Claire at 9 Months!!!

Thanks Granny and Poppa for the push toy!


Being silly at dinner.


Looking cute in her Matunuck onesie.
Shout out to Grandmamma and Jido!


Modeling Daddy's infamous hat.


She figured out how to get into the container of puffs!


Study session with Daddy on baby colors.


In her toy basket. After all, she is the best toy of all!


Tug of war. Poor ugly doll.


Our cat Wallace ran away. After 3.5 weeks of being gone someone found him 2 blocks from our house! Jon and Claire are especially happy he is home!

Claire Waving and Clapping!

Swinging at the Park

Though it doesn't look like it in the pictures, Spring is slowly showing it's face in North Carolina. We are lucky enough to live a couple of blocks away from a park so we took a stroll this afternoon to give the swings a try. I can't believe she is old enough to enjoy a real swing!


She was tired and skeptical at first...


Trying to recline. It looks like she has a baby mullet.





Weeee!

For Mom

Sorry, I don't have many new ones right now. Will work on that this weekend :)



Teaching Claire how to roll the ball.



Trying to snuggle with Landon.



With Ashley and Gideon. She REALLY loved them.

Sweeter by the Day

I feel as though every day I am saying that I can't believe how big she is getting, how quickly she is growing and how smart she is becoming. She has changed so much in 8 months. She is such a joy. We are having so much fun playing with her and watching her discover the world around her. She is happy most all the time now. She is FINALLY on a good nap schedule and our life seems very manageable. People said this time would come, it is just hard to believe that while going through the newborn stage.



Eating real food, toast with avacado. Most of it ends up in her lap.



She looks so tiny standing up. Exploring as usual.



We were trying to get a picture of her cuddling with Jon.
We captured this funny face instead.



Claire LOVES her cousins Jake and Bradley.
Admiring Bradley as he sips his milk.



Crawling under and through her exersaucer.

Presenting the Past Month...

Claire is incredibly active. She is all over the place all of the time. She is a little explorer. She has sprouted two bottom teeth and it looks even cuter than I had imagined.


Climbing over travel bags is easy work for her!



Her feet really do stink sometimes.. hard to imagine!



Pulling up like a pro.



We moved to Charlotte.
We decided we would pack her up and bring her with us.






First time standing in her crib.


Best buddies... she chases him all over the house.







So good at standing!


Proud of herself






Crocodile



Having fun with baby Landon



We went to visit Grandy and Mimi in Florence!



Loved Grandy's airplane feedings.



Her best canine buddy (don't show Wallace, he might be jealous)



Eating puffs is a favorite hobby.



Food in her hair



Standing with Gramps

Our Little Firecracker...

When Claire was tiny I had the sinking realization that maybe I'm just not a teeny baby type of person. Now that she is almost seven months old I know for certain that is the truth. It goes without question that I adored her but at the same time, those first few weeks and months it somehow seemed that those hard times would never end. It was almost impossible to imagine that so soon she would be crawling away from us, becoming more independent by the day.

The six month mark started a new chapter in her babyhood. She is less fussy and a better napper. She is overflowing with personality and so curious about everything. She bounces, dances and wiggles all the time. It is impossible to change her diaper and clothes without her rolling to grab the exciting things around her. She squeals, screams and makes spitting noises. She cannot stand to have her nose wiped. This has been a problem because her nose has been a constant fountain of snot.

Jon and I had the suspicion that she would be a firecracker, and it is now confirmed.

Now that she is crawling it is so fun to watch her explore our world. We also love that she can choose to crawl to us. Now she is working on crawling over us! I guess I slacked off on reading the baby books because I wasn't prepared for her new found mobility.

We finally feel like a real, normal functioning family. We are so thankful to not be on survival mode anymore.

We feel like we cannot possibly love her more, but we've thought that before. I can't even imagine what a lifetime of this love will look like. I know it is such a blessing. It will continue be wonderful, even when it is hard.

Claire's life as an almost 7 month old:

smiling

teething (still no teeth to show for it so far)

crawling

relaxing