My baby is amazing...(10 months)

Claire has just started doing some of the cutest things within the last few weeks/months. I just have to post them, so I will remember when all of this fun stuff started happening.

- Waving hello and bye bye (I still can't decided whether this or her clapping is the cutest thing ever)
- Covering her eyes with her hands for peek-a-boo
- Cruising along the furniture
- Standing for VERY brief periods when she forgets she is supposed to be holding on to something
- She refuses to eat from a spoon because she wants to feed herself
- Finding her standing in her crib waiting whenever we go get her up in the morning or from naps

I am sure there are others, but those are the things I can think of at the moment. Claire had her ten month birthday a couple of days ago. I don't know what is harder to believe--that she is ten months, or that she will be a year old in two. I am soaking up and loving every minute of it.

Claire's First Thanksgiving

Claire had her first Thanksgiving this past week. The hubby's parents went out of town to visit his sister in Florida for Thanksgiving, so we spent the holiday with my family. We had a really great meal and lots of socializing. Our family friend Lazarus was in town visiting and celebrated with us. He is a really amazing man that has a ministry in India (I am pretty sure you will be able to tell who he is from the pictures.) It was a pretty great day...until Claire's elbow dislocated.

My sister (whom I do not blame in any way and still love very much--because this could have just as easily been me) was helping her toddle around the room (Claire's new favorite activity). Claire was doing so well, that my sis decided to try and help her up some steps. There was a little too much tension on Claire's arm and her elbow joint popped right out of socket. I didn't even know this was a thing, but apparently it is called nursemaid's elbow and is somewhat common in children under the age of five. Claire has had a runny nose for all of about two days of her existence and that is the extent of her illnesses and injuries, so to say her daddy and I were panicking is putting things lightly.

Fortunately we are part of this program at Claire's pediatric clinic that gives us access to a 24-hour on call nurse. So we dialed up the number and talked to one of the very sweet, program nurses. She told us about nursemaid's elbow and a little maneuver to try and fix it. She also said that if we had to we could go to the ER, but she recommended trying to wait until we could come in to the office. Sometimes the ER docs aren't specialized in pediatric care and cannot do the special arm maneuver. At any rate. she managed to calm us down and talk us off the ledge. We gave Claire some ibuprofen and tried to get some sleep.

I was up until about midnight praying for and fretting over my poor angel. When I did finally get to sleep Claire started waking up every hour on the hour fussing and fidgeting. Let's just say we have had better nights of sleep. We did make it through the night and called our nurse again in the morning. She set up an appointment for us first thing and an hour later we were seeing one of our amazing pediatricians. He fixed Claire's arm right up.

We could tell Claire was feeling better before we went to the doctor, but after we left the pediatrician's office Claire was her bubbly, playful self and she was using her arm normally. I cannot describe the relief her daddy and I felt wash over us when we realized Claire was going to be okay. It is not a good feeling to have a baby that doesn't feel well--especially when you know it was a preventable injury.

I know Claire is going to have bumps and bruises. She is going to fall down and she is going to get hurt, but knowing that does not make it easier to bear when it happens. I am such a thankful momma for a happy, healthy, and back to good as new baby girl.

Four generations of women:

Baby Jail

Claire has decided that she likes to play in the pets' water dish (which is not exactly where her mommy would like for her to be playing). A few days ago I captured my little sweetie making a break for her all-time favorite spot, so that her Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles could all see what a little stinker she is. (See video below.)

I also mailed out our Christmas/Birthday wish lists and had listed several different types of baby/safety gates to block off various parts of our home. After seeing the video and our wish list, Claire's JuJu decided that it would be prudent not to wait until Christmas for one of the items. So she ordered us a SuperYard from Wal-Mart. It was not supposed to arrive until Monday, but it got dropped off yesterday -- not a moment too soon might I add. It has already deterred the baby from the fireplace and her old favorite--the water dish.

Don't let this picture fool you. It appears as if Claire might actually be enjoying her confinement, but I am sure that in time Claire will grow to hate the baby jail. I know this is probably not a good thing, but can I just say that I am in love with our new baby jail. I adore the peace-of-mind that it gives me when I need to go to the bathroom or make lunch and my little monkey is not sleeping (which happens more and more of the time everyday).

Claire's funny, funny joke...

Claire has started to do some really cute tricks. She claps, says mama when I ask her too, she has this snuffly laugh where she scrunches up her nose, but the funniest new trick is that she has started to stick out her tongue.

The best part is that if you stick your tongue out first she will then copy you and stick hers out...then she giggles because she thinks it is so funny. Sometimes Claire grabs her tongue and sometimes she even tries to grab mine.

My baby girl makes me laugh. I hope you enjoy her new trick as much as I have/do.

Halloween 2011

The mister and I are not super big into Halloween. I think we secretly wish we were because we come up with great costume ideas, but we just don't have the motivation to actually put forth the effort to create or find costumes.

