Storytime

One thing we are trying to instill in Claire is the love of reading. We read to her three times a day for 10-15 minutes at a time and she enjoys every minute of it. I really think this has become one of her favorite activities.She loves to point at all the pictures but her favorite thing to do is make a fist with her thumb curled in between her first two fingers and make a knocking noise on each page.  Her favorite books have lots of different textures to feel and objects to touch and lately we have been working on object recognition. Slowly but surely, if you ask her where something is, she just might point to it.

I absolutely love watching her process the pictures on each page; she seems so intrigued by the colors and shapes. Our book collection continues to grow (because I get tired of reading the same stories over and over) and I look forward to Mommy/Daddy storytime everyday.

       

 

One of my favorite times of day is when Erik comes home from work and Claire sees her Daddy. She's just gotten to the stage where she will reach for him to hold her; it's so cute! After they play together for a few minutes he takes her upstairs and reads her a story before putting her to bed. My heart melts everytime I see the two of them reading together. I know Claire benefits greatly from having different people read to her because I constantly notice Erik finding new things to teach her that I didn't think of. Listening to him read a story to her is music to my ears! Claire loves her Daddy so much and I know we all will cherish these moments forever! I hope as she continues to grow, reading will be a fun and exciting activity for her to enjoy by herself and with her family.

Spring Fever

We have all been hit pretty hard with spring fever this year. Claire and Khloe have been dying to get outside and crawl/run around. They have been watching the snow come and go for months now and have hopefully seen the last of it melt away. We are so excited for it to get warm this weekend and now that my allergy symptoms have subsided, I am ready to get out there with them. Walks around the neighborhood, afternoons throwing Khloe's ball, reading to Claire on the grass, the joys of spring are endless. Bring on the warm weather! 

New Positions

It wasn't until recently that Claire started getting mobile and realized bedtime is a lot more fun when you move around and play with your stuffed animals prior to falling asleep. These past few weeks, I've gone into her bedroom at random times when she is sleeping to take pictures of how she is positioned. I often wonder, "how did she end up there?" This is a picture of how I put Claire in her crib (notice where her bear and giraffe are placed in the far corner of the crib): 

These are some of the positions I've caught her in lately:

This one took place a few days ago. Erik and I didn't even know she could get from laying down to sitting up without any help. I guess she really wanted to cuddle with her bear.

It is so much fun seeing all of the new positions Claire ends up in when she sleeps.

Birthday Celebrations

Erik's 31st birthday was two weeks ago and there was no shortage of celebration. In fact, from beginning to end it lasted a total of four days! I wish my birthdays were like that (hint, hint). It all began on Thursday (March 10th, the day before his birthday) when I took his place at the office and sent him home early so he could be with his little Claire Bear and to enjoy the afternoon off. He works so hard for our family and sometimes just the little things like leaving work a few hours early are the most enjoyable.

The morning of his birthday we went to breakfast with my parents at Finn's Cafe. We had never been there before and it was absolutely delicious! That night we got a babysitter and went to one of Erik's favorite restaurants for dinner, Iggy's. Once we got home I gave Erik his birthday present, which was an executive bungee chair for the office at ISA. It was kind of a strange gift, but he told me he wanted it so I went with it.

Saturday I surprised him with a paintball party with some of his closest friends. Despite my being nervous, I sucked it up and played with the boys. It was a lot of fun! Erik had a blast shooting all of his friends and by the time it was over, he had a handful of war wounds to show for it.

The celebrations finally came to an end on Sunday when his Mom cooked one of his favorite dinners (chicken asparagus lasagna) and I surprised him (yet again) with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen (another one of his faves) with all of our close family members joining in on the fun.

Whew! I know Erik enjoyed all of the celebrations and can't wait for his birthday to come around next year. :) J/K Thanks to all of our family and friends who celebrated with us. We both appreciate it!

Yum! Yum!

Last week Claire had her first experience with "real" food; i.e. food that is not out of a baby jar or filled with air (flavored air puffs are her favorite). I wasn't sure what she could eat yet so I searched on the Internet and found out she could eat raisins and cheese. I could tell she was a little confused at first. Claire would pick a piece off of her tray and inspect it before eating. It was so cute! Half of the food landed in her lap or on the floor, but the few pieces that actually made it in her mouth were delicious! Claire loved the raisins and cheese and they have become daily snacks in our house. What snack foods do your kids like?

One minor thing that I am not happy about? Yucky, sticky, grimy fingers. I can't stand them and I had no idea that I was going to have to deal with that at such a young age. I guess I should get over it fast 'cause when she starts feeding herself it's only going to get worse. Wish me luck! :)

Claire Bear - 8 Months

I seriously wish time would slow down. Claire is growing so fast I can't believe it. She's starting to exude a little personality and it is so much fun to watch. However, along with all of the new and exciting moments she has experienced recently, Claire has also introduced us to the difficulties of being out and about with an 8 month old. It seems like the parenting aspect of raising a child has finally begun. Lately she has been:

