www.ericandcolleen.com

After a few weeks of army crawling, Claire realized Tuesday morning that she could move faster on all fours. She’s not super speedy yet, and doesn’t seem to enjoy it near as much as walking, but she’s happy to finally have some mobility! Check out the video below of the little wiggler showing off her new talent! (Remember you have to view our website to see the video.)

Also, I forgot to mention two new milestones from last week. Claire can move from laying on her back to sitting up all by herself. She often does it while playing, but today I was surprised to see her sitting up in the middle of her crib when I went in to get her after nap time. She also has two new teeth - making a total of 6. The top left and right incisors came in almost exactly at nine months. They are still pretty small, but as soon as they come in a bit more, I’ll get a picture posted.

Lots of new photos in the March 2009 photo gallery - it was a busy month!

One last thing - a special HAPPY BIRTHDAY wish to Aunt Nancy!

With March Madness in full swing, and the Tarheels in the Final Four after ripping OU a new one (sorry cousins Michael and Ryan!!  BWAAAAHAHAHA), The Wiggle Machine joined Daddy by dressing the part.

Ms. Bargain-Shopper (Colleen) found an official Tarheels cheerleading outfit for Claire super cheap, but she has been growing so fast that we almost missed our chance to put her in it.  This past Sunday was the perfect opportunity with the Tarheels on TV, so Claire and Daddy suited up.

In addition to Claire dressing up in her Tarheel cheerleading outfit, she also shot some hoops for the first time as well.  Colleen found another good deal on a basketball goal that counts to 10 and says the ABC’s when you make baskets, but the basketballs that it was supposed to come with were missing.  She later found a good replacement basketball, so it was time to test out Claire’s skills

 Of course, with the basketball game on the TV, Claire’s attention span wasn’t very long………. that’s my girl

 

We took about a gazillion pictures of Claire sporting her UNC attire and playing basketball - visit the March 2009 photo gallery to see them.

After our experience with meeting Santa, I truly had no desire to take Claire to visit the Easter Bunny. Long lines, expensive pictures, baby who could care less…I just didn’t see the point.

However, an opportunity came up that I just couldn’t pass by. While on a quick afternoon trip at the mall, I noticed there wasn’t a single person in line to visit the famous bunny. Nor did it look like there had been in quite a while. I guess he just isn’t as famous as the jolly guy in the red suit.

Despite the big sign saying that personal cameras were not allowed on set, I thought I’d play dumb and ask if I could snap a shot or two anyways. The teenager working the stand couldn’t have cared less and allowed me “three clicks”. As many of you may know, I’m a pro at getting my little one to smile, but it’s definitely at my expense. I don’t mind acting like a goober in front of friends and family, but in public…not so much. Thus, the three pictures didn’t turn out great, but they were quick, easy and free! Claire was more interested in the people walking by than the bunny as you’ll see below…

Eric’s best friend, Josh, stopped by for the night on his way to Virgina this weekend. He and his wife, Meredith, are moving there from Atlanta shortly and we couldn’t be happier for them to be closer.  Claire finally got to meet her Uncle Josh and the two of them became fast friends. He’d say she was goofy, she’d stick her tongue out at him in response….oh the bonding.

Cheesing it up at Cracker Barrel before church on Sunday

Showing Uncle Josh who is REALLY in control of the TV

It was a presents and cake-filled Saturday morning, neither of which were for Miss Claire. Her friend Madelyn (daughter of Eric’s coworker, Matt) turned the big one-year and we drove down to Smithfield to participate in birthday festivities. Claire had a great time exploring all of Madelyn’s toys, showing off her walking skills and playing with her friend, Callie.

Callie is clearly not amused with Claire’s tongue…

The birthday girl had a bit of a tough time getting started on her cake, grabbing the lit candle first. Oops! But, she was fine and after just a few tears, she dug in and seemed to be enjoying herself immensely. Claire stuck to peas and puffs instead of cake. She’ll get her turn soon enough…only 2 1/2 more months!

Claire and Madelyn (the birthday girl)

Yay! New toys!

At nine months she’s into everything. I’m sure that will have an all new meaning when she begins to really crawl (she’s still army crawling and rolling now) and walk (without help). She has an extremely curious nature and loves anything new, especially if it’s not meant to be played with. Toothbrushes, Tupperware, and paper are favorites. Considering that last one, you can imagine how difficult it was to get her “official” nine month photo. That sign was way too tempting, and I only managed to get one shot before it was ripped to shreds.

Claire decided to celebrate her nine month birthday last Friday by expanding her vocabulary and blabbing “na-na-na” all day long. We now hear “na”, “ba”, “da” and “mmm”, but still no “ma-ma”. I ask her to say it and I receive a spit shower from a blown raspberry instead. I don’t mind this so much, except for when it’s served with a side of baby food. We’re working on that…

Claire did great at her 9 month check-up, showing off her pre-walking skills for Dr. Coleman. She loved exploring the examination room, from the paper on the table to the photos on the wall, so much to touch (and eat)! She weighs 19 lbs, 3 oz (50%) and is 28 3/4 inches long (75%).  We are so blessed to have a happy, healthy little girl!

Due to her new pulling up talents, we lowered her crib and removed her mobile last week. She is quite a restless sleeper - we often catch her awake on the video monitor, rolling around and playing with her blankie for 5 minutes or so before falling back to sleep. She usually sleeps on her tummy with her bootie in the air, or on her side. But, as you can see from the photo below, anything goes!

