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Wow! We haven’t really posted much on Claire’s growth since before our Arkansas trip and it’s amazing just how much she’s changed. She celebrated her 2 month birthday last Friday, and today marks 9 weeks that we’ve been blessed to have her in our life. Here’s the scoop on our little one:

Likes/Dislikes: Claire continues to love being swaddled and LOUD static white noise. Many of you know that she had her own personal hairdryer that stayed on all night (on the cold setting). Well, that lasted about 2 weeks before the hair dryer said “enough is enough” and died. After a couple of sleepless nights, we finally came up with a (safer) alternative. I bought a mp3 of a hairdryer sound on iTunes and Eric edited it so it would loop continuously . We then loaded up on her iPod and now play it at a deafening level each night. We’re still able to see and hear her on the video monitor, so all is good.

Up until just a few days ago, Claire was not a fan of pacifiers, the swing, or the vibrating Papsan chair. But all that has changed now! She takes a pacifier - preferably the NUK brand, but will take the others as well - and is learning to keep it in. She has sat peacefully and taken several naps in both the swing and the chair, giving her mommy the ability to work while keeping a close eye on her.

She also loves being outdoors. We take at least one walk a day, often many more. The back porch has also become a favorite spot. I’m not sure if it’s the change in temperature or what, but it’s almost a given that going outdoors will soothe her when she’s fussy.

Bedtime: We started a bedtime routine the night we got back from AR. We try to start around 8 pm, but sometimes she demands a bit earlier or later. We start with a warm bath which we discovered is easier to do with her bathtub on the kitchen sink instead of in the bathroom (our poor backs!). Miss Claire is super spoiled - she gets a warm towel, fresh out of the dryer each night. After the bath, Daddy dries her off , wraps her in a blanket, and hands her to Mommy for feeding and lullabies. When she’s good and full, her spoiling continues with a massage with bedtime lotion from the both of us. After the massage, she sucks on her pacifier while we read her a story or two. And then comes what Daddy calls “dropping the bomb”…without fail, she loads up a diaper every night during story time. Considering that the diaper doesn’t always win, Mommy has finally gotten wise and demanded that Daddy hold her every other night for stories. After a clean diaper, we swaddle her up and most of the time she goes down for the night without too much of a fuss. She’s a big girl in that she can be put in her crib while sleepy, but not completely out, and fall asleep by herself. And by herself I mean with the hairdryer noise.

Growth: At her one month doctor’s appointment, Claire weighed 8 lbs, 5 oz and measured 22 1/2 inches long. That put her in the 25th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height. What a long, skinny baby! Yesterday was her two month appointment and she weighed 9 lbs, 30z and was still 22 1/2 inches long. Most likely the 1 month length measurement was a bit off. She’s now in the 30th percentile for weight and the 52nd for length. Oh - and her head is measuring consistently around the 50th percentile. Strange that they measure that…

She also got her first round of shots yesterday - three to be exact. She did wonderfully and Mommy and Daddy didn’t shed a tear. She hasn’t shown any side effects other than being very sleepy today.

Temperament: Claire is still a fussy baby, but is growing out of some of it. The doctor blames gas pains so we try like crazy to keep that to a minimum. I feed her upright, burp her every 4 minutes, feed her “dessert” (Mylicon) and keep her upright for 20 minutes after each meal. This is quite a chore, especially during the late night feedings. She’s the fussiest between 5-7 pm which I’ve often heard referred to as happy hour for babies. Also, she has her good days and her bad days - just like the rest of us. BUT - it’s amazing how you forget about the crying fits when she’s smiling and cooing at you.

Most importantly, she’s a healthy baby and we continue to feel extremely blessed. I think that’s all for now…make sure to check out the 7 and 8 week photo gallery!

Claire is showing so much personality these days! She “talks”, smiles and wiggles (hence her nickname) like crazy! Her favorite toys (other than mommy and daddy) are Mr. Elephant and the rain forest jungle gym. Today she was especially excited about playing under her jungle gym so I grabbed the camera and shot this short video clip. Not only do you see her playing, you also get a yawn and a few sneezes!

So the day FINALLY came where I could feed baby Wiggles. Up to this point, Mom’s had all the fun and, although it’s been good to see Momma and baby having their time together, it’s been a little frustrating not getting to join in on the bonding time.

We decided to use some of Colleen’s stored breast milk that she has been feverishly trying to store up for when we have to start dropping Claire off at the daycare. Unfortunately, we didn’t have our camera so Colleen snapped some pictures using my cell phone. They’re not the greatest quality but at least you get to see Daddy in action!!

