Claire

Its been a busy week for Claire. For starters, we got a new car to drive Claire around! I love our new Subaru Forester so far, and Claire seems to like it just fine. Its so nice to have a big back seat for diaper changes and nursing.  Plus, Eric and I can both sit in the front now without one of us having knees crammed up against the dash. I think its going to be a great family car.

We also shot our first wedding with Claire post-utero.  (She shot a lot of weddings with us last year!) It was a good first run, only four hours and at the Kelley Farm. Claire didn’t seem to mind staying home. She got to hang out with grandma!

Yes, Mom came to visit for a long weekend! It was really nice to have her here. We went to lunch, went shopping, drove the new car around, and even took a nice walk along Ruston Way. It is always sad to see her leave, but it makes our visits really special.

On the development front, Claire is getting better and better at using her hands. She really grabs toys now and tries to shove them in her mouth, but usually just whacks herself in the face. Spit up is still an issue, but I can usually tell now when its coming. Bibs are still vital. She is giggling every now and then, and its so cute! She loves to sit up and look around at everything. I broke down and ordered ANOTHER baby carrier yesterday, one that lets the baby face OUT. Maybe she won’t cry in this one and we can get something done around the house together.

Speaking of crying, Claire has turned over a new leaf in the last couple days– a screaming and crying leaf. She has been such an angel baby up until now, so this is very sudden and upsetting! She will go from zero to 100 in a moment. I hate to hear her scream and cry for seemingly no reason. She fights me when I try to feed her and its so frustrating. It usually only lasts 15 or 20 minutes but I hate it! We will be calling the doctor tomorrow if it doesn’t get better. I hope she is OK!

Thanks, Uncle Chris, for the big, soft blankie!

Things we love about Claire this week:

BIG stretches on the changing table.  Perfect little pink mouth. Chewing on toys. Almost giggles. Crazy hairstyle, complete with mohawk on top and bald spot on back. Chubby little legs. Sweet baby talk. Crazy strong kicks. Delicate fingers. Smiles at Honey. Sleeping on walks to Top Foods. Facetime with Uncle Chris and Uncle Jordan. Cute new outfits from BabyGap. Relaxing evening baths. Early morning smiles.

Things we are not loving so much:

Whining and crying bouts that last all afternoon. Blowout poopy diapers. Naps at 6:00 PM. Dropping the binkie a million times a day. Spit up. Bibs.

We are a little late this week. Things have been busy around here! I have started doing more photography work again and it seems like I can hardly get anything done!

Claire continues to be a wonderful little baby. She is growing by the day and is already wearing 6 month jammies! Eric and I love her so much its scary. We can’t even remember life without her, even though its only been three months since she was born. I think we are going to get a real laugh out of her any day now. She is grabbing at lots of toys and trying to put them in her mouth. She is also getting really good at holding her head up, and even tries to sit up on her own. I am starting to realize that she’s not going to be a little baby forever, and it makes me sad!

Well it happened. Claire and Honey had a little run-in this week. Note the paw-sized scratch on Claire’s left eye. It happened when we took Honey and Claire down to the park for a walk along the river. Like always, Honey got really excited when the car stopped and it was time to get out.  In her excitement she jumped towards the car window and right on top of poor Claire.  Luckily it wasn’t too bad a scratch, but I still felt terrible for not seeing that coming. Claire screamed like a banshee for a few minutes and then promptly fell asleep for the rest of our walk.

On the development front, Claire is really starting to use her hands now! She is able to stick her fingers in her mouth or grab her bib and blanket. It is so cool to see her start to interact with the world.

We had to leave Claire with Grandma Sandy for a few hours this week to do a photo shoot in Seattle. I hated leaving her and going so far away, but it worked out just fine. Sandy said she was on her best behavior!