On the Move

Claire has learned how to move around on her own. Her crawling/scooting isn't what you would call graceful, but it gets her where she is wants to go. Everyday she seems to improve and move just a little faster. She of course is drawn to all the "off limits" areas of the room, instead of to the dozens of toys in the room. Here she is getting the remote control.

Claire has also begun to babble all day long. I absolutely love to listen to her "talk" and wish I could know what was going on in that little (or not so little) head of hers. She said "dada" very clearly once, but hasn't really said it again. She has learned how to say "mama" very clearly and most of the time it seems like she is wanting my attention when she says it. Here I was taping her and she is a little mad at me, but she says a clear "mama" so I had to put it for the world to hear.

Another new thing we have done lately is introduce her to some puffs. At first she didn't quite know what to think about them, as you can see below, but she is beginning to like them now. I love to watch her concentrate on picking up the little pieces. She doesn't get them to her mouth very well, but that is why we are practicing. Tonight when I put a piece on my hand for her to pick up, she decided to just lift my entire hand to her mouth and get the piece off my hand like that. It was cracking us up!

And last but not least here is a video of Claire just scooting, rolling, playing and laughing. It is a little longer (2 minutes or so) but I just thought it showed her sweet personality. We are head over heels for this little lady and I am sure after watching these videos you can understand why!

6 months

Wow...1/2 of a year!! I can't believe it has already been 6 months since Claire joined our family. She has changed so much in these past six months. She now shows her likes and dislikes very clearly. Recently she has been throwing little fits when she wants a change of scenery or a new toy. However, she also gets really excited when she sees something she wants to play with. She will throw her arms out to the side, open her mouth wide and almost pant with excitement. My description of it isn't that cute, but she is adorable when she does it. Claire sits up wonderfully in her own and is still rolling everywhere. She knows where her basket of toys is in the living room so as soon as I lay her down she rolls over there and starts pulling toys out.

She had her 6 month check up on Tuesday and everything went well. She weighed 14 lbs and 3.5 oz, and was 25.5 inches long. She got three shots, but did great with them. We also had her 6 month pictures made at The Picture People and I am very pleased with them.

Adam is in the second half of the semester and of course doing great in all his classes. I am enjoying staying at home with Claire. (I have to admit that I don't miss school one bit. Just the people I worked with) I am taking a class through the Seminary Wives Institute and really enjoy that time each week.
In September Claire and I went to visit the McKee family in Loveland, Ohio. We stayed two nights and I had a great time catching Ashley and Daniel, and playing with their sweet kiddos. Claire enjoyed watching the Caedmon and Chloe. She didn't however like Rocky (the dog) I have no idea where she could get that from. :) Ashley got much cuter pictures of the girls, but here is one of Claire and Chloe in their matching dresses.

Fall is such a great time in Kentucky and we are thoroughly enjoying it. We have already celebrated my brother's birthday, gone to the "World's Largest Halloween Party" at the zoo, had pictures made and are planning a trip to the local Huber's Farm in a couple of weeks. Such a fun month!!

Peas. . .No Thank You

Claire has been eating cereal for over a month now so we decided to add some veggies to her diet. She first tried carrots; which she enjoyed. Yesterday I decided to let her try some peas. As you can tell from the video she didn't really like them. I did try them again at dinner and she ate them a lot better.

Everyday Claire does something new. . .Lately she has been "talking" more instead of squealing and grunting. And then even more recent we have been hearing some consonant sounds in the midst of her talking. It is so fun to listen to her babble. I caught on video another cute "first". She has a Jumperoo that my parents got for her. I have put her in it before, but she didn't really know what to do and would just sit there. Well, yesterday she figured out how to bounce and jump and was having a good ol' time in it. (Oh yeah and I turn the camera sideways for a while, I have no idea what I was thinking. . .sorry)

Here is third video of Claire giggling. I absolutely love to hear her giggle. We never know what will make her laugh. At this particular time I had yawned and she started laughing. So I kept making a yawning noise and she kept laughing. Sorry you have to hear my annoying noises on the video too.

Look What I Can Do!!!

A Lot Has Been Happening Around Here

August has been a busy month around the Smith house. Claire turned 4 months on August 4th. On the morning of her doctor's appointment, Louisville had some serious storms that resulted in a lot of flash flooding. (Luckily it didn't flood where we live.) So we braved the storms and took Claire to her checkup. She was 24 inches long and weighed 12 lbs and 8.5 oz. Percentile wise she was 50% for height, 25% for weight, and 75% for her head circumference! The doctor said she looked great and healthy. She also received her second round of immunizations.

See my yellow band-aids?

Later that day while Claire was playing on her gym she rolled back to stomach all on her own for the first time. Grandpa Smith got to experience this moment over the phone!

On my belly

Then on August 9, we headed south to Florida. I have to admit I was very nervous about how Claire would do on the airplane and with our busy traveling schedule. But she did great the entire trip! We got up early Sunday morning for a 7:00 flight. She slept in the airport while we were waiting to board. Then while we were waiting to board we hear some little "tootles" coming from her! Great timing! She did great on the flight down. Sarah and Josh picked us up at the airport and we headed down to Adam's Granddad and Grandma Smith's house. We were able to see aunts, uncles and cousins while there. Some of whom we hadn't seen for a couple years. Adam and I also got to go out on the lake for a little bit while Claire was napping.

On the airplane. She doesn't look very happy but she did great!

Great Grandparents

Sunday night we headed to Adam's moms house. While there Claire was able to get into a pool for the first time. She wasn't exactly a huge fan, but she sure looked cute in her little bathing suit. She enjoyed chilling in Uncle J's and Grandma's arms more than swimming.

That evening we head to Yamato's, a Japanese restaurant, for a wonderful dinner!

The whole Gang!

Monday night we headed to Sanford to Adam's dad's house. Claire did a great job with all the traveling. She obviously felt right at home in her Grandpa's arms as you can see in the picture below. On Wednesday night Josh, Sarah, Adam and I headed out to Colorado Fondue for a night out while the grandparents and aunts babysat Claire. We had a great time and laughed a lot! It was just the break we needed before we came back to KY to face school. We had a great time in Florida and were not ready to come home! We love our Florida family!

Adam started school this past week so we are preparing for another busy fall. This is the first time since Kindergarten that I haven't had to "go back to school!" I feel truly blessed to be able to stay home with her and am trying to savor every moment as they seem to be passing so quickly.

Quick update

So, Claire had her 4 month check up and everything looked good. We leave for a visit to Florida in two days. I am very excited to see everyone and a little nervous about flying with Claire. Since we are leaving in two days I have a lot on my plate these days and don't have time for a full update. I just wanted to say hey and I will put up some pictures and more details about Claire when we get back!!

I'm Growing Up!

Here are a few pictures to show the fun things Claire is doing these days.

She doesn't scream immediately when placed on her tummy, and she is starting to stick that little bottom in the air in preperation for crawling.

She enjoys watching a Baby Einstein video while lounging in her Boppy.

She loves to put her hands in her mouth.

She smiles all the time.

And this picture I included because I thought it was cute!!