Claire was a little confused to begin with because usually when I hold her in that position, I’m trying to stuff a pacifier in her mouth. She figures out pretty quick that she could suck on that thing forever and nothing would come out, so she spits it out and gets pissy. But this time, there was something coming out of it (the bottle), but she was pretty set that I was trying to trick her. She fought it off for a while, but after squeezing a little milk on her lips she figured out that her efforts would be rewarded She still seemed to have a puzzled look on her face as to how she was being held by Daddy and being fed at the same time.

You can check out more pictures by going to our website and clicking on the photo albums over on the right hand side of the page

Eric shares an office with two other Healthful Living/PE teachers - Julie and Matt. They both had daughters about 3 months before Claire was born and there had been talk all summer long of arranging a “play date” for the three of them.

Two weekends ago (I know, I’m way behind in posting…) we went to Julie and her husband Dan’s house for the first official meeting. Their daughter, Callie, was there along with Matt, his wife, Janice, and their daughter, Maddie. The babies ate, fussed some and napped here and there while the grown-ups traded stories and advice. The kiddos didn’t have much to do with one another just yet, but hopefully we’ll all meet up again soon when they’re a bit more interactive.

Here’s a photo of the three (L to R: Claire, Callie and Maddie). As you can see, Claire is a lot smaller than the other two, but is actually about 1/2 inch longer than Callie!

We took advantage of the last weekend before Eric started back to work (teacher work days) and I began work from home by spending some time with family at the beach. We never made it to the shore, but enjoyed the scenery from the house. Claire LOVED swinging outside on the porch and made it quite clear that she thinks the beach is where she belongs! She even went 7 hours between feedings on Friday night, sleeping for a straight 5 hours . Yay!

Saturday we went on another shopping adventure with Aunt Nancy and Cousin Cash. We drove to Jacksonville and hit up a few stores and ate lunch at the Olive Garden. That would be the “nice” restaurant where Claire decided to stain her clothes, a blanket, and my shirt and shorts.

Saturday evening Nan cooked hamburgers (we’ll pretend the fire coming from the grill didn’t happen…) and Uncle Jay and Grandpa joined us for dinner. Cash had a good time wheeling around on the back porch while Claire continued sleeping in her carrier.

We look forward to going back soon, especially since we missed seeing Eric’s mom who is still in AR with his grandpa.

Here are a couple of photos from the weekend - more are found in the NEW 7 and 8 week gallery that I finally got uploaded.

Claire has recently switched her view about the changing table. What used to be considered the torture table (in her mind, anyways), has now become a favorite spot. And who do we have to thank? Why Mr. Elephant, of course! A gift from my friend Melissa, Mr. Elephant is the source of tons (no pun intended…) of fun for the Wiggles. She talks and smiles at him, telling him all her secrets, I’m sure. Here is a video of her playing with her new best friend.

Okay, so it’s not an official name for my dad just yet. In fact, I don’t even think he knows about it. But - we’ll see if it sticks. Here’s the short video clip I took of him and Claire meeting for the first time. It’s amazing just how much she’s changed over the past couple of weeks - this video doesn’t even look like her now!

So the list of people Claire met for the first time during our trip to Arkansas just keeps going. We were lucky to visit with so many people in such a short time and really enjoyed catching up with friends we don’t see often.

We had dinner with Robert, Aerren and Caleigh on Tuesday night. Claire started off a bit fussy, but ended up snoozing away in the sling while we all had a good visit. Aerren and I chatted in the kitchen while Eric, Robert and Caleigh played in the living room and caught some baseball on the TV. After a yummy spaghetti meal, complete with brownie and ice cream for dessert, Claire woke up and showed off her Razorback jersey onesie, on loan from Caleigh. The Cal was in total awe of Claire and we’re told she now has an obsession with baby dolls! BTW, Caleigh was clothed for most of the visit, but spaghetti is messy!

Wednesday evening we met up with Ben and Erin Keifer and their 3 boys for dinner at the Market Place in Springdale. Claire threw her biggest tantrum in public to date and I am positive that every eyeball in the restaurant was on us as I hurried her to the bathroom for a diaper change. A new diaper and a swaddle later, she was on her best behavior. We enjoyed getting to see how much the boys have grown and they had “baby fever”, desperately wanting to hold her. We promised that they would have their turn come Christmas. We forgot our camera at Grandma’s earlier that day, so pictures will have to wait until December as well….

Thursday afternoon we had a stream of visitors coming by for lunch and to meet Claire. Several of my friends from high school (Carrie, Jill, Melissa and Kristin) dropped by as well as some of my mom’s friends (Connie, Beverly, and JoAnnie). We didn’t get a picture of everyone, due to Claire’s fussiness (the girl was hungry - AGAIN!) but here are a few favorites:

We got to spend some quality time with Eric’s best friend’s family on Friday. We had yet to see Jonna’s growing baby bump and Julie’s newest daughter, not-so-little baby Leah,. We chatted all things baby related and Claire slept, ate, and pooped on Jonna - in that order. Welcome to the wonderful world of motherhood! Below is a picture of Barbara and Elenna meeting Claire and  one of all the girls, minus Claire who was probably taking a walk outside with Daddy.

