person, only on the baby monitor.  So now she rolls to her tummy, gets stuck and then cries for help.  I spent all last night rolling her back to her back!  I'm hoping she'll get better at tummy to back soon so I won't always have to help her.  
• She sleeps on her side almost all the time now.
• She is still a great night sleeper and is getting better at nap time.  We are slowly working on teaching her how to put herself to sleep.  
• Claire loves playing with this little bird on her car seat.  If you pull it, it vibrates.  It keeps her entertained in the car.
• She now responds to her name when you call her.  
• She doesn't really laugh yet, but still gives big smiles if you talk to her.  
• Claire sits great in her bumbo.
• When we hold her she likes to stand so she can look around at everything. 
• She spits up a lot. 
• We haven't started solids yet, but probably will soon.  She is acting ready and always pays attention to what we are eating. 
• She likes listening to Dan play the piano.
• She gets excited when Dan comes home from work.  
• She is pretty much content unless she is tired.  
• Claire went swimming for her first time and loved it.  
• When she's on her tummy she moves her arms and legs a lot, I can tell she is getting close to scooting. 
• She loves to touch my hair. 
• She likes when we dance with her.  
• She thinks it's funny when we pretend to eat her fingers and toes.  
• She loves my phone and I have taught her how to swipe through the pictures, she doesn't do it perfectly, but she tries! 
• For a few days she would stick out her tongue and spit, I think she liked how it felt, but she hasn't done it in a week or so.  

Claire is just a little sweetheart!  We love her SO much! 

Swimming

Claire went swimming for her very first time yesterday at our neighborhood pool.  I wasn't sure how she would react but the minute I put her in her float she laid back and was all smiles!  It was so cute.  She loved relaxing in the pool.  I love the float we got for her.  It's so nice because she can sit in it and it has a shade cover.  We were only in the water for about 20 minutes and then she was done, but I think we will be making a lot more trips to the pool this summer.  On the walk home she fell asleep, guess all that swimming wore her out.

Here she is in the pool... she is so stinkin cute!

Loving the pool!

Baby and me :)

Family Reunion

Last weekend we headed to Northern Utah for a little family reunion for my mom's side of the family.  We ate, we visited, we had a talent show, and we shopped at "grandpa's store" (which they used to do when I was a kid and the tradition still continues... everything costs a penny!)  It was also fun for Claire to get to know my family a little bit better.

Us!  I chopped my hair off... got sick of baby pulling it!

Sweet Claire baby

Danny (bro-in law) and Tim (brother) sharing their skills

More sweet baby.  Love that face!  Her hair looks so red in this pic.

The kids were supposed to wear superhero costumes... here's Cal, the cutest little Clark Kent/Superman I have ever seen!

My Dad on the guitar... my family is so talented.

Cute parents!

Nephew Chase and his new gun.

Katie & Riley aka Captain America!

Me and my sis, Noelle, with our babies!

Croquet game!  Dan got 2nd place.

Cousins getting to know each other.  They are both so cute!

Claire and Great Grandma Western.

Claire and my sister, Jannifer, they match!  So cute!

Claire with Grandpa Hemingway.

4 Generations!

Dan showing off his amazing piano skills.

Claire in the car.  She did awesome on both drives!

* Thanks to Jannifer & Jared for letting me use some of your pics :)

4 month pic

And here's the head shot that goes with my last post :)

4 months

Here is my sweet little 4 month old.  I seriously can't get enough of her cuteness!  I probably drive her crazy by the amount of times I kiss those adorable cheeks each day.

Snapped a smiling shot of this cutie (I love her in yellow)!  And then realized I had a matching headband...

Once the headband went on, she stopped smiling.  I don't think it was because of the headband, I think she was just ready for nap.  We didn't even make it to just head shots.  But smile or no smile, she is still adorable.

And now for the 4 month update:

• Claire is now awesome at tummy time!  She no longer cries and can hold her head up high.
• She doesn't like being held like a baby anymore.  She just wants to sit up and look around all the time.
• Claire sleeps in her own room now.
• She sleeps great at night.  Usually 8-9 hours straight.  How did we get so lucky?  She has dropped her 4 am feeding and now eats around 6 am and then goes back to bed for an hour or two.
• She sits in her bumbo pretty well.
• She loves looking at books and can even turn the pages (ok it's not perfect every time, but we're working on it). 
• She loves her chain links on her carseat and is always holding onto them.
• She keeps trying to roll over, but hasn't quite gotten all the way there yet.
• She grabs everything in front of her and puts it in her mouth (including my hand).  
• Claire no longer needs to be swaddled at night.  She sleeps with her arms behind her head, it's so cute.
• Sometimes she sleeps on her side.    
• She "talks" all the time and is always learning new noises.  We love hearing her sweet little voice.  
• Claire does great while running errands.  She is always very alert at the store and loves looking around.  
• Everyone compliments her on her big blue eyes. 
• Whenever the tv is on she always tries to turn and watch it.  
• She also loves looking at the screen on my phone and tries to grab it out of my hands.    
• She loves her monkey.  She especially likes to chew on his leg.  

We love watching Claire learn and grow.  It is so much fun!