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Thanks to Claire’s Auntie Bonnie for the adorable onesie and hair bow!

Has it really been a little over 5 months since this sweet girl stole our hearts with her arrival?? I just can’t believe it. Just like the previous months, this one has been filled with new things for Claire.

She got her first taste of solids with some rice cereal, followed by carrots, peas and green beans. So far she’s a very good eater and we don’t have any problems getting her to eat vegetables. In fact, there’s only a problem when you don’t feed her fast enough.

Claire is quite the cuddle-bug. I absolutely love to roll around with her on my bed, letting her hands and fingers explore my face. She likes it when we sing songs with actions. Her favorites are “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” (where the “rain” tickles her) and “The Lord’s Army” (especially when she “flies over the enemies”). She also loves playing with her new favorite toy, Tad the Frog, and the two of them salsa dancing is really a sight!

She fits nicely on my hip now, and prefers to be there more than anywhere else. Her smiles in the morning are so fulfilling that there are times when Eric and I practically race to her bedroom to be the first to see them.

Daddy loves to kiss on Claire’s ears…and toes too!

She’s definitely taken a growth spurt this month. She was in size 2 diapers for about 2 weeks before moving to the size 3 ones. She also takes an 8oz bottle most of the time instead of the previous 6oz - and that’s in addition to the solids! I took her to Dr. Coleman last week to take a look at her goopy eye (just a bit of an infection that cleared up quickly with some ointment) and she weighed a little over 15 pounds with her clothes and diaper on. I can tell - she’s heavy!

Claire is still super active, hating to be still for long and loving to be out and about in the baby carrier. She prefers to stand instead of sitting or laying on her back. It won’t surprise me at all if she walks early with her strong legs and curious nature. When she gets excited, she kicks like crazy and waves her right arm around. Daddy calls these “Wiggle Fits”. You see these mostly when she’s eating, of course.

She is rolling over, but prefers to do it in the middle of the night (while swaddled!) and scare her mommy and daddy instead of during tummy time when they’re encouraging her. I hear she’s quite the roller at daycare, apparently she doesn’t want to be outdone by the other babies!

Absolutely love this picture - look at those big sparkling blue eyes!

Speaking of nighttime - Claire is a good little sleeper these days. She starts her bedtime routine around 7 pm (cereal/veggie, bath, massage, story, bottle or nurse) and is asleep around 8 pm. Most nights she doesn’t wake up until around 5 am, and lately we’ve noticed that she’ll even go back to sleep without eating if left to cry for just a few minutes, or re-swaddled if she’s wiggled free.  She’ll then sleep until we wake her or around 7:30 am. Of course, there are always the exceptions to this, but most of the time she does well. Upon waking, she is ready to gobble up some cereal and attacks the spoon like her life depends on it!

I wish I could say the same about her napping. Although she’s doing well in her new daycare class and sleeping on schedule for the most part, she refuses to do so at home. Getting her to fall asleep is not a problem - STAYING asleep is. Every now and then we’ll get hour-long naps, but the past few days I’ve been home with her she’s up after 15-30 minutes. Amazingly enough, sometimes she’s not even fussy - she just wants to play. I think she’s afraid she’ll miss something if she sleeps for too long. Don’t know where she gets that…

Still no teeth, but I know it won’t be long. She has been drooling and gnawing on stuff for quite a while now. I had to get her a new teether ring - her last one didn’t survive my brilliant idea of using the bottle sterilizer to clean it…

Her laughter is my favorite part of this month. It’s contagious and adorable! Check out the video below of her giggling up a storm while I tickle her. I’ve added new photos from the past week, including several where Claire was actually holding the camera (trying to eat it) and I had it on the macro (close-up) setting, clicking away. They turned out pretty cute, in my opinion anyways. Check out the week 22 photo gallery.