Friday evening we had dinner with Brian, Sarah, McKenna and their new little one, Haley. Haley is only 3 months older than Claire, but she’s about 4 times the size of her! We know it won’t be long before Claire is just as big, but right now it’s hard to imagine. It was fun to trade baby stories and we look forward to seeing them again at Christmas.

After church on Sunday, one of my good friends from college, Elizabeth, drove down from her new home in Tulsa to meet Claire. I was thrilled to see her and we managed to sneak away for a quick shopping trip while Daddy watched Claire nap. Right before Elizabeth headed back home, Claire woke up and we took a couple of quick photos. They look slightly awkward, but by no fault of Elizabeth. Claire looses her “cuddle factor” quite quickly when she’s wrapped up like a burrito (her favorite way to sleep)!

You can view the full gallery of photos taken while in Arkansas on our site under photo galleries or by  clicking here. There is also a new gallery of photos taken during Claire’s fifth week - a bit old now, but with the trip we got slightly sidetracked.

Look for a BIG post celebrating Claire’s 2 month birthday and all the news about her growth, likes/dislikes and more “firsts” - coming as soon as I can find a few spare moments.

Claire’s big trip to Arkansas brought many “firsts”. First airplane ride - which she absolutely loved. And by loved I mean slept the whole time, waking only to eat and never uttering a single cry. Eric and I are currently scheming on how to get a flight stimulator in our apartment… Photos below are exactly what Miss Wiggles look like for the entire trip, which made Mommy and Daddy (and other passengers, I’m sure) very happy!

Upon arriving in Fort Smith, Claire met my dad (who still doesn’t have an official name, but I vote for “Poppy”), Aunt Bonnie & Uncle Jimmy, Uncle Reag & “Aunt” Brit, Great Nanny, and Great Grandma Carole for the first time.

I had the greatest time watching my dad interact with Claire. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him hold a small child, and definitely not a newborn granddaughter. Claire took to Dad right away, filling up a diaper the minute he held her. Photos below, and videos to be shown in a later post…

Aunt Bonnie was so excited to meet Claire and spent a lot of quality time with her. She gave Claire a bath, changed a diaper or two, took her for several walks, and learned the all important “shushing” technique which promptly put Claire to sleep on her shoulder. Uncle Jimmy reminds me of Eric’s dad - a bit hesitant to hold such a tiny baby, but looking forward to her getting a bit bigger. I know Claire will be working her magical charm on the both of them soon!

Uncle Reag was amazed at how small Claire was, her super tight grip, and the amount of substance that fills her diaper. He and Brit watched Claire for a 1/2 hour or so while Eric and I took a tour of Bon and Jimmy’s recently renovated home. The panicked look on his face when he realized we were leaving them for a bit was priceless.. Reag even rushed to the airport as we were leaving to give his niece one last hug before we headed back to NC.

Both great grandmas were beside themselves getting to meet their first great grandchild. Grandma Carole and Bob made the trip in from Dallas and we were thrilled to get to spend some time with them. Everyone agrees that Claire is just the prettiest baby ever. and I’m sure it’s not a biased opinion.

Of course, Grandma LeLe got her time with Claire as well. My favorite memories come from her and Claire “talking” then both of them drifting off to sleep, without a single fuss or cry from either of them.

Claire also had her first bowling trip while in AR. I can’t say she was a huge fan….she spent most of the trip fighting sleep and being passed from one relative to another as we all took turns bowling. The hand sanitizer was empty by the time we left!

Claire also met lots of friends while in AR - post and photos to follow…

Throughout our 8 days back in NW Arkansas, we took Claire up to Siloam Springs several times so that she could meet different members of her extended family for the first time. We tried to take a picture of everybody that got to hold her so that we could put together a picture collage of “firsts,” but I’m sure there was a person or two that slipped through the cracks and didn’t get a picture taken. Claire showed off all sides of her personality with some stretches of “happy, playful baby,” followed with, “I’m not happy, fix it!,” followed up with, “I don’t want to sleep but I’m soooo tired…. Whaaaaaa!!”

Claire was well received by everybody and they were coming from miles around to see her for the first time! I’m glad that it worked out with everybody’s schedules so that nobody had to wait until Christmas. Of course, if they subscribed to our website they could receive e-mail updates when new material is posted, but that’s nothing compared to the real thing! Who would want to miss getting to hear screaming in Hi Definition?