Luckily for Claire we already had an Arkansas Razorback cheerleader uniform for her and her JuJu (Jared's mom) bought her a pumpkin outfit too. We didn't do much over the weekend, but Sunday afternoon we went to the First Baptist Fall Festival (@ the Razorback Gardens). Jared's parents were working one of the registration tables (they go to church at FBC) and they wanted to show Claire off to all of their church friends. She wore her pumpkin costume for this event.

Claire was the cutest little pumpkin. Most of the games and activities were geared towards older kiddos, but Claire did get her face painted (with a pumpkin) and she threw (more like dropped) some bean bags at the bean bag toss. She watched other kids ride the miniature ponies and the train. I thought about taking her on the train, but I am pretty sure I would not have fit in the little cars.

Jared and I also took our little pumpkin up to the U of A campus to get some picks next to our names on the senior walk. I wish we had taken her while she was in her Razorback uniform, but that is just not the way things worked out. We got some really great pictures of her though. I even found this patch of ivy and we set her in it for some photos.

On Monday I took Claire up to the Tyson 412 office. She was dressed in her Razorback uniform this time. They do a trick-or-treat thing for employees children every year. They had some of the aisles decorated with different themes: Cat in The Hat, Fishing Hole, Scary Halloween theme, etc. Most of the employees had candy sitting in bowls next to their cubicles. It was fun to take Claire up to see where daddy works. We got a couple of treats for Claire and some really cute pictures of her and her daddy at his office.

Monday night (true Halloween night) we hung out at home and passed candy out to the neighborhood kids. Claire even helped me answer the door a couple of times. She also thought she should get to pick some candy out of the candy bowl and subsequently demolished a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. (I think Jared ate it later).

We had a really fun time celebrating our first Halloween as a family of three. Like I said at the beginning of this post, Halloween is not a holiday we put much effort in to, so I am really excited for our first Thanksgiving and Christmas together. : )

Happening lately...

October came and went. I cannot believe that it is already November. I cannot believe we have a nine month old baby. I cannot believe that Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. This year has flown/is flying by.

I started making a pair of shorts for Jared earlier in the year (August-ish) and was planning on getting them done in time for our trip to Austin over Labor day. Yeah, that did not happen. It is November 3 and I still have not finished them. Ha! I thought I would be able to work on them during Claire's nap times. Unfortunately, Claire is not a super napper--although her naps have gotten a lot better lately. During the end of the summer she was mostly taking 45 minute naps. I tried not to complain because she was/had been sleeping for at least 8 hours most nights since she was three months old. (Which is a very good thing, because I am a very cranky momma when I don't get my sleep).

Suffice it to say if I ever want to finish those shorts--maybe he can wear them next summer--I am going to have to cart my sewing stuff over to my mom's house, so she can help watch Claire while I sew.

Claire has lately decided that she will take hour long naps, but that in exchange she is going to wake up at least once a night at some point. Last night it was 3:30 am. Thanks Claire. I blame it on all the changes that are happening with her. She is growing and changing so fast. I cannot keep track. She is getting her third tooth! (One of the top ones.)

We had her nine month doctor's appointment yesterday. She weighs in at a whopping 18lbs 7oz. (She is kind of a small baby). She is in 6-9 month clothes. Which is nice, because she has finally caught up with her age. She used to be two to three months behind clothing-wise. A few weeks ago my mom and grandmother met Claire and I at the new Carter's store in Fayetteville. It was a really fun morning and we got some super cute outfits for my little girl. (I have a little girl!)

As for the rest of her doctors appointment she looked healthy and wonderful. She is growing well and doing all the things a healthy nine-month old should. She is a really smart baby and has good fine motor skills. She is probably going to be walking by twelve months, but she hasn't been in a hurry to start crawling. It is funny. I am terrified of having an independently mobile baby, but I still find myself worrying that she is not crawling yet, or meeting a certain milestone by such-and-such age. Even though she is still within the average age range. I am such a worry wart. So instead of worrying here are some of the amazing things my daughter does and loves:


- playing peek-a-boo (since she was 4-months old)
- clapping her hands
-reading books (turning the pages)
- standing up (if we don't help her stand when she wants to she gets a little irritable)
- saying mama or dada on command
- eating puffs by herself (she thinks she is pretty big stuff)
- petting her puppies and kitties (and putting their ears/paws in her mouth)
- rocking on her hands and knees (hasn't quite got them coordinated to move together yet)
- her forward motion army crawl (hilarious)

It is awesome how much she has grown and changed since we brought her home last January. I am loving all of her new tricks. She is just so much fun to hang out with and play with. Sometimes I wish she was more of a cuddler, but she is just so busy playing, standing, learning, and discovering - and I enjoy watching that too. : )

P.S. We had a really great Halloween (I'll post pics and details later, but my little angel just woke up, so I have to run for now).