• Very vocal - her favorite sounds are "pf", "ba", "da", "ga" and a couple of times it seriously sounded like she said "ta ya". :)
• Becoming anxious when separated from Mommy
• Rolling around like crazy - we just had to buy a gate so she wouldn't roll down the stairs
• Getting frustrated if she's playing with Khloe's toy and Khloe takes it from her
• Loving the sound door stops make when you pull at them
• Sleeping on her tummy - she moves all around her crib and usually ends up asleep on her stomach
• Making a really annoying whiny noise when she's had enough - sometimes the countdown to bedtime starts at 10am
• Learning cause and effect - if I hit 'this' with 'this' it makes a fun noise
• Pointing to pictures in her books
• Reaching as far as her arms will allow - crawling doesn't seem to interest her
• Growing steadily - our scale says she weighs 17.5 lbs
• Limiting dinner time when we are out at restaurants - she can only eat so many air puff treats before getting fussy
• Smiling when we sign "all done"
• Getting over her 2nd cold
• Using her first finger and thumb to grab pieces of food

Despite our new challenges, Claire is such a well behaved child. She is constantly smiling from ear to ear proudly showing off her two bottom teeth. We couldn't love her more! Here is her new "Claire Bear" picture:

8 months

6 Months

4 Months

2 Months

No Wives Allowed

Shooting, Bull's Eye, Ammunition, Snow, Boys Only, WWII Guns, and Explosions

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An Ego-Boosting Afternoon

Sounds like the perfect boys day out to me!

Yes, There Is A Guidebook!

"Why doesn't my baby come with a guidebook?"

Congratulations mothers! I found one!

Back when I was pregnant, I read book after book after book. I wanted to be prepared and know everything I could about how to raise a baby. I am a devout follower of the "Babywise" series and read Babywise I & II multiple times. Despite my avid reading program, questions, concerns, doubts, and issues still constantly arise. After much searching on the Internet, I came across this website: www.babywisemom.com.

I absolutely LOVE this website. It is a "quick reference to find answers to questions you encounter while implementing Babywise...". It has tons of posts on anything you want to know about and the best part is that you can submit questions and in about two weeks, the author will reply with some guidance. I've never posted on the site, but anytime I have a question about an issue Claire is having (currently we are working on separation anxiety), I look to this site for advice.

Obviously, despite my wishes, Claire is still going to have many problems that even the "babywise mom" can't solve, but I will take all the recommendations I can get. So take a peek! Next time you are wondering what to do with your child, I assure you, she will have great suggestions.

Introducing...

EMMA LANE

2 weeks ago, Erik's sister gave birth to a beautiful girl they named Emma Lane. She is so adorable and we love having another niece to play with...I mean look at. Claire and Emma are going to have so much fun together in years to come. Welcome home Emma!

Daddy / Daughter Time

During the week, Erik only gets to see Claire for about 30 minutes everyday because of how much he works. I know it's hard for him and he misses his little Claire Bear. On Wednesday's he sometimes doesn't see her at all because he has to go to Young Men's after work which is sad. I heard somewhere recently that time is a depreciating asset. So true!

Yesterday at Young Men's, they were having a combined activity where they played Wally Ball. Erik really wanted me and Claire to go with him but Claire normally goes to bed around 7:30 pm so my initial answer was 'no'. Erik persisted since he hadn't seen Claire that day so I made an exception. I was hesitant because I knew Claire would be very fussy since we would be out late, so I made a deal with Erik. If we were to go, he had to hold Claire the ENTIRE time. Usually when we are out doing things I hold her when she gets fussy. Erik wanted to spend more time with his daughter so even if she was tired and cranky, it was his choice to keep her up, so he had to hold her. I thought we would have been out of there in less than an hour. I was wrong.

There was so much commotion around us that Claire didn't fuss a bit. Erik even held her as he played a couple of games with the youth. She had so much fun watching the ball go back and forth. I was so glad he got to spend time with Claire and that she was happy even though it was two hours past her bed time. She sure loves Daddy!

Remember Those You Love

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Today is a wonderful day where we get to celebrate the love we have for our spouses, children, pets, siblings, nieces/nephews, grandparents, and friends. In years past, I've focused solely on Erik, but now that I have a child I feel an urgency to express my love for everyone in my life.

Erik, you are the most wonderful husband and an even better father. I love you more than life itself and I am so happy that I get to spend eternity with you. Claire, you are such a joy to have in my life. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to raise you as my daughter and my love for you grows every day. Khloe, my four-legged child, you give me unconditional love and I hope that some day when we are in heaven together, you will understand how much you have meant to me and our family. To the rest of my family, you inspire me everyday. You have provided me with so much in this life and I will always be grateful for your thoughtfulness and generosity.

A few weeks ago, I took these adorable pictures of Claire. I think they perfectly capture the diversity of emotions we often feel on Valentine's Day. As we've grown through the years we have probably felt every extreme from happiness and true love to sadness and despair. Thankfully, the years of being sad for me are gone. I am so grateful that I get to be happy every year on Valentine's Day.

I appreciate the love you all have for me and want you to know how much I love you in return. Have a great day today and don't forget to remember EVERYONE you love.

Somebody Loves Bath Time!

The Best Babysitters Around!

Erik's younger sister, Kari, is due to have her first child later this week; a baby girl they are going to name Emma. We are all so excited for her and Tom. They are going to be such great parents. Erik and I have made sure to take advantage of their childlessness recently and for selfish reasons, I'm slightly disappointed they are going to have a baby of their own. No more babysitters available 24/7. :)

Kari and Tom are so sweet with Claire and they are genuinely excited to take care of her. A mother's dream! Tom has already tried to teach her how to draw...with unlined paper of course. He says lines limit a child's imagination. So cute! (A little background...Tom is an architect.)

Emma, you are going to have wonderful parents and we are so excited to meet you! I know Emma and Claire were friends in heaven and Claire can't wait to see her again and show her around town.

Wordless Wednesday - Is It Summer Yet?