She’ll be moving up to the older baby class at daycare soon. This will mean many things, among which moving to just one nap a day. I wish that day wasn’t so close! Also, she’ll transition more from a bottle to a sippy cup and from pureed foods to table foods. We started offering her a sippy cup at about 6 months. She was interested then, but didn’t quite understand she was supposed to swallow. A couple of weeks ago, I bought her a new sippy cup that requires a bit more sucking. She’s doing well with it, but would prefer a drink from Mom or Dad’s cup or water bottle - that’s SUPER fun apparently!

She is still very close to walking - cruising around the couch and standing toys. She’s also getting the hang of walking behind her push toy, although she has to be in a good mood for this one. Videos of these “pre-walking” activities are coming shortly…hopefully tomorrow. For now, enjoy the pics below and in the updated March 2009 photo gallery.

Sunday night, Claire reached the “pulling up” milestone, using the legs of her jumparoo to go from sitting to standing all by herself. She has been real close a few times before, but needed us to hold her hands in place (couldn’t find anything to get a good grip on) or give a small push. Now the real challenge is keeping her seated during bath time - she thinks pulling up on the side of the tub is much more fun then getting clean!

The picture below was taken just a few seconds after she pulled up for the first time - check out that grin and sense of accomplishment! The video is actually from her second attempt. Hey - I can’t have the camera glued to my hand at all times!

Note: If you are reading this in email or on Facebook, you’ll need to visit our website, www.ericandcolleen.com to view the videos. If you’re already here, welcome!

Okay, so I’m pretty sure she isn’t of Irish heritage (at least not a substantial amount), but with her fair skin, blue eyes and RED hair - I doubt anybody would know the difference!

Happy Saint Paddy’s Day from our Little Leprechan!

We’re halfway into March, and already it’s proven to be a big month for Claire. She’s growing like a weed and learning new things daily. It seems like just this week alone she changed so much! Each time she does something new, I put it on my list of things I want to write about. Then the time flies and before I know it all my little posts end up in one BIG novel!

She is now the proud owner of two top teeth! They finally broke through simultaneously, just like the bottom two did. Also, the space next to her bottom left tooth is showing a little white bud so it won’t be long before she has FIVE teeth!

With those new teeth comes the ability to expand her food choices. She is eating MUCH better after coming off of a little tummy bug last week. The past two nights she has eaten 1/2 a jar of a stage 3 food (bigger size and chunkier texture) AND a whole container of fruit. New foods include chicken, apricot, cherries, pineapple, oranges, broccoli and rice. She obviously has favorites (any fruit), but if she’s good and hungry, she will eat pretty well. For some reason the first bite is often a struggle. It’s like she forgets food is good. Silly girl - food is yummy!

For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been offering her strawberry-apple flavored puffs. For those of you who don’t know, they are like flavored Cheerios that melt quickly in the mouth. She really liked the challenge of picking them up and did quite well with the pincher grip (see photo below). However, it wasn’t until Monday night she became interested in eating them. And once she had one, she wanted more! I can’t believe my little girl is on her way to self-feeding…seems like just yesterday I was so excited to give her that first taste of rice cereal!

 Last weekend it was absolutely gorgeous outside! We took advantage of the mild 75-80 degree temperatures as much as we could. Saturday we met friends Julie, Dan and Callie, in Durham for some walking (the girls) and rollerblading/biking (the boys). We finished the outing up with lunch at Quizzno’s where I snapped the picture below. Poor Callie - it looks like Claire was being maybe just a tad too friendly with that left arm!

Claire also went to Sunday School for the first time last week. The class Eric and I were supposed to be starting was delayed a week, so we hung out in the hallway and enjoyed peeking in on the little wiggler. She fit right in with the slightly older kids and loved learning about all the things God made. Okay, so she really just wanted to eat the props, but you could tell she was having a good time! After church, I made a taco lunch and we enjoyed some family time on the back porch. Not sure what Claire’s expression is saying here, but I love it all the same!

Claire still LOVES to read books and has “memorized” quite a few, meaning she knows where the flaps, textures and pull-outs are. She definitely has favorites and preferences and makes them well known. When she gets to the last page, she immediately leans over to the bookshelf as if to say “Next one, mom!” Her top fave (this month, anyways) is “Tails” - thanks Joannie! I think we read it at least 5x a day, but I enjoy it (almost) as much as Claire does. Another new favorite is the ladybug book her LeLe sent her - she’s reading it in the photo below.

I saved the biggest milestone for last. Claire has become somewhat mobile and it is thrilling her to say the least. Although still not crawling, she has learned to slide around on her belly, pulling on nearby items to help her get from here to there. If that and fussing for help don’t work, she resorts to rolling around like crazy. Hey - it works!

 Her favorite new skill by far is being able to move from one toy or piece of furniture to another. Just a few days ago she started risking the big reach. She didn’t let a fall or two discourage her and before we knew it, she was moving around pretty well. Claire could spend hours going back and forth between her piano and activity table. I’m not sure if this is considered cruising because she still doesn’t understand that she can move around ONE item, like walking around the activity table, but she’s definitely on her way!

 A new month means a new picture album! Check out the March 2009 gallery.