Rocking and Walking

Claire loves pushing this rocking chair around the house. She is still only taking a couple steps on her own, but it is so fun to watch her progress!

Twins SWEEP the Sox!!

While Art & I cheered on the Twins in front of the television, Claire cheered them on in her dreams!

GO TWINS!

Moving Help??

Our little mover discovered these boxes the other night and had so much fun playing with them. The first one isn't the best picture, but it clearly demonstrates what a tough girl she is. She loves to pick things up, regardless of weight or size. We love to joke that we have a future professional weightlifter on our hands...lets hope not!!

Rock-A-Bye Baby

Remember this? Our big girl can now sit in her rocking chair all by herself and she LOVES it! She also loves to stand next to it and rock it back and forth. Such a BIG girl!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Aside from a quick family jog this morning, the rain kept us indoors most of the day. We kept busy reading books, listening to music, and playing with LOTS of toys (including tupperware). Lets hope tomorrow brings sunnier skies!

Austin Turns 2!

We helped celebrate Austin's second birthday on Saturday afternoon! The birthday boy was thrilled to open gifts and loved the birthday cake and ice cream! Happy Birthday Austin!
Claire had to settle for a plastic version of ice cream...luckily she didn't seem to mind!

Nine Months Old

Claire has officially been in this world for 3/4 of a year! Month nine brought many new developments and changes for Claire. She continues to be less and less like a baby and more and more like a little girl.
At nine months, Claire:

• is FAST. We didn't think it was possible, but she continues to crawl faster and faster everyday. She is getting hard to keep up with!
• has learned how to get from a sitting to standing position without pulling up on anything. She can stand on her own for a minute or two at a time now.
• cruises around furniture a little bit...she is not completely sold on the whole walking thing, but if she really wants something she will walk along furniture to get it.
• LOVES to climb up the stairs. She usually gets to about stair two before Art or I say "no, no"...when she hears this she turns around with a sheepish little grin on her face as if she knows she is doing something wrong, then continues onto the next stair. I guess we need to work on her listening skills a little bit. :)
• is a babbling machine. She chatters away to herself when playing and before she falls asleep. She can say both 'mama' and 'dada', but has no idea what they actually mean.
• still soothes herself with her two left fingers.
• has moved onto table food. She decided she was much too big for pureed baby foods. Here is a sampling of the foods she has had so far: avocado, banana, peach, plum, pear, toast, bagel, noodles, cooked vegetables like peas, carrots and sweet potatoes, muffin, deli turkey, all types of beans (green, black, navy), graham crackers, cheese. While she will eat almost anything, she definitely has her preferences. It is so entertaining to watch her eat because she eats her food in the order of preference. For example, if you put avocado, turkey and black beans on her tray, she will eat all the avocado, all the turkey, and then finish with the beans. Silly girl!
• sleeps between 11-11.5 hours every night, usually going to bed around 7pm and waking between 6-6:30am. She also takes 2 naps/day.
• is starting to learn sign language. Art & I just started signing things like 'eat', 'bed', 'more' and 'all done' to her. She has yet to sign anything back, but we will keep working on it. Art is convinced that it is yet another ploy to make parents look ridiculous...I'm convinced he will change his mind when she starts signing back.
• is growing like a weed. She now weighs 17 lbs, 14 oz (41st percentile) and stands 27.5 inches tall (59th percentile). I was actually shocked that our little shorty moved past the 50% mark for height...there is hope afterall. Her head also continues to grow at an alarming rate falling into the 93rd percentile (she can thank Art for that). :)
• is the center of our lives. She brings us so much happiness, joy and laughter. There is nothing better than coming home to her smiling face!

And now for a few more pictures from today:

Claire manages to climb into one of her baskets

Silly Faces!

And finally, a cute series of pictures:

"Wow, these graham crackers are yummy."

"Uh-Oh, they are almost all gone."

"All gone!!"

LOOK...NO HANDS!!

Claire has mastered the act of standing up on her own. With each day that passes, she is able to stand on her own for longer and longer periods of time. She has even mastered the act of getting from a sitting position to a standing position without the assistance of any table or toy. She is becoming such a big girl!!

Don't, however, ask her to move her little feet forward. Don't even think about. She has zero interest in walking, so do not force it. If you try to hold her hands and have her walk along with you, she is sure to let you know that this is by no means acceptable behavior. In addition to keeping her feet firmly planted, she lets out a series of whines that is enough to let us know that we better stop. She is stubborn. If she is going to walk, she will to it herself...on her own time...without any one's help! And we are just fine with that. She is hard enough to keep up with when she is on all fours!!