Mother's Day Weekend and Beyond

I'm still waiting on my replacement memory card converter so that I can pull pictures and videos off of my phone. I have a great video I'm dying to share of Claire laughing her head off about the word "spoon." Hoping to share it soon, but until then, enjoy these few photos from the weekend and beyond. Saturday morning we took Mimi (Geoff's mom) to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. Claire decided to help with the Steve Speakman for District Judge campaign, since he was kind enough to remember to give Geoff a t-shirt in her size.
Geoff's been wanting to show off our Amaryllises, which we planted over by the stop sign/water post at the corner of our yard with the help of my friend Rosemary's oldest son. This was a great way to get rid of a tricky mowing spot and create a beautiful corner garden spot.

Sunday afternoon, courtesy of a drunk or sleeping driver, we were replacing our mailbox. Since we were in the front yard, I got out the expandable playpen. Claire liked being in it and shortly after I took this picture, Katie (one-year-old from next door) came and played in it as well. It was a fun afternoon for the girls.

We rounded off the weekend and jumpstarted into the week with a Monday morning walk with the Vaughan boys and their sweet mama. For a stay at home mom who can sometimes feel a little lonely, a walk in the park with a friend and her boys is just what the doctor orders!

The MC's Then and Now

There's a line in a song that Gonzo sings in The Muppet Movie that I have always loved, "There isn't a word yet, for old friends who've just met." Geoff and I have lifelong friends who are at least as close as family to us - the W's. It seems like every time we get together, it's like no time has passed and we just pick up where we left off. We can all four talk about anything at all together with no masks, no awkwardness, and it's just one of the best relationships we have.

The W's had their first child through the same fertility program and process that Geoff and I used to conceive Claire, so it was a road they were able to travel with us. Their second child was conceived without assistance and arrived just 6 weeks and 6 days before Claire. Incidentally, their little girl is an MC just as Claire is MC (Martha Claire), so we are all hoping that the two MC's are lifelong friends!At 3.5 (MCP) and 10 (MCW) weeks above

and

At 10.5 months (MCW) and 9 months (MCP) below

My Favorite Things

My dogs and cat

A Good Book (especially a touch-and-feel book)

Friends to play with me

And Fun Things to Explore

to be continued...

The Squeaker in Action

Sometimes she giggles. This time it was all squeals of delight.

Sunny Days & Life with an Eight-Month-Old

The whole family spent much of the day in the yard. Geoff managed to get the garden put in - tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, strawberries, bell peppers, and watermelon. I wanted sweet potatoes but we didn't have the room this year. Last year we ate more cucumbers and tomatoes than we could stand, but our squash didn't fare well. Here's hoping this year's squash turns out! Claire loves the corkscrew willow tree in the front yard - and who can blame her? Especially in the spring it is quite a showstopper. I was terribly nervous posing her on the big rock - I was standing inches outside of the shot waiting to catch her if she decided to move an inch.

Life with an eight month old is so rewarding. I love this crawling phase more than I knew that I would, because it's actually a phase I don't have a ton of experience with from babysitting/neices, nephews, etc. Claire and I spent a good part of the evening playing a form of hide and seek in which I crawled away from her and hid and then popped out. She was squealing with delight and crawling around to find me.

She won't be content with crawling for long. She pulls up on EVERYTHING and loves to practice walking with anyone who will help her. After I caught her standing in her crib, we lowered it to its lowest setting.

She has two bottom teeth now, which she cut while we were out of town over easter and the following week. She wasn't a bad teether with these first ones - the only day she ran a fever was probably the norovirus and not the teeth, and though she chewed on things and drooled a lot, she didn't complain too much.

She definitely has a mommy attachment thing going on right now. I think the separation anxiety stems from the night I spent throwing up and the following day spent in the hospital. It's the first time I couldn't respond to her in the night and left her all day with formula. The corresponding difficulties of getting her to go to bed have caused me to start an actual program of getting her on an eating/sleeping schedule. She had a good routine, but not a set schedule up to this point. It's hard for me to let her cry herself to sleep, but in the long run, I think ALL of us will appreciate a little better scheduling with naps and bedtime.

She doesn't show too much interest in talking, although some time with her older, noisier cousins initially seemed to have its effect - some seriously high-pitched squeals of excitement. She seems to only say hey or hi all the time as if "h" is the only consonant. She also waves, though, so maybe she just likes greeting everyone and everything.

She is eating what we eat now and that is going well. I just use a little hand-held food grinder and make sure I only use recipes that will work for her as well (avoiding eggs mostly). She didn't seem to think too much of baby food and would whine almost constantly while eating, so I decided to try her on real food instead. I did make my own food for awhile, but my enthusiasm for doing that has dwindled. I don't mind the few extra minutes it takes to grind what I cooked for her, and she seems thrilled to be eating what we eat. She still gets baby cereal and fruit mixed in and she loves tiny little baby puff/cracker things and crackers and such. I have been pretty impressed with her small motor skills, and Pop says she has good hand/eye coordination.

She is one seriously active little girl, and though I have a friend who is anxious to see her own baby walking, I have no such feelings toward Claire. I am enjoying the crawling phase and the fun things she is into right now and trying to remember to enjoy every moment because I know how quickly this year will fly by!

So Now We're Back from Outer Space

Here is a quick video of Mercy and Claire playing together during our recent visit to South Carolina. Apparently Mercy was afraid of the bees in the backyard and she thought if she could cover every inch of her skin with clothing, they could not get her. (Yes, that outfit certainly needed some explanation!)

We had a really good time at Aunt Gini's, other than when Mommy contracted the norovirus and ended up in the hospital with dehydration. And then Daddy came to pick us up and got the virus himself. Yuck!
More posting on the trip, life with an eight-month-old, etc. coming soon. For now, enjoy the video.