She's Rolling and Dangerous!

Last night Claire finally realized that she is able to roll over from back to front!

For a little while now she has been rolling onto her side from her back to look at the toys around her head, but would just turn back over. But yesterday was the first time that she went all the way over!

This morning she was going back and forth between her back to front just because she could. I think she may have been trying to get my attention, and she did!

If the video starts with her swatting at the camera, go to about :58. I tried to cut it, but it doesn't seem to have worked. :-/

Hey WVU FANS!

Introducing the Newest and Cutest cheerleader!

She's got the Smile!

She's got the Fighting Spirit!

She's got the Body!

She will lead us to the Bright and Winning Future!

But mostly, she's just darned cute!

Spitting

This weekend Claire learned a new trick.

She spits.

She tucks in her bottom lip and blows.

It didn't take long for us to realize that she's actually just copying us buzzing our lips at her.

You can tell that she just figured it out because she really got into this weekend and did it all the time.

But here's a little video, mostly of just squeals, but she does her spitting trick too.

It's funny to me that she doesn't always smile when she squeals. She's just enjoying exploring the extents of her voice.

We just love watching her learn new things. The look in her eyes when she finds something new and interesting is priceless! 

p.s.  I took the video on my new phone--teehee! Peter and I also bought smart phones this weekend. We caved. It took 3 years, but we gave into the hype. We're getting a big tax return--it encourages small splurges.

The Binky Challenge

Lately (meaning today and yesterday) Claire has started sucking on her binky upside-down.

I'm not sure if this is because she wants it that way or because she can't quite figure out how to flip it over.

Claire appears to have the dexterity to turn it over.

But she's at a point in life where she just wants to put anything and everything in her mouth, and it seems to be an unspoken challenge to get as much of anything inside as you can without choking.

As you can see, she's not too particular about how the Binky goes in, just that it does.
And yesterday she managed to fit the entire Binky in her mouth except for a very small part before she started gagging, and I pulled it out from her cheeks.

 "They" warn you not to buy passifiers that are not a single piece because they could come apart while the baby is sucking and then cause choking and death. But no one said anything about choking on the whole thing.

I guess not all babies have the cheeks to put whole Binkies inside!

So yeah, she likes her Binky, she's just not very particular about the direction.

Oh yeah, she also sits--kinda.

5 Months

We can't believe that Claire is 5 months old now!

She likes to eat anything, especially paper and cell phones, and is getting very good at sitting and standing with just a little support! Her biggest struggle is tipping over. When she stands, she usually gets tired and squats before she falls over because we're holding both of her arms.

She rolls over from tummy to back with ease and will roll over from back to tummy if you offer your finger for her to pull against.

Although she isn't crawling, Claire does push herself in a circle as she tries to follow toys that she accidentally pushes slightly out of reach.

Claire is very vocal and laughs a lot.
It's not always easy to get her to smile; she really likes to just stare at things. It makes people think she's very serious.



She isn't incredibly attached to anything: her binky, any one finger, any toys or books. She just changes her mind all the time and likes just about everything equally well.

Claire smiles wide when she is kissed on her chubby little cheeks and giggles when you throw her in the air or bounce her on your knee.

She also thinks spontaneous noises are hilarious, like hiccups or sneezes.




If someone is nearby, Claire will often play on her own for up to 10 or 15 minutes.


We just started feeding her solid foods this week, and she loves it!
She still loves bath time with daddy.


Our little Claire-bear is still wearing 6 month clothes and almost fills a size one (3-6 month) shoe.
Her hair is getting more blonde each month, and she has pretty dark blue eyes for sure.

She wakes up twice at night, but I don't think she actually needs to eat. She goes back to sleep almost immediately. We love listening to her talk and giggle by herself when she wakes up in the morning.

She is such a joy to have around, and it is so much fun watching her learn and grow!

Baby's 1st Christmas!

It was our first Christmas as a little family!

We started the season by decorating with festive joy the day after Thanksgiving! Of course we didn't get all the way done that day because we found a TV stand and it took almost the whole day to put it together. Claire loves sparkly Christmas lights!

Once again, as the holiday season rolled around Peter was busy at work trying to finish products. A new board was scheduled to be finished on December 23rd, so Peter offered to work from Utah right after Christmas as long as he could take vacation days the week before.
So together we made cookies and candies for friends and family on Monday, December 19th using my new KitchenAid Stand Mixer!!! Teeheee!

Tuesday we packed for our trip to Utah and finished making cookies. Tuesday evening we attempted to deliver the cookies, but were interrupted before we left the driveway of our apartment complex by a phone call from the boss--some things you just don't ignore!
So an hour later we were on our way out again to deliver our treats.
Short holiday visits with nearby friends were a welcomed break from packing. Which continued briefly that night and on into the next morning when I was finally able to pack Claire's things because she wasn't sleeping.
Packing the car took even longer because we had to include a full-size computer keyboard, 23" monitor, and small CPU for the week after Christmas when Peter would be working remotely. HA! It was packed and squishy! I had to crawl over a bag in order to get in my seat in the back next to Claire. I was sure to take Dramamine in order to avoid inevitable sickness from being in the back seat.

Our original "leave by" time was postponed from 6:30-7am when Claire woke up, to 11am when everything was packed and ready to go. (I know, typically Melanie). But traveling for only half of the day was great for Claire. She woke and slept and played like normal while we were in the car. She was a little more fussy because she wanted to move, but we took breaks every few hours. But by 6:30pm she was out for the night and we were free to go as far down the road as fast as we could without needing a break ourselves and becoming dangerous. We arrived in Utah after 13 hours. Not too bad.

Everyone was so excited to meet Claire!
She was held constantly and was never allowed to cry on the floor :)

 
Once she started crying once she was put in bed, and my dad got her out and brought her upstairs. I accidentally got a bit more upset than I intended when I realized what had happened (we don't take her out of bed at night).

We were able to take Claire to see the lights at Temple square.  Did I mention she loves sparkly Christmas lights?

It got very cold, but luckily grandpa Fetty was there to save the day!

We spent Christmas-time with Melanie's family. Claire had so much fun meeting all the new people in her family!

As always, aunt Janna make the best food

Peter finally got some time to put together his gingerbread train!

 
Claire met her great-grandparents for the first time, and she was all smiles. :)

One of Peter's favorite things about visiting the Jenson family is the card games!

Since we were in Utah, Peter was finally able to sport his favorite beanie.  

On Christmas Claire made out with a bunch of books and new clothes! She did pretty well opening presents. She was really eager to eat the paper so she would grab onto it and hold on tight while either Peter or I pulled and twisted the rest of the box away.

It was so much fun to be together with all of my family. And it was nice to give my arms a break from holding Claire everyday. But I gotta say, getting back into it again has been killer! She must have gained a pound or two over that week and a half that we were gone because I'm not used to the weight any more!

We are so grateful to have such a wonderful family!