 Welcome to the Stafford family blog! For three years we were two, but are now blessed to be a family of three. We'll use this site to keep friends and family updated on every smile, burp & coo from our precious little one. Who knows - we might even throw in some info about what's going on with Mom & Dad, too! :) |
 |
Stay in touch!
email: colleenstafford@hotmail.com surfnsun1176@aol.com aim:colleenNandO | surfnsun1176 |
Our little strawberry enjoyed Halloween festivities during a lunch cookout at the News & Observer, and tonight we’re going to our church’s Fall Festival.
Here’s a pic of Claire and (l to r): Charles, Janna, and Donna from work. Look for trunk of treats photos to be posted soon!
Claire celebrated her 4 month birthday last Monday, and her 18 week birthday last Friday. I’m not sure why those numbers don’t match up the way you think they should, but I don’t feel like thinking about it either. Either way - she’s getting big! 
Unfortunately, Claire’s pitiful little cough and sneezing fits turned into an ear infection last week. She was a sad little camper for a couple of days, but is feeling much better now with the help of an antibiotic from Dr. Coleman. It broke Mommy and Daddy’s hearts to watch our little one get sick for the first time, although Claire’s mood was actually not that bad. I think it’s because we have 3 months of colic to compare it to… We went through a lot of “firsts” related to her being sick - taking a rectal temperature, bothering the on-call doctor in the middle of the night, diaper rash, having antibiotic thrown-up everywhere - all not so much fun. But, we survived! We hope and pray that Miss Wiggles stays healthy for the rest of the year.
With the exception of the sick spell, month 4 has been the best one to date! Claire has outgrown most of her fussiness and is smiling like a goober 24/7. Here’s the 4 month rundown:
Likes/Dislikes: Claire still absolutely loves her bouncy seat. She’s enjoying the exersaucer and bumbo seat more and more each day. She has several favorite toys now - Homie the Frog (Daddy’s first attempt at naming her stuffed friends), her “Baby Love” book, and a zebra print blankie with blue satin trim. The BabyBjorn is a life-saver. You can take her ANYWHERE in that thing and she’s as happy as can be, just chewing on it and taking in the sights. She loves to stand on my lap and watch Daddy play basketball and only throws a fit if I try to make her sit down or face me. She does not like being put in her car seat and does her best to wiggle free. Once we get going, she’s fine, but that initial strapping in is not a fun time! She will also throw a fit if you take away her food source before she’s completely full or suck the snot out of her nose, but really, can you blame her? She loves to lay on her back and play with Mommy or fly through the air during a game of “Super Wiggles” with Daddy.
Feeding: I took Claire in for a weight check at 14 weeks because I was concerned that she was so small and she was still crying a lot. She weighed about 10lbs and was in the 8th percentile. The doctor didn’t seem to be concerned because she was still gaining weight, but I was. Up until that point, I had been exclusively breastfeeding her when I was around, and providing her with 1/2 breast milk, 1/2 formula bottles at daycare. I decided to start giving her a 4 oz formula bottle after breastfeeding, and she readily took it - and - stayed happy for a while. That was all it took for me to continue offering her a bottle after each breastfeeding session. The change has been VERY good for all of us. I am no longer “tied down” to breastfeeding, thus Daddy can help with the early morning feeding and I can feed her a bottle if breastfeeding isn’t a convenient option at the time. Claire is still getting the nutrients from breast milk and is staying super full which equates to super happy!
Growth: I took Claire to the pediatrician yesterday and am happy to report that she now weighs 12 lbs, 13 oz and is in the 30th percentile for weight. She’s 25 1/2 inches tall and in the 90th percentile for height. Her ears are looking good and she did a fantastic job with her shots. Of course, they made her sleepy and we aren’t complaining about the 10 hour stretch of sleep we got last night.
All in all, things are good at the Stafford house! We’ve settled into a routine, Claire is full of smiles, and the Lord continues to bless us. I’ve put up some new photos - check out the 18 week gallery. There are a lot of good ones in there - many taken while we were at the beach this past weekend. Here’s a shot of Claire modeling the adorable outfit her Auntie Bonnie gave her before she was even born. My little girl is growing up SO fast!
Okay, so Claire has numerous adorable outfits to celebrate the upcoming Halloween holiday. And of course, I think each and every one of them demands their own post.
Here she is modeling outfit #1 - way cute pajamas from Aunt Beth! AND - check out her new skill! After months of having no control over her food intake, she has now rose to the occasion and readily holds her own bottle!
This past Saturday ranks right up there with my top favorite days of all time. I was blessed to spend the entire day with my loving husband and snuggle-bug daughter.
Claire woke up around 7 am to eat and then we had some family cuddle time in bed. After a while, we realized we were hungry so we headed to Cracker Barrel. The weather had FINALLY turned cool, so I was excited to dress Claire in one of her new warmer outfits, complete with little pink Nikes (thanks, Caleigh!).
After breakfast, we spent the bulk of the afternoon napping. Claire and mommy on the couch….then Claire and daddy in the bed. Claire seems to have gotten the best end of the deal on the napping! There’s just something so quite and peaceful about Saturday afternoon naps…they’re the best!
That evening we dressed Claire up in her best Razorback attire and headed to Triangle Towne Center for some food, football and shopping. We had dinner at The Twisted Fork - one of our favorites. I’m sure Eric’s fondness for it has nothing to do with their amazing carrot cake… Claire snacked on a bottle and then hammed it up, smiling big time for mommy and daddy.
After dinner, Eric walked over to another restaurant to watch the Razorback game while Claire and I strolled around the mall. Our only purchase was a few pairs of socks at Baby Gap, but we had a good time all the same.
Again - it was just a good day. I’m truly blessed! Check out the new photo gallery of our beautiful daughter - weeks 16 and 17. Her 4 month post (although she’s 18 weeks…weird) is coming up, as soon as we have her check-up (on Friday) to find out the weight/height percentages.
AND…we have a big rest of the week planned! Grandma LeLe is coming tomorrow, my birthday is Thursday, then we’re headed to the beach. I can’t wait!
Although Claire has slept for 9 hours straight before, last night marked the first time she “slept through the night”. YAY! The other times she would go to bed early and still wake up around 5:00 a.m. or so to eat. We were thrilled to realize that after going to bed around 10:00 p.m., we weren’t waken by a hungry child until 7:00 a.m.! In fact, this entire week has been sleep-filled. Claire has consistently slept at least 7, and up to 9, hours for about 7 days straight. Combine that with gobs of smiling and cooing - mommy and daddy couldn’t be loving month 4 more! Here’s a shot of our little diva - posing in the cute onesie that her Auntie Bonnie bought her.
Can you tell who dressed the baby today? That would be her daddy. Claire is rocking her UNC onesie (thanks to the Keifer family!), hat and socks.
Her and daddy are currently watching the Tarheel game, but I wanted to post this video I took earlier of them chatting it up. Seriously - could there be a cuter UNC fan?
Just a quick post to document what Claire has been up to over the past week or so. Big news! She’s discovered her hands! Who would have thought such a simple find would lead to so much fun?! She can now suck her thumb without stabbing her eye first and reach out to touch all the fun toys that mommy and daddy keep shoving in front of her. Below is a video clip of her playing with her new car seat toy bar.
